PI Lecture Highlight
12.02.2026A newly delivered lecture by our PI Ingo Strauch explores South Asian inscriptions in Egypt—an exciting topic beyond the project’s main focus.
We are pleased to draw attention to a recent lecture delivered by our Principal Investigator, which—although not part of the Proto‑Śāradā Project’s core research focus—has attracted considerable scholarly and public interest. In this invited talk, he presented new findings on early South Asian inscriptions discovered in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt, including several examples written in Tamil‑Brahmi. These short graffiti provide rare epigraphic evidence for the presence of travellers and merchants from South Asia in the Nile Valley during the Roman period, and contribute to current discussions on long‑distance mobility and Indo‑Mediterranean interaction.
The talk can be viewed online (starting at the relevant timestamp):
The presentation has received notable attention in the Indian media. Two major newspapers have reported on the findings and their historical significance for understanding early trade networks and cultural contacts between South India and Egypt:
