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In conjunction with the
annual meeting of the American Schools of Oriental Research in Atlanta from
November 19-22, Fernbank Museum of Natural History will host an academic
symposium entitled “Crossing the Rift: Resources, Routes, Settlement
Patterns and Interaction in the Wadi Arabah” on November 19 from 8:30 a.m.
to 7:30 p.m.
This special series of
lectures will feature research by nearly 40 of the world’s most
distinguished scholars who have worked on either side of the Wadi Arabah, a
region characterized by the six- to 12-mile-wide valley that extends from
the Dead Sea southward to the Gulf of Aqaba and marks the modern political
border between Israel and Jordan. Recent research contradicts the long-held
belief that this region has always been a barrier, though, suggesting that
in ancient times, the southern banks on either side of the valley were part
of the same socio-economic region that may have been bridged by the Wadi
Arabah.
The Wadi Arabah Project
is an international multi-disciplinary project which aims to establish the
key historical role of the Wadi Arabah as a dynamic crossroads between
southern Jordan and the Negev of southern Israel. The project brings
together scholars who have been conducting fieldwork separately on both
sides of the Wadi Arabah, to produce a collaborative overview of the area.
The research project, directed by Piotr Bienkowski and Katharina Galor,
already includes a Geographic Information System (GIS) of more than 6,000
sites that have been archaeologically excavated and surveyed.
The joint effort is
part of a larger global research project that also could have major
implications on a proposed $5 billion initiative to bring water from the
Red Sea through a trans-Wadi Arabah canal or pipeline to replenish the
ailing Dead Sea. The impact of the Wadi Arabah Project is also of interest
to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO), which is working to gain recognition for the Great Rift Valley,
which includes the Wadi Arabah, as a world heritage site.
Dr. Max Miller, an
archaeologist at Fernbank Museum, has been involved with research in the
region since 1972 and has worked closely with various members of the group
throughout his career. Because of Dr. Miller’s work near the Wadi Arabah
region, Fernbank Museum joined the project as a sponsoring institution and
is hosting the event. The politically- and academically-neutral venue will
allow Israelis and Jordanians, and other scholars who work on either side
of the modern border to interact, share results and ideas, and consider the
unit of the Wadi Arabah for the first time as a historical route.
Other sponsoring
institutions include: Albright Institute of Archaeological Research,
Jerusalem; American Schools of Oriental Research; Center for Old World
Archaeology and Art, Brown University; Council for British Research in the
Levant; University of Liverpool; University of Manchester; and the Watson
Institute for International Studies at Brown University.
The symposium is open to the public and will be held in the Museum’s
auditorium from 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on November 19. For non-participants
of the American Schools of Oriental Research annual meeting, Museum
admission is required. Museum prices are $12 for adults, $11 for students
and seniors, and $10 for children.
The symposium includes
participation from:
Katharina Galor of Brown University, Presiding and Organizer
Piotr Bienkowski of Liverpool Museum, Organizer
With Presentations by:
Piotr Bienkowski, Liverpool Museum
Hendrik J. Bruins, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Burton MacDonald, St. Francis Xavier University
Tina Niemi, University of Missouri-Kansas City
Eveline van der Steen, W.F. Albright Institute
Clinton Bailey, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Moti Haiman, Israel Antiquities Authority
Uzi Avner, Aravah Institute for Environmental Studies
Klaus Schmidt, German Archaeological Institute, Berlin
Russell B. Adams, McMaster University
Yuval Yekutieli, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Andreas Hauptmann, Deutsches Bergbau-Museum
Thomas E. Levy, University of California, San Diego
John Bartlett, Trinity College, Dublin
Michael Jasmin, CNRS, Paris
Mary-Louise Mussell, University of Ottawa
Tali Erickson-Gini, Israel Antiquities Authority
Benjamin Dolinka, University of Liverpool
Orit Shamir, Israel Antiquities Authority
Mohammad Najjar, Department of Antiquities, Jordan
Ze’ev Meshel, Tel Aviv University
Ben Isaac, Tel Aviv University
Andrew Smith, University of Maryland
S. Thomas Parker, North Carolina State University
Yizhar Hirschfeld, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Donald Whitcomb, Oriental Institute
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