The Aphrodisias project is indebted for its fundamental permissions to the Republic of Turkey’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism and its General Directorate of Cultural Property and Museums. It is also supported by a wide range of institutions, foundations, groups, and individuals: please see Sponsors.

The current New York University project began in 1961 under the direction of Kenan Erim who excavated the main monuments of the site over thirty years. Since the death of Professor Erim in 1990, the project has been based at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, and directed by R.R.R. Smith, and since 1995 in collaboration with Oxford University. The project’s Deputy Director is Katherine Welch and its Assistant Directors are Serra Somersan and Ozan Yıldırım. The work is carried out by a team of international collaborators: please see People.

Since 1993 excavation projects at the site have been supervised by several archaeologists: Christopher Ratté (Field Director 1993-95 and Co-Director 1996-2006), Bahadır Yıldırım (Field Director 2008-09), Esen Öğüş (Field Director 2010-11), Alexander Sokolicek (Field Director 2012-15), and Ben Russell (Field Director 2016) and Ine Jacobs (Field Director 2016-present).

See also: Sponsors People