Acknowledgements
Piero Gilento
The present volume brings together scholars working in different areas of the Mediterranean basin with the main objective of demonstrating and comparing their ongoing research, creating a fertile and collaborative background in which to exchange data and create a concrete contact point between different work experiences.
This was possible thanks to the project known as ACTECH (Ancient Construction TECHniques. Building Traditions, Technological Innovations and Workmanship Circulation: From Roman Arabia to Medieval Europe, G.A. 703829), founded with a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship (Horizon 2020). The project was developed from 2017 to 2019 at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne; I thank the Directorate of Research and Valorisation (Direction de la recherche et de la valorisation – Éric Zyla and Sandra Mereu) for the great support provided. I also thank Prof. François Villeneuve for having constantly supervised the progress of the project. The University itself made an important contribution to the realisation of the workshop with the Bonus Qualité Recherche (BQR) 2018. Another fundamental support for the success of the three-day international workshop was granted by the DIM-MAP (Domaine d’Intérêt Majeur-Materiaux Anciennes et Patrimoniaux) of the Île-de-France Region, for which I thank Sophie David and Anne-Fleur Barfuss. The APOHR (Archéologie du Proche-Orient Hellénistique et Romain) laboratory contributed significantly, with the full support of its director Pierre-Marie Blanc, to both the realisation of the workshop and the development of the fieldwork, opening a fruitful new research season in northern Jordan, and particularly at the Umm as-Surab site. Currently the archaeological mission in northern Jordan benefits from the support of the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs and the CNRS. Fieldwork continues with the support of the Department of Antiquities (DoA) of Jordan (thanks to Aktham Oweidi) and the DoA territorial office of Mafraq (thanks to Ismaeel Ahmad Deeb Melhem, Jamil al-Qutaish and Mohammad Al-Zuhd). The ACTECH Project also opened an international scientific partnership with Yarmouk University thanks to the availability and interest of its President, Prof. Zeidan Kafafi, and of Profs. Hani Hayajneh, Khaled al-Bashaireh, Maher Tarboush and Maen Omoush. I would also like to thank Roberto Parenti, who inspired my interest in important issues related to the world of building which were in part the foundation on which this workshop was conceived and realised. Finally, I would like to thank the three reviewers for their precious contribution, Teddi Dols for her constant engagement during the entire process of preparing the book and the editorial committee (Margaret Graves, Marcus Milwright and Mariam Rosser-Owen) of the Arts and Archaeology of the Islamic World – AAIW series for their belief in this project. This book is dedicated to our friend and brilliant colleague Daniela Moser and to my father Domenico, who both left us to soon. Chadi Hatoum took care of the translations of the Arabic texts and Alberto Prieto of the translations and revisions of the English language for the Introduction and Chapters 2, 6, 7 and 11. I would like to thank both of them for their invaluable support.