The "Maurizio Tosi" Library in Samarkand (Uzbekistan): now available the online catalogue

The DISCI-UNIBO Archaeological Expedition in Uzbekistan, Uzbekistan – in collaboration with the ISMEO — International Mediterranean and Oriental Studies Association, the Department of Asian, African and Mediterranean Studies, University of Naples L’Orientale, and the Samarkand Institute of Archaeology, National Center of Archaeology of the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan - is pleased to announce the inauguration in Samarkand of the Library «Maurizio Tosi». The volumes can be freely consulted according to the timetable of the Central Library at the Samarkand Institute of Archeology. A first version of the catalog can be downloaded indexed by Author,  Title, and Inventory number.

World-renowned archaeologist, Tosi was Professor of Paleothnology at our University and Director of the Department of Archeology between 2007 and 2010. After the collapse of the USSR, it was very common to find books sold in bookshops or even by privates along the streets. Since the first preliminary visit in Uzbekistan in 1999, the late Maurizio Tosi combined the possibility to have scientific volumes at a very convenient price with his will to create a library in the expedition’s base.  The library consists now of about 1,500 volumes collected during Tosi’s almost twenty years of activities in Uzbekistan and it covers mainly archaeology but also history, geography, geology, ecology, botany, etc. This variety reflects the multidisciplinary approach that has always characterized Tosi’s approach to research and fieldwork. 

The entire collection has been now donated to the Samarkand Institute of Archaeology and both Farhod Maksud and Amriddin Berdimuradov, current and former Director of the Institute, accepted the idea to dedicate this library to Maurizio Tosi, who directed this expedition for many years before having passed away in February 2018.

ISMEO supported the operation, covering all costs for the books transfer and, cataloguing, as well as the furnishing of the rooms.  

An inauguration ceremony was held on Monday May 27th at the National Center of Archaeology in Samarkand, coordinated by Amriddin Berdimuradov, Samaritdin Suyunov, Antonio Curci and Simone Mantellini (Uzbek-Italian Archaeological Expedition in Samarkand) and chaired by the Vice-Director Muminhon Saidov. The event was attended by many scholars and colleagues, including H.E. Andrea Bertozzi, Italian Ambassador in Uzbekistan, Adriano Rossi, President of ISMEO, Rustam Kolmuradov and Muhtor Nasyrov, Rector and Vice Rector for International Relations of the Samarkand State University, Bruno Genito, Director of the Excavation by the University of Naples “L’Orientale”/ISMEO at Kojtepa, Shakhryor Safarov, Director of the Institute for Confucian Studies in Samarkand, and Rustam Suleuymanov, Emeritus Archaeologist of the Uzbek Academy of Sciences.

The day of the ceremony, a large number of volumes have been donated to the Library «Maurizio Tosi» by both the ISMEO and the UNESCO International Institute for Central Asian Studies – IICAS. As a final act, the fist stamp of the Library «Maurizio Tosi» has been placed on the book “Drevnie orositelnye sistemy priaraly” by Boris V. Andrianov, whose English translation was promoted by Tosi himself (S. Mantellini, Ed.).