Wadi el Hasa Archaeological Survey 1979-1931, West-Central Jordan

In this major work Professor MacDonald chronicles an intensive and systematic archaeological survey of the southern flank of the Wadi el Hasa in West–Central Jordan. The survey resulted in the recovery of human evidence spanning the Lower Paleolithic to the Ottoman period (500,000 B.C.–A.D. 1918). The area is cut by a number of impressive and deep, south–to–north flowing wadis. As a region marginal for farming but stable for grazing, it would be the first to “empty out” and the last to “fill up” compared to more favourable regions. The methodology employed included a combination of purposive, predictive, and pedestrian transects. Lithics spanning the Lower Paleolithic to the end of the Early Bronze period (500,000–2000 B.C.) and ceramics covering the period from the Pottery Neolithic to the end of the Ottoman domination (4750 B.C.–A.D. 1918) were collected in the area. Sites surveyed included lithic and sherd scatters, camps, hamlets, villages, roads, milestones, fortresses, watchtowers, and mills.   This research sheds new light on the settlement of the area, which now appears to have been most dense during the Middle Paleolithic, Iron II, Nabataean, and Byzantine periods.

History

MacDonald, Burton

Historical Study & Educational Resources

Wilfrid Laurier University Press

This volume is a convenient tool for all those interested in the location of territories and sites attested in the Bible as "East of the Jordan" i.e. what is now the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. It presents the history of the identification of each biblical site and suggests the most likely location based on information provided by the biblical text, extra-biblical literary information, toponymic considerations and archaeology. The volume treats all territories and sites of Hebrew Scriptures in Transjordan from the "cities of the plains" (eg Soddom and Gomorrah), the Exodus itineraries, and the territories and sites of the Israelite tribes (Reuben, Gad, and half Manasseh), to Ammon, Moab, Edom, and Gilead.

East of the Jordan: Territories and Sites of the Hebrew Scriptures (Asor Books)

Asia

Amer School of Oriental

This report presents the archaeological evidence for human settlement and land use in the Tafila-Busayra region of southern Jordan from the Palaeolithic (ca. 500,000 BP) to the 20th century AD. The 480-square-kilometre survey stretched from Tafila and Busayra in the west to Jurf ad-Darawish in the east, adjoining areas earlier surveyed by MacDonald - the Wadi al-Hasa (1979-1983) and the southern Ghor and northeast Arabah (1985-1986). Using a combination of random and purposive sampling, reinvestigation of documented sites, and aerial photography, the survey recorded some 290 sites, ranging from the well known Iron Age citadel at Busayra to architectural ruins, camp sites and cemeteries along with isolated sherd or lithic scatters and other cultural features such as watch towers, terraces, water channels, quarries and roads.

The Tafila-Busayra Archaeological Survey 1999-2001, West-Central Jordan (Archaeological Reports)

Ancient Civilizations

American Schools of Oriental Research

Presented here are the results of the ARNAS project - a systematic survey of the southern segment of the Transjordanian Plateau, that is, the Edomite Plateau. Encompassing the region from the village of Ayl in the north to the edge of the escarpment at Ras an-Naqab in the south, members of the ARNAS team investigated the settlement patterns of this region beginning with the Lower Paleolithic (ca. 1.4mya) and running up to the end of the Late Islamic period (AD 1918). Although segments of the ARNAS territory have been investigated for the past one hundred years, a comprehensive and systematic survey of the area had never been undertaken prior to the work of the ARNAS team members. The main goal of the project was to discover, record, and interpret archaeological sites within the survey territory. Some other objectives included: the discovery, on the basis of the artifactual material identified, the area's a study of surface trends to determine, on the basis of the number of sites and the amount of lithics and/or sherds collected, where in the territory "settlements" were concentrated in antiquity; an investigation of the Khatt Shabib or "Shabib's Wall," a low stone wall running in a generally north-south direction to the east, ca. 5-10 km, of the Via Nova Traiana (Trajan's road built between AD 111-114); and to document the rock art, tribal markings, and inscriptional material of the region. ARNAS team members accomplished the objectives of the project by transecting and recording the archaeological remains found in 140 randomly-chosen squares (500 x 500 m), covering around five percent of each of the three topographical zones of the survey territory. This resulted in a statistically valid sample of the archaeological materials of the area. In addition, team members recorded 389 archaeological sites encountered within, adjacent to, or on their way to-from the squares. Lithic archaeological periods/cultural-temporal units represented in the survey territory are: Lower Paleolithic; Lower Paleolithic/Middle Paleolithic; Middle Paleolithic; Middle Paleolithic/Upper Paleolithic; Upper Paleolithic; Upper Paleolithic/Epipaleolithic; Epipaleolithic; Pre-Pottery Neolithic; and Chalolithic/Early Bronze I. As is often the case in the deflated landscapes of Jordan, Middle Paleolithic and Middle/Upper Paleolithic combined samples are the most prevalent lithic analytical units identified in the survey. Ceramic archaeological periods/cultural-temporal units represented in the survey territory are: Chalcolithic-Early Bronze; Iron II; Nabataean; Roman; Byzantine; and Late Islamic. In addition, sherds, in small numbers and at only a few sites, from the Late Bronze, Iron I, Hellenistic, Early Islamic, and Middle Islamic are also represented. The types of sites recorded include: agriculture villages or hamlets; aqueducts; camps -probably seasonal and pastoralists; caves; cemeteries and individual tombs/graves; check dams and terraces; cisterns; farms; forts; inscriptions; knapping areas; lithic and sherd scatters; milestones; reservoirs; roads; rock art and/or tribal markings; walls; watchtowers; water catchment facilities; and winnowing areas.

The Ayl to Ras An-Naqab Archaeological Survey, Southern Jordan 2005-2007 (Archaeological Reports)

Clark, Geoffrey A.

Quaintance, D. Scott

Herr, Larry

American Society of Overseas Research

The objectives of ""The Shammakh to Ayl Archaeological Survey, Southern Jordan"" project were: to discover, record, and interpret archaeological sites in an area of approximately 590 km 2 between Shammakh in the north and Ayl in the south in the southern segment of the Transjordan Plateau; to determine the area's settlement patterns from the Lower Paleolithic (ca. 1.4 mya) to the end of the Late Islamic period (AD 1918); to investigate the Pleistocene (as late as ca. 10,000 B.C.) sediments and lakes in the eastern segment of the survey territory; to document the many farms, hamlets, and villages that provisioned the major international sites of the area, for example, Ash-Shawbak, Petra, and Udhruh; to investigate further the Khatt Shabib or ""Shabib's Wall,"" a low stone wall running in a generally north-south direction through the area; to record the inscriptions, rock drawings, and wasms (tribal brands) within the area; and to link up with previous work that the project director and others have carried out in southern Jordan. These objectives were accomplished by the transecting of 108 random squares and the documenting of 366 sites that range in date from the Lower Paleaolithic to the end of the Late Islamic period. Analysis of the materials, primarily lithics and sherds, collected in the random squares and at the sites indicate that the area experienced its highest density of population during the Middle Paleolithic, Neolithic/Chalcolithic, Iron II, Nabataean and Roman, Byzantine, and Late Islamic periods. Relative to the settlement patterns of the area, it can be concluded that the area was a rural one where the chief activities were agriculture and pastoralism. The many farms, hamlets, villages, and camp sites documented show that the area most probably provisioned, during various archaeological periods, the major international sites of the area. The project has particular relevance for understanding the major site of Petra during the Nabataean, Roman, and Byzantine periods. In addition, it is important relative to the site of Udhruh during these three periods plus the Early and Late Islamic periods and the site of ash-Shawbak, located immediately to the north of the project's territory, during the Middle Islamic period. Finally, the project contributed to the writing of the archaeological history of southern Jordan from Wadi al-Hasa in the north to Ras an-Naqab in the south and from the desert on the east to the international border between Jordan and Israel on the west.

The Shammakh to Ayl Archaeological Survey, Southern Jordan (2010-2012) (American Schools of Oriental Research Archaeological Reports, 24)

Herr, Larry G.

Hayaineh, Hani

Eggler, J|rg

This volume records the first systematic archaeological reconnaissance of an area of Jordan extending from the Wadi ibn Hammad at the northern edge of the Lisan peninsula through the 'Ghor' and the northeast Wadi Arabah. It is an area that has been of interest to explorers and archaeologists for over 200 years; this survey builds on the 19th and earlier 20th century records to present an impressive account of the rich and varied archaeological heritage of the region. Extensively illustrated.

The Southern Ghors and northeast Arabah archaeological survey (Sheffield Archaeological Monographs)

Equinox Publishing

An interest in places of pilgrimage is very much a part of the life of many people in the modern world. For Christians, it is the Holy Land that holds specific interest - the area where the events described in the Bible, in both the Old and the New Testament, are located. This volume focuses on early Christian pilgrimage in Jordan, the region east of the Jordan River which has so far been little explored by pilgrims and tourists to the Holy Land. Yet many biblical events are said to have taken place here: Moses seeing the Promised Land, the ascension of the prophet Elijah and John the Baptist's ministry and beheading, to name but a few. This book takes an innovative approach to studying these sites. After a general introduction to each site, its biblical significance and a citation of the relevant biblical sources with commentary, the author lists the literary sources that pertain specifically to early Christian pilgrimage activity. This information is complemented with a description of the early Christian archaeological remains found at the site and their interpretation. Illustrated throughout with maps, plans, and photographs and including travel directions as well as suggestions about visits to the sites, this volume is made for scholars, pilgrims and tourists with an interest in early Christian and modern pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

Pilgrimage in Early Christian Jordan: A Literary and Archaeological Guide

Oxbow Books

Burton MacDonald presents an in-depth study of the archaeology and history of human presence over the past five-six thousand years in the southern segment of the Transjordan/Edomite Plateau and the Dead Sea Rift Valley to the west. The evidence from archaeology for the area spans the entire period though the time for which literary evidence is available is only the past 4000 years, from the Middle Bronze Age (2000-1550 BC). Once literary evidence is available, however, it complements the archaeological record and, as can be amply demonstrated, the written records can be clarified only through the archaeological data. These two sources are, thus, used to describe environments, resources, industries, settlement patterns, and the lifestyles of the inhabitants of this pivotal region. The result is a “story” of the people who lived in the area from the Bronze Age through the Islamic period. What is evident is that there were differences in certain archaeological periods in settlement patterns, as well as lifestyles, between those who lived on the southern segment of the Plateau and those who lived in the Dead Sea Rift Valley or in the lowlands immediately to the west. Moreover, it is obvious that when there were periods of trade and industry, for example, the spice trade and copper mining and processing, the population of the area was higher. Stable governance brought about growth in population and prosperity. But other factors also played their part in these ebbs and flows of population: climatic fluctuations affecting the availability of water and arable land; the development and adoption of new technologies in farming practices, raw material extraction and industrial methods, processes and transportation; and political change resulting in periods of relative stability and instability in government. Table of Contents Contents List of Figures List of Photos Acknowledgements Abbreviations and Symbols Archaeological Periods and Dates Dedication Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: Early, Middle and Late Bronze Periods (3800/3700-1200 BC) Chapter 3: Iron I and II Periods (1200-539 BC) Chapter 4: Persian (539-332 BC) and Hellenistic (and Nabataean) Periods (332-63 BC) Chapter 5: Roman (and Nabataean) Period (63 BC-AD 324) Chapter 6: Byzantine Period (AD 324-640) Chapter 7: Early, Middle and Late Islamic Periods (AD 640-1917) Chapter 8: Summary and Conclusions References Indices: Sites; Subjects; Biblical Passages

The Southern Transjordan Edomite Plateau and the Dead Sea Rift Valley: The Bronze Age to the Islamic Period (3800/3700 BC–AD 1917)

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by MacDonald, Burton. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by MacDonald, Burton

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by MacDonald, Burton. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Wadi el Hasa Archaeological Survey 1979-1931, West-Central Jordan

East of the Jordan: Territories and Sites of the Hebrew Scriptures (Asor Books)

The Tafila-Busayra Archaeological Survey 1999-2001, West-Central Jordan (Archaeological Reports)

The Ayl to Ras An-Naqab Archaeological Survey, Southern Jordan 2005-2007 (Archaeological Reports)

The Shammakh to Ayl Archaeological Survey, Southern Jordan (2010-2012) (American Schools of Oriental Research Archaeological Reports, 24)

The Southern Ghors and northeast Arabah archaeological survey (Sheffield Archaeological Monographs)

Pilgrimage in Early Christian Jordan: A Literary and Archaeological Guide

Wadi el Hasa Archaeological Survey 1979-1931, West-Central Jordan

The Southern Transjordan Edomite Plateau and the Dead Sea Rift Valley: The Bronze Age to the Islamic Period (3800/3700 BC–AD 1917)