Hawass to visit Palestrina

Wanted in Rome

Earlier this spring, Claudio Scaramella, president of the Pro Loco (tourist board) of Palestrina, an ancient town 38 km southeast of Rome, brought off a coup he’d been planning for eight years. He succeeded in bringing world-famous Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass (dubbed “the Indiana Jones of Egypt” by the American television Discovery Channel) to his home town.

Palestrina, the pre-Roman town of Praeneste, celebrated for the spectacular remains of the Roman sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia, dates back to the seventh century BC and was once an important trading post for the peoples of the Mediterranean. Scaramella says there is a body of evidence proving links between Praeneste and ancient Egypt. The Egyptian goddess Isis was worshipped in Praeneste’s Temple of Fortune and a fascinating second-century BC mosaic depicting animals and scenes of daily life on the banks of the Nile was discovered in the ruins. The Nile Mosaic is now one of the most prized exhibits in the Palazzo Barberini national archaeological museum crowning the sanctuary.

It was thanks to this extraordinary exhibit that Palestrina became a point of reference for the Egyptian Academy in Rome. In 1998 the academy director was invited to Palestrina to see the Nile Mosaic. He was so impressed that the visit developed into a series of joint initiatives and cultural exchanges in which the Palestrina authorities are invited to the annual Egyptian national holiday celebrations at the Egyptian embassy on 19 July

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