Projects per year
Personal profile
Biography
Biography
Julien Cooper is an Egyptologist, Nubiologist and archaeologist, with a focus on the archaeology of the Eastern Desert (Atbai) and the history of its nomadic peoples. He is the director of the 'Atbai Survey Project', a fieldwork program surveying the vast deserts between the Nile and the Red Sea. These surveys aim to shed new light on the varied heritage of this desert, from neolithic rock art to ancient Egyptian trade routes and medieval goldmines. Julien is recently a recipient of an ARC Future Fellowship "Rescuing Pharaoh’s Gold Mines: Archaeological conservation in Eastern Sudan". Please follow our updates (in English, Arabic, and Bidhaawyeet/Beja) on X and Facebook.
Julien completed his PhD in Egyptology at Macquarie University (2016), thereafter holding postdoctoral fellowships at Oxford (ERC Fellow) and Yale universities, as well as an Assistant Professor position at United International College-Bejing Normal University (Zhuhai) from 2020-2022.
Learn about my research in this podcast from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. His open access publications may be accessed here.
Research interests
Julien's research interests centre on the study of Egypt & Nubia and the networks of connections across Northeast Africa, and include:
- Nomads in Northeast Africa
- Survey archaeology and rock art studies
- Heritage & Conservation
- History of Nubia
- The foreign connections of the ancient Egyptian state
- Egyptian Epigraphy and rock inscriptions
- Language contact and African languages
- Middle Egyptian language
Teaching
Julien has taught widely on Egyptian and Nubian history, language, and archaeology as well as world history subjects (world religions, migration). His teaching experience includes teaching at Macquarie, Yale, and Beijing Normal universities.
Education/Academic qualification
Egyptology, PhD, Toponymy on the Periphery: Placenames of the Eastern Desert, Red Sea, and South Sinai, Macquarie University
Award Date: 1 Apr 2016
External positions
Assistant Professor - Research Centre for History & Culture
2020 → 2022
Postdoctoral Research Fellow - Department of Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations, Yale University
2018 → 2020
Postdoctoral Research Fellow (ERC Nomadic Empires Project), University of Oxford
2016 → 2018
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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Sir Douglas Newbold Archival Project: The Archaeology and History of Eastern Sudan
Cooper, J. (Primary Chief Investigator) & Barker, G. (Associate Investigator)
20/09/24 → …
Project: Research
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FT23: Rescuing Pharaoh’s Gold Mines: Archaeological conservation in Eastern Sudan
Cooper, J. (Primary Chief Investigator) & Sowada, K. (Supervisor)
29/05/24 → 28/05/28
Project: Research
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Nomades et nomadismes au Sahara oriental (Égypte, Soudan, est libyen)
Cooper, J. (Partner Investigator), Crépy , M. C. (Partner Investigator) & Bourgeois, M. (Partner Investigator)
1/04/24 → …
Project: Research
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Research Outputs
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Fuzzy boundaries or hard borders? Cultural groupings in Second Millennium BC Nubia from the view of linguistic evidence
Cooper, J., 2025, In: Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia. 5, 1, p. 1-30 30 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile13 Downloads (Pure) -
Naming and labelling cultures of the Middle Nile in the Second Millennium BCE – a discussion of cultural, linguistic, and geographic categories
Cooper, J., 2025, In: Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia. 5, 1, p. 1-10 10 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile5 Downloads (Pure) -
Should terms such as 'Bronze Age' and 'Iron Age' be used in the context of Middle Nile Valley archaeology?
Näser, C., Jesse, F. & Cooper, J., Feb 2025, In: Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia. 5, 1, p. 1-2 2 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Editorial › peer-review
Open AccessFile4 Downloads (Pure) -
Divine roots: the etymology of Thoth
Cooper, J., 2024, In: Zeitschrift für Ägyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde. 151, 1, p. 63-80 18 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Egyptian geography of the southern Red Sea: the land of Wetenet
Cooper, J., 2024, In: Journal of Egyptian History. 17, 1, p. 1-45 45 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile1 Citation (Scopus)193 Downloads (Pure)
Datasets
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A record of a Red Sea sojourn at Beni Hassan: the journeys of Ameny/Amenemhat and relative place-names
Cooper, J. (Contributor), Macquarie University, 1 Sept 2024
Dataset: Text
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The geographic and cosmographic expression Ta-netjer
Cooper, J. (Contributor), Macquarie University, 31 Aug 2024
Dataset: Text
Activities
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Sudan-Australia House
Cooper, J. (Visiting researcher)
Apr 2025Activity: Visiting an external institution › Visiting an external non-academic institution
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Nomads of the Eastern Sahara: from footnotes to a full page
Cooper, J. (Speaker), Crépy , M. C. (Speaker) & Bourgeois, M. (Speaker)
2025Activity: Talk or presentation › Invited talk
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The Kandaka today: The reception of ancient Sudanese queens in modern Sudan and the African Diaspora
Cooper, J. (Speaker) & Abbashar, A. (Invited speaker)
Apr 2025Activity: Talk or presentation › Presentation
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Nomades et nomadismes au Sahara oriental
Cooper, J. (Organiser), Crépy , M. C. (Organiser) & Bourgeois, M. (Organiser)
May 2025Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Organising a conference, workshop or event series
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Nomads and the State in a desert-river landscape
Cooper, J. (Speaker)
2025Activity: Talk or presentation › Invited talk
Press/Media
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Tens of thousands of artefacts looted from Sudan museum, says official
10/09/24
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Expert Comment
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Reports of massive looting at Sudan's National Museum
6/09/24
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Expert Comment
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4,000-year-old rock art of boats and cattle unearthed in Sudan paint a picture of a green Sahara
5/06/24
1 item of Media coverage
Press/Media: Research
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Prehistoric Rock Art Of Cattle And Boats Found In Sudan Support ‘Green Sahara’ Theory That This Desert Was Once A Grassland
15/05/24
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Research
Impacts
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UNESCO Meeting on the Cultural Heritage of Human Adaptations
Cooper, J. (Participant)
Impact: Culture impacts