The fight to save the Middle East's heritage: MEMO in conversation with Georgia Andreou

Middle East Monitor Conversations

Much of the Middle East's archaeological treasures are battling man-made climate change, over-development, wars and receding coastlines, but there are those who are working to save them.
Gaza's heritage is being lost to the sea. Oman's ancient cities are taking a beating from cyclones. Archaeological treasures across the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East are battling man-made climate change, over-development, wars and receding coastlines. The preservation of heritage sites needs urgent support from local communities and working with the people of the region is what archaeologists are seeking to do. Join us as we speak to UK-based Cypriot marine archaeologist Dr Georgia Andreou about working on the Gaza Maritime Project, which aims to monitor the deterioration of Gaza's heritage sites and find solutions, and the impact cyclones are having on Oman's ancient sites.

Georgia is an associate lecturer in Near Eastern Archaeology at the Institute of Archaeology at UCL. She is also a senior researcher at the Centre for Maritime Archaeology at the University of Southampton. Her research combines archaeology with data science to examine the impact of natural and cultural processes on coastal archaeological sites in the Middle East. Her book project titled 'Critical Heritage Under Water' explores the potential, but also the ethical challenges of big dataset analyses in the context of maritime archaeology in the Eastern Mediterranean.