Department Of Antiquities Research Articles

Application of Georadar Method to Investigate shallow Artifacts for Al-Maabid Area in Babylon Archaeological City

Babylon, one of the most influential civilizations in Mesopotamia, significantly contributed to human history with its rich culture, advanced legal systems, and architectural marvels, serving as the capital of the Neo-Babylonian empire. This study aims to discover ancient Babylonian civilizational remains and artifacts, including artifacts and walls from an ancient Babylonian house near the Ishtar temple. A geophysical survey was carried out using ground penetrating radar (GPR), yielding promising preliminary results. It contributed to the Department of Antiquities' excavation campaign for potential antiquities in Babylon Governorate, which was regarded as a preliminary step before beginning extensive excavations. Accurate GPR results were displayed as radargrams, maps, and 3D VI visualization diagrams, providing a precise subsurface view of buried archaeological remains.

Excavations at the Late Bronze Age site of Erimi-Pitharka, Cyprus (2022-2023 seasons): Regional production and storage in the Kouris Valley

The rural site of Erimi-Pitharka is located in the archaeologically rich Kouris Valley of south-central Cyprus. Previous rescue excavations by the Department of Antiquities, Cyprus, have revealed a subterranean complex, industrial areas, and a building complex at the highest topographical point of the site. New excavations by an international team began in 2022 and continued in 2023. We here report on the findings from these first two seasons, which have focused on the large building complex in Area I/1A. Dated to LC IIC-IIIA (c. 1300-1150 BCE), this part of the site is characterised by an emphasis on agricultural production and storage. The inhabitants took advantage of the soft limestone-rich bedrock to create subterranean and semi-subterranean installations, rooms and storage spaces, and pithoi were similarly used for storage and industrial activities. Pitharka was peacefully abandoned, and much of the material culture was removed in the process.

Assessing the Conservation and Management Status in the Archaeological Site of Pella (Tabaqat Fahl) in Jordan

The archaeological site of Pella (Tabaqat Fahl) in Jordan is a unique heritage site that represents a rich historical chronology and is listed on UNESCO’s Tentative List of World Heritage Sites under criteria (i), (iii), and (iv). Pella is currently under the administration and management of the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (MOTA) and the Department of Antiquities (DoA) respectively. This paper assesses the site’s status of conservation and management through investigating the current physical conditions, threats, managerial constraints, and opportunities. The paper explores the annual work carried out in the site over the past 15 years, including foreign missions, as well as the new visitor centre that the MOTA has established in the site recently. In addition, all stakeholders that have cross responsibilities in the site are identified. The results of this research highlight strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities that face the site. It is evident that the site requires efficient conservation and management processes, as Pella has slowly deteriorated over the years, which has left it in a vulnerable and neglected state. Overall, the archaeological site of Pella holds immense opportunities for improvement and strengthening its Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) that can aid in inscribing it on the list of World Heritage Sites.

Tracking Local Employees of the British Mandate Department of Antiquities in Palestine

Tracking Local Employees of the British Mandate Department of Antiquities in Palestine

Teaching and Researching the History and Archaeology of Jordan during the Bronze and Iron Ages (ca. 3600 – 1200 BC)

The history of nations is their political and cultural identity, but this recorded history, which began with the knowledge of writing in the East about 3200 years BC and has continued until the present, has seen difficulties and declines in civilizations. What concerns us in this article is shedding light on an important period of Jordan’s ancient history – the Bronze and Iron Ages (c. 3600-332 BC) – which scholars of religion and the Bible contect with stories in the Bible beginning with the the Israelites leaving Egypt, their coming to Palestine and their establishing their state. It is important for us to shed light on who undertook and undertakes recording that history and the methodologies followed and the interpretation of antiquities and ancient inscriptions related to that history. We have seen that it is necessary to the extent possible to clarify Jordan’s role in the study of Jordan’s ancient history by the Jordanian universities that study history and archaeology and related fields. Since the establishment of the emirate in 1921, Jordan has attached great importance to archaeology, establishing a Department of Antiquities that remained under the control of the Mandate until the Arabization of the army in 1956. Also, in the same year in which the University of Jordan was established (1962), a Department of History and Archeology was established, and the university sent students abroad to study ancient history. Some other Jordanian universities did likewise. Unfortunately, recent years have seen a decline in research and teaching about the Bronze and Iron Ages; a number of faculty members in this field have retired, and universities have either refrained from sending students abroad or have stopped hiring new faculty members. In addition, the sub-sciences related to archaeology have overshadowed the original, hoping that students will get a job, as a result of graduates in archaeology flooding the market. In order for the matter to be rectified, it is necessary to establish a research center or centers based on scientific research and publishing in the ancient history of Jordan, following a unified approach based on scientific evidence.

Coastal and maritime archaeology in Cyrenaica, Libya: history, developments, site identification and challenges

Abstract The coastline of Cyrenaica, Libya, is rich in cultural heritage dating from prehistory to the modern periods. Despite the region's long-standing and strong connection to the sea, maritime archaeology remains a peripheral, but growing, branch of archaeology in Libya. This paper aims to provide an overview of the maritime projects that have been carried out in Cyrenaica in the past. Furthermore, it will highlight the main threats and damages that coastal heritage faces today and will provide some suggestions on how the discipline could develop in the future. The Cyrenaica Coastal Survey (CCS), a collaboration between the Maritime Endangered Archaeology (MarEA) project and the Department of Antiquities (DoA), Libya, will serve as a case study of an ongoing project that documents and assesses the condition of sites along the Cyrenaican coast between Tocra and Apollonia.

Rescue Excavation at the Islamic Site of Umm Zweitineh in Central Jordan, 2012

This paper draws on the preliminary results of the rescue excavation conducted by the Department of Antiquities at Umm Zweitineh in central Jordan in 2012. The goal of the excavation was to take urgent action regarding protecting the site as far as possible. Due to budget constraints, the excavation work lasted for only twenty days. The aim of the article is that of providing a clear regional picture of the Islamic settlement through the seventh/eighth and fourteenth centuries AD through retrieving information from the architectural remains and material culture. The architectural relics and material culture were unearthed under a dense layer of wreckage and accumulated debris because of previous construction work at the site. The accumulation deposits yielded a ceramic assembly of daily life vessels dating primarily to the Umayyad and Mamluk periods. Earlier pottery sherds belonging to the Roman and Byzantine periods have been also uncovered. Ceramic sherds from the Iron Age II sporadically appeared on topsoil. Besides the ceramic, other metal artifacts, including bronze vessels from different periods, have been unearthed. The Umayyad and Early Mamluk settlements were distinguishable because of the distinct corpus typical of both periods. Possible evidence of a religion building belonging to the Umayyad-period Christianity have been unearthed in Area B.

Intrigue and Feud in Colonial Cyprus: Professor Talbot Rice’s Tendentious Report (1936) on the New Antiquities Department

ABSTRACTIn response to criticism about the state of the monuments there, the British government in 1935 set up a Department of Antiquities in its colony of Cyprus. The instability of its first two years owed much to local intrigues and feuds that the colonial governor, Sir Richmond Palmer, failed to resolve. His equivocal stance was tested when, immediately following a visit to the island in 1936, David Talbot Rice, the Watson Gordon Professor of Fine Art at Edinburgh University, submitted to the Colonial Office in London a report criticizing the Department’s work. Dismissed at once by the governor as wildly inaccurate and unhelpful, the report raises questions about Talbot Rice’s possible motives in writing it. The episode reveals the strained nature of metropolis-colony relationships, the fallibility of reports made by visiting experts, and—specifically for the Cyprus case—the governor’s questionable commitment to the new Antiquities Department.

From the Editors

From the Editors

Digging Up Jericho: Past, Present and Future

Digging Up Jericho: Past, Present and Future

Planned Plunder, the British Museum, and the 1868 Maqdala Expedition

AbstractIn 1863, Emperor Tewodros II of Abyssinia (present-day Ethiopia and Eritrea) took a British consul hostage; five years later, the British sent a punitive expedition. This military expedition continued the brutal tradition of earlier ones and shaped later campaigns in Sudan and West Africa in the 1890s. Typically, a large contingent of non-military personnel accompanied these expeditions and the 1868 expedition to Maqdala was no different. What was unique for Maqdala was the inclusion of a member of staff from the British Museum. We argue that a letter from Charles Thomas Newton, keeper of the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities, to Sir Roderick Murchison, the president of the Royal Geographical Society (RGS), illustrates that the plunder of cultural heritage was planned. We also argue that the plunder did not go to plan. The inclusion of a man from the museum made this expedition unique in the museum's history. The acquisition of these objects through colonial violence constitutes a strong moral reason for their repatriation from the British Museum and the numerous institutions in which they are dispersed. Understanding the planning involved in their plunder illustrates the entanglement of politics and imperialism with scientific and cultural institutions that constituted the backbone of Victorian Britain.

Kourion Urban Space Project: Preliminary Report of the 2018 Season

The 2018 season of the Kourion Urban Space Project (KUSP) continued the excavation of Building 4, a large structure situated just to the southwest of the Earthquake House on the Kourion promontory. Focusing on tracing the architecture of this building, this season revealed the northwest perimeter wall and identified two internal rooms: the courtyard and Room 35. Building 4 continues to yield high quality and imported artifacts including glass vessels and fragments of marble statuary along with imported marble and stone construction materials. These artifacts combined with the overall large size of this structure and construction materials suggest that this building served the elite class at Kourion, though it is still uncertain if it served a public or private purpose. This report was lodged with the Department of Antiquities, Cyprus, in January 2022 and is published here with the authors’ affiliations as they were at the time of the excavation.

Kourion Urban Space Project: Preliminary Report of the 2016 Season

The 2016 season of the Kourion Urban Space Project (KUSP) focused on the excavation of a structure situated to the southwest of the Earthquake House on the city’s acropolis. Excavation revealed a large building, designated Building 4, that had been damaged suddenly and further decayed over time. Though it is uncertain if Building 4 was a domestic structure, administrative facility or both, it is evident from the construction materials, particularly marble and painted plaster wall facing, and imported finds that it served elite members of the Kourion community. This paper provides a preliminary description and analysis of the archaeology of Building 4. It was lodged with the Department of Antiquities, Cyprus, in January 2018 and is published here with the authors’ affiliations as they were then.

Excavations at Khirbet Safra and the Report on the Oven from House B.2

It has been five years since Andrews University started excavating Khirbet Safra in Jordan under the supervision of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan. Archaeological excavations in modern-day Jordan have increased in recent decades, providing invaluable information about ancient societies. That is especially the case with the Iron Age I. Our knowledge about that period has been updated with recent research and Khirbet Safra is one of many newly opened sites that has shared light on the subject. Although the preliminary results of the excavations have just started to get published, the authors wanted to present the current results of the excavations to promote the site among the Croatian public and interested readers. That is why this paper will bring an update on the Khirbet Safra excavations but also it will provide a preliminary report on the oven that was found in House B.2. A short analysis of the taboon type oven and its contextual analogies will bring forth a better understanding of household activities in the Iron Age I in the southern Levant.

One Hundred Years of Archaeological Work in Jordan

This article deals with major achievements in the field of archaeology and cultural heritage in Jordan since the 19th century, the time when many travelers explored Jordan and Palestine and paid attention to the richness of the Archaeological and historical sites. The Department of Antiquities was established in 1923 to manage the archaeological sites and excavations as well as restoration work in various sites of the country. As well as bylaws of antiquities ere issued in 1934. Since then extensive excavations and surveys took place by foreign expeditions, and later on with participation of local institutions. Archaeological and cultural resource management programs were established in a number of Jordanian universities for training local archaeologists to undertake field research projects in cooperation with international institutions. A national museum (Jordan Museum) as well as several local museums and university museums were established and made accessible for local communities. The Department of Antiquities developed a program entitled (MEGA-Jordan) to inventory and manage archaeology sites at a national level. International research centers were established in Jordan including the American, British, French, German and Spanish, to conduct archaeological work and to accommodate researchers from different parts of the world. Six Jordanian properties were inscribed in the World Heritage List: Petra, Quseir Amra, Um er-Rasas, Wadi Rum, Baptism Site and As-Salt.

Antiquities laws and regulations issued in Jordan from 1923 to 2013

The Department of Antiquities, established in 1923, is one of the first governmental departments established after the foundation of the modern state of Jordan. For the purposes of organizing archaeological work, the Jordanian government has issued during the past hundred years several laws related to the legalization of archaeological work and the protection of antiquities, numbering seven, the first of which was the Law of Antiquities of 1925 and the last of which was Law No. 21 of 1988, followed by many amendments and regulations. The most recent of these was the Law Amending the Antiquities Law No. (55) of 2008. In this paper, we reviewed all antiquities laws, regulations, and amendments that occurred to them from 1923 to 2013, and discussed them, highlighting their strengths and weaknesses, and their contribution to protecting the Jordanian cultural heritage.

Smuggling Cuneiform Tablets in Aniseed Bags: Profile of a Sale Made by Elias Gejou to the British Museum in 1896

The British Museum archive preserves hundreds of letters sent by antiquities dealers based in Baghdad who regularly wrote to sell archaeological artefacts to the department of Egyptian and Assyrian antiquities (the former name of today’s Middle East collection) in the late 19^th century. These documents, largely understudied for the information they contain about the antiquities trade in this period, are invaluable not only because they preserve the stories of the men and women who were involved in this trade, but also because they record the details of their smuggling operations. In their letters to curators, antiquities dealers openly discussed the methods they used to circumvent the Ottoman authorities’ exportation ban of archaeological artefacts adopted in 1884. Although dealers did not shy away from writing about their operations, they did however refrain from disclosing how they passed their collections through customs undetected. Despite this absence, such stories (while rare) do survive. One of the most explicit is preserved in documents related to the British Museum’s purchase of 186 cuneiform tablets from a Baghdad-based broker named Elias Gejou in 1896, who hid the artefacts he sent in bags of aniseed. To present this rare example of a ploy to deceive, this article retraces the events and relationships that enabled Elias Gejou’s smuggling. The aim of this case study is to illustrate how investigating antiquities dealers’ letters in the British Museum archive can enrich our understanding of the manner in which Iraq’s tangible cultural heritage was dispersed across the globe.

The Cyrenaica Coastal Survey Project: Documenting Endangered Maritime Heritage in Libya

This paper introduces the Cyrenaica Coastal Survey (CCS), a collaborative project between the Maritime Endangered Archaeology project and the Department of Antiquities (DoA) Cyrenaica in partnership with the Universities of Al Bayda and Benghazi in Libya. Since the Arab Spring in 2011 and the subsequent civil unrest in Libya, heritage professionals, the DoA, and various individuals interested in heritage have struggled to safeguard heritage sites across the country, as policies and laws that protected archaeological sites were no longer reinforced and adhered to in the wake of the revolution. This lack of finances, capacity, and governmental support led to an unprecedented loss of archaeological sites since 2011. The CCS survey records the current condition of maritime sites along the Cyrenaican coast. The project focuses on the smaller, lesser known, coastal heritage sites that are not as well studied as the much larger classical period port towns of Apollonia, Tocra, or Ptolemais. This article will focus on the results of the first phase of the project between ancient Phycus (modern Zawiet el-Hamama) and Kainopolis (modern Al-Ogla). The results of the first stage of the Cyrenaica Coastal Survey provides a snapshot of the damages and threats that coastal heritage faces in Libya, most notably (often unregulated) building activities, clearance, sand mining, and coastal erosion. Furthermore, this article highlights the importance of remote collaboration between UK institutions, in-country partners, and heritage authorities, especially in countries where the discipline of maritime archaeology has been established more recently.

UAVs/drones for photogrammetry and remote sensing: Nineveh archaeological region as a case study

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) is nowadays a valuable source of data for inspection, surveillance, mapping and 3D modeling issues. UAVs can be considered as a low cost alternative to the classical manned aerial photogrammetry, because they provide users with high spatial resolution images up to a centimeter limit. Following a typical photogrammetric workflow, 3D results like Digital Surface or Terrain Models (DTM/DSM), contours, textured 3D models, vector information, etc. can be produced, even on large areas. The paper reports the state of the art of UAV for Geomatics applications, giving an overview of different UAV platforms, applications and showing also the latest developments of UAV programs. The research presents the sequence of operations should be follow on the images taken with these aircraft for maximum use in remote sensing and air survey. Recent photographs were taken using the DJI Phantom 4 UAV (which was awarded to the Nineveh Department of Antiquities and Heritage by the Italian Mission) for the archaeological Nineveh region in Mosul city and use as a case study.

Typology of Roman Urns in the Antiquities Collection of the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina

This paper treats various forms of Roman urn, evidence of cremation as a customary manner of burial in what is now Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Antiquities Department of the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina holds the largest collection of Roman urns of various types and dates: 76 complete or fragmentary specimens. The urns may be classified in terms of material into glass, pottery and stone urns. Several different forms are identified within each group. The most diverse are stone urns, which may be square, rectangular box-shaped and sarcophagus-like, or cylindrical.