Chau Chak Wing Museum

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Melanie Pitkin

Senior Curator, Nicholson Collection (Antiquities and Archaeology)

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BAncHist (Hons), MQ, MMusStud (Merit), Syd., PhD MQ.

Melanie Pitkin is Senior Curator of the Nicholson Collection of antiquities and archaeology at the Chau Chak Wing Museum. She has extensive experience working in museums in Australia and the United Kingdom, and providing support to colleagues at museums in Egypt.

Melanie holds a PhD in Egyptology and an honours degree in ancient history from Macquarie University, and a Masters in Museum Studies from the University of Sydney.

Prior to joining the Museum in February 2022, Melanie worked as a Postdoctoral Research Associate (Egyptian Antiquities) at the Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge, playing a key role in the Museum’s cutting-edge, interdisciplinary research into its ancient Egyptian coffins. Prior to this she worked for more than a decade at the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, Sydney. 

Research interests

  • Egypt in the First Intermediate Period
  • Egyptian funerary stelae
  • Egyptian coffins 
  • Funerary archaeology
  • Reused, recycled and modified objects from ancient Egypt
  • Experimental archaeology
  • Community outreach 
  • Museum curatorial practice 
  • Ethical care and treatment of human remains
  • Provenance and the legacies of collecting and displaying antiquities' collections

Current projects

Melanie supervises student internships for the University of Sydney’s Museum and Heritage Studies programme and related degrees.

  • Affiliated Researcher, Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge
  • Honorary Associate, Department of Archaeology, University of Sydney
  • Secretary, Comité international pour l’égyptologie (CIPEG)
  • Editorial board, CIPEG journal
  • Editorial board, Meditarch
  • Editorial board, BAR Publishing (Archaeology of Egypt and Sudan series)
  • Member, Egypt Exploration Society
  • Member, International Association of Egyptologists
  • Member, ICOM Australia

  • University of Sydney Chancellor's Committee Funding - $7409.60, 2024
  • Macquarie University CACHE Postdoctoral Research Fellow - $5000, 2022
  • Career Support Fund, University of Cambridge - £7400, 2021
  • Global Challenges Research Fund (Travel and Networking Fund – with Helen Strudwick, Julie Dawson, Lucy Wrapson and Daniel Pett) - £69,347, 2020
  • University of Cambridge’s Vice-Chancellor’s Research Impact and Engagement Award (Collaboration Category – with Helen Strudwick and Julie Dawson) - £1000, 2019
  • AHRC Creative Economy Engagement Fellowship - £50,389.50, 2019
  • Global Challenges Research Fund (Travel and Networking Fund – with Helen Strudwick and Julie Dawson) - £42,149, 2018
  • Arts and Humanities Impact Fund, University of Cambridge (with Helen Strudwick and Julie Dawson) - £9998, 2018
  • Cambridge Humanities Research Grant (with Helen Strudwick) - £15,341, 2018
  • Marlay Research Travel Grant, Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge - £680, 2018
  • Egypt Exploration Society Cairo Fellow - £5000, 2016
  • Michelle McLean Egyptology Travelling Scholarship - $1500, 2015
  • Macquarie University Postgraduate Research Grant - $2000, 2014
  • Macquarie University Ancient History Research Grants - $5000, 2009-2011

Books

  • Pitkin, Melanie, Egypt in the First Intermediate Period: The history and chronology of its false doors and stelae, Golden House Publishing (Middle Kingdom Series) (London, 2023).

Edited books

  • Pitkin, Melanie, Stanton, Pauline, Di Biase-Dyson, Camilla and Guerry, Eve (eds)., Egyptian stelae in the Chau Chak Wing Museum, Sydney: their history, production and usage in context (Abercromby Press, in preparation).
  • Pitkin, Melanie (ed), The Overseer of Works in Memphis and Thebes. Studies in Honour of Nigel Strudwick, Abercromby Press (Wallasey, 2023).

Book chapters

  • Pitkin, Melanie, Carruthers, Jacinta, Cecilia, Rafiela, Doubleday, Alexandra and Power, Ronika., “Innovative approaches to caring for ancient Egyptian mummified human remains at the Chau Chak Wing Museum, Sydney” in C. Richards and E. Minchin, Mediterranean Collections in Australia and Aotearoa: Perspectives from Afar (Routledge, 2025), Ch. 18, pp. 300-316.
  • Richards, Candace, Pitkin, Melanie, Thogersen, Jane, Guerry, Eve and Donnelly, Paul., “An Evolving University Museum Paradigm: Case Studies of Broadening Participation with the Mediterranean Collections at the Chau Chak Wing Museum” in C. Richards and E. Minchin, Mediterranean Collections in Australia and Aotearoa: Perspectives from Afar (Routledge, 2025), Ch. 13, pp. 212-233.
  • Pett, Daniel, Cooper, Catriona, Glen, Abigail, Pitkin, Melanie & Wexler, Jennifer, “Fad Touch: The value of creative industry collaboration in 3D printing and associated technologies for public engagement” in Cheng, E, Chapman, H, Gaffney, V & Wilson, A (eds.)., Visual Heritage: Digital Reproduction and Contextualization in Heritage Science (Springer Series on Cultural Computing), 2021, ISBN 978-3-030-77028-0): 431-448. Read chapter here.

Peer-reviewed articles

  • Carruthers, J., Pitkin, M., Cecilia, R. and Power, R., (2025), "Varied Voices: A Case Study of Visitor Perceptions of the Display of Ancient Egyptian Human Remains Within an Australian Museum Context", Curator: The Museum Journal (2025). Read article here.
  • Pitkin, Melanie, Strudwick, Helen, Ravioli, Flavia, Emmett, Trevor. F & Beesley, Matthew., “Re-examining the false door of Hemi-Ra from the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge” in Pitkin, Melanie (ed), The Overseer of Works in Memphis and Thebes. Studies in Honour of Nigel Strudwick, Abercromby Press (Wallasey 2023).
  • Pitkin, Melanie, Strudwick, Helen, Dawson, Julie & Hany Abed, Sara, “Engaging audiences in areas of low cultural provision: the concept of the ‘Pop-Up’ museum experience”, CIPEG Journal (Issue no. 4, 2020). Read article here.
  • Pitkin, Melanie, ‘Wedjat-eyes as a dating criterion for false doors and stelae to the early Middle Kingdom’ in Proceedings of the XIth International Congress for Egyptologists, Florence, Italy 23- 30 August 2015 (Oxford, 2017): 499-506.
  • Pitkin, Melanie, “The distribution and dating of Egyptian false doors and funerary stelae of the First Intermediate Period” in Proceedings of the XVth Current Research in Egyptology (CRE) conference in London, England, April 9-12, 2014 (Oxford, 2015): 261-277.
  • Pitkin, Melanie, “Invisible History: The First Intermediate Period in UK Museums” in Knoblauch, C & Gill, J (eds.)., Egyptology in Australia and New Zealand 2009: Proceedings of the Conference Held in Melbourne September 4-6, 2009 (BAR series, 2012): 125-133.

Online resources

  • Archaeologist, South and North Tombs Cemeteries, Tell el-Amarna, Egypt under the Direction of Dr Anna Stevens (2012, 2013, 2015 and 2018 seasons).
  • Member, Amarna small finds digitisation project under the Direction of Dr Anna Stevens and Professor Barry Kemp (2012 and 2013 seasons).
  • Epigrapher, Teti Pyramid Complex (tombs of Mereruka and Inumin), Saqqara, Egypt under the Direction of Professor Naguib Kanawati (2005 season).

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Human Remains Research Project

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