Projects

Archeology

KHOR RORI

The ancient city of Sumhuram, built in the area of Khor Rori, is the most important pre-Islamic settlement in the Dhofar region. After the investigations of the American expedition directed by W. Phillips and F. Albright, the Italian Mission to Oman (IMTO), directed by prof. A. Avanzini, is now working in the area of Khor Rori.
 
Epigraphy

DASI

The Arabian Peninsula in the pre-Islamic period was home to a numerous and diverse cultures. The DASI project seeks to gather all known pre-Islamic Arabian epigraphic material, which provide our only primary source for the history of Ancient Arabia, into a comprehensive online database which can be accessed from anywhere in the world.
 
Museums

Baynum Museum

The largest museum in terms of number of objects in its collection, the Baynun museum focuses on antiquities found in Baynun and the surrounding areas. This museum is a key place for tourists and others interested in history, and the ideal place for visitors to experience marvellous images of the past.

News

Cultural Cooperation between UniPi and Sana Military Museum: planning meeting

A delegation from the Military Museum of Sana will arrive in Pisa on May, 26th to plan activities... In addition to scheduling of activities, the Yemeni authorities, led by Colonel Abed Mohammed al-Thour, director of the Military Museum of Sana, will bring to Pisa a group of bronze artefacts stored in the Military Museum. The Dipartimento di Civiltà e Fo...

Summer campaign of excavation at Sumhuram

A new field campaign on the South Arabian site of the ancient Sumhuram (Khor Rori) will take place... Archaeological investigations will focus on the excavation of a newly outlined room placed in area B, between building BB3 – excavated during the campaign 2013A – and the large store rooms which occupies the south-eastern corner of the city. Further works will concern the st...

DASI Meeting on Nabataean and North Arabian Inscriptions

A meeting on the digitization of Nabataean and North Arabian inscriptions will take place in Pisa... Dr. Carmen Hidalgo, Dr. Laila Nehmé and Mr. Michael Macdonald will attend the meeting. It will be focused on best practices of digitization of Nabataean and Dadanitic inscriptions. In particular, Nabataean and Dadanitic inscriptions will be catalogued...

Publications

Along the aroma and spice routes. The harbour of Sumhuram, its territory and the trade between the Mediterranean, Arabia and India

Alessandra Avanzini (ed.) 2011, MB VISION - BANDECCHI E VIVALDI, 127 pp., ISBN: 978-88-8341-476-3,...
From 1996, the IMTO mission of the University of Pisa has been working on the site of Sumhuram, in the territory of Khor Rori (southern Oman), since ancient times a region famed for the excellence of the frankincense it produced. This volume coincide with the conclusion of a project funded by MIUR ...

Art and technique in Yemen. The bronzes from the Museum of Baynun

Alessandra Avanzini (ed.) 2009, Bandecchi e Vivaldi, 131 pp., ISBN: 8883414411
This catalogue has been published on the occasion of the exhibition "Art and technique in Yemen. The bronzes from the Museum of Baynun", which took place at Pisa from May, 27th to June, 10th 2009. The exhibition was an initiative which is part of the Italy-Yemen cooperation project C...

Le sanctuaire de ‘Athtar dhû-Risâf d’as-Sawdâ’

Jean-François Breton (ed.) 2011, L'ERMA di BRETSCHNEIDER, 224 pp., ISBN: 978-88-8265-707-9
This volume presents the results of the French 1988-1990 archaeological excavations in the extra-muros temple of as-Sawdâ’, dedicated to ‘Athtar dhû-Risâf. This is one of the few structures in the Jawf that underwent regular excavations, providing important chronological, architectural and historic...