Papers by Stanley Klassen
Levant, 2024
Recent archaeological research in western Jordan, and the (semi-)arid regions of the southern Lev... more Recent archaeological research in western Jordan, and the (semi-)arid regions of the southern Levant more generally, have prompted wide-ranging inquiry regarding technologies, economic interconnections, settlement patterns and subsistence strategies during the 11th and 10th centuries BCE. For western Jordan in particular, recent proposals have focussed on questions related to the nature of socio-political organization, arguing for the presence of both sedentary and nomadic hierarchies that challenge existing interpretations of largely decentralized agropastoral subsistence-based communities. Central to these discussions are a series of small, fortified sites, originally identified as the ‘Mudayna’ sites of the Wadi al-Mujib region. Recent archaeological research north of the Wadi al-Mujib, however, has identified that this type of site is not geographically restricted, but part of a broader regional, yet decentralized, pattern of agropastoral subsistence communities. This article introduces the site of ʿAyun adh-Dhib, an additional site of this character north of the Wadi al-Mujib. Findings from an archaeological survey conducted in 2023 at ʿAyun adh-Dhib support the notion of an emerging regional pattern of social adaptive responses to living in specific ecological niches during a period of social and political transition in the early Iron Age.
Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology and Heritage Studies, 2024
In 2000–2001, the Tall Madaba Archaeological Project (TMAP) conducted an archaeological survey of... more In 2000–2001, the Tall Madaba Archaeological Project (TMAP) conducted an archaeological survey of the site of Khirbat al-Mukhayyat (Jordan) in anticipation of future excavation. Unfortunately, excavations were not immediately possible. With the formation of the Khirbat al-Mukhayyat Archaeological Project (KMAP) in 2012, collaborations with TMAP prioritized the analysis of this survey data. The central goal of the analysis was to create hypotheses concerning fluctuations in occupation and the nature of human activity at the site that could be tested against future archaeological excavation. Secondary goals included assessing the extent to which such legacy survey data could be integrated into the evolving research program of KMAP and elsewhere. The results of this analysis show the changing nature of human occupation at Khirbat al-Mukhayyat over time, highlighting activity during the Iron Age, Hellenistic, and Byzantine periods and reflect on the importance of using and making the results of such surveys available.
“And in Length of Days Understanding” (Job 12:12) Essays on Archaeology in the Eastern Mediterranean and Beyond in Honor of Thomas E. Levy, 2023
Substantial archaeological research has identified the significance and wide-ranging implications... more Substantial archaeological research has identified the significance and wide-ranging implications of large-scale copper extraction and refining in the Arabah region of the southern Levant between the thirteen and ninth centuries B.C.E. Concomitant with these metallurgical developments is the necessity of understanding the way in which these resources reached subsidiary markets, both through trade networks and intermediary social or political agents. While research continues to identify the importance of a western trade route through the Negev and southern Shephelah to the southern Coastal Plain, the possibility of an eastern route that travels north through the highlands of Edom and Moab has also been raised. In particular, these suggestions have at times linked the purported eastern trade in copper to developments in the socio-political complexity of Moab during the late Iron I/early Iron IIA period (eleventh–tenth centuries). This paper assesses the scope and nature of settlement patterns along with recent archaeological data of the region to evaluate the potential of major trade activity through central Transjordan during this period. Ultimately, it argues against a strong association of the copper trade to central Transjordan, unlike the exchange network and established infrastructure along the major trade route identified westward from the Arabah.
The Canadian Society for Mesopotamian Studies Journal, 2022
Notes from the Field / Carnet de recherche 45 five different time periods and a wide variety of a... more Notes from the Field / Carnet de recherche 45 five different time periods and a wide variety of artifact types and materials. The time periods represented are Pre-Pottery Neolithic, Early Bronze Age I, Early Bronze Age IV, Middle Bronze Age II, and the Iron Age. Artifacts include the plastered human skull, a mudbrick, stone and bronze weapons, some domestic tools, objects of adornment, and a variety of vessel types. Each is illustrated by a high resolution colour image photographed for this project by the ROM's staff. Viewers can click on each image to access a detailed description of the object, its archaeological context, publications for further information, and a link to the ROM's digital entry. Unfortunately, no objects from Dhiban could be included in the gallery, even though material from both Jericho and Dhiban travelled from Queen's to the ROM. After creating an acquisition code for the Queen's Dhiban material, the ROM unfortunately continued to use the same code as an open series for subsequent acquisitions from Dhiban. As a consequence, ROM personnel no longer know which Dhiban objects arrived via Queen's. This context may lie in ASOR's archives, but at the time we conducted our research, it was not possible to access the relevant files. To learn more about the Queen's Museum of Near Eastern Archaeology, we invite you to view the virtual exhibit. Richardson has also archived her research and sources of information on the Queen's server (Richardson 2019). This research and exhibit benefitted from the assistance of many people at Queen's, the Royal Ontario Museum, the Non-Professional Archaeological Photographs (NPAPH) project, ASOR Publications, and Margot Tushingham. Please visit the acknowledgements page on the virtual display for a full listing. We hope that by reviving the Queen's Museum of Near Eastern Archaeology in a virtual format, we can bring attention to a forgotten chapter in Canadian scholars' involvement in Near Eastern Archaeology and support future research.
Transitions, Urbanism, and Collapse in the Bronze Age - Essays in Honor of Suzanne Richard, 2021
Numerous studies have attempted to define the development of urbanism in the southern Levant duri... more Numerous studies have attempted to define the development of urbanism in the southern Levant during the Early Bronze Age. While pan-regional models have generally been favored, fieldwork has increasingly demonstrated the complex and diverse character of the archaeological record during this period, emphasizing the importance of examining development at the local regional level. The Madaba Settlement Cluster, situated in the Highlands of central Jordan, offers a unique opportunity to test integration at this regional level. This paper presents the preliminary results of a holistic analysis of pottery assemblages from six Early Bronze II sites within the Madaba Settlement Cluster and highlights the distributed nature and organization of the ceramic industry during this period.
The Canadian Society for Mesopotamian Studies Journal, 2020
Studies in the History of Archaeology of Jordan XIII: Ethics in Archaeology, 2019
The first known group of comparable Early Iron Age pithoi found in central Jordan (FIG. 2) was re... more The first known group of comparable Early Iron Age pithoi found in central Jordan (FIG. 2) was recovered at Saḥab by Moawiyah Ibrahim, who described them as large jars with a collared rim and plastic ridge below a short neck (Ibrahim 1978: fig. 1; pls. XIX, XX). At sites in the Jordan Valley, large storage jars are somewhat smaller, such as a jar from Tall Dayr 'Allā that is 85cm tall (Franken 1969: fig. 47:1) and one from Tall as-Sa'īdiyya at 92.5cm (Tubb et al. 1996: fig. 20). So too, their numbers are 1. Note that the scale of P6069 in Tall al-Mutasallim (Megiddo) 3 (Harrison 2004: pl. 12:2) is misleading. 2. This designation follows Killebrew (2001:377, n. 1), who explains the misunderstanding that arose from the term "collared-rim pithos", when several scholars, including Ibrahim, thought that the rim, rather than the neck, had a collar. More recently, Mazar (2001:13) also uses the term "collared pithos" to refer to large jars with a ridge at the base of the neck. 2. Map of Palestine and Jordan, with detail of sites in the 'Ammān region and on the Mādabā Plain.
Excavations at Tall Jawa, Jordan. Volume 3: The Iron Age Pottery, CHANE 11/3, Leiden: Brill, 2019
This chapter describes the results of petrographic analysis conducted on seven Iron Age I ceramic... more This chapter describes the results of petrographic analysis conducted on seven Iron Age I ceramic samples from excavations at Tall Jawa, and three clay samples from the region. Six collared pithoi and one cooking pot were chosen from the numerous examples excavated in Areas A, B, and E from Stratum X contexts. The samples were initially chosen for a larger study on the production of Iron I collared pithoi from sites in the Madaba Plain region. Although sampling was opportunistic in nature, the collared pithoi analyzed largely reflect the variety of rim forms evident at the site, as well as the various fabrics and firing conditions identified through macroscopic analysis (see Chapter 3). Fewer examples of Iron I cooking pots were uncovered at Tall Jawa, and the example analyzed is an uncommon form for this stratum. Preliminary results of the petrography have been published elsewhere (Daviau and Klassen 2019), however, the results presented here are a more complete report. The clay samples analysed in this study were collected in 2000 and 2002 and belong to an expanding data set to be assessed in combination with pottery from the Madaba Plain to better understand the ceramic technology of the region.
Walking Through Jordan - Essays in Honor of Burton MacDonald, Sheffield: Equinox., 2017
In this paper, I argue that much of the Early Bronze IV pottery from the Southern Ghors and North... more In this paper, I argue that much of the Early Bronze IV pottery from the Southern Ghors and Northeast ‘Arabah Survey (SGNAS) is unique in comparison to other EB IV pottery in region. Although the SGNAS corpus shows morphological similarities with pottery typical of south-central Jordan, as well as that found in the northern Negev, and the Shephelah, much of the slip applied as surface treatment to the SGNAS pottery is atypical. Recent attempts to establish a regional chronology during the Early Bronze IV period in south-central Transjordan highlight the development of the ceramic manufacturing processes during the period and identifies a number of regional “repertoires”. While the Southern Ghors and Northeast ‘Arabah would appear to be part of a larger regional or provincial grouping, I emphasize that the dominant application of light coloured slips to the pottery from the SGNAS highlights its distinctiveness. The unique surface treatment may suggest the occurrence of distinct social boundaries in the region, emphasizing the heterogeneous nature of the potting industry and regionalism during the EB IV period.
Journal of the Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities, 2017
Bulletin of the American …, 2008
... (Photo courtesy Sidney Rempel.) Fig. ... Dr. Mohammad Najjar co-directed the excava-tions at ... more ... (Photo courtesy Sidney Rempel.) Fig. ... Dr. Mohammad Najjar co-directed the excava-tions at Tell Rakân I and II, Lisa Maher and Sidney Rempel provided photos, and Kevin Gibbs and Mohammad Najjar drew preliminary versions of the illustration of the Wadi Ziqlab vessel. ...
Walls of the Prince: Egyptian Interactions with Southwest Asia in Antiquity. Essays in Honour of John S. Holladay Jr. (eds. Harrison T., Banning, E. and Klassen S.) Leiden: Brill, 2015
BASOR 372: 99-122., 2014
Assyrian control of small kingdoms in the southern Levant during the Iron Age opened new trade ro... more Assyrian control of small kingdoms in the southern Levant during the Iron Age opened new trade routes and had an effect on the patterns of exchange. This exchange involved tribute as well as trade. The result for small polities such as Moab was the appearance in small numbers of highstatus goods with a foreign origin, along with imitations of such goods produced closer to home.
Routledge, B., Smith, S., Mullan, A., Porter, B., and Klassen, S. (2014) A Late Iron Age I Ceramic Assemblage from Central Jordan: Integrating Form, Technology and Distribution Pp. 82-107 in Exploring the Narrative. Jerusalem and Jordan in the Bronze and Iron Ages. Papers in Honour of Margreet Steiner. (eds. Van der Steen, E., Boertien, J., and Mulder-Hymans, N.) The Library of Hebrew and Bible/Old Testament Studies 583. New York: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2014
Pp. 31-46 in Unearthing the Wilderness: Studies on the History and Archaeology of the Negev and Edom in the Iron Age. (ed. Thebes, J.M.) Ancient Near Eastern Studies Supplement Series, 45. Leuven: Peeters
Pp. 211-219. in Studies in the History and Archaeology of Jordan 11. Amman: Department of Antiquities., 2013
Pp. 189-210 in Interpreting Silent Artefacts: Petrographic Approaches to Archaeological Ceramics, ed. P. Quinn. Oxford: Archaeopress., 2009
Current download has the correct tables for the article. The tables were flipped incorrectly afte... more Current download has the correct tables for the article. The tables were flipped incorrectly after final proof submitted.
Books by Stanley Klassen
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Papers by Stanley Klassen
Books by Stanley Klassen