Stories in Stone

The ‘Aqaba-Ma‘an Archaeological and Epigraphic Survey (AMAES), directed by the late William (Bill) Jobling of the University of Sydney from 1980 to 1990, was the first comprehensive survey of the ancient remains found in the Wadi Rum desert of southern Jordan. What they found was an astonishing array of archaeological sites that evidenced the nearly continual use and habitation of this marginal desert environment across more than 10,000 years.

This presentation will highlight the broad range of archaeological sites documented by the survey, including prehistoric rock shelters, ancient springs, Nabataean dams and cisterns, as well as one of the oldest mosques ever discovered in the southern Levant. But particular focus will be given to the thousands of ancient inscriptions and rock drawings that tell the everyday stories of the nomads, herders, villagers, and travellers who lived in or passed through this remarkable but seemingly desolate region across the millennia.

This presentation will also highlight efforts by the American Center of Research in Jordan to make accessible this invaluable record of Wadi Rum’s ancient past, by digitizing thousands of photographs, maps, and records from the AMAES with the support of the Near Eastern Archaeology Foundation.

Dr Glenn Corbett is Editor-in-Chief of Biblical Archaeology Review magazine and a specialist in the archaeology of the Middle East, with more than two decades of excavation and field experience working on projects in Jordan, Turkey, and Israel.

From 2005 to 2012, Glenn directed the Wadi Hafir Petroglyph Survey in southern Jordan with an emphasis on using GIS and other geospatial technologies to properly map and contextualize the region’s abundant epigraphic and rock art remains, including hundreds of sites previously surveyed by William Jobling of the University of Sydney in the 1980s.