at the various caves and later at Khirbet Qumran under the Jordanian Department of Antiquities, the Palestine Archaeological Museum, and the École Biblique et Archéologique Français under the direction of De Vaux (1951, 1953–1956). The finds from both the caves and the nearby site at Qumran (thought to be the complex associated with the writers of many of the scrolls, the Essenes) have significantly influenced modern research on the Bible, enabling insights into the early biblical communities in the region.

This period of archaeological research both in the West Bank and in Jordan itself established a pattern of archaeological fieldwork being conducted by schools from most of the major western powers; it also represented the longest phase of uninterrupted research in the region. The effects of this work are still being felt, with many of the principal researchers in the field of Levantine archaeology having “cut their teeth” during this time and on many of these projects; these individuals (who are only now retiring) have in turn been instrumental in establishing the study of Levantine archaeology in many countries. The 1946–1967 period also established the practice of having the Jordanian Department of Antiquities partner with of the international schools in the documentation, publication, and preservation of the rich archaeological heritage of Jordan.

Archaeology in Jordan, 1967 to the Present

Following Jordan’s loss of the West Bank during the Six-Day War in 1967, Jordanian archaeology once again focused on land east of the Jordan River. Many of the international schools (British, U.S., German) set up “temporary” offices in Jordan (Amman) at this time, in order to continue archaeological research but avoid excavation in the Israeli occupied territories, which would have breached UN rules. The American Schools of Oriental Research in Jerusalem was the first institution to set up a “branch office” in support of research in Jordan in 1968, and British researchers soon followed suit. Within a few years, in 1971, the American Center for Oriental Research (ACOR) was founded, and somewhat later, in 1978, British archaeologists formalized their shift from Jerusalem to Amman via the establishment of the British Institute at Amman for Archaeology and History (now the Council for British Research in the Levant), under the direction of Crystal Bennett.

The founding of headquarters in Amman for many of the international schools at this time marked a transition or a break in the direction of archaeological research in Jordan and in Israel and the West Bank. From this point forward archaeological work in Israel and Jordan developed along independent lines, with increasingly little contact between the scholars of both countries. This situation was equally true for the indigenous archaeologists (Israeli and Jordanian) and for the archaeologists from the international schools. In particular, many of those formally working in Jordan were reluctant to jeopardize the situation by making contacts and pursuing active research west of the Jordan Rift. Consequently, archaeology in Israel developed on an independent trajectory and along specific national lines in a way that was distinctly different from the archaeology in Jordan.

The national school in Israel sought its roots in the archaeology of ancient Israel and Judah and in Jewish history in general, but archaeology in Jordan was less political. The populations in Jordan were largely Bedouin and were not particularly interested in developing a history of occupation for the region along the lines being pursued by Israeli biblical archaeologists: they claimed no distinctly historical links with either the Nabataeans or the Iron Age kingdoms of Ammon, Moab, and Edom. Given this move away from a focus upon a narrowly defined and specific culture-historical approach, archaeological work in Jordan was much more diverse, and a number of specific subfields of archaeology were free to develop.

Nonetheless, some Jordanian researchers were interested in biblical archaeology and the study of the Bronze and Iron Ages, as expressed in the excavations of Crystal Bennett in Edom at sites such as Tawilan and the ancient Edomite capital at Buserieh (1968–1974, 1980). There were, however, just as many scholars who focused upon the world of classical and late Antiquity,