The 40th anniversary of the longest running archaeological project in the Middle East is marked by scholars who have taken part in it at various times at various sites. They discuss results of the research, the project's contributions to the archaeology of the southern Levant, and the legacy of the project throughout Jordan. Specific topics include the late Bronze and early Iron ages at Tall al-'Umayri, collaborative research with the project by a historical geographer, how artists and archaeologists work together, and religious symbolism in tomb architecture and epitaphs at the Umm el-Jimal and Tall Hisban cemeteries. Distributed in North America by The David Brown Book Co. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
This volume celebrates forty years of the Madaba plains project, describing the genesis, development and achievements of this long-running programme of excavation and survey, as well as exploring its wider implications. Chapters provide synthesis and analysis, focusing on particular sites or chronological periods, as well as in depth studies of topics such as religion, and of issues of methodology which have been highlighted as a result of the work of the project.
This volume celebrates forty years of the Madaba plains project, describing the genesis, development and achievements of this long-running programme of excavation and survey, as well as exploring its wider implications.
The year 2008 marks the 40th anniversary of Mabada Plains Project archaeological research in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The Madaba Plains Project is one of the longest-lived, continuously running archaeological excavation projects in the Middle East. Spanning four decades, the project, with its beginnings at Tall Hisban in the late sixties, has engaged 1,500 participants, produced scores of publications and spawned a dozen other projects. Its legacy includes being one of the first major Near Eastern archaeology projects to adopt a multi-millennial, regional approach; to incorporate ethnoarchaeology and environmental studies; to construct data around a food-systems' approach; and to computerize procedures for archaeological data acquisition and analysis, thus helping advance both the theoretical underpinnings and the field methods of archaeology in the southern Levant and beyond. Madaba Plains Project directors, wishing to celebrate this major scientific and historical milestone, have produced this anniversary volume which: highlights the value of ongoing collaborative research across the region of central Jordan, attempting to explain life and survival from the Bronze ages through the Islamic and early modern periods and features the latest results from ongoing research; enlivens the discussion by hearing from major scholars in the field who, in the process of assessing the contributions of the project to the archaeology of the southern Levant, broaden the discussion in the context of ancient Near Eastern archaeological research; and, expands the horizons of the project's research by presenting the ever enlarging number and extent of projects conducted by dig directors once on staff with the Madaba Plains Project, thereby taking readers all over Jordan and beyond.
Arvustused
'The MPP has left a huge footprint on the archaeology of Jordan and the Middle East in general. Without it, we would all be working in a different way and with a poorer set of theoretical models. This book justly celebrates those achievements and explains how they came about.' --Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research
Part I Madaba Plains Project Research after 40 Yeears;
Chapter 1 The
Madaba Plains Project, Lawrence T. Geraty;
Chapter 2, Ø. S. LaBianca;
Chapter
3 Tall al-Umayri in the Early and Middle Bronze Ages, and the Late Iron I,
Iron II, Late Iron II/Persian, Hellenistic, Early Roman, Byzantine, and
Islamic Periods, Larry G. Herr;
Chapter 4 The Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages
at Tall al-Umayri, Douglas R. Clark;
Chapter 5 The Madaba Plains Project,
Randall W. Younker, Constance Clark Gane, Reem Al-Shqour; Part II Assessment
of the Contributions of the Madaba Plains Project to the Archaeology of the
Southern Levant;
Chapter 6 Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Madaba
Plains Project, William G. Dever;
Chapter 7 On the Periphery of the Madaba
Plains Project, Suzanne Richard;
Chapter 8 Collaborative Research with the
Madaba Plains Project by an Historical Geographer, Anson F. Rainey; Part III
Legacy of the Madaba Plains Project throughout Jordan;
Chapter 9 From Tall
Hisban to Tall al-Umayri, Zeidan A. Kafafi;
Chapter 10 Where Are Those
Guys?, Gary L. Christopherson, Tisha K. Entz;
Chapter 11 The Artists Role in
Archaeology, Rhonda Root;
Chapter 12 Organizational Aspects of Pottery
Production in Central Jordan, Gloria London, Robert D. Shuster;
Chapter 13
Beyond the Madaba Plains Project, Timothy P. Harrison;
Chapter 14 Discovering
Iron Age Towns in Central Jordan, P. M. Michèle Daviau;
Chapter 15 From the
Madaba Plains to Northern Jordan, Bethany J. Walker;
Chapter 16 Be of good
cheer! No one on earth is immortal, Bert de Vries;
Chapter 17 Khirbat
al-Mahatta Revisited, Chang-Ho C. Ji;
Chapter 18 Alois Musil in and around
the Madaba Plains, Udo Worschech;
Douglas R. Clark is Professor of Hebrew Bible and Archaeology at La Sierra University in Riverside, California, and Director of the University Honors Program. Having authored, co-authored, and co-edited eight volumes, including 100 Years of American Archaeology in the Middle East and Ancient Ammonites and Modern Arabs, he has published and presented widely. He currently directs the Tall al-`Umayri excavations.
Larry G. Herr is Professor of Religious Studies at Canadian University College in Lacombe, Alberta. An extremely widely published archaeologist, he is Associate Editor of the Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research and has served for 12 seasons as co-director of the Tall al-`Umayri excavations. He is chief editor of the series of preliminary and seasonal published reports, the latter in the Madaba Plains Project-`Umayri series.
Øystein S. LaBianca is Professor of Anthropology and Associate Director, Institute of Archaeology at Andrews University in Michigan. He is senior director of the Tall Hisban excavations.
Randall W. Younker is Director of the Institute of Archaeology and Professor of Old Testament and Biblical Archaeology at Andrews University in Michigan.
