Publications

 

Crossing the Rift:
Resources, Routes, Settlement Patterns and Interaction in the Wadi Arabah


edited by Piotr Bienkowski and Katharina Galor

published by
the Council for British Research in the Levant
Oxbow Books, Oxford

2006

 

The Wadi Arabah, part of the Great Rift Valley, forms the modern political border between Jordan and Israel from the Dead Sea to the Red Sea. This volume, the first ever to focus on the archaeology and history of the entire wadi in all periods from Palaeolithic to the present day, originated in a conference held in Atlanta in November 2003.

The 21 papers, by specialists on the Wadi Arabah from all over the world, provide a comprehensive coverage of the Wadi Arabah as a political and phenomenological landscape, its environment, resources and geology, methodological issues and settlement patterns of all periods, the Wadi Arabah in the Hebrew scriptures, and ethnographic evidence of recent bedouin use.

As a major geological feature dividing ecological zones with different rainfall, water and soil resources, to east and west, the Wadi Arabah has often been perceived as a natural topographic and traditional cultural barrier and border. But these studies demonstrate that it was never a physical barrier, indeed it seems to have been crossed in all periods, and only in modern times has it become a fixed political border. Although at times a convenient demarcation and boundary, it was also a zone of contact and interaction. The only real barrier to crossing the Wadi Arabah were the social relations between people on either side, and their knowledge and understanding of each other and each otther's motives, and that is as true today as it was in antiquity.

 

in memory of
Marie-Louise Mussell
18 september 1959 - 23 January 2005

 

Contents:

Piotr Bienkowski and Katharina Galor: Introduction

Piotr Bienkowski: The Wadi Arabah: Meanings in a Contested Landscape

Hendrik J. Bruins: Desert Environment and Geoarchaeology of the Wadi Arabah

Moti Haiman: The Archaeological Surveys in the Arabah Reconsidered: Data and Metadata

Uzi Avner: Settlement Patterns in the Wadi Arabah and the Adjacent Desert Areas: A View from the Eilat Region

Burton MacDonald: The Southern Ghors and North-east Arabah: Resources, Sites and Routes

Donald O. Henry: Cultural and Geological Influences on Prehistoric Site Distributions in the Wadi Arabah

Yuval Yekutieli: Aspects of an Early Bronze Age II-III Polity in the Dead Sea Region

Andreas Hauptmann: Mining Archaeology and Archaeometallurgy in the Wadi Arabah: The Mining Districts of Faynan and Timna

Russell Adams: Copper Trading Networks Across the Arabah During the Later Early Bronze Age

Michaël Jasmin: The Emergence and First Development of the Arabian Trade Across the Wadi Arabah

John R. Bartlett: The Wadi Arabah in the Hebrew Scriptures

Tali Erickson-Gini: ‘Down to the Sea’: Nabataean Colonization in the Negev Highlands

Yizhar Hirschfeld: The Nabataean Presence South of the Dead Sea: New Evidence

Orit Shamir: Textiles, Basketry, Cordage and Fruits from Ein Tamar: Preliminary Report

Benjamin J. Dolinka: The Rujm Taba Archaeological Project (RTAP): Results of the 2001 Survey and Reconnaisance

Benjamin Isaac: Roman Organization in the Arabah in the Fourth Century AD

S. Thomas Parker: Roman Aila and the Wadi Arabah: An Economic Relationship

Ze’ev Meshel: Were There Gold Mines in the Eastern Arabah?

Donald Whitcomb: The Wadi Arabah During the Early Islamic Period

Eveline van der Steen: Nineteenth-century Travellers in the Wadi Arabah

Clinton Bailey: Relations between Bedouin Tribes on Opposite Sides of the Wadi Arabah, 1600-1950

 


 

for further reading:
publications on the Wadi Arabah

 

(publications focusing exclusively on Petra are omitted from this list)

 

Surveys and general publications

Bruins, H.J. 2006. Desert Environment and Geoarchaeology of the Wadi Arabah. pp 29-43 in Crossing the Rift. eds. P. Bienkowski and K. Galor.

Haiman, M. 2006. The archaeological surveys in the Arabah reconsidered: data and metadata. pp 46-49 in Crossing the Rift. eds. P. Bienkowski and K. Galor.

MacDonald, B. 2006. The southern Ghors and north-east Arabah: resources, sites and routes. pp 75-90 in Crossing the Rift. eds. P. Bienkowski and K. Galor.

MacDonald, B.; Herr, L. G.; Neeley, M. P.; Gagos, T.; Moumani, K.; and Rockman, M. 2004. The Tafila-Busayra Archaeological Survey 1999-2001, West-Central Jordan. Archaeological reports 9. Boston: American Schools of Oriental Research.

MacDonald, B. 1992. The southern Ghors and northeast ‘Arabah archaeological survey. Sheffield, J.R. Collis Publications.

Rothenberg, B. 1990. The Ancient Metallurgy of Copper. London: the Institute for Archaeo-Metallurgical Studies.

Hart S. and K. Falkner 1985. Preliminary report on a survey in Edom, 1984. Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 29:255-277

Raikes T.D. 1980. Notes on some Neolithic and later sites in Wadi Arabah and the Dead Sea Valley. Levant 12:40-60

Rothenberg B. 1970. An archaeological survey of South Sinai. Palestine Exploration Quarterly 102:4-29

Glueck, N. 1935. Explorations in Eastern Palestine II. Annual of the American School for Oriental Research 15

Fritz Frank 1934. ‘Aus der Araba I: Reiseberichte’, Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palaestina Vereins 57, pp. 191-280

 

 

Paleolithic to early Neolithic settlement patterns

Henry, D.O. 2006. Cultural and geological influences on prehistoric site distributions in the Wadi Arabah. pp 91-101 in Crossing the Rift. eds. P. Bienkowski and K. Galor.

Henry, D.O., H. Hietala, A.M. Rosen, Y.E. Demidenko, V.I. Usik and T.L. Armagan 2004. Human behavioral organziation in the Middle Paleolithic: were Neanderthals different? American Anthropologist 106:17-31

Henry, D.O., ed. 2003. Neanderthals in the Levant: Behavioral Organization and the Beginnings of Human Modernity. London, Continuum Press.

Niemi, T., & Smith, A. 1999. Initial results of the southeastern Wadi Araba, Jordan geoarchaeological study: implications for shifts in late Quaternary aridity. Geoarchaeology, 14, pp. 791—820.

MacDonald, B. 1992. The southern Ghors and northeast ‘Arabah archaeological survey. Sheffield, J.R. Collis Publications.

Chronology

 

 

Neolithic to Chalcolithic settlement

Avner, U. 2006. Settlement patterns in the Wadi Arabah and the adjacent desert areas: a view from the Eilat region. pp 52-74 in Crossing the Rift. eds. P. Bienkowski and K. Galor.

Avner, U. and I. Carmi. 2001. Settlement Patterns in the Southern Levant Deserts During the 6th-3rd Millennia B.C.: A Revision Based on 14C Dating. In H.J. Bruins, I. Carmi and E. Boaretto (eds.), Near East Chronology: Archaeology and Environment. Proceedings of the 17th International 14C Conference. Radiocarbon 43:1203-1216. Tucson.

Avner, U. 1998. Settlement, Agriculture and Paleoclimate in ‘Uvda Valley, Southern Negev Desert, 6th - 3rd Millennia B.C. In. A. Issar and N. Brown (eds.), Water, Environment and Society in Times of Climate Change. Pp. 147-202.

Henry, D.O. 1995. Prehistoric Cultural Ecology and Evolution, Insights from Southern Jordan. New York.

Beit Arieh, I. and Gophna, R. 1977. A Note on a Chalcolithic Site in Wadi Araba. Tel-Aviv 4: 105-109.

Chronology

 

 

The Early Bronze Age

 

Yekutieli, Y. 2006. Aspects of an Early Bronze Age II-III polity in the Dead Sea region. pp 103-124 in Crossing the Rift. eds. P. Bienkowski and K. Galor.

Hauptmann, A. 2006. Mining archaeology and archaeometallurgy in the Wadi Arabah; the mining districts of Fayan and Timna. pp 125-133 in Crossing the Rift. eds. P. Bienkowski and K. Galor.

Adams, R. 2006. Copper trading networks across the Arabah during the later Early Bronze Age. pp 135-142 in Crossing the Rift. eds. P. Bienkowski and K. Galor.

Levy, T.E., R.B. Adams, A., Hauptmann, M. Prange, S. Schmitt-Strecker and M. Najjar. 2002. Early Copper Age Metallurgy: A Newly Discovered Copper Manufactory in Southern Jordan. Antiquity 76:425-437.

Brückner, H. et al. 2002. Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age Sites near Aqaba, Jordan. Pp. 217-331 in Ausgrabungen und Surveys im vorderen Orient I, ed. R. Eichmann. Orient-Archäologie 5.

Adams, R.B. 2000. The Early Bronze Age III-IV Transition in southern Jordan: Evidence from Khirbet Hamra Ifdan. Pp. 379-401 in Ceramics and Change in the Early Bronze Age of the Southern Levant, eds. G. Philip, and D. Baird. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press.

Hauptmann, A. 2000. Zur frühen Metallurgie des Kupfers in Fenan/Jordanien. Bochum: Dt. Bergbau-Museum.

Goren, Y. 1996. The Southern Levant in the Early Bronze Age IV: The Petrographic Perspective. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 303: 33-72.

Haiman, M. 1996. Early Bronze Age IV Settlement Pattern of the Negev and Sinai Deserts: View from Small Marginal Temporary Sites. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 303: 1-32.

Finkelstein, I. 1995. Living on the Fringe. Sheffield.

Khalil, L. 1995. The Second Season of Excavation at al-Magass-Aqaba, 1990. ADAJ 39:65-79.

Fritz, V. 1994. Vorbericht über die Grabungen in Barqa el-Hetiye im Gebiet von Fenan, Wadi el Araba (Jordanien) 1990. Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins 110: 125-150.

Sebbane, M., Ilan, O., Avner, U. and Ilan, D. 1993. The Dating of Early bronze Age Settlements in the Negev and Sinai. Tel Aviv 20: 41-54.

MacDonald, B. 1992. The Southern Ghors and Northeast 'Arabah Archaeological Survey. Sheffield.

Rothenberg, B. and J. Glass. 1992. The Beginnings and the Development of Early Metalurgy and the Settlement and Chronology of the Western Arabah, from the Chalcolithic Period to Early Bronze Age IV. Levant 24:141-157.

Khalil, L. 1987. Preliminary Report on the 1985 Season of Excavation at el-Magass-Aqaba. ADAJ 31:481-483.

Chronology

 

The Middle and Late Bronze Ages

 

Rothenberg 1988.The Egyptian Mining temple at Timna. Institute for Archaeo-Metallurgical Studies, Institute for Archaeology, University College

Giveon R. 1971. Les bedouins Shosu des documents Ægyptiens. Leiden: Brill.

Chronology

 

 

The Iron Age

 

Jasmin, M. 2006. The emergence and first development of the Arabian trade across the Wadi Arabah. pp143-150 in Crossing the Rift. eds. P. Bienkowski and K. Galor.

Bartlett. J. 2006. The Wadi Arabah in the Hebrew scriptures. pp 151-156 in Crossing the Rift. eds. P. Bienkowski and K. Galor.

Finkelstein I. 2005. Khirbet en-Nahas, Edom and Biblical History. Tel Aviv 32:119-125.

Levy, Th. E. et al. 2004. Reassessing the chronology of Biblical Edom: new excavations and 14C dates from Khirbat en-Nahas (Jordan). Antiquity 302:865-79.

Bienkowski P. 2003. Iron Age Settlement in Edom: A Revised Framework. In The World of the Aramaeans: Biblical, Historical and Cultural Studies in Honour of Paul-E. Dion, eds. P. M. M. Daviau and M. Weigl. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic.

Bienkowski P. and E.J. van der Steen, 2001. Tribes, Trade and Towns. A new framework for the Late Iron Age in Southern Jordan and the Negev. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 323.

Levy, T. E.; Adams, R.B.; and Shafiq, R. 1999. The Jabal Hamrat Fidan Project: Excavations at the Wadi Fidan 40 Cemetery, Jordan (1997). Levant 31: 293-308 .

Singer-Avitz, L. 1999. Beersheba – A Gateway Community in Southern Arabian Long-Distance Trade in the Eighth Century B.C.E. Tel Aviv 26: 3-75.

Finkelstein I. 1995. Living on the Fringe: The Archaeology and History of the Negev, Sinai and Neighbouring Regions in the Bronze and Iron Ages. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press

Cohen R. and Yisrael Y. 1995. The Iron Age fortress at En Haseva. Biblical Archaeologist 58-1:323-335

Chronology

 

The Persian Period

 

Bienkowski P. 2003. Busayra. Excavations by Crystal-M. Bennett 1971-1980. Oxford: Oxford University Press

Bienkowski P. 2001. The Persian Period. Pp. 347-65 in The Archaeology of Jordan, eds. B. MacDonald, R. Adams and P. Bienkowski., Sheffield

Stern E. 2001. Archaeology of the land of the Bible ; Vol. II: The Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian periods : 732-332 BCE. Doubleday 2001

Bennett, C-M. and P. Bienkowski 1995. Excavations at Tawilan in Southern Jordan. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Bienkowski, P. 1990. The Chronology of Tawilan and the ‘Dark Age’ of Edom. Aram 2 (1&2): 35-44.

Bartlett, J.R. 1989. Edom and the Edomites. Sheffield: JSOT Press.

Bennett, C-M. 1977. Excavations at Buseirah, Southern Jordan, 1974: Fourth Preliminary Report. Levant 9: 1-10.


Chronology

 

 

Nabataean and Roman periods

 

(publications focusing exclusively on Petra are not listed here)

Erickson-Gini, T. 2006. 'Down to the Sea': Nabataean colonization in the Negev Highlands. pp 157-166 in Crossing the Rift. eds. P. Bienkowski and K. Galor.

Hirschfeld, Y. 2006. The Nabataean presence south of the Dead Sea: new evidence. pp 167-190 in Crossing the Rift. eds. P. Bienkowski and K. Galor.

Shamir, O. 2006. Textiles, basketry, cordage and fruits from 'En Tamar: preliminary report. pp 191-194 in Crossing the Rift. eds. P. Bienkowski and K. Galor.

Dolinka, B. 2006. The Rujm Taba Archaeological Project (RTAP): results of the 2001 survey and reconnaissance. pp 195-214 in Crossing the Rift. eds. P. Bienkowski and K. Galor.

Isaac, B. 2006. Roman organization in the Arabah in the fourth century AD. pp 215-221 in Crossing the Rift. eds. P. Bienkowski and K. Galor.

Parker, S.T. 2006. Roman Aila and the Wadi Arabah: an economic relationship. pp 223-230 in Crossing the Rift. eds. P. Bienkowski and K. Galor.

Meshel, Z. 2006. Were there gold mines in the eastern Arabah? pp 231-238 in Crossing the Rift. eds. P. Bienkowski and K. Galor.

Rosenthal-Heginbottom, R ed., 2003. The Nabateans in the Negev. Reuben and Edith Hecht Museum, University of Haifa.

Dolinka, B.J. 2002. The Rujm Taba Archaeological Project (RTAP): Preliminary Report on the 2001 Field Season. Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 46: 429-50.

R. Cohen, 1982a. New Light on the Date of the Petra-Gaza Road. Biblical Archaeologist 45: 240-47.

Chronology

 

 

Early Islamic period

Whitcomb D. 2006. Land behind Aqaba: the Wadi Arabah during the Early Islamic period. pp 239-242 in Crossing the Rift. eds. P. Bienkowski and K. Galor.

Avner,U. and Magness, J. 1998. Early Islamic Settlement in the Southern Negev. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 310: 39-57.

Recent history

Steen, E.J. van der. 2006. Nineteenth-centur travellers in the Wadi Arabah. pp243-250 in Crossing the Rift. eds. P. Bienkowski and K. Galor.

Bailey, C. 2006. Relations between bedouin tribes on opposite sides of the Wadi Arabah, 1600-1950. pp 251-258 in Crossing the Rift. eds. P. Bienkowski and K. Galor.

Bailey, C. 2004. A Culture of Desert Survival: Bedouin Proverbs from Sinai and the Negev. Yale University Press (review)

Bailey, C. 1985 “Dating the Arrival of the Bedouin Tribes in Sinai and the Negev,” Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, 28/1 (1985).

Burckhardt, John Lewis, Travels in Syria and the Holy Land, London, 1822.

Musil, Alois, Arabia Petraea, vol. II, Wien, 1908

Chronology