Lorenzo Nigro
Lorenzo Nigro is a full professor of Archaeology and History of the Art of the Ancient Near East at the University of Rome “La Sapienza”. With over 30 years of experience in Western Asia and the Mediterranean, he is a field archaeologist with extensive experience in the Middle East and the Mediterranean and a researcher who has won national and international calls. He directed the Gregorian Egyptian Museum of the Vatican Museums from 1997 to 2005 and, from 2013 to today, the Museum of the Near East Egypt and the Mediterranean Museum of the Sapienza.
He is also responsible for numerous archaeological expeditions and research projects, in particular at Tell es-Sultan/ancient Jericho (1997-present), recently inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List (September 2023), at Bethlehem (2015-2021) in Palestine and at Khirbet al-‘GharbBatrawy in Jordan (2005-present). He is also co-director of the joint Institut National du Patrimoine-Université de la Sapienza in Carthage, Tunisia (2021-present) and previously led the archaeological expedition to Mozia, Sicily (2002-2023).
One central aspect of Nigro’s work is the application of innovative archaeological methods in field research to improve our understanding of ancient cultures through scientific analysis. These techniques have been an integral part of his excavations, in particular at Jericho, Batrawy and Mozia, where he has applied a multidisciplinary approach to the study of ancient materials, of architectural technologies and environmental reconstructions, and then he was responsible for the restoration and use of the monuments discovered.
Nigro is the scientific editor of the Italian A-rated journal Vicino Oriente. Coordinates the Near East Curriculum of the School of Doctorate in Archaeology of the Sapienza University.
Published over 20 monographs and more than 330 scientific articles, with a focus on the pre-classical cultures of the ancient Near East and the Mediterranean, Contributing to the historical, archaeological and cultural reconstruction of disparate contexts and problems through innovative and interdisciplinary approaches. His contributions have earned him several prestigious awards, including the Honor Frost Foundation Award (2012) for his work in Mozia and the S.H. Kress Lectureship of the Archaeological Institute of America (2015-2016) of which he is a corresponding member. It has also played a key role in the development of the Archaeological Parks of Mozia in Sicily and the Jericho Oasis in Palestine, which was recognised as a UNESCO site in September 2023.
In addition to his work as a scholar and researcher, Nigro is the father of four children, writer of archaeological novels and watercolor artist, deeply committed to social inclusion and respect.
