(or ‘Lebenslauf’ as the Germans so beautifully call it)
1987: Born in Amsterdam to Antonia Johanna and Eduard Maarten, who always encouraged me to pursue what I loved. Together with three siblings in a tiny house.
2000: Visited Egypt for the first time on a guided tour with my mother. Fell in love with the landscape, culture, history and people. Learned my first hieroglyphs from the tour guide. Decided to study Egyptology after finishing school.
2005: Started studying Egyptology at Leiden University, a place that still feels like home.
2008: Obtained BA degree in Egyptology. Travelled through Egypt for 3 months, first during the ‘Cairo semester’ of the MA Egyptology and later with friends.
2010: Excavated in Saqqara. A dream come true.
2013: Finished second BA degree in Archaeology at Leiden University. ‘Cause you gotta learn how to dig. Excavating cemeteries was my favourite. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Pretty sure I got cursed for a while.
2014: Finished ResMA degree in Egyptology at Leiden University with a thesis on two scenes in the mastaba chapel of Hetepherakhty at the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden. Excavated in Luxor, another dream come true.
2015-2020: Worked in various capacities at Leiden University and beyond, as well as doing freelance jobs to fund my annual trips to Egypt. But the feeling of wanting to do a PhD kept nagging…
2020: Took the leap and moved to Germany (between lockdowns!) to start a PhD.
2020-2021: My mother passed away suddenly and my father got seriously ill… Not the best time to be doing a PhD abroad, but this is life. Great support from family and friends, and a shift in perspective about the value I wanted to add to this life.
2022-2023: Academic life. Wrote papers, presented at international conferences and travelled the length of Egypt on a research trip. Guided my first tour.
2023: One year left on the clock to finish writing my PhD dissertation. Big plans for the future, on the cusp of academia and the public domain. Stay tuned 😉