2008 Season at Tall al-’Umayri and Subsequent Studies

This volume presents the official report of the 2008 excavation season at Tall al-ʿUmayri, a key settlement for understanding the Bronze and Iron Ages in western Jordan. Part of the long-running Madaba Plains Project, it documents the discoveries, methods, and personnel of that summer’s fieldwork while situating them within the project’s broader aim of tracing cycles of growth, decline, and adaptation in ancient settlement and land use.

Combining technical rigor with comprehensive scope, the report serves as both a detailed catalog of finds and a permanent archive for future study. It publishes architectural remains, artifacts, environmental data, and specialized analyses spanning the Late Bronze Age through the Hellenistic period. Introductory chapters summarize major discoveries and the site’s occupational history across all seasons since 1984, while stratigraphic reports present the evidence layer by layer in its wider Near Eastern context. Substantial studies address pottery and ceramic technology (including the construction of pithoi), artifact assemblages, human skeletal remains, and the hinterland site of Drayjat, likely a strategic fortress. A typological study of collared pithoi traces the vessel form’s development from the Late Bronze / Iron I transition into the early Persian period.

This report, eleventh in the series, marks a mature stage in the project’s development, reflecting large-scale collaboration and systematic integration of decades of accumulated data. Richly illustrated and data-driven, it will be an essential resource for archaeologists, historians of the ancient Near East, and advanced students seeking authoritative documentation of this pivotal site.

Larry G. Herr is Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies at Burman University.

Douglas R. Clark is Senior Research Scholar at the Center for Near Eastern Archaeology at La Sierra University.

Lawrence T. Geraty is Associate Director of the Center for Near Eastern Archaeology at La Sierra University.

Monique Roddy is Associate Professor of History and Codirector of the Honors Program at Walla Walla University.