BECAIVE: The British Egyptian Centre of AI and Virtual Heritage

A British Council funded centre of excellence led collaboratively by the University of York and NRIAG, building AI-enabled data systems, virtual heritage technologies, and training capacity for Egyptian archaeology and cultural heritage.

Explore Research Areas Chat with Seshat Training

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Partners & Funders

Our Partners

A collaborative network of leading institutions driving innovation in digital heritage and AI.

Our Domains

Research Areas

Interdisciplinary research across history, heritage, geology, physics, visualisation, and innovation for ancient Egyptian archaeology.

Archaeology

Documentation of archaeological discoveries, missions, heritage sites, artefacts, and collections across ancient Egypt.

Digitalisation

Digitalisation work conducted based on the HeritageCAVE Conceptual framework, developed by Professor Mohamed Gamal Abdelmonem, used to record and interact with historic and archaeological sites across the globe.

Geophysics

Registration of geological and geophysical surveys, records, and investigations, including Hawara subsurface water and rock-unit mapping.

Egyptology

Documentation of research, scholarship, and scientific analysis of ancient Egyptian civilisation, heritage sites, and case-study outcomes.

BECAIVE AI

AI Applications for Heritage Data

BECAIVE-focused AI supports the organisation, verification, and discovery of cultural heritage data for Egyptian archives, museums, sites, and artefact collections.

AI System 01

Virtual Egypt Antiquities Database

We are building an AI-enabled application for the Virtual Egypt Antiquities Database as a secure digital repository of registered heritage sites, artefacts, architectural heritage, and museum collections. The archive is designed for authorised researchers and heritage professionals under Ministry-governed authentication, permissions, and access workflows.

Heritage Repository

Registered heritage sites

Dublin Core / VRA / PREMIS metadata

Ministry-approved access workflows

AI System 02

Chat with Seshat

Who is Seshat? Designed to make your experience seamless by offering personalised support and answering archaeological inquiries instantly. The word 'Seshat' represents the goddess of wisdom in ancient Egypt, associated with writing, measuring, mathematics and architecture. The BECAIVE chatbot is powered by Gemini and supports heritage questions within authorised access frameworks.

Seshat

Online / Heritage AI

Welcome. I can help with archaeological inquiries, site documentation, metadata discovery, and heritage research across the BECAIVE network.

Tell me about artefacts connected to Hawara.

Hawara artefacts are distributed across more than 36 museums, and BECAIVE is testing AI models that link collections back to their original site context...

Ask an archaeological question...

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What We Do

BECAIVE Programs

Three interconnected pillars of activity advancing knowledge, skills, and scholarship across Egyptian archaeology and digital cultural heritage.

Program 01

Research

We conduct and support interdisciplinary research to digitally document, record, study and preserve ancient Egyptian history and archaeology.

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Program 02

Training

Delivering specialist training programs for research outcomes, capacity building and knowledge sharing in AI and Virtual Heritage Technologies.

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Program 03

Publications

Disseminating reviews, project reports, research papers, articles, and books to advance knowledge in Egyptian archaeology and digital heritage.

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Our Team

Our Leadership & Research Team

A pioneering research collaboration between the University of York and the National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics (NRIAG), building capacity in equipment, software, digital systems, knowledge exchange, and training programmes for Egyptian heritage.

Principal Investigator (PI)University of York

Professor Mohamed Gamal Abdelmonem

ArchitectureUrbanismGlobal Heritage

Principal Investigator (PI)NRIAG

Professor Abbas Ali

Applied and Environmental Geophysics

Co-Investigator (CO-I)University of York

Professor Marian Ursu

Digital CreativityAIInteractive Media

Co-Investigator (CO-I)NRIAG

Professor Gad El-Qady

GeophysicsElectromagneticPotential Field

Postdoctoral Research AssociateUniversity of York

Dr Heng Song

Digital HeritageArtificial Intelligence

PhD CandidateNRIAG

Ms Eng Doaa Senousy

GeophysicsDigital Heritage

Frontend DeveloperBecaive

Eng Yusef Abbas

Frontend DeveloperGame Developer

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Get in Touch

We welcome your inquiries regarding our research, potential collaborations, or any questions about our digital heritage resources. Kindly share your name, email, and detailed message, and a member of our team will be in touch promptly.

Follow our research blog & publications to learn about our team members' most recent discoveries.