JORDAN – Introduction

The activity of the Italian Archaeological Expedition in Jordan began in 1977 with CRAST (Centro Ricerche Archeologiche e Scavi di Torino) under the direction of arch. Roberto Parapetti. The Expedition started from the Cultural Agreement between Italy and Jordan signed in Amman on 26 October 1975. Previously, from 1927 to 1938, an Italian Archaeological Expedition had carried out research on the Acropolis of Amman under the auspices of the Italian Scientific Expeditions in the Levant. The aim of the research started in 1977, in consideration of the extraordinary state of conservation of the remains of ancient Gerasa, was above all to shed light on the urban-architectural planning methods of the Roman-imperial age on the Seleucid-Syriac cultural context. The study of the considerable development of the colonnaded streets and the large monumental complex of the sanctuary of Artemis mainly provided the opportunity. Since 2008, the Italian Archaeological Expedition in Jordan has been managed by Monumenta Orientalia.