Sidebotham joined UD in 1981, and since 1994 he has conducted field work at the archeological site of Berenike, Egypt (founded in 275 B.C.), almost every winter with the Berenike Project, uncovering evidence of ancient culture, trade and religious practices. 

The project is a partnership between UD, Heidelberg University, Leiden University and the University of Warsaw that manages the excavation with permission of the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. 

Critical experience

Growing up a military brat, Sidebotham’s family lived in Turkey and Greece and spent time visiting surrounding countries. He says the Mediterranean feels as much like home as anywhere else in the world. 

“The Mediterranean has been part of my life since I was a kid,” he said. “I’ve worked in the Mediterranean; I’ve lived there. I wasn’t just a tourist passing through. And once we downsize here, we’re moving back to the Mediterranean.” 

In addition to 30 years of field work in Berenike, Sidebotham has visited hundreds of sites in the region and worked at notable dig sites like Caesarea Maritima, Israel; Petra, Jordan; Soqotra Island in the Indian Ocean near Yemen; Jurash, Saudi Arabia, Arikamedu, India; and at the fourth cataract of the Nile River in northern Sudan.

In teaching the history courses Ancient Rome, and Ancient Religion and Civilization, Sidebotham shared this firsthand knowledge, tying themes to the places he’s worked and artifacts he’s found in the field. 

“It’s absolutely critical to have intimate knowledge of these places. It makes your courses so much better than just talking in the abstract,” he said. “How can you teach the history of a place if you haven’t been there?” 

Berenike Buddha

That knowledge also sheds light on the process of archeology itself. Worldwide headlines in spring 2023 touted news of the “Berenike Buddha,” a marble statue measuring about 28 inches tall, proving interaction between Roman-controlled ancient Egypt and India and South Asia. 

But the headlines told only part of the story. The first part of the statue and a fragment of the figure’s halo was unearthed years earlier during the 2018 dig. At the time, they couldn’t tell that the pieces went together or who the figure depicted. A year later, Sidebotham showed photos to colleagues who specialize in Indology, and they immediately identified it as a Buddha. 

Like all finds, the statue was photographed, measured and turned over to the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. The team found the head in 2022, relying on measurements and photos to match it to the body. The discovery was announced in 2023.  

“It was incredible, and we knew it. We knew what we had was golden,” Sidebotham said.

However, Sidebotham explained, rather than being a shocking revelation, the discovery reinforced what archeologists had already learned from their excavations. After decades at the site, the team already had ample proof of trade between the two regions, including other statues of Buddha found at the site.

“We had tons of evidence of trade long before,” Sidebotham said. “We’ve had pottery and graffiti and coins, textiles, beads and semi-precious stones.” 

The Berenike Buddha illustrates how one high profile find can encapsulate the decades of painstaking, mostly unseen work of archeology, and how our knowledge of the ancient world is incremental. The Berenike Buddha, while a great find, isn’t proof of previously unknown contact between ancient people that some media reported it to be; rather, it is one piece of the history that the team has been putting together for 30 years.  

“It’s an important piece. It’s eye-catching,” Sidebotham said. “But it’s not telling us something we didn’t already know about trade or people living at Berenike.” 

Life’s work

The information gained from excavations at Berenike and other archaeological work in the region over the last three decades has added greatly to our understanding of the commercial and cultural links joining Europe, Africa and Asia together during the centuries immediately preceding and following the start of the Common Era. For example, in 2011 the team discovered the world’s oldest known pet cemetery. 

However, the excavation site is not the place to learn how to do archeology. The Berenike Project accepts only individuals with previous experience excavating in the Middle East to their winter digs.

“Living conditions are rough,” Sidebotham said. “We’re living in tents in the desert. We have no running water and no electricity except what’s generated to do the work.” The team digs only in January and February, as that is the only time they can tolerate the desert climate. 

Although Sidebotham is retiring from UD this year, he has no plans to stop working. He said the project will not be completed for several generations.

“It’s just too huge,” he said. “It covers 70 acres, and almost every time we go out we find something more and it gets even bigger. I just want to keep digging. Every year you don’t know what you’re going to find. Part of the excitement is going there and saying, ‘What are we going to get this year?’” 

Learn more about the Berenike Project in Egypt.