When I initially received the call for contributions to Orienting Archaeology towards Peace, I was unsure how I could contribute to the challenging question of how archaeology and the heritage sector might promote peace and justice. Almost immediately, the persistent question of archaeology’s contemporary relevance in a world characterized by ongoing crises, violence, and injustice came to mind. While I was conducting my PhD research, I observed the overthrow of an authoritarian regime, the subsequent hijacking of a revolution – first by conservative Islamic politi- cians and then by the military – and the rapid transformation of a once hopeful country into an even harsher yet stable dictatorship, all from the distant and strangely insulated microcosm of an excavation house in the Egyptian Nile Delta.
