Tour leaders

Ralph Ellis began his career as a software engineer, but moved into the equally technical spheres of mineral surveying, aviation, engineer, and palaeoclimatology, but always maintained and built upon the archaeological interests and research of his father.

As a historian, Ralph has toured the Mediterranean for more than three decades searching for secular similarities and parallels between the apparently disparate disciplines of history and theology. And the research has been very fruitful with many new fundamental discoveries being made, mostly in Egypt. This painstaking and complex historical crossword puzzle has taken more than two decades to put together, but at last the historical identities of Torah and Gospel events can emerge from their millennial shadows.

Ted Loukes is an independent researcher with a passion for ancient civilizations. His fascination with Ancient Egypt began when he was ten years old with a visit to the British Museum and the Treasures of Tutankhamun, a fascination that has stayed with him.

In 2011, he started a blog focussing on various mysteries and unexplained stories, past and present, and came across the suggestion of a link between the pharaoh Akhenaten and the biblical Moses. This blog post grew into the beginnings of a book, and he knew he had to go to Egypt.

In December 2012 he arrived in Cairo, just in time for the prophesized end of the world. He was on a package tour, to be followed by a week on his own which included some time in Amarna. That was it, Egypt captured him, heart and soul.

He returned in 2013 to take photographs for his planned book about Moses and Akhenaten. After publishing Moses and Akhenaten : Brothers in Alms, in 2015, his passion for Egypt led to the creation in 2018 of GnT Tours. His latest book Forty Days in Egypt in the Time of Corona was a result of getting stranded in Egypt as the world went into lockdown with Covid19.

Dr Micki Pistorius' is a South African psychologist, author and journalist. After completing her BA degree, she worked as a journalist in printed and television media for 8 years, when she was elected in the University of Pretoria's psychology programme. She completed her doctorate's degree in psychology and was immediately appointed as psychological profiler in the South African Police Service. After resigning from the SAPS, she returned to journalism and worked for a television production company, writing scripts and producing documentaries for a few years. Then she opened her private practice as psychologist. She continued training and presenting lectures on international podia. Micki never gave up on her calling as a writer and authored 7 books, and her autobiography, 'Catch me a Killer' became a best seller. By 2010 her passion for ancient antiquity inspired her to undertake an Honours degree in Biblical Archaeology.

Alicia McDermott is one of the researchers, editors, and writers at Ancient Origins. She has degrees in Anthropology, International Development Studies, and Psychology and sees herself as a lifelong learner with an open mind.

Alicia has worked in various fields such as education, tourism, and anthropology. Traveling throughout Bolivia and Peru, as well as all-over Ecuador, Alicia has increased her knowledge of Pre-Colombian sites as well as learning more about modern Andean cultures and fine-tuning her Spanish skills. Alicia has had a passion for writing since she was a child and apart from creative writing, she has written various essays about Latin American social issues and archaeological sites.

Dr Alistair Coombs has longstanding experience with the rich and mysterious prehistory of Turkey's past and what sense can be made of it today. His key areas of interest concern Neolithic transitions, religious movements, archaeoastronomy and environmental impacts on human behaviour. He is delighted to be able to guide visitors to the treasures of some of the region's best known archaeological sites and explore with them the impact they are having on ancient history and the human story.