Silvia Festuccia
Adjunct Professor of Archaeology and History of Art of the Ancient Near East at Roma Tre University and at the School of Specialization in Archaeological Heritage at Suor Orsola Benincasa University, Naples, and Luigi Vanvitelli University of Campania, and Salento University. She holds a PhD in Architecture and Heritage from Alfonso X El Sabio University, Madrid, as well as an MA and a Specialization Degree in Near Eastern Archaeology from Sapienza University of Rome.
Currently, she is the Director of the Multidisciplinary Archaeological Project in Maasser el-Shouf - Qalaat el-Hosn (MeSAP), co-directed by Myriam Ziadé (Directorate General of Antiquities, Lebanon) and co-financed by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. She is an Expert Archaeologist with the Technical Secretariat of the Special Superintendency for the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) at the Italian Ministry of Culture.
Her extensive field experience includes participation in numerous archaeological missions, where she has directed excavation areas and surveys at prominent sites such as Ebla/Tell Mardikh, Tell Tuqan, and Tell Denit (Syria); Monastiraki (Crete); Kharayeb and Jemjim (Lebanon); Aouam (Morocco); Shahr-i Sokhta (Iran); and Arslantepe (Turkey). She has also collaborated on underwater archaeological projects, overseeing coastal and underwater surveys in Italy and Lebanon.
Her research focuses on urbanization processes and metallurgy in Western Asia and the Eastern Mediterranean pre-Classical civilisations. She has contributed to international conferences and published extensively on the results of her archaeological work in Western Asia, Eastern Mediterranean, and Italy.
Currently, she is the Director of the Multidisciplinary Archaeological Project in Maasser el-Shouf - Qalaat el-Hosn (MeSAP), co-directed by Myriam Ziadé (Directorate General of Antiquities, Lebanon) and co-financed by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. She is an Expert Archaeologist with the Technical Secretariat of the Special Superintendency for the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) at the Italian Ministry of Culture.
Her extensive field experience includes participation in numerous archaeological missions, where she has directed excavation areas and surveys at prominent sites such as Ebla/Tell Mardikh, Tell Tuqan, and Tell Denit (Syria); Monastiraki (Crete); Kharayeb and Jemjim (Lebanon); Aouam (Morocco); Shahr-i Sokhta (Iran); and Arslantepe (Turkey). She has also collaborated on underwater archaeological projects, overseeing coastal and underwater surveys in Italy and Lebanon.
Her research focuses on urbanization processes and metallurgy in Western Asia and the Eastern Mediterranean pre-Classical civilisations. She has contributed to international conferences and published extensively on the results of her archaeological work in Western Asia, Eastern Mediterranean, and Italy.
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Books by Silvia Festuccia
Books edited by Silvia Festuccia
Il patrimonio storico millenario del Marocco (S. Festuccia)
Le miniere antiche: una nuova frontiera della ricerca archeologica (L.I. Manfredi)
Progetto Aouam (Tighza, Khénifra): dallo scavo al parco archeominerario (L.I. Manfredi)
Progetto Aoaum: il museo e la formazione (C. Cecalupo)
Il futuro della ricerca in Marocco. Le nuove tecnologie (M. Cozzolino- S. Festuccia -P. Merola L. Repola -)
Papers by Silvia Festuccia
The aim of the archaeological research in progress, is to identify the full extent of the calcareous sandstone quarry, to reconstruct the organization of the stone extraction operations and to allow comparison with what was built in terms of quantity, quality and volume, especially in connection with the Phoenician cult place of Hellenistic period. The blocks have been identified and recognized mostly because on the quarry faces are clearly visible the negative traces left by the metallic tools. We compared the negative imprints left on the cutting fronts of the quarries with the construction stones of the sanctuary.
The discovery of the stone extraction area, the natural replenishment area for the construction materials, is important for a better understanding of the possibilities and the modalities of the natural resources exploitation during a well define period of time.
En este trabajo, en el que nos proponemos recoger los datos iconográficos y epigráficos que se refieren de manera clara a las actividades de natación, se han ampliado las fronteras regionales y cronológicas para disponer de una visión más completa en cuanto al tipo de disciplinas deportivas practicadas en Oriente Próximo. Hemos incluido, además de la evidencia arqueológica de Mesopotamia, información sobre las actividades de natación practicadas por los hititas en Anatolia y hemos incorporado algunas citas sobre las actividades náuticas en Egipto. Los datos, aunque bastante limitados, pueden proporcionar información de carácter relevante sobre esta disciplina atlética.
Abstract
In this paper iconographic and epigraphic data clearly referring to swimming activities have been collected. Chronological and regional borders have been expanded to have a more complete vision regarding the different sport disciplines practiced in the Middle East. In addition to Mesopotamian archaeological evidence, information on swimming activities practiced by the Hittites in Anatolia, and citations about the nautical activities in Egypt were included. The data, although quite limited, provide relevant information about this athletic discipline.
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Il patrimonio storico millenario del Marocco (S. Festuccia)
Le miniere antiche: una nuova frontiera della ricerca archeologica (L.I. Manfredi)
Progetto Aouam (Tighza, Khénifra): dallo scavo al parco archeominerario (L.I. Manfredi)
Progetto Aoaum: il museo e la formazione (C. Cecalupo)
Il futuro della ricerca in Marocco. Le nuove tecnologie (M. Cozzolino- S. Festuccia -P. Merola L. Repola -)
The aim of the archaeological research in progress, is to identify the full extent of the calcareous sandstone quarry, to reconstruct the organization of the stone extraction operations and to allow comparison with what was built in terms of quantity, quality and volume, especially in connection with the Phoenician cult place of Hellenistic period. The blocks have been identified and recognized mostly because on the quarry faces are clearly visible the negative traces left by the metallic tools. We compared the negative imprints left on the cutting fronts of the quarries with the construction stones of the sanctuary.
The discovery of the stone extraction area, the natural replenishment area for the construction materials, is important for a better understanding of the possibilities and the modalities of the natural resources exploitation during a well define period of time.
En este trabajo, en el que nos proponemos recoger los datos iconográficos y epigráficos que se refieren de manera clara a las actividades de natación, se han ampliado las fronteras regionales y cronológicas para disponer de una visión más completa en cuanto al tipo de disciplinas deportivas practicadas en Oriente Próximo. Hemos incluido, además de la evidencia arqueológica de Mesopotamia, información sobre las actividades de natación practicadas por los hititas en Anatolia y hemos incorporado algunas citas sobre las actividades náuticas en Egipto. Los datos, aunque bastante limitados, pueden proporcionar información de carácter relevante sobre esta disciplina atlética.
Abstract
In this paper iconographic and epigraphic data clearly referring to swimming activities have been collected. Chronological and regional borders have been expanded to have a more complete vision regarding the different sport disciplines practiced in the Middle East. In addition to Mesopotamian archaeological evidence, information on swimming activities practiced by the Hittites in Anatolia, and citations about the nautical activities in Egypt were included. The data, although quite limited, provide relevant information about this athletic discipline.
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a long archaeological sequence testifying to the existence of an extensive settlement dating from the Bronze Age to the Ottoman
period. The location of the site within a protected natural reserve and the presence of other nearby ancient settlements allowed an
in-depth study of the area, carried out since 2018 by the project team. The region is rich in natural resources such as water springs
and raw materials suitable for construction. It occupies a strategic position at the crossroads of an ancient road network. Some of
these old pathways, connecting the Mediterranean coast to the Beqaa Valley, through the mountains of the High Shouf, are still in
use today. The monumental structure found at the top of the Qalaat el-Hosn site is identified as a Roman temple. The additional
building structures inside the temple area, together with material culture discovered recently, show a change in use in the Fatimid
and Crusader periods, when the temple was transformed into a fortress. Numerous protective measures were taken to preserve this
rural cultural heritage and ensure certain sustainability for the project.
The paper sheds light on the open source cutting edge technologies put in the field by the project carried out since 2018 by Silvia Festuccia (University ‘Suor Orsola Benincasa’, Naples) with Myriam Ziadé (Directorate General of Antiquities of Lebanon) in collaboration with a multidisciplinary team.
In particular, this paper explains how the GIS platform of the project has been created, tested and customized according to the typology of the data, supported by the use of Qfield and PyArchinit for the centralized management of the data collected from archaeological and geophysical surveys, remote sensing, geoprocessing and conservation and study of the archaeological material found out. All these data will improve knowledge and interpretation of the historical-environmental processes of the territory.
This project is inscribed within the holistic approach implemented in Maasser el-Shouf where environment, agriculture, culture, and architecture contribute to human advancement and economic development. The objective of such an approach is to act as a catalyst for community bonding and, through participation and inclusion, to achieve appropriation of a shared heritage.
The most consistent batch of artefacts found during the mission, apart from the pottery, were the fragments of alabaster vessels collected both on the surface and in the layers of the excavated area.
Although fragmented, the material represents a complete and uniformly collected body of information. The discovery of fragments of pottery and alabaster vessels in a certain context, has given the possibility to date their period of use between 2450/2400 and 2350 BC.
The goals, in this preliminary phase of the study, were to identify the typology of alabaster vessels found, and examine through theconduct petrographic analyses to examine the mineralogical appearance, structure and fabric of the stone.
The petrographic study could be part of a vaster project for the identification of secondary deposits and calcite extraction quarries near Shahr i-Sokhta and the satellite settlements in which alabaster processing waste has been found.
The series of sculptures representing these disciplines show the highest degree of artistic knowhow during the reigns of the Neo-Assyrian kings Ashurnasirpal II, Sargon II and Ashurbanipal.
Royal hunts involving lions, bulls, onagers and gazels are common. Other scenes represent the court taking part in hunting smaller prey and archery. Some of the reliefs depict soldiers swimming across a river, implying that this activity was practised.
The data collected indicate that the populations of the ancient Near East paid particular attention to athletic activities. As a matter of fact, core aspects such as royal ideology, military training, religion and drills are closely connected to the sporting world that is an integral part of this society.
Il progetto è volto alla realizzazione di mappe interattive che guidino il visitatore attraverso un viaggio emozionale nei siti culturali ed ambientali dell’Alto Shouf, permettendogli così di vivere l’esperienza unica di visitare una parte del Paese avendo come guida d’eccezione un coro di voci locali capaci di renderlo compartecipe di emozioni, sensazioni e ricordi.