Insights

Welcome to Insights! Formerly our long-running quarterly e-update, since 2020, Insights has been our blog, hosting essays by fellows, interns, staff, and others.

Pierre Bikai: An Appreciation

Oct 10, 2026 Posted in ACOR, Insights Tagged with ACOR, ACOR History

by Randolph B. Old The world recently lost Dr. Pierre Bikai, meaning that the American Center of Research (ACOR) lost one of its exceptional former directors. Pierre served as director from 1991 to 2006, some 20 years ago, and his time at ACOR needs to be remembered and applauded. ACOR advertised the director position in…

A Psalm in Stone: A Season Among Madaba’s Mosaics

Sep 15, 2026 Posted in Fellows, Fellowships, insights, Insights, Named Fellowships, Research Tagged with Archaeology, mosaic

The mosaic pavement of the nave, Church of Sts. Lot and Procopius, Khirbet al-Mukhayyat. (Photo by Kristen Flake.)

by Kristen Flake The Church of Sts. Lot and Procopius sits on the acropolis of ancient Khirbet al-Mukhayyat, overlooking the Dead Sea. Its 6th-century mosaic pavement is one of the best preserved in the region, covering the nave floor with the motifs typical of late antique Jordan: hunters and shepherds, vine scrolls filled with birds…

Mapping the Past with Tools of Today: Survey Technology at Kallirhoe

Aug 14, 2026 Posted in ACOR, ACOR Projects, Insights, insights, Research Tagged with Archaeology, mosaic

by Matthew L. Vincent How many times have we heard that story that starts with “When I first started, we did this, or that, or the other”? Well, this is another. Such stories get told for a reason, and it is not merely nostalgia (but, yes, it is partly nostalgia). It is that the pace…

Science Without Borders: Overcoming Hurdles to Protect the Identity of Jordan’s Ancient Coins

May 15, 2026 Posted in Fellows, Fellowships, Insights, insights, Named Fellowships, Research Tagged with Archaeology, coins

by Mohammad Rababah My journey with archaeology began not in a high-tech laboratory, but in the red dust of Jordan’s ancient sites. As a student at Yarmouk University and later as a field archaeologist, I spent years unearthing the tangible remains of our past, working on projects that stretched from the Roman aqueducts of Gadara…

Stone Tools on Repeat: Exploring Prehistoric Recycling Practices

Oct 17, 2025 Posted in Fellows, Fellowships, Insights, insights, Named Fellowships, Research Tagged with Archaeology, lithics, neolithic

Osama Samawi, analyzing stone tools from Tell Abu Suwwan at the University of Jordan.

by Osama Samawi During my time as an undergraduate, I enrolled in a course called “Technology in Prehistoric Periods.” At 19, the word “technology” still made me think of computers, but I signed up out of curiosity. Prof. Maysoon Al-Nahar introduced us to the fascinating world of stone tool technology using Neolithic assemblages from Tell…

Under the Jordanian Sun: Summary Reflections of a Student Archaeologist at the Humayma Archaeological Field School

Sep 21, 2025 Posted in Fellows, Fellowships, Insights, Named Fellowships Tagged with Archaeology, Cultural Heritage

Rachel Carroll photographing at Humayma. Photo by Omar Perez.

by Rachel Carroll Prior to this field school, my only archaeological experience and exposure came from classes I had taken at the University of Alberta, volunteer work I had done with one of my professors, and travels I had taken with my family. Never once had I stepped foot on a site intending to contribute…

The Midianite-Kenite Hypothesis and the Qurʾan: A Salute to ACOR

Aug 22, 2025 Posted in Fellows, Fellowships, insights, Insights, Named Fellowships, Research Tagged with Archaeology, Bible, Qur'an

Sign and landscape with ruins, Ayla/Aqaba, Jordan, by Kareem Rosshandler,

by Kareem Rosshandler I had the privilege of staying at the American Center of Research during the months of May, June, and July of 2025 and conducting research on depictions of Midian/Madyan in the Hebrew Bible and the Qur’an. Historically, Midian/Madyan is believed to have been located in the northwestern Arabian Peninsula, with its northernmost…

Terracotta Male Figurines from Iron Age Jordan

Jun 18, 2025 Posted in CAORC, Fellows, Fellowships, Insights, insights, Research Tagged with Archaeology, Iron Age, religion

Horse-and-rider figurine from al-Muqabilayn tomb (Iron IIC).

by Joel S. Burnett When it comes to understanding religion in Iron Age Jordan (ca. 1200–550 BCE), terracotta figurines offer one of our most abundant and expressive forms of archaeological evidence. These three-dimensional artistic objects fit readily into one hand (typically 10–15 cm), apparently crafted for personal use. At the same time, they appear across…

ACOR Internship Experience: Preserving Jordan’s Heritage: My Experience with ACOR’s National Inventory Project

Mar 30, 2025 Posted in ACOR Interns, ACOR Projects, Insights

by Roma Aatifi 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…

ACOR Internship Experience: My American Center of Research Internship

Jan 26, 2025 Posted in ACOR Interns, Insights, Library

by Zain Fanik I completed an internship at the American Center of Research over the course of two weeks during December, 2024. It was a great and very valuable experience, as I was able to work with archival documentation, as well delve briefly into cultural heritage databases. What I gained the most from this experience…

Dating Fatimid and Ayyubid Manuscript Fragments through Handwriting and Material Analysis

Dec 8, 2024 Posted in Fellows, Fellowships, Insights, insights, NEH, Research Tagged with Arabic language, Archival research, archive, History

Iqrār contracted between Mubarak ibn Asad and Abu al-Shatranji in 1010 CE. Cambridge, Taylor-Schechter Collection, Cambridge University Library, TS Ar. 38.2, folio 1r. 1010 CE. (Image used with permission of the Syndics of Cambridge University Library.)

by Sarah Islam For historians of the Middle East, medieval documents and manuscripts are integral resources to better understand the social and intellectual milieu of their objects of study. Islamic manuscript archives and repositories are often quite challenging to access; an even greater challenge is the ability to read and analyze the documents themselves. For…

ACOR Internship Experience: In the Library with Rare Books and Maps

Nov 14, 2024 Posted in ACOR Interns, Insights, Library

ACOR intern Dima Harb working in the rare books collection in the library

by Dima Nafez Amin Harb My name is Dima Nafez Amin Harb, and I am a cultural resources management and conservation graduate from the University of Jordan, the valedictorian of my major. Throughout my education, my professors would always recommend several organizations that could assist us with our study, and the American Center of Research…

ACOR Internship Experience: The National Inventory Project

Oct 17, 2024 Posted in ACOR Interns, ACOR Projects, Insights Tagged with Archaeology

Madeleine Tripp, intern, National Inventory Project

by Madeleine Tripp 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…

Together with ACOR: Fifty Years of Cooperation

Sep 5, 2024 Posted in ACOR, Insights Tagged with ACOR, ACOR History, Archaeology

Presenting a book to ACOR’s library. (Photo from the archive of Zeidan Kafafi.)

by Zeidan Kafafi, Professor Emeritus, Yarmouk University The Beginning In the academic year 1967–1968 I enrolled as a student at the Department of History and Archaeology at the University of Jordan. Unfortunately, in that same period the Arab-Israeli Six Days War began on June 5, 1967. As a result of the war, in 1968 the…

Joining the 2024 Study Season at Khirbet al-Mukhayyat

Jul 8, 2024 Posted in Fellows, Fellowships, Insights, Named Fellowships Tagged with Archaeology

A potsherd ready to be drawn during the 2024 2024 Study Season at Khirbet al-Muhkayyat. Photo by Nina Rozic (Jennifer C. Groot Memorial Fellow).

by Nina Rozic This year I was able to participate in the study season for the Khirbet al-Muhkayyat Project, along with Kathleen Macleod Kerr, a fellow undergraduate student from Wilfrid Laurier University. We were delighted to return to the dig house in Madaba where we had stayed in 2023 while completing the field-school credit for…

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