Zbigniew T Fiema

Madā’in Ṣāliḥ (ancient Hegra) was a major Nabataean political and commercial center on the Incense Route. Since 2008, a joint Saudi-French Project has carried out archaeological excavations at the site, revealing a long occupational history which actually extends far before and beyond the Nabataean period – from the mid-1st millennium BC to the mid-1st millennium AD. This paper focuses on Areas 2 and 9, which shed particular light on the early history of the settlement. The results from these areas provide evidence for occupation in the period of the Lihyanite kingdom and suggest that the transition from the Lihyanite to the Nabataean phase was a longer and more complex process than previously thought, at least in terms of material culture. These results also illuminate the urban development of Hegra, from a relatively narrow settlement on the bank of the wadi to a considerably expanded city with fortifications, featuring a certain degree of town-planning.

This volume is the report on the results of the fourth excavation season of the Saudi-French Archaeological Project at Madâ'in Sâlih, ancient Hegra in the Nabataean kingdom, in north-west Saudi Arabia (MAEE, SCTA, CNRS, Univ Paris 1, IFPO). Apart from the results obtained in the different excavation areas (both in the residential area and in tomb IGN 117), the reader will find a study on the cairns/tumuli of the site (W. Abu-Azizeh) as well as intermediary reports on the geophysical detection (Chr. Benech), the fauna (J. Studer) and the pottery (C. Durand).

The Socio-economic History and Material Culture of the Roman and Byzantine Near East collects thirteen papers written in honor of S. Thomas Parker by his colleagues and former students. S. Thomas Parker is one of the most influential archaeologists of the past half century who have worked on the Roman and Byzantine remains of Jordan He is responsible for excavations at the Roman legionary fortress at Lejjūn, the Nabataean and Roman Red Sea port of Aila, and more recently, domestic structures in the Nabataean capital of Petra.

These papers focus on four areas of Parker’s legacy in Near Eastern archaeology: regional survey, material and written culture, the Roman military, and the economy. Topics discussed include: examinations of settlement patterns in central and southern Jordan in the Neolithic period and Iron Age, road systems around the southern Dead Sea, how ceramic lamps and glass provide evidence about culture in the region, and how a Nabataean inscription from Bir Madkhur provides evidence of the divinity of Nabataean rulers.

Other articles discuss the impact of Roman military pay on the economy around Petra, how Roman engineers designed fortresses in the Near East, the composition of military units in Petra in the Roman and Byzantine periods, how the economy of Caesarea Palaestinae fits into discussions of the ancient economy, how Romans viewed women and luxury goods, and what archeobotanical research can indicate about land use and agriculture in the region. The most controversial paper, which uses evidence from the largely unpublished excavation of the Temple of the Winged Lions in Petra, argues that scholars have been misdating Nabataean ceramics. If accepted, this could cause a re-evaluation of dates in Petra and elsewhere in the region.

The Finnish Jabal Haroun Project (FJHP) announces the appearance of the third volume of its publication series:

Zbigniew T. Fiema, Jaakko Frösén, and Maija Holappa. PETRA – THE MOUNTAIN OF AARON. The Finnish Archaeological Project in Jordan. Vol. II. The Nabataean Sanctuary and the Byzantine Monastery. 602 pp, numerous plans and b&w illustrations, xx color illustrations. ISBN 978-951-653-410-0. Societas Scientiarum Fennica. Helsinki. 2016.

Between 1998 and 2013, the Finnish Jabal Haroun Project (FJHP) has excavated a site at the Mountain of Aaron located near the ancient city of Petra in Jordan. Initially, the site was occupied by a Nabataean sanctuary dated to the 1st century A.D. The Byzantine monastery constructed at the site in the later 5th century, included the basilica and the chapel, also incorporating the earlier Nabataean remains. The occupation of the church ended by the 9th century but other structures were probably still in use by the Crusader period. The third volume is the major exposition of all excavated structures and the material remains associated with the entire occupation of the site (1st century A.D. – 11th/12th century A.D.), with the exception of the church and the chapel (FJHP volume I, 2008). The volume presents a wide range of subjects related to the history and archaeology of the site and its structures, including the stratigraphy, architecture, art history, archaeozoology, archaeobotany, and studies on ancient religion. The specific analyses of excavated material, also including archaeometric studies, concentrate on on ceramics, glass, inscriptions, coinage, mortars and plasters, marble furnishing, basalt millstones, metal finds, jewellery, and other miscellanean finds. The volume also includes chapters on the creation of the virtual model of the church and the chapel as excavated, and on the virtual tour of these structures; an attached DVD contains the actual model and the tour. The volume concludes with the major presentation of culture history of the site, from the Nabataean until the Early Islamic/Crusader times, as based on the archaeological evidence and as related to the history and archaeology of Petra.

The volume is available through the Finnish distributor: Tiedekirja, Kirkkokatu 14, FIN-00170  Helsinki, Finland (http://www.tiedekirja.fi/english/?___from_store=default; tiedekirja@tsv.fi)
and through Oxbow Books (http://www.oxbowbooks.com/oxbow/petra-the-mountain-of-aaron-ii-the-nabataean-sanctuary-and-the-byzantine-monastery.html)
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