Academics from Pamukkale University in Denizli, Turkey, are currently negotiating with the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism to lead the new excavations at Ani.

The report in today’s Hurriyet Daily News reads: “Ani, a ruined and uninhabited Armenian city situated in the eastern Turkish province of Kars on the Armenian frontier, will be the subject of new academic work to better present site to visitors.”

Even more interesting is a photo caption that reads: “Ani was once the capital of a medieval Armenian kingdom that covered much of present-day Armenia and eastern Turkey.”

The article says that the excavation work will result in a detailed map of the site and that the project is expected to be completed by the end of 2013.