What’s in your dig bag, Yorke Rowan?
In our “What’s in your dig bag?” series, we asked working field archaeologists what they carry with them out in the field. We wanted to know what gear they love and what items might be unique to them. I keep changing hats; one year I have […]
The Return of David and Solomon?
Buried beneath the houses of Silwan, a small neighborhood south of the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem, lie the remains of four thousand years of human history. As elsewhere in the Middle East, in Silwan history is counted by ages […]
Changing Lives: Object Biography and Law [Video]
At the 2014 ASOR Annual Meeting, Morag Kersel presented her paper, “Changing Lives: Object Biography and Law.” She did so during the Object Biography for Archaeologists: A Practical Workshop. The workshop was not just about story-telling, […]
Udhruh and Its Hinterland during the Nabataean and Roman Periods [VIDEO]
In ca. 300 CE, the Roman army built a legionary fortress for the legio VI Ferrata at the site of Udhruh, 15 km east of Petra in southern Jordan. The site’s long history began prior to the construction of the fortress, […]
Graffiti—the ‘Selfies’ of the Ancient Near East?
Few phenomena embody the current zeitgeist like the ‘selfie.’ Glances through Facebook or Instagram reveal selfies in abundance. Cameras on today’s smart phones, […]
Top 10 Posts of 2014
As we begin 2015, we’d like to thank all of our Friends of ASOR (and lurkers) who come back to the ASOR Blog to read post after post. Keep reading to see the top 10 posts of 2014! We hope that 2014 was as amazing for all of you as it was for us. Here’s to 2015 being even […]
The Early Bronze Age I Site and Necropolis of Jebel al-Mutawwaq, Jordan
Much of the archaeological landscape of the ancient Near East is rapidly disappearing. This is especially true for pre and protohistoric sites that lack the imposing size of tells. Features such as dolmens, aboveground […]
WorldMap - Geospatial Visualization and the Digital Humanities
Karak Resources Project: 2014 Excavation at Mudaybi, Jordan
By: J. Dwayne Howell, Professor of Old Testament and Hebrew, Campbellsville University Mudaybi, Jordan is an Iron Age II fortification located on the Fajj al-Usaykir on the Karak plateau. It is being excavated by the Karak Resources Project, under the leadership of Dr. Jerry Mattingly (Johnson University). The project began in 1995 and there have been […]
The Land Between the Two Rivers: Early Israelite Identities in Transjordan
By: Thomas Petter, Associate Professor at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary Were there Israelites in Transjordan in the early Iron Age? How would we know from archaeology? Or if not Israelites (and Moabites), whom should we be looking for? The task of plotting identities in the past is tricky business. It becomes even more problematic when opinions diverge […]