Introduction

The first Italian mission (University of Turin) in Nisa was in 1990. The aim of these missions (and future ones) is to make a general topographical map of old Nisa and to learn the relationships between each building of the fortress located in the south part of Nisa.

In 1996, the Italian mission excavated the round hall to check the results of the Russian YuTake mission. They also excavated the north and west corridors of the round hall. The Italian mission found a face in clay which represents a head of Mithradates I or Mithradates II. This head is now displayed in the museum of history in Ashkabad, and was published in late 2000 by Professor Antonio Invernizzi, University of Turin. So, from 1990 to 1999 the aim of the Italian mission was to do a general plan of Nisa and work in the round hall. The results of those missions are published in Mesopotamia.

The excavation of Nisa by groups of many nationalities have resulted in important archeological finds and additions to our knowledge of the Parthians. The University of Turin's Centro Ricerche Archeologiche e Scavi di Torino publishes Mesopotamia, a scholarly journal which contains numerous articles about Parthia.

You may also be interested in some tourist photographs taken at Nisa in 1981 by Alexandre Kliouchnik of St. Petersburg, Russia, used here with his permission:

Click on pictures to enlarge		Photos by A. Kliouchnik

This page last updated 23 Feb 2021