Area of study:

Status of Project and date of conduction: ongoing since 2012.

Partners:

Department of Archaeology, the Nabataean Centre for Archaeological Studies and the department of archaeology at Brussels University.

Brief about the Project:

The project aims to record the ancient tombs in the hinterland of Petra and understand the ritual practices related to death, particularly the typology of tombs, to compare them with the tombs in Petra. The documentation process includes taking photographs, recording GPS points of each tomb, and plotting them a digital map. One tomb was excavated in 2014.

Significant Finds:

Several ancient tombs were discovered during the fieldwork of the first and second seasons (2012 and 2014). A certain type was quite common in the study area and was hitherto unknown to archaeologists. This discovery shows that cultural and socio-ritual practices were transferable between Petra and its countryside. The recorded tombs are significant in terms of their typology and context and reflect the cultural influence between the different cultures of the ancient world.

Local community engagement (employment and public awareness):

Local communities contributed to this project by sharing their knowledge of sites and areas (names of sites) with the researchers. In return, the researchers always discussed the goals and the results of the project with them in order to increase the public awareness in our cultural heritage. Workers from the local community were employed in the excavation and paid off from the budget of the project.

Publications related to the project:

• Wadeson L. & Abudanah F. 2016. Newly discovered tombs in the hinterland of Petra. Studies in the History and Archaeology of Jordan 12: 83–100.
• Wadeson L., Abudanah, F. & Holman, L. The Petra Hinterland Tombs Project: Preliminary report on the 2012 season. Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 58.
• Wadeson L. & Abudanah, F. 2014. The Petra Hinterland Tombs Project (PHTP). In G. Corbett, D. Keller, B. Porter & C. Tuttle (eds), Archaeology in Jordan, 2012 and 2013 Seasons. American Journal of Archaeology Newsletter 118.4: 668–669.