Author Bio: Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis

Muhammad Shamsaddin MEGALOMMATIS 49,



Greek citizen of Turkish origin, currently resident in Cairo, Egypt



Date and Place of Birth: 21 November 1956, Athens - Greece





Education



SECONDARY EDUCATION



1968  1974 Secondary Education: Lycee Leonin d' Athenes (French medium) High School Certificate  Very Well.



UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES



1974 1978 Athens University, Faculty of Letters Graduation Very Well (Classical Studies, Ancient Greek and Latin, Greek and Roman History, Art History, Archaeology, Religion, Mythology, Literature and Philosophy)



1975 1978 Institut Francais d' Athenes Language and Literature Degrees (in French Literature): Sorbonne I, Sorbonne II, Sorbonne III



Undergraduate Education without degrees obtained:



1978  1980 Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales (INALCO) (1st and 2nd year of Russian Literature, 1st year of Arabic Language).



GRADUATE STUDIES



1978  1979 Universite de Paris Sorbonne Maitrise Tres Bien (Egyptology)



1978  1980 Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes IVeme Section Eleve Titulaire (postgraduate courses in Egyptology, Assyriology, North-Western Semitic Studies, Gueze and Amharic)



1980  1981 Institut d' Etudes Politiques de Paris DEA Bien (Political Sciences, Eastern European, Slavic and Soviet Studies, requiring high level knowledge of at least one Slavic language for acceptance)



Graduate Education without degrees obtained:



1978  1981 College de France (courses in Egyptology, Assyriology, North  Western Semitic Studies, Nestorian and Monophysite Christianity)



1981  1982 University of London (School of Oriental and African Studies) (Assyriology)



1983  1984 (spring semester) University of Damascus (North  Western Semitic Studies and Assyriology)



1984  1985 (fall semester) Hebrew Jerusalem University Mount Scopus (Egyptology and Assyriology)



1985  1986 Madrasah  e Shuhada  Tehran (Islamic Philosophy and Sciences)



DOCTORAL STUDIES:



1983  1984(fall semester) Wilhelms Westfaelische Universitaet Muenster (Assyriology and Egyptology)



1984  1985(spring semester) Wilhelms Westfaelische Universitaet Muenster (Assyriology and Egyptology)



1986  1987 Wilhelms Westfaelische Universitaet Muenster (Assyriology and Egyptology)



1987  1988 Wilhelms Westfaelische Universitaet Muenster (Assyriology and Egyptology)



1988  1989 Wilhelms Westfaelische Universitaet Muenster (Assyriology and Egyptology)



Title of the dissertation: The Northern and Eastern Borders of the Sargonid Empire (722  609 BCE) and the End of Assyria (in German  unpublished)



Professors in my Postgraduate Studies:

France (J. Leclant  Permanent Secretary of the Academie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres, J. Yoyotte, J. de Cenival, Chr. Desroches  Noblecourt, P. Vernus, E. Laroche, J. Bottero, P. Garelli, P. Amiet, Fl. Malbran  Labat, D. Charpin, A. Caquot, M. Sznycer, J.-G. Heintz, M. Rodinson, M. Tardieu, A. Guillaumont, Helene Carrere d' Encausse  Permanent Secretary Institut de France, Serie Immortels),

England (D.J. Wiseman),

Germany (R. Mayer  Opificius, J. von Beckerath),

Syria (M. Harb Farzat),



Linguistic background:

Mother tongue: Greek

Father tongue: Turkish

Many languages degrees and diplomas obtained in English, French, German, Russian and Spanish (excellent)

Other languages: Italian (good), Arabic (good), Farsi (average), Portuguese (elementary), Amharic (elementary).

Ancient Languages: Classical Egyptian (Hieroglyphic), Ancient and Medieval Greek, and Latin (all at working level), Gueze (elementary)



Training educational programs:

1982 1983 Commission of the European Communities, Brussels Translation and Interpretation Services, Division Traduction Francaise



Scholarships (obtained, not all used): a) Spanish Government, b) College d' Europe  Bruges, c) Bulgarian Government (via UNESCO), d) Danish Government, e) Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, f) A. Onassis Foundation, g) Egyptian Government.



Award in Journalism: Abdi Ipekci 2nd Prize of Journalism 1986 (for supporting a Greek Turkish rapprochement, a good neighborhood relationship, as well as an Entente between the two countries; the article in question was published under title 'the life in Savur' in Politika Themata weekly).



Professional experience in Photography, Art Photography, Archaeological Photography, and Video:

During my numerous trips (from Mauritania to Pakistan, and from Kazakhstan to Somalia / carried out mostly in the 80s and the 90s) of either journalist or archaeological purpose, I had the opportunity to extensively shoot video, and take pictures and slides (in dozens of thousands) for later use

a) in my features and articles published in the press,

b) in entries published in encyclopaedias,

c) in scholarly contributions to academic annuals,

d) in my books (see below in this unit),

e) in my academic lectures and public speeches (as far as slides and pictures are concerned) and

f) in my academic courses and seminars (as far as video tapes - VHS and high8 - are concerned).



Use of cameras: Laika, Canon EOS, Nikon, Minolta, Olympus, and Zenith

Use of videocameras: Sony and Hitachi



Published pictures: more than 2000 published pictures (some on cover pages of high circulation magazines and newspapers)



Video tapes: more than 100 hours video tapes projected in lecture theatres





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Employment



2005 December  July 2006: www.alex4all.com (the official website of the Governorate of Alexandria  Egypt, run by a NGO)  CEO & Editor-in Chief (tasked to a. re-launch the website with completely new concept, design and code, b. ensure rich contents, photographical documentation, acknowledged contributors, c. introduce Marketing and advertising sales policy and manage the PR - Marketing Advertising Sales department, and d. progressively launch French version). Over this period I hired and managed a group of 25 employees (website developers, art design director and specialists, website administrators, senior editors, editors, translators, Art Photography director, PR Manager, Advertising Sales Manager and executives, plus secretary, data entry staff members and auxiliary personnel).



2005 October  December: AIRSS  Egypt: (www.airss.net) an international institute based in Qatar, outsourcing activities in Amman and Cairo  Business Development Manager & Director of the Translation Department (tasked to a. establish a long term strategy for the Institute, b. launch partnerships, c. raise funds, d. market and position the institute, e. manage the English and the Arabic Translation departments, f. launch the French and German departments, g. supervise and renew the Institute's website, and h. make the plan for forthcoming Russian, Spanish and Italian departments).



2005 March  September: PROMOTERS  Egypt (www.promoters-eg.com) a leading Egyptian full-service agency established in 1997  Multilingual Editor and Knowledge Management Officer (tasked to a. write various types of texts, namely press releases, brochures, flyers, slogans, advertisements, scripts, editorials, newsletters, texts for websites, etc in the following languages: English, French, German, Italian, Russian, Spanish, Turkish and Greek, b. search, collect, distribute and leverage properly knowledge required by various account and project managers, and c. supervise the production of publications)



2003 January  2005 March: GIZA SYSTEMS - Egypt (www.gizasystems.com / an Egyptian Software Development company of the private sector)  Publications and Communication Manager (writing and editing all sorts of technical documents, brochures, reports, CVs of the employees, white papers, letters, press releases, plus the Newsletter of the company, Nozzom / in addition: Instruction, namely Technical Writing and Advanced English courses offered to staff members).



2004 (April  November): YEMEN TIMES  Yemen (www.yementimes.com)  Editor  Contributor. Series of specialized articles on a) Ancient Yemen, b) Greek and Roman sources for the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, and c) the cultural  academic dimensions of the European Colonialism. Extensive commentary on the references of the Periplus of the Red Sea to Arabia, Yemen, Hadhramawt, Somalia, Eastern Africa, and the island of Socotra. (see below the entire text of many of my articles).



2002 (August to December): ARTOC Group / CLEO (English) Monthly Magazine - Egypt (belonging to M. Shafik Gabr, the Chairman of the Executive Board of Egypts International Economic Forum and member of the Egypt-US Presidents Council) - Deputy Managing Editor of the magazine (ensuring all related activities, from contributing articles and interviewing celebrities to supervising the production, the advertisement sales dept, and the PR).



2001 July  2002 August: FAB / CIT BUSINESS (English) Magazine - Egypt - Senior Editor and Board Member (ensuring all the editorial activities).



1998 September  2001 July: Allianz Asset Management - Greece - Sales Manager (sales of asset management products, namely Unit Linked and Mutual Funds).



1997 February  1998 August: Free lance journalist, contributor to Greek magazines and newspapers, research fellow and author based in Upper Egypt (Luqsor and Aswan).



1994 September  1997 February: Eastern Mediterranean University (Famagusta, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus) - Turkey - Lecturer. Courses on Ancient History, Archaeology, Languages, Literatures and Religions of the Middle East. Archiving and librarian's activities.



1994 January  1997 February: Kibris Vakfi (Cyprus Foundation) - Turkey - Scientific Advisor, Visiting Professor, Board Member and Author (1 book published in three languages). Open lectures on Islamic and Modern History of the Middle East. Many publications; organization and participation in conferences, congresses, colloquia, etc.



1994 January  1997 February: Scientific Advisor and Contributor to several Turkish newspapers and magazines, namely Turkish Daily News, Turkiye, Sabah and Cumhuriyet.



1990 November  1994 January: Domos Publishing House - Greece - Scientific Advisor and Board Member, Scholarly Contributor to 'Byzantinos Domos' annual, and author (1 book).



1990 September  1994 January: Stohastis Publishing House - Greece - Scientific Advisor and Board Member - Responsible for Business Development, Author (5 books).



1985 April  1994 January: Scientific Advisor, Editorial Board Member and/or Contributing Journalist working for numerous Greek newspapers, weekly reviews and monthly magazines, namely Evdomi, Politika Themata, Epopteia, Ena, Eikones, Tetarto, Anexigito, Reader's Digest (Greek edition), Nea Oikologia, Dipli Eikona, Apodimos Ellinismos, Synkhroni Ekpaideusi, Tekhni kai Logos, Archaeologia, Eleftherotypia, Exormisi, Trito Mati, Anikheuseis, Vorras kai Notos, Diavazo, Photographos, etc. Contributing Journalist to Soroush - Iran. Covering a great variety of subjects from economic analysis to historical insights, from war front (Iran - Iraq) reportage to environmental features, interviews and special issues (Kurdistan, Afghanistan, etc), itineraries, subjects related to History of Religion. Area of coverage: Middle East, North- Eastern Africa, Western and Eastern Europe, Central Asia and India. -------- Until June 1989 in parallel with the preparation of my Ph.D.



1985 September  1991 July: Ekdotike Athenon SA - Greece - Scientific Advisor and Contributor to the encyclopedia. Numerous - at times very extensive - entries (more than 10000 words each) published in the volumes of the Elliniki Ekpaideutiki Enkiklopedia; participation in the original planning of the volumes World Mythology, Religions, World History. -------- Until June 1989 in parallel with the preparation of my Ph.D.



1988 March  1990 July: Enkiklopedia Hydria - Greece - Scientific Advisor and Contributor to the encyclopedia. Numerous lengthy entries published in the volumes of Hydria encyclopedia; participation in the planning of the Supplement. -------- Until June 1989 in parallel with the preparation of my Ph.D.



1988 October  1989 May: Goulandris - Horn Foundation, Athens - Greece - Visiting Professor. Lectures on Ancient History, Languages, Literatures and Religions of the Middle East. ---------- In parallel with the preparation of my Ph.D.



1987 October  1988 May: Nea Acropolis Foundation, Athens - Greece - Visiting Professor. Lectures on Ancient History, Languages, Literatures and Religions of the Middle East. Seminar on Egyptian Hieroglyphics. ---------- In parallel with the preparation of my Ph.D.



1985 September  1989 June: Fytrakis Publishing House - Greece - Translator. Several books translated and published. ---------- In parallel with the preparation of my Ph.D.





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Academic Courses Offered at the Eastern Mediterranean University (1994  1997)



 All courses are semester courses



HIST 202. Ancient History of the Middle East (the beginning of the civilization in Sumer and Elam, the early dynasties of Sumer, the Empire of Akkad, its decline and fall)

HIST 202. Ancient History of the Middle East (the Guti and the Neo-Sumerian periods in Mesopotamia)

HIST 202. Ancient History of the Middle East (the Ancient Assyrian and Babylonian times)

HIST 206. World History

HIST 101. History of Mathematics in the Antiquity (Numbers and numeration systems of all the major peoples of Oriental and Classical Antiquity)

HIST 104. Modern History of Cyprus

PHIL 201. History of Religions and Mythology (Ancient Sumerian, Elamite, Assyrian and Babylonian religions and myths: Enuma Elish, Adapa, Gilgamesh, Etana, the Flood, Ishtars Descent to the Nether World, etc)

PHIL 201. History of Religions and Mythology (Ancient Egyptian religion: the Heliopolitan, the Hermupolitan, Memphitic, and the Theban religious systems, myths and ideologies, and the Amarna Monotheism // the religious  ideological syncretism of the Egyptian Late Antiquity: Isidism, Osiris, Hathor, Horus, Thot, and Anubis cults, Gnosticisms, Hermetism, Diffusion of Egyptian cultic  religious  philosophical systems throughout the Roman Empire)

PHIL 201. History of Religions and Mythology (Ancient Hittite religions and myths: Ullikummi, Illuyankas, Telipinus; other Ancient Anatolian religious and mythological systems: Hatti, Luwian, Urartu, Neo-Hittite, Phrygian, Lydian, Carian, Lycian, Cappadocian)

PHIL 202. History of Religions and Mythology (the Evil in Ancient Oriental Religions, Cults, Mythologies and Philosophies)

LIT 101. Ancient Literatures (Analytical study of the Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphic text Expedition to Punt by Queen Hatshepsut that narrates an Egyptian expedition to the Red Sea and Horn of Africa coasts around 1475 BCE)

LIT 133. Travel Literature (Analytical study of A. the Egyptian Hieratic text known as the Adventures of Wenamun that narrates an Egyptian priests trip to Phoenicia / Lebanon by 1075 BCE and B. the Periplus of Hanno, King of the Carthaginians, an Ancient Greek translation of the original Carthaginian  now lost - text that narrates that kings expedition to the Western coast of Africa down to todays Sierra Leone by 450 BCE)

LIT 102. Ancient Literatures (Analytical study of the Periplus of the Red Sea, an Ancient Greek text of the 1st century CE, written by an unknown Egyptian captain and merchant, that narrates details concerning the commerce, the navigation, the geography and the political structures throughout a vast area encompassing the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, the Indian Ocean and Indochina)

GRE 01. Introduction to Greek language

GRE 01. Introduction to Greek language





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Major Works and Scholarly Publications (for book reviews see below)



Here are not included hundreds of lengthy entries published in Greek encyclopedias (although several dozens of entries exceed 10000 words each) and articles / features published in various media (despite many articles exceed 10000 words each).



A. Books



The Periplus of Hanno, King of Carthaginians. Preface, Introduction, Text and Translation, Commentary and Historical Milieu (in two chapters); Stohastis Publishing House, Athens, 1991, 108p. (for a text of only 650 words narrating the Carthaginian mission sent by King Hanno to navigate up to the coast of today's Sierra Leone at the middle of the 5th c. BCE)



The Adventures of Wenamun (first Modern Greek translation of an Egyptian Hieroglyphic text). Preface, Introduction, Text and Translation, Commentary and Annexes (plus special historical map); Stohastis Publishing House, Athens, 1992, 160p. (for a text of only 10p. narrating the trip of Wenamun, Priest of Amun of Thebes, to Byblus of Phoenicia, then ruled by the Tsekker, a remnant of the Sea Peoples, at 1060 BCE)



The Ship of Suleyman. Introduction, Translation, Commentary; Stohastis Publishing House, Athens, 1993, 304p. (big text narrating the deeds of the Persian diplomatic mission of Shah Suleyman to the King of Siam at 1687  88, a moment when the Greek Constantine Yerakis, a Jesuit working for the interests of the King of France, was prime minister in Siam; the text, being full of elements of Persian Safevid culture, the commentary focuses mostly on this)



The Periplus of the Red Sea. Preface, Introduction-with hundreds of footnotes, Text and Translation, Commentary and Annexes (plus special historical maps); Stohastis Publishing House, Athens, 1994, 288p. (for a text of 24p. narrating in an extremely condensed way the details of trade and navigation from Egypt to the Eastern African Coast, up to today's Tanzania, and to Indochina and China, land and sea routes being alternatively mentioned in this regard; around 100p. of the book, the footnotes to the Introduction, being in characters 7,5')



The Book of the Travels (Sefer Ha'masaoth) of Benjamin of Tudela. Preface, Introduction, Translation, Commeentary, Bibliography (plus special historical maps), Stohastis Publishing House, Athens, 1994, 368p. (for a text of appr. 90 p. narrating the trip of the Spanish Jew Benjamin of Tudela to various parts of the Middle East and the Indian Ocean in a quest for the Ten lost Tribes of Israel; mine was the largest part of the Introduction and of the Commentary, since I had to cooperate with the Greek byzantinist A. Savvides, who covered the part of the text (as well as of the Benjamin's trip) that is related to the area of Italy and the Eastern Roman Empire; I supervised the translation that was done not from the original Medieval Hebrew text, but from the English edition of the text by Adler).



The Six Stars of the Orient. Domos Publishing House, Athens, 1994, 224p. (a historical, religious, philosophical, ideological and archeological itinerary in six cities and provinces of Eastern Turkey: Edessa of Osrhoene  Urfa, Commagene, Amida  Diyarbakir, Margdis  Mardin, Nisibis and Thospitis  Van; the first extensive coverage of the Nestorian and the Monophysite Christianity, of Manichaeism and of Mithraism in Greece)



The Greek  Turkish relationship and the Balkans, Kibris Vakfi, Istanbul, 1994, 80p. (a historical analysis of the misinterpretations of Ancient, Medieval and Modern History detected within the modern nationalist Greek political ideology and their implications in the recent Balkan problems)



the same in Turkish translation, Kibris Vakfi, Istanbul, 1994, 80p.



the same in Albanian translation, the Albanian Center in Istanbul, 1995, 62 p.



Pre-Christian Egypt and its contribution to the World History. Selected works of M.S.Megalommatis translated into Arabic, (a very representative selection of my publications about Pre-Christian Egypt; work completed and under edition, 220p.; some of the chapters it contains are a) Egypt, an entry published in the E.E. Encyclopedia of Ekdotike Athenon, b) the major article no4 (see below), c) Horus, an entry published in Hydria Encyclopedia  Athens, d) Ostanism (a current of Perso- Greco-Egyptian religious syncretism of the Late Antiquity), e) Psammetichus I, II, III (plus: Greeks in Egypt at the times of Psammetichus, an entry published in Hydria), f) the temple of Isis at Philae, g) the Temple of Horus at Edfu, h) the Temple of Hathor at Denderah (the three last being articles published in a Greek monthly), etc.)



The Ptolemies and the Romans in Egypt, (personal edition) Athens, 1996, 192p.



The Red Sea and Greece, (personal edition) Athens, 1997, 160p.



B. Major Scholarly Articles



Mithraism and Zoroasterianism in North  Western Iran at the Sassanid times; in: Byzantinos Domos, Athens, 1989, 49p.



L' URSS et la crise en Chypre en ete 1974; in: Journal of Oriental and African Studies (JOAS) 2, Athens, 1990, 40p.

The Canaanites and the Phoenicians in Western Mediterranean and North  Western Africa; in: JOAS 3, Athens 1991, 24p.



The Eastern Mediterranean at the end of the 13th century BCE and the Sea Peoples, in: JOAS 4, Athens 1992, 40p. (translated in Arabic in book no10)

Les Peuples de la Mer et la fin du Monde Mycenien. Essai de synthese historique; in: Atti e Memorie del Secondo Congresso Internazionale di Micenologia, GEI, Rome, 1996, 21p.