Michele Piccirillo (archaeologist): Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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{{shortShort description|Franciscan expert in Byzantine archaeology}}

{{Use British English|date=September 2015}}

{{Infobox scientist

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|name = Michele Piccirillo

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|image=Palestinologo Michele Piccirillo.jpg

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|field = [[Byzantine]] [[archaeology]]

|work_institutions = [[Studium Biblicum Franciscanum]], Jerusalem

|alma_mater = [[Pontifical universities in Rome]]; [[Sapienza University of Rome]]

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'''Michele Piccirillo''' (1944–2008) was a [[Franciscan]] priest and expert in [[Byzantine]] archaeology.<ref name=Politis>{{cite news |last= Politis |first= Konstantinos D. |title= Obituary: Fr Michele Piccirillo: Priest and expert in Byzantine archaeology |page= |editor-last= |editor-first= |newspaper=[[The Independent]] |date= 28 November 2008 |url= https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/fr-michele-piccirillo-priest-and-expert-in-byzantine-archaeology-1038802.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220514/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/fr-michele-piccirillo-priest-and-expert-in-byzantine-archaeology-1038802.html |archive-date=2022-05-14 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date= 21 September 2021}}</ref> He is credited with advancing the study of early Byzantine archaeology, and especially the study of mosaics, in [[Jordan]], [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]] and [[Syria]].<ref name=Politis/>

==Life==

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Starting in 1975, Piccirillo taught [[biblical history]] and biblical geography in [[Jerusalem]], where he had become part of the Franciscan [[Custody of the Holy Land]].<ref name=Politis/> As an archaeologist, he was among those who excavated some of the earliest churches in the [[Holy Land]], which he published without the customary delay.<ref name=Politis/> This helped him position himself as an expert in this field and brought him international support for his projects in Jordan, Palestine and Syria.<ref name=Politis/>

====Church continuity in Islamic periods====

One of Piccirillo's main contributions in Church history was to demonstrate, based on archaeological proof, that early Byzantine traditions did not come to an end with the [[Muslim conquest of the Levant]], but survived into the Islamic periods, a position meanwhile adopted by most scholars.<ref name=Politis/>

====Mosaic conservation====

Piccirillo's interest for ancient mosaics motivated him to work for their preservation, including by co-founding a mosaic school in [[Madaba]], Jordan, which under his guidance became today's Madaba School for Mosaic Art and Restoration.<ref name=Politis/> He went on with a similar project in Jericho in Palestine, centered around mosaic studies and the preservation of the Umayyad site at Khirbet al-Mafjar, known as [[Hisham's Palace]].<ref name=Politis/> Another project of this kind he was involved in led to the building of a large shelter over the remains of the fifth-century Holy Martyrs Church at [[Taybat al-Imam]] in Syria.<ref name=Politis/>

====With Studium Biblicum Franciscanum====

During Piccirillo's work at the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum (SBF) in Jerusalem, he received his Professorship in 1984, workedacted as the director of the SBF museum in Jerusalem (1974-2008), and headed the SFB archaeological mission in Jordan, with excavations at [[Mount Nebo]], [[Umm ar-Rasas]] (discovering the [[Umm ar-Rasas mosaics]]) and in the area of [[Madaba]].<ref name=Politis/> Much of his energy went into excavating and preserving the Byzantine churches at Mount Nebo, the new shelter built there over the remains of the Memorial Church of Moses being closely associated with his name.<ref name=Politis/>

====Baptism site of Jesus====

The rediscovery of the traditional site of the [[Baptism of Jesus]] with its mainly Byzantine-era remains at [[Al-Maghtas]] must also be credited to Piccirillo,<ref name=lieu>{{cite news |title= Le lieu de baptême du Christ aurait été identifié en Jordanie |location= Stéphane Foucart for [[Le Monde]] |date= 21 November 2001 |via= yalla.free.fr |langlanguage= fr |url= http://yalla.free.fr/infospal/178_27-11-2001.html |access-date= 22 September 2021}}</ref> who led [[Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad]] to the site and set in motion the excavation, preservation and development of Al-Maghtas.<ref name=rex>{{cite web |last= Piccirillo |first= Michele |title= Aenon, where now is Sapsaphas - (Wadi Kharrar) |publisher= Franciscan website based on "The Madaba Map Centenary 1897-1997" book; page based on chapter "Aenon, Sapsaphas and Bethabara", pp. 219-220 |location= Jerusalem |url= http://www.christusrex.org/www1/ofm/mad/discussion/017discuss.html |access-date= 1122 NovemberSeptember 2000}}{{dead2021 link|archive-date= September25 December 2003 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20031225163656/http://www.christusrex.org/www1/ofm/mad/discussion/017discuss.html |url-status= dead 2021}}</ref>

===Death===

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==Published work==

Piccirillo has published dozens of scholarly articles as well as several books, among them<ref name=Politis/>

* {{cite journal |last1=Piccirillo |first1=Michele |author-link1= Michele Piccirillo (archaeologist)|last2=Storme |first2=Albert |date=January 1981 |title=LES ANTIQUITÉS DE RIḤAB DES BENÊ ḤASAN |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44088520 |journal=[[Revue Biblique]] |publisher=Peeters Publishers| volume=88 |issue=1 |pages=62–69 |language=French |doi= |access-date=}}

*''The Mosaics of Jordan'' (1993), Amman: [[ACOR]], dealing with the entire corpus of Jordan's ancient mosaics

*''[[Umm ar-Rasas|Umm al-Rasas]] Mayfa'ah: Gli scavi del complesso di Santo Stefano'' (1994) ['Umm al-Rasas Mayfa'ah: The excavation of the St Stephen Complex'], as main author and co-editor with Eugenio Alliata, Jerusalem: [[Studium Biblicum Franciscanum|SBF]], Collectio Maior 28

*''[[Mount Nebo]]: New Archaeological Excavations 1967-1997'' (1998), SBF, Collectio Maior 27

*''The [[Madaba Map]] Centenary 1897-1997'' (1999), SBF

==See also==

* [[Early Byzantine mosaics in the Middle East]]

* [[Virgilio Canio Corbo]] (1918-1991), Franciscan archaeologist

* [[Stanislao Loffreda]] (b. 1932), Franciscan archaeologist

==References==

{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Piccirillo, Michele}}

[[Category:1944 births]]

[[Category:2008 deaths]]

[[Category:Italian Franciscans]]

[[Category:Byzantine archaeologists]]

[[Category:Italian archaeologists]]