Archaeological and ethnographic survey in the Paikuli Area (Iraqi Kurdistan)

The Italian Archaeological Mission in Iraqi Kurdistan (MAIKI) of the Sapienza University of Rome aims to study the archaeological, historical, linguistic and cultural development of the Kurdish region through a wide historical period. MAIKI started by focusing on the archaeological and philological analysis of the Sasanian site of Paikuli. In recent years, however, investigation has been expanded to include an accurate survey of the area between the Dyala and Basara rivers, around the main road that connects the city of Chamchamal to Darbandikhan, in order to implement a complete and updated archaeological map of the entire territory. The continuing work includes a preparatory study of the few bibliographical records available and an overall analysis of the accessible, current and historical satellite imagery in order to obtain a reliable context for the results of archaeological field surveys. During the field campaigns, which are currently suspended because of the political instability and war in the region, archaeological material was collected in all the visited sites and a detailed morphological and archaeometric study was set up. A complete map of the currently inhabited villages of the area has been compiled because up-to-date base cartography of the area did not exist; this new map has proved to be useful not only for locating archaeological records but also for the activities of the ethnological research that joined the Mission in 2013. The area suffered very much during Saddam Hussein’s Al-Anfal campaign when all of the people were forced to leave. The ethnological study will help to reveal the impact that these recent traumatic events have had on the preservation of the cultural heritage whilst supplying rich documentation for further investigation, including on relationship between man and territory, local economy, migration policies and religious practice

Sulaymaniyah Chronology in Context

History of the city of Sulaymaniyah, from its foundation in 1784 to 2018

Reshaping Sacred Landscapes: Notes on Sufi Cult in Sangaw Village Shrines

The shaykhs occupy a prominent role in the religious landscape of Iraqi Kurdistan. Their reli- gious authority is legitimised and publicly performed as karamat, the ability to perform ‘won- ders’. The karamat of a powerful shaykh does not die with him but is believed to linger on grave or other places that bore a significant role in their religious life. In the course of time, popular devotion shaped the landscape scattering rural areas with small villages shrines, which today stands alongside newly established mosques. This present paper presents some preliminary notes on change and continuity in religious be- liefs and practices related the shaykhs’ karamat, interrelating ethnographic and topographic data on shaykhs’ shrines and mosques of the subdistrict of Sangaw, in the southern limit of the Sulaymaniyah governorate, collected within the framework of the Italian Archaeological Mission in Iraqi Kurdistan (MAIKI) of Sapienza, University of Rome

In the Shade of a Tree. Holy Figures and Prodigious Trees in Late-Antique and Medieval NW Iran and Adjacent Areas.

The aim of this paper is to investigate the narrative motif of prodigious trees and their association with holy figures, whether prophets, saints, religious founders or divine being, in areas of cross-cultural contact between Eastern-Christianity and Iran during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. The theme is explored in its development and through the leading phenomenological patterns it took on, gathering evidence from different periods and traditions. This kind of comparative analysis appears crucial for an understanding of complex networks of socio-cultural dynamics in a context where culturally dominant religions (including Zoroastrianism, Christianity and Islam) came into contact with the local communities, re-shaping the sac-red landscape, and eventually elaborating narrative motifs attuned to the native sensibility. This assimilation/adaptation process left traces in the literary output of the dominant traditions, while contributing to the formation of religious groups that developed in later centuries. Representative case stu-dies will define the transversal and cross-cultural use of the “prodigious tree” motif. Indeed, on the strength of the evidence we will be able to appreciate the balance between rhetorical-narrative devices and socio-religious realities in the perspective of the fabrication of communal memories, awareness and sacred landscapes

The Citadel. Fascinations of the Ancient Erbil, Hearth of Iraqi Kurdistan / La Cittadella. Fascinazioni dell'antica Erbil, cuore del Kurdistan in Iraq.

Mostra fotografica sul patrimonio culturale di Erbil e le attività di studio e valorizzazione condotte dalla Missione archeologica italiana nel Kurdistan iracheno (MAIKI

The Citadel. Fascinations of ancient Erbil, heart o f Iraqi Kurdistan

La Cittadella. Fascinazioni dell'antica Erbil, cuore del Kurdistan in Iraq / The Citadel. Fascinations of ancient Erbil, heart of Iraqi Kurdistan (Roma, Istituto della enciclopedia italiana – Palazzo Mattei di Paganica, 4-14 novembre 2014), organizzata dalla Missione Archeologica Italiana nel Kurdistan Iracheno (MAIKI) della Sapienza, codiretta da Maria Vittoria Fontana e Luca Colliva del Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Antichità. La mostra, e il relativo catalogo celebrano la recente inclusione della cittadella di Erbil nella lista UNESCO dei siti patrimonio dell’umanità, presentando al pubblico italiano una selezione di foto preparata dall’Alta Commissione per la Rivitalizzazione della Cittadella di Erbil (HCECR)

Dossier - Percorsi femminili e femministi tra Medio Oriente e Africa

Nel 2011 in Medio Oriente e in Africa si è prodotta una cesura rilevante che ha indotto studiosi/ e, analisti a ripensare in termini storiografici, sociologici, giuridici e antropologici le trasformazioni all’interno delle società della regione. Al centro di questo percorso assumono particolare rilevanza attori indispensabili per la costruzione delle società post-Primavere arabe, e in particolare le donne che, attraverso la loro pluralità, ci inducono a rivolgere lo sguardo a questi mondi e a ri-definire i percorsi di società in continuo mutamento. Diviene quindi sempre più necessario riprendere il filo di un’elaborazione teorica che alimenti un dibattito nuovo al fine di ri-definire gli studi di genere nell’area. In questo quadro il convegno “Percorsi femminili e femministi tra il Mediterraneo e l’Africa” si è posto l’obiettivo di avviare un dialogo interdisciplinare tra studiose/i al fine di comprendere a quale punto è la storia delle donne “dell’Altra Riva” e di sensibilizzare il mondo accademico e non solo. A dieci anni da quella fase che per la regione ha rappresentato una frattura con il passato, i women studies soffrono ancora di una marcata separazione dal dibattito storiografico, giuridico, sociologico e letterario. Ne risulta quindi una sorta di isolamento che impedisce ai women studies nel nostro paese di incidere al fine di una ridefinizione dei paradigmi

La Cittadella. Fascinazioni dell'antica Erbil, cuore del Kurdistan in Iraq

Catalogo della mostra fotografica: "La Cittadella. Fascinazioni dell'antica Erbil, cuore del Kurdistan in Iraq / The Citadel. Fascinations of ancient Erbil, heart of Iraqui Kurdistan" (Roma, Istituto della enciclopedia italiana – Palazzo Mattei di Paganica, 4-14 novembre 2014), organizzata dalla Missione Archeologica Italiana nel Kurdistan Iracheno (MAIKI) della Sapienza, codiretta da Maria Vittoria Fontana e Luca Colliva del Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Antichità

MAIKI, Missione Archeologica Italiana nel Kurdistan Iracheno: la carta archeologica dell'area di Paikuli. Obiettivi e metodologie applicate

In the fall of 2012 the Italian Archaeological Mission in the Iraqi Kurdistan signed an agreement with the Sulaimaniyah Antiquities Directorate, for creating the Archaeological Map of the area surrounding the Sasanian monument of Paikuli. In the course of the four campaigns, which have been carried out, the team has started to survey the area, has developed a methodology for the classification of ceramic materials and started the preliminary study of the findings. Furthermore, in 2013 MAIKI commenced an ethnographic research aimed at studying the religious heritage of the are