Amman March 8-March 30

After finishing the intensive work on the plan of the Madaba Archaeological Park in the first part of March, I continued at ACOR for the rest of the month.  I did some further work on the Madaba Archaeological Park reports and worked with two American volunteers who had been helping out with sorting through the Madaba pottery for a few hours each week since mid-February. I also did some work on my Humayma excavation reports and continued to revise Nadia Sukhtian’s translation of Gustaf Dalman’s first volume about Palestinian customs. I also proofread a forthcoming issue of the Jordan Journal for History and Archaeology.

But my main work for the second half of March was to write a number of entries for an upcoming exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum in New York on Byzantium and Islam: Age of Transition (7th-9th Centuries). I was assigned to write two essays about mosaics and inscribed objects along with entries for a number of mosaic inscriptions, lamps and other objects; I had a total of 4000 words to write. Most of the objects that I was assigned come from Jordan, so I was already familiar with them. Several of the objects are on display in the archaeological museum in the Amman Citadel, so one day I went to look at them there. As it turned out, there was more involved with some of the objects than I had thought and so I needed to see the objects outside of their museum display cases. But to do that I needed to apply for formal permission from the director of the Department of Antiquities, which unfortunately was delayed.

The inadequate view of one of the pots I am writing an entry for on display in the Amman Citadel Museum

Among social events, on March 16 I attended a public lecture at ACOR by Dino Politis on his excavations in Ghor al-Safi, in which I have participated over the years. His lecture was followed by a reception at the British Institute. Also attending was Isabelle Rubin, another long-term participant in Dino’s excavation projects.

Isabelle Rubin, Dino Politis and me at the British Institute reception

On March 26 I attended an event in Jerash sponsored by the Department of Antiquities about new techniques in 3D mapping in which some Italians presented their work to 3D map the south theater in Jerash. After a lunch we saw their equipment in operation in the south theater. I took advantage of the opportunity to look at one of the lamps I am writing an entry for that is in the Jerash archaeology museum.

The 3D surveying gizmo in the Jerash south theater