Natasha Rai

My research focuses on contextualising social and political relations within the Nubian landscape between Egyptians and Indigenous groups during the Egyptian Old Kingdom (c.2686-2181 B.C.E.). I am especially interested in the Old Kingdom Town of Buhen and surrounding Indigenous sites, and their respective ceramic repertoires. My interest in reappraising overlooked indigenous voices of the past stems from my own personal background, as a person of mixed indigenous heritage. Recognition of the value and importance of the application of theoretical frameworks to Egyptian and Sudanese Archaeology is something that my supervisor, Dr Kate Spence, has helped me to develop throughout my Undergraduate (2017-2020) and MPhil (2020-2021) studies at Cambridge, which has become a key aspect of my own academic identity. I am grateful to be funded by both the Open-Oxford-Cambridge AHRC DTP and my college, Trinity Hall, which has enabled me to pursue this next step in my academic career.