Italian Archaeological Mission to Afghanistan (MAIA)
The Italian Archaeological Mission to Afghanistan (MAIA) was established in 1957 as part of a broader research project initiated by Giuseppe Tucci, then President of the IsMEO (Italian Institute for the Middle and Far East) in Rome. The aim was to explore the diverse cultures of the “Eurasia” macroregion from both differentiated and integrated perspectives. With the agreement of local authorities, MAIA chose the Ghazni region as its operational base, which was the ancient capital of the Yaminid Empire.
The strategic position of this region in relation to the ancient “Southern Route” that connected western Iran to India, along with the splendor celebrated in Islamic sources, promised fruitful archaeological research. The results of the activities validated this intuition from the very beginning. However, the magnificence of Islamic Ghazni, which now found archaeological confirmation, was also an indication of an equally significant pre-Islamic past. In the first report on the excavation campaigns of 1957-1958, the potential interest of the Tapa Sardar hill was highlighted, where initial surveys revealed the existence of a sacred Buddhist area that, as subsequent excavations would confirm, was one of the most important and long-lasting in Afghanistan. From its inception, therefore, thanks not only to fortunate coincidences but also to a propensity for territorial archaeology and the intertwined trajectories of cultural history, MAIA has been characterized by its specialized care for individual fields of investigation and broad horizons.
The Soviet occupation in 1979 and the subsequent conflicts marked a long interruption of fieldwork. At the end of 2002, MAIA finally returned to Ghazni; however, the progressive deterioration of security conditions in the area again forced a suspension of fieldwork in 2005. With the exception of maintenance activities and the establishment of a small temporary museum, initiated by the local Governorate to celebrate the event “Ghazni Capital of Islamic Culture 2013,” activities shifted to the Kabul region to support emergency excavations conducted by the Archaeology Institute of Afghanistan at risk-laden Buddhist sites, particularly Tepe Narenj and Qol-e Tut. Thanks to the generosity of the Archaeology Institute of Afghanistan and the Délégation Archéologique Française en Afghanistan (DAFA), MAIA also gained access to the Mes Aynak site and its documentation. This participation was not purely technical but resulted in significant studies on individual sites and, in general, a notable advancement in knowledge about the history and cultural heritage of Afghanistan.
MAIA is currently managed by ISMEO (International Association for Mediterranean and Oriental Studies), the scientific successor of IsMEO, of which it retains the acronym. This has allowed, even during years of forced discontinuity, to preserve the documentary heritage and knowledge and has enabled the continuous advancement of theoretical studies, thanks also to the adoption of flexible remote activity strategies. These advancements are reflected in the high number of publications, both scientific and popular, and in free distance education programs, particularly through the digitization and open access sharing of old paper archives (Buddhist and Islamic Archaeological Data from Ghazni, Afghanistan.A multidisciplinary digital archive for the managing and preservation of an endangered cultural heritage), graphic restitutions of individual monuments and architectural complexes, and the production of animated videos.
The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation supports MAIA.
