Piotr Bielinski (born 1948 in Bern, Switzerland) is a Polish Mediterranean archaeologist, professor of humanities, specializing in the archaeology of the ancient Middle East. His research interests include the art - especially glyptics - and architecture of Mesopotamia, Syro-Palestine, Anatolia, and the Persian Gulf from the Chalcolithic to the Bronze Age. He has led over a dozen Polish archaeological expeditions to the Middle East.
From 1967 to 1972 he studied archaeology in the Chair of Mediterranean Archaeology of the University of Warsaw under Prof. Kazimierz Michałowski, and from 1969 to 1972 also in the Chair of Polish and General Archaeology of the University of Warsaw. In 1978, at the same university, he received a doctoral degree based on a dissertation on residential architecture in Syro-Palestine in the middle and late Bronze Age. He received his postdoctoral degree in 1991 based on his work on ''Northern Ubaid '' – Mesopotamia between Diyala and Khabur in 4800–4000 BC. [1]
Since 1972 he has been professionally involved with the University of Warsaw, where in 1994 he was appointed professor at the Department of Middle Eastern Archaeology of the Institute of Archaeology of the University of Warsaw (now Faculty of Archaeology of the University of Warsaw). In 2012 he was awarded the title of full professor. From 1993 to 1998 he held the position of deputy dean, and from 1999 to 2005 - the position of dean of the Faculty of History of the University. [2] In 2005–2013 he was the director of the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology of the University of Warsaw (PCMA UW), and since 2014 he has been the President of the Research Council of the PCMA UW. [3]
Bieliński is active in the scientific community of Polish Mediterranean archaeologists, as a member of the Committee on Pre- and Protohistoric Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences [4] (since 2003, also a member of its presidium) and the Committee on Ancient Culture of the Polish Academy of Sciences (2003–2011). He also held a seat on the Scientific Council of the Department of Mediterranean Archaeology of the Polish Academy of Sciences (2000–2010) (since 2010 of the Institute of Mediterranean and Oriental Cultures PAS), and was appointed to the board of trustees of the National Museum in Warsaw for the term 2013–2018. [5] He is also a member of the Warsaw Scientific Society [6] (since 2013) and the Commission on Mediterranean Archaeology of the Polish Academy of Learning [7] (since 2016). From 2003 to 2014, he served on the International Coordination Committee for the Safeguarding of the Cultural Heritage of Iraq established under UNESCO. [8] He is a member of the Polish National Commission for UNESCO. [9]
In 1974–1983 Bieliński participated in archaeological research in the Middle East conducted by the Polish Centre of the Mediterranean Archaeology of the University of Warsaw (PCMA UW). As a member of an expedition he worked in Palmyra (Syria), Tell Saadiya (Iraq) and on Bijan Island (Iraq). Beginning in 1984, he began directing excavations at PCMA UW at the following sites in the region: Tell Rijim and Tell Raffaan (Iraq), Tell Abu Hafur, Tell Djassa, Tell Rad Shaqrah, and Tell Arbid (Syria). In 2007, as the head of the Kuwaiti-Polish Archaeological Mission on behalf of PCMA UW, he initiated the first Polish archaeological research in the Arabian Peninsula region, which included excavations in northern Kuwait (Al-Subijah region and Bahra 1 site), as well as sub-projects on Failaka Island. In 2015, he expanded PCMA UW's work in the Arabian Peninsula by starting a research project in the Qumayrah Valley. In 2016–2017 he also led a Polish expedition to the Saruq al-Hadid site in Dubai (U.A.E.). [10]
Kazimierz Józef Marian Michałowski was a Polish archaeologist and Egyptologist, art historian, member of the Polish Academy of Sciences, professor ordinarius of the University of Warsaw as well as the founder of the Polish school of Mediterranean archaeology and a precursor of Nubiology.
Old Dongola is a deserted town in what is now Northern State, Sudan, located on the east bank of the Nile opposite the Wadi Howar. An important city in medieval Nubia, and the departure point for caravans west to Darfur and Kordofan, from the fourth to the fourteenth century Old Dongola was the capital of the Makurian state. A Polish archaeological team has been excavating the town since 1964.
Soba is an archaeological site and former town in what is now central Sudan. Three kingdoms existed in medieval Nubia: Nobadia with the capital in Faras, Makuria with the capital in Dongola, and Alodia (Alwa) with the capital in Soba. The latter used to be the capital of the medieval Nubian kingdom of Alodia from the sixth century until around 1500. E. A. Wallis Budge identified it with a group of ruins on the Blue Nile 19 kilometres (12 mi) from Khartoum, where there are remains of a Meroitic temple that had been converted into a Christian church.
Marina, also Marina El Alamein , ancient Leukaspis or Antiphrae, is an upscale resort town catering mainly to the Egyptian upper class. It is located on the northern coast of Egypt, with an 11 km (6.8 mi) long beach, about 300 km (190 mi) away from Cairo, in the El Alamein area.
Tell Arbid is an ancient Near East archaeological site in the Khabur River Basin region of Al-Hasakah Governorate, Syria, about 50 kilometers north northeast of modern Al-Hasakah. It is located 45 kilometers south of Tell Mozan, the site of ancient Urkesh and about 15 kilometers from the site of Chagar Bazar. The Halafian site of Tell Arbid Abyad is a short distance away.
The International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East (ICAANE) is a biennial conference cycle initiated by archaeologists from several European universities. The first ICAANE took place in Rome in 1998. Since then the congress has been held every other spring at a different European university. The host of each ICAANE is chosen two years in advance by the ICAANE Scientific Committee. In 2018, in Munich, the decision of arranging the next congress was taken and the University of Bologna was chosen as the host of the 12 ICAANE. This event was subsequently delayed to 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 crisis.
The Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology University of Warsaw operates as an independent research institute of the University of Warsaw under the present name since 1990. It is dedicated to organizing, implementing and coordinating archaeological research, both excavations and study projects, as well as conservation, reconstruction and restoration projects, in northeastern Africa, the Near East and Cyprus. Projects include sites covering a broad chronological spectrum from the dawn of civilization through all the historic periods of the ancient Mediterranean civilizations to Late Antiquity and early Islam. Tasks beside fieldwork include comprehensive documentation of finds, archives management and publication of the results in keeping with international research standards. The PCMA manages the Research Centre in Cairo and Polish Archaeological Unit in Khartoum.
Stefan Karol Jakobielski is a Polish historian, archaeologist, philologist, epigraphist. One of the pioneers of nubiology. He participated in archaeological research in Faras, Tell Atrib, Palmyra, Deir el-Bahari and Qasr Ibrim; directed the archaeological works at Old Dongola.
The Research Centre in Cairo, Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology University of Warsaw, is the only Polish scientific research institution in Africa and the Middle East, where it has operated since 1959 in Cairo. The mission of the Research Centre is to develop and expand Polish research in the region, particularly in the Nile Valley. It is operated by the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology, an independent research institute of the University of Warsaw. The PCMA Cairo Research Centre is located in two buildings situated in close proximity to one another in the Cairo Heliopolis district — in antiquity the centre of a religious cult and the location of the Egypt's reputedly largest temple.
Bahra 1 is an archaeological site in the Subiya region on the coast of Kuwait Bay (Kuwait) associated with the Ubaid culture. It is one of the earliest Ubaid culture settlements in the Persian Gulf region, about 5500–4900 BC.
Bijân Island is an island in the middle Euphrates, in the historical land of Suhum. It belongs to a group of islands on which archaeological sites have been recorded.
Subiya (Al-Subiyah) is a region in northern Kuwait on the north coast of Kuwait Bay (Kuwait), consisting of several micro-regions: Bahra, H3, Nahdain, Radha, Muhaita, Mughaira, Dubaij, and Ras al-Subiyah. The area features archaeological sites with tumuli graves, settlements, campsites, wells, and shell middens. Most of the tumuli date to the Early and Middle Bronze Age. Subiya is the location of the Silk City project, the project's first phase was launched in May 2019.
Tell Djassa is an archaeological site in Syria, in the Khabur River basin, in the area of the Khabur Triangle in Upper Mesopotamia.
Tell Abu Hafur is an archaeological site in Syria, in the Khabur River basin, in the area of the Khabur Triangle in Upper Mesopotamia.
Tell Saadiya is a tell, or archaeological settlement mound, in Diyala Governorate (Iraq).
Tell Rad Shaqrah was a fortified rural settlement in Syria, in ancient Upper Mesopotamia. It is located on the northern bank of the Khabur River, about 15 kilometers from Hassake (Al-Hasaka).
Tell Raffaan is an archaeological site in Iraq, in ancient Upper Mesopotamia, in the valley of the Tigris River.
Tell Rijim is an archaeological site in Iraq, in ancient Upper Mesopotamia, in the valley of the Tigris River, about 25 kilometers to the north-west of Eski Mosul.
Qumayrah Valley – a valley in northern Oman, in the Al-Hajar Mountains in the Ad Dhahirah Governorate. It stretches for about 10 kilometers between the villages of Ayn Bani Sa’dah (al-Ayn), Qumayrah and Bilt.
Faculty of Archaeology, University of Warsaw (WAUW) is a faculty of the University of Warsaw, established on September 1, 2020, through the transformation of the Institute of Archaeology, which operated as part of the now-defunct Faculty of History. The Faculty is based in the Szkoła Główna Warszawska building. It is the largest archaeological institution in Poland, comprises 17 departments and 7 laboratories with a staff of about 100. The Faculty provides education in various branches of modern archaeology and related sciences to over 1500 students from various fields of study: Ancient Egypt, Ancient America, Classical Archaeology, and Ancient Near East. The Archaeology program at the University of Warsaw is placed between 51st and 100th worldwide in Quacquarelli Symonds World University Ranking (QS)