Jarash Hinterland Survey 2010

A short report on the final season of the Jarash Hinterland Survey (2010) co-directed by Fiona Baker and David Kennedy can be found at the great Past Horizons website.

"It is all too easy to get distracted from the survey by kind offers of tea, but as always local knowledge is gained as a result. For instance, to be informed that a tomb containing about twenty sarcophagi on Abu Suwan had been used as a bomb shelter in 1973 and had subsequently been filled in leaving no visible trace represented a great result. The route of a Classical water course in the Wadi Deir – now scattered and bulldozed – was shown to us by a man who played in it as a child. An intense artefact scatter also got us excited, only to be told to our disappointment that it had been deposited by trucks moving earth from elsewhere in the preceding few months."

An overview of the 2010 season appears in ADAJ Vol 55, 2011.

Pic of the day: Umm el-Jimal

APAAME_19980512_DLK-0050. Photographer: David L. Kennedy.

This large stone built town on the western edge of the Basalt Desert of Jordan had a significant Nabataean settlement, but expanded greatly during the Roman period. 

This photograph goes back in the archives to 1998, our second year of flying and a big one with nine flights! Taken almost directly vertical over the ruins of Umm el-Jimal, it seems all the more outstanding as it was before we made the transition to digital photography with the benefits rapid fire and automatic focus. 

You can see more photographs from Flight 19980512 here or more of Umm el-Jimal here.

Pic of the day : Qattafi Mesa 7

Qattafi Mesa 7 (Boyer's Butte), Qattafi Cairns 4, Qattafi Cairns 14, Qattafi Mesa 5. Photograph: David Kennedy APAAME_20111027_DLK-0677

This mesa in the basalt desert of Jordan is very remote, but the cairns on the surface have been illicitly excavated. When we recently visited this site the surface was strewn with both modern and ancient inscriptions on the basalt boulders, testimony that despite its remote location it is has been a popular 'spot' for centuries. And why not?- as you can see the view is simply breathtaking.

Pic of the Day: Valentine's Day

Our themed Pic of the Day today: Two doves in the bell tower of the Greek Orthodox Church at Bethany on Jordan, 2011.

Roman Archaeology Group Free Lecture

Want to learn about the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire? please attend the Roman Archaeology Group of Perth's free lecture series

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
2nd session

2 Illustrated Lectures

Winthrop Professor David Kennedy

Saturday 25 February

1:30pm

Social Sciences Lecture Theatre

University of Western Australia

1:30pm - The Decline...
2:30pm - tea break ($7 for RAG Members $10 for non-members)
3:00pm - The Fall: Political and Military Explanations

Please let us know of you interest be emailing Maire Gomes.
Next lectures in the series: Saturday 24 March, 2012.

The Perth Writer's Festival will also be on campus that weekend so plan ahead with public transport or brave the limited on campus parking.

Photographs in 3D

3D seems all the craze in cinemas - but also software is becoming more accessible to allow aerial photographs to become 3D.
This quick example used www.123Dapp.com/catch to meld six images of an olive farm near Jarash into a 3D experience. We look forward to experimenting!!!

Thanks to our friends at BAJR for letting us in on the fun!

Kites found in Iraq

Today in a new section of high resolution imagery in Google Earth, we found the first kites recorded in Iraq (to our knowledge).

Distribution of newly found Kites in north-west Iraq - the border with Syria is left of picture. Click to enlarge.

These kites are very similar in design to those found not far away in the limestone steppe of Syria, and continue a distribution along the edge of a ridge. They are very difficult to distinguish in the landscape due to the colour of soil and their deteriorated state (most have no tails surviving). Of particular note is the prominance of the 'hides' surrounding the heads.

Head of Kite found in north-west Iraq. Click to enlarge.

Head of Kite in north-east Syria. Click to enlarge.