2 Zahed Taj-Eddin (b. 1965, Aleppo). Educated in both science and art, he studied Fine Art and Sculpture at the Fatehy-Mohamad College of Fine Art in Aleppo, earned a BSc in Applied Chemistry at the University of Aleppo, an MA in Artefact Studies from UCL’s Institute of Archaeology, and later a PhD at the University of Westminster, London, where his research focused on ancient Egyptian faience technologies. Leaving Syria in 1989, Zahed lived in Germany and Italy before settling in London, where he continues to live and work. Alongside his artistic career, he has worked extensively as an archaeologist, conservator, and researcher. He has restored ancient pottery, ceramics, cuneiform tablets, and Islamic manuscripts, and currently serves as an Honorary Research Associate at UCL, collaborating on research in ancient vitreous technologies and experimental archaeology. This dual expertise gives his art what he calls “an ongoing, ironic dialogue between modern and ancient.” Since the early 2000s, Zahed has exhibited widely. Notable solo exhibitions include Mythologies and Fables (House of Parliament, Brasilia, 2015), Nu- Shabtis Liberation (Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London, 2014), Archaeological Investigations (Brasilia, 2016), Shabtis: Suspended Truth (Manchester Museum, 2017), and Egyptian Faience: An Alchemy for Afterlife (The Atkinson Art Center, UK, 2024). His work is held in international collections, including the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Parallel to his artistic career, Zahed has worked extensively in conservation and research. He has collaborated with the Petrie Museum and UCL on experimental archaeology, taught faience-making techniques, and contributed to several documentaries on ancient technologies (BBC, Discovery Channel, Science Channel).