ROMA (ITALPRESS) – The Rector of Sapienza University of Rome, Antonella Polimeni, participated today in Jerusalem, at the Custody of the Holy Land, to the meeting with the leaders of the religious communities dedicated to the progress of the archaeological research project and restoration of the complex of the Holy Sepulcher.
To present the work done and the perspectives of the research was Professor Francesca Romana Stasolla, scientific manager of the archaeological mission Sapienza, together with Professor Pietro Vannicelli and the research group, composed of numerous young scholars and young scholars who, with different skills, participate in the field activities and the subsequent work of study, documentation and interpretation. The highly multidisciplinary nature of the project involves archaeologists, historians, philologists, diagnostic experts and archaeometry and numerous other scientific skills.
During the visit to Jerusalem, the Rector was received in private audience by His Beatitude Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem. He also met with Francesco Ielpo, Custos of the Holy Land, Domenico Bellato, Consul General of Italy in Jerusalem, and the referents of the headquarters of Jerusalem of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS), as part of the consolidated relations between Sapienza, the religious communities and the Italian institutions present on the territory.
The mission of Wisdom has been working permanently in Jerusalem for over four years and has gradually consolidated, in a context of extraordinary historical, religious and institutional complexity, a relationship of trust with the Communities that guard the Holy Sepulchre and with the different realities present on the territory. A role that emerged with particular clarity also during today’s meeting: the mission now represents a scientific point of reference and Wisdom an interlocutor recognized for the knowledge, protection and valorisation of a world heritage, respecting the different responsibilities and sensibilities that live in this place. The mission had already received in 2019 the task of carrying out for the first time a systematic archaeological survey of the complex; the excavation work subsequently entered into live within the project of restoration of the flooring of the Basilica. After the archaeological excavation phase, the research continues with great intensity through the study of finds and structures, the documentation of data, archaeometric analysis and the reconstruction of the different phases of the long history of the complex. The investigations combined stratigraphic excavation, analysis of structures and materials, archive research, advanced diagnostics and three-dimensional documentation.
In the course of the presentation were also illustrated the developments of the restoration and requalification of the infrastructure and the pavement of the Basilica, the activities previewed for the control and maintenance of the different areas of the complex and the start of the restoration of the wooden door of entrance to the Holy Sepulcher. Particular attention was paid to the first volume of the Hagia Polis Project series. Excavations at the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Volume I. Project and Methodology, which restores the scientific and methodological complexity of the project, from excavation and conservation procedures to the integrated documentation system, from the study of sources and findings to environmental and archaeological analyses.
“Having been able to conduct these investigations in the Holy Sepulchre represents for Wisdom an extraordinary privilege and, together with a great responsibility – says Rector Antonella Polimeni -. In a place where history, faith and memory are inseparable, the rigour of research must accompany humility, listening and respect. In these years the Sapienza group has been able to build, through scientific competence and daily dialogue, relationships of trust that represent themselves a precious heritage. This work shows how university can put scientific knowledge at the service of knowledge, conservation and dialogue.”.
The trust accorded to Wisdom by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, the Custody of the Holy Land and the Armenian Patriarchate has made it possible for a scientific experience that, due to the complexity and delicacy of the context, assumes a value that goes beyond the strictly archaeological results. In the course of the meeting the proposal was finally shared to develop, together with the religious communities, initiatives for the valorization and dissemination of the results of the research, through finds, documentation, models, digital reconstructions and audiovisual content.
The meetings also confirmed the will of the Custody and other institutional realities involved in strengthening the scientific dissemination of the results achieved in these years, ensuring a rigorous, accessible and respectful return to the complexity of the place. In this path the will to continue to avail of the scientific contribution of Sapienza, providing expertise, method and documentation to contribute to a shared and scientifically based reading of the data. The goal is to make the heritage of knowledge produced by the project accessible to an international public, maintaining the religious meaning of the Holy Sepulchre and the continuity of his spiritual life.
– Photo press office Sapienza University of Rome –
(ITALPRESS).
