São Paulo – A granddaughter of Lebanese immigrants is part of a team of archeologists and Egyptologists that help spreading the history of Ancient Egypt in Brazil. Brazilian-born Flavia Haddad studied Egyptology and Egyptian archeology for 10 years in Paris, France, a city that is a rallying point for researchers in the field, and came back to Brazil determined to take the history of the cradle of civilization closer to those who have little access to it.
“As the first state in our planet, humanity’s first civilization, at 3,000 years old, Egypt went through several periods of prosperity, invasions, chaos, domestic wars, and they show us how to overcome it through Maat philosophy, order, justice and truth. Maat was both an Egyptian goddess and a philosophy. Through this philosophy, they managed to create a whole empire,” she said.
Flavia wrote a book on Egyptology, gives free courses and lectures, prepares groups of tourists bound to Egypt and spread the subject through social media, websites and other medias with her own material or interviews. Her focus and passion are the great public.
“I want to share this knowledge to those who won’t have access to it so soon,” she told ANBA, describing the myths in Brazil around the Ancient Egypt topic and the few updated books available. On her return from France, one of her goals had been teaching Egyptology in public schools for free, but bureaucracy kept the project from going forward.
Egyptology came suddenly into Haddad’s live. With a degree in Electrotechnical Engineering, she always enjoyed physics and math and had a well-established career in Autolatina, a trade partner of Ford and Volkswagen that existed until 1996 in Brazil, when she decided to drop it all and study Ancient Egypt. “I was still with Autolatina when I felt deeply interested in Egypt, something I can’t explain,” she said.
Haddad left everything and went to France, first to stay for six months. But she delayed her return. Already fluent in English and Italian, she studied French and started studying Egyptology in Sorbonne and Egyptian Archeology at École du Louvre, where she got her degree in 2005 and 2006 respectively. She came back to Brazil after 11 years.
From her years of study came the book “Shaana, La Fille du Pharaon,” published in French by the French publishing house Arnaud Franel. The book talks about a time in Ancient Egypt that is not well known where the pharaohs were poor. It’s a time where Egypt was deep in chaos,” she said. The book is about the life of a princess who becomes queen of Egypt at the end of those troubled times.
Daughter of a pharaoh, Shaana is a teenage girl who learns about Egypt until she’s crowned as a queen at 15. It’s a non-fiction work based on Haddad’s studies in Paris, tough it’s not for Egyptologists but rather laypersons, including young people. The book rights are owned by the French publishing house, but Haddad has negotiated with it and now searches for a Brazilian publishing house to publish it in Portuguese.
The book was published after seven years of daily research and writings. “I find a great passion in studying, assembling this puzzle that is Egyptian history, which is still to be assembled,” she said. Besides her academic and hieroglyph researches, Haddad also spent two periods working with archeology in Egypt.
The Egyptologist is also featured in other French book, “Pourquoi j’écris,” where 50 Lebanese or Lebanese-descendant francophone authors talk about why they write. The work was released in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Beirut Book Fair in Lebanon, and Haddad was invited to participate in the book.
Flavia’s Lebanon
The Brazilian author is the granddaughter of Lebanese paternal grandparents and Italian maternal grandparents. “Both my Lebanese and my Italian side are great examples of overcoming hardships, hard work, and victories,” she said. Her Lebanese grandfather moved to Brazil because of a war, worked in trade and then became a farmer, growing coffee and sugarcane and raising cattle. “My grandmother was a housewife, made a wonderful curd,” she said. Her maternal grandfather was a doctor.
Haddad said that she visits Lebanon at least once a year, where she has family and dear friends. “I love Lebanon, one of my best friends is Lebanese. It has been 20 years since I go to Lebanon. Every time I go to Paris, I go to Beirut. I once went to Beirut to celebrate my birthday with my friends,” she recalled.
In Brazil, Flavia’s professional mission is focused on spreading Egyptology. Her classes and lectures cover several topics on Ancient Egypt from pyramids to Ramesses II, Akhenaton, Nefertiti, ancient medicine and magic. “Egypt is history mixed with magic. There’s a whole mystery around this civilization that entices us. It’s the cradle of humankind and we’re subconsciously attracted to it,” she said.
Flavia writes on the website of the Egyptian consulate in São Paulo and produces content for Rádio Cairo. Some of her lectures are sponsored by the consulate. Her social media (see below) are also used to share some knowledge on Ancient Egypt. Her prep courses for tourists are given either via agencies or direct contact with groups and individuals. She’s open for new ideas of lectures, courses and group preparation (contacts below).
Contact
Egyptologist Flavia Haddad
Flavia Haddad’s website
Facebook here
Instagram here
Linkedin here
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
