Asma Ibrahim

Asma Ibrahim is a Pakistani Archaeologist and Museologist, who is currently Director of the Museum and Art Gallery Department for the State Bank of Pakistan. Ibrahim has previously served as the curator of the National Museum of Pakistan.

Early life

Asma’s father died when she was 13. After his death, she was illegally evicted from her home along with her mother and five siblings. She worked as a door-to-door electricity metre reader to pay for her studies.[1]

Education

Asma graduated in Microbiology, Zoology, and Chemistry from the University of Karachi.[2] She was interested in Archaeology but there was no Archaeology department at the University of Karachi so she opted for a Master's degree in History. This allowed her to take Archaeology as an option in her second year. She graduated with a gold medal.[3]

She attended a course at the Lahore Museum by Ahmed Hasan Dani, an authority on Central Asian and South Asian Archaeology and History. On Dani’s advice, she pursued a PhD in General History (Numismatics).[4] Ibrahim's concentration was on Numismatics, specifically on Indo-Greek Kingdom coinage in Sindh and Balochistan.

Asma was the recipient of a Fulbright scholarship for a post-doctorate degree in 'Ancient Human Remain' at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

She took a two-year course in Anatomy from the Agha Khan University and Hospital.[5]

Career

After completing her Master’s degree in History from The University of Karachi, Asma sought a job at the Department of Archaeology and Museums within the Pakistani government but there was no space for a woman in that department.[4]

She became an editor for Far Eastern Publication in 1986 and authored two course books on Social Sciences and Ancient History for pupils of grade 4 and 5. She served as an editor for Travelog International and a sub-editor for Tribune Daily. She was also a freelance writer for Dawn.[2]

Eventually, the Federal Public Service Commission announced an open position for Curator or Assistant Director at the Department of Archaeology and Museums. Asma was selected for the position because of her qualifications and sent to work in the Explorations and Excavation branch. She would be periodically transferred to work in the National Museum as well.

She went on her first excavations with a French team that was headed by a female archaeologist.[3]

Fake mummy case

In 2000, [6] when she was working as a curator in the National Museum, the Sindh Police contacted her about a smuggler who had acquired 3 mummies from Iran, and was planning to sell them at a profit. The police had recovered one of the mummies and asked her to examine it. Asma noticed it had started growing fungus; this was an indication that it was a fresh body that had not been preserved properly.

The mummy was claimed to be of an ancient Persian princess, over 2,600 years old, that had been encased in a carved stone coffin and placed inside a wooden sarcophagus.[4] The mummy was taken to the museum. An Iranian delegation tried take it away as they believed it was real. However, Asma had seen the CT scan which showed that typical methods of mummification had not been used, leading her to conclude that the mummy was fake.

For a year, she worked with an English Forensic pathologist to prove that the mummy was fake. They used relative dating and scientific analysis to conclude that the ‘mummy’ belonged to a female who had been murdered in 1996.[2]


Asma is the President of the Karachi Conference Foundation.[4]

In 1989, she formed a non-governmental organization (NGO) with Kaleemullah Lashari [7] called The Sindh Exploration and Adventure Society, which does conservation work and documentation of heritage.[2][4]

The Centre for Archaeological and Environmental Research

She established the Centre for Archaeological and Environmental Research, an NGO. The centre includes a conservation laboratory, a library, and a documentation cell, where archivists document heritage through photography, videos and drawings. It also trains people in Pakistani arts and crafts that are on the verge of dying out.[3]

State Bank of Pakistan Museum

She joined the State Bank of Pakistan in 2006 and was tasked with setting up its museum. Under Asma’s leadership, the original plan of the museum was expanded to include an art gallery that features works by world-renowned artists from Pakistan. Currently, she is the Director of the Museum and Art Gallery Department at State Bank.[2]

She has served as a consultant for the Oxford University Press Karachi Museum, Thatta Museum, Sindh Police Museum [3] and the Mukhi House museum.[2]

Publications
  • State Bank of Pakistan museum guide book, 2011
  • Coins of Nadir Shah & Afghan rulers in State Bank Museum, 2015

References
  1. "Archaeologist jumps over hoops to pursue her passions". The Express Tribune.
  2. "Archaeologist-Museologist: Asma Ibrahim | artnow". Retrieved 2020-12-04.
  3. "'The greatest risk to our heritage is ignorance' | British Council". www.britishcouncil.org. Retrieved 2020-12-04.
  4. Naqvi, Rizwana (2017-10-29). "I said no to marriage and dedicated my life to archaeology, says Dr Asma Ibrahim, curator of State Bank museum". Images. Retrieved 2020-12-04.
  5. "Interview: Dr. Asma Ibrahim". Newsline. Retrieved 2018-04-12.
  6. "Cultural crime: Asma Ibrahim narrates the sad tale of antiquities being stolen". The Express Tribune. 2017-05-09. Retrieved 2020-12-04.
  7. "Interview: International Visitors Programme". @GI_weltweit. Retrieved 2020-12-04.
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