Dr Dennis Mizzi is currently completing a comprehensive, multi-volume monograph on the archaeology of Qumran in which he analyses in detail all aspects of the site, including its chronology, architecture, and material assemblages (i.e., pottery, glass and chalkstone vessels, metal artefacts, small finds, coins, animal bones), the surrounding caves and adjacent cemeteries, as well as the Dead Sea Scrolls as archaeological artefacts. His other research focuses on the Dead Sea Scrolls (with a particular focus on ritual purity), ancient synagogues, the archaeology of Roman and Byzantine Palestine, and ancient Jewish cultural interaction.
Prof. Martin R. Zammit’s research focuses on Semitic studies, with a focus on Qur’ānic Arabic and Syriac, Arabic philology in general and Arabic dialectology in particular. He is also the co-translator of the Qur’ān in the Maltese language and has also published a Syriac Reader.
Dr Kurstin Gatt’s research generally focuses on the Arabic language and literature, focusing on political discourse in the Arab world in particular. Gatt’s doctoral dissertation, which was published in 2020, entitled Decoding DAʿISH sheds light on jihadi discourse with a special emphasis on the so-called ‘Islamic State.’ In this publication, Gatt examines several poetic examples and discursive strategies of domination that have gained currency in the jihadi milieu. Dr Gatt is currently working on analysing contemporary mainstream political speeches, taking into consideration speeches held by pan-Arab nationalist, Islamist and jihadi leaders.
Dr Abigail R. Zammit is currently working on a monograph derived from her doctoral dissertation, entitled, 'The Lachish Letters: A Reappraisal of the Ostraca Discovered in 1935 and 1938 at Tell ed-Duweir,' presented to the University of Oxford in 2016 (available on open access). Her other research interests include Northwest Semitic epigraphy, palaeography, philology (including Palaeo-Hebrew, Phoenician-Punic, Aramaic, Moabite, Edomite), the Hebrew Bible, the archaeology of ancient Israel and the Levant, Phoenician-Punic archaeology, and Punico-Roman archaeology of the central and western Mediterranean.
Ms Wei Chen is currently finishing her Ph.D. on Chinese linguistics. Her research interests include the history of Chinese linguistics, missionary linguistics (Chinese), and Classic Chinese literature.