Project status:
Current
Lead organisation:
Partners:
The Palestinian Exploration Fund is running this project in partnership with the Maritime Endangered Archaeology Project, Department of Archaeology, University of Benghazi, Alexandria Centre for Maritime Archaeology and Underwater Cultural Heritage, and the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, Palestine.
Grant award:
£74,285
Project summary:
Marine Cultural Heritage in Gaza and Libya is under severe pressure due to conflict and climate change, as indicated by global studies that highlight accelerated erosion in arid regions.
Ongoing tension and hostility resurgence continues to damage archaeological sites. Associated economic and political instability is preventing the full legal protection of heritage sites, resulting in unregulated building activities and looting, particularly in coastal locations, damaging and destroying near-shore heritage.
This project will focus on selected high-risk marine cultural heritage landscapes in Libya and Gaza. It aims to deliver an intensive in-person training programme in underwater recording techniques at a dedicated training centre in Egypt, thereby developing capacity, and strengthening institutional resilience for the protection of marine cultural heritage.
For the Gazan participants who will not be able to attend the training in person, the project lead will create an open-access online training module focusing on maritime archaeology in conflict zones with a particular focus on Gaza and the Levant.
