Meet the team

and learn what they contribute

Discover Sudan! really is its people: the scholars who design and lead the tours, the members of the logistics staff who work 24/7 to make everything run smoothly.

They do not only bring their respective expertise to the trips, but also their in-depth knowledge of Sudan and their numerous contacts with other archaeologists, operators of hotels, resthouses and restaurants, guards, ferrymen and local residents. Their close cooperation and passion for what they do provide the scope for exceptional travel experiences.

It is very much like being on an expedition – only a highly committed and functioning team can make it a success.

Prof. Claudia Näser

Founder and CEO

Professor Claudia Näser is an archaeologist and Egyptologist with a research focus on the archaeology of Sudan. She holds an MPhil from the University of Cambridge and a PhD from Humboldt University Berlin. In 2004, she was appointed to a junior professorship in Northeast African Archaeology and Cultural Studies at Humboldt University.

Claudia has over twenty years of archaeological fieldwork experience in Egypt and Sudan. She is the head of the Mograt Island Archaeological Mission, which is exploring the archaeology of the largest island in the Nile. She also set up the Humboldt University Nubian Expedition, which conducted large-scale salvage work at the Fourth Nile Cataract in Sudan.  

From 2005 to 2015, she directed the Archaeological Mission to Musawwarat es-Sufra.

Claudia has published widely on her research. Currently, her focus is on establishing two new field projects in Sudan, writing a book on Egyptian funerary practices in Middle to New Kingdom Nubia and investigating the role of archaeological heritage in the Islamic world, with case studies in Egypt and Sudan.

Claudia is enthusiastic about sharing her knowledge of and love for Sudan with visitors from all over the globe. She enjoys touring the country and experiencing its beauty and its friendly people, waiting for you to join her …

Dr. Petra Weschenfelder

Archaeologist and anthropologist

Dr Petra Weschenfelder is an archaeologist and anthropologist specialising in Northeast Africa and North America. She holds an MA in Cultural Anthropology and Sudanese Archaeology from Free University and Humboldt University Berlin. Her PhD at Humboldt University was on the interaction between nomads from the Eastern Desert and sedentary groups in the Nile valley from antiquity into recent times.

Petra has taught at Humboldt University and worked as field archaeologist in Sudan, Egypt, Qatar, Germany, Poland and the UK. She was part of the Humboldt University Nubian Expedition as cultural anthropologist and pottery specialist.

Petra has published widely on her research and is a member of the editoral board of Dotawo: A Journal of Nubian Studies. Her current projects include medieval life in Northeast Africa, socioeconomic networks of mobility and translations of medieval Nubian documents.

Petra invites you to meet the fantastic people of Sudan and experience their colourful cultures. 

Jens Weschenfelder, MA

Archaeologist

Jens Weschenfelder, MA followed in the steps of his sister Petra. He studied Archaeology of Sudan and Prehistoric Archaeology at Free University and Humboldt University Berlin. His MA was on Kerma Bronze Age cemeteries at the Fourth Nile Cataract.

Jens has worked as a field archaeologist in Sudan, Egypt and Germany. He was a member of the Archaeological Mission to Musawwarat es-Sufra. Currently, he is part of the Mograt Island Archaeological Mission, where he directs the project component exploring the Kerma cemeteries on the island. He has published several papers on his research.

Jens is pursuing his PhD on the Bronze Age funerary landscape on Mograt Island at the Berlin Graduate School of Ancient Studies.

He is convinced that when you have experienced Sudan, you will never forget its fascinating culture and its wonderful people.

Mohamed Mohamed el-Tayeb Badri

Head of logistics

Mohamed Mohamed el-Tayeb Badri is from al-Obeid in Kordofan. He has worked as cook, driver and facilitator for archaeological missions and tourist companies for more than twenty years. Since 2013 he has served as head of logistics of the Mograt Island Archaeological Mission and the Archaeological Mission to Musawwarat es-Sufra. Mohamed knows every nook – and, it seems, almost everybody – in Sudan. He loves travelling, particularly in the desert. And he knows what it needs to make your trip through bustling Khartoum, on the roads along the Nile and into the loneliness of the deserts both, safe and enjoyable.