http://www.eritrealive.com/adulis-citta-segreta/.
In this interview Massa mentions, among other things, their relation with Eritrean young archeologists, their life conditions and that Eritrea, as a nation, lacks laws that protects ancient legacies. She also shares that President Isais Afewerki (being an Ethiopian) instructed them not to expose the nationality of the founds; "I would quote the words of the president that I met to talk about our mission, who told us not to be interested in showing the "nationality" of Eritrea but want the re-emergence place of where different civilisations meet, inviting us to make contact"
Adulis; The Secret City
Journalist; Erirea, the small country on the Horn of Africa, with a complicated contemporary history, a colonial past and an ancient time wrapped in the myth of the Land of Punt; Adulis, what is hidden under the sand?
Massa; That´s what we´re looking for a bit at a time to find out. Of course, we already know many things, because before us many travellers and explorers, from the second half of the nineteenth century, have rediscovered Adulis.
So we have reports from their trips, and even from ancient sources that, since first century AD, mention Adulis and speak of it as a port where precious goods, rare, exotic, which made the city prosperous were exchanged.
In fact, Adulis had entered in the orbit of the interests of Rome because of the commercial aspects, it was a bridge between the Mediterranean, and the Orient - from which came valuable commodity.
Not only frankincense, even the turtle came via Adulis to Rome to inlay the furniture of noble families. The flowering of Adulis was due to the role that the city and the kingdom of Aksum had as commercial intermediaries. The kingdom of Aksum, an almost unknown realm in the West, was very important for Africa.
A kingdom that Rome never conquered, which was on par with Rome, beated gold coins and was very rich and powerful. So it is no surprise to find a big city like Adulis on the Red Sea coast, with such imposing monuments such as we are a bit at a time bringing to the light.
Journalist; Was there a contact between Adulis and Qohaito, another archeological site in the Eritrean highland area?
Massa; Yes, certainly. The connection with the plateau is fundamental. It was the reason for life between the port city of Adulis and the metropolis, but also with Metera and Keskese. They were all places that were part of a network, a road link that connected the coast with the plateau and the hinterland.
Journalist; The Land of Punt, says Herodotus, is an area with high red mountains, with steam coming from the sea rises to the plateau, creating the haze. The geographical coordinates of the Land of Punt may be between Eritrea and Ethiopia?
Massa; Today we can be safe according to archeological findings. In Egypt they were found, in Mersa Gawasis, ceramics from Eritrea and even obsidian. The obsidian sources are not many, both in the Mediterranean, and in this part of Africa.
And right near Adulis, there is a locatable source of obsidian. Obsidian was one of the reasons why the shipments were sent from Egypt to the Land of Punt. Even the obsidian found at Herculaneum and Pompeii, on the basis of very recent analyses, has been proven to come from these areas. So, we can be fairly certain that the Land of Punt is in the area of Adulis.
Journalist; Going back to Eritrea, how did you find working with them during Adulis Mission? (My comment; the excavation mission)
Massa; I want to return back, it´s a country where you feel good, you feel at home and the Eritreans are very correct people, dignified. As for the young archeologists, they are eager to learn, very curious, available. So a good relationship and contact with the essentials. The evening time is very nice, when the darkness falls, suddenly, everything has to stop. The light that remains is that of the generator, but at a certain time it is turned off, then they find themselves in forgotten rhythms, of wakefulness, with the lift of day and rest when the sun goes down. It`s very refreshing. It is a way of life made of simple things, there is the simplicity.
Journalist; What training have young archeologists?
Massa; From a technical point of view there is still work to do, however, they speak English very well, better than we do and they really want to learn, they are greedy, they drink what we can tell, so this is very rewarding.
Journist; The age of the generation that works with has grown since independence, the generation has studied English, had a general school education?
Yes, there is a specific preparation, technique, for the work they do with us. They do well in understanding the operational phases of the excavation. The problem is the documentation. For this, there is still work to do. And also a lot of the management of the collections for museums, conservations and enhancement of what is found in the excavations. Why should there be be a protocol to follow for the finds, since out of the ground until they arrive in the warehouse and then the museums, but at the time the protocol is missing. It lacks a law on cultural heritage, a key tool to be created (my bold). In Italy, we often complain about bad work, the prohibitions that come from our superintendents, however, we have clear references and legislation protecting archeology as a public good. In Eritrea this aspect is missing (my bold).
Journalist; Is there a sense of public archeology and does the state invest in cultural heritage?
Massa; Yes, absolutely, and it is why we are called to work together, we say that there is also a illuminated vision by the authorities who see cultural roots in the potential for growth and development for the country, even the income not only cultural.
Journalist; Overcoming the reputation of a closed country?
Massa; I would quote the words of the president that I met to talk about our mission, who told us not to be interested in showing the "nationality" of Eritrea but want the re-emergence place of where different civilisations meet, inviting us to make contact (my bold) with "the other side of the Red Sea, to extend the partnership to other teams working in surrounding countries; certainly an enlightened vision.
Journalist; Which is not reported ...
Massa; But I can refer to it directly ...
Journalist; Preparing the service for "Africa Today" (my comment; An Italian TV-programme) I saw that it is a very "feminine mission", there are many women, although Eritrean, who participate with you?
Massa; Yes, we are so many women, it is true. Many women in the kitchen, this is obvious, but it is also a fundamental role. But also several girls on the excavations, less than boys, but there are absolutely on par with them, without religious affiliation create differences.
Journalist; Adulis once called the "Frankincence Route", a city often sought after, then abandoned again. The most substantial traces, lately are those set by Paribeni in 1906. You have followed the footsteps of Paribeni to get back to the site?
Massa; Yes, and it made me particularly happy because I come from and teach at the same university (editor`s note, L´Università del Sacro Cuoure di Milano) where Paribeni had taught for thirty years, receiving honours of any kind because he really was a leading figure, and conducted on the site of Adulis a very extensive research. When you think archeologists you think a little "Indiana Jones", but in reality we are not as good and lucky, we always start from previous notes, we read maps, topographic maps, notes, sources. First there is a whole preparation in library, after you go with GPS on the site. It makes the point, and if you are lucky, we find the area which, in our case, was almost completely covered by sand. The ones from Paribeni, remember, it was an excellent job, even his topographical map today is valid.
Journalist; This is what has enabled you yo go there?
Massa; Yes, a map made by talented army officers who have made the egregious things.
Journalist; Continuing with Paribeni, is it he who called the structure "the Altar of the Sun"?
Massa; In a sense this is a mistake. At the time, the knowledge were inferior to ours. Archeology, in fact is a science that progresses continuously, we may be proved wrong what we had said the day before.
So it will not detract from the greatness of Paribeni that found many materials. But the questions dell´
Ara di Sole (Altar of the Sun) is not sustainable, based on the architectural structure that Paribeni compared to the altars of the solar cult of Mesopotamia, both on the basis of fragments decorated that he found in the excavation, marble slabs that, in reality, they have nothing to do with the solar cult, but are typical of the liturgical furnishings of the early Christian and Byzantine churches.
In particular, the relief with hills is just tied to the symbol of Golgotha, then "The Altar of the Sun" is no longer sustainable. The city of Adulis with our excavations are brining to light the last days of life. Archeology is browsing a book page by page, but back to front and we do it with current archeological precautions that should not be behind the walls and behind the monuments, but reads the contexts on the ground.
This means that everything that is around the wall must be read to understand. At the era of Paribeni, this was not done. They used to take off the ground to highlight the monuments, hence they ended up losing the information that allowed to place in perspective the history of a still mysterious monument.
Last year we were finally able to dig inside of the church and to reach the level of the foundation.
At this level there are materials to help determine, with sufficient precision, the time when the church was built. We know when it was completed because Paribeni found a piggy bank containing 33 gold coins that are dated between 690 and 720/30 AD and then provide a precise date prior to destruction. Among others he has found the treasures in itself, indicates that there was a danger that people hid the coins thinking they will be returning back....
Journalist; What kind of danger?
Massa; We do not think an invasion, rather a natural disaster, an earthquake or a flood.
Journalist; You find traces of this?
Massa; We found silt deposits that suggest a flood ...
Journalist; But there is no trace of what had happened in any documents, no story, no representation?
Massa; Not at the moment.
Journalist; Adulis is an earthquake zone?
Massa; Yes, it is a seismic zone, there are deformations in the walls that suggest the earthquake. The technique used to build can tell a lot. It is this aspect that the architect Susanna Bortolotto is studying, who reviews the technique of interlocking of the masonry blocks and also the offset technique, a refined technique suitable for seismic areas.
Journalist; New technologies allow working faster?
Massa; Sure, and especially in the less invasive and destructive, because an archeological excavation is destructive by definition. In the sense that when we dig, we remove one layer and destroy it, that is why the stage of documentation is important, once we remove the layer we lost. Today, we use knew technologies such as lidar flight, the plane laser scanning that allows us to read better the soil to understand what lies beneath and move more effectively, targeted, less invasive.
Journalist; In Eritrea there are other important archeological sites, Koaito, Senafe, the Buya area where it was found the skull of the lady or gentleman ....
Massa; Let us call t the skull ....
It was nice that it was another Lucy ....
The zones are not far apart, but Buya is a much older site.
Journalist; The pots that you have found, modeled with a technical that is still used today, do they reveal the presence of a Adulitanian culture?
Massa; It must be said that the pottery is the absolutely most common archeological find, which we find in all the archeological sites and in all contexts. That is why it is a bit "our guide fossil". The pottery was made everywhere and you could also do it in a very easy way as we have seen done by the potter Afta, interviewed by our mission allegedly uses the same ancient system.
We can use the ethnographic material to get an idea of how they did in ancient times. The techniques are those of the past. I think we can talk about Adulitanian culture because they were objects created here.
Journalist: Is there an archaeological park for Adulis?
Massa; Yes, we are talking about a very large area, an entire city located in an easily reachable area from Massawa, an area to be protected because it might otherwise be destroyed.
The monuments should be protected to avoid what has happened, it happened this year, a full take away piece of the wall of the Eastern Church.
In addition, the area must be protected from the animals, so the idea of doing an archeological park has a dual purpose; protect the area and attract tourism, making it good for the local population, a source of employment.
This will allow for a revival of traditional crafts, ceramic workshops, coffee and next to monuments, a number of concierge services. In the archaeological park it is planned to build a guest house. For the archeologists, there should be a small warehouse, a laboratory, an Antiquarium, a museum, but also services for tourists.
Journalist; Well, we are looking forward to discover Adulis, with a trip to Eritrea.
Ancient Egyptian depiction of the Land of Punt:
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