About ISMEO

Barbara E.Barich  studied  at the Sapienza University of Rome, and at the National School of Archaeology under the guidance of Salvatore Puglisi. Since the early 1970s began her field work in North Africa, Deputy Director of the Sapienza’s Archaeological Mission in the Libyan Sahara (Tadrart Acacus). At first Research Fellow and since 1994 Associate Professor at the Sapienza University, Department of Ancient World, as winner in the national competition for the Chair of Prehistory and Ethnography of Africa, she taught in the Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree courses and in those of the two Specialization Schools in Prehistorical and Oriental Archaeology. She was a member of the Doctoral School in Archaeology at the Sapienza University and the one in African Studies at “L’ Orientale” University of Naples. She contributed to the establishment of the “Certificat International en Archéologie Africaine” (European Master Degree, Socrates), based at the Université Libre in Brussels, teaching courses from 1994 to 2002. She founded the “Joint Italian-Libyan Archaeological Mission in Jebel Gharbi” and the “Italian Archaeological Mission in the Farafra Oasis, Egypt” (the latter now organized in the ISMEO context) obtaining funds from the Sapienza University, the Italian CNR, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and that of the University and Research (MIUR and FIRB Projects). Member of the Scientific Council of the Istituto Italo-Africano and then of the ISIAO and of other National and International Associations, she is the author of over 180 works, monographic texts and scientific articles.In December 2022, she was coopted as academician emeritus of the” International Academy of Prehistory and Protohistory” (Paris) and was subsequently voted to serve as Vice-President of the Academy for the College of Prehistory.

Giorgio Banti, born in Rome (1949), has studied in the Universities of Pisa and of Rome “La Sapienza”. He has served as a full professor since 1997 till his retirement at the University of Naples “L’Orientale”, where he has taught General and Historical Linguistics and, since 2009, also Somali Language and Literature. From November 2014 to October 2019, he has also been Vice-Rector of that University. Before coming to Naples, he taught in Rome, Cassino and Potenza. Besides these institutions, he has also taught in several other universities outside his country, such as those of Hamburg, of Bayreuth, of Zurich, of Addis Ababa, of Djibouti, and the former National University of Somalia in Mogadishu. He has been in the Somali-speaking countries of the Horn of Africa, as well as in Ethiopia, Eritrea and Northern Sudan for doing fieldwork in linguistics, oral literatures, and Ajami manuscripts and publications since 1979. Since 1997 he has been a member of the Scientific Board of the IsIAO (Italian Institute for Africa and the Orient) for several times. He has published monographic studies and articles on topics that range from Cushitic languages and literatures (especially Somali, Saho and Oromo), to Cushitic historical linguistics, Old Harari language and literature, Nara language and literature. In addition to these topics related to the Horn of Africa, he has also published on Old Indic, Ancient Greek and Classical Arabic syntax. For some years, he has also worked on LADO, a specific field of forensic linguistics, with a Dutch company. On June 20, 2001, he has been given the Award “Giorgio Maria Sangiorgi” for the History and Ethnology of Africa by the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei.

Roberto Ciarla, archaeologist, has a PhD in ‘Oriental Languages, Cultures and Societies’ at the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, he majored full honors in ‘Modern Foreign Languages and Literatures’ and in ‘Letters-Archaeology’ at the University of Rome ‘La Sapienza’. He certificated in ‘Chinese language and culture’ at the Italian Institute for the Middle and Far East-Is.M.E.O. and at the Beijing Institute of Languages. He has participated in archaeological research projects in Italy, Turkey, Egypt, Kuwait, Oman, Pakistan, China, Indonesia and Thailand. He acted as team leader for the World Bank project ‘Sichuan Province Cultural Heritage Strategic Masterplan’, and as member of the coordination group and lecturer of the Italy-China cooperation project ‘Establishment of the Xi’an Center for the Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Relics’ (Shaanxi Province, PRC) funded by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. From 1982 to 2017 he served the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities at the former National Museum of Oriental Art ‘G. Tucci’ of Rome as curator of the East Asian art collections. From 1987 to 2020 he was co-director of the Joint Thai-Italian ‘Lopburi Regional Archaeological Project’. He is founder member of ISMEO- The International Association of Mediterranean and Oriental Studies and elected member of its board. Main fields of research: prehistory and protohistory of East Asia and mainland Southeast Asia; material culture and its production processes; ways and means of circulation/exchange of technologies and goods between China and mainland Southeast Asia. He has extensively published specialist and popular scientific works relating to his research fields.

Graduated in Archaeology and Art History of Ancient Near East at the University of Roma “La Sapienza”, since 1985 she is a researcher at CNR – Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Tecnologie Applicate ai Beni Culturali (now Istituto di Scienze del Patrimonio Culturale) and head of the Institute’s library. Her researches focused on the Bronze Age cultures of Central Asia and the Arabian Peninsula. She was a team member of many expeditions abroad, in the Near East, Arabian Peninsula, Central Asia, Iran, and Italy, organized by “La Sapienza” University, IsMEO, CNR, and CNRS. She was the director of the laboratory coordinated by CNR and Shiraz University, titled “The Face of Fars. An Archaeological Survey of the Main Sasanian Monuments in the Cradle of Empire.” She is expert on management and computerisation of archaeological data and database elaboration. Indeed she created many digital archives for different expeditions in Asia, with integrated data from advanced remote sensing technology, geophysical methodologies, GIS, and numerical models. She is co-author with M. Vidale of the book “Lapis Lazuli Bead Making at Shahr-i Sokhta,” that in 2019 won the World Award for Book of the Year of Islamic Republic of Iran. She also focuses her research on the perception of the exotic in Italian comic art.