News

Pessinous Archaeological Guide: to be expected !

A new archaeological guide on Pessinous will be presented at the annual archaeological symposium in May 2008 in Ankara, published in English and in Turkish in the Homerkitabevi archaeological guide series (Istanbul).

40 years of excavations

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On the 18^th of August 2007 rector Paul Van Cauwenberghe and vice-rector Luc Moens visited the archaeological team and the excavations at Pessinous.

Their visit, in the presence of the Belgian ambassador in Turkey Marc Van Rysselberghe and several Turkish dignitaries, was part of the festivities for 40 years of presence of the Belgian team of Ghent University at the site.

By their visit the rector and vice-rector wanted to express their lasting support for the cultural and historical so important archaeological project of the UGent in Turkey.

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Pessinus Research Centre

A new scientific research centre, the Pessinus Research Centre, was opened in the old village schoolhouse which was renovated by Ghent University with funding from the Belgian National Lottery. Next to a new depot, a number of workshops, studies and offices have been fitted out for the archaeological teams. In addition, an educational garden has been laid out with plants and herbs from Roman times.

Minister of state Herman De Croo, rector Andreas De Leenheer and first deputee of the province East-Flanders Marc De Buck inaugurated the new archaeological centre officially on the 8th of August 2005. Senator Fatma Pehlivan, the ex-governor of the province Eskişehir Bahaeddin Güney, and the rector of the Osmangazı University of Eskişehir also gave a speech at the ceremony. Rector De Leenheer took the opportunity to renew the bilateral agreements between Ghent University and Ankara Üniversitesi. The Turkish media took a great interest in the event.

A new inscription
An inscription found in 2003 is one of the most important discovered in the last decennium in Turkey. It is a letter of Attalos II (170-159/8 BC) mentioning a general of the Galatians from Kleonnaeion (an unknown city) and coloni from Amorion (the oldest reference to the city!).