As an intern with the American Center of Research (ACOR) from September to October 2024, I had the opportunity to contribute to the National Cultural Heritage Property Database of The Kingdom of Jordan, an initiative to preserve Jordan’s cultural heritage. Known less formally as the National Inventory Project, it centers around creating a comprehensive digital record of Jordan’s movable cultural artifacts, aiming to protect these items from illicit trafficking and the loss of heritage and narrative. Through detailed cataloging and advanced software, the National Inventory Project has become an essential tool in heritage preservation, aligning with international standards set by UNESCO, the International Council of Museums (ICOM) Red Lists of Cultural Objects at Risk, and the Hague Convention.

As part of my role, I created a report examining the National Inventory’s fundamental purpose in preserving Jordan’s cultural identity, heritage, and historical narratives for the future. I had the unique opportunity to delve into the theoretical aspects of heritage preservation as part of the National Inventory Project. My primary responsibility was to draft a report analyzing how this inventory functions as a vital tool for preserving Jordan’s cultural heritage. Rather than focusing solely on the technicalities of cataloging, my work centered on examining the broader theoretical and legal frameworks that underlie this preservation effort. I also explored how the inventory’s work combats the illegal trade of cultural assets by establishing clear ownership and provenance records, hindering traffickers from exploiting these valuable resources.

The most fascinating aspect of this project was learning about the international legal conventions that highlight the importance of national inventories. I enjoyed exploring how ACOR’s approach aligns with UNESCO guidelines and the ICOM Red Lists to create a secure, accessible, and detailed database. This knowledge enhanced my understanding of how global networks and local efforts converge to support heritage preservation. I thoroughly enjoyed learning how technology can play a pivotal role in preserving cultural heritage. Axiell’s software, for instance, allowed us to document and manage artifacts in both Arabic and English, making the inventory accessible to a broader audience. This multilingual approach is critical to ensuring that local communities are engaged in the preservation process, which fosters a sense of shared ownership and pride in Jordan’s cultural legacy.

I was particularly fascinated by ACOR’s innovative approach to organizing artifacts within the National Inventory. Their meticulous cataloging system preserves the details and stories behind each item. It can serve as a template model for other countries, especially those in post-conflict neighboring regions or areas at risk of future conflict. This inventory framework ensures that cultural heritage can be safeguarded systematically, by means of a resilient digital archive that protects a nation’s identity amid instability.

Lastly, I was interested in learning how digital heritage preservation is becoming the next crucial step in archaeology and cultural heritage. Digitizing artifacts not only preserves their tangible heritage but also captures the intangible aspects of identity and memory that can be carried on to the next generations. By transforming physical heritage into a digital format, institutions like ACOR ensure that cultural narratives and historical connections endure, even as physical objects face threats from time, conflict, or environmental factors.

This internship gave me valuable insights into digital heritage preservation. It also prepared me with practical experience in managing inventories and documenting culture. This participation reinforced my belief that heritage preservation can strengthen national identity and foster cross-cultural understanding. Working with ACOR on this critical project was an educational and fulfilling experience. I am proud to have participated in this research opportunity to help preserve Jordan’s cultural heritage.

Roma Aatifi, originally from Kabul, Afghanistan, is pursuing a master’s degree in sustainable cultural heritage at the American University of Rome. Her thesis focuses on the preservation and reconstruction of cultural heritage in Afghanistan. Following research conducted with the ACOR-coordinated project at Karak, she chose to seek an internship at ACOR because she could see parallels between the challenges Jordan experiences regarding cultural heritage and those faced in Afghanistan.

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From August 1 to September 12, 2024, I had the fortunate opportunity to undertake an internship at the American Center of Research (ACOR) in Amman, Jordan. I worked with the National Cultural Heritage Property Database of The Kingdom of Jordan project, known informally as the National Inventory. While currently training to be a conservator, I have an educational background in archaeology, art history, and cultural heritage protection. The internship at ACOR provided me with a unique multidisciplinary experience in which I could blend and apply my interests in a practical manner.

The National Cultural Heritage Property Database of the Kingdom of Jordan project utilizes Axiell software as the basis for a centralized database of Jordan’s moveable cultural heritage. Axiell furthermore provides a digital repository that ensures records are retained in case a natural disaster or other such crisis impacts Jordan’s collections. My task was to incorporate conservation knowledge into the database and to assist with site assessments and recommendations.

During the course of the internship, the project team and I visited a number of museums and storehouses to conduct on-site assessments of their respective collections. Visits included excursions to As-Salt, Zarqa, Jerash, and Irbid. The project team would correlate collection survey data with physical locations. I would assess the general condition of artifacts and their physical settings. Through this, I learned about past conservation practices in museums and the unique challenges facing collections contemporarily (e.g., rising temperatures). Recommendations were then provided in a short report regarding measures that could be beneficial for individual collections.

I greatly enjoyed interacting with a variety of organic and inorganic artifacts on site. By visiting numerous collections, I saw an assortment of objects ranging from bronze weaponry to glass perfume vials, figurines, and intricately beaded jewelry. Mosaics are a particular favorite of mine, and Jordan is renowned for having a bounty of beautiful ones. Being able to view mosaic depictions of pomegranates, olives, or grapes and then walking outside to see those same trees and vines still growing in the vicinity bridged the past and present in a delightful way.

The chance to assist with cleaning and identifying ceramic fragments from Petra further made the internship a memorable experience. Revealing painted designs on the ceramic surfaces — which may have last been viewed hundreds of years ago — was a reminder of how remarkable working with cultural heritage materials can be.

I’ve learned about Jordan’s cultural heritage management and the variety of artifacts held in diverse collections. I’ve been fortunate to gain knowledge of the available tools used for preventive conservation through consultation with project stakeholders. Most critically, through the internship I have gained an insight into the growing contemporary importance of digital preservation and documentation techniques for movable cultural heritage objects. The length of the internship further permitted me to explore Amman and travel to Aqaba, Petra, Ajloun, and beyond during my six weeks. By interning with ACOR, I was able to experience Jordan in a new light and gain valuable experience for my future career path. I am grateful for the hospitality shown to me by the staff and fellows at ACOR.

Thank you for the opportunity.

Madeleine Tripp is an emerging objects conservator with a background in archaeology, art history, and heritage protection. She is currently undertaking the University of Melbourne’s Master of Cultural Materials Conservation program. With an anticipated graduation in late 2024, Madeleine aims to apply her conservation skills into continued archaeological and cultural heritage work.

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The Roman Empire was one of many ancient civilizations that understood the necessity of a water supply system, and they became experts in building large aqueducts and urban water systems. They, along with the Greeks, spread new cultural institutions that required water to be used in ways that went beyond the communal needs of the city, such as fountains and bath houses. However, the function and form of these new water supply systems depended on their regional context and could indicate significant cultural changes. My research project at the American Center of Research is part of a larger endeavor, which is to better understand how water was used in Roman cities, especially in provinces distant from the capital at Rome.

I chose to study water because water infrastructure is an overlooked data set in ancient cities. Scholars typically look at artistic and ceramic remains to assess questions of social development. When hydrology is considered, scholarly attention is given to the engineering and architectural aspects of aqueduct construction, ignoring how and why water was utilized and consumed by the inhabitants of the city. My project aims to address an understudied region within water studies and encourage a deeper discussion on the influence of cultural and social diversity on water consumption in the Roman Empire.

My research focuses on several cities within a micro-region of the Roman Empire called the Decapolis (Fig. 1). The Decapolis was a geographic region within the Near East consisting of a loosely grouped collection of ten city-states that emerged in the Hellenistic period and continued to identify together in the Roman period. The ten cities of the Decapolis are located in present-day Jordan, Israel, and Syria. For my dissertation and American Center project, I analyzed four of these cities, all located in northern Jordan: Jerash, Umm Qais, Amman, and Pella. I chose this region and these cities because they provide a unique atmosphere to study waterscapes. They share many similar characteristics of urban planning and investment in Greco-Roman architecture but are topographically diverse. Jerash and Umm Qais are the best-preserved sites, boasting complex aqueducts and water installations. I am using these two cities as my type sites from which to compare two others that are less well preserved: Amman and Pella. Thanks to funding I received from the American Center, I was able to visit these archaeological sites and document water supply features such as pipes, non-ornamental fountains, and water channels. 

The first part of my stay at the center was spent visiting archaeological sites relevant to my dissertation and collecting data from existing archaeological remains. Hydrological features are not always included in site plans and excavation reports, so it was important that I visit each in person. My study visits included basic documentation, such as taking photographs of in-situ archaeological features, recording basic measurements, and noting elevations of these features. 

The first site I visited was Amman, known as Philadelphia in the Roman period. I visited the Citadel (Al-Qal’a) (Fig. 2) and the Roman buildings downtown. At the Citadel, I analyzed the cisterns and wells that are thought to date to the Umayyad period. The Umayyad palace is, in fact, on top of an earlier Roman monumental structure, so the cisterns and wells of the palace could have been part of a previous Roman enclosure. I also studied the area around the Roman theater and the nymphaeum. It seems that the main water supply was focused in this area during the Roman period and was directly connected to the wadi. 

Jerash is a massive site, about 80 hectares in size, which is almost 112 soccer fields! My favorite monument was the Temple of Zeus, which was built on a large hill overlooking the site. It has a spectacular view of the oval plaza and the colonnaded street (Fig. 3). At Jerash, I spent several days visiting the site and walking around the remains, identifying water installations. I found several street fountains along the main colonnaded street, as well as evidence of water supply on the other side streets. I also documented reservoirs and cisterns from the Roman, Byzantine, and Islamic periods. Additionally, I took elevations and analyzed potential water-supply routes.

Pella, also known as Tabaqat Fahl, is located northeast of Jerash, near the junction of the highlands and the Jordan Valley. When I first arrived at the site, I thought it was at a very high altitude overlooking the valley, but when I checked my elevation, I was actually below sea level! The site is famous for its Byzantine churches (Fig. 4) and Iron Age temples. The Roman material is below the Byzantine layers and very hard to excavate because the water table is so high. I was hoping that my observations from the other sites would help me to identify water features at Pella, but the only one I could identify is the already-excavated exedra (seating area), likely part of a bath, and the vaulted structure next to it. The Roman period will continue to remain a mystery here for now.

Umm Qais, also known as ancient Gadara, is an amazing site located in the northwest corner of Jordan. On a clear day, from here you can see the Sea of Galilee and the Golan Heights in the distance. The long colonnaded street has been excavated, but no street fountains other than the monumental nymphaeum have been identified yet (Fig. 5). However, I found several potential fountains that all had architecture similar to the other Roman monuments and had evidence of plastering. 

I spent most of the second part of my stay at the American Center of Research creating a database of all the hydrological data I had collected during my site visits. Additionally, I spent time in the library sifting through old excavation reports and books to which I had had no prior access. My fellowship has also allowed me to travel to other cultural heritage sites in Jordan. For instance, I got to visit Ajloun Castle, Madaba, Umm ar-Rasas, the Dead Sea, Petra, Wadi Rum, and Aqaba. Visiting Petra had a great impact on my research perspective and allowed me a means to compare how other cultures were supplying water in a different region. The aqueduct channel carved into the rockface of the Siq attests to the fact that region, topography, and access to water directly affect how water will be supplied and used.  

Jordan is a truly wonderful place, full of rich cultural heritage, and I am lucky that I was able to fully immerse myself in its traditions. 

References

Lichtenberger Achim and Rubina Raja. 2018. The Archaeology and History of Jerash: 110 Years of Excavations. Turnhout: Brepols.

Northedge, Alastair. 1992. Studies on Roman and Islamic Amman: The Excavations of Mrs. C-M Bennet and Other Investigations, volume I. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Smith, Robert Houston, and Leslie Preston Day. 1989. Pella of the Decapolis, volume 2: Final Report on the College of Wooster Excavations in Area IX, The Civic Complex, 1979–1985. [Wooster, Ohio]: The College of Wooster.

Clare Rasmussen is currently a PhD candidate in the Department of Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology at Bryn Mawr College. She holds a BA in anthropology and classical archaeology from the University of Michigan and a MA in classics from the University of Arizona. She is primarily interested in Roman archaeology with a particular focus on water studies, city planning, architecture, landscape, and cultural identity. While she is a resident at the American Center of Research, Clare will be working on her PhD dissertation project, “Water Consumption in the Decapolis: Examining Water Use in Gerasa, Philadelphia, Gadara, and Pella during the Roman Period.” Her dissertation aims to explore the social, cultural, and religious implications of water-supply systems in select cities of the historical Decapolis region of northern Jordan in order to understand how and why local inhabitants adapted, adopted, and modified hydrological structures into the urban armature of their cities. Her project seeks to address an understudied region within Roman water studies, encourage a deeper discussion on the influence of cultural and social diversity on water consumption, and examine the widespread perception of homogenous water consumption in the Roman Empire.

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Rural life in Jordan during the Ottoman period is a topic that has received little attention from archaeologists. While there is a rich corpus of historical writings on the late Ottoman period due to the Tanzimat reforms, archaeological literature on the subject remains scant. Any tour across the landscape of Jordan will reveal remains of the Ottoman period, the most obvious being the Ottoman hajj forts (Fig. 1), many of which were constructed or reconstructed during the early Ottoman period. Less conspicuous are the remains of villages, which are usually located within or near modern villages (Fig. 2). Sometimes they are majestically poised on tops of hills, or along the slopes of wadis, hidden from view. Approaching them from afar is a special experience: sometimes they blend into their surroundings well, being constructed of local limestone and nari (calcrete/caliche), but just as often they feature local basalt in the construction, making them a striking image in the landscape. In other cases, the modern villages have grown around the old Ottoman-period structures (for example, Fig. 3), which were often themselves built on earlier remains. Many of these villages were occupied for centuries and thus hold special historical value to Jordan, although they are often overlooked for scientific study in favor of ancient sites.

Popular discourse has it that archaeological sites of the later periods do not hold the same romantic associations and mystery that those of the ancient periods do, and this has unfortunately led to their being forgotten, by locals and academics alike. Although the late medieval/early modern periods have not often been considered with a great deal of seriousness by archaeologists, this is slowly changing, as the inherent value that these villages have to our archaeological knowledge is beginning to be understood. These multi-period sites are valuable not only because they have earlier occupation levels; it should be made abundantly clear that the current hierarchical perception of time periods in the field of archaeology is an archaic viewpoint that must be left in the past. The fact is that these villages represent continuity, a topic not often favored by academic research, as sudden changes in the archaeological record present a mystery to be solved. However, it needs to be acknowledged that continuity is what archaeology is meant to examine as well—what everyday life was like for people: not just in those moments of crisis and war, but what characterized the lives of people, most of whom fell within the social category of “peasantry” (or fellahin). Ironically, this class made up the majority of the population, yet they remain the least understood.

One of the ways that we can begin to understand the lives of the fellahin in Jordan is through the study of the villages they left behind, which are steadily disappearing. Many are currently in ruins and as of yet have not been systematically excavated. Places of the later periods in this region are often seen only for their worth in terms of cultural heritage, and while they are of course important in this respect, they also hold great value in terms of advancing our archaeological knowledge of the region. However, simply preserving them for future generations is not enough; understanding their inherent value begins with devoted academic engagement.

Ottoman archaeology is an historical archaeology, and it represents an opportunity to bridge the fields of history and archaeology, both of which have serious weaknesses in the study of this period in Jordan. In terms of historical sources, the first century of Ottoman rule in the region was fairly well recorded through tax registers and regularly conducted cadastral surveys, making their combined analysis a perfect tool for the archaeologist, who studies processes as they occur over long periods of time. Unfortunately, this practice was discontinued after this first century of rule, but this in itself reveals something important about state and local relations, indicating that state presence was ephemeral, if not completely nil. The general lack of textual data thereafter has been historically interpreted as something of a dark age in the region, where Bedouin raids and lawlessness became the norm. However, this is a gross oversimplification of the situation that does not take into account the archaeological data. What is indicated by material evidence is rather a process of ruralization, where local rulership and industries would prevail. But, as is well known, history is almost always written from the perspective of the ruling elite or by those of higher classes who were literate. A case in point are the European travel accounts that abound for the region of the “Holy Land,” where pilgrimage became popular from the 19^th century on. While many of these narratives contain useful information on the various villages and landscapes of Jordan, they must be read with great caution, given the prevailing ethnocentric viewpoints of the time.

The way of life in Greater Syria would change again with the reintroduction of direct Ottoman rule via the Tanzimat. These reforms were meant to recentralize Ottoman rule and utilize the vast agricultural potential of the region to the benefit of the state, whose treasury was pitifully empty after the many wars engaged in with Europe. The Ottomans saw Greater Syria as an economically beneficial tool, provided they could manage to organize the lands to work in their favor. In the end, the many reforms regarding land tenure were to prove unsuccessful, with their overall plan backfiring, as land was gradually collected by wealthy landowners at the expense of both the state and the peasantry.

The remains of the villages that we see today are a reflection of the prevailing situation during the late Ottoman and early (British) Mandate period. As agricultural production decreased due to the profitability of employment in manufacturing industries, people left their villages for lives in the towns and cities. However, many of these old villages are still being occupied in some form (Fig. 4)—usually as stables for animals, or as storage units, where they continue to remain an integral part of the village fabric. As such, these places are truly temporal palimpsests, the physical depictions of centuries-old processes of rural life in Jordan, with every region having its own unique characteristics and each village its own stories to tell.

Lauren Erker is a PhD student in the Islamic Archaeology Research Unit at the University of Bonn in Germany. She received her BA in anthropology from Metropolitan State University in Denver, Colorado, and her MSc in late antique, Byzantine, and Islamic studies from the University of Edinburgh, and she has held an ACOR-CAORC Predoctoral Fellowship (2021–2022). Having excavation and survey experience in the states of Colorado and Wyoming as well as in the countries of Oman, Israel-Palestine, and Jordan, she now works for the American Center of Research as archaeologist for the Amman Citadel project. Her dissertation is a socio-archaeological analysis of rural settlement in Palestine and Transjordan during the Ottoman period.

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I am an emerging professional in cultural heritage, chosen by the United States Committee of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (US/ICOMOS) to participate in their International Exchange Program (IEP), an honor that brought me to Amman for the summer of 2022. At the American Center of Research, I worked on the Prevention of Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Property Project under the leadership of Dr. Ahmed Fatima Kzzo. Funded by the Office of Public Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Amman and in cooperation with the Jordanian Department of Antiquities (DoA), this project aims to combat the illegal acquisition and destruction of antiquities in Jordan and to strengthen national and international efforts to preserve and protect cultural heritage by supporting the DoA’s anti-trafficking unit. My role was to support the initiative by drafting the outline of a training manual for DoA staff and local archaeologists to ensure the project’s sustainability, as well as by analyzing trainees’ data for periodic quarterly reports on the project, preparing designs to be used for public awareness, and undertaking other tasks.

In addition to my work at the American Center, I had the privilege of attending the Fifteenth International Conference on the History and Archaeology of Jordan (ICHAJ 15), with the theme of “Thoughtful Archaeology in the Ecosphere and Sociosphere,” at Yarmouk University. This was the second time I was fortunate enough to visit Irbid, the first being when I visited the Dar As-Saraya Museum for a training program related to the Prevention of Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Property Project.

The conference was inaugurated by HRH Prince Hassan, who delivered an engaging and thoughtful speech about Jordanian cultural heritage. Prince Hassan, a longtime supporter of archaeology and protecting Jordan’s tangible and intangible cultural heritage, made an effort to engage with a variety of presenters during his speech. Over three days, ICHAJ had at least a hundred presentations, five multi-hour workshops, eleven online lectures, and a poster session. Topics discussed included conservation and community participation, capacity-building for sustainable preservation, the fight against illicit cultural-heritage trafficking, and more. I was very appreciative of the conference’s focus on accessibility, as every session was translated into both Arabic and English. This feature fostered a welcoming atmosphere, overcoming the typical issues of language barriers at international conferences.

The lectures provided great insight into the latest research in Jordan. Of particular interest to me, Dr. Helen Malko (associate director for fellowships and programs) and Dr. Ahmed Kzzo (director of the Prevention of Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Property Project) presented the American Center’s illicit-trafficking prevention project on the second day of the conference. It was incredibly special for me to witness research I had participated in crafting presented at an international conference. I also greatly enjoyed hearing from scholars such as Dr. Craig A. Harvey (a former American Center fellow), who presented on Roman marble sculptural fragments found at the site of Humayma. Beyond individual lectures, I attended a two-hour workshop on the Madaba Regional Archaeological Museum Project (MRAMP) hosted at the Museum of Jordanian Heritage at Yarmouk University. The workshop was moderated by Douglas R. Clark, who, along with fellow team members Suzanne Richard and Basem Mahamid, provided an overview of the progression and projections of their exciting project. Additionally, the American Center’s own Jehad Haron (associate director and cultural-heritage resources development lead for its USAID-funded Sustainable Cultural Heritage Through Engagement of Local Communities Project) joined the workshop to present his forthcoming book, a manual about the pottery of Jordan.

To conclude each day of the conference, ICHAJ staff organized fantastic group excursions to archaeological sites near Irbid. In Jerash, I had the privilege to dine with HE Dr. Nayef Himiedi Al Fayez, the minister of tourism and antiquities, and Prof. Fadi Al Balawi, director general of the Department of Antiquities. We traveled to Umm Qais on Thursday evening and dined within the site. I felt very privileged to see the ancient city of Gadara at sunset and take in the view of the Sea of Galilee, the Golan Heights, and the surrounding states. ICHAJ 15 came to a close with a gala dinner at the Amman Citadel (Fig. 2). We genuinely had a red carpet rolled out for us as we walked into dinner serenaded by bagpipes. It was a regal conclusion to an enlightening conference, and I was grateful to be among the international cohort of voices vowing to protect Jordanian history and archaeology.

My welcoming experience at ICHAJ mirrored my time at the American Center. The newly renovated building was pristine, especially the outdoor patios, library, and gym. However, the most significant takeaway from my time at the center has been the network I have crafted here. Having an international cohort of voices to run ideas by, discuss trends among, and share experiences with as foreign scholars was the single most impactful aspect of my time in Jordan. Going forward, these relationships will continue to bolster my understanding of the cultural heritage space and how we safeguard our interwoven histories. I am so thankful that I got to experience living and working in a research center and for the colleagues I met and friendships I made while at the American Center of Research. 

Danielle Wolfson is the administrative coordinator at the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg Center for Collaborative Communications. She is a cultural heritage specialist with experience in Germany, Greece, and now Jordan. Creating her own major in museum studies, she earned her BA from Drexel University in 2020. Her current research looks at analyzing museums as institutions for social change and current provenance standards.

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I have been in Jordan for two months now, and Tom Parker’s presence is everywhere—in my work, in conversations with colleagues, on the stiff breeze at Petra. Despite twenty years in Near Eastern archaeology, this is my first time working in Jordan; I had just imagined he would be here when I arrived. I am an assistant professor of anthropology at North Carolina State University, where Tom worked until his unexpected death last year, and my specialty is zooarchaeology (the analysis of animal bones recovered from archaeological sites). A few years ago, Tom asked me to analyze the animal bones from the Petra North Ridge Project, which he and Megan Perry co-directed from 2012 to 2016. Tom’s initial request led, as such things often do, to my widening involvement in Jordanian zooarchaeology. Last year, Tom asked me to publish the animal bones from his Roman Aqaba Project. Around the same time, Jack Green (who was ACOR’s associate director at the time) asked me to analyze the animal bones from the Temple of the Winged Lions Cultural Resource Management project. Because most of the animal bones from the Petra North Ridge, and all from the Temple of the Winged Lions project, are housed in Jordan, I applied for an ACOR fellowship to undertake those analyses. I was awarded an ACOR-CAORC Postdoctoral Fellowship in 2021, and I took up the fellowship this past summer. 

What does a zooarchaeologist do? What does it mean to “analyze animal bones”? Well, it depends on the questions that we are trying to answer. I am not a zoologist; my research questions are cultural, rather than biological. I am interested in how people and animals interact and influence one another. When I study animal bones, I begin by determining what animals the bone fragments came from. Humans use horses in ways far different from how they use sheep, for example, so determining what animals the bones come from can tell us if they were animals typically used for food or as ritual sacrifices or as transportation. I also determine what body part the bone came from. If the assemblage is dominated by the small bones of the feet, for example, but lacks those from the spine and upper limbs, I might deduce that the animals were butchered at the site, but the meaty portions of the body were eaten elsewhere. I also study whether the bones came from young or old, male or female animals; that can tell us, for example, whether the people were slaughtering young males and keeping females into old age as breeding stock or for their milk. 

The vast majority of animal bones from Middle Eastern sites represent sheep, goats, cattle, pigs, dogs, horses, donkeys, and camels. Wild species such as gazelle, rabbits, deer, and onagers (Asiatic wild asses; the subspecies that lived in Jordan is extinct) are rarer, but not unexpected. So zooarchaeologists typically need to learn the skeletal anatomy of only a handful of species that predominate in a particular region. When we come across something unexpected, there are many options for figuring out what kind of animal it came from. We can look up pictures of suspected species. We can take the bone to a natural history museum and try to find a match in their skeletal collections. We can post a picture on the Zooarchaeology Listserv—a web resource where zooarchaeologists (there are, shockingly, thousands of us) share pictures and ask for help with identification. I did just that this summer. I put an image of a strange-looking bone on the listserv, and within hours several helpful colleagues had identified it as a particular kind of dwarf dog found at Roman-period sites (Fig. 1). They even sent photos. It was an exact match. 

In my two months at ACOR, I’ve studied more than 70,000 bone fragments from the Petra North Ridge and Temple of the Winged Lions projects. Most of the animals are sheep and goat, but there have been some surprises. There is now pretty clear evidence of a workshop on Petra’s North Ridge where residents were butchering camels and using their lower limb bones to fashion pins, needles, rings, plaques, and more. We find not only the tools in the bone assemblage but also the detritus of the tool production process (Fig. 2). We have two different species of dog: the dwarf variety and a longer-limbed breed. There are also a lot of fish bones—especially parrotfish, with their distinctive beaks, which would have been transported in from the Red Sea. There are still more bones to study, but I was able to examine the majority of both assemblages while at ACOR. 

But the best part about working at ACOR has been the people I’ve met. Early in my stay in Jordan, I met Lubna Omar, a zooarchaeologist who was in Amman for the month of July (Fig. 3). Lubna was looking for a new project, and I had a lot to do, so I asked her to collaborate with me on the Petra North Ridge bones. We worked together for several weeks and will publish the results jointly. The ACOR residents this summer also included a host of friends old and new, and conversations with them at lunch, on the patio, and out on the town helped alleviate the stress of recording 70,000 tiny bone fragments in a vast Excel spreadsheet. The staff were also unflaggingly kind and helpful and ensured that I had everything I needed to accomplish my research goals. I wish I could thank Tom Parker for introducing me to Jordan, ACOR, and this new network of friends and colleagues. Thanks to my time at ACOR this summer, I’m now even more prepared to answer the question that I know he would ask: No, Tom, there are still no dinosaur bones in the assemblage.

Kathryn Grossman is assistant professor of anthropology in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at North Carolina State University. She is an archaeologist and zooarchaeologist with expertise in the complex societies of the Near East and eastern Mediterranean. She earned her BA in archaeology from Tufts University and her MA and PhD in Near Eastern art and archaeology from the University of Chicago. Her current research focuses on resistance to state-making, the biographies of early cities, and human/non-human animal relationships in early complex societies. She directs the Makounta-Voules Archaeological Project in Cyprus and has been a senior staff member on archaeological projects in Syria, Cyprus, Egypt, and Iraq.

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I am currently a visiting professor in the Writings Program at New York University-Abu Dhabi and was an NEH Postdoctoral Fellow at the American Center of Research from March to August 2021. I arrived at the American Center in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic and fresh from receiving my doctorate in Near Eastern languages and cultures from the University of California, Los Angeles. My earlier studies included an MA in 2011 from the University of Arkansas in anthropology, looking at the transition from the Early to Middle Bronze Age in the Orontes Valley of Syria, and a BS in 2009 from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse in archaeological studies. I have excavated and surveyed in various places across the globe, including Bolivia, Syria, Israel, Jordan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Arkansas, and California. My PhD and ongoing research focus on landscapes of change and mobility during the transition from the Early to Middle Bronze Age.

In its broadest sense, my research focuses on flashpoints of change from a landscape perspective. The foremost aim of my project is to address the interrelationship between Early Bronze IV (EB IV) settlement locations and environmental niches. The primary objective has been to further analyze the Early Bronze Age IV (c. 2500–2000 BCE) from multiple perspectives in the Levant. This was done from multiple theoretical perspectives, focusing predominantly on models of resilience and methodologies associated with landscape studies including geographic information systems (GIS).

Most of my time at the American Center was spent cleaning and amassing archaeological survey data for the entirety of the Levant. In total, I now have a database of over 10,000 archaeological sites that have been surveyed in the southern Levant, ranging from the Chalcolithic through the Iron Age, with an emphasis on the transitional periods. The data came from Department of Antiquities websites, as well as surveys published by various research institutions. Some of my time during this fellowship was spent creating Python scripts to strip data and put them into a manageable database and a more manipulatable form. I used open-source Python libraries to help determine some logical patterns. Once regular patterns were established, the data were converted into comma-separated-value (CSV) tables, which are readable by Microsoft Excel. These data, which included geographic locations in the form of latitude and longitude, were then input into ArcGIS to create maps and establish spatial patterns for analysis (Fig. 1).

In addition, I visited archaeological sites and regions in Jordan that I had previously been unable to. The last time I was at the American Center of Research was during the winter, which limited the places I could go. During my fellowship at the center, I visited sites particularly in the southern parts of the country along the desert highway. Throughout my research, I noted that marginal zones and areas of transition were those that experienced the most impact during times of change. I wanted to better understand what types of resources these areas could maintain and wanted to see in person where they were on the landscape. A lot of my research to that point had been done with remote sensing and by analyzing satellite imagery. However, these portray only a small part of the picture, and a more extensive understanding of the areas was necessary to further my studies. Specifically, areas that are on margins of agricultural productivity, places that receive the bare minimum for dry farming at the 200–250 mm isohyet^[1] (indicating a so-called zone of uncertainty, a region in which agriculture that relies on rainfall is possible but risky), were occupied during this transitional period.

My favorite part of the fellowship was being able to drive to viewpoints and overlook the landscape about which I was writing. It was also an excuse to visit sites outside of my time period of focus. In particular, I went to Petra (Fig. 2). Several of the sites that I have in my data set are in the Arabah Valley. I hiked up the hill to the ad Deir Monument and just sat and looked over the valley. It was one of the times I could simply think about my research without having to worry about recording every detail of a site and making sure I got all the pictures just right. Sitting on the castle walls overlooking the valley, I thought about what it would have been like to travel here in antiquity. How did people access all the various environmental niches? What did they think about going along the few paths that went through the landscape? I do not typically write about or research phenomenological experiences of the landscape, but being at such a high point makes it hard not to think about it.

It was also fun to drive around and find the few safe paths through the landscape. I got to think about the logistics of travel and population movement. It is one thing to see two disparate points on a satellite image and to logically know there are elevation differences, steep slopes, and various other geological features to confront to get from one place to another, and something very different to try to drive between those two points. Even though I write about and study the EB IV landscape, it was not until I tried to physically traverse the landscape myself that I began to understand just how difficult it would have been. It gave me a much greater appreciation for the people that I study and their resourcefulness.

^[1] On a map, a line that joins points that receive the same amount of rainfall over a certain period of time (—eds.)

Amy Karoll is a visiting professor in the Writings Program at New York University-Abu Dhabi. The University of California, Los Angeles, granted her doctoral degree in Near Eastern languages and cultures; previously, she earned a master’s in anthropology from University of Arkansas and bachelor of science in archaeological studies from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. The American Center of Research awarded her an ACOR-CAORC Pre-doctoral Fellowship in 2019 and, in 2021, an NEH Postdoctoral Fellowship. She has excavated and surveyed at sites in western Asia (Syria, Israel), South America ( Bolivia), and North America (the United States: Wisconsin, Minnesota, Arkansas, and California).

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I am a master’s student in the Anthropology Department at East Carolina University. Throughout the months of June and July 2022, I held a Pierre and Patricia Bikai Fellowship at the American Center of Research in Amman and, while resident there, used their resources to complete the data collection for my master’s thesis, which focuses on the site of Petra, specifically the Petra North Ridge (Fig. 1). The Petra North Ridge Project, co-directed by Dr. Megan Perry and the late Dr. S. Thomas Parker, was responsible for the excavations that took place during the summers of 2012, 2014, and 2016. The North Ridge area includes households and living areas, as well as underground shaft tombs, belonging to the Nabataeans. Because this area may have been inhabited by individuals of the lower classes, given the simplistic burial styles and living conditions compared to other parts of Petra, research here contributes to creating a fuller understanding of life and death at this major site. 

I have been working with collections of small finds that were excavated by the Petra North Ridge Project during their 2012, 2014, and 2016 field seasons, such as jewelry, beads, bone tools, and coffin decorations. I will be creating a comparative analysis between the artifacts found in the tombs and the ones found in the domestic areas to gain further insight into Nabataean burial practices. I hope to identify what people were most commonly buried with and if specific ritual, precious, or common household objects were chosen for this purpose.

Upon arriving in Jordan, preparations were made to access the artifact collections at the storage facility in Petra. I was able not only to access the artifacts but also to visit the site of Petra and spend time on the North Ridge looking at the areas that the artifacts came from. This granted me a better understanding of how the North Ridge fits into the site of Petra and where it is located in comparison to the sites of other main archaeological excavations here. The artifact collections were brought back to the American Center in Amman so that I could analyze them in a laboratory setting. All of the artifacts have already been cataloged, and their information has been added to an online database. Photos have also been taken of some of the artifacts.

My goal was to locate the artifacts in the collection that were important for me to see in person, which included those that had special designs or that I was not familiar with. I read the descriptions of the artifacts in the database and compared these to the artifacts themselves to make sure that the descriptions were accurate and had sufficient detail. I also went through the images and identified the artifacts that did not have photos or that needed to be rephotographed. For these, I took new pictures. This also involved taking group photos of similar artifacts, which can be used for future publications. Putting similar beads in groups, for example, or jewelry items together helps to show similarities and differences among objects of the same type (Fig. 2). My research time at the American Center led me to a better understanding of and improved documentation of the artifacts within this collection, which will allow me to complete my data collection and complete my master’s thesis.

McClean Pink is a graduate student in the master’s degree program of the Department of Anthropology at East Carolina University, North Carolina, concentrating on bioarchaeology under the supervision of Dr. Megan Perry. Her thesis will focus on artifacts recovered from Petra’s North Ridge by the Petra North Ridge Project during the 2012, 2014, and 2016 field seasons. Through her research she will explore Nabataean mortuary practices via the comparative analysis of the artifacts found in the non-elite shaft tombs and residential areas dating to the 1st century BCE and 1st century CE. From this analysis will be created an assemblage of artifacts that are related solely to Nabataean mortuary activity as opposed to domestic use. This research not only will contribute to the understanding of mortuary behavior at the North Ridge of Petra but also has the potential to further uncover Nabataean views on identity, death, and mourning.

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Jordan’s low female labor force participation rate has long confounded policymakers, researchers, and activists. Despite achieving progress on several determinants of female labor force participation over the last decade, including increasing levels of female educational attainment, higher ages of marriage, and lower rates of fertility, less than 15 percent of women are actively engaged in the formal economy, as compared to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) regional average of 25 percent. Of the women that are actively engaged in the economy, more than a quarter of women are unemployed. There are several barriers to women’s economic participation in Jordan, including social norms, legal restrictions, available job opportunities, and a lack of safe, affordable, and adequate care infrastructure and transportation. 

The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the already low economic participation for women and high unemployment rates in Jordan. During the pandemic, women were more likely to lose their jobs than men or leave the workforce due to additional unpaid care responsibilities. The loss of jobs comes with severe social impacts for women, as economic inequalities worsened by the pandemic have placed the most vulnerable groups of women at an even higher risk of violence. Despite the difficult situation, there is hope that an expansion of the digital economy and remote work opportunities that developed from or were strengthened during the pandemic may help to limit some of the barriers to women’s economic participation. Even before the pandemic began, the development community placed faith in the power of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to increase economic opportunity for women, as well as underserved communities, by connecting them to jobs and markets, overcoming restrictions to economic participation related to social norms, mobility, or time poverty.

Thanks to funding from the American Center of Research, I was able to conduct qualitative fieldwork in August and September 2021 to better understand how the COVID-19 pandemic affected women’s economic participation through ICT-enabled work, with a particular focus on Jordanian women utilizing ICTs to support home-based businesses and micro-entrepreneurship, and work in the gig economy. This research builds on my earlier fieldwork (2018–2019) investigating whether and how ICTs help overcome constraints to female labor force participation in Jordan.

My earlier research found that Jordan is currently prioritizing women’s entrepreneurship initiatives for economic development and women’s empowerment. Government and donor initiatives have focused on supporting home-based businesses and micro-enterprises that utilize ICTs for selling goods and services online (including informal online commerce and e-commerce). Other initiatives have focused on additional forms of ICT-enabled work, such as connecting women to remote-based job opportunities (e.g., call centers). Finally, some entrepreneurship initiatives connected women to market opportunities in the gig economy through online platforms. 

I learned that many Jordanian women, given numerous constraints to their participation outside of the home, are interested in pursuing ICT-enabled work to generate income while working from home and that these new forms of economic participation are blurring the differences between formal and informal labor. My research also revealed that opportunities in ICT-enabled work could benefit families in intangible ways by increasing support for women’s economic participation and normalizing women’s engagement in the market. However, my research also found that differences in class, geography, and education play a substantial role in a women’s economic success with ICT-enabled work. 

During my ACOR fellowship, I conducted ethnographic research as a volunteer at the local nonprofit JoWomenomics and was involved in the day-to-day activities and research of an organization devoted to increasing the role of women in the economy in Jordan. I observed firsthand the activities around women’s economic participation and was grateful for an opportunity to engage with the local research community. In addition to ethnographic work, I conducted twelve interviews with heads of gig economy platforms, online commerce experts, home-based business advisors, and funders of international development organizations focused on supporting women’s entrepreneurship. These semi-structured interviews added significant insights into the state of women’s ICT-enabled work during the pandemic and its current recovery. 

My research revealed that women’s ICT-enabled home-based and micro-enterprises struggled throughout the pandemic, with a significant decrease in demand and revenue in informal online commerce. As female freelancers often enter the digital economy without any guarantee of future work, online financial opportunities were unstable and scarce in the midst of COVID-19. In addition to economic difficulties during the pandemic, women could not deliver goods and services due to the lockdowns. However, micro-, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) also have an essential role in pandemic recovery. Informants shared several ways to support women’s ICT-enabled home-based and micro-enterprises. They expressed a need to move enterprises from informal online commerce fully into e-commerce by connecting businesses to export markets and providing training on how to conduct global e-commerce (e.g., Amazon). There is also a need to support women to formalize and strengthen their businesses by helping them integrate their products and services into high-potential value chains.

My research also found that while the gig economy can provide market opportunities for women, there were clear winners and losers during the pandemic. Like other businesses in retail, hospitality, and the services sector, several platforms in those sectors were unable to operate during the pandemic, limiting income-generating activities for women. Even more, the environmental challenges of remote work were higher for female employees due to conflicting roles — employee, daughter, wife, mother, housewife, etc. — presented by at-home work. However, informants shared that online platforms that helped connect women, and others, to remote work opportunities, such as technology and programming, graphics and design, business and consulting, etc., were able to grow. As the pandemic drags on, the advancement of remote work platforms has been paralleled by schools becoming more adept at operating under health restrictions, easing the burden of childcare on women.

Finally, my fieldwork found that although the pandemic exacerbated already low levels of women’s economic participation, it also accelerated the shift towards ICT-enabled work and the digital economy. Several informants shared how local businesses were digitalizing quickly at the start of the pandemic, finding ways to adapt their business and employment practices. One study found that 82% of Jordanian firms would or might adopt more remote-work practices. As government and other stakeholders increasingly recognize the need to transition to the digital economy, a key opportunity is presented for investment in women’s technological training, literacy, and participation. If inclusion is prioritized by providing women with tools of digital upskilling, there is potential to decrease economic, cultural, and educational barriers to female labor force participation, simultaneously responding to the global, digital shift in work.

Allison J. Anderson researches, teaches, and consults on gender, economic development, digital development, socioeconomics, and the Middle East. In 2020, Allison earned a PhD focused on women’s economic participation and entrepreneurship based on fieldwork as a Fulbright Research Fellow in Jordan. Previously, Allison was an associate program officer at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, where she focused on strategic planning and engagement in the Office of the President for Global Health. Prior to this, Allison worked as a strategy consultant in Deloitte’s Government and Public Services practice. Early in her career, she served two years in the U.S. Peace Corps in rural Jordan. Anderson holds a PhD in international studies from the University of Washington Jackson School of International Studies, an MA in international relations and international economics from the Johns Hopkins Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), and a BA in political science and Arabic and Islamic studies from the University of Michigan.

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A visit to the Jordan Archaeological Museum on the Amman Citadel or the Jordan Museum in Ras al-Ayn brings you up close with multiple examples of stone statuary from Iron Age Amman (ca. 1150–550 BCE). These impressive sculptures include miniature statues of standing anthropomorphic figures and life-size and nearly life-size sculpted heads. Central to the Amman statuary corpus is a series of male figures with the same arm position and basic dress pattern (Routledge 2004). Most of the Ammonite statues measure below one meter in height and consist of locally abundant limestone. A dramatic addition to this collection came with the 2010 discovery of a colossal basalt statue of a standing male figure (Fig. 1) through rescue excavation in front of the Roman Theatre in downtown Amman (Burnett and Gharib 2014). At 2.10 meters in height and weighing approximately 2 tons, the Amman Theatre Statue adds a new dimension of scale and material to this statuary corpus. These objects represent an elaborate tradition of stone sculpture produced in Iron Age Amman that was distinctive to the Ammonite kingdom and unique on both sides of the Jordan River. 

Comparisons to art from other parts of ancient western Asia and Egypt show that this Ammonite statuary corpus displays a distinct combination of emblems, gestures, and dress features, even while drawing on motifs appearing singly across the broader Near East. For example, hair features, full beards, and clothing details show connections with stone sculpture from north Syria and Mesopotamia. Other motifs come from Egypt, often through the Phoenician coast, especially the characteristic arm position of the male statues, the lotus flower held in the left hand of some statues, and the atef crown on two statues and several heads, which in Egyptian art is worn by Osiris and other deities, and occasionally by human rulers as well. 

But who or what do these sculptures portray? What do they tell us about the ideals, identity, and practices of the Ammonite kingdom and its broader society? The colossal scale of the Amman Theatre Statue certainly suggests a figure of importance. The one inscribed example suggests a statue of a royal figure named YrḥꜤzr (Aufrecht 2019). The distinctly Ammonite form of the atef crown adorning some of the statues and heads might indicate either a king or a god, while other figures appear with a headband or diadem (Horn 1973; Abou Assaf 1980; Daviau and Dion 1994). Beyond these hints, what more can we understand about the meanings and uses of this impressive collection of stone statuary? 

These artistic emblems and motifs—what scholars call the statuary’s iconography—provide the key for answering these questions. Most of these sculptures (except for YrḥꜤzr) lack inscriptions, and all were discovered in archaeological contexts other than their original settings or with no archaeological context at all. Fortunately, the broader Near Eastern parallels offer accompanying archaeological and inscriptional evidence illuminating the meanings and functions of these Ammonite statues. 

 The headgear and flower emblems among the Ammonite statuary prove to be two interrelating elements of iconography, each with its own binary pattern (Burnett 2016). First, the atef crown alternates with the headband diadem in portraying the Ammonite god and the Ammonite king, respectively, as first suggested by Abou Assaf (1980). Second, two statues with the head preserved portray a human ruler wearing a headband or diadem and holding an Egyptian lotus that droops against the left shoulder. In Levantine art, the drooping lotus signifies a deceased royal figure (Van Loon 1980). Thus, the Amman Theatre Statue and the inscribed YrḥꜤzr statue portray deceased Ammonite kings. On the other hand, a headless statue from the Amman Citadel holds a bundle of vividly upright flowers pointing toward the figure’s face, indicating a living royal figure in Levantine art. The two atef-crowned statues of the Ammonite chief god hold no discernable emblems. In sum, the headgear and flower motifs combine to indicate identically posed and dressed images of the Ammonite god and of living and deceased Ammonite human kings (Burnett 2016).

Matching the same basic pattern in headgear are abundant parallels to the Amman Theatre Statue among colossal standing male statues (mostly in basalt) of kings and gods from Iron Age political capitals of northern Syria and southeastern Turkey (Burnett forthcoming). Accompanying these parallels from Carchemish, Zincirli, and other Syro-Anatolian political centers, archaeological and inscriptional evidence attests the veneration of deceased human kings in royal ancestor cults (Voos 1988; Niehr 2014; Lewis 2019). These royal ancestor cults shared five basic elements: stone statues memorializing deceased rulers; belief in the postmortem existence of deceased rulers (sometimes as “divine” figures, defied in death); ritual invocation of the deceased king; food and drink offerings to the deceased ruler; and reciprocity aimed at both a flourishing afterlife for the deceased king and a favorable succession and prosperous rule for his son and successor to the throne (Burnett forthcoming). The similar scale and material of the Amman Theatre Statue and the drooping lotus signifying a deceased Ammonite king in this statue and the YrḥꜤzr statue indicate the Amman series of male statues likewise served a royal ancestor cult, in this case for the Ammonite kingdom. 

Additionally, artistic parallels in Egyptian statuary and Levantine carved ivories indicate the combination of the (originally Egyptian) arm position of the standing Amman figures with the drooping-lotus emblem portrays a divine figure (Burnett forthcoming). In other words, the Amman Theatre Statue and YrḥꜤzr statue indicate not only that these deceased Ammonite kings lived on and received offerings after death but also that they attained in death a divine status that offered symbolic, if not supernatural, benefit to their living successors on the throne and to those living under their rule.  

References

Abou-Assaf, A. 1980. “Untersuchungen zur ammonitischen Rundbildkunst.” Ugarit-Forschungen 12: 7–102.

Aufrecht, W. E. 2019  A Corpus of Ammonite Inscriptions. University Park, Pennsylvania: Eisenbrauns.

Burnett, J. S. 2016 “Egyptianizing Elements in Ammonite Stone Statuary: The Atef Crown and Lotus.” In 9 ICAANE: Proceedings of the 9th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East (June 9–13, 2014, University of Basel). Volume 1: Traveling Images, edited by R. A. von Stucky, O. Kaelin, and H.-P. Mathys, 57–71. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.

Burnett, J. S. In press. The Amman Theatre Statue in Its Iron Age Contexts. With contributions by R. Gharib and D. Parker. Annual of the American Society of Overseas Research. Boston: American Society of Overseas Research. 

Burnett, J. S., and R. Gharib. 2014–2015, “An Iron Age Basalt Statue from the Amman Theatre Area.” Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 58: 413–421.

Daviau, P. M. M., and P.-E. Dion. 1994 “El, the God of the Ammonites? The Atef-Crowned Head from Tell Jawa, Jordan.” Zeitschrift des Deutschen PalästinaVereins 110: 158–167. 

Horn, S. G. 1973. “The Crown of the King of the Ammonites.” Andrews University Seminary Studies 11: 170–180.

Lewis, T. J. 2019. “Bar Rakib’s Legitimation and the Problem of a Missing Corpse: The End of the Panamuwa Inscription in Light of the Katumuwa Inscription.” Aram 31: 349–74.

Loon, M. van. 1986. “The Drooping Lotus Flower.” In Insight Through Images: Studies in Honor of Edith Porada, edited by Marilyn Kelly-Buccellati, 242–252, pls. 59–61. Bibliotheca Mesopotamica 21. Malibu: Undena Publications.

Niehr, H. 2014. “The Katmuwa Stele in the Context of Royal Mortuary Cult at Samʾal.” In In Remembrance of Me: Feasting with the Dead in the Ancient Middle East, edited by V. R. Herrmann and D. J. Schloen, 57–60. Oriental Institute Museum Publications 37. Chicago: The Oriental Institute.

Routledge, B. 2004. Moab in the Iron Age: Hegemony, Polity, Archaeology. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Voos, J. 1988. “Studien zur Rolle von Statuen und Reliefs im syrohethitischen Totenkult während der frühen Eisenseit.” Ethnographisch-archäologische Zeitschrift: 347–362.

Joel S. Burnett is professor of Hebrew Bible and Northwest Semitic languages in the Department of Religion at Baylor University. He is a biblical scholar and historian of ancient Near Eastern religion. His areas of research center on the history and religion of ancient Israel and Transjordan, the Book of Psalms, and the Pentateuch. A native of South Carlina, Burnett studied at Wofford College (BA, German), Princeton Theological Seminary (MDiv), and Johns Hopkins University (PhD, Near Eastern studies). He is the author of numerous articles and book chapters and the following monographs and essay collection:  A Reassessment of Biblical Elohim (Society of Biblical Literature, 2001); Diachronic and Synchronic—Reading the Psalms in Real Time: Proceedings of the Baylor Symposium on the Book of Psalms(coedited with W.H. Bellinger and W. Dennis Tucker; T & T Clark International, 2007); “Where is God?” Divine Absence in the Hebrew Bible (Fortress, 2010); The Amman Theatre Statue in Its Iron Age Contexts (With contributions by Romel Gharib and Don Parker; American Society of Overseas Research, in press); and Religions of Iron Age Transjordan (Brill, in progress). Burnett enjoys music, outdoor exercise, and traveling with his wife, Jamie. 

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