Books by Tarek Ahmad
The architecture of the temple at Baitokaike shares the characteristics that are typical of the P... more The architecture of the temple at Baitokaike shares the characteristics that are typical of the Phoenician region especially during the imperial era. Baitokaike corresponds to that Phoenician tradition, but our knowledge about the foundation of these shrines and their development is still limited. This study aims to deepen this topic, while proposing new chronological phases of the site, starting from the time when it was an open cult place, through the architectural analysis of its buildings. In addition, it reexamines the Seleucid and Roman privileges of the sanctuary in order to extend our understanding of the territory of Baitokaike: agriculture, production and trade, the connecting roads and transport to nearby urban centers. Finally, the study of the iconography of the Greco-Latin inscriptions on site reveal the nature of the Zeus cult at Baitokaike as well as the rituals and processions that took place in the sanctuary.
This monograph also contains three appendices. The first is a collection of the Greek-Latin inscriptions found on the site, and includes an unpublished inscription found on an altar in the sanctuary. The second appendix constitutes a numismatic study of 46 coins uncovered during the excavation of 2004. Finally, the last appendix presents a catalogue of selected archaeological finds like pottery sherds, bronze and bones objects.
Papers by Tarek Ahmad
Berichte aus dem Landesmuseum Natur und Mensch Oldenburg, 2023
Berichte aus dem Landesmuseum Natur und Mensch Oldenburg, 2023
Caravanserai-Sanctuaries in Roman Syria
Proceedings of the 5th "Broadening Horizons" Conference (Udine 5–8 June 2017) Vol. 2 Imperial Connections. Interactions and Expansion from Assyria to the Roman Period, 2020
The position of shrines in antiquity was a consequence of a complex relationship between human, d... more The position of shrines in antiquity was a consequence of a complex relationship between human, deity and landscape. The study of the interaction among these three elements can open up further interpretation of rural sanctuaries. Based on these observations, this essay aims to emphasize the interaction between rural places of worship and their landscape, in order to trace the phenomenon of ‘caravanserai-sanctuaries’ in the Levant from their origin, particularly during Roman times
Zeitschrift für Orient-Archäologie, 2020
This essay discusses one particular example among the rural cultic sites in Roman Syria: the Bayt... more This essay discusses one particular example among the rural cultic sites in Roman Syria: the Bayt Jāllūk (Māqām al-Rabb) sanctuary in the ‘Akkār region. It aims at contextualising the sanctuary not only with its architectural and religious features, but also within a broader perspective of landscape. It furthermore sheds light on the sanctuary's integration in a densely settled region marked by an extensive rural organization.
Syria Archéologie, Art et Histoire, 2018
The excavations in 1973-1974 in the ancient Sūq aṣ-Sāġa in front of the southern side of the mosq... more The excavations in 1973-1974 in the ancient Sūq aṣ-Sāġa in front of the southern side of the mosque of the Omayyadi in Damascus revealed a Roman monument identified as a fountain. The excavations have only seen published in a chronological overview of the remains. This contribution aims at analyzing the architectural elements relative to the Roman monument, in order to formulate a preliminary reconstruction, and precise its dating and its function into the sanctuary of Damascus.
The Roman Sacred Landscape. The Case of the Sanctuaries at Qaṣr Nāūs (‘īn ‘krīn) in Lebanon
Zeitschrift für Orient-Archäologie 11, 2018
The present contribution presents a reassessment of the architecture of the rural sanctuaries at ... more The present contribution presents a reassessment of the architecture of the rural sanctuaries at Qaṣr Nāūs (‘īn ‘krīn) in Tripoli (Lebanon) during the Roman period. The study is based on the analysis of the structures
within its sacred landscape and it proposes a chronological arc of the site and its changes over the centuries.
Journal of Ancient History 6 (2), 2018
While a well-known term from Greek literature, katochoi possessed a particular religious meaning ... more While a well-known term from Greek literature, katochoi possessed a particular religious meaning within the Near East during the Hellenistic and Roman periods. Since the first publication of documents relating to this term, it has been a topic of scholarly debate as to the nature of the katochoi themselves. This paper will elaborate upon the role of the katochoi at Baitokaike (modern Hoson Sulaiman in Syria) in order to define better their institution and analyze their involvement in the site’s long-term history within the economic, social, and religious context to the settlement and its sanctuary.
Il santuario rurale nella Siria-Fenicia e il suo sviluppo in epoca romana, Rivsta Studi Fenici XLIII2015, 2017 pp. 7-23.
Many previous studies have contextualized the religious monuments in Phoenicia, but usually did n... more Many previous studies have contextualized the religious monuments in Phoenicia, but usually did not specify
the link between the creation of sacred landscape and certain rural environmental contexts and how this relationship is reflected in the first monumental and architectural development of each monument. In order to explore this problematic, I first try to identify the characteristic elements of sacred landscape and then the religious monuments in relation to those elements, in order to trace the origin of the foundation and the architectural development of the rural Roman sanctuaries in Phoenicia.
Annales archéologiques arabes syriennes, 2010
translation into Arabic by Tarek Ahmad
ﺑﻮﺗﺸﻴﻠﻼﺗﻲ ﻛﻴﻠﻠﻲ ﻣﲑﻟﲔ ﺗﺮﲨﺔ ﺃﲪﺪ ﻃﺎﺭﻕ ﺍﻟﻌﺮﺑﻴﺔ ﺍﻟﻨﺴﺨﺔ ﻋﻠﻰ ﺍﻹﺷﺮﺍﻑ ﳏﻤﻮﺩ ﻳﺎﲰﲔ 2 ... more ﺑﻮﺗﺸﻴﻠﻼﺗﻲ ﻛﻴﻠﻠﻲ ﻣﲑﻟﲔ ﺗﺮﲨﺔ ﺃﲪﺪ ﻃﺎﺭﻕ ﺍﻟﻌﺮﺑﻴﺔ ﺍﻟﻨﺴﺨﺔ ﻋﻠﻰ ﺍﻹﺷﺮﺍﻑ ﳏﻤﻮﺩ ﻳﺎﲰﲔ 2 ﻣﻌﺮﺽ ﲟﻨﺎﺳﺒﺔ ﺍﻟﻜﺘﺎﺏ ﻫﺬﺍ ﹸﺒﻊ ﻃ ﺍﻟﺰﻣﺎﻥ ﻋﻤﻖ ﻣﻦ ﻭﺍﺘﻤﻊ ﺍﻟﺘﻮﺍﺻﻞ ﺟﺬﻭﺭ ﺇﱃ ﺳﻮﺭﻳﺔ ﰲ ﺍﻟﻘﺪﳝﺔ ﻟﻘﺎﺀ ﻣﻦ ﺍﻟﺜﻼﺛﲔ ﺍﳋﺎﻣﺴﺔ ﻟﻠﺪﻭﺭﺓ ﻈﻢ ﻧ ﺍﻟﺬﻱ ﺍﻟﺸﻌﻮﺏ ﺑﲔ ﺍﻟﺼﺪﺍﻗﺔ ﻗﺒﻞ ﻣﻦ ﺻﻤﻢ ﺑﻮﺗﺸﻴﻠﻼﰐ ﻛﻴﻠﻠﻲ ﻣﺎﺭﻟﲔ ﻣﻊ ﺑﺎﻟﺘﻌﺎﻭﻥ ﺑﻮﺗﺸﻴﻠﻼﰐ ﺟﻮﺭﺟﻴﻮ ﻭﺍﻻﺳﺘﺸﺎﺭﻳﻮﻥ ﻟﻮﺭﺩﻛﻴﺒﺎﻧﻴﺪﺯﻱ ﺩﻳﻔﺪ ﺟﺎﻣﻜﺮﻳﻠﻴﺪﺯﻱ ﺗﺎﻣﺎﺱ ﺍﻟﻜﺮﱘ ﻋﺒﺪ ﻣﺄﻣﻮﻥ ﺍﳌﺸﺮﻭﻉ ﻓﻠﻮﺭﻳﻮ ﺇﳝﺎ ﺑﻮﺭﺟﻴﺰﻱ ﺗﻮﻣﺎﺳﻮ ﺇﺿﺎﺀﺓ ﺟﻴﺎﻥ ﺑﺮﺍﻧﻜﺎ ﻓﺮﺍﻧﻜﻮ ﻭﻓﻴﺪﻳﻮ ﺗﻘﻨﻴﺔ ﲡﻬﻴﺰﺍﺕ Sound D-Light srl ﺍﻟﺮﺍﻭﻱ ﺑﺎﺭﺗﻮﻟﻮﱐ ﺑﲑﻭ ﺟﻴﺎﻥ ﻣﻦ ﺍﻟﺪﻋﻢ ﺑﻔﻀﻞ ﺍﻟﻜﺘﺎﺏ ﻫﺬﺍ ﻃﺒﻊ :
استلهمت شخصية أدونيس الأسطورية العديد من الدراسات التاريخية و الدينية, لما تمتعت به من تداخل عم... more استلهمت شخصية أدونيس الأسطورية العديد من الدراسات التاريخية و الدينية, لما تمتعت به من تداخل عميق في الثقافتين اليونانية و الفينيقية. لقد كان أدونيس إلهاً يونانياً-فينيقياً مشتركاً. يظهر القالب الشعري الأسطوري لأدونيس و قد اتخذ من الشرق مكاناً له, فاستقطب فكره و أساطيره و تقاليده الدينية مبدعاً إياها بأسلوب يوناني. مع تقدم الدراسات الفينيقية و الإغريقية و تعمقها أكثر في طبيعة هذا الإله في الفكر الديني القديم, جاءت العديد من الدراسات التاريخية و الدينية لتتقفى أثره في البحر المتوسط الذي كان يعج بالثقافتين اليونانية و الفينيقية اللتين امتزجتا في كثير من الأحيان. يعتبر هذا الكتاب أحد أهم الدراسات الأدونيسية في علم الأديان المقارن, فقد اعتمد على سلسلة من الدراسات السابقة التي تناولت أساطير الإله, ليتقفى من بعدها أثر العناصر الشرقية فيها مستفيضاً في تحليل أبعداها الدينية و الاجتماعية و الثقافية. فيتقدم البحث عرضاً مفصلاً لمختلف الروايات حول أسطورة أدونيس في المصادر الكلاسيكية القديمة ليبدأ بعدها بتحليل المظاهر الشرقية التي تجلت بوضوح في اسمه و تحدر أسلافه من الملوك الشرقين, و ولادته الإعجازية من سفاح القربى, و البيئة الجغرافية الشرقية التي احتضت الرواية, ناهيك عن طبيعة الشخصية الاسطورية نفسها. في هذا الإطار, يوسع الكاتب بحثه ليناول تحليل شخصية أدونيس من خلال علاقته بالموسيقى و الصيد و الزراعة, و العطور, و علاقته الغرامية مع الإله أفروديت و تبعاتها, و مع غيرها من الآلهة مثل أبوللو و أريس و أرتميس...الخ. و أخيراً, يكشف عن عجز و فشل البطل أمام الموت و رحلته الطويلة بعده, و ما آلت إليه الأرض حزناً عليه.
Conference Presentations by Tarek Ahmad
نهضة الهوية السورية دراسة في تفسير الموروث الثقافي (ندوة عامة ضمن انشطة جمعية سمات من اجل التراث برلين 2019
Post-syrian Identity. A New interpretation of cultural heritage (Cultural heritage, a tool in conflict and a victim of war. Past lessons and future strategies, Norwegian Inst. Rome 2018
Cultural heritage, a tool in conflict and a victim of war. Past lessons and future strategies, 2018
The Syrian conflict has brought to light historical issue of the formation of identity on the cou... more The Syrian conflict has brought to light historical issue of the formation of identity on the countryside by transforming the revolt against a dictatorial regime into a religious and ethnic conflict, and thereby attention away from an identity conflict. Thus the need to respond to these immediate problems arises, within which society and its cultural heritage become victims since 2011. This presentation tries to respond the question: how can cultural heritage make a difference in the resolution of cultural or identity conflicts? In addition, it will propose a new concept of the "reconstruction" of damaged Cultural Heritage. The goal is to demonstrate how the Cultural Heritage can contribute in the renaissance of Syrian Identity, and to highlight the fluidity and changeability of identities in the past in order to counter the popular notion that groups or communities are fixed in the past as well as in the present.
La lunga guerra siriana ha trasformato una rivolta contro un regime dittatoriale in un conflitto ... more La lunga guerra siriana ha trasformato una rivolta contro un regime dittatoriale in un conflitto di identità con i suoi aspetti religiosi e / o etnici, in cui il patrimonio culturale siriano è diventato vittima. Questa trasformazione ha portato alla luce molte questioni storiche critiche riguardanti l’identità siriana all’interno delle sue diverse comunità religiose ed etniche. Sorge quindi la necessità di rispondere a questi problemi immediati in cui lo studio interdisciplinare del patrimonio culturale dovrebbe contribuire la sua parte nella nascita dell’identità culturale siriana all’interno della coesione sociale desiderata nel post-conflitto.
In questa sede si pone alcuni domande-chiave sull’identità culturale del moderno stato siriano in relazione al suo patrimonio. Slide 3 In quale modo una particolare interpretazione del patrimonio culturale ha aperto la strada alle nazionaliste e islamiste ideologie di imporre una stereotipica identità in Siria? Quali sono i metodi alternativi per l’interpretazione del patrimonio culturale e la narrazione storica che potrebbero contribuire per la nascita di un’identità comune nella fase post-conflitto, definita come siriana? In quale modo si potrebbe introdurre il patrimonio culturale come fonte di coesione all’interno di una società di identità culturali differenti, senza imporre una narrazione obbligatoria? Per rispondere a queste domande si sottolinea innanzitutto il rapporto fra l’identità culturale e il patrimonio culturale. Sulla base di tale rapporto si critica le interpretazioni e le identificazioni normalmente utilizzate nell’archeologia e nelle correlate scienze storiche nell’era moderna e post-moderna, dove sono state (e ancora lo sono) oggetti di manipolazione politica. Pertanto, si intende proporre alcune metodologie e approcci interdisciplinari per alternative narrazioni storiche.
La Raccomandazione dell'UNESCO del 1997 sottolinea la libertà accademica e l'autonomia istituzion... more La Raccomandazione dell'UNESCO del 1997 sottolinea la libertà accademica e l'autonomia istituzionale come il nucleo dei valori delle istruzioni superiori, che consentono alle università di svolgere il loro ruolo principale nello sviluppo completo della personalità umana e del progresso morale, sociale, culturale ed economico della comunità. Tuttavia, ci sono ancora molte istituzioni di istruzione superiore, come l'Università di Damasco, che godono solo valori di base. Questa mancanza deriva da concetti politici, secondo i quali la libertà accademica e l'autonomia istituzionale potrebbero costruire centri politici dissidenti che portano all'instabilità del paese.
La mia presentazione si concentrerà sul caso dell'Università di Damasco, sottolineando le ragioni e le conseguenze negative della mancanza di tali valori accademici durante il tempo, specialmente nella attualmente crisi siriana. Si concluderà con l'illustrazione di alcune iniziative internazionali, come Scholar at Risk Network, che mirano a promuovere i valori dell'istruzione superiore e a difenderli come diritti umani.
The Syrian conflict has brought to light historical issue of the formation of identity on the cou... more The Syrian conflict has brought to light historical issue of the formation of identity on the countryside by transforming the revolt against a dictatorial regime into a religious and ethnic conflict, and thereby attention away from an identity conflict. Thus the need to respond to these immediate problems arises, within which society and its cultural heritage become victims since 2011. This presentation tries to respond the question: how can cultural heritage make a difference in the resolution of cultural or identity conflicts? In addition, it will propose a new concept of the "reconstruction" of damaged Cultural Heritage. The goal is to demonstrate how the Cultural Heritage can contribute in the renaissance of Syrian Identity, and to highlight the fluidity and changeability of identities in the past in order to counter the popular notion that groups or communities are fixed in the past as well as in the present.
The location of the place of worship is a consequence of a complex relationship between human, de... more The location of the place of worship is a consequence of a complex relationship between human, deity and landscape. The definition of space as sacred came from the human reflection on landscape in which the divinities demonstrated its own supernatural capacity through various "miraculous" manifestations. The concept of the sacred therefore indicated not only to the place of worship, but also to the divinities who anchored heavily to their place from which they took names and epithets. Such a definition of " sacralization " was at the origin of the foundations of worship places particularly in rural areas of the Levant. Apart from the interaction these three elements, which is mostly difficult to establish, the development of the sanctuaries in rural areas depended on concrete factors related not only to the religiosity, but also to the socioeconomic advance of their territories. These factors could influence their architectural: stile, organization of the sacred space etc. and could determine their location in relationship with the landscape and the roads connection. The paper intends to emphasize these factors in order to trace the phenomenon of their development as " caravanserai " through the time, but especially in the Roman Syria-Phoenicia. Since the beginning of Roman sanctuaries exploration at the end of nineteenth century, the researches concentrated especially in the architectural and religious study of monuments, missing a deeper analysis of their sacred landscape.
The term katoche / katochoi refers to individuals / groups of people " possessed " by a deity. It... more The term katoche / katochoi refers to individuals / groups of people " possessed " by a deity. It has been a topic of scholarly debates especially the reasons of their detention (Delekat 1964). Scholars' interpretations range from detention of katoche with a legal origin as they benefited from the right of asylum of the sanctuary (Debord 1982) or they were lay officials (Rey-Coquais 1974; Baroni 1984) to a primarily religious detention as privileged devotees of god (Seyrig 1951; Millar 1992). This paper intends to elaborate the role of katochoi at Baitokaike (Hoson Sulaiman –Syria) in order to locate their institution and their involvement on the long life of the place of worship within the economic, social and religious context of the village and its sanctuary. The analysis of the architectural development of the site where the katochoi were involved, and the comparative study of its Greek-Latin inscriptions with others from Egypt Ptolemaic and Roman Syria will lead to an alternative interpretation of their function that had originated in the site most likely since the Hellenistic period.
Uni. Heidelberg 2017. Il santuario romano a Baitokaike (Hoson Sulaiman). Cronologia dei monumenti
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Books by Tarek Ahmad
This monograph also contains three appendices. The first is a collection of the Greek-Latin inscriptions found on the site, and includes an unpublished inscription found on an altar in the sanctuary. The second appendix constitutes a numismatic study of 46 coins uncovered during the excavation of 2004. Finally, the last appendix presents a catalogue of selected archaeological finds like pottery sherds, bronze and bones objects.
Papers by Tarek Ahmad
within its sacred landscape and it proposes a chronological arc of the site and its changes over the centuries.
the link between the creation of sacred landscape and certain rural environmental contexts and how this relationship is reflected in the first monumental and architectural development of each monument. In order to explore this problematic, I first try to identify the characteristic elements of sacred landscape and then the religious monuments in relation to those elements, in order to trace the origin of the foundation and the architectural development of the rural Roman sanctuaries in Phoenicia.
translation into Arabic by Tarek Ahmad
Conference Presentations by Tarek Ahmad
In questa sede si pone alcuni domande-chiave sull’identità culturale del moderno stato siriano in relazione al suo patrimonio. Slide 3 In quale modo una particolare interpretazione del patrimonio culturale ha aperto la strada alle nazionaliste e islamiste ideologie di imporre una stereotipica identità in Siria? Quali sono i metodi alternativi per l’interpretazione del patrimonio culturale e la narrazione storica che potrebbero contribuire per la nascita di un’identità comune nella fase post-conflitto, definita come siriana? In quale modo si potrebbe introdurre il patrimonio culturale come fonte di coesione all’interno di una società di identità culturali differenti, senza imporre una narrazione obbligatoria? Per rispondere a queste domande si sottolinea innanzitutto il rapporto fra l’identità culturale e il patrimonio culturale. Sulla base di tale rapporto si critica le interpretazioni e le identificazioni normalmente utilizzate nell’archeologia e nelle correlate scienze storiche nell’era moderna e post-moderna, dove sono state (e ancora lo sono) oggetti di manipolazione politica. Pertanto, si intende proporre alcune metodologie e approcci interdisciplinari per alternative narrazioni storiche.
La mia presentazione si concentrerà sul caso dell'Università di Damasco, sottolineando le ragioni e le conseguenze negative della mancanza di tali valori accademici durante il tempo, specialmente nella attualmente crisi siriana. Si concluderà con l'illustrazione di alcune iniziative internazionali, come Scholar at Risk Network, che mirano a promuovere i valori dell'istruzione superiore e a difenderli come diritti umani.