Excavation at Banbhore
2011 - 2017

Three seasons of work of documentation & Excavation at the site of Banbhore, as Co-Director, French-Italian Archaeological Mission

As Assistant Director, Exploration & Excavation Branch, Karachi

• Planned numerous excavation and exploration tours of which, the explorations in Kanrach and Saruna valleys in Baluchistan province of Pakistan deserve a mention.
• As Departmental Representative in 1998, coordinated with the French Archaeological Mission and conducted excavation at Shahi Tump, a site in Turbat, Baluchistan.
• As Departmental Representative in 1990, coordinated with the French Archaeological Mission and conducted excavation at Ratto Kot, a site at the Indus Delta.
• Conducted exploration of arid area and coastal belt of Sindh and Baluchistan in order to find sites of stone-carved graves. To date, some 200 sites and graveyards that were previously unexplored, have been studied.
• Planned and presented numerous projects for extensive excavations of sites such as Mansurah (Sindh), Lakian jo Daro (Sindh) etc.
• Co-Director, German Pakistan Archeological Mission to Baluchistan (Kalat), under which excavating at the site of Nal, Baluchistan (2001-2003).
• As Project Director, Archaeological Survey of Sindh, carried out the documentation of archaeological and historical heritage of Sindh, a publication, digitalizing the data as well as maps etc. were prepared, and also for website of Archaeological sites of Sindh province.
• As Incharge Exploration & Excavation Branch, computerized all the data available in the branch about different sites of Pakistan, such as topographic sheets, drawings etc. and Cataloguing of the antiquities.

Persian Mummy

Dr. Asma Ibrahim became the custodian of the infamous mummy discovered in Balochistan in 2000, that had made headlines in the international media. It became the subject of the BBC Horizons' documentary, `The Mystery of the Persian Mummy,' in which she, as the curator, and the mummy, were the central characters. It documented over a year the investigation behind the strange Iranian mummy, that was claimed to be of an ancient Persian princess, over 2,600 years old, wearing an exquisite golden crown and mask, encased in a carved stone coffin placed inside a wooden sarcophagus.

Details

FEW RESEARCH PROJECTS

• Ancient DNA analysis of skeletal material from Sarai Khola, David Reich, Department of Genetics Harvard Medical School https://reich.hms.harvard.edu/- 2019( ongoing)
• Prof. Robert Brill, (Retd), Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, USA working on the strontium analysis in glass objects discovered from Banbhore, Sindh.
• University of LA, USA working on the dental casts of the Baluchi Tribes.
• Assisted in developing format for cataloguing various artifacts, Manuscripts etc. and introduced same in the Journal" The Archaeological Review"
• Developed system of documentation of physical remains, with special reference to the richly carved graves.
• Developed access system for the huge pottery excavated from Banbhore (1956-1964), and staked same at site stores.
• Studied and documented Banbhore Pottery.
• Designed and developed exhibit system, and harmless and efficient lighting for extra-ordinary large murals, in State Bank Museum and Art Gallery.

Collaborative Works with Foreign Archaeological Missions

SOME EXTRA ORDINARY CONTRIBUTIONS IN THE FIELD OF HERITAGE OF PAKISTAN

• Discovered an underwater city, in Indus delta, which was not recorded in the historical records, could prove to be a clue to solve the mystery of Banbhore/Debal.
• Exposed the International gang of forgers who were involved in unethical trade of making fake mummies and selling them.

CONSERVATION & PRESERVATION OF HERITAGE& PAINTINGS

• Conservation of a graveyard 'Rumi' under the conservation support program from SUMITOMO FOUNDATION and developed this site as a tourist resort and attraction place with the funding of the SEAS Pakistan
• Conservation of the heritage building of Imperial Bank of India, built in 1920, for re adaption as a Museum.
• Conservation of Mural painting by a famous artist of Pakistan, Zahoorul Ikhlaq, trained young conservationist with the help of skype, with the collaboration with Indian institute for conservation of Painting (size 22x10 ft), the painting was donated by a philanthropist in a very bad condition.
• Conservation of Varun Dev Temple, Manora, under US Ambassador's Fund for Preservation of Cultural Heritage.
• Received a grant from US Ambassador’s Fund for Preservation of Cultural Heritag 2019-20, for the Nusserwanji building, Indus Valley School of Art & Architecture, Karachi, Pakistan