 Professor al-Ansary is the founder of the rediscovery of archeological site of Qaryat al-Fau.Professor al-Ansary earned a bachelor's degree in Arabic language and literature from Cairo University in 1960 and a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the department of Semitic Studies of the University of Leeds in 1966.During his doctoral studies, he focused on the comparative study of Lihynite personal names and trained at archeological excavations with his thesis supervisor at Durham University and Motya, Sicily, and with Professor Kathleen Kenyon in Jerusalem in 1966.