Archaeobotany, or the study of archaeological plant remains, has a long history in Egypt, but is still little known, even to mainstream Egyptian archaeologists.

Mennat-Allah El Dorry, head of the Scientific Office of the Ministry of Antiquities, and also an archaeobotanist, explained that a meeting to be held at Prince Muhammad Aly's Palace in Manial Wednesday comes as part of the ministry's plans to establish an archaeobotanical research unit at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation. 

"This is the first meeting for archaeobotanists to present their current research in Egypt, and will feature several lectures presenting research on plants excavated from Neolithic, Pharaonic and monastic sites across Egypt," she said. 

El-Dorry hopes that the meeting will promote archaeobotany amongst archaeologists working in Egypt and encourage them to undertake analysis of archaeological plant remains.