In June of 2022, with help from ASOR and the P. E. MacAllister Scholarship I arrived in Jordan for my first archaeological field season. I would be working as a square supervisor at Tell Hisban. Tell Hisban is a site in Northwest Jordan near the capital of Amman. There are many layers of occupation left by many civilizations at Hisban, from the Assyrians all the way through to the Ottomans as well as occupation by more modern local Bedouin. However, inspired by research conducted in collaboration with Dr. Oystein LaBianca, the focus of my field would be into the Hellenistic and Roman eras. Hisban lies within the region historically occupied by the Decapolis. The Decapolis was a semi-formal political and mercantile league of cities, connected by their common Greek culture and language. As I presented in my poster presentation at the 2021 ASOR conference, we believe Hisban was part of a greater overall cultural program of the Decapolis.
The acropolis at Tell Hisban possesses a Byzantine church as well as the foundations of what has long been believed to have been a Roman public building. This public building has been hypothesized as being specifically a Roman temple. Our goal this field season was to excavate atop the acropolis and search for the floor of this public building; and to incorporate our findings into this overarching theory of Hisban within the cultural program of the Decapolis. Finally confirming that this public building was indeed a Roman temple would have gone a long way toward serving this theory.
Our excavations started, and removal of the modern topsoil revealed occupation by modern local Bedouin. However just below the topsoil we began to uncover walls. We found two non-parallel rows of walls made of repurposed Roman ashlar bricks. These came as a complete surprise to everyone on the dig and caused us to totally change our excavation plans. From here, we made the decision to excavate more closely along the northern row of walls. The sherds that were found imply heavy occupation during the Late Byzantine/Early Islamic eras. Of particular note among these sherds was a number of extremely uncommon triple-glazed, molded-relief Byzantine sherds, we believe to be imported from elsewhere in the Mediterranean.
The excavations of the loci on the northern side of the north wall revealed what we believed to be a storage jar, in situ, with its rim peeking just above the ground. We took a few days bringing the other loci into phase and then began to carefully excavate around the jar. As we dug lower the soil began to turn grey and ashy. Then as we dug flush with the bottom of the jar, we noticed the sides came down completely straight and it didn’t have a bottom. As it would turn out it was not a jar at all but a tabun cooking oven! After this revelation we decided to carefully collect and remove each of the pieces of the oven (as it was still in situ but completely shattered) and bag the soil within the oven to be floated for organic materials. The oven was made of a rough handmade ceramic, we believe to date from the Late Byzantine or Early Islamic eras. Another noteworthy find was a red bead nearby the oven. The bead is carnelian with delicate white paint design on it, as well as a bronze wire still attached to it.
The tabun saga continued however. In the days before we were about to leave for the season, another student and I went to visit a local shopkeeper and old friend of the Hisban excavations and archaeologists in Jordan. We told him about the oven we found and showed him photos of it. He instantly corrected us when we said it was a tabun, he said “no this is a zarb”. We weren’t yet aware of what a zarb was. A tabun is a round and stout oven with a large opening at the bottom, not unlike a pizza oven. A zarb is a straight round oven, generally submerged into the ground, in which food is lowered in from the top rather than the side. After we learned about this we all instantly agreed with our friend, it was a zarb after all and not a tabun. This was a really beautiful moment of local knowledge in action.
My first field season, as often happens in archaeology, did not go as planned. That being said, we made a number of very surprising discoveries. It is still unknown whether or not the building on the acropolis was indeed a temple or not, but our findings are important pieces that help put the story of Hisban together. This dig was an amazing experience for me both personally and academically and I look forward to returning to Hisban to continue our excavations on the acropolis.
Colton Hodges graduated from Andrews University in 2022. He received a Bachelors’ Degree in Behavioral Science with a concentration on Anthropological Archaeology. He plans to pursue a PhD in archaeology, and work towards his ultimate career goal of becoming a university professor and field researcher.
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!
Call for Early Career Scholars Committee Members: Community and Networking Team
The Early Career Scholars Committee (ECS) is looking for new members for our Community and Networking team for the upcoming academic year. We are especially interested in applications from people who represent diversity in the field and/or scholars currently working in research that is underrepresented at ASOR. If you wish to be considered by the committee, please fill out the application form below. We will begin reviewing applications on May 1, 2023, and will continue consideration throughout the summer.
PURPOSE:
The “Community and Networking” sub-committee focuses on fostering inclusivity of Early Career Scholars across ASOR. The committee is responsible for creating a welcoming community space for students and early career researchers to come together, socialize, network, exchange ideas and information, and built connectivity across all ASOR disciplines.
FUNCTIONS:
Organize online, virtual events to grow the ASOR ECS community such as coffee hours and book clubs.
Plan and host the Early Career Scholars reception and city outings at the annual meeting.
Maintain and expand the existing ASOR ECS social media channels on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
COMMITMENT:
This committee would entail one hour-long meeting and three hours of service per month.
Recordings of ASOR Annual Meeting paper presentations from the 2020-2022 virtual Annual Meetings are part of the ASOR Online Library. The recordings will remain available to all members who register for the current year’s Annual Meeting for as long as ASOR has the capacity to keep the presentations available online. If you do not want your paper presentation to remain online, please fill out the ASOR Presentation Recording Form to request:
To remove the recording immediately (as soon as we are able);
To replace your paper recording with a new, updated video file that you will provide;
To edit the recording to remove a particular slide(s). This option is contingent on ASOR having staff capacity to edit the video and we will make every effort to accommodate your request.
2022/2023 Mesopotamian Fellowship Report: The Excavations of Qach Rresh (First Season)
Petra Creamer, Emory University[/vc_column_text][mk_divider][vc_column_text]
I. Goals of the Excavations at Qach Rresh
In the very first season of the Emory University excavations at the site of Qach Rresh, located just a few kilometers north of the village of Trpa Spiyan, the team was interested in investigating several questions:
identifying the exact dates of construction and occupation of Qach Rresh
understanding the function of the large buildings discovered in the magnetometry
investigations of 2022
explore why such a site existed in a relatively marginal agricultural area
With a season lasting 5 weeks (from August 31 – October 2, 2022) and supported by the ASOR Mesopotamian Fellowship, the Emory team opened two trenches over the main building remains at Qach Rresh with the intent to begin answering these questions.
Manipulating the photograph using the Digital Epigraphy’s user interface produces the best known available photograph of the inscription. Compare the previously published photograph to that made during our cataloguing efforts.
Prof. Petra Creamer, Emory University, USA (Project Director)
Dr. Kyra Kaercher, USA (Assistant Director, Ceramicist)
Dr. Nathalie Brusgaard, Groningen University, Netherlands (Zooarchaeologist)
Dr. Elise Laugier, Rutgers University, USA (Micropaleobotanist)
Dr. Lucas Proctor, Goethe University Frankfurt-am-Mainz , Germany
(Macropaleobotanist)
Ms. Glynnis Maynard, Cambridge University, UK (Excavator)
Kurdistan Region Project Staff
Kak Ahmad Jodat, Erbil Antiquities, KRG (Project Representative)
Kak Nader Babakr, Erbil Antiquities, KRG (Erbil Governate Director of Antiquities)
Figure 2: Magnetometry results from 2021, conducted by Petra Creamer as part of EPAS.
Five workmen from Trpa Spiyan
III. Prior Research at Qach Rresh
Qach Rresh was first discovered and recorded by the Erbil Plain Archaeological Survey (EPAS) in 2017 as a single-period Neo-Assyrian (Iron Age) site (EPAS Site Number 458). In 2021, EPAS returned to the site to conduct geophysical investigations with a Bartington 601-2 Gradiometer. The results showed the remains of several large buildings and smaller structures at the site (see Fig. 2).
These results showed an example of an unusual type of Iron Age site which had never been excavated before – a rural village, likely centered around agriculture. However, the presence of large buildings at the site was unexpected, raising questions of imperial involvement in agricultural production.
IV. Excavation and Recording Methodology
The scientific recording of the excavations at Qach Rresh were a combination of digital and traditional. In the field, the excavators would record all contexts and collection lots on paper worksheets, which would then later be entered into digital spreadsheets during lab time in the afternoons.
Spatial recording methods relied upon two Emlid-brand RTK GPSs (Real Time Kinematic Ground Positioning Systems). The setup of two Reach R2 systems (see Fig. 3) allows the user to record points in X-Y space with sub 2cm accuracy. The base RS2 sits stationary while the rover RS2 is moved to mark points. Using this, we were able to mark features of significant interest along the cut, as well as record the location of features within Operation A. These recorded points were then imported into ArcGIS to record the exact location of the features. GIS was a key component of the recording system, since the trenches and their related features could be recorded in real space for reference in this season and future seasons (Fig. 4).
Aerial imagery is now a standard in archaeology. The project employed a Mavic 2 DJI-brand drone to photograph excavation contexts near-daily. The resulting photographs were indispensable in both recording and reconstructing the past features of Qach Rresh. Furthermore, multiple drone photos were used to create 3D digital models of the trenches to record features of interest.
Figure 7: Photograph of A006, the ashy pit abutting Wall A013.
Operation A was opened on August 31st at a size of 20 x 5m. Topsoil removal showed heavy plow scars affecting the remaining features below ground, to a depth of at least 30cm. In the eastern part of the trench (9x3m), we excavated down in 20cm intervals with the intention of uncovering a large set of walls bounding the northwestern part of the courtyard in the main building identified through magnetometry. At a depth of around 50cm, the texture of the soil matrix began to harden, becoming thick and difficult to excavate. While the walls were difficult to identify due to this uniform matrix, we were able to distinguish the wall running roughly from NW-SE based on a pit that had been cut into the fill of the building. The pit itself (A006) was filled with ash, charcoal, animal bone, and broken pottery (Fig. 7). The north edge of the pit abutted the wall, creating a straight line against the south face of it that confirmed the wall’s limits.
The remaining time in Op. A was spent attempting to identify a floor surface of the building’s courtyard. While the fill of the courtyard eventually became less thick (with less collapsed mudbrick) a floor surface remained difficult to identify. We excavated to a depth of 1.83m in the SE corner of the trench in order to reach sterile soil and confirm the beginning of human habitation.
Operation B was opened on September 13 at a size of 10x10m. Like Op. A, the area was affected by plow scars up to 30cm deep underneath the topsoil. Immediately, we noticed a proliferation of broken baked bricks near the top levels, intermixed with river cobbles and sherds. We began to excavate the southern half of the trench, forming a 5x10m area. Roughly 10cm below the surface we discovered two single-course walls of river cobbles, both arranged in right-angles and adjacent to one another (Fig. 9). We theorize that these may be the remnants of pastoral activity, such as pens for livestock or field boundaries.
Figure 11: An example of soil containing calcium carbonate crystals (white nodules)
Once below these walls, we proceeded down in 20cm intervals. It quickly became evident that the western half of the trench was very similar in soil type to much of Op. A, where calcium carbonate crystals were intermingled with dark brown, thick soil. In the eastern half of the trench, however, we began to collect large amounts of sherds and animal bones beginning at a depth of 35cm. To focus our efforts, we separated the trench in half and continued to excavate in the eastern half, while also opening a 4x5m area in the northeastern corner of the trench. Based on soil color and texture, we were able to estimate the orientation and thickness of the mudbrick wall bounding the room on its western side (see Fig. 10). We designated this wall before continuing to excavate the room’s fill.
Ceramics, bones, broken baked brick, and partial mudbricks continued to be found as we excavated the room’s fill. At a depth of 82cm we began to excavate a sounding in the northern part of the room with two goals: to excavate down to the room’s floor, and to identify stratigraphic units in the resulting baulk. In total, we identified at least 130cm of fill and 55cm of mudbrick collapse before reaching what we believe to be the main floor of the building. Additionally, there was 30cm of hard-packed soil with few artifacts located just beneath the floor. Below the hard-packed layer we discovered virgin soil, identifiable by having no artifacts and many calcium carbonate crystals (see Figs. 11&12).
Both the buildings in Operation A and Operation B were difficult to identify based on excavation alone, due to significant deterioration in the mudbrick. By using the magnetometry data together with the excavation, we were able to come to several conclusions about the site after one season:
Many of the artifacts collected from the Qach Rresh excavations likely date to the post-Assyrian phase of the Iron Age (c. 600-500 BCE). This is based on the post- Assyrian forms of the ceramics and the common use of grit instead of chaff as a temper.
The rooms of Building B (in Operation B) were clearly used as a dump in the post- Assyrian period.
The room excavated in Building B this season contains at least 130cm of fill from trash deposition. Below these multiple deposition events (which can be identified in the stratigraphy of the baulk – see Fig. 12) there is what appears to be roughly 55cm of mudbrick collapse, likely from the roof of the building. Below this, there is a 30cm thick layer of hard-packed clay with very few artifacts. We interpret this layer to be the remains of the foundation trench constructed before Building B was built.
While initially we approached Qach Rresh believing it to date to the late Neo-Assyrian period (c. 750-600 BCE) we now believe it to have been mainly used in the post-Assyrian period. It is still unknown in what period the buildings were constructed, though it seems likely based on the chaff- tempered ware recovered from the building in Op. A that they may have been constructed in the Neo-Assyrian period, abandoned, and then reused in the post-Assyrian period. Overall, we are also interested in the potential to investigate the post-Assyrian occupation of the Erbil Plain, considering it has been largely underrepresented in archaeological studies.
VII. Summary and future plans
Ultimately, the 2022 season of excavations at Qach Rresh have shown that our initial expectations of the site should be reconsidered not only regarding the site’s dates of occupation, but also in its occupation use. Next season, we will continue to expand the areas of Op. A and Op. B to expose the floor levels of both buildings. Carbon samples were collected during this season, and will be C14 dated to obtain exact dates of the fill of Building B and the ash pit of Building A. Furthermore, we intend to continue applying archaeological scientific methods to the data from Qach Rresh next season, including isotopic analysis of the faunal remains, phytolith analysis, and ceramic petrography. These, combined with further seasons of excavation, will inform us greatly of Qach Rresh’s past.
David Brown, 2022 Steinmetz Scholarship for Active/Reserve Military or Veterans[/vc_column_text][mk_divider][vc_wp_text]
As one of three major settlements in the Huleh Valley, Tel Dan occupies a prominent place not only in its well-known biblical association with the settling of the tribe of Dan in Judges 18, but also in the larger regional history. Its geographic location and boast of abundant natural springs have made it an attractive place to occupy from the Early Bronze Age II to the late Roman period. The late Avraham Biran oversaw excavations there from 1966-1999, with David Ilan of Hebrew Union College leading new excavations since 2005. Over this span of time, excavators have revealed some impressive features at the site including a Middle Bronze gate, an Iron II fortification system, a cultic high place, and of course the Tel Dan Stele. The site remains a major tourist attraction for history and archaeology enthusiasts to partake in exploring the vast treasures Israel has to offer
[/vc_wp_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_single_image image=”96288″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”img_link_large” img_link_target=”_blank” css=”.vc_custom_1712081676195{padding-right: 10px !important;}”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][mk_padding_divider][vc_wp_text]The 2022 season marked the final excavation for Area B—a series of rooms situated directly north of the Iron II fortification system on the southern flank. This area also juxtaposes the interior of the Bronze Age ramparts. A team of students, under the direction of Aaron Burke of the University of California Los Angeles, were assigned three squares in this area. The objectives of this season were to articulate the Iron I strata and reach the terminal Late Bronze phase. Along with students from Hebrew Union College working in Area L, a group totaling forty individuals from around the globe participated in this year’s fieldwork for four weeks covering June-July.
For my part in the excavation, I served as one of three square supervisors in Area B. My Ph.D. research centers on forced migration during the Late Bronze transition to the Iron Age where I seek to identify refugees resettling throughout the southern Levant. As such, this year’s objectives at Tel Dan were fortuitous for my research. We spent our first week removing quite a bit of wash from the area, because no work had been done at the site since 2018. Our second and third weeks were more productive in uncovering various indicators of conflagration including wall collapse, ash, and thick layers of destruction debris. We also analyzed wall interfaces and foundation trenches to better understand the sequencing of phases built up over time. By the fourth week, our area gifted us with a generous reward—pits. We identified them as refuse pits.
Many people consider it strange that archaeologists could be so interested in the garbage of past people, but it is in the trash and the refuse that we can find some of the most valuable information in our reconstruction of ancestral behavior and events. From seeds and botanical analysis to bones and an understanding of diet, from crushed jars to which strata these holes were cut into, I have developed a strong appreciation for the importance of pits and what they contain. Particularly for my research with refugees, who exhibit basic subsistence and storage practices, pits are vital to identifying where refugees settled and what they produced. Needless to say, our efforts this season satisfied a serendipitous end to the Area B excavations.
I look forward to incorporating the data we unearthed at Tel Dan this season into my research and contributing to a better understanding of forced migration, the factors that pushed and pulled people to new regions, and how they reestablished themselves and began to rebuild and rediscover their social identities. I am also grateful to ASOR and to Mr. Charles Steinmetz, the donor for this fellowship, for financially supporting me in my research this season.
David Brown is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures at the University of California Los Angeles. His research is centered on forced migration in the Early Iron Age southern Levant, analyzing how to identify refugees in the material culture according to their push and pull factors as well as how they reconstituted themselves into new social identities after regional changes at the end of the Late Bronze Age transformation.
[/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!
Zachary Griffith, Eric and Carol Meyers Fellowship recipient
This summer I was able to attend the Huqoq Field School in Israel. I am grateful to ASOR for this scholarship, allowing me to attend this excavation. This was my first excavation outside of the United States, and by far the largest excavation that I have been a part of. During the excavation season I learned a great deal from the staff and supervisors, including Dr. Jodi Magness of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and my Classics Professor at the college I attend, Austin College, the architecture specialist Dr. Martin Wells. Once again, I am thankful for the support of ASOR in making this experience possible.
I am grateful to have been a part of such an important excavation. The main focus of our excavation at Huqoq was the Late Roman synagogue and the Medieval synagogue building. The Huqoq excavation has gained much notoriety for the beautiful, well-preserved, and unique mosaics that were discovered in the Late Roman synagogue. Apart from the emphasis placed on the mosaics, there was much emphasis placed by the staff and supervisors of the significance of the material that can give a date for the Late Roman synagogue. This was especially evident when we visited various other synagogues in Northern Israel, such as those at Capernaum and Sepphoris. At lectures and hearing discussions between various professors at several of these sites, the magnitude of importance for the dating material for our excavation of the Late Roman synagogue at Huqoq was revealed. This dating material is so important to archaeology in this region due to conflicting theories over how the Christianized Roman Empire effected synagogue building and prosperity of the Jewish people under the Roman Empire, as such discussions have led scholars to give dates to synagogues that can differ by a degree of hundreds of years. It was great to be a part of an excavation that by itself is very significant, but that also could also have wide reaching implications for an entire region during the Roman Period.
Zach taking notes at the site after a day of excavation.
As a part of the Huqoq excavation I was assigned to the area 3000 North, which was supervised by Dr. Rangar Cline of Oklahoma State University. This was the area that consisted mostly of the Northwestern sections of what was once the Late Roman synagogue and the Medieval synagogue. 3000 North was also where previously unexcavated mosaics were uncovered during this season. In 3000 North I learned a great deal about excavation techniques. Also, due to our proximity to the Late Roman mosaics, and the emphasis placed on finding material to date parts of the site, I frequently sifted the material we excavated. Sifting could be very exhilarating, such as when we would find artifacts that could possibly be used as dating evidence, but also heartbreaking, such as when tesserae was discovered, showing that sections of the Late Roman synagogue’s mosaic would not be preserved.
Zach excavating in 3000 North.
I greatly value the work I did under the direction of architecture specialist. Dr. Martin Wells. I assisted Dr. Wells by moving, washing, and recording various architectural fragments of significance to the excavation. Handling these pieces and gaining first-hand experience from Dr. Wells, I was able to learn a great deal more about the architecture and construction techniques in all phases of the site that we excavated. What is most memorable to me about Huqoq was how rewarding the process of reconstructing the Late Roman and Medieval synagogues could be’ even though it was a very difficult process. This can be highlighted by the way in which the builders of the Medieval synagogue reused material from the Late Roman synagogue, and it is from this reused material that we can gain more evidence of what the Late Roman synagogue may have looked like. In addition to all of the fieldwork, spending time with all of the individuals with the same passion for archaeology was amazing. I will have future colleagues and friends for life.
Zach (left) and his brother, Cayden (right), at the kibbutz.
Zachary Griffith is a Senior at Austin College, where he is majoring in Anthropology, Classics, and History. He also plays goalie for the water polo team at Austin College.
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!
Paul Richards, 2022 ASOR BIPOC Scholarship for Fieldwork Participation[/vc_column_text][mk_divider][vc_wp_text]Near East Archeology was a subject that, by title, I had not heard of until I started looking for a graduate degree covering ancient Israelite history. I knew archeologists went into the Middle East to do work, but I had not delved into more for the career field. After graduating from college with a BA in History I taught History in Cairo for 3 years at an American language high school. Then I taught ESL for 2 ½ years. While in Cairo I visited active dig sites. Visiting the sites sparked my interest in archeology.
When I started my Near East Archeology program at La Sierra University, I was excited for the upcoming dig. Because of the pandemic the normally scheduled dig season was canceled. I was determined to go the next season. By the time the next dig season came around the next year my finances were depleted. I applied for scholarships, and it is only due to being awarded the 2022 ASOR BIPOC Scholarship for Fieldwork Participation, that I was able to join the BRAP excavation trip.
The experience was great. I had been to Jordan on a 30-hour layover before where I took the opportunity and toured around the immediate Amman area. For the excavation I signed up for the full BRAP dig season for six weeks. Being in the archeology classroom learning about archeology and working in the lab was much different than being in the field. While in the field I remembered terminology I had learned in class. It was a continual task matching the term I had learned in class with the meaning or action in the field. The work was hard but every day we dug up something significant to me as a first timer. Finding pottery was exciting. I quickly found out the dig veterans were very used to seeing pottery finds. The schedule was taxing but the finds everyday made it worth it.
In the middle of the season, we went to Petra. I had heard of Petra for a few years and the reports from those who had visited made it sound like the ultimate travel destination for all Near East enthusiasts. Usually people exaggerate, this time the reports were accurate. It was better than going to Disneyland.[/vc_wp_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_single_image image=”96209″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”img_link_large” img_link_target=”_blank” css=”.vc_custom_1712002492498{padding-right: 10px !important;}”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][mk_padding_divider][vc_wp_text]Archeology Becomes Personal
I grew up in and still am active in a distinct faith tradition. Previously my interest in ancient Israelite history had tilted my dig interest towards only going to Israel. I knew there was a lot to learn about ancient Israelite history from its ancient neighbors. Growing up myself in a culture and community where the stories of ancient Israel are accepted on a faith basis, it seemed almost automatic to gravitate towards Jerusalem. In a faith-based environment, especially for laypersons, activities of other ancient people groups are pushed aside and overlooked. It is a task of historians to help laypersons understand the study of Israel’s neighbors, and with proper archeology, enhance our academic understanding of faith-based stories.
The name Moab made a frequent appearance throughout the Old Testament of the Bible. A brief search rendered at least 18 times. The name originated, according to faith traditions, from one of the sons of Lot; Lot was Abraham’s nephew. The birth of Moab occurs in Genesis 19 along with his brother Ammon. The story includes some humiliating and salacious content. This son became the progenitor of the Moabites. The Moabites would become one of Israel’s major antagonists. King David in 2 Samuel 8:2 subjects the Moabites to servitude. Here again, a horrific scene takes place in the scripture tradition. In 2 Kings 3 Mesha King of Moab is mentioned as paying a heavy tribute to the Northern Kingdom. Mesha rebelled after the death of Ahab. The Mesha Stella, a significant find in Near East Archeology, describes a revolt against Israel.
Many inscriptions describing victory may have the veracity of the victory legitimately questioned. This is due to the well-known desire of kings and nations to embellish the greatness of themselves and their people. In the case of Mesha it does appear the inscription holds weight. The Mesha Stella was found at Tell-Dibon, a site our team was able to visit.[/vc_wp_text][vc_single_image image=”96210″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”img_link_large” img_link_target=”_blank” css=”.vc_custom_1712002888768{padding-right: 10px !important;}”][mk_padding_divider][vc_wp_text]Cultural Memory And The Story of Moab
Cultural memory is a topic I have delved into since the beginning of my graduate program. The reality of stories becoming exaggerated results in the need for teachers and writers to execute proper exegesis when dealing with historical topics. Exegesis is a term primarily heard of in theology. But the principal for the term is crucial for every research field.
Preconceived ideas need to be erased before proceeding in the research. During the research process the evidence must speak for itself. In a textual context, a word can be assumed to have one meaning, then with further investigation the researcher realizes the original speaker or writer had a different meaning in mind. This also applies to archeology. As taxing as the physical aspect of archeology is, it is crucial to dispel private ideas and interpretations that can result from classroom and reading work only.
The public figures inside well-known faith traditions have become known for mobilizing their base with shallow motivation. This motivation is often very loosely based on ancient text references. Many public figures use the texts blatantly out of context for private purposes. There is a dual danger in the faith community. One is those who carelessly use history to further an agenda. The other are those who are born into these agendas unawares. Both continue to propagate a false narrative. The latter falls victim to its own cultural memory.
In certain faith-based texts Ruth is the progenitor of King David, Ruth 4:22. Ruth was the daughter in-law of Naomi who became a widow and decided to follow Naomi back to her homeland. There is a parallel story line outside the traditional faith-based text, which teaches Naomi’s other daughter in-law Orpah, a Moabite went back to her people and gave birth to Goliath a Philistine. Goliath has become the stuff of legend. His bio has been stretched to create a superhuman villain that would match today’s comic books.[/vc_wp_text][vc_single_image image=”96211″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” onclick=”img_link_large” img_link_target=”_blank” css=”.vc_custom_1712003623857{padding-right: 10px !important;}”][mk_divider][vc_wp_text]And Finally
My time in the field has increased my interest in ancient languages. It has increased my interest in the facts of faith-based stories. While in the square my square mates and I had lively discussions over the topics presented above. By the end we were far from exhausting the matter. There will be more to debate and learn on the next excavation.[/vc_wp_text][mk_divider][vc_wp_text]Paul Richards holds a BA in History and a Minor in Communication Art from Oakwood University in Huntsville, AL. He lives in Southern California and is finishing his thesis at La Sierra University in Riverside, CA. Balu’a Regional Archaeological Project (BRAP) – Centers & Museum – La Sierra University. BRAP Jordan (@brapjordan) • Instagram photos and videos. Balu’a Regional Archaeology Project | Facebook.[/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!
Returning to Armenia: Excavations and Survey in Vayots Dzor
Aurora Camaño, G. E. Wright/Shirlee Meyers Fellowship Recipient
In 2010, while an archaeology undergraduate student, I participated in an archaeological field school in Vayots Dzor, Armenia at the well-known chalcolithic cave, Areni-1. That experience was my first taste of international travel and I fell in love with both Armenia and archaeology. However, it was not the chalcolithic history of the region that caught my attention, but the medieval churches and fortifications that still speckle the mountainous landscapes of Armenia. It was that trip that made me want to specialize in the medieval Near East and South Caucasus and set in motion the career path that I have since carved out for myself.
I have been fortunate to have worked in the field on a number of projects in the Near East and Mediterranean since that initial trip to Armenia in 2010, but it has always been a dream of mine to return. In 2020, I got in contact with Dr. Tiffany Earley-Spadoni regarding the Vayotz Dzor Fortress Landscape project, and we made plans for me to join the team. Shortly afterwards, the world shut down from Covid – but two years later, in the summer of 2022 we were able to make it happen. In July I flew from Canada to Armenia and returned for a summer of excavation and survey in the same small village that I worked in twelve years previous.
In the evenings, after coffee and sweets, the team had shared lab hours. I was assigned to help organize and record the pottery backlog from previous seasons, recording the details of all the diagnostic pottery finds from the site. Through this process we were able to better understand regional ceramic production, the different vessel and fabric types that frequented the site, as well as the local geology.
I was overjoyed to be able to return to Armenia, and deeply enjoyed my time in Vayotz Dzor working with the VDFLP team. Beyond the interesting archaeological work we conducted in Karaglukh, I enjoyed the many interesting conversations were had over delicious meals and homemade lavash in the village of Areni, strolls through neighbouring apricot orchards, and visits to the local 13th century church.
Aurora Camaño is a PhD Candidate in Archaeology at Simon Fraser University. She is a landscape archaeologist who specializes in built landscapes in the medieval Near East and South Caucasus. Her current dissertation studies landscapes of relocation in medieval Armenian Cilicia. She can be found on Twitter @AuroraCamano.
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Safia S. Boutaleb, 2022 Eric & Carol Meyers Scholarship for Fieldwork Participation
I’d like to preface my report by saying that this trip was possible thanks to Dr. Eric and Dr. Carol Meyers, whose generous scholarship allows graduate students, like myself, to visit Cyprus and not only gain experience excavating but also form new, valuable connections. Thank you!
Tent on the roof of the old Peltenburg Archaeological Centre in Lemba
This report briefly describes my time in the 2022 field school led by Dr. Lindy Crewe at Kissonerga-Skalia (KS), a Bronze Age site in the Paphos region of Cyprus, dating from at least the Philia Phase (~2400 BCE) to the early Late Cypriot period (~1600 BCE). My experience in the field school was overwhelmingly positive and truly one of a kind. It complimented my previous field school experience in 2019 at Kalavasos-Ayios Dhimitrios, which sparked my love of Cypriot archaeology and the Bronze Age. I was admittedly anxious at first about my participation at Skalia due to some sudden and unexpected accommodation changes for the field school participants.
The new accommodations involved camping out in a tent on the roof of the old Peltenburg Archaeological Centre in Lemba for the month. However, after about one week in Lemba, I had adapted to my (very humid) surroundings and realized that the house in Lemba afforded us more independence and the opportunity to become better acquainted with Paul Croft, who resides at and cares for the Lemba centre. The house was beautiful and a place where generations of archaeologists have worked and stayed, making me feel like I had participated in some kind of tradition or initiation into the world of Cypriot archaeology. Moreover, the village of Lemba is an old, picturesque place in the hills overlooking the Mediterranean Sea and boasting thousands of years of human occupation (i.e., not a bad place to call home).
View of sea from Lemba
I was also grateful for the experience of excavating with Crewe and her team at Skalia. Crewe has assembled an eclectic group of supportive and intelligent archaeologists from all kinds of different backgrounds. Some of the supervisors and participants work in academia, others in commercial archaeology and some of them earn a living in entirely different fields. Regardless of their backgrounds, their expertise and experience at the site was invaluable and I greatly appreciated the diversity of their career paths, which can be rare in academic circles.
My own research and responsibilities at the site focused on the faunal remains at Skalia, an experience which I found to be both challenging and rewarding. My own familiarity with animal (and human) anatomy was unpractised, so I benefitted intensely from Croft’s sample collection of bones, which he allowed me to handle whenever necessary. Recognizing gaps in my anatomical knowledge, I did my best to support my team by cleaning and recording the bones, rather than making futile attempts to identify them myself. When errors were made in our records, I took initiative to stay behind and correct the mistake, a process which took two and a half days of work.
Lemba Sunset
View of sea from Lemba
Safia excavating in the field
My honest pride and joy for the season was my work on the floor of Area P/B. I genuinely love field work and I was overjoyed to have found the floor, as I recognize its significance in understanding the basic layout and stratigraphic occupation of a space. Thanks to my cautious work, Muti assigned me responsibility over the floor for about two weeks. A number of my peers came and joined me but none seemed to enjoy it as much as I did. It seems trivial to take such pride in excavating a floor but I remembered how challenging it was to find at Kalavasos-Ayios Dhimitrios and the experience of being able to differentiate tamped earth from mud plaster floor provided me with a skill that I had not anticipated I’d acquire this season. I also felt supported and recognized for my efforts, as the team awarded me the “golden trowel”, one of the many superlative awards given at the end of the field season.
Safia's last day in field!
I would relish the opportunity to return to Kissonerga-Skalia and I am grateful for the experience of meeting and excavating with such an incredible team of professional archaeologists, who taught me not only how to excavate but also showed me that there is more than one path to becoming an archaeologist and that, when in doubt, it is possible to pave your own.
Safia Boutaleb (she/her) is a graduate student completing her Masters of Classical Archaeology at The University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. Her thesis focuses on women’s economic participation in Cyprus during the Late Bronze Age and the many ways their activities in daily life remain overlooked in scholarship of ancient economy. Kissonerga-Skalia 2022 was her second field school in Cyprus she has hopes to return to the island each year to research and participate in field work.
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2022 Study of Collections Fellowship Report: Imprints of the Past: Preserving the Largest Known and Uncatalogued Collection of Semitic Artifacts in Europe
James D. Moore, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin
For many years, I have collaborated with the French Institute’s, Cabinet du Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum (Cabinet-CIS) within the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres, and in 2022 an ASOR Study of Collection Fellowship provided me startup funding to seed an ambitious attempt to build the Cabinet-CIS a digital inventory database and begin the process of cataloguing and digitally preserving one of Europe’s most important collections of Semitic artifacts. At the invitation of Christian Robin and Maria Gorea, I was able to complete the build for the collection’s database during two week-long trips to the Cabinet-CIS. This database is now used by scholars and students working on the collection.
The Cabinet-CIS is known for publishing two monumental series through the late nineteenth and mid-twentieth centuries, the Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum and the Répertoire d’épigraphie sémitique. Those compiling these works were sent paper mâché squeezes of the inscriptions in those volumes and in some cases photographs along with detailed descriptions. The collection holds an estimated 10,000+ paper mâché squeezes of Semitic inscriptions from the Near East, North Africa, and the Mediterranean. In some cases these squeezes are of inscriptions which are now lost or inaccessible (due to their location in politically contested regions). Additionally, the collection holds hundreds of original objects and dozens of dossiers of many of the field’s most important figures, such as that of Charles Clermont-Ganneau. Unfortunately, the collection is only loosely organized into boxes and cupboards, for which a short inventory had been compiled.
Example of archival materials with squeeze in AIBL-CIS Dossier 12, Chypre 1.
Credit: James D. Moore and Maria Gorea
Example of flat-file storage of Semitic squeezes.
Credit: James D. Moore and Maria Gorea
Although the work was hindered by continued difficulties traveling, due to residual effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, a mid-year trip to the Cabinet-CIS allowed me to assess the needs of the collection and survey its holdings. During that week I built a prototype SQL (PostgreSQL) database and local application which was tested by those working on the collection, specifically Maria Gorea’s students Noémie Carpentier and Narmin Sadykhova. Over the course of many months, I fine-tuned the prototypal database, and at the end of the year, during a second trip to the Cabinet-CIS, I rebuilt the database on the Huma-Num servers using the Heurist database management system, an Open Source information system builder and website publisher developed specifically for Humanities research data. The result is an easy to use inventory database for the Cabinet-CIS’s internal use (though the intention is to make the data accessible through a future website should continued funding be acquired). Here I must thank the Heurist team, in particular Ian Johnson and Michael Falk, for their support and advice along the way.
The database includes record entries where all necessary information about an object in the collection can be stored, including metadata, text, and translation. Each entry includes mapping a timeline features for the object along with additional media storage that can be linked to the object.
Example of a database entry’s “Record” for AIBL-CIS Dos. 12.01.
Example of entry’s “Map” (and timeline) for AIBL-CIS Dos. 12.01
Linked media to the 3D rendering of squeeze AIBL-CIS Dos. 12.01 in the Digital Epigraphy User Interface (see below)
The ultimate objective was to initiate the process of digital preservation of the squeezes and other artifacts. To achieve this, I solicited the support of Angelos Barmpoutis of the Digital Worlds Institute and Eleni Bozia of the Classics Department at the University of Florida, whose Open Source Digital Epigraphy software proved to be an ideal application for our needs. By using scans from a flatbed scanner or raking light photographs one can easily render 3D scans of the squeezes. An example of AIBL-CIS Dos. 12.01.01 “Inscription royale d’Idalion” (446 BCE = RÉS 453; squeeze made in 1887) can be found here.
Manipulating the photograph using the Digital Epigraphy’s user interface produces the best known available photograph of the inscription. Compare the previously published photograph to that made during our cataloguing efforts.
Upper photograph of squeeze AIBL-CIS Dos. 12.01.01 made in 1887 depicts the contures of the inscription verses the lower photograph of a sqeeze made and published in 1939 by A. M. Honeyman, “The Phoenician Inscriptions of the Cyprus Museum,” Iraq 6: 104–8.
The Cabinet-CIS’s Heurist database and Digital Epigraphy software has far reaching applications for the collection. While one of Maria Gorea’s students, Noémie Carpentier, was working on the Cabinet-CIS’s numismatic collection, I trained her in how to use the software to produce 3D renderings of coins. We scanned the following example of a worn Phoenician (Tyrian) coin minted during the reign of Artaxerxes III (AIBL-CIS NUM 01.1000100), and the 3D rendering makes visible the coin’s features, which are invisible to the eye. You can view the coin using the Digital Epigraphy user interface here:
Credit: Original photographs by James D. Moore, Maria Gorea, Noémie Carpentier, and Narmin Sadykhova. Rendered and displayed using the Digital Epigraphy software.
The consorted efforts of all those mentioned above and the support from ASOR allowed us to achieve our objective of building a digital infrastructure for the Cabinet-CIS with which the digital preservation of its invaluable collection can begin.
Additional Notes The long days spent at the Cabinet-CIS also afforded me opportunities to further my own research. Maria Gorea and I have long teamed up to publish important manuscripts in the Cabinet-CIS, and we used time to finalize manuscripts for a number of publications on two new Phoenician papyri accounts which radiocarbon date to the Persian period, fragments of Aramaic papyri from Elephantine, and a new Aramaic religious text from Egypt radiocarbon dated between the 2nd and early 4th centuries CE.
“AIBL-CIS de Ricci no. 2: A New Jewish and Aramaic Religious Text from Egypt Dating between the 2nd and Early 4th Centuries CE” Dead Sea Discoveries, forthcoming
“New Persian Period Phoenician Papyri Accounts from Egypt in the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, Cabinet du Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum,” in Advances in Elephantine and Persian Period Research, eds. J. Moore and P. Schmidtkunz, Studies on Elephantine (forthcoming).
“Radiocarbon Dating an Aramaic Papyrus from Elephantine and a New Aramaic Fragment from the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, Cabinet du Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum,” in Advances in Elephantine and Persian Period Research, eds. J. Moore and P. Schmidtkunz, Studies on Elephantine (forthcoming).
“Papyri semitiques du Cabinet du CIS,” Comptes rendus des séances de l’Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, Communication of the AIBL 16 April 2021.
J.D. Moore, New Aramaic Papyri from Elephantine in Berlin, Studies on Elephantine 1 (Leiden: Brill), 2022; Open Access: https://brill.com/view/title/61396. (pp. 16–17)
The excavations of the loci on the northern side of the north wall revealed what we believed to be a storage jar, in situ, with its rim peeking just above the ground. We took a few days bringing the other loci into phase and then began to carefully excavate around the jar. As we dug lower the soil began to turn grey and ashy. Then as we dug flush with the bottom of the jar, we noticed the sides came down completely straight and it didn’t have a bottom. As it would turn out it was not a jar at all but a tabun cooking oven! After this revelation we decided to carefully collect and remove each of the pieces of the oven (as it was still in situ but completely shattered) and bag the soil within the oven to be floated for organic materials. The oven was made of a rough handmade ceramic, we believe to date from the Late Byzantine or Early Islamic eras. Another noteworthy find was a red bead nearby the oven. The bead is carnelian with delicate white paint design on it, as well as a bronze wire still attached to it.
The 
