The International Aslah Project

Preliminary Report on the 2010 Season

by Robert Wenning and Laurent Gorgerat

I. Acknowledgments

The first field season of the International Aslah Project (IAP) lasted from 18th of March to 8th of April 2010. The IAP was initiated and organized by Prof. Dr Stephan G. Schmid, Co-director of the French-German research project ‚Early Petra‘, which is sponsored by the German Research Association (DFG), the Excellence Cluster TOPOI at the Humboldt University Berlin, and the Association for the Understanding of Ancient Cultures (AUAC). IAP 2010 was directed by Prof. Dr Robert Wenning on behalf of Muenster University. Laurent Gorgerat of the Antikenmuseum Basel was field director.

We would like to thank the Director General of the Department of Antiquities, Dr Fawwaz al-Khraysheh, for his support and for granting the working permit (Permit No. 2010/12). We would also like to thank IFPO Amman, especially its director Dr Jacques Seigne, and GPI Amman, especially its director Dr Jutta Haeser for accommodating the team during its stay in Amman. In Petra we were kindly supported by Dr Emad Hijazeen, Commissioner of the Petra Archaeological Park & Cultural Heritage and Tahani Salhi, Director of Cultural Resources.

The team from Germany consisted of the following archaeologists and students: Karin Petrovszky, Marco Dehner, Thomas Kabs (all from Berlin), and Wiltrud Wenning (Muenster). Up to nine B’dool workmen were employed. The Department of Antiquities representative was Mohammad Abdel Aziz al-Marahleh, whose help and advice was most welcomed. During the team’s sojourn at Nazzal’s Camp, Ali Chalaf al-Bdool was our camp manager and Suleiman Mohammad al-Bdool and his wife Aziza were our cooks.