This book (published in 2019) presents the very particular story of an archaeological site in Syria during the recent eight years of war. The ancient city of Urkesh, today Tell Mozan, in northeastern Syria, became a centre of activities that developed around the archaeological site, a strong and unexpected synergy between a variety of communities and social groups.

In strong contrast with the destructive violence of war and the intentional and perverted iconoclastic fury of ISIS, Urkesh has emerged as a source of hope and a reason for pride for the people who live in the area. It became a symbol of the new sensitivity that archaeology as a discipline is developing--a sensitivity towards the value of the land as a shared element betweenthe ancients and the people who live there today.

Colour illustrations throughout.

Giorgio Buccellati is professor emeritus in the Department of Near Eastern Languages at UCLA, and is the founder and first director of UCLA's Institute of Archaeology (today the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology).

Stefania Ermidoro is an Ancient Near Eastern historian and Assyriologist, mainly working on aspects of social and cultural history in the first-millennium BCE, and on the rediscovery of Ancient Mesopotamia in modern times; she is visiting fellow in the School of Archaeology at Newcastle University.

Yasmine Mahmoud has been a member of the Tell Mozan/Urkesh archaeological project since 2008, and has taken part in excavations in the ancient city of Damascus; she coordinates the restoration and conservation operations taking place in Tell Mozan.