Visit to the exhibition in Strasbourg: "Mari en Syrie" - Rebirth of a city state in the 3rd millenium at the BNU.

Excursion to Strasbourg: 16-19 June 2024
Students of Near Eastern Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies (BA, MA and PhD) took part in an excursion to Strasbourg. The destination was the exhibition "Mari en Syrie - Renaissance d'une cité du 3e millénaire" in the Strasbourg University Library (BNU).
The Mari site is one of the most important Bronze Age sites in Syria and has been researched by French archaeologists for decades. The study of its material and textual legacy from the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC is central to the curricula of both subjects; the exhibition offered the rare opportunity to see numerous original artefacts, including the original excavation documentation from the 1930s to the present day, some of which have never been exhibited before.

Highlights of the excursion:

• Visit to the "Mari en Syrie" exhibition: students were given guided tours by experts from the University of Strasbourg and had the opportunity to view significant artefacts from the Bronze Age.
• Guided tours and discussions: Participants had the opportunity to discuss with archaeologists, lecturers and conservators from the University of Strasbourg, the Louvre and the BNU.
• Visit to the special exhibitions: Dr Emanuel Marine gave a guided tour of the Susa and Fustat exhibitions.
• Round table discussion: At the end of the excursion, the students took part in a round table discussion with the curator of the Louvre, Dr Sophie Cluzan, and several conservators who had worked on the objects from Mari.

The excursion was made possible by Erasmus+ and was extremely instructive and enriching, especially through the direct encounter with the original objects and the valuable discussions.