Dr Abigail R. Zammit is Senior Lecturer in Classical Hebrew and Northwest Semitic Epigraphy at the Department of Middle Eastern & Asian Languages & Cultures. Her specialisations comprise Northwest Semitic epigraphy and philology, and related archaeology of the Levant and of the ancient Mediterranean.

Before joining the Department, first as visiting lecturer in 2017-2019, Dr Zammit trained in archaeological research and practice. She graduated with a B.A. (Hons) and a M.A. in Archaeology from the University of Malta, with her M.A. research focusing on an analysis of the continuity of Punic culture in Roman Malta, Sicily, and Pantelleria.

In 2011 she was awarded an Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies (OCHJS) Scholarship in order to read for a M.St. degree in Jewish Studies at the University of Oxford, where she honed her training in Classical Hebrew. In 2012 she was awarded a scholarship from the Malta Government Scholarship Scheme (MGSS) to pursue her doctorate (D.Phil) in Oriental Studies at the University of Oxford. Her doctoral dissertation re-investigated the inscribed ceramic sherds known as "Lachish Letters" in a holistic manner, combining epigraphic, archaeological, and archival data, in order to understand the inscriptions' role and significance during the last days of pre-exilic Judah (precisely during the late 7th - early 6th centuries BCE). Her doctoral research was further aided by travel grants from the Anglo-Israel Archaeological Society, the Carr and Stahl Fund, and the Palestine Exploration Fund for a research visit in Israel in 2015.

Affiliations
- Member of the Anglo-Israel Archaeological Society (AIAS)
- Member of the Archaeological Society Malta (ASM)
- Member of the Palestine Exploration Fund (PEF)

Certification
- Certified Adult & Pediatric First-Aider, St John Ambulance Malta (29 Mar 2022 - 28 Mar
2025; renewed 7 Nov 2025 - 6 Nov 2028)
- Certified Fire Warden, St John Rescue Corps Malta (6 July 2022 - 5 July 2025; renewed 25
June 2025 - 24 June 2028)
- Certified Mental Health First-Aider, Richmond Foundation (9 Aug 2022 - 8 Aug 2025; renewed
30 June 2025 - 29 June 2028)

Research in progress
Current and forthcoming research focuses on archival investigation and epigraphic analysis of
unprovenanced inscriptions, including material from the Maltese islands, Sardinia, and
Pantelleria. This work examines the historiography, dating, and interpretation of Phoenician,
Punic, and Neo-Punic inscriptions lacking secure archaeological contexts, while also
documenting scattered inscriptions through bibliographic studies and assessing their
transmission in historical drawings, etchings, and apographs.

Parallel archival research addresses artefacts recovered without reliable archaeological
documentation, including the Egyptian stelae discovered at Bighi in 1829 and the inscribed
gold leaf found within an amulet from a tomb at Għar Barka, Rabat (Malta), in 1693.
Additional research explores Egyptian hieroglyphs, funerary formulae, and the visual culture
of ancient Egyptian funerary stelae.

Social Media
- Administrator: Facebook page on “Northwest Semitic Epigraphy”, aimed towards the sharing of
knowledge about Northwest Semitic languages and inscriptions, and related history and
archaeology @NWSemiticEpigraphy (https://www.facebook.com/NWSemiticEpigraphy)