New Season of Excavations Set to Begin
Returning students Lauren Mason, Emilee Lawrence and Ashley Paling prepare a simulated baulk section used to train students in archaeological drawing techniques (Photo S. Edwards)
July 4, 2016
The second season of excavations at the Town of Nebo (Khirbat al-Mukhayyat) is set to begin on July 10. Senior staff and returning students are currently in Madaba preparing for the season, while first-time field school participants have started trickling in from Queen Alia International Airport.
The first season, carried out in May/June 2014, was highlighted by the discovery of a ritual bath dating to the late 2nd/early 1st century BCE. Returning students are eager to shed further light on this installation, in addition to further honing their archaeological skills.
“I’m looking forward to learning more about how the ritual bath was constructed,” says Lauren Mason, an archaeology and history double major at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario. Lauren is one of six returning students who in addition to supervising squares will be passing on their experience to the incoming students.
The next few days will focus on orientation and training in preparation for the start of field work. Weekly blog updates can be found here, and you can also follow along with the Town of Nebo Archaeological Project’s official Twitter, @neboarchaeology.
New Research on the Ritual Bath at Khirbat al-Mukhayyat
November 11, 2015
On Saturday, November 21, KMAP directors Debra Foran (Wilfrid Laurier University) and Annlee Dolan (San Joaquin Delta College) will be delivering a paper about their recent research into ritual bathing practices at Khirbat al-Mukhayyat (the Town of Nebo) and nearby sites.
The talk, entitled “Ritual Immersion: Khirbat al-Mukhayyat during the Late Hellenistic Period,” will take place in the “Archaeology of the Near East: The Classical Periods” session of the American Schools of Oriental Research Annual Meeting in Atlanta. Information about this conference can be found here.
The 2014 ASOR Paper is Now Available!
December 11, 2014
For preliminary results of the 2014 field season, please watch the short video below, originally presented at the ASOR annual meeting, November 21, 2014.