She obtained her B.A. and M.A. in Archaeology at the American University of Beirut and then went on to complete a doctorate at the University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne. Her thesis, entitled "Anthrophomorphic figurines in bronze age Syria" was completed in 1976, published in 1980 and has become a reference book on the subject. She has also lectured at the Louvre, Institute of the Arab World in Paris and at several international conferences.[2]