Christophe Benech is Researcher at the CNRS (National Center of Scientific Research) in the Laboratory Archéorient (Maison de l'Orient et de la Méditerranée – Université Lyon 2). He completed a PhD in 2000 at the Laboratory Sisyphe (Université Paris 6) about the Joint interpretation of magnetic and electromagnetic surveys to the study of magnetic properties of anthropic soils under the direction of Alain Tabbagh. In 2001, he entered in the CNRS with a research program about the study of the spatial organization of the urban sites in ancient Near East. He worked on different sites, among them Apamée (Turkey), Pasargades (Iran), Alexandria (Egypt), Taposiris (Egypt), Doura-Europos (Syria). Today he manages an ANR project (National Agency of Research) on the diachronic study of urban city planning from ancient Syria. This project includes the study of Tell Sheirat (Early Bronze Age), Ugarit (Late Bronze Age), Amrith (Phoenician period) and Cyrrhus (Classical period).