A multidisciplinary and innovative approach: the case of the Aga Khan necropolis at Aswan

EIMAWA (Egyptian-Italian Mission At West Aswan) was established in 2018 as a joint mission of the University of Milan and the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities for excavating and safeguarding the Aga Khan necropolis in Aswan. The area investigated covers over 75,000 square meters in which over 400 tombs have been identified and georeferenced. This necropolis served the population living in Aswan between the Late and the Graeco-Roman Period (6th century BC-2nd century AD). The economic and military activities of this population were known thanks to papyrus and findings in Aswan and Elephantine, but not their burial place: this is the missing link that EIMAWA discovered. From the very beginning, EIMAWA was set up as a multidisciplinary mission with an innovative approach based on the research of new or adapted-to-the-site technologies. The team consists of researchers from different disciplines – from Egyptology to anthropology, radiology, chemistry, topography and geomatics, archaeozoology, archaeobotany, restoration, and informatic sciences. The article will highlight the different aspects of this approach applied in a context made difficult by very high temperatures, wind, lack of electricity, and complex bureaucracy.