The American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE), founded in 1948, supports research in Egypt on all phases of Egyptian civilization and culture, from earliest times to the present. To promote a wider understanding of the history, languages, art, and social systems of the Egyptian people, ARCE gives specialists in Egyptian and Middle Eastern studies the opportunity to work and study in Egypt and supports the dissemination of knowledge about Egypt through publications based on their research. Of particular importance in ARCE’s efforts is the strengthening of American-Egyptian cultural ties.

ARCE supports an extensive program of research fellowships, archaeological excavations and surveys, and historical and literary projects through its main office in Cairo and its U.S. office on the campus of Emory University in Atlanta. The Center facilitates more than a dozen ongoing archaeological projects annually and offers some fifteen fellowships in the humanities and social sciences each year. ARCE’s Simpson Library is used extensively by Egyptian and American scholars.

In 1993 and 1995 ARCE signed agreements with the U.S. Agency for International Development to conserve Egyptian antiquities. Carried out in collaboration with the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities, the conservation work covers sites and monuments from all periods of Egyptian history and includes major stonework projects in Upper Egypt as well as restoration of Islamic sites in Cairo and Coptic monasteries in the Eastern Desert.