Ayman Hassouna is a Palestinian archaeologist and university teacher. He has worked for the Department of Antiquities of Gaza and lectured at the

Islamic University of Gaza The Islamic University of Gaza (), also known as IUG and IU Gaza, is an independent Palestinian university established in 1978 in Gaza City. It was the first higher education institution to be established in the Gaza Strip. The university has ...

(IUG). Hassouna has led excavations at the Byzantine Church of Jabalia and been involved in conservation projects.

Biography

In 1995, Hassouna joined the team of archaeologists excavating Anthedon and was involved in the project for nearly a decade. While working for the Department of Antiquities of Gaza in the 1990s, Hassouna led the excavations of the Byzantine Church of Jabalia along with Yasser Matar. He has also been involved in conservation and restoration projects at historic sites in Gaza, consulting on the conservation of a Byzantine mosaic floor in

Abasan al-Kabira Abasan al-Kabira () is a Palestinian city located in the Khan Yunis Governorate of the State of Palestine, in the southern Gaza Strip. It is connected with Khan Yunis city by a local street that crosses other villages like Bani Suheila and Kh ...

, and working with the project at

Saint Hilarion Monastery Saint Hilarion Monastery, at the archaeological site of Tell Umm el-'Amr, was an ancient Christian monastery. Its excavated ruins lay close to Deir al-Balah in the Gaza Strip, Palestine. History and archaeology The monastery was founded in ca. ...

. Hassouna has criticised

Hamas The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...

, the Palestinian Authority, and Israel for conservation challenges facing Palestinian heritage sites. Hassouna has worked at the Islamic University of Gaza as professor of history and archaeology. He collaborated with the Gaza Maritime Archaeology Project (GAZAMAP) project on behalf of IUG from 2022 to 2023 and as field director he led student training expeditions to

Tell es-Sakan Tell es-Sakan () is a tell (a mound created by accumulation of remains) about south of Gaza City in the Gaza Strip. It was the site of two separate Early Bronze Age urban settlements: the first was a fortified administrative centre of the E ...

and

Tell Ruqeish Tell Ruqeish () is an Iron Age settlement and archaeological site situated on the Mediterranean coast between Rafah and Gaza in the Gaza Strip. It was established in the 8th century BC and continued as a trading port by the Neo-Assyrian and Achaem ...

. The project aimed to document these sites and create expertise in

maritime archaeology Maritime archaeology (also known as marine archaeology) is a discipline within archaeology as a whole that specifically studies human interaction with the sea, lakes and rivers through the study of associated physical remains, be they vessels, sh ...

within Gaza. Hassouna continued teaching through the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, using Zoom to deliver lectures, and used the same methods to teach during the

Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip The Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip is a major part of the Gaza war. Starting on 7 October 2023, immediately after the October 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel, Hamas-led attack on Israel, Israel began bombing of the Gaza Strip, bombing the Ga ...

. The main buildings of IUG were destroyed early in the

Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...

. Following the start of the invasion in October 2023, Hassouna and his family evacuated from Gaza City. They lived in cramped temporary accommodation and had to relocate again as the fighting spread. His home was destroyed during the invasion and, in 2024, Hassouna evacuated to Egypt and proceeded to the UAE.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hassouna, Ayman Living people Palestinian archaeologists People from the Gaza Strip 20th-century archaeologists 21st-century archaeologists Academic staff of the Islamic University of Gaza Palestinian refugees