Gadara Region Project

The Tall Zira'a 2007

History

In 2001, the Gadara Region Project was initiated by Dr. Dieter Vieweger of the Biblical Archaeological Institute (BAI) of the University of Wuppertal (Germany). This project has focused on the interdisciplinary investigation of the Wadi al-'Arab south-west of Gadara and the excavation of its most prominent site, Tall Zira'a. The project has been a joint enterprise of the BAI and the German Protestant Institute of Archaeology (GPIA) in Amman since 2004, and the Jerusalem branch of same institute entered the project in 2006. It is jointly directed by Prof. Dr. Dr. Dieter Vieweger and Dr. Jutta Häser.

Aims

The surveys and excavations, which have applied the latest archaeological technologies and methods, show that the Wadi al-'Arab was inhabited from the Palaeolithic period to modern times. The outstanding natural conditions with respect to soil fertility and abundance of water made this region an extraordinarily valuable settlement area for thousands of years. Tall Zira'a offers the unique possibility of excavating a stratigraphical sequence from the Early Bronze Age (3200 BCE) to 1900 AD in northern Jordan. For the Bronze and Iron Ages, the outstanding finds show exemplarily the cultural influences and changes in a contact zone between the historical 'global players' Egypt, Syria, and Mesopotamia.

Literature

• C. Steuernagel: Der ’Adschlun, in: Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins 49 (1926), p. 80–83.
• D. Vieweger: Der Tell Zera’a im Wadi el-’Arab. Die Region südlich von Gadara. Ein Beitrag zur Methodik des Tell-Surveys,In: Das Altertum 48 (2003), p. 191–216.
• J. Häser/D. Vieweger: Preliminary Report on the Archaeological Investigations of the Wadi al-’Arab and the Tall Zar’a, 2003 and 2004,in: Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 49 (2005), p. 135–146
• J. Häser/D. Vieweger: Das „Gadara Region Project“, in: Nordjordanien, Frühjahrskampagne 2005 auf dem Tell Zera’a, Jahrbuch des Deutschen Evangelischen Instituts 11 (2006) in print.
• J. Dijkstra/M. Dijkstra/Vieweger/K. Vriezen: Regionaal Archaeologisch Onderzoek Nabij Umm Qes (Ant. Gadara) De Opgravingen op Tell Zera’a en de Ligging van Laatbrons Gadara, in: Phoenix 51/1 (2005), p. 5–26.
• J. Häser/D. Vieweger: Der Tell Zera’a im Wadi el-’Arab. Das „Gadara Region-Project“ in den Jahren 2001 bis 2004, in: Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins 121 (2005a), p. 1–30.
• J. Häser/D. Vieweger: Neueste Entdeckungen auf dem Tell Zera’a (Jordanien),in: Welt und Umwelt der Bibel (2005b), p. 62–64.
• J. Häser/D. Vieweger: Das „Gadara-Region Project“ – Der Tall Zirā’a in den Jahren 2005 und 2006,in: Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins 123 (2007) p. 1-27.

External links

Links to the current excavation:

• Seite des Biblisch-Archäologischen Instituts Wuppertal
• Seite des Deutschen Evangelischen Instituts für Altertumswissenschaft des Heiligen Landes, zugleich Forschungsstelle des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts
• Page of the children's book The mystery of the Tall Zira'a