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September 2012 - Past Horizons

 

LAND NEAR PETRA WAS A GREEN OASIS IN THE PAST

 

About 15 km to the east of the ancient city of Petra, archaeologists from the University of Leiden have discovered an impressive network of ancient water conservation measures and irrigated field systems.

 

Water management in the desert

 

“A huge green oasis” is how Dr. Ir. Mark Driessen describes it. “That’s what this part of the desert must have looked like in past times.”

 

"In Antiquity, an ingenious system of underground canals, hacked out of the limestone bedrock, in addition to specially built aqueducts and reservoirs with capacities of millions of litres of water, transformed this marginal region into a complex man-made landscape. This is a fantastic example of ancient water-management technology, constructed to irrigate the surrounding terraced field systems.

 

Dr. Driessen, director of the Udhruh Archaeological Project, said, “Thanks to the enthusiasm and hard work of the students and staff of the Faculty of Archaeology we have succeeded in linking the diverse elements of this complex which lie scattered over an immense area of many square kilometres, thereby closing the gaps in this fascinating archaeological puzzle".

 

It is possible that parts of this agricultural system – which was certainly exploited in the 6th century CE– were already well established at least 2000 years ago. Analysis of construction mortar and other artefacts such as pottery will hopefully provide a firmer date for the system."

 

Continued

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10/19/2012

 

'Atlantis in the Sand'

 

Unlocking the Mysteries of Petra

 

By Matthias Schulz

 

"The ruins of the ancient city of Petra lay hidden until 1812, when a Swiss explorer stumbled upon them in modern-day Jordan. Two centuries later, a new exhibition in Basel brings together some 150 artifacts that shed light on how this mysterious culture of spice traders carved a luxurious oasis into the rocks of the desert."

 

"In the stifling heat, the intruder squeezed his way through the Siq, a narrow gorge flanked by steep rock walls. The man walked through the dark gorge for 1.2 kilometers (0.75 miles). Suddenly, he laid eyes on a magnificent scene.

 

The discovery of the ancient desert city of Petra by Swiss explorer and Orientalist Johann Ludwig Burckhardt in 1812 is considered a great moment in history. Far away from all settlements, surrounded by dust and shimmering air, he had discovered what Lawrence of Arabia would later describe as the "most beautiful place on Earth." Today, Petra is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

 

Burckhardt had infiltrated the Levant disguised as a Muslim. He learned Arabic, wore a turban and a robe, and converted to Islam. His plan was to secretly find a path to the land of gold beyond Timbuktu.

 

He never made it that far, and "Sheikh Ibrahim," as he called himself, took great risks to reach the enchanted cliffs of Petra because his behavior was too conspicuous. His guide saw him as "a sorcerer looking for treasure," Burckhardt wrote in his diary."

 

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Popular Archaeology

 

September 2012, Cover Stories, Daily News

 

Excavations Uncover Common Life in Ancient Petra

 

Mon, Nov 05, 2012

 

Archaeologists are revealing clues to another side of the ancient desert kingdom's story.

 

"The word “Petra” brings to mind images of the elaborately sculpted rock-cut temples and tombs that characterize this much-visited site in southeastern Jordan, a site that has been voted one of the “Seven Wonders of the Modern World”. But like most ancient monumental centers revealed by the careful work and research of archaeologists and conservationists, what meets the eye at Petra is only part of the picture. It represents an ancient populace that constituted the elite minority. The rest of its forgotten inhabitants remain shrouded in comparative mystery. They have been overlooked.

 

But not now.

 

Led by Dr. Tom Parker of North Carolina State University and colleague Dr. Megan Perry of East Carolina University, a team of archaeologists, students and volunteers are investigating the lives of the ordinary people at Petra — the people (everyday Nabataeans) who really made the city hum."

 

Continued

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September 2012, Cover Stories, Daily News

 

Archaeologists Excavate Massive Ancient Gateway in Jordan

 

Fri, Nov 23, 2012

 

The site is revealing remains of a major fortified Bronze Age city in the southern Jordan River Valley.

 

"A team of archaeologists and excavators are uncovering a site that could be among the largest ancient Bronze Age cities of the Near East. Current efforts are focusing on a massive, newly discovered Middle Bronze II Period (1800 - 1540 BCE) city gate complex and associated structures, part of a nearly impenetrable defensive system that ringed and protected a city that the excavators suggest may have commanded and controlled a group of other nearby ancient settlements.

 

The city gate was revealed during excavations conducted during January of 2012 under the direction of Dr. Steven Collins of Trinity Southwest University and Yazeed Eylayyan of the Department of Antiquities, Jordan. It was one of a number of major architectural features associated with a massive defensive fortification system built to protect the city."

 

Continued

 

Also see:

 

Tall el-Hammam Excavation Project

 

MB2 City Wall and Defensive System

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The Edomite Stronghold of Sela

 

Is this where 10,000 Edomites were thrown to their deaths?

 

Glenn J. Corbett • 12/13/2012

 

"In one of the Old Testament’s colder and more brutal episodes, King Amaziah of Judah (c. 801–783 B.C.E.), after having slain nearly 10,000 Edomites in battle near the southern end of the Dead Sea, is said to have thrown another 10,000 captives from the top of nearby Sela, where they were “dashed to pieces” (2 Chronicles 25:12; 2 Kings 14:7). While the Biblical account provides only vague clues as to where this horrible event took place (Sela simply means “rock” in Hebrew), the archaeology of a little-known mountaintop stronghold in southern Jordan may hold the answer."

 

Continued

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Research Unearths Terrace Farming at Ancient Desert City of Petra

 

New archaeological research dates the heyday of terrace farming at the ancient desert city of Petra to the first century. This development led to an explosion of agricultural activity, increasing the city’s strategic significance as a military prize for the Roman Empire.

 

Date: 1/2/2013 12:00:00 AM

 

By: M.B. Reilly

 

Photos By: Images courtesy of BUPAP

 

"A team of international archaeologists including Christian Cloke of the University of Cincinnati is providing new insights into successful and extensive water management and agricultural production in and around the ancient desert city of Petra, located in present-day Jordan. Ongoing investigations, of which Cloke is a part, are led by Professor Susan Alcock of the Brown University Petra Archaeological Project (BUPAP).

 

Using a variety of tools and techniques, including high-resolution satellite imagery and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating of soils, Cloke, a doctoral student in the Department of Classics at UC, and Cecelia Feldman, classics lecturer at UMass-Amherst, have suggested that extensive terrace farming and dam construction in the region north of the city began around the first century, some 2,000 years ago, not during the Iron Age (c. 1200-300 BC) as had been previously hypothesized. This striking development, it seems, was due to the ingenuity and enterprise of the ancient Nabataeans, whose prosperous kingdom had its capital at Petra until the beginning of the second century."

 

Continued

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Antiquity Volume 087 Issue 335 March 2013

The 2012 Petra Cyber-Archaeology Cultural Conservation Expedition: Temple of the Winged Lions and environs, Jordan

Thomas E. Levy, Christopher A. Tuttle, Matthew L. Vincent, Matthew Howland, Ashley M. Richter, Vid Petrovic, David Vanoni & Falko Kuester

Introduction

"Cyber-archaeology is the marriage of the latest developments in computer science and engineering with archaeology. Digital advances are enabling archaeologists, traditionally experimenters and early adopters of new technologies, to use ever more powerful and portable devices to collect and analyse vast amounts of information from the cultural and natural environment. Simultaneously, rapid economic development, regional conflict and population growth have increased the threat of damage and destruction to global archaeological resources. The recent partnership between the University of California, San Diego-California Institute of Telecommunications and Information Technology (UCSD-Calit2), the American Center of Oriental Research (ACOR) and the Department of Antiquities of Jordan in the Petra Archaeological Park represents a case study in how cyber-archaeology can contribute to both conservation and research goals of different stake-holders."

Continued

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NEW GEOGLYPHS OF THE JORDANIAN HARRAT

May 2013

Stephan F.J. Kempe1, Ahmad Al-Malabeh2

1: Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany; 2: Hashemite University Zarka, Jordan

"The eastern “panhandle” of the kingdom of Jordan is partly covered by a vast and rugged lava desert, the Harrat, covering about 11.400 km2 (Fig. 1). Scoured by wind in winter and scorched dry by the sun in summer, the surface is covered by black basalt stones, making this area seem as uninviting, hostile and inaccessible as is imaginable.

Nevertheless this modern day desolate desert proves to be as rich in archaeological heritage as one may wish.

Understanding the harsh landscape

Prior to the building of roads and the bulldozing of four-wheel-tracks the area could only be traversed on foot, by donkey or camel. Water was provided by scarce pools in the deeper parts of wadis that bought winter water from the higher ground of the Djbel al-Arab to the north in what is now Syria.

An important factor in understanding the ecology of the Harrat is the loess, which covers almost the entire area to a depth of 1 to 2 m. “Stone heaving” (a poorly understood process, possibly driven by freeze-thaw- cycles in the Glacials) has then brought loose lava blocks to the surface densely covering the loess. Infrequent rains washed the loess into the depressions of the hummocky lava plain, forming playas (mudflats or Qa‘ or Qa‘a in Arabic) that give the Harrat a mottled appearance from above. The loess serves to hold water and the stones prevent swift evaporation. Thus vegetation not only occurs along the wadis, but can also appear in winter and spring among the stones, providing an unexpected pasture. Formerly the Harrat would have been teeming with gazelle, ostriches and ibex. Petroglyphs of these wild animals are abundant in the area along with riders on horses and camels and hunts of lions and hyenas (Fig. 2)."

Continued

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SUN MAY 19, 2013 AT 08:24 AM PDT

Ancient Petra

by Ojibwa

"Petra, an ancient site located in present-day Jordan, has more than a thousand tombs carved in the area’s rocky terrain. These tombs, carved by the Nabataeans between the first century BCE and the second century CE, were places that housed, commemorated, and protected the dead.

Europeans first discovered Petra in the early nineteenth century when Johann Burckhardt, a Swiss-born and British-sponsored explorer, entered the area. The Europeans were fascinated with the classical façades carved into the red rock and gave them fanciful and imaginative names without realizing that these were tombs.

Petra had water available which made it an important stopping place for desert caravans crossing the desert from Arabia and Iraq with cargos of luxury goods bound for the Mediterranean markets in the Levant. For many of the nomadic tribes involved in trade, such as the Nabataeans, this site also came to be used as a burial site."

Continued

H/t: PaleoJudaica

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Department of Antiquities Unearths Byzantine Church in Jerash

[6/15/2013 11:32:46 AM]


by Gioia Forster/ Jordan Times

AMMAN — "Looting of archaeological sites in Jordan is a widespread problem, yet this time it has brought to light the mosaic floor of a previously undiscovered Byzantine-era church near the Roman city of Jerash.

“Underneath about a metre of soil, the mosaic floor of Kanisat Qirmerl was almost perfectly preserved,” Jacques Seigne, director of the French Archaeological Mission at Jerash, told The Jordan Times.

The floor, around five by seven metres in size, is in full colour and depicts an unusual scene of men climbing up trees to hide from bears and lions.

According to the inscription, which mentions the patron and mosaicist of the floor, the mosaics date back to AD 589-590."

 

Continued

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Archaeologists Uncover Lost Roman Outpost in Southern Jordan

Aug 22, 2013

Rare new details about an ancient Roman fort in southern Jordan have been uncovered by two UT professors.

"Robert Darby, a lecturer in Art History in the School of Art, and Erin Darby, an assistant professor in the Department of Religious Studies, direct the 'Ayn Gharandal archaeological project that has uncovered details about the fort, including the previously unknown location of an ancient infantry unit.

"This is the type of find archaeologists dream of making—a monumental inscription," Erin Darby said. "This inscription allows us to fill in some gaps in Roman history. Findings like this don't happen often, and I'm glad our students could be part of this great discovery."

Over the past four years the Darbys and their team have been excavating the ruins of 'Ayn Gharandal. This past June the team uncovered the collapsed gate of the fort, including a large Latin inscription with traces of red paint. The inscribed block was decorated with laurel branches and a wreath, common symbols of victory in Roman art."

Continued

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Cultural Connections with Europe Found in Ancient Jordanian Settlement

NEWS: JAN 16, 2014

Swedish archaeologists in Jordan led by Professor Peter M. Fischer from the University of Gothenburg have excavated a nearly 60-metre long well-preserved building from 1100 B.C. in the ancient settlement Tell Abu al-Kharaz. The building is from an era characterised by major migration.

"New finds support the theory that groups of the so-called Sea Peoples emigrated to Tell Abu al-Kharaz. They derive from Southern or Eastern Europe and settled in the Eastern Mediterranean region all the way to the Jordan Valley.

‘We have evidence that culture from present Europe is represented in Tell Abu al-Kharaz. A group of the Sea Peoples of European descent, Philistines, settled down in the city,’ says Peter Fischer. ‘We have, for instance, found pottery resembling corresponding items from Greece and Cyprus in terms of form and decoration, and also cylindrical loom weights for textile production that could be found in central and south-east Europe around the same time.’"

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Roving Sea Peoples May Have Settled Transjordan, Archaeologist Says

Not all scholars convinced by evidence suggesting kin of Philistines migrated as far inland as site associated with Bible’s Jabesh Gilead

BY ILAN BEN ZION February 13, 2014, 8:55 pm

"New evidence unearthed at an ancient site in the Jordan Valley suggests that the Sea Peoples — a group which includes the ancient Israelites’ nemeses, the Philistines — settled as far inland as the Transjordan, a Swedish archaeologist argues. Not everyone in the archaeological community, however, is convinced by the finds.

The find, made by a team digging at Tell Abu al-Kharaz, also strengthens the ties connecting the Sea Peoples and the Aegean — reinforcing the theory that the Philistines were among a number of tribes of non-Semitic peoples who migrated across the Mediterranean and settled in Canaan in the early Iron Age alongside the emergent Israelites.


Evidence of Sea Peoples inhabiting areas east of the Jordan River would lend credence to a seeming anomaly in the Bible — the location of Philistines far from their historic homeland along the shores of southern Israel in I Samuel 31. According to the book of Samuel, the Philistines raided northern Israel and settled in the abandoned Israelite cities “that were on the other side of the valley, and they that were beyond the Jordan.”

Sea Peoples is the name given by the ancient Egyptians to the populations of a massive maritime migration to the shores of the eastern Mediterranean in the late 13th and early 12th centuries BCE. During the reign of Ramesses III, hordes of seaborne people bore down on the kingdom, were thwarted by the Egyptian armies and settled along the Levantine coast."

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Evidence That Biblical Philistines Originated As Migrant “Sea People” From Europe Unearthed In Ancient Jordanian Settlement

Posted by: Charles Moore February 14, 2014

"Swedish archaeologists on a dig in Jordan, led by Professor Peter M. Fischer of the University of Gothenburg Department of Historical Studies, Ancient History/Classical Archaeology have excavated a nearly 60-meter long well-preserved building from 1100 B.C. in the ancient settlement Tell Abu al-Kharaz. The building is from an era characterized by major migration.

According to Prof. Fischer’s U. Gothenberg project site, Tell Abu al-Kharaz (“Mound of the Father of Beads”) is located in the Jordan Valley north of the perennial stream of Wadi al-Yabis and approximately 4 km east of the Jordan River. Tell Abu al-Kharaz flourished in antiquity mainly because of its strategic location and an obviously rich surrounding natural environment: woodlands to the east, Wadi al-Yabis to the south and fertile land everywhere in its vicinity. The site occupies a 300 m x 400 m, and 60 m high, large natural hill (top elevation 116 m below sea level) with steep slopes that were easy to defend."

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The Shadows of Petra Awaken its Astronomical Orientation

Español

During the winter solstice, the sun is filtered into the Monastery at Petra, Jordan, illuminating the podium of a deity. Just at this moment, the silhouette of the mountain opposite draws the head of a lion, a sacred animal. These are examples from a study where researchers from Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias and CSIC (Spain) showed how celestial events influenced the orientation of the great constructions of the Nabataeans.

SINC | March 03 2014 09:27

"The movement of the Sun in the skies of Petra determined the way in which the monuments of this and other Natabean cities were erected. This is according to a statistical analysis on the spatial position of their palaces, temples and tombs carried out by scientists from Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (IAC) and CSIC, Spain, and the University of Perugia (Italy).

The results, published by the ‘Nexus Network Journal’, indicate that those great buildings were erected bearing in mind the equinoxes, solstices and other astronomical events that determined the Nabataean religion. The Nabataeans prospered in the first century BC and the first century AD in what is now Jordan and neighbouring countries.

“The Nabataean monuments are marvellous laboratories where landscape features and the events of the sun, moon and other stars interact,” Juan Antonio Belmonte, researcher of IAC and coordinator of the study, stressed to SINC."

Continued

Pre-print Paper available for download (2013):

Light and Shadows over Petra: astronomy and landscape in Nabataean lands

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Petra, Built for the Sun Gods?

By Daisy Carrington, for CNN

May 19, 2014 - Updated 0225 GMT (1025 HKT)

(CNN) - "Few ancient civilizations have left an architectural footprint quite as indelible as the Nabateans did in Petra, southern Jordan.

Majestic temples, burial chambers and homes still stand, carved around 2,300 years ago from the rose-hued landscape.

Logic would dictate that the relics strewn throughout the 2.8 million square feet of Petra Archaeological Park would provide historians with a bounty of information about the ancient culture.

In fact, surprisingly little is known about ancient Nabatean life and traditions. An estimated 85% of the area has never been excavated, and there is precious little in the way of written records.

"I don't think we really understand what significance some of these structures truly had," says Megan Perry, an associate professor at East Carolina University's department of anthropology."

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Free book download:

 

Tell Abu al-Kharaz in the Jordan Valley

 

"Tell city of Abu al-Kharaz is situated in the central Transjordanian Jordan Valley and excavated by the author from 1989 to 2012. The town flourished in the Early Bronze Age, and after an occupational lacuna of more than thousand years the site was re-occupied in the second half of the Middle Bronze Age and remained permanently occupied until the end of the Iron Age. The new volume is No. III in a series of three (The Early Bronze Age Vol. I, published by the Austrian Academy of Sciences Press in 2008, and the Middle and Late Bronze Ages Vol. II, in 2006)."

 

Continued

H/t: BiblePlacesBlog

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At Jordan Site, Drone Offers Glimpse of Antiquities Looting
 

By AP | Fifa, Jordan
 
Friday, 3 April 2015
 
"At a sprawling Bronze Age cemetery in southern Jordan, archaeologists have developed a unique way of peering into the murky world of antiquities looting: With aerial photographs taken by a homemade drone, researchers are mapping exactly where - and roughly when - these ancient tombs were robbed.
 
Based on such images and conversations with some looters whose confidence they gained, archaeologists try to follow the trail of stolen pots and other artifacts to traders and buyers. They hope to get a better understanding of the black market and perhaps stop future plunder."

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In the Free eBook Exploring Jordan: The Other Biblical Land, Delve into a Legendary Land Rich with Biblical History

 

"Welcome to Jordan, the other Biblical land! Other than Israel, no country has as many Biblical sites and associations as Jordan: Mount Nebo, from where Moses gazed at the Promised Land he could not enter; Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John baptized Jesus; Lot’s Cave, where Lot and his daughters sought refuge after the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah; Madaba, home of a stunning mosaic map of the Holy Land; the lands of the ancient kingdoms of Ammon, Moab and Edom, and many more."
 
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Fall 2015, Cover Stories, Daily News
 
Possible Site of Ancient Sodom Yields More Finds
 
Mon, Sep 28, 2015
 
"Now having completed the tenth season of excavations, an archaeological team headed by Steven Collins of Trinity Southwest University, New Mexico, has unearthed a goldmine of ancient monumental structures and artifacts that are revealing a massive Bronze Age city-state that dominated the region of Jordan’s southern Jordan Valley, even during a time when many other great cities of the “Holy Land” region were either abandoned or in serious decline."

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Wednesday, October 14, 2015
 
Sodom ... Again? Another Geographical Issue with Tall el-Hammam
 
by Chris McKinny
 
"Yesterday, Huffington Post released a story that re-hashed the equation that Tall el-Hammam may be identified with biblical Sodom proposed by S. Collins. While there is nothing new to report from the story and Todd and Bill Schlegel have clearly illustrated many of the difficulties with this identification, I would like to take it a step further and point out an additional geographical/toponymic problem with the Tall el-Hammam = Sodom viewpoint."

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Archaeologists Breathing Life Into 2,000-Year-Old Citadel of Machaerus

 

By Dana Al Emam - Oct 27,2015 - Last updated at Oct 27,2015

 


MUKAWIR — "Pilgrims and visitors to the 2,000-year-old Citadel of Machaerus will be able to authentically envision the point in history when Salome danced and when St John the Baptist was beheaded, thanks to an archaeological project currently under way. 

 

The project at the Herodian royal castle, carried out since 2009 by the Hungarian Academy of Arts (MMA), is being done in collaboration with the Department of Antiquities, represented by Director General Monther Jamhawi.

 

The site, sitting atop a hill some 800 metres above sea level and overlooking the Dead Sea, some 32km southwest of Madaba city, was the fortress of Herod the Great and a centre of power in the ancient world."

 


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