Twice a year, Dr Woods, 25, travels from her home in Kyle Bay to work on an archaeological dig at the ancient cemetery of Saqqara, about an hour's drive from Cairo.

The recently appointed associate lecturer in Egyptology at Macquarie University's department of ancient history is among a team of experts from the university working in the cemetery of King Teti, who ruled about 2450BC.

Her job is to study and record the tomb paintings of the king's officials.

She recently presented her findings at the 10th International Congress of Egyptologists on the Greek island of Rhodes. The event is held every four years and attended by more than 500 of the world's leading Egyptologists.

Dr Woods spoke on her technique of dating tombs from Egypt's old kingdom (2700BC to 2300BC) by studying the art and inscriptions in their tombs.

Many of these ancient tomb paintings show scenes of everyday life from thousands of years ago.

She has found many similarities between ancient Egyptian and modern Australian culture. ``We have a structured society and they were very much the same,'' she said.

"They were very family-orientated. In all their tombs they listed the names of not only their parents but all their brothers and sisters.

"They did good deeds in this life so that they would have a good afterlife.

"They loved the natural landscape and they were very proud of their culture.

"By contrast, our history is not that old but we have a unique culture of our own.

"The ancient Egyptians were proud of their own history and they show us that we should be proud of ours.''