The American Center of Research

Join us in person or online on Thursday, May 21, 2026, at 6:00 p.m. Amman/11:00 a.m. EST for a lecture by Prof. Ali Al-Manaser of the the Hashemite University: "Insights from the Badia Epigraphic Survey (BES): Preliminary Findings and Field Perspectives." He will shed light on BES and its most important results. Particular attention will be given to the most recent field season, during which an integrated research team conducted archaeological excavations and surveys in the Badia, leading to the discovery and documentation of new epigraphic and archaeological evidence that contributes to a deeper understanding of the region's heritage and historical development. A Q&A session will follow.

Date: May 21, 2026
Time: 6:00 p.m. Amman Time (11:00 a.m. EST)
Place: American Center of Research, Amman (map: https://acorjordan.org/visit/ )
Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85152265636?pwd=A1gwKmn767zAxxVUrqVWKX5rVfVB5t.1
Webinar ID: 851 5226 5636
Passcode: 051308
YouTube livestream: https://www.youtube.com//streams

Happy Mother’s Day from all of us at the American Center of Research!
(Image of spring flowers at Tell er-Rumeith from the Paul and Nancy Lapp collection.)

Abila (modern name, Qweilbeh) is an ancient city in northern Jordan that belonged to the Roman Decapolis, a group of ten important cities in the eastern Roman Empire (for another Decapolis city, see our post of April 30, 2026 about Jerash/Gerasa). The site is spread over two _tells_ and the space between them; the earliest activity there dates to the Neolithic (ca. 4000 BCE). Excavations have revealed a temple (perhaps to Artemis), Roman baths, a theater, parts of the city wall (originally constructed in the Iron Age and added to in later periods), and five churches. Pictured here is the Upper Umm el-‘Amad Church, which dates to the 7th–8th century CE.

This image is from the Paul and Nancy Lapp collection. Visit the collection: https://archives.acorjordan.org/s/acor/item-set/38

ACOR is honored to receive a U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP) grant for "Conservation of the Roman Imperial (2nd-Century A.D.) Western Theater in Umm Qais (Ancient Gadara)." Over the next two years, this U.S. Department of State funding will preserve and rehabilitate an historic site and strengthen tourism in northern Jordan.

(Photo: Seating of the Western Theater and statue of the goddess Tyche, patron of the city, c. 1980–1990. Photo from the Rami Khouri collection.)

Wadi Rum is a protected desert valley in southern Jordan known for its dramatic sandstone mountains, red sands, and natural rock formations. Its spectacular scenery has for many years drawn filmmakers who have used it as the setting of stories based on local history (most famously, Lawrence of Arabia, 1962) and as a stand-in for much more exotic locations, such as the surface of Mars in The Martian (2015) and imaginary worlds in the Star Wars franchise (2016 and 2019). While this glamorous attention is exciting, the deep history of human activity in this area — represented through rock art, evidence for ancient copper mining, and centuries-old caravan routes — is equally compelling.

This photo shows a view toward the mountain Jabal Khazali, a peak that rises above Khazali Canyon, the location of many inscriptions and petroglyphs.

This image is from the Jane Taylor collection. Visit the collection: https://archives.acorjordan.org/s/acor/item-set/40

New book in the ACOR Library: _Mapping of the Silk Road: The Riddle of Ptolemy’s Stone Tower_ by Riaz Dean (Casemate, 2025).

From the publisher: “For over 2,000 years, the precise location of the Stone Tower—the midpoint of the ancient Silk Road, where caravans traveling between Europe and Asia paused to rest, trade, and resupply—has remained a mystery. Claudius Ptolemy (AD 90–168), an Alexandrian, was an astronomer and geographer. In his third work _Geographia_, he described the Stone Tower, a special place high up in the mountains in a region referred to as the Roof of the World, which marked the mid-point on a complex network of overland routes collectively known today as the Silk Road. Scholars have long debated its location, but no work until now has focused solely on identifying this elusive site. This book explores the search for the Stone Tower and its significance in ancient geography, cartography, and trade. Determining its location not only resolves a historical puzzle but could also lead to the discovery of other lost settlements described in Ptolemy’s _Geographia_. The book is divided into three sections: the origins of the Silk Road, the historical forces that led to the tower’s prominence, and the precise identification of its location.” (Image created using Nano Banana Pro by Google Gemini.)

Mount Nebo is a high ridge in Jordan that the Bible mentions as the place from which Moses looked out over the Promised Land before he died. In this photo, taken in 1984, visitors experience a view similar to what he might have seen from that vantage point. Nearby are the remains of a Byzantine church and monastery built to honor Moses, which pilgrims have visited for centuries; many consider the site very important today because it connects people to biblical history and religious traditions. Archaeological excavations take place seasonally at the nearby ancient Town of Nebo (Khirbat al-Mukhayyat) under the direction of ACOR trustee Debra Foran (https://www.townofneboproject.com/).

Image from the Linda L. Layne collection. Visit the collection: https://archives.acorjordan.org/s/acor/item-set/33

Announcing the awardees of The Amman Prize!

Please join us in congratulating the recipients of the 2026–2027 Amman Prize! Thanks to the generosity of ACOR's donors and trustees, we were able to offer four awards of four months each, two to ABD doctoral candidates and two to postgraduate applicants. We expect these sixteen total months of funding to lead to groundbreaking scholarship and research and look forward to sharing the results with you.

Dr. Alexis Dolphin (postgraduate awardee), Associate Professor and Director of the Ancient and Contemporary Environmental Bioindicators Laboratory, University of Waterloo, Anthropology: "Synthesis of Bioarchaeological Insights on Life at Wadi Faynan 100"

Mr. Rami Khouri (postgraduate awardee), Distinguished Fellow, American University of Beirut and Arab Center Washington: "Jordan’s Ancient Monuments and Cultures: A Guide for Scholars and Visitors"

Ms. Nour Ammari (ABD doctoral awardee), PhD candidate, New York University, Institute for the Study of the Ancient World: "Arabic-Inscribed Oil Lamps from Northern Jordan: Everyday Religion and Craft Production in the Byzantine-Islamic Transition"

Mr. Jordan Weitzel (ABD doctoral awardee), PhD candidate, University of California, Berkeley, Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures: "Water Use at an Iron Age Capital in a Semi-Arid Zone: Investigating Water Installations and a Unique Ceramic Assemblage from Busayra"

While the earliest archaeological evidence at the site of Jerash dates to the Neolithic, the city is today best known for the exceptional preservation of its Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine remains. During that time, the city of Jerash was known as Gerasa, and it was a part of the Decapolis, a group of ten important cities in the eastern Mediterranean. This image shows a school group visiting the site in 1988, reminding of us the importance of educating children about their collective cultural heritage. Such well-preserved sites allow an immersive experience and the opportunity for visitors of all ages to imagine what it would have been like to live in the ancient city.

Image from the Linda L. Layne collection. Visit the collection: https://archives.acorjordan.org/s/acor/item-set/33

New book in the ACOR Library: _Tel Dover (Khirbet ed Duweir) on the Yarmuk River: The Late Bronze and Iron Age Levels_ by Amir Golani and Samuel R. Wolff (Ägypten und Altes Testament Band 130; Zaphon, 2025)

From the publisher: “Tel Dover (Kh. ed-Duweir) is strategically located at the southern tip of the Golan Heights, on the northwest bank of the Yarmuk River, northeast of its confluence with the Jordan River. From July to September 1997, large-scale rescue excavations were conducted at Tel Dover prior to the planned construction of a dam and water reservoir on the Yarmuk River. This volume focuses on the Late Bronze and Iron Ages. Stratigraphy and architecture are discussed in detail and richly illustrated (Chapter 2). The following chapters present ceramic assemblages (Chapter 3) and small finds (Chapters 4–7), as well as remains of funerary offerings and dog burials (Chapter 8). The study is supplemented by appendices on shells, human skeletal remains, and petrographic analyses of Iron Age vessels.” (Image created using Nano Banana Pro by Google Gemini.)