2009 Season

The VWP team (Ron Simkins, Nicolae Roddy, and Alexandra Untu) just returned from its 2009 photography season in Jordan and Israel. Twenty seven new archaeological sites were photographed in Jordan and twelve new archaeological sites were photographed in Israel. In addition, new photographs were taken at nineteen previously photographed sites in Israel.

These newly photographed sites will soon be incorporated into the project; check with this blog for regular updates.

Emmaus

Revered as the site on the road to where the resurrected Jesus appeared to two of his disciples, Emmaus is the site of a Templar church built on top of a large Byzantine church. Earlier remains of a Roman villa, Roman tombs, and a well preserved Roman bath are also found on the site.

The presentation of the site has been updated on the Virtual World Project, and you are invited to stop by and take a tour.

Qasr al-Hallabat

Qasr Hallabat began as a Castellum fortifying the border of the Limes Arabicus during the Late Roman period. Located approximately 12 kilometers from the Via Nova Trajana, the fort was probably associated with a large reservoir and several houses to form an agricultural village. The fort was rebuilt and expanded several times, ending up as a Quadriburgium in the Byzantine period. During the Umayyad period, when the military function of the building was no longer needed, the fortress was transformed into a desert residential palace and decorated with mosaics, mural paintings, and stucco panels. A mosque was built adjacent to the fortress and a bath was built nearby at Hammam al-Sarah.

When you travel to the desert, stop by and explore this wonderful site.

Tell Jawa (South)

The Ammonites are known primarily from the biblical text, and little information is found here. Archaeology is beginning to change the situation. Tell Jawa is one of a few excavated sites with extensive Ammonite remains (see also the nearby site of Tell Umayri). The site preserves a gate building, a casemate wall, and several houses, which differ from contemporary Israelite houses. The site is not well known and has not been preserved for visitors. Nevertheless, the remains are in relatively good shape and will give the visitor a good impression of an Ammonite village.

Stop by and explore this little known site.

Audio interpretation available for Nimrod Fortress

We invite you now to take the audio tour of Nimrod Fortress, the largest and best preserved castle anywhere in Israel and the Syro-Palestinian region. Better known in medieval chronicles as Qal‘at as-Subayba, this majestic fortress sits perched on a high ridge in the foothills below Mt. Hermon overlooking the Hula Valley and the road to Damacus. This site will be of special interest to researchers of the Ayyubid and Mamluk periods.

Hammam as-Sarah

This is the site of an isolated Umayyad bath complex similar to the complex at ‘Amra in Jordan. The complex was in a good state of preservation until the 1950s, when its blocks were pilfered for nearby constructions. Today, only the core of the bath remains, partially restored by the Department of Antiquities of Jordan.

Al-Fedein

A sixth century Syrian manuscript describes al-Fedein as the southern most monophysite monastery in Syria, but the excavations have revealed much more. The Byzantine monastery is built within the cyclopean walls of an earlier Aramean fortress. Next to the fortress is a Umayyad palace with a bath and mosque. Further east is an Abbasid khan that served pilgrims on the Hajj to Mecca.

Come explore this interesting site hidden away in the middle of the modern city of Mafraq, Jordan.