QaṬanah: Rescue excavation (original) (raw)

REPORT ABOUT THE 11TH EXCAVATION CAMPAIGN 2008 AT KHARAB SAYYAR

CHRONIQUE ARCHÉOLOGIQUE EN SYRI, 2010

Since 1998, archaeological investigations have been conducted at regular intervals in the small Syrian village of Kharab Sayyar. The excavations are part of a regional project which also includes the excavations at Tell Chuera and a survey in the surroundings. The project is carried out on behalf of the Goethe University, Frankfurt, in cooperation with the Syrian Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums, and with the Deutsche Orient Gesellschaft (DOG). It is mainly financed from private donations collected by ENKI, a sponsoring association; the Syrian side has also made important contributions to the success of the undertaking by granting means and by complementing the team with Syrian colleagues. Our sincere thanks go to the Syrian Antiquities Department as well as to the German donors. In 2008 we worked in two areas from July 3 to September 2: Imad Mussa (Damascus) (1) continued the investigations in the area of the Great Mosque and of the bazaar adjoining in the east, Michael Würz, MA (Frankfurt) (2) pursued the investigations of the water supply of the town and its hinterland to a point where he can now use the material for his doctoral thesis. We were supported by up to 35 local workmen to whom we also extend our warmest thanks.

A Rescue Excavation at the Islamic Site of Umm Zweitineh in Central Jordan, 2012

Journal of Islamic Archaeology, 2023

This paper draws on the preliminary results of the rescue excavation conducted by the Department of Antiquities at Umm Zweitineh in central Jordan in 2012. The goal of the excavation was to take urgent action regarding protecting the site as far as possible. Due to budget constraints, the excavation work lasted for only twenty days. The aim of the article is that of providing a clear regional picture of the Islamic settlement through the seventh/eighth and fourteenth centuries AD through retrieving information from the architectural remains and material culture. The architectural relics and material culture were unearthed under a dense layer of wreckage and accumulated debris because of previous construction work at the site. The accumulation deposits yielded a ceramic assembly of daily life vessels dating primarily to the Umayyad and Mamluk periods. Earlier pottery sherds belonging to the Roman and Byzantine periods have been also uncovered. Ceramic sherds from the Iron Age II sporadically appeared on topsoil. Besides the ceramic, other metal artifacts, including bronze vessels from different periods, have been unearthed. The Umayyad and Early Mamluk settlements were distinguishable because of the distinct corpus typical of both periods. Possible evidence of a religion building belonging to the Umayyad-period Christianity have been unearthed in Area B.

Three Seasons of Excavation at Tell Mozan

Kelly-Buccellati, M. 1990. “Three Seasons of Excavation at Tell Mozan.” In Tall Al-Hamidiya 2, edited by S. Eichler, M. Waefler, and D. Warburton, 119–32. Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis 6. Freiburg (CH)/Göttingen: Universitätsverlag Freiburg/Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht. https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.8293871.

The Humayma Excavation Project: a Brief Introduction to Three Decades of Research

Today Humayma (Nabataean Hawara, Roman Hauarra) is one of the best documented archaeological sites in southern Jordan. Our current understanding of this Nabataean through early Islamic period settlement is very much due to the efforts of the site’s long term principle investigator, John P. Oleson. Between 1986 and 1989 Oleson documented Humayma’s extensive water supply system. Two years later he began a multi-year investigation in the ancient settlement, focusing on the ancient town, Roman fort, Byzantine churches, early Islamic residences, and ancient tombs. Numerous young scholars joined him in this research and benefitted from his academic generosity and mentorship. Although Oleson stepped away from fieldwork after 2005 and turned his attention to Humayma’s final publication series, fieldwork has continued at the site under the direction of M. B. Reeves, who was once his graduate student. This paper will provide a brief introduction to the Humayma Excavation’s Project’s accomplishments over the past three decades with a particular focus on the work of Oleson and Reeves.