Table of Contents Page Geraty wins Award ASOR 2000 MacDonald at AU Al-Maktába Random Survey INSTITUTE OF ARCHAEOLOGY HORN ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM NEWSLETTER Paul J. Ray, Jr. Editor David Merling Assoc. Editor Randall W. Younker Assoc. Editor Robert D. Bates Asst. Editor The Newsletter is published four times a year by the Institute of Archaeology, Andrews University. Annual subscription price is $7.50. Museum membership, subscription, and editorial correspon- dence should be addressed to the Horn Archaeological Museum, Institute of Archaeology, Andrews University, Berrien Springs, MI 49104-0990, Telephone 616-471-3273, Fax 616-471- 3619, e-mail [email protected]. Volume 22.1 Winter 2001 ISSN 1095-2837 Geraty wins ASOR Award The recipient of the P. E. MacAllister Field Award is Lawrence Thomas Geraty, long-time member of ASOR, a vice-president (since 1982) of the American Center for Oriental Research, and senior director of the Madaba Plains Project. Dr. Geraty’s career in archaeology got an early start when he lived with his missionary parents in Lebanon. At a tender age, he developed a passion for the land of the Bible and archaeology which eventually took him to the Theological Seminary at Andrews University and on to Harvard University, where, in 1972, he completed a Ph.D. in Hebrew Bible and biblical archaeology under the tutelage of George Ernest Wright and Frank Moore Cross. On completion of the Ph.D. he returned to Andrews University, where he soon succeeded in establishing a base from which to work as an archaeologist at the Institute of Archaeology. A grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to the Institute helped establish its publication arm. Over the past two decades, the Institute has published seven of fourteen planned volumes in the Hesban Final Publication Series and four volumes of the Madaba Plains Seasonal Report Series. Many other publications of interest to biblical archaeologists have, and continue, to be pro- duced here. As a field archaeologist, Geraty got his start at Gezer with Phil King as field supervisor. In 1968 he joined Siegfried Horn and Roger Boraas at Tall Hisban, where he served the first three seasons as a field supervisor. In 1974 he took over as director of the Heshbon Expedition which culminated with a final season in 1976. Under his leadership the expedition expanded greatly its scope of work and interdisciplinary staff, becoming one of ASOR’s leading projects in terms of (continued on p. 2) Geraty, with G. Ernest Wright and Jim Sauer at Tall Hisban in 1974. 1 2 2 3 4
Transcript
Table of Contents
Page
Geraty wins Award
ASOR 2000
MacDonald at AU
Al-Maktába
Random Survey
INSTITUTE OF ARCHAEOLOGYHORN ARCHAEOLOGICAL
MUSEUMNEWSLETTER
Paul J. Ray, Jr. EditorDavid Merling Assoc. EditorRandall W. Younker Assoc. EditorRobert D. Bates Asst. Editor
The Newsletter is published four times ayear by the Institute of Archaeology,Andrews University. Annual subscriptionprice is $7.50. Museum membership,subscription, and editorial correspon-dence should be addressed to the HornArchaeological Museum, Institute ofArchaeology, Andrews University,Berrien Springs, MI 49104-0990,Telephone 616-471-3273, Fax 616-471-3619, e-mail [email protected].
Volume 22.1Winter 2001
ISSN 1095-2837
Geraty wins ASOR AwardThe recipient of the P. E. MacAllister Field Award is Lawrence Thomas Geraty, long-time
member of ASOR, a vice-president (since 1982) of the American Center for Oriental Research,and senior director of the Madaba Plains Project.
Dr. Geraty’s career in archaeology got an early start when he lived with his missionary parentsin Lebanon. At a tender age, he developed a passion for the land of the Bible and archaeologywhich eventually took him to the Theological Seminary at Andrews University and on to HarvardUniversity, where, in 1972, he completed a Ph.D. in Hebrew Bible and biblical archaeology underthe tutelage of George Ernest Wright and Frank Moore Cross.
On completion of the Ph.D. he returned to Andrews University, where he soon succeeded inestablishing a base from which to work as an archaeologist at the Institute of Archaeology. A grantfrom the National Endowment for the Humanities to the Institute helped establish its publicationarm. Over the past two decades, the Institute has published seven of fourteen planned volumes inthe Hesban Final Publication Series and four volumes of the Madaba Plains Seasonal ReportSeries. Many other publications of interest to biblical archaeologists have, and continue, to be pro-duced here.
As a field archaeologist, Geraty got his start at Gezer with Phil King as field supervisor. In1968 he joined Siegfried Horn and Roger Boraas at Tall Hisban, where he served the first threeseasons as a field supervisor. In 1974 he took over as director of the Heshbon Expedition whichculminated with a final season in 1976. Under his leadership the expedition expanded greatly itsscope of work and interdisciplinary staff, becoming one of ASOR’s leading projects in terms of
(continued on p. 2)
Geraty, with G. Ernest Wright and Jim Sauer at Tall Hisban in 1974.
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successful blending of traditional biblicalarchaeology concerns with those of “thenew archaeology.”
The Madaba Plains Project, whichGeraty launched together with Larry Herrand Øystein S. LaBianca in 1982, was adirect outgrowth of the HeshbonExpedition in the sense that the projectwas launched in order to answer numer-ous questions that had come to light inthe process of preparing the final reportson the excavations. With its regionalfocus, its concern with long-term culturalchange patterns, and its multi-disciplinarystaff, the Madaba Plains Project sought toimplement a vision of the best practicesin fieldwork and laboratory proceduresbased on lessons learned in the course offieldwork at Tall Hisban.
Of Larry Geraty’s many contribu-tions to ASOR, ACOR and the MadabaPlains Project, none have been more criti-cal to the advance of field archaeology inJordan and beyond than his masterfulaccomplishments as a team builder, con-sensus maker, and facilitator of the schol-arly work of his students and colleagues.His leadership on various ASOR commit-tees, the ACOR Board and the MadabaPlains Project has helped to open doorsfor literally hundreds of students fromJordan, the United States, and many othercountries to pursue their dreams of doingarchaeology in the Holy Land.
It is thus a sincere pleasure to recog-nize Larry Geraty for his outstandingcareer as a builder of archaeologists andarchaeological teams, as a promoter ofcutting-edge research among his studentsand colleagues, and as a statesman in rep-resenting the interests of ASOR archaeol-ogists to the broader public, with thispresentation of the P. E. MacAllister FieldArchaeology Award! (modified from thecitation by Øystein S. LaBianca, present-ed at ASOR Awards Committee on Nov.17, 2000).
This years annual meeting of theAmerican Schools of Oriental Researchwas held in Nasville, TN near VanderbiltUniversity. The Society of BiblicalLiterature and the Near East Archaeolog-ical Society met at the Opryland Hotel.
Members of the Madaba PlainsProject who chaired sessions for themeetings were Douglas Clark (PlenarySession as well as the MPP Staff consul-tation and reception); Tim Harrison(Symposium on Recent Research in theMadaba Plains Region of Jordan I); LarryHerr (Symposium on Recent Research inthe Madaba Plains Region of Jordan II);Dave Merling (Individual Submissions);and Judith Cochran (Outreach EducationTeacher’s Workshop).
MPP members and affiliates whopresented papers or poster sessionsincluded Rhonda Root (Artist’s Report onMPP 2000); Michele Daviau (Gate andMoabite Temple at Khirbat al-Mudayna;and A Temple for Moab: Discoveries atKhirbat al-Mudayna); Richard Dorsett(Music of the Madaba Plains, Jordan);Larry Herr and Douglas Clark (Tall al-‘Umayri 2000 Season); Judith Cochran(The Archaeological Process: InterpretingPersonal Artifacts, co-authored; and TheArchaeological Process: A Hands-OnApproach); Chang-Ho Ji (The DhibanPlateau Project, 1999: The VersacareExpedition); and Bethany Walker(Muslim Images of the Holy Land: IbnBattuta’s Rihla in Bilad al-Sham).(Paul J. Ray, Jr.)
MacDonaldat Andrews
On October 23, 2000 BurtonMacDonald spoke for the Horn Archaeo-logical Museum Lectureship. He isDirector of Tafila-Busayra Archaeolog-ical Survey and professor of Religion atSt. Francis Xavier University, Nova
Scotia, Canada. His lecture was a reporton his recent survey work (2000) entitled:The Tafila-Busayra ArchgaeologicalSurvey, West-Central Jordan (TBAS).
The area surveyed is often referred toas Edomite territory. The project investi-gated an area of approximately 480 sq.km in west-central Jordan in the regionfrom just west of At-Tafila and Busayrato just north of Jurf ad-Darawish in theeast to the edge of the escarpment of theRift Valley and the SE plain of the DeadSea. This region represents the territoryimmediately to the south and east of thatwhich the Wadi al-Hasa ArchaeologicalSurvey (WHS 1979-1983) and theSouthern Ghors and Northeast ‘ArabahArchaeological Survey (SGNAS 1985-1986) previously reported by MacDonald.
The primary objective of the projectwas to search for archeological sites and to connect geographically with the terri-tory of both the WHS and the SGNAS. The survey area was divided into threetopographical zones that included 1) thegorges; 2) the Edomite Plateau; and 3) thedesert region. To serve as a hinterland, a 3km radius was surveyed around Busayra(the Edomite capital). In addition, the sur-vey “ground-proofed” potential sitesidentified on aerial photographs by D.Kennedy from the University of Western
(Award cont’d)
Michael Hasel reading a paper with DaveMerling presiding.
Australia, Perth, and investigated thearchaeological materials around twoPleistocene lakes in the Jurf ad-Darawish.
MacDonald adopted the MPP Surveymethodology developed by Gary Christo-phersen of University of Arizona, whorandomly selected the squares. Larry Herrof Canadian Union College read the pot-tery. For each zone the randomly selectedsquares were 500x500 sq. m and 200x200sq. m for Busayra.
The team pedestrian transects eachsquare after using GPS to find the corner.Five people stretched out along 250 mwalking in one direction then shifting theother way. They look for evidence ofhuman occupation such as sherds, lithics,glass, and slag. Careful record was kepton survey sheets and all artifacts weretagged and bagged on site.
The team discovered 49 enclosures/seasonal camps with architecture, 26 ofthem being major architectural sites.These include many watchtowers and fourpossible forts. In addition, 12 seasonalcamps/production/processing centers werefound along Pleistocene lakes in the Jurfad-Darawish area.
The Chalcolithic period is well repre-sented by both lithics and sherds but thearea appears to have had no Bronze Ageoccupation. Though some evidence ofIron I exists, the best-represented materi-als come from Iron Age II, the EarlyRoman (Nabataean), and Byzantine peri-ods. There is little in the way of EarlyIslamic materials, but the Middle/LateIslamic period is well represented, espe-cially at major agricultural sites. (RobertD. Bates)
Last summer a 23m long x2m wide x .75cm deep solarbarge from the 1st Dynasty(3100-2890 B.C.) was exca-vated in a mud brick pitnext to the royal burialchambers at Abydos. It isthe earliest example of sucha barge and sheds light onearly ship building tech-niques and trade contacts. Itwas made of cedar woodfrom Lebanon and, unlikethe later solar boat ofCheops, was “sown togeth-er” with thin lashings.
Cyrus Gordon dies:
We are sad to report the death of eminent scholar Cyrus Gordon on March 30. He wasborn on June 29, 1908 and has had a major impact on the near eastern studies for manyyears. His book A Scholar’s Odyssey has recently won the National Jewish Book Award.
Wheaton Conference:
On Nov. 10, 2000 Øystein S. LaBianca pre-sented a paper entitled The King’s Highwayand the Rise of Tribal Kingdoms in Iron AgeTransjordan at the annual ArchaeologicalConference held at Wheaton College.
Syrian Tomb Discovered:
Archaeologists from JohnHopkins University haveunearthed a royal tomb atUmm el-Marra (ancientTuba). This unrobed andintact, above-ground tomb,which is part of a largercomplex (either a palace orelaborate ancient cemetery)included 3 layers of skele-tons richly adorned in gold,silver and lapis lazuli. Theceramics date the tomb toca. 2300 B.C. The man onthe lowest layer held a sil-ver cup. The middle layerincluded a man crownedwith a silver diadem and thetop layer a richly ornament-ed woman with a baby.
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Recent Publications:
Congratulations are due to MPP staff Larry G. Herr and DouglasR. Clark for their article Excavating the Tribe of Reuben in Bib-lical Archaeology Review 27.2 (2001): 36-47; 64-65 and ØysteinS. LaBianca for his article Daily Life in the Shadow of Empire: AFood Systems Approach to the Archaeology of the Ottoman Periodin A Historical Archaeology of the Ottoman Empire edited by U.Baram and L. Carroll, 2000. Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers.
