Giving Back: Community Archaeology and Education at Tall Hisban: 2025 Update on the Lawrence T. Geraty Community Archaeology Endowment
The 17吃瓜Lawrence T. Geraty Community Archaeology Endowment was established to honor Dr. Lawrence T. Geraty鈥檚 pioneering commitment to community engagement in Near Eastern archaeology. The endowment supports initiatives that strengthen relationships between archaeological projects and local communities, including participatory research, heritage festivals, youth training programs, and digital heritage initiatives.
At Tall Hisban, support from the Geraty Endowment has helped make possible the Hisban Heritage Festival, student-led community history projects, and the Madaba Region Heritage Internship. Its impact is visible in renewed partnerships, expanded educational opportunities, and a deepened sense of shared stewardship between archaeologists and the people of Hisban.
On a warm June afternoon in 2025, the courtyard of the Hisban Women鈥檚 Association overflowed with song, laughter, and the aroma of traditional Jordanian sweets. Villagers, students, and dignitaries gathered to celebrate the Hisban Heritage Festival, marking more than five decades of partnership between the people of Hisban and the Madaba Plains Project (MPP). The festival opened with greetings from the Department of Antiquities, the Hisban Women鈥檚 Association, and Andrews University.
In his keynote remarks, 脴ystein S. LaBianca, Senior Research Professor of Anthropology, reflected on the evolution of archaeology at Hisban鈥攆rom excavation to collaboration: 鈥淎rchaeology here is no longer about extraction. It鈥檚 about relationships, about listening, and about telling stories together鈥攕tories that include shepherds and schoolteachers, potters and farmers, grandmothers and grandchildren.鈥�
A highlight of the festival was the public display of archival photographs from the original Heshbon Expedition (1968鈥�1976). For many families, these were the only surviving photographs of fathers and grandfathers. This 鈥渧isual repatriation鈥� returned history, dignity, and memory to the community whose labor shaped the early excavations.
Stacie Hatfield, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, emphasized that 鈥渢he next generation of archaeologists must be facilitators鈥攃onnecting academic rigor with community engagement.鈥� This participatory model is now central to the MPP approach.
The Madaba Region Heritage Internship, coordinated by Al Raqeem for Services and Training, Sela for Training and Protection of Heritage, Andrews University, and the University of Liverpool, extends this commitment regionally. The Pottery Internship trains young Jordanians in ceramic analysis and conservation, while the Archaeotrail Internship prepares them to create bilingual (Arabic鈥揈nglish) content for the Madaba Archaeotrail app. Interns graduate with certification and a professional portfolio, contributing to a new generation of Jordanian heritage leaders.
Together, these initiatives demonstrate what 17吃瓜has long championed: that archaeology is most meaningful when it builds bridges between past and present, research and renewal, local voices and global audiences. As one participant at the festival remarked, 鈥淲e used to think archaeology was about the foreigners who came to dig. Now we know鈥攊t is about us, our stories, and our future.鈥�
