Nicola Aravecchia

Nicola Aravecchia holds a BA in Classical Studies from the University of Bologna, an MA in Ancient and Medieval Art & Archaeology and a PhD in Art History both from the University of Minnesota. His interests lie in Early Christian art and architecture in Egypt, particularly in the development of architectural forms in religious and monastic architecture. He also studies the use of space in Early Christian monasteries. He published an essay on methods of space syntax analysis applied to plans of Egyptian monastic cells. He is the field director of the archaeological mission of Ain el-Gedida, a fourth-century settlement in the Dakhla Oasis of Upper Egypt. During his year at ISAW, Nicola will develop an online gazetteer of Early Christian sites and monuments in Egypt, which will be integrated within the framework of Pleiades (a joint project of ISAW, the AWMC Ancient World Mapping Center, and the Stoa Consortium for Electronic Publication in the Humanities). He will also work toward the publication of the final report of the 2006-2008 excavations at Ain el-Gedida.