by those working in Jordan, and although it contained some errors, it was, in general, remarkably accurate. His two popularizations of the archaeology of the region, The Other Side of Jordan (1940) and Deities and Dolphins: The Story of the Nabataeans (1966), brought the antiquities of Jordan to a wider readership. Glueck also undertook two excavations in Transjordan, first (1937–1938) at Khirbet et-Tannur, a Nabataean temple site in the Wadi al-Hasa, and later (1938–1940) at the site of Tell el-Kheleifeh, which he believed to be Solomon’s seaport Ezion Geber. These two periods of the Iron Age and the Nabateans were to be the main focus of Glueck’s career, which was inspirational to the generation of archaeologists that followed.

Archaeology in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, 1946–1967

After 1946, when Transjordan became an independent kingdom under the rule of the Hashemites, the area underwent a period of steady growth in terms of the development of a national archaeology. The retreat of British sovereignty in the region did not mean an immediate withdrawal of British interests or support, and G.L. Harding continued as director of what was now the Department of Antiquities of Jordan until 1956. Harding served as director of this department for twenty years (1936–1956) and was instrumental in the formation of archaeological policies that helped to establish the national school of archaeology in Jordan. In 1951 he founded the Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan, which reported on the yearly archaeological work in the country, and later he wrote the first major popularization of the archaeology of Jordan, The Antiquities of Jordan (1959).

During the Hashemite period and following the partition of Palestine and the formation of the state of Israel (in 1948), the Department of Antiquities of Jordan was also responsible for the archaeology of the portion of Palestine that came to be known as the West Bank. This region included many of the major biblical sites, among them Jerusalem. Many of the international schools preferred to continue to work in this region, and major excavations in the former Transjordan were less frequent than might otherwise have been expected.

Some of the best-known projects include those by English archaeologist kathleen kenyon, who carried out a series of excavations at Jericho from 1952 to 1958, when she was director of the British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem (BSAJ); later, from 1961 to 1968, Kenyon excavated in Jerusalem itself at the “City of David” (Ophel), working with a multinational team under the auspices of the Palestine Exploration Fund. The 1956–1968 fieldwork directed by G.E. Wright at Tell el-Balatah (Shechem), which was sponsored by Drew University and McCormick Theological Seminary (and later Harvard University) and affiliated with ASOR, was the principal U.S. excavation during this period. The École Biblique et Archéologique Française excavated the site of Tell el-Farah, associated with biblical Tirzah, under the direction of R. De Vaux from 1946 to 1960 and later conducted studies at Qumran (as will be discussed).

Outside of the West Bank and in Jordan proper, excavations began at the site of ancient Dhiban/Dibon under F. Winnett, W. Reed, and D. Tushingham (1950–1956) and at Deir ‘Alla under H.J. Franken and a Dutch team from Leiden University (1960–1967). The German Evangelical Institute also began work at Umm Qeis, the Decapolis city of Gadara, in 1966. Other notable work included that by British archaeologist Peter Parr and U.S. archaeologist Philip Hammond, who led teams at Petra between 1954 and 1968, as well as renewed work at Teleilat Ghassul by R. North and the PBI (1960) and later Basil Hennessey under the auspices of the BSAJ (1967). U.S. work conducted with ASOR affiliation was also undertaken at ‘Iraq el-Amir (1961–1962) and at Bab edh-Dhra (1965–1967) under Paul Lapp, then director of the American School in Jerusalem.

Perhaps the most spectacular archaeological achievement of this period was the discovery of the dead sea scrolls. Local Bedouin found these biblical and extrabiblical texts dating to the first and second centuries a.d. in caves along the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea. This discovery led to a series of concentrated excavations