Archaeology Magazine - April 1966 - 58

from March to September and is
obtainable from The Council for
British Archaeology,8 St. Andrew's
Place, London, N.W. 1, England.
Subscriptionfor the eight issues including the November summary of
results is $1.10 ($2.10 air mail).
Summer Institute in Israel
The Hebrew Union College-Biblical and Archaeological School in
Jerusalem is again sponsoring a
Summer Institute on Near Eastern
Civilizations,especiallydesigned for
American professors and graduate
students. Seminars and lectures will
deal with the history, languages
and literatures of the Near East in
general and the Holy Land in particular. Field work experience includes participation in excavations
at Gezer. The lectures and seminars
will be complemented by visits to
archaeologicalsites.
Dr. Nelson Glueck, the Director,
is supported by a distinguishedstaff.
In addition there will be visiting
lecturers. The program in Israel begins July 2, concludes August 15.
In cooperation with the American
School of Classical Studies the
group will visit important sites in
Greece, August 15-21. A limited
number of fellowships is available.
Applicationsare now being accepted
from both pre-doctoral and postdoctoral students. For information
write to Dr. Paul M. Steinberg,
Executive Dean, Hebrew Union
College-JewishInstitute of Religion,
40 West 68th Street, New York,
N. Y. 10023.

New Viking Inscription
A remarkably well preserved
runic stone was discoveredin June
1965 during the restoration of the
old St. Laurentius Church in Söderköping, central Sweden.It had been
built into the north wall of the
church and was lying face down.
The stone was carefully freed, and
it was found that the inscribed
face was covered with hard mortar
from mediaeval times. This was removed, and Professor Sven B. F.
Jansson, an authority on runic inscriptions, was called in. The inscription (illustrated) has had the
letters painted in to make them
clearer: however, some of the original red oxide of lead was still visible when the stone was uncovered.
In translation the inscription
reads: "Gunvat raised this stone as
a memorial to Torsten and Torlak, his sons." Accordingto Professor Jansson the names refer to real
Viking personalities. Gunvat is a
very unusual name, which means
"the one brave in fighting." Torsten
and Torlak are both well known
Viking names. Professor Jansson
surmisesthat the two sons died during some Viking expedition about
A.D. 1000. Although Gunvat was
one of the last real Vikings, he was
a Christian, as the large cross on the
stone shows. The stone is 8 feet 25
inches high and 3 feet 2 inches
thick. As soon as restoration work
is finished at the church, the stone
will be set up near the place where
it was found.

Viking Stone with runic inscription.
Photo ATA.

University of Rome Excavations
We owe the following report to
the kindness of Professor Sabatino
Moscati:
The Institute of Near Eastern
Studies of the University of Rome
organized a series of archaeological
expeditions during the academic
year 1964-65in various countries of
the Mediterranean area, continuing
and further developing an organic
plan that has been in effectfor some
time. Fellows of the University of
Rome as well as of other universities and members of the Department of Antiquities participated in
the expeditions, thus effecting a
largely new kind of cooperation
amongvariousarchaeologicalgroups.
In Syria, the second campaign of
excavations at Tell Mardikh was

carried out from August to October
1965. Here was brought to light a
large Sumeriancity which flourished
about 2000 B.c. and was reoccupied
in the Persian and Hellenistic periods. Part of the defensive system
was found, more than twenty meters
high and with an entrance constructed of limestoneblocks.A temple with rectangular plan was discovered in the lower city. On the
acropolis was revealed a second
temple,of greater dimensions,which
still preserved a large portion of its
sacred ornamentation in basalt or
limestone.Among the principal discoveriesare a large limestone basin
with mythological and religious
scenes carved on three sides, a lifesize basalt statue representing a
seated sovereign, numerous terracotta figurines and various inscrip-

tions. This expedition was directed
by Professors Paolo Matthiae and
Maria Squarciapino.
In Egypt, the first campaign of
excavation at Antinoe took place
during Septemberand October 1965.
Here the work was conducted in
collaborationwith the Universityof
Florence,which had excavatedthere
before the last war. While the
group from the University of Florence excavatedthe south necropolis,
membersof the Universityof Rome
explored the area of the temple of
Ramses II, identifying the remains
of the precinctwall and uncovering,
not far below the surface, thirteen
predynastic tombs which contained
remarkabledecoratedpottery. Other
excavationswere carried out in the
area of the so-called "temple of
Isis"; remains of granite columns

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Archaeology Magazine - April 1966

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