I. Introduction
The ninth excavation campaign in Petra by Basel University, under the patronage of the Swiss-Liechtenstein Foundation for Archaeological Research Abroad (SLFA), took place from August 15 till October 20 1998. The staff included the archaeologists Yvonne Gerber, Daniel Keller and Christoph Schneider, as well as the students of archaeology André Barmasse, Laurent Gorgerat, Matthias Grawehr and Annegret Reber. Jacqueline Studer of the Musée d’Histoire Naturelle in Geneva analysed the osteological material, while Christiane Jacquet and Olivier Mermod of the ETH Zuerich took care of the archaeobotanical remains. The small finds were restored by Christine Pugin, drawn by the draughtswoman Irma Haussener and documented photographically by Othmar Jäggi. The analyse of the restored coins was again possible thanks to the numismatist Markus Peter. The 1:20 top plan was completed by the architect Ulrike Mayer and by Annegret Reber. Ulrich Bellwald was again responsible for the consolidation and preservation of the structures on the sites EZ III and EZ IV.
I should here like to thank all members of the team for their zeal and devotion. Especial thanks are due to Prof. Dr. R. A. Stucky, who, despite his withdrawal from the direction of the excavation in 1995, has remained closely associated with the project. He has, through his continued support and helpfulness, remained the irreplaceable patron of these excavations. Throughout the campaign we were accompanied and supervised in an exemplary manner by Suleiman Farajat, as representative of the Jordanian Department of Antiquities.
The 1998 excavation campaign would not have been possible without the financial support of the SLFA (Zuerich), the University of Basel, the Max Geldner Foundation (Basel), the FAG (Basel) and Novartis International (Basel).
