The Master of Maritime and Coastal Archaeology ( MoMArch – Aix-Marseille University ) with the support of the Mediterranean Archaeology Institute – ARKAIA | Aix-Marseille Université and H2020 NEANIAS Project organised the conference under the auspices of the UNESCO Chair in Maritime and Coastal Archaeology of Aix-Marseille University.

The Conference was held at Le Cube THE CUBE | Aix-Marseille Université in Aix-en-Provence from the 27th September to the 1st of October 2022. The key themes focussed on Ancient Mediterranean Harbour-cities diachronically from prehistory to Medieval times and it was organised under the framework of the Aigina Harbour-city project (2019-2023) now running in the Aegean Sea (website under construction). Besides the key theme, the conference welcomed papers covering a wide range of subjects, new discoveries and current underwater and coastal fieldwork research, documentation and interpretation on ancient harbours and coastal sites in the Mediterranean.

The Foundation awarded four bursaries to scholars and early career researchers from the HFF region to attend and present their work at the conference. The bursaries were awarded to;

Hassan Hajjali – American University of Beirut
Mirette Magdi Abdelnour – CMAUCH
Aya Mohamed Helmy Ahmed – CMAUCH
Maria Michael – University of Cyprus

Hassan Hajjali presented a paper on his preliminary investigation of the Harbor of Sarepta, Lebanon. His presentation focussed on the evaluation of the current condition of the Sarepta Harbor area using satellite images, the excavator’s maps, and drawings, and then processing the data using a GIS. Sarepta’s harbour region experienced significant disruption due primarily to urbanization, pollution, and weathering.

Mirette Abdelnour presenter her research, entitled ” Ocean decade and a sustainable future for coastal archaeological sites in the eastern Mediterranean region”.This opportunity provided the experience to spread her research ideas among other research in the field of maritime archaeology, about the danger our coastal archaeological sites are currently facing and the changes that would happen in the near future, trying to brainstorm with scholars and experts for saving the sites before it is too late, acknowledging the different ways for documentations that is currently used.

Aya Ahmed presented a poster about “the evolution of harbours in the eastern Mediterranean during the Classical era”. Aya stated that the conference was a great opportunity for me to meet professors, and researchers from across the world; as I got feedback on my topic from the professors which opened new horizons for me to improve my research, and I gained experience from all of the researchers I have met’.

Maria Michael presented a paper with Dr. Lucy Blue (Maritime Archaeological Director of HFF) about their project at Dreamer’s Bay in Cyprus, which is supported by the HFF. In this paper, the results of the two project seasons were briefly presented. Furthermore, plans for the next season in 2023 were discussed, in order to highlight the importance of the continuation of this survey for the analysis and better interpretation of the breakwater recovered there, its connection to the identified wrecks, and its complex maritime cultural landscape.

More information about the conference can be found here