“Ebla and Afes…Evidence of the Ancient History of Syria” Exhibition opened at the entrance of Hama National Museum
Yesterday, the entrance and wall of Hama National Museum witnessed the opening of an exhibition entitled “Ebla and Afes…Evidence of the Ancient History of Syria”. The exhibition is being held in cooperation with the administrations of the Syrian-Italian Joint Missions in the Ebla Site and Tel Afes and in the presence of Professor Stefania Mazzoni, one of the most important archaeologists in the world, who has worked for years with Professor Paolo Mattei, the discoverer of Ebla.
The event aims at attracting passersby and urging them to get to know the artifacts found in the two archeological sites.
Director of Antiquities and Museums Mohammed Nazir Awad said that the exhibition includes photos that talk about the history of excavations and discoveries in Tel Ebla and Tel Afes and the most prominent excavations currently underway in the two sites. He explained that Tel Afes had great civilizational importance in the past as a link between the north and the south.
Awad explained that the experience of opening the exhibition at the entrance to the Hama National Museum is important to attract people so that they can read the data recorded about the finds and archaeological discoveries. He noted that this experience has been very successful in Damascus and Aleppo museums and currently in Hama Museum, which is scheduled to reopen soon.
In turn, Professor Davide Danelli, director of the Italian side of the mission, revealed the sabotage that affected the Ebla site due to terrorism in 2014, especially the illegal excavations.
He pointed out that the current goal of the mission is not excavation, but rather the restoration of buildings and archaeological artifacts according to a new methodology that allows training on it by archaeology students at the University of Aleppo and the University of Damascus and the cadres of the General Directorate of Antiquities and Museums.
Souha Suleiman