All events

     March 26, 2022: news from Dr. Hiba Qassar: "On Saturday 26^th of March, we organized a meeting between the American students from Palm Springs (fourth grade) and the Syrian students from Qamishli (sixth grade). The meeting started with a presentation by the American students in which they talked about their culture in general and what does it mean to them to be American. Then, the Syrian students presented the history of Urkesh. After that, Syrian and American participants exchanged questions regarding each other's culture, life, interests, etc. The meeting was full of passion and curiosity with questions about each country and participants enjoyed presenting their culture using music and other artistic forms.
     Further information about this event can be found here.
     For a wider description of this project, see at this link.

     March 23, 2022: a group on youngs from local schools involved in the "One-on-One" program, led by Amer Ahmad, visits Urkesh/Tell Mozan and fills the ancient site with music!
     A video of a young Syrian violinist playing inside the ābi is available here; a second performance of an emsemble of youngs performing on the monumental staircase of Urkesh can be viewed at this link.
     A PDF (by Dr. Hiba Qassar) describing the visit can be downloaded here (NB: the pictures referred to in this document are displayed at this link.
     Further pictures of the visit can be retrieved here.

     March 7, 2022 (Monday, UTC+01 7:00 PM): lecture, within the series Museums and Ancient Western Asia, Perspectives from the Middle East (Vorderasiatisches Museum SMB PK – London Centre for the Ancient Near East, LCANE), by Dr. Hiba Qassar, entitled "Whose heritage is this? The social role of archaeological patrimony in Syria".
     Through the seminar, Dr. Qassar will talk about the relationship between Syrians and archaeological patrimony. She will also focus on the importance of considering locals as main stakeholders in archaeological knowledge, bringing Urkesh as an example, in order to activate the social role of this patrimony. And finally, will bring the Urkesh "One-on-one" project as a concrete example in engaging youngsters in Syria in the archaeological heritage and its impact in creating a sense of ownership towards this heritage.

     On March 6, 2022, Marwan Midani and his son Dan visited the Buccellatis in Los Angeles, and together they talked at length about our projects currently underway in Syria, especially in light of the awarding of the Balzan Prize. Marwan has been close to our projects since the 80es when he was a student in Los Angeles, and then throughout his tenure in Syria as the CEO and Director of Business Development of Souria Holding. He still follows our work with the greatest of interests.

     Amer Ahmad has recently conducted a period of research (02/03/2022-02/10/2022) in Budapest (Hungary) to further develop his studies (within his MA program at Pázmány Péter Catholic University in Budapest) on unit A6 (Palace AP) of the archaeological site of Urkesh/Tell Mozan.
     A preliminary report of this unit has been published in UMS 6 (see pp. 49-50 and p. 65).
     A description of his research, entitled The kitchen of the royal palace of Tupkish at Urkesh (sector D): stratigraphy, typology and conservation, can be found at this link.

     On February 23, 2022, the Finnish Institute in Rome organised a lecture, within the Circolo Gianicolense research seminar, entitled "Looting and Illicit Trafficking of Antiquities in the Middle East and North Africa. Understanding the Minds and Motives of Looters, Traffickers and Dealers and Other Supply Chain Actors", delivered by Dr. Samer Abdel Ghafour.
     Dr. Abdel Ghafour presented cases on previous and recent looting in several countries in the MENA regions, where archaeological artefacts moved in the hands of looters, traffickers, dealers, art galleries, auction houses, and museums. An informative and rich discussion with the attendees followed the talk.

     On February 21, 2022, Prof. Giorgio Buccellati and Prof. Marilyn Kelly-Buccellati granted an interview to the radio broadcast "Darwin, l'evoluzione della scienza", on Radio24 (interviewer: Federico Pedrocchi).
     Presentation of the interview: "Urkesh is a 4500-year-old Hurrian city. The remains of this primitive civilization were discovered in northeastern Syria by a couple of archaeologists, Giorgio Buccellati and Marilyn Kelly-Buccellati. The International Balzan Foundation awarded the two archaeologists from the University of California Los Angeles the Prize for the Art and Archeology of the Ancient Near East. In 'Darwin' they tell us all the details of the discovery and some curiosities about how Agatha Christie inspired them".
     The podcast with the interview is available at this link.

     Giorgio Buccellati and Marilyn Kelly-Buccellati have been awarded with the "International Balzan Prize", for their achievements in the study of Hurrian culture and for highlighting its importance as the foundation of a great urban civilization, among the most flourishing in the ancient Near East in the third millennium BCE; for promoting a digital approach to the study of archaeology; for enhancing theoretical reflection on the nature of this discipline.

     Here below you can download:

• An extensive description of the "International Balzan Prize"
• A shorter information about the "International Balzan Prize"
• The formal citation regarding the "International Balzan Prize"
• The official nomination letters (in English and Italian) supporting Giorgio Buccellati's and Marilyn Kelly-Buccellati's application for the "International Balzan Prize"
• A short article (in Italian) announcing the assignment of the "International Balzan Prize" (on Askanews)

     Unusual images come from Tell Mozan. Our workers on the site have written to inform us about an unusual snowfall, which has whitewashed the entire area around the site.
     As you can see from the photos, the snow has covered the village of Mozan as well as the archaeological site of Urkesh. The pictures also show how, once again, our system of protection of the ancient structures has proved effective, protecting the walls of the ancient buildings.

     On Sunday June 6, 2021, the Urkesh/Tell Mozan team offered an online immersive tour to the site of Urkesh/Tell Mozan. The webinar was organized by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and consisted of 45 minutes actual visit to the excavations, in real-time, with a local archaeologist, Amer Ahmad, walking virtual visitors through the major monuments as they have been preserved during these ten years of war.
     Link to the video on the Urkesh You Tube channel.

     From November, 5 to December 4, 2020, the Association Rondine Cittadella della Pace implemented the project “Preserving Cultural Heritage”, that brought together 20 experts in cultural heritage and related professions from war-affected communities to train them in the basics of cultural heritage conservation, including during times of conflict and as a part of the conflict management process.
     Many members of the Tell Mozan/Urkesh archaeological project took part to a seminar on November, 27 which was entitled "Urkesh beyond Urkesh: the empowerment of cultural heritage during a conflict". For a description of this event, including a video-reportage of the entire initiative, look at this link.

     Eleni Gizas, our Greek colleague in Corinth who has been collaborating with AVASA and the Schools Project since 2019, wrote an article recently published in the Newsletter of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. In this text, Eleni describes her experience, first with the "Antonio Rosmini" High School in Domodossola and then with the new project "One-on-one".
     The article is now also available as a PDF file: see our "In the Media" page of the website.

     Two German journalists, visiting Syria for humanitarian purposes and to witness the current condition of the country, stopped today in Tell Mozan to visit the archaeological site, guided by Amer Ahmed.
     When they arrived in the region, their primary interest was not archaeology - but once they got in touch with Amer and arrived in Urkesh, they had to change their minds: they visited the whole area of the site with great interest, asking many questions about the activities which are still ongoing through the support of AVASA, IIMAS and the Tell Mozan/Urkesh Archaeological Project and especially expressing great admiration for the state of preservation of the ancient ruins.

     The Tell Mozan/Urkesh Archaeological Project will participate in the digital event "Heritage: Beyond Walls", on 24 March at 5 pm CET. This is a unique project offered to Syrian university students to help break down their isolation, encourage sharing and discussion, and raise awareness of how cultural heritage can be a resource in recovery and development processes.
     The initiative is promoted by the Fondazione Santagata for the Economics of Culture, a research foundation dedicated to research and training in the field of cultural heritage, creativity and innovation.
     Participation is open to anyone interested: to obtain the link to attend to the talk, please write to hbw@fondazionesantagata.it and ottavia.arenella@fondazionesantagata.it.

     Today we participated in the first phase of the "Champions Programme" organised by Europa Nostra, as winners of the ILUCIDARE 2020 Special Prize for heritage-led International Relations. Together with members and experts connected from all over the world, we discussed the challenges and strengths of our Schools Project, to grow our activities and improve for the future!
     Keep following our website, to be informed about the results of this first fruitful meeting....

     The video of the presentation given on February 24, entitled "Cultural Heritage? A Personal-Tale from Tell Mozan in Syria" and which featured project members connected from the United States, Italy, and Syria, is now entirely available online.
     The conference can be accessed on the YouTube channel of the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, at this link.

     Next Wednesday, February 24, there will be a new online conference on Urkesh: Professors Giorgio and Marilyn Buccellati will present "Cultural Heritage? A Personal-Tale from Tell Mozan in Syria", on the occasion of the "Pizza talks" organized by the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology of the University of California, Los Angeles.
     A description of the event and the registration form to obtain the link to attend the conference are available at this link.

     A recently published article, written by Arwa Kharobi, is now available in the "Articles" section of our website.
     The text, written in French, describes in detail for the first time the necropolis located in the upper town of Urkesh, where ca. a hundred tombs dating back to the beginning of the second millennium BC have been excavated. The archaeo-anthropological study carried out on this area sheds light on the funerary practices of this Mesopotamian region, also providing a complete picture of funerary concepts and the relationship with death in ancient Urkesh.

     A new paper, written by Marilyn Kelly Buccellati and now available on our website, discusses the importance of sifting the ground on an archaeological dig, to ensure that every small artefact can be correctly recognised, collected and analysed. The specific case-study described in this text is that of the valuable but fragile seal impressions found at Urkesh.
     When the archaeological expedition was still operational in the field at Tell Mozan, an experiment was carried out in which all the soil of a well defined area was firstly treated according to the usual excavation methods, and then carefully sifted in order to verify what had been lost 'with the naked eye'.

     A new paper by Roz Salzman entitled "Volume of Studies Honors Giorgio Buccellati and Marilyn Kelly-Buccellati" has been published on Backdirt 2020 (December), pp. 9-11.
     The paper presents the publication of the volume in honor of Giorgio Buccellati and Marilyn Kelly-Buccellati (SANEM 3); a short summary of the paper is available on Urkesh.org.
     The PDF of the paper can be found here.

     Today Federico Buccellati, Director of the Tell Mozan/Urkesh Archaeological Project, presents an important conference on Urkesh, as part of the seminar series organized by the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities.
      In this presentation, entitled "Considering Variation in Ancient Architecture: A Study in Architectural Energetics", Federico Buccellati will analyze the Royal Palace of Urkesh from an innovative and extremely significant perspective from an archaeological, economic and social point of view: a detailed abstract is available at this link.
     To follow the conference via Zoom simply click on the link available at the official webpage of the event.

     Today Profs. Marilyn Kelly-Buccellati and Giorgio Buccellati, with the participation of many other collaborators of AVASA and of the Tell Mozan/Urkesh Archaeological Project, have given a virtual lecture on the past, present and future of Urkesh.
     This event, which was part of the Bulletin of Near Eastern Excavations and Research organized by the Center for Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Studies (CAMNES) in Florence, has shown the multifaceted aspects of the community archaeology which are currently ongoing across the world, all focusing on the archaeological site of Urkesh. Thanks to the effort of our archaeologist in the field, the guard of the site and two more collaborators in situ, it has even been possible to arrange a "live tour" on the monumental staircase and the storage room of the Expedition House, in Tell Mozan.
     The lecture is now fully available on the organizer's Youtube channel, at this link.

     During the virtual European Heritage Awards Ceremony which took place yesterday, and which was followed by more than one thousand people via streaming across Europe and beyond, Mariya Gabriel (European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth) awarded the ILUCIDARE Special Prize 2020 for excellence in Heritage-led International Relations to our School Project.
     In awarding the prize, the Jury emphasised: "Through a shared vision of cultural heritage, Archaeology for a Young Future allows children, school staff and communities in Italy and Syria to forge bonds in a spirit of mutual understanding, respect and friendship. Its strong educational component and trans-generational impact can contribute to maintaining and improving relations between the two communities in the long-run. This bottom-up, easily replicable project demonstrates that heritage-led international relations can happen among people and communities on the ground, and are not exclusive of governments or international organisations". Our project has been identified as one of the "best practice examples for the heritage community as well as an inspiration for the broader worlds of innovation, entrepreneurship and international cooperation".
     Our heartfelt thanks go to all the educators, teachers and students who have contributed to the success of this project ever since its beginning in 2017 and in its development. Our activities continue today - now with even more enthusiasm and energy!

     The wait is almost over: the winners of the ILUCIDARE Special Prizes will be unveiled during the European Heritage Awards Ceremony to be held entirely online on November 10 2020 (17:00 CET).
     This virtual event, totally free of charge, is open to anyone who wants to participate to it - but registration is mandatory. In order to participate, personal contacts should be entered in the official Europa Nostra webpage: we invite you to do so, and to take part at this event that is so important for AVASA!

     Starting from today, our website offers you new important webpages, that describe the earliest phases of our new project for the youngsters: Urkesh "One-on-One".
     At this page you can now find a detailed description of this educational program, written by Hiba Qassar, who has also prepared some reports on the phases 0 and 1 of the project. Updates and further developments will be online soon!

     On 20 July 2020, the scientific results of the research on the archaeobotanical remains from Urkesh/Tell Mozan, carried out by Matteo Delle Donne (researcher at the University of Naples “L’Orientale” and ISMEO - Associazione Internazionale di Studi sul Mediterraneo e l’Oriente) have been presented at “The International Virtual Conference on Archaeology of Iran and Adjacent Regions”, organized by the Archaeological Sciences Research Centre, University of Sistan and Baluchhestan, Zahedan, Iran (20-21 July 2020).
     The paper entitled “The exploitation of plants at Tell Mozan (NE Syria) in 4th-3rd mill. BC” aimed at discussing how the results of the archaeobotanical studies at Tell Mozan/Urkesh shed new light on the ancient agriculture and food habits and, in particular, how they can contribute to the analysis of the relationship between local communities and the surrounding environment in the past.

     We are pleased to announce the call for the “Mozan/Urkesh Prize for Best Heritage Conservation Paper”.
     The prize is open to undergraduate students in the first and second year who are enrolled at Syrian universities and institutes from different disciplines: archaeology, history, literature, engineering, media, and tourism.
     The call for papers is available at this page.

     Today we have been informed that a fire raged yesterday in Mozan, coming from the nearby village of Umm-al-Rabia.
     The archaeologist in residence, Amer Ahmed, promptly called the the firefighters, who managed to control and eventually extinguish the fire. Then, our workmen immediately controlled the ancient structures on the tell as well as the house used by the mission, and they informed us that luckily they have suffered no damage.
      For a gallery of images of yesterday night's fire click here.

     The volume in honor of Giorgio Buccellati and Marilyn Kelly-Buccellati, whose publication was announced on January 7th, is now available in digital format in the "publications" page of our website.
      The volume edited by Stefano Valentini and Guido Guarducci, entitled Between Syria and the highlands. Studies in honor of Giorgio Buccellati & Marilyn Kelly-Buccellati, contains 42 articles written by 51 scholars - reflecting the many research interests on which the professors' studies and publications have spanned throughout their long and rich careers.

     This morning, the Director of AVASA took part to a virtual "get together" whose purpose was to congratulate AVASA and all the other representatives of the projects which have been shortlisted for one of the ILUCIDARE Special Prizes. At the meeting were present Sneška Quaedvlieg-Mihailovic (Secretary General of Europa Nostra), Emanuela de Menna (Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, European Commission), Koen Van Balen (Coordinator of H2020 ILUCIDARE Project), Laurent Lévi-Strauss (Chair of ILUCIDARE Jury), and other representatives from the ILUCIDARE consortium, including Europa Nostra.
     During this informal online meeting, the representatives of each shortlisted project shared his/her message for Europe, and explained what being shortlisted for the ILUCIDARE Special Prizes means for his/her project, looking at the future and at possible further developments. From their part, the members of Europa Nostra shared with us the European Heritage Alliance Manifesto and the report entitled "The Cultural Heritage Counts for Europe".

     The Advisory Working Group for the Promotion of Italian Culture and Language Abroad - Archaeological Missions, of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has awarded a funding for the activities of the Tell Mozan/Urkesh Archaeological Project that will take place during 2020.
     The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been supporting Italian archaeological, anthropological and ethnological missions abroad for many years, in the firm belief that such missions are not only an important scientific and study activity, but also a valuable tool for training local stakeholders in the field of archaeology, restoration as well as protection of cultural heritage. It is therefore highly significant for AVASA to have received this governmental recognition at the highest level, a recognition that fully validates our commitment to intercultural dialogue and local development policies.
     The Director of the Mozan/Urkesh Archaeological Project, Federico Buccellati, has written a report on the activities that will be funded by the contribution of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is available at this link.