According to Greek legend, Crete was ruled by three mythical brothers, Minos, Sarpedon and Rhadamanthus. Sarpedon is said to have had dominion over the eastern part of the island until he was exiled by his brother Minos. We have adopted him as a symbol for our interdisciplinary archaeological project focused on the Kefali hill and its environs,  located near the modern village of Sissi in east Crete (Fig.1). The new Sissi Archaeological Project (S.Ar.P.edon) is an initiative of the Université Catholique de Louvain and operates in Greece under the auspices of the Belgian School of Athens(EBSA).

Fig.1: Map of main Minoan Sites

Funds for the excavations are generously provided by the Institute for Aegean Prehistory, the UCL, the FNRS, the EBSA and the Ministère de l’Enseignement supérieur, des Médias et de la Recherche scientifique de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, as well as a series of private donors (see sponsors) and the local community of Vrachasi and Sissi. Two five-year programmes (2007-2011; 2015-2019) have already taken place, followed by study seasons and site consolidation campaigns. A new five-year program (2022-2026) will concentrate on minor tests and further site consolidation, at the same time preparing final publications.

We sincerely thank Mrs. Chryssa Sofianou, director of the Archaeological Service of East Crete (Lassithi), the epimeletria Mrs. Vasso Zografaki, the previous head of the KD Ephoreia Mrs. Villy Apostolakou, and Mrs. Klio Zervaki, conservator of the Archaeological service, for graciously allowing us to do this work and a fine collaboration. Ms. S. Michou represented EFALAS during the 2007 campaign, Ms. L. Manoussogiannaki during the 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 campaigns, and Mr. Nikos Thannos during the 2015-2019 campaigns. The team thanks the Ecole française d’Athènes and its previous director Prof. Alexandre Farnoux, for the services of Mrs. Eleni Kivernitaki. INSTAPEC and its director, Dr. Thomas Brogan, are thanked for putting their photographer at our disposal, and general assistance. Dr. Panos Iossif and and Dr. Tina Kalantzopoulou, successive secretaries secretary of the Belgian School at Athens, are thanked for continuous help and support, as is our bookkeeper Mr. Andreas Papadakis and our lawyer Mr. Nikos Natzoulis.

We are especially grateful to the inhabitants of Sissi and Vrachasi for their help and Cretan hospitality. Check out http://vrachassi.blogspot.com for Vrachasi news. We also thank our local workers from Vrachasi, Sissi and elsewhere in Crete. Their names are given elsewhere in this site.