The Hesban 2004 season is off to a great start. A team of nearly 50 people from Jordan, the United States, Canada, Italy, Norway, Brazil, Israel, and Singapore are working to further our understanding of the people who lived at this site and in the surrounding region throughout history.
Advance Team's Work
Because of the excellent work by the advance team of Keith Mattingly, Lauralea Banks, Erik LaBianca, Courtney Hairgrove, Craig and Michelle Nabors, and Ra'ad Malkawi, the dig permit was in hand, most squares had been surveyed and cleaned, the site's bedouin tent was repaired and readied for raising, the lab was inventoried and organized, computer networking was set up, the dig's database was edited to facilitate data entry for this season, and arrangements with village officials and hotel accommodations were in good order when the remainder of the team arrived.
The Work Day
The day begins with breakfast at 4:30 a.m. The hotel provides an assortment of breads (toasted white, sliced wheat, and traditional pita); traditional Jordanian toppings such as hummus, baba ganoush, and lebaneh; butter and jam; cold cereal and milk; a choice of hard-boiled eggs or scrambled eggs (sometimes mixed with fried potatoes); sliced cucumbers and tomatoes, and fresh fruits.
Bus and cars leave for the dig site at 5 a.m., and work begins on the tall by 5:30 a.m. It can be amazingly cool in this desert climate at this hour of the morning. Our team is met at the site by some 40 workmen from the village, many of whom have previously worked with our project. 
Their invaluable contribution to the work includes digging, removing heavy stones, transporting the dig matter to the sifts, and checking through the material that goes through the sift for pottery, coins, bones, and other artifacts.
Everyone is ready for a break by 9 a.m., 
when Abu Nur from the village of Hisban provides hot tea, and a local merchant delivers falafel sandwiches and watermelon for second breakfast. The large, goat-hair, Bedouin tent erected on the tall provides a cool, shaded venue for this meal.
Work continues until 12:30 p.m., when tools are stored away and the bus and cars load up for the drive back to our hotel. Lunch service begins at 1 p.m. We can choose between a couple of kinds of bread, the same traditional Jordanian toppings, an assortment of vegetable salads, usually rice and some curry-like dishes or cooked vegetables, meat some days, and fish and chips other days. Desert is jello or a Jordanian specialty. A most welcome, two-hour siesta follows lunch.
Following the siesta, everyone gathers in the courtyard garden to wash the day's pottery findings 
and to have yesterday's pottery and bones "read," counted, and recorded. If there's time after that, some of the group use the hotel's exercise facility, go downtown, or swim in the pool.
Supper is served at 6:30. Its choices are similar to lunch's, but with the addition of a soup.
There are lectures some evenings, or time to catch up on paperwork, reading, laundry and errands.
Field C (Byzantine/Islamic Village)
Craig Nabors is the field supervisor in Field C, which has excavations in three squares containing late Byzantine/early Islamic village housing. Assisting Craig are Becky Schmidt, James McDonald (square supervisors), Lizbeth Ruiz, Jonathan Martin, Michelle Nabors, Hannah Ko, Meredith Petty, Kjelshus Collins, Hakam Aljboor, Hakem Awawdah, Mohana Awawdah, Ashraf Al-Mashalah, Bader Awawadah, Hashem Almanaesha, Fadi Awawadah, Omar Al-Mashalah, and Bashar Awawdah. 
Two of the squares have needed much cleaning up of debris from an 8-feet-deep trench that was opened by robbers presumably looking for artifacts between this season and the last. They've uncovered a barrel vaulted ceiling in square 101 (and suspect that there is a separate room east of the doorway which is being revealed with the cleanup. In 102, they've done section drawings of the architecture, and began digging their first locus (defined area of study). Square 103 has worked on top plans and dealt with massive amounts of rocks which may be a possible barrel vaulted ceiling. This square contains the western end of the building visible in 102.
Craig and Michelle Nabors, who are on honeymoon during the dig, celebrated their one month anniversary May 29. Their village workmen entertained them by singing and dancing some traditional wedding songs in their honor. Several of this field's students were planning on attending a traditional Jordanian mansef (celebratory feast) with their village workers this weekend.
Field L (Mamluk Governor's Mansion and Storerooms)
This field, on the top of the tall, has two squares under the supervision of Courtney Hairgrove 
working with Rebecca Williams (square supervisor), Kristen Witzel, Tammy Grogan, Kevin Tolai, Lisa Riggs, Ahmed Barrari, Sa'id Awawdah, Balal Yusuf, Hashem Alamar, Abed Almarayha, Ahamed Alarari, and Marwan Al-Hamad. These squares are part of the mamluk complex of storerooms (possibly military) next to the SW corner of the garrison and tower. Their excavation began in a lot of large rock (reconstruction fill) which has been removed now. They are working at unearthing what appears to be a plaster wall, and some articulated rock is visible now.
The students in Field L have enjoyed learning Ajarmah dances from their village workers. Their location on the top of the hill gives them an awesome view; however, they also have to deal with a tremendous amount of wind. Digging amidst a layer of rock in the beginning made progress slow, but they are in good spirits.
Field M (Iron Age Village)
Aren LaBianca supervises this field of two squares, assisted by Aimee Allen and Desiré Hurst (square supervisors),
Kirby Applegate, Barbara Allen, Christie Ribeiro, Shehan Alshehan, Barakat Aljboor, Zayed Awawdah, Ala Shehaan, Mohammad Awawdah, and Omar Alsheeby. This field on the NE side of the tall is continuing work from last season. They began by redoing their boundary lines, documenting their rocks, drawing top plans, and reopening their old probes to the levels they were at last season. Now they are starting to bring the soil level in the rest of the square down to the level of the probes. There is a suspicion that their rocks may be part of a Mamluk double wall. Their pottery dates to the Byzantine and late Islamic periods, and they have found a coin and some metal fragments.
They are enjoying getting to know their village workers, who have brought them second breakfast and invited them to excursions on the weekend. During tea time, they work on learning Arabic with their workmen.
Field O (Ottoman Village)
This field, supervised by Ra'd Malkawi together with Adam Fenner, Rachel Benardos (square supervisors), David Hosch (square supervisor assistant), 
Thomas Luttrell, Susan Zelaya-Jackson, Nick Coleman, Sue Stewart, Fajer Awawdah, Atalah Abdullah, Jalal Awawdah, Mohammad Awad-said, Munther Awawdeh, Ala Barari, Gasan Bakar, Sameer Mashalah, Ala Alamar, and Ali Shehan has three squares which it is suspected contain an Ottoman farmhouse. In square 100, they are excavating next to a wall to discover its relationship to the rest of the structure. Square 101 contains the entrance to the building and what is suspected to be a matching section of the building on the other side of the entrance. Square 102 has just begun to clear its top soil, so its features aren't yet visible enough to discern what it holds.
The pottery from this field has been mostly Ottoman/Mamluk, and a coin has been amongst their found objects.
Roman Architectural Survey
Elena Ronza, together with Mark Farmer and Rick DeMaris, professors from Valparaiso University, 
are working at numbering, measuring, and cataloguing all pieces of Roman architecture within the fenced area of the tall. There is a Roman temple on the acropolis of the tall, and there are pieces of columns, column bases, and other parts of the structure spread around the tall area. If time allows, they will look for architectural parts in the area outside the fence also, and try to determine if they are part of the acropolis structure.
Survey of Mamluk Farmsteads in the Wadi Majar
Laura Holzweg is heading up this project together with help from Adnan Arafaiah of the Department of Antiquities and Ivan LaBianca. 
Their task has been to locate Mamluk farm sites in the wadi from the original Hesban survey done by Robert Ibach and to document them. Their goal is to discern how Mamluk government policies affected the region. They are studying the arrangement of fields by using pollen sampling, looking at water sources and installation, and studying building remains.
Ethnography
John Talal Haj and Meredith Petty have begun ethnographic interviews with village elders. 
They are working on getting a better understanding of the local customs which have made the people of this region able to survive great changes in their environment. Some of these include: mixed agro-pastoralism, low-risk water management, undefined shared common lands, residential flexibility, tribalism, hospitality, and honor.
Reconstruction Work
Sabah Abu Hudeib from the Department of Antiquities is heading a project to reconstruct the SE corner tower and adjoining east wall at the top of the tall. She is assisted by Mohammad Awawdah, Ahmad Al Mashalah, Younes Shehan, and Ahmad Barari. In preparing to reconstruct, the team is doing a salvage excavation of a meter-wide trench next to the wall to better determine the wall's original construction. 
This excavation has unearthed a sizeable amount of large, beautifully glazed and painted Mamluk? sherds, glass pieces, coins, and a glass ring. Their excavation has led them to suspect there is a possible arch in the wall connected to one of the towers.
Conclusion
The first week of this season has been a full one. Friendships are being made, many adaptations have been necessary, and we're off to a great beginning. We are especially grateful for the singularly outstanding support for this project provided by the village mayor, Basim Taranune and Hashem Al Mashale, Friends of Hesban volunteer.
Asta Sakala LaBianca, text |
Christie Ribeiro, photos |
