one of the key sites of the Chalcolithic period in the southern Levant, near the shores of the Dead Sea. Work at this site by Alexis Mallon and Robert Koeppel of the Pontifical Biblical Institute (PBI) in Jerusalem between 1929 and 1938 revealed, perhaps for the first time, the extent of the richness of Jordan’s prehistoric archaeology.

../images/Jordan.jpg

View from the colonnaded street of the rock-cut palace and Corinthian Tombs at Petra

(©Roger Wood/CORBIS)

The work of Nelson Glueck during his terms as director of the American Schools of Oriental Research Institute in Jerusalem (1932–1933, 1936–1940, and 1942–1947) had a lasting impact upon Transjordan. Glueck, a student of the great U.S. archaeologist william f. albright, was one of the pioneers of archaeological survey in Transjordan. Between 1932 and 1947 he surveyed more than a thousand sites, including many that were previously unknown. As a student of biblical history, Glueck particularly focused upon the biblical kingdoms of Ammon, Moab, and Edom. His extensive survey work included mapping, photography, and site collections, and it set the precedent for all subsequent archaeological surveys in the region. His four-volume report entitled Explorations in Eastern Palestine (1934–1951) is still consulted extensively