ISCACH (Beirut 2015)
International Syrian Congress on Archaeology and Cultural Heritage

PROGRAM(updated 1 Dec 2015)

3‐6 DECEMBER 2015
GEFINOR ROTANA HOTELBEIRUT, LEBANON

Introduction: Welcome to ISCACH, Beirut 2015
On behalf of the Organizing Committee, the Japanese Society for West Asian Archaeology andthe Lebanese Archaeological Missions worked in Syria welcome all with an interest inarchaeology and cultural heritage to the International Syrian Congress on Archaeology andCultural Heritage, Beirut, 3‐6 December 2015.
Three years ago, archaeological research in Syria came to an abrupt halt. In the years since
we have heard countless alarming reports of damage to and the destruction of archaeologicalsites and cultural artefacts – mindless acts which rob humanity forever of vast swathes ofhistory and knowledge.
Numerous international organizations and academic institutions have organized conferences,
symposiums and workshops dedicated to the preservation of those cultural assets that arecurrently endangered or lamenting those now wholly lost.
In contrast, few academic gatherings have focused on what has most recently been found andrecorded: namely, the results of fieldwork carried out immediately prior to the presentconflagration.
With numerous archaeological sites and aspects of cultural heritage the subject of study byboth Syrian and international scholars in the years leading up to 2011, we believe it both
timely and desirable to now share those results among both the scientific community and thegeneral public.

The Organizing Committee

NB: The full pdf version of “ISCACH 2015 Program and Abstracts“ handbook can be
downloaded from the webpages of the Japanese Society for West Asian Archaeology(http://jswaa.org/)and the DGAMS (http://www.dgam.gov.sy/).

1Organizing Committee
Prof. Dr. Jeanine Abdul Massih (Director of Archaeological Mission to Cyrrhus): Lebanese
University,Prof. Kiyohide Saito (Director of Archaeological Mission to Palmyra): President, the JapaneseSociety for West Asian Archaeology,
Prof. Dr. Akira Tsuneki (Director of Archaeological Mission to Tell el‐Kerkh): University ofTsukuba,
Dr. Shin’ichi Nishiyama: Chubu University.

2

Program Summary
Thursday 3rd December
08.30‐09.00
09.00‐09.30

Welcoming Participants
Opening Session

Palmyra Session / M. Abdulkarim
09.40‐10.00
Kiyohide Saito
10.00‐10.20
Grzegorz Majcherek
10.20‐10.40

Tomasz Waliszewski

Friday 4th December

Saturday 5th December
Hasake Session 2 / M. al‐Maqdissi
09.00‐09.20
Suleiman Elias

Deir ez‐Zor Session /G. Bunnens
09.00‐09.20 Sylvie Blétry

09.20‐09.40

09.20‐09.40

Yoshihiro Nishiaki

09.20‐09.40

09.40‐10.00
Dorota Wojtczak
Raqqa Session / G. Clarke
10.00‐10.20
Dorothée Sack

Jean‐Marie Le Tensorer

09.40‐10.00

Shigeo Yamada

10.00‐10.20

Raffaella Pierobon Benoit

09.40‐10.00 Yaarob Alabdullah
Latakia Session 2/ F. Braemer
10.00‐10.20 Massoud Badawi

10.20‐10.40

10.20‐10.40

Johnny Baldi

10.20‐10.40

Yaser Yusef

10.40‐11.00

Balazs Major

Ayham al Fakhri
10:40 ‐ 11:10 Coffee Break

Idlib Session / J.M. Le Tensorer

Hama Session / P. Bieliński

Damascus Session / D. Sack

11.10‐11.30

Maamoun Abdulkarim

11.10‐11.30

Karin Bartl

11.10‐11.30

Ahmad Taraqji

11.30‐11.50

Akira Tsuneki

11.30‐11.50

Bernard Geyer

11.30‐11.50

Rima Khawam

11.50‐12.10

Paolo Matthiae

11.50‐12.10

Nazir Awad

11.50‐12.10

Cancelled

12.10‐12.30

Francis Pinnock12.10‐12.30

Mathilde Gelin

12.10‐12.30

Houmam Saad

12.30‐12.50

Stefania Mazzoni

12.30‐12.50

Cancelled

12.30‐12.50

Edmond El‐Ajji

12.50‐13.10

Shin Nishiyama

12.50‐13.10

Haytham Hassan

12.50‐13.10

Ahmad Dally

13.10‐13.30

POSTER PRESENTATION

13.10‐13.30

Abdel Wahab Abou Saleh

13.10‐13.30

POSTER PRESENTATION

13:30 ‐ 14:30 Lunch Break
Hasake Session 1/ P. Matthiae

Aleppo Session 2/ TBA

Daraa Suweida Session / K. Saito

14.30‐14.50

Cancelled

14.30‐14.50

Heather Jackson

14.30‐14.50

Pierre‐Marie Blanc

14.50‐15.10

Dominik Bonatz

14.50‐15.10

Jeanine Abdul Massih

14.50‐15.10

Frank Braemer

15.30‐15.50

Piotr Bieliński

15.30‐15.50

Ammar Abdulrahman

15.30‐15.50

Ahmed Dyab

15.50‐16.10

Mohamad Fakhro

15.50‐16.10

Justine Gaborit

15.50‐16.10

Qasem al‐Muhammad

16.10‐16.30

Samer Abdel Ghafour

16.10‐16.30

Marie‐Odile Rousset

16.10‐16.30

Ghazi Alolo

16:30 ‐ 16:50 Coffee BreakAleppo Session 1/ K. Bartl

Latakia Session 1/ S. Mazzoni

Damascus Region Session / V. Matoïan

16.50‐17.10

16.50‐17.10

16.50‐17.10

Takeru Akazawa

Sunday 6th December

Homs Session / R. Pierobon Benoit
09.00‐09.20
Michel al‐Maqdissi

Michel al‐Maqdissi

Mahmud Hamud

17.10‐17.30

Yousef Kanjou

17.10‐17.30

Ahmad Deeb

17.10‐17.30

Ghada Suleiman

17.30‐17.50

Serena Maria Cecchini17.30‐17.50

Leila Badre

17.30‐17.50

Woroud Ibrahim

17.50‐18.10

Guy Bunnens

17.50‐18.10

Valérie Matoïan

17.50‐18.10

Nada Sarkis

18.10‐18.30

Khozama al‐Bahloul

20:00

WELCOMING INVITATION DINNER

3Shaker Al Shbib

11:00 ‐ 11:30 Coffee Break

11.30‐13.00
13.00‐13.05

Special Session: Thinking Future of Syrian
Cultural Heritage
Closing Session

Thursday 3rd December
08.30‐09.00

Welcoming Participants

09.00‐09.30

Opening Session
Official speeches (TBA)

Palmyra Session / Chair: M. Abdulkarim
09.40‐10.00

10.00‐10.20

10.20‐10.40

Kiyohide Saito
Archeological Institute of Kashihara, Nara (Japan)
Japanese Archaeological Works in Palmyra from 1990 to 2010
Grzegorz Majcherek
Polish Center of Mediterranean Archaeology, University of Warsaw (Poland)
Shaping an urban landscape: Church buildings in Palmyra
Tomasz Waliszewski
Polish Center of Mediterranean Archaeology, University of Warsaw (Poland)
An olive oil for oasis. On some installations from Palmyra.

10:40 ‐ 11:10 Coffee Break
Idlib Session / Chair: J.‐M. Le Tensorer
11.10‐11.30

11.30‐11.50

11.50‐12.10

12.10‐12.30

12.30‐12.50

12.50‐13.10

13.10‐13.30

Maamoun Abdulkarim / Gérard Charpentier
DGAMS, Damascus University (Syria) / CNRS, Université Lyon2, Maison de l’Orient
et de la Méditerranée (France)
Archaeological and Architectural Studies in Northern Syria (Dead Cities),
General presentation with three missions in, El Bâra and Ruweiha
Akira Tsuneki
University of Tsukuba (Japan)
Tell el‐Kerkh: A Neolithic Mega Site in Idlib Province
Paolo Matthiae
Sapienza University of Rome, Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei (Italy)
The Excavations at Tell Mardikh‐Ebla in 2004‐2010: The Temples of EB IVA‐B andthe Royal Citadel of MB I‐IIFrancis Pinnock
Sapienza University of Rome (Italy)
The Archaeological Park of Ebla. A Long‐Term Plan for the Site and its Region
Stefania Mazzoni
Università di Firenze (Italy)
Tell Afis: Late Bronze and Iron Age (13th‐7th cent. B.C.)
Shin Nishiyama / Shigeo Wakita
Chubu University (Japan) / the Ancient Orient Museum, Tokyo (Japan)
Tell Mastuma, Idlib: Rise and fall of an Iron Age rural settlement in northwest Syria

POSTER PRESENTATION
13:30 ‐ 14:30 Lunch Break4

AFTERNOON SESSIONS
Hasake Session 1/ Chair: P. Matthiae
14.30‐14.50

Presentation Cancelled

14.50‐15.10

Dominique Bonatz
Freie Universität Berlin (Germany)
Tell Fekheriye/Ras el‐Ain in Northeastern Syria: A Short Report on theArchaeological Site and its Neighboring Town Before and After the Political Crisis
Piotr Bieliński
Polish Center of Mediterranean Archaeology, University of Warsaw (Poland)
IIIrd Millenium BC city on Tell Arbid ‐ structure of a middle sized urban centre in theJezireh
Mohamad Fakhro
DGAMS (Syria)
Tell Halaf ‐ Guzana ‐ (excavation project 2006 ‐ 2010)
Giorgio Buccellati / Marilyn Kelly‐Buccellati / Samer Abdel Ghafour
Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, University of California, Los Angeles and theInternational Institute for Mesopotamian Area Studies (USA) / DGAMS (Syria)
Urkesh: Widening the chronological spectrum in the past and safeguarding
the site for the future15.30‐15.50

15.50‐16.10

16.10‐16.30

16:30 ‐ 16:50 Coffee BreakAleppo Session 1/ Chair: K. Bartl
16.50‐17.10

17.10‐17.30

17.30‐17.50

17.50‐18.10

20:00

Takeru Akazawa / Yoshihiro Nishiaki / Youssef Kanjou
Kochi University of Technology (Japan)/ the University of Tokyo(Japan) /DGAMS (Syria)
Dederiyeh Cave, Afrin
Yousef Kanjou / Ryszard F. Mazurowski
DGAMS (Syria) / University of Warsaw (Poland)
The archaeological excavation at Tell Qaramel 1999 ‐2011, Aleppo, north Syria
Serena Maria Cecchini
University of Bologna (Italy)
La dernière fouille à Arslan Tash
Guy Bunnens
Université de Liège (Belgium)
Unfinished work at Tell Ahmar/Til Barsib

WELCOMING INVITATION DINNER

5Friday 4th December
Homs Session / Chair: R. Pierobon Benoit
09.00‐09.20

09.20‐09.40

09.40‐10.00

Michel al‐Maqdissi
DGAMS (Syria)
Syrian Excavations in Mishirfeh‐Qatna
Jean‐Marie Le Tensorer
University of Basel (Switzerland)
The Lower Palaeolithic of the El Kowm Area (Central Syrian) and the question of thefirst inhabitants of the Syrian Desert
Dorota Wojtczak
University of Basel (Switzerland)
The long Palaeolithic sequence of Hummal (Central Syria)

Raqqa Session / Chair: G. Clarke
10.00‐10.20

10.20‐10.40

Dorothée Sack / Martin Gussone
Technical University of Berlin (Germany)
Resafa, a multidisciplinary approach to reconstruct the development of the city
Ayham al‐Fakhri
DGAMS (Syria)
Tell Hwejet Halaweh

10:40 ‐ 11:10 Coffee BreakHama Session / Chair: P. Bieliński
11.10‐11.30

11.30‐11.50

11.50‐12.10

12.10‐12.30

12.30‐12.50

12.50‐13.10

13.10‐13.30

Karin Bartl
DAI (Germany)
Archaeological Investigations in the Hama Region
Bernard Geyer / Frank Braemer
Maison de l’Orient et de la Méditerranée (France)
Palaeoenvironments and Settlement Patterns in Western Syria and Lebanon
Nazir Awad
DGAMS (Syria)
Al Rawda: A city dating to the third millennium on the edge of the Syrian Desert
Mathilde Gelin / Shaker Al ShbibCNRS‐IFPO (France) / DGAM (Syria)
Qalaat al‐Mudiq, citadel of Apamea: past and present
Presentation Cancelled

Haytham Hassan
DGAMS (Syria)
Masyaf Castle
Abdel Wahab Abou Saleh
DGAMS (Syria)
Tell Maksour

13:30 ‐ 14:30 Lunch Break6

AFTERNOON SESSIONS
Aleppo Session 2/ Chair: TBA
14.30‐14.50

14.50‐15.10

15.30‐15.50

15.50‐16.10

16.10‐16.30

Heather Jackson
University of Melbourne (Australia)
A Commercial Area at Seleucid Jebel Khalid?
Jeanine Abdul Massih
Lebanese University (Lebanon)
Results of 2006‐2011 Research Program on the site of Cyrrhus.
Ammar Abdulrahman
Damascus University (Syria)
Genders in the classical period
Justine Gaborit
UMR 8167 Orient & Méditerranée (France)
New Evidences from Euphratésia : survey and excavation project in Hiérapolis area(Menbij) in the right bank of the middle Euphrates

Marie‐Odile Rousset
CNRS ‐ Lyon (France)
Qinnasrin / Chalcis main results of 2008‐2010 archaeological work

16:30 ‐ 16:50 Coffee Break
Latakia Session 1/ Chair: S. Mazzoni
16.50‐17.10

17.10‐17.30

17.30‐17.50

17.50‐18.10

18.10‐18.30

Michel al‐Maqdissi
DGAMS (Syria)
Syrian Excavations in Ras Ibn Hani (2011)
Ahmad Deeb
DGAMS (Syria)
Results of the latest archaeological excavations in Tell Nahr Al‐'Arab‐Latakia
Leila Badre
Archaeological Museum, AUB (Lebanon)
Tell Kazel: Major ResultsValérie Matoïan
Maison de l’Orient et de la Méditerranée (France)
The Syro‐French archaeological Mission of Ras Shamra – Ougarit
Khozama al‐Bahloul (paper read by TBA)
DGAMS (Syria)
The result of excavations works at fortification area (Ugarit), Syrian team7

Saturday 5th December
Hasake Session 2 / Chair: M. al‐Maqdissi
09.00‐09.2009.20‐09.40

09.40‐10.00

10.00‐10.20

10.20‐10.40

Suleiman Elias
DGAMS (Syria)
Tell Shaeer
Yoshihiro Nishiaki
The University of Tokyo (Japan)
The Pre‐Pottery to Pottery Neolithic settlement of Tell Seker‐Aheimar, Hassake,
Syria: Excavations from 2000 to 2010
Shigeo Yamada / Hirotoshi Numoto
University of Tsukuba (Japan) / Kokushikan University (Japan)
Excavations at Tell Taban
Raffaella Pierobon Benoit
Università di Napoli Federico II (Itay)
Tell Barri/Kahat 2000‐2010: the contribution of ten years’ excavations to thehistory of Upper Mesopotamia (3000 B.C/ 900 A.D).
Johnny Baldi
IFPO (France)
Tell Feres. New evidences on the development of proto‐urban societies in northern
Mesopotamia

10:40 ‐ 11:10 Coffee BreakDamascus Session / Chair: D. Sack
11.10‐11.30

11.30‐11.50

11.50‐12.10

12.10‐12.30

12.30‐12.50

12.50‐13.10

13.10‐13.30

Ahmad Taraqji
DGAMS (Syria)
Tell Sakka
Rima Khawam
DGAMS (Syria)
Tell Aswad
Presentation CancelledHoumam SaadDGAMS (Syria)
Temple of Jupiter in Damascus, New prespective
Edmond El‐Ajji
DGAMS (Syria)
Citadel of Damascus; Possible Earlier Dating According to New Discoveries.
Ahmad Dally
DGAMS (Syria)
Site Museum of Souk al‐Sagha

POSTER PRESENTATION
13:30 ‐ 14:30 Lunch Break8

AFTERNOON SESSIONS
Daraa Sweida Session / Chair: K. Saito
14.30‐14.50

14.50‐15.10

15.30‐15.50

15.50‐16.10

16.10‐16.30

Pierre‐Marie Blanc
CNRS Nanterre (France)
The Town of Bosra
Frank Braemer
CNRS Nanterre (France)
Leja/Qarassa
Ahmed Dyab
Damascus University (Syria)
Survey of Prehistoric Sites in Daraa, South of Syria
Qasem al‐Muhammad
DGAMS (Syria)
The results of the latest excavations at Tell al‐Ash'ari, Hauran (during the BronzeAge)
Ghazi Alolo
DGAMS (Syria)
A report on surveying the Safaitic inscriptions, east of al‐Namara and al‐Zuluf

16:30 ‐ 16:50 Coffee BreakDamascus Region Session / Chair: V. Matoïan
16.50‐17.10

17.10‐17.30

17.30‐17.50

17.50‐18.10

Mahmud Hamud
DGAMS (Syria)
Excavation at Tell Al‐Humira
Ghada Suleiman
DGAMS (Syria)
Tell al‐Bahariya
Woroud Ibrahim
DGAMS (Syria)
Al‐Qaryatayn in the heart of the Syrian Desert, Monastery of St Elian.
Nada Sarkis
DGAMS (Syria)
Frescoes of Church of St Sergius and St Bacchus, Sadad

9Sunday 6th December
Deir ez‐Zor Session /Chair: G. Bunnens
09.00‐09.20

09.20‐09.40

09.40‐10.00

Sylvie Blétry
Université Paul‐Valéry, Montpellier 3 (France)
The necropolises of Halabiya‐Zenobia
Shaker Al Shbib
DGAMS (Syria)
Tall As‐Sin, on the eastern limes
Yaarob Alabdullah
DGAMS (Syria)
The Works of the Syrian Mission in the Byzantine City (Tell Al Kasra) in Five
Seasons (2006–2010)

Latakia Session 2/ Chair: F. Braemer
10.00‐10.20

10.20‐10.40

10.40‐11.00

Massoud Badawi
DGAMS (Syria)Excavations at Tell Tweini (Syrian Mission)
Yaser Yusef
DGAMS (Syria)
The results of archaeological excavations in Amrit for 2003 and 2011
Balázs Major
Pázmány Péter Catholic University (Hungary)
Latest results of the al‐Marqab research project.

11:00 ‐ 11:30 Coffee Break
11.30‐13.00

Special Session: Thinking Future of Syrian Cultural Heritage

13:00‐13:05

Closing Session

10

LIST OF POSTERS
1.
2.

Takeru AKAZAWA (Japan)
Yoshihiro NISHIYAKI (Japan)

3.

Ewa PARANDOWSKA (Poland)

4.
5.

Jesper EIDEM (Netherlands)
Maya HAIDAR BOUSTANY (Lebanon)

6.

Bernard GEYER (France)

7.
8.

Christophe BENECH (France)
Dominique Marie PARAYRE (France)

9.
10.

Pierre‐Marie BLANC (France)
Said ALHAJE (Syria)

11.
12.
13.

Michel AL‐MAQDISSI and Eva ESHAK(Syria)
Michel AL‐MAQDISSI (Syria)
Fatema AL‐SULAITI (Qatar)

14.

Michał GAWLIKOWSKI (Poland)

15.

Miquel Molist and Anna Gómez(Spain)

16.
17.
18.
19.
20.

Dederiyeh cave, Afrin
The steppe exploitation during thePalaeolithic to Bronze Age in the Middle
Euphrates Valley: 2007–2011 surveys
Conservation of Roman wall paintingsfrom Mithraeum in Hawarte
Qala'at Halwanji
Archaeological discoveries in the Homs
Gap by a Syrian‐Lebanese‐SpanishMission (2004‐2010)
The Arid Margins of Northern Syria,
Recent Results
Prospection Géophysique
Tell al‐Nasriyah on the bank of the Middlle
Orontes from the Bronze ages down to themedieval period
The Jebel el‐Arab project
Study on awarness of the people of Bosra
in saving cultural heritage
Terracotta figurines from Tell Toueini(First millennium B.C.)
PalmyraSarouja‐Damascus: An example ofhistorical and architecture developmentof Islamic neighborhoods
Discovering the site of the Palmyra Tariff.
Polish excavations 2010‐2011
Tell Halula (Vallée de l'Euphrate, Syrie) :Nouveautés de la recherche dans lapériode 2011‐2015

DGAMS ACTIVITIES
Ahmad DEEB

Preservation and packing the museums
artifacts
Archiving system for archaeological sites
Syrian World Heritage sites
DGAMS Publications

Tony GEROUGE
Lina KUTIFAN
Moussa Dib EL‐KHOURY and Hala
MOUSTAFA
Jeannette MAKHOUL

Planification at DGAMS

11