Jordan Conference in Florence, Paul J. Ray, Jr.
Safra 2019, Paul Gregor, Paul Ray, and Jacob Moody
Random Surveyhttps://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/iaham-news/1079/thumbnail.jp

Gregor, Paul

Moody, Jacob

Ray, Paul J., Jr.

English

Andrews University

Andrews University Digital Commons @ Andrews University Institute of Archaeology & the Horn Archaeological Museum Newsletter The Institute of Archaeology & the Horn Archaeological Museum Summer 2019 The Institute of Archaeology & Siegfried H. Horn Museum Newsletter Volume 40.3 Paul J. Ray Jr. Paul Gregor Jacob Moody Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/iaham-news Table of ContentsPageJordan ConferenceSafra 2019Random SurveyINSTITUTE OF ARCHAEOLOGYHORN ARCHAEOLOGICALMUSEUMNEWSLETTERPaul J. Ray, Jr.                                EditorConstance E. Gane             Assoc. EditorRandall W. Younker           Assoc. EditorRobert D. Bates                  Assoc. EditorDorian Alexander                  Asst. EditorThe Newsletter is published four times ayear by the Institute of Archaeology,Andrews University. Annual subscriptionprice is $7.50. Museum membership,subscription, and editorial correspon-dence should be addressed to the HornArchaeological Museum, Institute ofArchaeology, Andrews University, 9047US 31, Berrien Springs, MI 49104-0990,Telephone 269-471-3273, Fax 269-471-3619, e-mail hornmusm@andrews.edu.Volume 40.3 Summer 2019 ISSN 1095-2837                                   Jordan Conference in Florence              The theme for the Fourteenth International Conference on the History and Archaeology ofJordan (ICHAJ), which was held in Florence, Italy, on January 21-25, 2019, was “Culture inCrisis: Flows of Peoples, Artifacts and Ideas.” The triannual conference is under the patronage ofHRH Prince El Hassan bin Talal and was co-organized this time by the Department of Antiquitiesof Jordan (DAJ), the Universitas * Florentina * Studiorum / Università Degli Studi Firenze /Dipartimento di Storia, Archeologia, Geografia, Arte, e Spettacolo (SAGAS), and the Center forAncient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Studies (CAMNES).        The keynote speakers for the conference were Øystein LaBianca with a presentation entitled:“A ‘Global Turn’ for the History and Archaeology of Jordan: Scholars Engaging a Planet and aCulture in Crisis” and Giovanni Curatola, whose presentation was entitled: “The NecessaryArchaeology.” About 220 papers were read by researchers from various parts of the world.       Papers presented by current and former participants of the Madaba Plains Project and its pred-ecessor, the Andrews University Heshbon Expedition include: When Nabataeans Settled in theHejaz: New Insights from the Nabataean Fine Ware Found in Hegra/Madā‘in Sālih, North WestArabia (Yvonne Gerber); The Nabataean Crocodile Betyl (David Graf); Figurines and Statues fromKhirbat al-Mudayna Thamad (P. M. Michèle Daviau); Slope Consolidation Works in the ‘Siq’ ofPetra: a Pioneering Approach (G. Cesaro, G. Delmonaco, M. Jamhawi, S. Farajat, T. Salhi, H. alTaher, H. Lawamah, K. Amryyin, and H. Hjazeen); The Roman Tomb (Mausoleum) of Dhiban(Khaled Al Hawawrah and Basem Mahamid); The Khirbat ‘Ataruz Cult Stand (Stefani P. Elkins);Sundial Discovered in Amman Citadel, 2009 (Adeeb Abu Shmais); Omnem Movere Lapidem “ToMove Every Stone:” Latin Proverb (Gary Rollefson); The Madaba Regional ArchaeologicalConference Participants Did Some Site Seeing, such as at the Ponte Vecchio Bridge, Florence, Italy. (cont’d on p. 2)124Project: A Multidisciplinary Approach toPreserving the Archaeological Park whileEnvisioning a New Museum (A. Polcaro,M. D’Andrea, R. Gabrielli, M. Cozzolino,G. Batocchioni, L. Romagnoli, V.Gaspari, B. Lucherini, F. Sciorilli, D.Clark and S. Richard); The Flow ofPeoples, Artifacts and Ideas through Jalul(Randall W. Younker); Khirbet Safra: AMilitary Installation or RegularSettlement (Paul Z. Gregor); Jordan inGlobal Histories: the View from TallHisban (Øystein LaBianca); KhirbatAtaruz in the Late Iron IIB and Iron IICPeriods: Synthesizing 15 Years ofArchaeological Excavation Findings(Aaron Schade and Chang-Ho Ji); TheMadaba Regional ArchaeologicalMuseum Project (MRAMP): Three Yearsof Community Archaeology (D. R. Clark,S. Richard, A. Polcaro, M. D’Andrea, andB. Mahamid); The Ayyubid and MamlukKhans at Aqaba (Reem Al Shqour); Jalulon the Crossroads of Great Empires(Constance E. Gane); Is CommunityEngagement in Archaeology BuildingSocial Capital in Jordan? Reasoning on aDecade of Community-Oriented Projectsin Jordan (Maria Elena Ronza); ALandscape of Peace at Umm el-Jimal:Using Spaces of the Mind and Spaces onthe Ground to Link the Islamic Heritageof the Modern Community and the ‘Pre-Islamic’ Heritage of an ArchaeologicalSite (B. de Vries, M. Hazza, D. Al Farraj,M. Al Haddad, and J. Suleiman);Archaeology Meets Astronomy: in Searchof Our Origins (E. Hatziminaoglou and D.R. Clark); Searching for Petra’s Non-ElitePopulation on the North Ridge (S.Thomas Parker); and Resilience in theFace of Regional Crises: IdentifyingLocal Knowledge and Decision-Makingat Mamluk-era isbān (Bethany Walker). Project Members who chaired ses-sions for the Conference include GaryRollefson (History and Archaeology ofJordan: Prehistory 3), Hanadi al-Taher(Public Archaeology and Social-Economic Development 4: Conservationand Site Management 2), and Maria ElenaRonza (Public Archaeology and Social-Economic Development 7: Museum andCollection). In addition, Bert de Vrieschaired a workshop on “SignageManufacture at Umm el-Jimal: Creating aMicrobusiness for Vandalism-ResistantInstallations, and Douglas R. Clark andMarta D’Andrea chaired a workshop on“Community Engagement in DowntownMadaba: The Madaba RegionalArchaeological Museum Project(MRAMP).” The Poster Session includedposters by Bassem Mahamid andAbdullah al Bawareed entitled “TheRehabilitation Project of MadabaCathedral,” and Maria Elena Ronza andEman Abdassalam entitled “EmploymentThrough Heritage Project – EHP.” TheConference Papers, as usual, will be pub-lished in the next conference volume:Studies in the History and Archaeology ofJordan, Volume 14. (Paul J. Ray, Jr.) The second season of excavationsat Khirbat Safra was conducted betweenJune 2-July 12, 2019. The excavations onthe site were directed by Paul Z. Gregor,and Paul Ray of the Institute of Archae-ology at Andrews University, with Rayand PhD archaeology candidate JacobMoody functioning as Field Supervisors.Nisrin Khaed Fugh’a and Amal Rawahnaserved as representatives for theDepartment of Antiquities of Jordan.Khirbet Safra is an approximately 2.6acre, triangular-shaped site, located south-west of Madaba and Main, overlookingthe Dead Sea, with a casemate wall sys-tem surrounding the perimeter. Excava-tions this season took place in two fields(B and D). Each excavation square, as inthe previous season, was opened usingGPS on the basis of a grid of 6.0 x 6.0 msquares laid over a topographic map cre-ated by the Department of Antiquities sur-veyors during the survey season in 2017. In Field B, on the southwestern edgeof the site, supervised by Paul Ray, fournew squares (B4-7) were opened this sea-son, with another (Square B3), partlyexcavated in 2018, being completed atthis time. Bedrock was reached in parts offour of the five squares, with Square B7being worked for only a few days. Last season, it was discovered that interms of the preparation for occupation,both here and elsewhere on the site, first atwo-row outer wall was built directlyupon the exposed bedrock, at the edge ofthe site. Crevices in the bedrock werefilled with a hard, red-bricky, material,upon which a one-row inner wall andcross walls were added. This season,operations in Field B concentrated ontracing parts two buildings, consisting oflong-room structures, sharing one wall,and connected with the broad-room case-mates previously excavated. Building 1, the westernmost struc-ture, was traced to the northwest from thebroad-room casemate structure in SquareB1, throughout Square B4, and much ofSquare 6. Its eastern wall, which is sharedwith Building 2 is completely extant, butmost of the western wall is located in anarea that, is as yet, unexcavated. This wallwas traced for a short distance before itdisappeared in to the west balk of SquareB4, just beyond a postern (side) entrance,to the west. The main entrance to thebuilding is on the north side of the build-ing, with what appears to be the bedrockfooting to a ghost wall, on its westernend.The outline of Building 2 is clearerthan its western neighbor, and was tracedthroughout parts of all five squares (B3-7)excavated this season. With the exceptionof a few short sections, still within unex-cavated balks, its walls are completelyexposed.  The western wall, which isshared with Building 1, and its parallel tothe east, were traced slightly over 12meters to the northwest from the broad-room casemate structure in Square B3, tothe south. The entrance to the building isin the northwest corner, as opposed to thecenter, of the north wall. The building issubdivided on its southwestern side by asmall room, with its entrance on the east,from the main room. Further to the north,located on a shelve of bedrock, on top ofSafra 2019which it was partially paved with cobblestones, the building is further subdividedby a pillar, and a short section of wall,with another entrance into the main roomat its northern end.Several use layers (beaten-earth sur-faces) were discovered in both buildings.The first occupation layer was located justabove the red-bricky fill material, placedin the undulations of bedrock. ThroughoutIron Age I, at least two additional beaten-earth surfaces were laid. The earlier ofthese two occupational layers was appar-ently destroyed by a conflagration, as evi-denced on the eastern side of Square B5,of Building 2, but which is unattested inBuilding I. It would appear to be the samefire that destroyed buildings in other areas(Fields A, C-D) of the settlement. Underthe destruction debris, part of a collar-rimpithos was found, on the floor. Later, per-haps during early Iron Age II, still anotherbeaten-earth surface was laid above a filllayer. In Building I it appears that at leasttwo of these surfaces were connected withstone thresholds, placed in the doorway ofthe postern entrance, presumably to keepeverything level on both sides of the wall.A destruction, probably by an earthquake,sometime during the early Iron Age II, asnoted lasted season, occurred, leavingconsiderable ruins, as well as penetratingthrough two of the earlier floor levels.Preliminarily, it would seem thatBuilding 1 represents a two-room house(one long room and one broad room),while Building 2 is a three-room house(one broad room and two long rooms). In 2018, in Field D, supervised byJacob Moody, two squares were excavat-ed (D1 and D2). This season four newsquares (D3-6) were opened and com-pletely excavated. Their locations werechosen with the intent to help betterunderstand the architecture in Field D andto provide a chance to excavate betweenthe casemate walls that were visible onsurface. The portions of Squares D3 andD4 that were located outside the outercity wall were left unexcavated. In gener-al, the earth matrix in Field D is veryshallow, with bedrock being, in somecases, only 10 cm below the surface, sothese squares were quickly taken down tobedrock, after which the balks wereremoved to provide a clearer picture ofthe obstructed architectural remains, yield-ing the discovery of at least one casemateroom and part of the gate complex.One complete casemate room wasuncovered this season, portions of whichwere found in Squares D3, D4, and D6.The southwest corner of another possiblecasemate room may have been uncoveredin Square D6, but further excavation isneeded to verify this. Another small roomwas also uncovered in the western portionof Square D6. Some occupational surfaceswere found in Squares D3, D5, and D6.These surfaces were just above bedrockand in some places level with smallexposed portions of the bedrock. Theywere made of flat, hard-packed earth, andsome had flat-lying pottery on top ofthem. All of this pottery dated to the IronAge I.Part of the city gate complex, with itsaccompanying installations, and the vari-ous walls that make up different rooms,was found this season. The gate is locatedbetween Squares D3 and D5, with thewesternmost part of Square D3 represent-ing half of the gate, and the easternmostpart of Square D5 making up the otherhalf. There is a clear 2.5 m break in theouter city wall, and within this gap is itsthreshold. Outside this threshold, to thenorth, are paving stones that have beenworn smooth from use. Bordering thesepavement stones, both to the east andwest, are two long, rectangular stones thatrun perpendicular to the threshold. Theirexact purpose is unclear, though theyseem to narrow the gate entrance, andwere perhaps used as supports for some-thing above them. Further research onpossible parallels is needed. Entering thecity, just inside the threshold, to the south,a surface was found, with cobbles andearth used to level the ground with thesloping bedrock. The roadway, inside thegate is lined by two large walls, withbenches installed up against them. Twolong rooms paralleling the gate andentrance street, on the east and west, helpto make up the gate complex. The easternroom has been fully excavated, and has adoorway into the room from the street.The portion of the western long room,found so far in Square D5, seem to matchits eastern twin. A similar doorway intothis room is suspected, but excavation tothe south is needed to confirm this.After the Iron Age I occupation, therewas a destruction/abandonment phase.These abandonment layers were foundjust below topsoil and consist of mostlyIron Age I sherds with a few Iron Age IIdiagnostic pieces. Some Byzantine periodsherds were also found in the loci nearestto the topsoil. (Paul Gregor, Paul Ray andJacob Moody)Field B excavation at Khirbat Safra.Queen’s Legs Found:A pair of mummified legs, on dis-play in the Turin Egyptian Museumwould seem to belong to QueenNefertari, the wife of Ramses II (r.1279-1213 BC). The queen diedbetween 40-50 years of age. Inantiquity, her tomb (QV66) wasplundered, her mummy ripped apart,and her tomb goods tossed aroundby robbers. Although recent scientif-ic tests have failed to make a defi-nite identification, the mummywrappings and royal sandals arecommon to the Ramesside era, andare circumstantial evidence that thelegs indeed belonged to the queen.Etruscan Burial Found:The skeleton of a bound man was found beneath a woman in a 5th century BC Etruscan gravein Tuscany. The ca. 30-year-old-man, perhaps a slave, was shackled with a neck collar and ankleirons. The grave was found in the necropolis of Populonia, a major iron processing center of theMediterranean between the 6th and the 4th centuries BC.Destruction Evidence Found in Jerusalem:Scythian-type arrowheads, a gold, bell-shaped ear-ring, with a dangling silver cluster of grapes, lampsand other ceramics were recently found in the ruins ofa building, with burnt wood and ash layers; evidenceof the destruction of Jerusalem, in 586 BC.Mittani Palace Found:A Kurdish-German team ofexcavators in Iraq haverecently begun work on a3,400-year-old Mittanianpalace, at the site ofKemune, as drought condi-tions have caused the waterlevels on the Tigris River todrop. The 2.0 m (6.6 ft)-thick mudbrick walls of thepalace originally stood 19 m(65 ft) from the river, on anelevated terrace, with amudbrick retaining wall.Some of the extant walls ofthe palace are plastered andhave paintings in shades ofblue and red. So far, 10 claycuneiform tablets have beenfound.To discover more about archaeology, theInstitute, and the Museum, contact us at:VOX: 269-471-3273FAX: 269-471-3619E-mail: hornmuseum@andrews.eduor visit our website at:www.andrewsarchaeology.orgThe Institute of ARCHAEOLOGYSiegfried H. Horn Museum    Andrews University, Berrien Springs, MI 49104-0990Address Service RequestedNon-profit OrganizationU.S. Postage  PAIDPermit No. 5Berrien Springs, MI 49103New Finds on Cyprus:Excavators at the east portico of the Agora in Nea Paphos, havelocated a room with glass vessels, and a hoard of Emperor Hadriancoins. In a separate room, a surgeon’s toolkit with seven medicalinstruments and an intact glass beaker were discovered. The roomsare thought to be shops. Nearby, a well contained a humanskeleton, with Hellenistic-period ceramics, and in a deep pit, theremains of a furnace, crucibles and production waste were found.

The Institute of Archaeology & Siegfried H. Horn Museum Newsletter Volume 40.3

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The Institute of Archaeology & Siegfried H. Horn Museum Newsletter Volume 40.3

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