20 May 2021
On May 12, 2021, the Pontifical Academies Coordinating Council announced that early next year it will award Professor Győző Vörös the 2020 Gold Medal of the Pontificate for his archaeological work at Mukawir, which has been ongoing in conjunction with the Jordanian Department of Antiquities since 2009. Known in antiquity as Machaerus, this hilltop site is notable for its fortress, mentioned by the historian Josephus. The COVID-19 pandemic has delayed announcement and bestowal of the 2020 award, which was reserved for the Pontifical Roman Academy of Archaeology and the Pontifical Academy Cultorum Martyrum. To learn about Machaerus and the work conducted there, watch Prof. Vörös’s public lecture given at ACOR in 2016, “Excavations at the Fortified Royal Palace of Machaerus,” available on our YouTube channel:
