Visit of the Rector of the Egyptian University of Port Said to the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Slovak Academy of Sciences
On July 2, 2026, the Institute of Oriental Studies (ÚO) of the Slovak Academy of Sciences welcomed an official delegation from the University of Port Said (Egypt), led by the Rector, Professor Sherif Youssef Ahmed Saleh, to its premises in Bratislava. The delegation also included the Rector's Advisor for International Cooperation, Professor Ahmad Hasan Anwar Hasan.
The guests were received at the Institute by the Director, Emanuel Beška, together with Africanist Silvestr Trnovec and Egyptologist Veronika Verešová.
The meeting was held in the spirit of identifying concrete possibilities for cooperation in the humanities, especially in Egyptology, Arab studies, and African studies. Both parties discussed the possibilities of joint research projects, staff and student exchange stays, and the sharing of scientific and technical infrastructure. The Rector of Port Said University also expressed interest in cooperating with all departments of the Slovak Academy of Sciences.
On this occasion, the Rector of Port Said University presented the Director of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Slovak Academy of Sciences with the university's honorary plaque, as an expression of recognition for the cooperation to date and of interest in its further deepening. Both institutions also signed a memorandum of understanding that establishes a formal framework for further scientific and academic cooperation.
Port Said University is located in Port Said, northeastern Egypt, at the mouth of the Suez Canal. In the eastern part of the Nile Delta, not far from Port Said, is the archaeological site of Tell el-Retábí in Wadi Tumilát, where a joint Polish-Slovak archaeological mission has been underway since 2007. Employees of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Slovak Academy of Sciences have been participating in research on this site for 2 decades.
The signed memorandum of understanding thus opens up further possibilities for cooperation in connection with the research and field activities of the Slovak team in
this area of Egypt - the geographical proximity of Port Said University to the Tell el-Retábí site creates opportunities for cooperation in the organisational and logistical support of annual excavations.
The visit confirmed the interest of both institutions in developing long-term academic cooperation between Slovakia and Egypt in the fields of Oriental Studies and the humanities.
Prepared and photo: Martina Herbst, Institute of Oriental Studies, SAS