The first season of the Girdi Matrab Archaeological Project was generously funded by the ASOR Charles Harris Project Grant. Girdi Matrab (“the earthen mound” in Kurdish) is a multi-mound site located in the plain of Erbil, in the autonomous region of the Iraqi Kurdistan and was first surveyed by the Erbil Plain Archaeological Survey (EPAS), directed by Jason Ur in 2012.
View of the excavation area at the end of the 2022 field season.
Surface reconnaissance yielded an impressive amount of pottery sherds, that confirmed the habitation phase and the history of the settlement. Girdi Matrab was settled from the Late Chalcolithic period (5th millennium BCE) until the Uruk phase (4th millennium BCE). No indication of Bronze and Iron Age occupation has been detected at the site. On the contrary, the settlement expanded rapidly at the end of the 1st millennium BCE, reaching a quasi-urban size in the Hellenistic and Parthian-Roman period before being abandoned and never re-occupied again.
In view of the first proper excavation season, the site was also intensively surveyed in 2020 – thanks to the active participation of the EPAS Kurdish team members. In 2021, in collaboration with Petra Creamer (Emory University, USA) geophysical investigations were carried out at the site using a Bartington 601-2 Gradiometer, owned by the SPARC Lab at Dartmouth College, USA, highlighting, just below Mound 2, the remains of a large (40 x 40 m) building, with multiple rooms, internal courtyards, and hallways (Building A).
Petra Creamer (Emory) performing geophysics at Girdi Matrab (2021).
Plan of Phase B of Building A at the end of the 2022 field season.
With the objective of investigating part of this sub-surface evidence, a 20 x 25 m trench was placed above the south-eastern corner of the building, on Mound 2. After 5 weeks of excavation, we unearthed four rooms, all built with mudbrick walls over stones and pebbles foundations. Two of these rooms opened towards an internal courtyard, where a complete tannur (open-air oven) was also recovered. One of these two rooms yielded a completely intact floor composed by pebbles, pottery sherds and animal bones. The close proximity to the open-air oven, and the presence of a mudbrick platform, and a small internal fireplace in the room, made us think that the space was used for cooking activities.
The adjacent room, smaller and with an unusual mudbrick floor, has been interpreted as a storage space, certainly connected to the cooking activities that were taking place in the bigger room to the West. The remaining two other room open towards the Southern part of the building, possibly connected to the unexcavated part of the complex through an elongated open-air hallway, whose extent has been partly identified during the 2022 season.
The analysis carried out on the ceramic repertoire excavated this year at Girdi Matrab has confirmed several hypotheses that were originally formulated prior to the campaign. The assemblage is mostly composed by commonware, with little or no inclusion of western-inspired, commonly known types such as the ubiquitous echinus bowls and/or Hellenistic period fish plates. Interestingly however we have identified a discrete number of specimens whose morphological tradition lies in the Iron Age and late Iron Age pottery horizon of the region.
On the base of the analysis of the ceramic material, we can securely date this phase of Building A to the period that covers a span of time between the late 4th and very early 3rd c. BCE.
Close-up of the composite floor of the kitchen area of Building A (detail).
View of the storeroom excavated right next to the kitchen. Note the well-preserved mudbrick floor.
The GMAP team focuses on the investigation of the domestic economy of a rural site in between the imperial transformation from the Iron Age to the early centuries of the 1st millennium CE. To better understand the socio-economic change of the Hellenistic and Parthian period Mesopotamia we rely on the analysis of the faunal remains excavated at the site. Nathalie Brusgaard (University of Groningen, the Netherlands), associate director of the GMAP, oversees the study of the zoo-archaeological evidence.
The presence of a large amount of commonware, the identification of young animals such as pigs and sheep, which could have been raised on site, as well as adult bovines – which might as well be oxen trained and used draft animals – seem preliminarily to indicate that Building A at Girdi Matrab could be a farm or farm-like estate.
The KMAP team at the end of the season
We plan to continue investigating the rural economic landscape of the plain of Erbil in the future seasons, and we thank ASOR for supporting our research into this part of South-West Asia under the Seleucids, the Parthians, and the Romans, a critical but often overlooked period and one of central relevance for the understanding of the history of North Mesopotamia, and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, in particular.
-Rocco Palermo, University of Pisa (Italy) and Bryn Mawr College (USA)
With the collaboration of
Nathalie Brusgaard (University of Groningen, Netherlands), Aila Santi (SOAS, London, UK), Valentina Grasso (Catholic University of America, USA), Jordan Brown (University of California at Berkeley, USA), Gabriele Viola (University of Pisa, Italy), Lara Pucci Daniele (University of Pisa, Italy), Michele Salvatore La Porta (University of Pisa, Italy), Parsa Kheirandish (University of Pisa, Italy), Ali Banishary (Directorate of the Antiquities, Erbil)
Learn more about the Girdi Matrab Archaeological Project at their website or their Instagram!
Interested in applying for a 2023 Charles Harris Project Grant? Learn more about applying here.
Currently, 115 projects are affiliated with ASOR. This includes 86 field projects and 29 publication projects. Fourteen projects (13 new projects and 1 project renewal) have received ASOR affiliation since last summer. Read more about these new ASOR-affiliated projects below!
Aerial view of Tel Lachish looking southwest. (c) Jared Dye ÖAI-ÖAW.
The Austrian Expedition to Lachish focuses on the Middle and Late Bronze Age remains at the site. Since 2017, excavations have been conducted in Area S on the western edge of the site, uncovering several settlement phases of the early Late Bronze Age (15th and 14th century BC), and in Area P north of the Judean palace-fort, where additional parts of the Middle Bronze Age (17th and 16th century BC) palace were excavated.
Caesarea Coastal Archaeological Project (C-CAP), Caesarea Maritima, Israel (Asa Eger, Beverly Goodman, and Andrea de Giorgi)
The transition in the eastern Mediterranean from the Christian Late Roman Byzantine to Islamic rule beginning in the 7th century CE is a time full of uncertainty, migrations, conflict, and reconfiguring of people, economies, communities and cultures. While these changes are known in broad strokes due to historical records, archaeological information allows us to better understand the more direct meaning of these changes for those who lived at the time, as recognizable within the material record. In May-June 2022, the CCAP field school project invites students and volunteers to unravel the mysteries of Caesarea Maritima’s medieval and Islamic years, including both on land and underwater archaeological and geoarchaeological hands-on experience. Participants will immerse themselves in the world of the post-Roman Empire Islamic eastern Mediterranean, experience and reveal first-hand physical evidence of ancient natural disasters, and learn how to hear the stories from the objects that were left behind.
Kalavasos-Laroumena and Arkhangelos Archaeological Research Project, Cyprus (Mara T. Horowitz)
The Kalavasos-Laroumena and Arkhangelos Archaeological Research Project (K-LAARP) investigates social change in the Middle Cypriot Bronze Age on the south coast of Cyprus.
Kurd Qaburstan is an urban-sized Bronze Age site in northern Mesopotamia, southwest of Erbil in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Perhaps to be identified with ancient Qabra, the 118-hectare site consists of an 11-hectare central mound 17 meters high surrounded by a 107-hectare walled lower town. The project was initiated in 2013 by Dr. Glenn Schwartz, and is currently directed by Dr. Tiffany Earley-Spadoni.
Excavations at ancient Lagash focus on understanding the urban organization during the Early Dynastic period. Remote sensing together with targeted excavation seeks to reveal craft production areas, domestic housing, and institutional installations.
Oblique view of Lagash.
Drone photo of the trenches opened in Fall 2022.
Mudawwara Ottoman Fort, Jordan (Andrew Petersen)
Mudawwara fort is a ruinous Ottoman fort located on the Hajj route in southern Jordan. Although the fort was only built in the eighteenth century the site is mentioned in pilgrimage itineraries from at least the ninth century CE. The fort is currently in a very vulnerable state and the aim is to record the architectural remains and carry out excavations at the site in advance of conservation and restoration work.
The Neanderthal Crossroads Project is the first Middle Paleolithic field school in the Balkan region. Students will get the opportunity to learn surface survey and trench excavation techniques at a Middle Paleolithic archaeological site, Uzun Mera, as well as exploratory investigations at additional caves including Peshka Cave. The Middle Paleolithic history of the central Balkans is still not well-known, despite it being the clear crossroads for hominins into and out of Europe. North Macedonia is a gorgeous, NATO-member country in the central Balkans that is safe and relatively inexpensive. Please reach out with questions about our schedule, travel logistics, or CoVID protocols; we would love to have you join us this summer! We have a short video of last summer’s excavation here.
The Project is dedicated to the excavation, conservation, and publication of the tomb of pharaoh Ramesses III (ca. 1221 – 1156 BC) in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Valley of the Kings. Between 1885 and 1914, the tomb was flooded several times, causing severe damage in its rear compartments, and making it inaccessible to visitors. Since 2017, The Ramesses III (KV 11) Publication and Conservation Project has worked continuously on the preservation and publishing of the site. The mud and rubble which had accumulated in the rear parts are gradually being cleared, in the course of which valuable information on the tomb’s decoration and even fragments of its former furnishings have come to light. Its unique architecture and decoration program make KV 11 an important source for Ramesside beliefs concerning the afterlife. The final aim is to prepare the tomb for reopening and making it fully accessible to the public at large. To document and protect the tomb from further decay, specialists from different countries work together in the fields of archaeology, conservation, geoarchaeology, microbiology, osteology, philology, photography, and Egyptological research. The project is hosted by Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and led by Dr. Anke Weber.
(c)The Ministry
of Tourism and Antiquities, The Ramesses III (KV 11) Publication and
Conservation Project, photos: Johannes Kramer
Rural Landscapes of Iron Age Imperial Mesopotamia (RLIIM) is a combination excavation-remote sensing project conducted on the Erbil Plain of Iraqi Kurdistan, just 15km south of Erbil near the modern village of Tirpa Spiyan. Excavations focus on a small, rural agricultural settlement of the Assyrian Empire, Qach Rresh. The project uses drone imagery and magnetometry to map the subsurface and landscape features of the village and its surrounding landscape to understand how the occupants of these small villages interacted within the broader imperial framework. Additionally, post-Assyrian material at the site allows us to investigate questions related to the collapse of the Assyrian empire as seen from the countryside, as opposed to a large urban center. We conducted our first season in Fall 2022, and our permit issued by the KRG Department of Antiquities allows for another four years of investigation before renewal. The project’s team is a combination of Kurdish and foreign members, directed by Prof. Petra Creamer (Emory University). We prioritize the training of our team members in various archaeological techniques, emphasizing technology and remote sensing along with more traditional methods.
Ulqin Archaeological Project: Landscape Survey and Geography, Southern Montenegro (Daniel Plekhov, Elic Weitzel, and Erina Baci)
The Ulqin Archaeological Project is a large-scale, diachronic regional survey of the Ulqin Municipality in southern Montenegro. Human occupation of this region dates to the earliest periods of human presence in Europe, with many subsequent cultures, states, and empires leaving their marks on the landscape through time. Our survey aims to document and study these traces. Through doing so, we will investigate how dynamics of human settlement and land-use in this region have changed through time and consider what effect they continue to have on the social and environmental characteristics of the region’s people and landscapes today. To that end, our project is focused as much on the archaeological remains of past periods as it is on the ongoing practices of local communities in the present. By combining archaeological methods with those from the fields of geography, ecology, and cultural anthropology, we will provide historical context for the development of modern-day settlement and agropastoral practices, and explore how communities today continue to inherit, adapt to, and transform the legacies of the past. Beyond studying the archaeological record of this region to understand its history and development, our project is also oriented towards the documentation and preservation of its rapidly disappearing heritage landscapes.
Tell Timai is the Nile Delta city of Thmouis, a site famous for perfume production, its role in the Great Rebellion discussed on the Rosetta Stone, and its prominence in the rise of Christianity in Egypt. Excavations in the coming years will focus on a series of religious structures from the Late Period to the Coptic Periods. Information on 2023-2023 fieldwork can be found here.
The Western Mediterranean has been characterized by complex social and economic dynamics, with the movements of Late Bronze Age communities settling the African shores yet to be fully deciphered. The site of Kach Kouch (Oued Laou, Morocco), a settlement with no parallels in north-west Africa, offers a unique chance to understand these dynamics and their place within debates about the hyperconnectivity of the Mediterranean in the late 2nd and early 1st millennium BC. The strategic location of Kach Kouch, controlling the access from the estuary of the Oued Laou river to the inland valleys of the Western Rif mountains, makes it ideally placed within a wider exchange network connecting local communities with the rest of the Mediterranean. To date, the archaeology of this region has been written overwhelmingly from a colonial perspective, even though evidence points to early connectivity of this area since the 6th millennium BC. This project focuses on the study of Kach Kouch and its territory, including the bassins of Oued Laou and Stehat, from a long durée perspective and with an emphasis on the role of local communities in the historical process. This project serves as a field school for young graduates and undergraduates in archaeology of the National Institute of Archaeology and Heritage of Morocco (INSAP).
Hilltop settlement of Kach Kouch, the Oued Laou Valley and the Mediterranean.
Fieldwork at Kach Kouch.
Vasagard, Denmark (Finn Ole Nielsen, M. Nicolas Caretta, Michael Thorsen, Ditte Kofod, and Roxana Youkhana)
The site of Vasagård is located on the southern side of the island of Bornholm, Denmark. Vasagård is separated by the 100m Læså valley from two nearly identical Neolithic sites and consists of a tomb system where a dolmen and a passage grave can be found close to the settlement. The grave system and causewayed enclosures are dated from c. 3500 BC, and constitute the most north-eastern occurrence of this complex type in Europe. During the excavations of 2013-2017, almost three hundred broken and completely flat, engraved stones were uncovered, marked with patterns of radiating straight lines. Named “sunstones” or “solar stones”, archaeologists from the Bornholm Museum have postulated that these artifacts were likely part of the rituals carried out by Neolithic sun-worshipping practitioners about 5,000 years ago. New excavations will help to increase and improve the information about the site and the Neolithic Period in the Baltic region.
ASOR-Affiliated Project Renewals
Carthage, The Precinct of Tanit (tophet) and Ba’al: The ASOR Punic Project: The Stager Excavations (1975-1979), Tunisia (J. A. Greene, B. K. Garnand, and L. E. Stager†)
This publication will present the results of the archaeological excavations at the so-called tophet or “Precinct of Tanit” in Carthage, Tunisia. These excavations were undertaken as part of the ASOR Punic Project (1975–1979) with funding from the Smithsonian Institution, the University of Chicago and Harvard University under auspices the UNESCO Campagne de Sauvegarde Carthage. The first volume will present a complete descriptive catalogue of artifacts, the second volume a detailed interpretation of stratigraphy, osteology and typology (urns, amulets, cippi/stelae), alongside interpretations of classical and biblical literary sources and epigraphic evidence, in order to present for the first time a holistic interpretation of Phoenician/Punic votive dedication of infants. This singular site has provided the vast majority of the Phoenician/Punic iconographic and epigraphic repertoire known from ca. 800–146 BCE.
ASOR is excited to announce that the 2023 ASOR Annual Meeting is going hybrid!
Instead of holding a separate virtual component in October, ASOR will hold a hybrid meeting with both virtual and in-person participation, November 15–18, at the Hilton Chicago. Feedback from members on the survey circulated by the ad hoc Committee on Climate Impact (Ad Hoc Climate Impact Committee Report) and discussion with many members at the Boston meeting led us to make this change for 2023.
What this means is that all sessions (and workshops, when feasible) will be able to include both in-person presentations in Chicago and virtual presentations online via Zoom. Virtual attendees will have the ability to view and listen to in-person and virtual speakers in real time. Virtual presenters will speak in real time when presenting; if they have a PowerPoint presentation, that will be projected by the session room’s ASOR facilitator to appear on the screen in the meeting room and online via Zoom (virtual presenters will be able to advance their own slides). All presenters (in-person and virtual) will be asked to send in their PowerPoint file (only slides, not a pre-recorded presentation) by Sunday, November 12. Sessions will be recorded and available online for a limited time after the meeting.
The meeting rooms in Chicago will not be set for a fully two-way hybrid experience, meaning that there will not be a view of the room/audience or synchronous discussion between virtual and in-person attendees. Virtual attendees will need to submit their post-presentation questions via the Zoom chat feature and the ASOR facilitator will read them to the presenter.
Program participants and meeting attendees have told us that scheduling time for ASOR two months in a row is difficult, but also that it is important to continue offering an option for virtual participation for those who can’t attend the meeting in person. We hope that offering a hybrid format will be an inclusive and welcomed option for all. If you have questions or concerns about the format, Arlene Press (meetings@asor.org) and Jared Koller (jaredkoller@asor.org) are here to help. You can also reach out to the Program Committee Co-Chairs, Allison Thomason and Kiersten Neumann (pc.chairs@asor.org), if you have questions pertaining to the academic program
With great excitement, all of us at ASOR look forward to seeing you in November online and/or in Chicago.
2022 William G. Dever Fellowship Report: Krysta Fauria
My first summer as a PhD student proved to be one of the most enriching summers I have had. I traveled to Israel for my first archaeological dig in May, and then spent a month at the W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research in Jerusalem. These experiences were made possible through my funding from ASOR’s Dever Fellowship, which is designed for biblical scholars seeking to gain experience in archaeology. I did fully not comprehend the importance of studying material culture until I began my doctoral program in religion at the University of Southern California last year. As I began to recognize the need for scholars of Early Christianity to understand and, when possible, participate in archaeology, I sought ways to find funding to gain this experience. I discovered that Mark Letteney, a postdoctoral fellow at USC at the time, was on staff at the Jezreel Valley Regional Project. JVRP was leading an excavation in May through their Legio Project, which sought to uncover an amphitheater at the military base once occupied by the Roman VIth Ferrata Legion.
Beit She'an
The dig was even more enriching than I anticipated. I gained a robust understanding of the methodology and tools used, as well as the post-excavation processing of artefacts. Moreover, I assisted the area directors with some of the more technical aspects of the excavation, including conducting photogrammetry and operating the total station. These experiences helped me gain a more thorough understanding of archaeological modeling and analysis. I personally uncovered a handful of significant finds, including an intact perfume vessel made from Roman glass, as well as a gold coin in near-perfect condition. The coin was minted under Diocletian in 295 CE and was the first dated item we found on the dig.
Coin found from 295 mentioned in the report (side 1)
Coin found from 295 mentioned in the report (side 2)
Krysta Fauria holding a Roman perfume vessel
Close up of the Roman perfume vessel
I also spent a significant amount of time visiting additional archaeological sites across the country and Palestine. Some of the sites that stood out as being particularly informative for my research were Megiddo, Beit She’an, Qumran, Herodion, and Caesarea, as well as the remains of the Second Temple and the City of David in Jerusalem.
It is difficult to overstate the ways in which my scholarship will benefit from this trip. For example, one way that studying the material remains informed my current understanding of the Second Temple and Roman Period is that it illustrated the ways in which the Judeans of this time were deeply entrenched in so-called Greco-Roman culture. While recent scholarship has had no shortage of critiques on conceptions of Hellenistic Judaism, I was able to comprehend this critique in new ways after seeing how Jewish people in antiquity co-existed with other Mediterranean inhabitants.
Herodion
This experience gave me an appreciation for the diverse areas of expertise needed to make an excavation possible. In a time when scholarship is seeking to become more collaborative and interdisciplinary, it seems prudent to look to the field of archaeology, which has long relied on scholars from a variety of disciplines and specializations. I hope to return to Israel and to hopefully go on another dig soon.
Beit She'an
Krysta Fauria is a second-year PhD student at the University of Southern California studying early Christianity and the Synoptic Gospels. Prior to beginning her program at USC, Krysta was a journalist covering politics and breaking news for The Associated Press in Washington, DC and Los Angeles.
Dig Cyprus: A Story of Cherishment, Craziness, and Cats
Noah Barton, Undergraduate University Student[/vc_column_text][mk_divider][vc_wp_text]
This summer I had the pleasure of attending an archaeological field school in Cyprus with North Carolina State University. The program – Cyprus Archaeological Field School – is directed by two of my past professors and has been occurring yearly since 2017. I arrived in Cyprus on May 20, 2022. The island is beautiful; every turn has a clear blue ocean, incredible mountains and hillsides, or luscious forests. A pleasant surprise was that Cyprus is loaded with wild cats – there are more cats on the island than humans, in fact – and most of them are friendly. The only downside is that it was very humid, but that’s to be expected for an island near the Middle-East in June.
The archaeological site I helped excavate is called Makounta-Voules, which appears to have been the home of a copper-mining group between 5000 and 7000 years ago. They used stone tools and had a large interest in picrolite – a bright green stone – which they sculpted into figurines and pendants. In addition to picrolite, our team also searched for evidence of stone tools and pieces of pottery (also known as sherds), bone (human and non-human), and shells that were used to create jewelry.[/vc_wp_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_single_image image=”96093″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”img_link_large” img_link_target=”_blank” css=”.vc_custom_1711651992536{padding-right: 10px !important;}”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][mk_padding_divider][vc_wp_text]
Every morning, I woke up at 4:20 am and got on a bus with all the other students. We went straight to the site and started working right away. The entire team was divided into groups of four, with three students and one supervisor. The archaeological method of digging is very systematic; each group dug a hole that was square-shaped and 4 meters wide, known as a trench. We usually dug five centimeters down at a time across the entire surface of the trench before digging any farther. In each group, the students worked together to break up the compact dirt with a pickaxe, shovel up all the newly-made piles of loose dirt, and sift through that dirt to find artifacts. We also straightened out the walls of the trench, known as balk walls. After the team got back to the hotel and ate lunch, we spent an hour or two washing the artifacts that we dug up. This was done by scrubbing them with a toothbrush and soaking them in water. About three nights per week, we also had a lecture that was given by one of the supervisors. The topics ranged from the entire history of Cyprus to different processes and ethics in archaeology.
Every Friday we took a break from digging and went on field trips. During each trip, we visited at least one excavated archaeological site, one museum, and one local beach (except Nicosia). In Nea Paphos, we visited Kissonerga and Lemba, the Paphos museum, and Vardas beach. In Palaepaphos, we visited Prastio and Souskiou, Aphrodite’s temple, and Petra Tou Romeou beach, which is the legendary birthplace of Aphrodite. In Kourion we visited Kolossi, the Kourion museum, and Kourion beach. While in Nicosia we visited the Cyprus Museum, which was the most expansive museum of all.
Every Saturday was a free day for the students to do whatever they wanted. On the first free day, my friends and I went on a cruise, where we saw incredible views on the ocean and swam in the clear blue Mediterranean sea. On another free day, my friends and I hiked up Aphrodite’s trail, revealing the best views of the entire trip. I didn’t make any excursions on my fourth free day. Our fifth free day was spent in Nicosia, the country’s capital. My friends and I explored the city and later celebrated one friend’s birthday at bars and clubs.
On the final day, most students took a final exam; I did not as I didn’t need credit for an Anthropology major, and instead wrote two research essays to get credit for my History major. I left Cyprus on June 25, 2022, ending a wonderful five weeks of excavation and adventure.
Noah Barton is a senior at North Carolina State University, double-majoring in International Studies and History and minoring in Latin. He lives in Raleigh, North Carolina and enjoys history, music, and traveling.
[/vc_wp_text][mk_divider][vc_wp_text]Want to help more students and early career archaeologists get into the field? Donate to the cause today by selecting “Excavation Scholarships” as your gift purpose!
The Honors and Awards Committee seeks nominations to serve on the G. Ernest Wright Book Award and Frank Moore Cross Book Award sub-committees. ASOR invites nominations, including self-nominations, from ASOR members who are interested in being considered by the committee for these openings. Committee members will serve a three-year term with the possibility of two consecutive terms. Nominees must fill out the online form by February 17, 2023. The Honors and Awards Committee takes responsibility for determining the awardees for the three book awards, the field archaeology award, the “best poster” award, and the multiple membership service awards that ASOR gives annually; conducting the awards ceremony during the Members’ Meeting at the ASOR Annual Meeting; and discussing and advising the ASOR Board of Trustees about ASOR’s awards, including recommending to the Board the creation of new awards as deemed appropriate.
One candidate is sought for the Frank Moore Cross Award sub-committee. This award is presented to the author/editor of the most substantial volume(s) related to the history and/or religion of the ancient Near East and Eastern Mediterranean. Primary consideration will be given to historical, epigraphic, textual, and comparative literary studies; or to works that advance and/or evaluate new methodological approaches to the literary record(s). This work must be the result of original research published during the past two years. (One award is given annually.)
One candidate is sought for the G. Ernest Wright Award sub-committee. This award is given to the author/editor of the most substantial volume(s) dealing with archaeological material, excavation reports and material culture from the ancient Near East and Eastern Mediterranean. This work must be the result of original research published within the past two years. (One award is given annually.)
In order to receive full consideration by the committee the online form must be submitted by noon EST on February 17, 2023. For questions and concerns, please contact Marta Ostovich (programs@asor.org)
Driving south from the bustling town of Madaba, the sun rises over the rolling plains of the plateau. As we descend into the Wadi al-Wala canyon, the Khirbat Iskandar (KI) mound comes into view. Its position provides visual access east and west along the wadi and south to the slopes that lead into Dhiban. It is easy to see the importance of its position in the landscape. As we climb the gravely path to the site, the sun crests the hill to the east and the light slowly begins to illuminate the EB III and IV contexts in which we have been meticulously working this season.
Khirbat Iskandar and the Wadi al-Wala from above.
Excavations at KI have been ongoing since the 1980s, each season further revealing the site’s significance as an urban settlement during a time often marked by trends of ruralization in the southern Levant. The 2022 field season at KI shed new light on the pivotal Early Bronze III/IV nexus and provided new contexts that help expose the continuation of habitation at the site. We began the season with a clear set of goals divided between three excavation units. With a team of only 10, we were limited in what we could achieve in a set period of time. But with the experience at hand we were able to efficiently and effectively answer questions lingering from seasons before and build upon existing theories about KI’s role during the later EBA. The main objective was to continue to define the phasing for Area C, an excavation field in the southeastern corner of the tell. We aimed to do this by linking loci between trenches with known and new architectural and material phasing. In doing so, we could gain a more well-rounded picture of the associated phasing of the EB IV within Area C and in turn, the EB III/IV horizon.
We were successful in all our excavation goals, but archaeology is about more than just digging. My dissertation research focuses on micro and macro scales of the KI landscape and this field season provided the opportunity to not only develop my understanding of the EB III/IV at the site, but it also allowed me to garner a better appreciation of KI’s position in the greater region. KI’s setting along a possible route of travel is what initially inspired me to explore the connections between EBA sites in the Central Moab area. One of my personal goals this season was to take time to visit other regional sites and the spaces in between to better understand KI’s physical connections to neighboring locales. I was able to do so, moving at my own pace and experiencing these distances between sites, which caused me to think more about other aspects that impact movement and connections between spaces. A visit to the Chalcolithic and EB IA site of Murayghat was particularly impactful. Its position on a plateau surrounded on three sides with slopes covered in dolmens and the fourth side, a sweeping view into the valley below and hilltops beyond, provided a unique context by which to think about the relationships of spaces dedicated to both mortuary and domestic settings and how they could be perceived by visitors. A stop at Bab adh-Dhra’ was likewise a highlight and furthered my interest in the topic of the intersection of the living and dead spaces and how the various uses and perceptions of these spaces may have been communicated throughout the EBA. While I have studied these sites individually and tried to assess their spatial and social proximities digitally, I still lacked the ability to grasp what travel across some of these landforms and distances meant in reality. As I continue to develop my research on landscape-based approaches to the spatial and social connections in the southern Levant, field seasons like this greatly improve my ability to accurately contextualize and represent movement at the time.
Tucker Deady is currently a PhD student at the University of Toronto in the Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations. Tucker’s areas of interest include landscape archaeology, GIS, and the Early Bronze Age of the Southern Levant.
Want to help more students and early career archaeologists get into the field? Donate to the cause today by selecting “Student Support” as your gift purpose!
2022 Study of Collections Fellowship Report: The Unpublished Materials of Charles Clermont-Ganneau
Matthew J. Suriano, University of Maryland
Through the support of the Collections Fellowship I was able to spend several days in Paris working at the Institut de France in the Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres (AIBL). There, I studied the unpublished materials of Charles Clermont-Ganneau that are in the Cabinet du Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum (CIS). Access to this collection was granted by the kind permission of Christian Robin, the AIBL’s director. In Paris, I worked with Maria Gorea, the director of the Cabinet du CIS, where I benefited from her knowledge of Clermont-Ganneau and her ability to decipher his difficult handwriting. Dr. Gorea and her student Noémie Carpentier also were of great assistance with French technical terms that I came across in Clermont-Ganneau’s writings.
The research is part of my larger project on the Hebrew funerary inscriptions from Silwan, which include the Royal Steward Inscription. That inscription together with a shorter inscription were first documented by Clermont-Ganneau in Silwan in 1870. He eventually purchased them for the British Museum, where they reside today. This summer in London I was able to study Clermont-Ganneau’s correspondence with the British Museum in the museum’s archives. My work in Paris, supported by the ASOR Collections Fellowship, continued my investigation into the acquisition of the artifacts. Clermont-Ganneau’s papers in the Cabinet du CIS shed important light on two aspects involving the Hebrew epigraphic sources. First his papers describe the French diplomat / archaeologist’s efforts to buy the inscriptions from the Arab homeowner in Silwan, including details on how the inscriptions were extracted. Much of this information was left out of his 1899 published account of his discovery. Second, his notes, drawings, squeezes and casts (plaster and papier-mâché) reveal the extent of his work to translate the inscriptions, as well as his plans –ultimately unfilled– plans to publish them.
Access to Clermont-Ganneau’s papers was critical for my project, which seeks to publish the first comprehensive edition of the funerary inscriptions from Silwan. My collections study in Paris will allow me to write a chapter on the history of research that provides insight into the events that led to the acquisition of a famous Hebrew artifact from Jerusalem that is today prominently displayed in the British Museum.
Interested in applying for a 2023 Study of Collections Fellowship? The deadline is February 28.
Find One — Fund One: 2023 ASOR Scholarships and Grants
ASOR plans to celebrate our 123rd year (2023) by awarding more than $223,000 in fellowships, scholarships, and grants! This extraordinary commitment to our members has been made possible by you, our members and donors, who have established endowments or made annual contributions to these programs.
2022 William G. Dever Fellow, Krysta Fauria, at Legio, Israel.
We invite you to FIND ONE (a scholarship, fellowship, or grant) or to help FUND ONE (designated gifts to enable us to award even more, or unrestricted gifts to help with the costs of administering and distributing the awards).
The deadline to apply for fieldwork scholarships and grants is a little over a month away (February 15 for scholarships, February 28 for grants). We invite you to apply and to share the word through your social media and other networks (please share this post).
Scholarship recipient Kathleen Forste teaches Menorca Archaeological Project (Spain) team members how to recover plant remains and microartifacts through flotation.
ASOR is able to provide these scholarships with the partnership of you, our many members and donors. You are enabling ASOR to establish new scholarships and grants through endowed funds, but your annual support (i.e., gifts this year) will allow ASOR to send more eager students and early-career scholars into the field. Please support archaeology’s next generation by making a gift today.
Because of the ongoing pandemic, your gifts are especially needed this year (2023) to fund membership and annual meeting scholarships. Your gifts to the Annual Fund (unrestricted) help defray the costs of administering and distributing the growing number of scholarships and grants. You may also make a designated gift by choosing any category from the drop-down menu on the donations module.
Please spread the word and don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions (e-mail or call [703-789-9233]).
In the fall of 2021 ASOR President Sharon Herbert formed an Ad Hoc Committee on the Climate Impact of ASOR activities with particular attention to the Annual Meeting. That committee presented its report to the Board of Trustees at its 2022 November meeting in Boston. The committee outlined various alternatives for reducing ASOR’s carbon footprint. ASOR’s standing committees will be studying the report over next three months and recommending actions to the Board at its April 2023 meeting. We would welcome comments from our members. Please email your comments to info@asor.org.
The 
Tucker Deady is currently a PhD student at the University of Toronto in the Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations. Tucker’s areas of interest include landscape archaeology, GIS, and the Early Bronze Age of the Southern Levant.
