James A. Sauer was for many years the Director of the American Center of Oriental Research in Amman, Jordan, leading it to the preeminent place it now occupies as a research institution dedicated to the archaeology and history of Transjordan. This volume honors him, with more than 50 contributions from colleagues and friends. With this volume, the Harvard Semitic Museum inaugurates a new series entitled "Studies in the Archaeology and History of the Levant."

Jordan is a key area of migration within the Levantine corridor that links the continents of Africa and Asia. 'Crossing Jordan' examines the peoples and cultures that have travelled across Jordan from antiquity to the present. The book offers a critical analysis of recent discoveries and archaeological models in Jordan and highlights the significant contribution of North American archaeologists to the field. Leading archaeologists explore the theory and methodology of archaeology in Jordan in essays which range across prehistory, the Bronze Age, the Iron Age, the Hellenistic and Roman periods, Nabatean civilization, the Byzantine period, and Islamic civilization. The volume provides an up-to-date guide to the archaeological heritage of Jordan, being an important resource for scholars and students of Jordan's history, as well as citizens, non-governmental organizations and tourists.

This volume offers 21 essays that cover a wide range of topics in Byzantine and Post-Byzantine art and Archaeology.

This volume contains thirteen papers which demonstrate the usefulness of 2D and 3D digital modelling in archaeology, which as the title states goes well beyond simply producing illustrative site maps, but can be used as a creative form of experimental archaeology.

Jordan is a country with a very long and fascinating history that is strikingly documented by archaeology. A major introduction to this region, detailing each phase of Jordan's archaeology and history in a series of chapters specially written by leading experts, this title also includes sections on individual topics, such as ecology and architecture. Illustrated with numerous line drawings, maps and photographs, this comprehensive reference work should be useful for anyone engaged with the history and civilization of this region of the Middle East.

This book had its genesis in a series of 6 popular and well-attended ASOR conference sessions on Household Archaeology in the Ancient Near East. The 18 chapters are organized in three thematic sections: Architecture as Archive of Social Space; The Active Household; and Ritual Space at Home.

The natural arc of resource-rich land which forms the ‘Fertile Crescent’ of South-West Asia is regarded as the earliest centre of village-based farming in the world and has been the focus of much of our understanding of the transition from Epipalaeolithic hunter-gathers to Neolithic farmers. Beyond the Fertile Crescent is the first volume of the Azraq Project, a large-scale archaeological and palaeoenvironmental survey and excavation project undertaken between 1982 and 1989 in the ecologically diverse sub-region of the Azraq Basin in north-central Jordan: an area rich in Palaeolithic and Neolithic archaeology. Beginning with an overview to the Project aims, a detailed analysis of past and present environments and land use and the history of excavation in the Basin, Beyond the Fertile Crescent explores the geology, stratigraphy and dating of the Late Palaeolithic sites and provides a detailed description of the technology and typology of the lithic assemblages from the sites. These are then compared with those from the wider Levant, in order to explore possible links between technological traditions and social groups in order to understand the evidence for settlement strategies across the region.

An interest in places of pilgrimage is very much a part of the life of many people in the modern world. For Christians, it is the Holy Land that holds specific interest - the area where the events described in the Bible, in both the Old and the New Testament, are located. This volume focuses on early Christian pilgrimage in Jordan, the region east of the Jordan River which has so far been little explored by pilgrims and tourists to the Holy Land. Yet many biblical events are said to have taken place here: Moses seeing the Promised Land, the ascension of the prophet Elijah and John the Baptist's ministry and beheading, to name but a few. This book takes an innovative approach to studying these sites. After a general introduction to each site, its biblical significance and a citation of the relevant biblical sources with commentary, the author lists the literary sources that pertain specifically to early Christian pilgrimage activity. This information is complemented with a description of the early Christian archaeological remains found at the site and their interpretation. Illustrated throughout with maps, plans, and photographs and including travel directions as well as suggestions about visits to the sites, this volume is made for scholars, pilgrims and tourists with an interest in early Christian and modern pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

'Beyond the Jordan' is a collection of essays written to honor the life and labors of W. Harold Mare. Dr. Mare spent much of his academic career as Professor of New Testament at Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis. A man of indefatigable energy, broad interests, and an unswerving commitment to the Christian faith, his research expanded from New Testament interests to the archaeology of that world, including ancient Canaan and Israel as well as the eras following the establishment of Christianity. Apart from his work in textual studies, W. Harold Mare will be remembered for his excavations of Abila of the Decapolis in Jordan, yet he also published a study of the archaeology of Jerusalem. Thus the title of this volume is ambiguous enough to allow a broad spectrum of topics relative to either side of the River Jordan.

This volume brings together prominent archaeologists working in areas outside Western Europe to discuss the most recent evidence for the origins of the early Upper Paleolithic and its relationship to the origin of modern humans. With a wealth of primary data from archaeological sites and regions that have never before been published and discussions of materials from difficult-to-find sources, the collection urges readers to reconsider the process of modern human behavioral origins. Archaeological evidence continues to play a critical role in debates over the origins of anatomically modern humans. The appearance of novel Upper Paleolithic technologies, new patterns of land use, expanded social networks, and the emergence of complex forms of symbolic communication point to a behavioral revolution beginning sometime around 45,000 years ago. Until recently, most of the available evidence for this revolution derived from Western European archaeological contexts that suggested an abrupt replacement of Mousterian Middle Paleolithic with Aurignacian Upper Paleolithic adaptations. In the absence of fossil association, the behavioral transition was thought to reflect the biological replacement of archaic hominid populations by intrusive modern humans. The contributors present new archaeological evidence that tells a very different story: The Middle-Upper Paleolithic transitions in areas as diverse as the Levant, Eastern-Central Europe, and Central and Eastern Asia are characterized both by substantial behavioral continuity over the period 45,000-25,000 years ago and by a mosaic-like pattern of shifting adaptations. Together these essays will enliven and enrich the discussion of the shift from archaic to modern behavioral adaptations. Contributors: O. Bar-Yosef, A. Belfer-Cohen, R. L. Bettinger, P. J. Brantingham, N. R. Coinman, A. P. Derevianko, R. G. Elston, J. R. Fox, X. Gao, J. M. Geneste, T. Goebel, E. Güleç, K. W. Kerry, L. Koulakovskaia, J. K. Kozlowski, S. L. Kuhn, Y. V. Kuzmin, D. B. Madsen, A. E. Marks, L. Meignen, T. Meshveliani, K. Monigal, P. E. Nehoroshev, J. W. Olsen, M. Otte, M. C. Stiner,J. Svoboda, A. Sytnik, D. Tseveendorj, L. B. Vishnyatsky