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Fieldwork Report: Marta Doglio

Posted on December 28, 2023 by Marta Ostovich

A Hot and Dusty Field Season at Gird-I Matrab

Marta Doglio, 2023 P.E. MacAllister Fieldwork Scholarship Recipient

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In 2023 I was awarded a P.E. MacAllister Scholarship that allowed me to join the Gird-I Matrab Archaeological Project (GMAP). I would like to thank the 17吃瓜selection committee and the donors who provided this scholarship, and the director of the Gird-I Matrab project, Prof. Rocco Palermo (Bryn Mawr College), who gave me the opportunity to be part of team.

Gird-I Matrab (鈥渢he dusty mound鈥� in Kurdish) is a multi-mound archaeological site located in the plain of Erbil, in the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan. This year excavations were carried out between July and August. Iraq welcomed us with its very hot, windy and dusty weather!

At Matrab, I worked as trench supervisor of Area B, a step-trench located on the main mound (Mound 1), as well as a pottery specialist. One of the goals of the 2023 season was indeed to explore the long-lasting occupation at the site, and particularly through the excavation of Mound 1.

After the initial surface scraping, our excavation immediately showed that Mound 1 featured a massive presence of Chalcolithic structures. We found numerous pits of various sizes but also clear evidence of mudbrick domestic architectures. In the best-preserved domestic unit, I excavated a fireplace, which was located in one of its corners. Two mudbricks, placed vertically in the hearth, might have served as supports for pots and jars while on the fire. The filling of the fireplace consisted of burnt, ashy soil, in which a cluster of burnt听cretulae听was retrieved.

The excavation in Area B confirmed that the Late Chalcolithic occupation of Gird-I Matrab spanned on a very long time. Based on the preliminary pottery analyses, Area B shows a coherent and homogeneous chronology, almost completely dating to the Chalcolithic Period, specifically Late Chalcolithic听 1-2 (LC 1-2, ca. 4500鈥�3900/3850 BCE) and Late Chalcolithic 3-5 (LC 3-5, ca. 3900/3850鈥�3100 BCE).

During this field season at Gird-I Matrab we did not just work hard, fun was also an integral part of the campaign. During our weekends on Thursday and Friday, we took the opportunity to visit some archeological sites and cities around Erbil and in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

First, we visited the city of Slemani with its wonderful archaeological museum. The week after that, we travelled to Duhok where we had the opportunity to visit two of the most important archaeological sites in the region. We first visited the Assyrian period aqueduct of Jerwan built by king Sennacherib in the 7th century BCE. Then, we had a tour of the archaeological complex of Faida, where we admired the reliefs that portray a procession of statues of seven of the main Assyrian deities, standing on podia in the shape of animals, and in the presence of the king.

My first excavation season at Gird-I Matrab was a wonderful experience, full of surprising discoveries. I had the opportunity to work with an amazing international team and to discover more about Kurdish culture. I visited places and I met people that contributed to my personal and academic growth. I really look forward to being back in Gird-I Matrab next year!

Marta Doglio graduated from University of Pisa (Italy) and she is currently working on graduate school applications. She is a member of several archaeological projects based in Turkey and Iraq. Her major scientific interest is in the investigation of the social and cultural phenomena that occurred during the 1st millennium BCE in South-West Asia, with a specific focus on both ceramic data and spatial analyses.听You can find Marta Doglio on twitter @doglio_marta

For more information about the Gird-I Matrab Archaeological Project visit:

Website听

Want to help more students and early career archaeologists get into the field? Donate to the cause today by selecting 鈥淪tudent Support鈥� as your gift purpose!

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17吃瓜Annual Year-End Appeal Letter

Posted on December 19, 2023 by Marta Ostovich

Year-End Appeal Letter From ASOR鈥檚 President

Dear 17吃瓜Members and Friends,

I am writing today to ask you to听to 17吃瓜before the end of the year. Our members鈥� and friends鈥� generosity with both money and time is what makes it possible for 17吃瓜to accomplish its multiple missions of initiating, encouraging, supporting, and disseminating research on, and public understanding of, the history and cultures of the Near East and wider Mediterranean world.

One of our prime methods of getting the word out about this research is our Annual Meeting, held every November. Our 2023 AM was our first hybrid meeting. There were more than 1,000 registrants, with nearly 800 attendees in-person and over 200 more participating virtually. Due to the ongoing war in the Middle East, we needed to change numerous presenters from in-person to virtual at the last minute, and I am grateful to the hard-working 17吃瓜staff who managed that. It was not an easy meeting, but it was successful, with excellent program presenters who represented 35 countries and 6 continents.

ASOR鈥檚 work increasingly includes expanding the understanding of the importance of cultural heritage and its preservation among peoples who are often in conflict. As one of our collaborators in Niger recently put it 鈥淲e have an obligation to create awareness, to teach the local political figures and religious leaders, who would hopefully teach others, to pass the message, from village, to town, to city, therefore reducing destruction to our cultural heritage, helping locals understand the utility of their heritage and its importance for our history and identity.鈥� A big part of this process is fostering collaborations and friendships across borders and between peoples.

In this time of war, which has ripped much of the world in which we work apart and fueled growing fires of Islamophobia and Antisemitism worldwide, ASOR鈥檚 work is more important than ever. Please give to 17吃瓜today.

With all best wishes for a better New Year,

Sharon Herbert
17吃瓜President

Click here for a printable donation form.听

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Shepard Urgent Action Grant Report: Post-Earthquake Action at Tell Atchana

Posted on December 18, 2023 by Marta Ostovich

2023 Shepard Urgent Action Grant: Post-Earthquake Action at Tell Atchana/Hatay, T眉rkiye

Murat Akar, Onur Hasan K谋rman, H茅l猫ne Maloigne, M眉ge Bulu, Tara Ingman

On February 6th, 2023, an earthquake of 7.8 magnitude hit eleven cities in southeastern Turkey and North Syria. Only 9 hours later, another earthquake of 7.6 magnitude took place, an extremely unusual natural phenomenon along the East Anatolian Fault. A third event of 6.3 magnitude, an Antakya-based earthquake, 14 days later, was followed by 30,000 aftershocks. The overall affects were on a drastic level; there is no way to comprehend the scale of destruction without physically sensing and experiencing the post-earthquake environment, particularly in Antakya, where we were witnesses to the destruction of an entire city. According to official records, over 50,000 people in Turkey and 3,000 people in Syria died, with hundreds of thousands injured. From historic buildings to modern apartments, nothing survived. In the earthquake-struck cities, over 90,000 buildings were reported to be heavily damaged and are now being demolished as unsafe.

Although portions of the Tell Achana site in the region were seriously damaged by the earthquakes (see below), the Tell Atchana Excavations and the Amuq Valley Research Center (AHAM), located in a village near the site of Tell Atchana, was not damaged and played a crucial role in this period of catastrophe and was turned into an operational center for humanitarian support. This showed that archaeological research centers (鈥榙ig houses鈥� in conventional terms), often located outside urban areas, play a crucial role in such circumstances, and all archaeological projects should be aware and ready to respond to periods of crisis with their well-established facilities. In the weeks immediately following the earthquakes, we concentrated on developing an urgent action plan and, thanks to the response we got from our crowd funding campaign, we were able to provide containers, tents, food and medical supplies to people we were closely connected to. Since much of the humanitarian support was prioritized for people living in the city centers, we decided to help our community, the villages that we have been interacting with for more than twenty years as part of our archaeological research.

A second step was to establish the safety of archaeological collections by supporting our colleagues working in the same region and of the transportation of all the Amuq Valley and related excavations鈥� collections (Tell Tayinat, Toprakhisar H枚y眉k and Kinet H枚y眉k), previously stored in the city center, to our facility. Next, we undertook a damage assessment report at Tell Atchana, where the palaces exposed in the 1930s were heavily damaged during the earthquake.

The walls of the burnt mud brick palaces of the Middle and Late Bronze Ages had collapsed, stone orthostats had fallen. The modern roof construction covering the well-known palace of Idrimi (Late Bronze Age) was partially collapsed and became a potential threat to the standing remains underneath. The Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism conducted damage assessment report, the summer excavation plans were modified to focus on a restoration project and several grant applications were submitted to initiate the earthquake response project as quickly as possible.

The reasoning behind this was not only related to heritage preservation but also had the goal of providing a healthy and a safe environment to many of our students, who were traumatized due to the loss of their core family members, relatives, friends and their houses, their city. We took the responsibility for protecting our students through the assurance of scholarships and, most importantly, something to hold on to. This was archaeology. In a city that was lost, this created deeper bonds with the site and with a group of dedicated members. We have been onsite for more than six months now, doing fieldwork in an extremely difficult environment.

But the severity of the earthquakes was not the only factor in the scale of destruction at Tell Atchana. The site was first excavated in the 1930s and 1940s by Charles Leonard Woolley on behalf of the British Museum. His excavations exposed two extremely well-preserved palace complexes from the Middle and Late Bronze Ages, the city鈥檚 royal gate complex and a stratigraphical sequence through his deep soundings. This exposure covered roughly one third of the mound. By modern archaeological standards, this task could only be accomplished with centuries of excavations. In the first half of the twentieth century, little attention was paid to the afterlife of archaeological excavations and sustainable heritage preservation, and the site was abandoned and neglected after the termination of the excavations. Nature reclaimed the site, with teeming wildlife and deep-rooted plants that have made the architectural remains their home.

The rapid decomposition of the site is partly due to the nature of building materials in the ancient Near East. Mud brick architecture is fragile, and once it is exposed, there is no way to provide long-term protection unless it is isolated from environmental stress. Of course, the millennia of building, decomposition and rebuilding have led to the familiar landscape of tell settlements in the landscapes of Anatolia, the Near East and the Levant. Since the resumption of excavation in the early 2000s, the Tell Atchana, Alalakh Excavations Team has made the preservation of the site with and for the local community one of their main foci. Over the last twenty years, Alalakh has become a publicly accessible archaeological park, with designated pathways, a viewing platform and explanatory panels. This site interpretation is particularly important for a site with a colonial-era legacy of large-scale archaeological exposure, as the different levels of the architectural remains are difficult to interpret and engage with for visitors.

Since 2019, we have been working on removing the collapsed mud brick detritus of the walls that, to a certain extent, preserved what is left underneath. Once this was accomplished, the general layout of the building plans become understandable, and a sense of space is created. However, cleaning walls certainly means more exposure to environmental stress, and thus, a decision was made to preserve the monuments by using environmentally friendly, sustainable, and reversible methods that can be helpful in both preservation and presentation of the site. This was achieved by mud plastering. The walls, currently preserved to less than one meter high, were covered with geotextile. This helped manage the uncontrolled growth of wild plants. This layer of geotextile was then sealed by mud plaster. Such preservation and presentation methods require yearly treatment, a collective effort in which we aim to include the wider community through annual events celebrating traditional building methods and the preservation of intangible and tangible heritage. The earthquake demonstrated the effectiveness of our approaching some of the lower walls, as only the single row of bricks (20 x 20 x 40 cm) we used for capping had been destroyed, while untreated walls suffered much heavier collapse. However, the disaster has also shown that a more robust approach is needed, which requires the building of strong walls around the original walls.

The excavation season of summer 2023鈥損artially funded by the Shepard Urgent Action Grant鈥搘as dedicated to this long-term project, and we produced and used approximately 4,500 mud bricks. We also changed the size of the bricks used to 40 x 40 x 20 cm, which required tremendous amounts of raw materials as well as physical endurance in handling mud bricks weighing up to 30kg each. Woolley鈥檚 dumps along the tell鈥檚 slopes provided the soil鈥搘hich had to be first dug out from under plant growth, sifted and laid out; 3,000L of water and approximately 200 kg of straw were then added to produce a mud mixture, which was allowed to mature over night. Our bricks were made in custom-made frames, which allowed us to produce up to 200 bricks per day, which were left to dry in the sun over several days, being turned regularly to expose all sides to the air. The bricklaying itself was performed by the project director and a handful of team members trained (and strong enough) to handle the weight.

The walls were then covered by a layer of mud plaster to protect them from heavy rainfall in the winter. Despite this significant progress, a tremendous amount of work remains to be done. For example, the Middle Bronze Age palace, famous for the discovery of one of the oldest wall paintings in the Eastern Mediterranean world, was already exposed and in a fragile condition due to its destruction by an intense burning event in the past, and it is now almost completely decayed and shattered by the earthquake. In the 2024 fieldwork season, we will continue with our preservation and community outreach efforts to bring the 鈥楩orgotten Kingdom鈥� back to life.

Visit听听and follow our instagram @tellatchana to learn more.

Established in 2020 with annual contributions, the Shepard Urgent Action Grants program was created to support emergency and rapid response activities on archaeological sites in the greater Mediterranean region. Shepard Grants have provided $59,725 in support of projects with urgent need since the program began. While preference is given to projects and teams with听current 17吃瓜affiliation, applications will be considered from all projects. All 2023 grant funds have been awarded, and pending the receipt of funds, 17吃瓜plans to resume accepting applications for Shepard Grants in 2024.

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17吃瓜Cultural Heritage Programs Manager Opening

Posted on December 18, 2023 by Marta Ostovich

17吃瓜CULTURAL HERITAGE PROGRAMS MANAGER OPENING

The American Society of Overseas Research (ASOR) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to initiate, encourage, and support research into, and public understanding of, the history and cultures of the Near East and wider Mediterranean world, from the earliest times. Founded in 1900, 17吃瓜has 54 consortium institutions, more than 2,200 individual members, and over 16,500 Friends. When the tangible remains of history and cultures are lost due to theft, war, climate change, and other catastrophes, ASOR鈥檚 ability to fulfill its mission is diminished. Therefore, 17吃瓜developed the Cultural Heritage Initiatives (17吃瓜CHI) to protect, preserve, and present to the public the historic and cultural heritage and to raise awareness of its degradation. Through cooperative agreements with the U.S. Department of State, and generous support of non-federal organizations and donors, current 17吃瓜CHI projects include education and stewardship programs in North Africa and the Middle East.

17吃瓜is looking to strengthen and expand its efforts by hiring a Cultural Heritage Programs Manager to work with the two co-directors of 17吃瓜CHI in overseeing and administering the grants process, including identifying, developing, and writing new grant proposals. 17吃瓜currently has 9 full-time and 7 part-time team members, who contribute to but do not work exclusively on cultural heritage projects.

The 17吃瓜Cultural Heritage Programs Manager will ensure the successful implementation of ASOR鈥檚 program to protect, preserve, and present to the public the cultural heritage of the Near East and wider Mediterranean. The successful candidate will perform a wide variety of duties necessary for grants development and for proper program implementation, management, and monitoring, in coordination with 17吃瓜leadership and ASOR鈥檚 Cultural Heritage Committee.

Review of applications will begin on January 8, 2024, and continue until the position is filled. To apply, send an e-mail with a letter of interest and CV or resume to programs@asor.org. Please put 鈥淐H Programs Manager application鈥� in the e-mail subject line.

Responsibilities

Identify and research new funding opportunities (especially federal grants)
Help develop and write grant proposals
Aid in planning and implementing grant-supported projects and activities
Monitor project expenditures and results (under direction of ASOR鈥檚 Finance Manager)
Manage documents and deadlines
Work with ASOR鈥檚 Finance Manager and 17吃瓜CHI Co-Directors to produce and communicate project financial reports, results, and other data requested from funders
Assist in annual and strategic planning and budget preparation for the 17吃瓜CHI program
Other duties and responsibilities as assigned

Qualifications/Preferred Skills

Degree in non-profit or cultural heritage management or business administration or the equivalent experience
Strong writing skills
Ability to work creatively with others to identify and develop new grant proposals in a deadline-driven work environment
Budget and accounting skills; preference for experience with U. S. federal grant compliance
Preference for 5 years鈥� experience in grant acquisition and oversight
Strategic thinking and analytical skills
Program management skills
Organizational and communication skills
Ability to represent the 17吃瓜CHI program to funders and project directors
Fluency in Arabic desirable but not required
Work authorization in the U.S. and a valid passport from a country that permits travel to countries where 17吃瓜conducts work

Job Specifics

Full-time, exempt; normally 40 hours/week
In-person at the James Strange Center (ASOR鈥檚 headquarters in Old Town Alexandria, VA); some remote work negotiable
Anticipate salary of $55,000 to $75,000, depending on experience
Benefits (relocation expenses not included)

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Fieldwork Report: Sarah Harrington

Posted on December 17, 2023 by Marta Ostovich

Excavating at the Crossroads: A Mosaic of History

Sarah Harrington,听2023 Stevan B. Dana Scholarship Recipient

The 鈥淎t the Crossroads: Arameans, Phoenicians and Israelites鈥� project at Tel Abel Beth-Maacah is located in Northern Israel, just south of the Lebanese border. Like today, in ancient times, the Tel was located at an intersection of cultures. Abel Beth-Maacah, or ABM as it is affectionately called by its excavators sits at the Northern extent of the Kingdom of Ancient Israel, and seems at various periods to have been controlled by Israelites and Arameans, with clear Phoenician influences. Textual evidence at this site is limited, but in conjunction with material culture, particularly in the forms of art and pottery, the excavators are able to piece together an understanding of the systems of trade, influence, and interaction that this region of Northern Israel was experiencing in various periods.

While written evidence for Abel Beth-Maacah is limited, it is not non-existent. The Hebrew Bible mentions the site in a story from the Davidic period. A 鈥渨ise woman鈥� tells Joab, one of David鈥檚 generals, that 鈥渓ong ago they used to say, 鈥楪et your answer at Abel,鈥� and that settled it鈥� (1 Samuel 20:18) hinting at some sort of divinatory cult at the site. In support of this idea, the archaeological material has turned up a hoard of 406 knuckle bones, or astragali bones, which were commonly used in divination rituals, from the Iron IIA (Reference). The woman also refers to Abel Beth-Maacah as a 鈥渕other in Israel鈥�, tying the city to the Israelite Kingdom (2 Sam. 20:19). Later, the Aramean king Ben-Hadad I would conquer the northern border states of Israel, including ABM and neighboring Tel Dan, a conquest confirmed by the discovery of the Tel Dan stele erected by Ben-Hadad after his victory (1 Kings 15:20). A final piece of textual evidence comes from the site itself, where a theophoric name (a personal name which includes the name of a deity) was found on a jar in a massive storage building. Theophoric names rose to prominence in the Iron II in the Southern Levant. For ancient Israel, these are called 鈥淵ahwistic names鈥� as they include the name of the god Yahweh. The presence of such a name suggests an Israelite presence at the site during this period.

While evidence such as names and material culture can give insight into who lives at a site during a given period, archaeologists still must proceed with caution. The Iron Age Levant was interconnected. As discussed above, political boundaries shifted, especially near borders. It was not uncommon for things like personal names or pottery styles to shift in order to give the owner a social or economic advantage. To the west, Phoenicians on the Levantine coast were trading widely in the Mediterranean during the Iron II.

At Abel Beth-Maacah, evidence for Phoenician trade is seen in the Phoenican style pottery, such as a Phoenician Bi-chrome jar, as well as a seal bearing the impression of a Phoenician ship. The seal could have been used practically, but may have also been a prestige item. It is shaped like a lotus flower, a distinctly Egyptianizing art feature, again pointing to the interconnectedness of art and trade in this period. Phoenician material culture at the site is a good example of how archaeologists must be careful when interpreting data. While it is not unlikely that some Phoneincians did reside at ABM, the presence of Phoenincian pottery does not have to mean the owners were 鈥淧hoenician,鈥� especially when knowledge of Phoenician trade patterns is considered. People and materials were moving widely through the Levant and the Ancient Near East, and it is not surprising that the material culture reflects this.

These issues are particularly relevant for a border site like Abel Beth-Maacah. Because the ancient world was interconnected and fluid, archaeologists must connect together evidence from texts, archaeology, and art, from their own excavations and others, to piece together an understanding of the past.

For more information, please visit our website:听

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Seger Grant Report: Chipped Stone Tools Excavated from Tel Beth-Shemesh

Posted on December 15, 2023 by Marta Ostovich

2022 Joe D. Seger Project Grant Report: Final Analysis of the Chipped Stone Tools Excavated from Tel Beth-Shemesh (2003-2019)

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Tel Beth Shemesh was occupied from the Middle Bronze II Period through to the Assyrian conquest of the region. Excavations directed by Shlomo Bunimovitz and Zvi Lederman (Tel Aviv University) since 1990 have focused on refining the occupation phases of the site and establishing its role as a border community in the Shephelah region during the Iron Age.

I joined the project in 2003 and for almost 20 years I have brought students to Israel so they could learn how to carry out archaeological field work. My colleagues and I have trained more than 500 undergraduate and graduate students through the Tel Beth-Shemesh field school. As a Canadian scholar bringing large groups of students to Israel, my summers focused on student learning. Concentrating on the educational components of the project meant that during the short periods of time I spent in Israel, I had less time for the specialized analysis work required to examine the chipped stone tools. Because of the Joe D. Seger Project Grant, I was able to fulfill these research goals during a non-excavation season.

We have excavated more than 2700 diagnostic chipped stone artifacts at Tel Beth-Shemesh, making it one of the largest lithic assemblages amassed from a historic period site in the Levant. These specimens include cores and waste flakes (debitage) from tool production, tool blanks or preforms, and finished tools. Thousands more non-diagnostic chips and chunks of high-quality chert were also collected and examined. It was quickly clear that at least some lithic tool production was taking place on site, but a detailed study of the artifacts was needed to understand the manufacturing process and determine if certain tools were locally manufactured and others acquired through trade. Moreover, the chipped stone artifacts came from Middle Bronze II to Iron II contexts, which allowed me to study diachronic change in the chipped stone industry. This was especially exciting because Tel Beth-Shemesh is one of only a handful of sites that was continually occupied through these periods.

I am very grateful to have received the Joe D. Seger Project Grant. Funding like this allows researchers from North America, like myself, to complete analyses on excavated materials.

-Shawn Bubel, Professor of Archaeology at the University of Lethbridge

17吃瓜plans to award two听Seger Project Grants听of $2,500 each during 2024.听听by February 26, 2024 for consideration.

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Fieldwork Report: Marc Mar铆n Webb

Posted on December 3, 2023 by Marta Ostovich

Remote Sensing Techniques to Reveal Ancient Mesopotamian Urbanism

Marc Mar铆n Webb, 2023听Strange-Midkiff Fieldwork Scholarship Recipient

The archaeological site of al-Hiba, ancient Lagash, stands as one of the most extensive third-millennium sites in Southern Mesopotamia, situated approximately 22 km east of the modern town of Ash-Shatra in Iraq (Figure 1). Its initial exploration, spanning from 1968 to 1978, was conducted by Vaughn Emerson Crawford and Donald Hansen. In 2019, archaeological activities were resumed through the efforts of the Lagash Archaeological Project (LAP), under the direction of Professor Holly Pittman from the University of Pennsylvania. Over recent years, LAP has delved into the investigation of craft production within households and workshops across the neighborhoods of ancient Lagash, focusing on the Mesopotamian Early Dynastic Period (circa 2,900-2,350 BCE). In the coming years, LAP intends to delve deeper into the socio-economic aspects of craftspeople by analyzing the variability of utilitarian products, production debris, and their respective activity areas.

The exceptional preservation conditions at this sprawling 400-plus hectare site, primarily dating to the EDIIIb period, favor a multifaceted approach encompassing both aerial (walking surveys and remote sensing techniques like UAV photogrammetry and thermography) and subsurface methods (surface scraping, excavation, and geophysics including magnetic gradiometry and electrical resistivity tomography). Through these methods, LAP seeks to address craft production at four socio-spatial scales: the household, the neighborhood, the city, and the city-state.

The remarkably preserved surface and subsurface architecture at Lagash, as evidenced by initial drone flights from 2019 to 2023 over Area H (Figure 2), offers a unique opportunity to test remote sensing techniques for reconstructing the urban layout of the city during the Early Dynastic period. In this project, my responsibilities include tracing this architecture through carefully planned flightpaths over selected regions of the site, leading to the creation of orthomosaic images. These flight photographs are subsequently uploaded to the DroneDeploy website for processing. The rectified orthomosaics are then downloaded into QGIS for merging into a single image and processing into the new contour plan for Lagash.

Orthomosaic images generated through DroneDeploy are compared to select those that provide clearer depictions of architectural features. We conduct regular aerial surveys on a daily basis to identify optimal weather conditions for revealing these features. Flights immediately following rainfall prove especially useful for detecting surface and subsurface walls, as differences in soil density quickly become apparent in the aerial photographs. Additionally, drone flights at different times of the day reveal distinct features.Subsequently, orthomosaics are digitized into AutoCAD and QGIS to create vector shapes and poly lines representing identified surface-level architectural elements such as walls, streets, kilns, and drains (Figure3).

Surface-level architectural features are frequently discernible in Tell al-Hiba, both through walking surveys and aerial and satellite imagery. These distinctions arise from variations in soil density, triggering differences in moisture retention levels and salt efflorescences. These variations are prominently visible in the 2022-23 aerial surveys of Area H, where surface and subsurface walls appear as darker shades of brown, and white concentrations of salt.

Since 2019, we have identified hundreds of features of similar scale and orientation, yielding significant insights into the density and organization of the urban fabric. This includes the orientation of streets and buildings, room sizes, wall thickness, and types of brickwork. Among these structures, we鈥檝e encountered both small-scale buildings and substantial constructions, including segments of the city wall and building complexes of notable size.

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The combined use of geomagnetic surveys and aerial surveys conducted over the past four years provides a snapshot of the urban fabric in Area H (Figure 4). While the precise dating of most of these structures remains uncertain, we can begin to draw certain conclusions from the data obtained. This area of the site appears to have been densely populated, featuring both small-scale and monumental architecture, as indicated by walls of varying widths and the differing scales of rooms and courtyards between them. Most sub-surface architectural traces identified in the aerial survey consist of scattered structures, preventing the reconstruction of entire buildings. Nevertheless, they are primarily aligned and oriented in accordance with the neighborhood鈥檚 main streets.

Previous surface surveys in Tell Al-Hiba have suggested that the majority of surface remains likely belong to a single period, the Early Dynastic III B (Carter 1985, 1989-90; Goodman et al. In press). Our objective for the 2023 and upcoming seasons is to cross-reference datasets from remote sensing with excavation findings to confirm the dating of these structures. This will help determine whether they are indeed mostly contemporaneous or if we are dealing with a complex layering of structures from multiple periods, spanning broadly from the Early Dynastic I to the end of the Early Dynastic III.

For more information, please visit our website:听

Marc Mar铆n Webb is an architect and PhD candidate in Middle Eastern archaeology and history at the University of Pennsylvania. He has participated in archaeological and cultural heritage preservation projects in Syria, Iraqi Kurdistan, and southern Iraq. He has been collaborating in the LAP for two years now, contributing to the architectural analysis and aerial survey of the site.

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2023 17吃瓜Honors & Awards

Posted on December 1, 2023 by Marta Ostovich

2023 17吃瓜HONORS & AWARDS

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Each year at the Annual Meeting, 17吃瓜recognizes individuals who have performed outstanding service for the organization, those who have published exceptional academic work, and those who made significant contributions to our field. The following award recipients were honored at the 2023 Annual Meeting in Chicago and during the Members鈥� Meeting on November 17th. Awards were presented by Lynn Welton, Chair of ASOR鈥檚听Honors and Awards Committee.

Community Engagement and Public Outreach Award. This award recognizes individuals, teams, and organizations who have initiated outstanding educational, informational, or practical projects (including but not limited to classes, programs, exhibits, resources, events, and platforms) with the goal of making subjects and information about the ancient world accessible to wider (particularly non-academic) audiences.

Awarded to听Marilyn Lundberg Melzian, Archive and Imaging Research Specialist, University of Southern California, for her work with the听听and听.

The Charles U. Harris Service Award. This award is given in recognition of long-term and/or special service as an 17吃瓜officer or Trustee (one award is given annually).

Awarded to听Paul Flesher, Professor of Religious Studies and Director of the American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming for his work with the 17吃瓜Archives.

The P. E. MacAllister Field Archaeology Award. This award honors an archaeologist who, during his/her/their career, has made outstanding contributions to ancient Near Eastern and eastern Mediterranean archaeology (one award is given annually).

Awarded to听Bethany Walker, Professor Doctor, Universit盲t Bonn.

17吃瓜Membership Service Award. This award recognizes individuals who have made special contributions on behalf of the 17吃瓜membership, through committee, editorial, or office services.

Awarded to: Leigh Anne Lieberman听(Open Context/Alexandria Archive Institute),听Tiffany Earley-Spadoni听(University of Central Florida), and听Melissa Cradic听(Open Context/Alexandria Archive Institute) for their design and implementation of the program,听Digging Up Data, to aid 17吃瓜members in the development of public-facing digital projects.

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Awarded to听Piotr Michalowski,听George G. Cameron Professor Emeritus, University of Michigan, for his 32 years of service as editor of the听Journal of Cuneiform Studies, the Baghdad Committee, and ASOR.

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Awarded to Beth Alpert Nakhai, Professor of Anthropology (Judaic Studies), University of Arizona, for her work in with ASOR鈥檚 Initiative on the Status of Women.

The G. Ernest Wright Award. This award is given to the editor/author of the most substantial volume(s) dealing with archaeological material, excavation reports and material culture from the ancient Near East and eastern Mediterranean. This work must be the result of original research published within the past two years (one award is given annually).

Awarded to James Osborne, Associate Professor, University of Chicago, for , Oxford University Press.

The Frank Moore Cross Award.听This award is presented to the author/editor of the most substantial volume(s) related to the history and/or religion of the ancient Near East and Eastern Mediterranean. Primary consideration will be given to historical, epigraphic, textual, and comparative literary studies; or to works that advance and/or evaluate new methodological approaches to the literary record(s). This work must be the result of original research published during the past two years (one award is given annually).

Awarded to听Megan Nutzman, Associate Professor, Old Dominion University for听, Edinburgh University Press.

The Nancy Lapp Popular Book Award. This award is presented to the author/editor of a book published in the last two years that offers a new synthesis of archaeological or textual evidence intended to reach an audience of scholars as well as students and the broader public (one award is given annually).

Awarded to听Amanda H. Podany,听Professor Emeritus, California State Polytechnic University, for听, Oxford University Press.

The Joy Ungerleider Poster Award. This award is conferred upon the author(s) of the poster presenting the results of a study about ancient Near Eastern societies in a clear, legible fashion using original graphic content. Subject matter may be based in archaeological sciences, history, anthropology, epigraphy, ethnography, heritage or other scholarly approaches to understanding ancient people in the areas covered by 17吃瓜(one award is given annually).

Awarded to听Efrat Nakash, Tel Aviv University, for the poster: 鈥�.鈥�

Student Paper Award. This award is conferred upon the author(s) of a paper presented during the Annual Meeting that conveys the results of a study about ancient Near Eastern and wider Mediterranean societies in a clear, understandable, and convincing fashion. The first author and presenter of the paper must be a registered student at the time of presentation in order to be eligible for consideration for this award.

Awarded to听Morganne Ottobre, Johns Hopkins University, for the paper 鈥淏etween Two Cultures: Translation and Multimodality in the Tell Fekheriyeh Inscription.鈥�

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ASOR-ISAC Teacher Workshop: Bring Archaeology to your Classroom

ECS Poster and Student Paper Preparation Session

Cultural Heritage Committee Seeks New Members

Fieldwork Report: David Rhys Sharpe

Fieldwork Report: Mireya Smith

Posted on November 27, 2023 by Marta Ostovich

The Secret Life of an Archaeologist at Kerkenes

Mireya Smith, 2023听BIPOC Fieldwork Scholarship Recipient

In May of this year, I graduated from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology and an undergraduate certificate in Geographic Information Systems. My hope was to become an archaeologist after realizing that it was something that genuinely made me happy in life. I decided to apply for the UCF in Turkey program as a beginning step to this new chapter of my life. My dreams were coming true when I found out I got accepted to the program.

Kerkenes is an ancient Iron Age site in Anatolia that has a unique past. It stood for only about 60 years before being burnt down by either the Lydian or Phrygian King. Luckily archaeological evidence shows that almost everyone made it out before the burning, and that it was burned to show dominance after taking over the area. Kerkenes stands on a mountain at anout 1500 meters high. It is surrounded by granite and bedrock, but under the surface, the 2500-year-old structures are waiting to be discovered by future archaeologists.

This year, four UCF students joined the Kerkenes Project on May 18th, 2023. We started by conducting an electrical resistance survey where probes eject an electrical current into the ground and record the amount of time it takes for the current to come back. The change in time helps to create a picture of what is underground. In order to establish where to do electrical resistance survey, we also conducted a total station survey to map the above-ground areas.

A few weeks later, we commenced excavation in Trench 45. This trench has been open for some time, and last year鈥檚 excavations revealed a building (Structure B) that could potentially be an ivory workshop. This was what we were excavating this year but in order to begin, we had to get rid of all the flora that grew on top of the geotextile (a fabric that protects what was exposed) and backfill. After a few days of this, we were able to see the walls that had been previously excavated, and we learned what collapsed architecture looks like. After getting the go ahead, these walls were removed down to the first course. Once we knew what we were working with, we were able to follow the walls to reveal the entire structure. When this was revealed, things took a very non-traditional turn (at least as far as what I have been taught in my classes).

The area to be excavated was split into 32 squares with multiple people digging with pickaxes. My previous experience had taught me that traditional archaeology calls for excavating in 10cm increments while keeping the surface level, then collecting and dry sieving the dirt that comes out of the trenches. Since the sediments at Kerkenes are comprised of clay and become solid when dry, so the team excavated with pickaxes, collected the dirt in plastic bags, recorded the elevations with the total station, and then wet sieved the dirt using Hydra. This process entailed getting a bag of the collected dirt, placing it in a mesh crate, and washing away the small dirt particles, leaving behind any ivory, bone, or ceramic that were missed during the excavation process.

Things collected include bone, ivory, ceramic, and building materials with impressions on them. Ceramics were washed, labeled, and categorized by the students and volunteers while the other materials went to the registrar and conservator to be assigned ID numbers. After this, the items were photographed, conserved, 3D scanned, and put on shelves for later reference by specialists or the museum.

Some other other methods we used included 3D scanning and photogrammetry of the area, along with some of the artifacts. Photogrammetry meant going to site when the sun was not as bright and taking back-to-back photos of the installation, walls, and the trench itself. These photos will be uploaded to a program that turns them into a 3D image. The 3D scanning of the area works similarly except it is done in real time as opposed to having to wait to upload the images.

As the excavation season came to an end, we closed the unit and compiled all the materials and data. Some of the team went to the site to clean and backfill while others processed the ceramics, bone, ivory, etc. The season ended with a workers鈥� dinner, where we celebrated their efforts before everyone went on their way for new adventures.

The fun part of excavations is not limited to the skills we learn and apply, however. There is so much that happens behind the scenes that affects not only the people, but the flow of the project itself. Being away from home for two months with strangers is hard enough, but being away from home in another country is even harder. The long workdays make it harder to keep in contact with loved ones on a consistent basis. While we all hope to get along, there are struggles and disagreements here and there. What I think is great about this experience is that it not only solidifies the relationship with your support group at home, but also challenges you as a person to make and keep up friendships while on the project. With people coming and going, there are so many opportunities to make friends and connections. We really do function like a family and share many great memories鈥攍ike the workers singing and dancing, our six-minute rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody when the bosses were away (sorry you had to find out this way), bonfires, enjoying the scenery while eating meals, cookin, and baking for everyone, tears, talking about and resolving conflicts, trying new fruit, and just spending time with the new friends we鈥檝e made.

I came to this project wanting to gain experience in archaeology and GIS and came out with so much more. I accomplished my goals and even was offered a job at two different CRM companies with many other interviews. I also made new friends that I believe will last a lifetime. My favorite part of this whole project was having the opportunity to meet all the students, volunteers, senior staff, and professors. Our backgrounds are so diverse, but Kerkenes bonds us all. I鈥檓 going to miss them so much! I hope to come back and make more memories with everyone!

Mireya Smith graduated in May of 2023 with a BA in Anthropology and an undergraduate certificate in GIS from the University of Central Florida. She was originally on a pre-med track until after Covid when she realized she wanted to do something she loved instead of something to make others happy. After studying abroad in T眉rkiye, she has been working in CRM. Mireya has completed projects in Mississippi, Texas, and Florida. She is so thankful for the grant! Without it, she would not have gained the archaeological experience and then in turn work opportunities.

Want to help more students and early career archaeologists get into the field? Donate to the cause today by selecting 鈥淪tudent Support鈥� as your gift purpose!

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ASOR-ISAC Teacher Workshop: Bring Archaeology to your Classroom

ECS Poster and Student Paper Preparation Session

Cultural Heritage Committee Seeks New Members

Fieldwork Report: David Rhys Sharpe

Collections Fellowship Report: Helen Dixon

Posted on October 29, 2023 by Marta Ostovich

2023 Collections Fellowship Report: Exploring Punic Religious and Social Life in Coastal Tunisia

Helen Dixon, Assistant Professor of History at East Carolina University

In the early centuries of the first millennium BCE, some Phoenicians left their homes along the Levantine coast, selected sites on nearly every Mediterranean island and coastline, and made a new life for themselves. They learned from local populations, adapting their religious and cultural practices to new environments. Carthage would become the most famous Phoenician diaspora community, but it was one of many Punic settlement sites in modern Tunisia. Thanks to the听17吃瓜Collections Fellowship, I conducted research in archaeological collections from Utica, Carthage, Kerkouane, and Sousse that tells the stories of Levantine Phoenicians (and Sidonians in particular) as they joined existing regional networks and made their mark on coastal Tunisia.

I had planned to explore two research projects during my ten days in residence in Tunis: first, to investigate ca. 70 Carthaginian votive stelae featuring images of ships known from the infant cremation site often referred to as a 鈥渢ophet.鈥� I was also on the lookout for contemporaneous maritime images from other religious or funerary contexts to better understand these votive images. The second project was for my current book manuscript,听Death in Sidon: a study of nine Carthaginian funerary stelae commissioned by men and women 鈥渙f Sidon鈥� 鈥� settlers who still identified with their Levantine city of origin. Many (but not all!) of the stelae from both projects were published in Latin in the听Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum听(1881-1962), but the tiny thumbnail images were not sufficient to clearly make out the details of the iconography, and I was excited to see what traces of paint might remain.

When I arrived at the Institut National du Patrimoine (INP) offices in Tunis, I learned that the Carthage National Museum had just undertaken a new collections inventory, which would lead to improved photographs and perhaps a searchable catalogue in the future. Unfortunately for me, this meant specific research requests like the one I had made could not be accommodated, as the museum was mostly closed and staff time redirected. With the guidance and generosity of Dr. Imed Ben Jerbania, I was able to rethink my research plans. I focused on understanding 7th-4th c. BCE life in the Punic settlements along the Tunisian coast, visiting ongoing excavations at Utica and Carthage, archaeological parks throughout Carthage, Sousse, and Kerkouane (including both the Punic town and the necropolis), and archaeological collections in the Utica, Sousse, and Kerkouane Museums. This will allow me to offer a nuanced picture of these communities鈥� values, self-representation, and maritime orientation in future publications, while awaiting the reinstallation of the Carthage National Museum in 2026. I am grateful to the INP for the hospitality and assistance I received and to 17吃瓜and East Carolina University for making these connections possible.