Contacts

Professor Lorenzo Nigro - Director of «La Sapienza» Expedition to Khirbet al-Batrawy 

E-mail: lorenzo.nigro@uniroma1.it 

Profile - Lorenzo Nigro (Rome, 1967) is Full Professor of Near Eastern Art and Archaeology and Phoenician Punic Archaeology at Rome «La Sapienza» University. 

CURRENT ASSIGNMENTS 

2021-Today: Full Professor of Near Eastern Art and Archaeology and Phoenician Punic Archaeology at Rome «La Sapienza» (Faculty of Letters and Philosophy, Dept. of Science of Antiquities) 

2020-Today: Delegated of the Magnifica Rectress of Sapienza for the digitation, fruition and communication of archaeological heritage 

2019-Today: Coordinator of the Oriental Curriculum of the PhD School in Archaeology of the Dept. Sciences of Antiquities of Sapienza 

2021- member of the critical mass of PNRR Project “Pe05 Changes”, Spoke 07 – Climate Change – PI Sapienza Unit Research Line 04 

PAST ASSIGNMENTS 

2017-2023: Director of the Museum of the Near East, Egypt and Mediterranean of Rome «La Sapienza» University 

2005-2020: Associated Professor of Near Eastern Art and Archaeology and Phoenician Punic Archaeology at Rome «La Sapienza» University 

2000-2005: Researcher of Near Eastern Art and Archaeology and Phoenician Punic Archaeology at Rome «La Sapienza» University 

QUALIFICATION 

1997: PhD in Archaeology and Art History of the Ancient Near East, cum laude and right of publication, at the University of Rome «La Sapienza» with a thesis on the ceramic outfits of the royal tombs of Ebla (published as a monograph in the MSAE series, volume VIII, Rome 2009). 

1992: Degree in Archaeology and Art History of the Ancient Near East (110 cum laude) from the University of Rome «La Sapienza» with a thesis on palatial architecture in Palestine (published as a monograph in the CMAO series, volume V, Rome 1995). 

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ACTIVITIES 

He is a field archaeologist with extensive experience in the Near East and the Mediterranean. For the University of Rome «La Sapienza», he directs or has directed the following long-term excavation projects co-funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation: 

- He is director of the Sapienza Archaeological Expedition to Palestine (2005-present), conducting excavations at the archaeological sites of Tell es-Sultan/ancient Jericho (https://bit.ly/3veHf4D ) [recognised on the World Heritage List in 2023], Khalet el-Jama’ (2015-21), necropolis near Bethlehem (https://bit.ly/3ULoFd9 ), and at Tell Abu Zarad/Tapuah (2015-16); 

- He is director of the Sapienza Archaeological Expedition to Jordan, which works at the archaeological sites of Khirbet al-Batrawy (2005-present; https://bit.ly/43eLEkF ) – an Early Bronze Age city, Jama’an and Khirbet al-Jamous (2017-2018) in Jordan 

- He is co-director of the Mission to Carthage in Tunisia (carried on by Sapienza and the Institut National du Patrimoine: https://bit.ly/3wToHqZ ); 

- From 2002 to 2023 he was director of Sapienza Archaeological Mission to Motya, Western Sicily. 

Participation in excavations or other field research projects: 

- From 1990 to 1999 he was a member of the Archaeological Mission at Ebla; 

- Conducted surveys in the Wadi az-Zarqa in Jordan, the Syrian Ruj, and the Wadi Maarda in Palestine. 

He is the promoter and PI of international research projects in various Mediterranean countries and regions (Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Jordan, Israel, Egypt, Tunisia, Cyprus, Sicily, Sardinia, Malta) carried out in collaboration with numerous national (CNR, INGV, ISPRA) and international (PEF, ASOR, AIA, ISF, DoA, MoTA, DGAM, CNRS, CSIC, Österreichiche Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien; Max Planck Institute for Physics, Münich) scientific institutions. 

He is host of a Marie Skłodowska-Curie 2023 grant (Dr. Paolo Cimadomo, EARTH project: Earthquakes And community Resilience Through Historical analysis) 

Has written 15 monographs (5 as co-author), edited 35 monographs (25 as co-editor).  He is the author (as a single or first author) of more than two hundred and thirty articles in refereed scientific journals (see Appendix 2 Scientific Works). His studies, in addition to excavation reports, have focused on preclassical societies in the Near East and the Mediterranean, and range from architecture to metallurgy, from ceramics to art, with a special focus on contextual archaeology, cultural synchronisation, musealisation, and the protection and enhancement of the archaeological heritage of Near Eastern and Mediterranean civilisations. Google Scholar’s survey on the impact of publications resumed on May 15th, 2024 (LN is a “non-bibliometric” scholar). 

He is the Scientific Editor of the Class A journal Vicino Oriente (from volume XIII 2007 to volume XXVII 2023, ISSN 0393-0300), 14 volumes published, and of the series Quaderni di Vicino Oriente [ISNN 1127-6037], 18 volumes published. 

He is the founder and scientific director of the ROSAPAT series (Rome «La Sapienza» Studies in the Archaeology of Palestine and Transjordan [ISSN 1826-9206]), 15 volumes published, dedicated to the publication of the results of excavations conducted in Palestine and Jordan and to studies on the Archaeology of the Levant. 

He is the founder and scientific director of the QAPF series (“Quaderni di Archeologia Fenicio Punica”, [ISSN 1824-4017], 11 published volumes) dedicated to the publication of the results of research activities in Motya and studies on the ancient Mediterranean. 

He was the scientific co-director of the series “Atlas of the Ancient Near East” (Sapienza, Department of Sciences of Antiquities, 2005-2012). 

He edited the series Quaderni di Gerico (two volumes, 1997-2000) and was a member of the editorial board of the journal Contributi e Materiali di Archeologia Orientale (1995-2008). 

He serves as referee for the following journals: Berytus (American University of Beirut); Palestine Exploration Quarterly (London); Liber Annuus (Studium Biblicum Franciscanum), Scienze dell’Antichità (Rome); Antiquity (Cambridge, UK), BASOR (Boston), Radiocarbon (Cambridge, MASS), Aegypte und Levante (Wien), Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry (Rhodhes); 

PlosOne; Radiocarbon; Journal of Nautical Archaeology. 

SCIENTIFIC ADVISOR AND REFEREE 

Scientific advisor for Italian and foreign universities and research institutions: CNR, CNRS, CSIC, Universities of Milan, Venice, Bologna, Sassari; University of Bir-Zeit (Ramallah, Palestine); Catholic University of Leuven (UCL); University of Malta (2023); Sorbonne, Paris; University College, London; Brown University, Rhode Island. 

Reviewer for Italian and international research calls and competitions (programmes for the recruitment of young scholars promoted by MIUR: ‘FIRB futuro in ricerca’ SIR [2013]; ‘Rita Levi Montalcini’[2014]; ‘Reprise’ [2016-present]). 

As an advisor to the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities of Palestine, he participated in the writing of the dossier for the inscription of Tell es-Sultan/ancient Jericho in the UNESCO World Heritage List, inscription which took place on 18 September 2023. 

MUSEUM CURATORSHIP 

He was the Director of the Museum of the Near East, Egypt and the Mediterranean at La Sapienza (2017-2023), as well as the Curator of the Oriental Antiquities Department and the Gregorian Egyptian Museum of the Vatican Museums (1998-2005). 

He has organised numerous exhibitions in Italy abroad: 

- 1995 Participation in the organisation of the exhibition “Ebla. At the origins of the urban civilisation”, Palazzo di Venezia, Rome 

- 1995 ‘From the Assyrian Palaces’, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome 

- 2001 ‘Animals in Western Art from the Vatican Museums’, Toyota, Municipal Museum of Art, 2 October-25 December 

- 2021 ‘Le archeologhe della Sapienza’, Sapienza, VOEM Museum 

- 2022, ‘The Thousand Faces of the Goddess’, Sapienza, VOEM Museum 

- 2023, ‘The Pharaoh’s Mummy’, Sapienza Museum VOEM (more than 30,000 visitors) 

- 2024, “All’inizio dei tempi. Le origini della misurazione del tempo in Egitto e Mesopotamia”, Sapienza VOEM Museum 

- 2025, ‘The Pharaoh’s Mummy’, Palazzo Tanzarella, Ostuni. 

GRANTS, AWARDS & SCIENTIFIC OUTREACH 

For his discoveries and research activities, he has received a number of national and international awards, including: 

2021 Antonino Di Vita Award for archaeological communication and dissemination (Licodia Eubea, Catania) 

2020 Solunto International Award (Palermo), career award for excellence in the field of archaeology in Sicily 

2019 ‘Silvia Dell'Orso’ Award (Milan) for the dissemination of cultural heritage through the novel Jericho. The revolution of prehistory (il Vomere, Marsala-Roma 2019) 

2017 ‘City of Marsala 91025’ Prize for archaeological activities in Mozia 

2016 ‘Octopus Scholar’ from Oxford University for achievements in Mediterranean archaeology 

2014 ‘Samuel S. Kress’ Lectureship’ conferred by the Archaeological Institute of America (Boston) 

2012 ‘Honor Frost Foundation Research Award’ (London) 

2010 ‘Colosseum’ Prize for discoveries in Jordan awarded by the Municipality of Rome 

2010 ‘Provincia Capitale’ Prize for discoveries in Jordan awarded by the Municipality of Rome