Marcello Fidanzio

Biography

Marcello Fidanzio is Full Professor at the Facoltà di Teologia di Lugano (FTL), affiliated with the Università della Svizzera Italiana (USI). He is the Director of the Istituto di Cultura e Archeologia delle terre Bibliche (FTL), and a member of the Centro di Judaica Goren Monti Ferrari (USI, FTL). He is also the Director of FTL’s Research Commission and a member of USI’s International Relations Commission. 

Professor Fidanzio is the founder and Director of the “Gerusalemme” Summer School, dedicated to the archaeology related to the study of the Bible (www.archaeojerusalem.org), a network of twelve Universities.

He has been Visiting Professor at the École Biblique et Archéologique Française of Jerusalem, the University of Lausanne, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the University of Turin, and the Facoltà Teologica dell’Italia Centrale (Florence). He has also been appointed Ernest S. Frerich Annual Professor at the W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research, in Jerusalem. During the Spring term of 2025 he will be Visiting Professor at the Pontificio Istituto Biblico in Rome.

Professor Fidanzio is affiliated researcher at the École Biblique at Archéologique Française, and at the Cluster of Excellence ‘Understanding Written Artefacts’ (University of Hamburg). He is also part of the Scientific Committee of Rivista Biblica.

Awards 

Scientific Research

2019 – The volume The Caves of Qumran (Proceedings of the international conference, Lugano 2014), edited by Marcello Fidanzio (STDJ 118; Leiden: Brill, 2016) was nominated “Best Scholarly Book on Archaeology” by the Biblical Archaeology Society.

Scientific Communication

2023 – ADUTEI “Premio Stampa” for the television documentary Viaggio nella Grande Bellezza: Gerusalemme  

2021 – Professor Fidanzio was awarded a “Certificate of Excellence” by the Israel National Tourist Office, for the originality of his educational program on the archaeology of Israel (webinar series).

Research

Qumran Caves Publication Project (Director). Professor Fidanzio has been entrusted by the École Biblique at Archéologique Française on Jerusalem with the publication of the final report on the archaeological excavations at the caves in the vicinity of Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found (2016 - ongoing).

A Material Approach to the Qumran Quest. When, How, and Why Were Dead Sea Scrolls Deposited to the Natural Caves? Individual research project funded by the Fondo Nazionale Svizzero (2021-2025). 

The Great Isaiah Scroll: A Biography (Director). The Israel Museum commissioned Marcello Fidanzio to direct a research project on the Great Isaiah Scroll (1QIsaa) as an archaeological artifact. The research is being conducted in collaboration with Hagit Maoz, head of the Shrine of the Book. The project is affiliated with the Cluster of Excellence ‘Understanding Written Artefacts’ (University of Hamburg).

Dispersed Qumran Caves Artefacts and Archival Sources. Professor Fidanzio was part of the Network (together with Joan Taylor, King’s College London, and Dennis Mizzi, University of Malta), financed by the Leverhulme Trust (2016-2019).  

Areas of interest

Biblical World (Milieu Biblique), Dead Sea Scrolls, Qumran archaeology, Material culture of Second Temple Judaism, Christian memories in the Holy Land, Composition of the Psalms and Psalter.