This report summarizes the excavation campaign which was undertaken in Jerash between 24th July and 31st August 2016 by the team from Aarhus University, Denmark and Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany under the joint direction of Prof. Dr. Achim Lichtenberger and Prof. Dr. Rubina Raja.
Following our survey campaign in 2011 and the excavation campaigns in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 the subject of this year’s campaign was to further investigate particular archaeological remains in the Northwest area of the city beginning west of the Sanctuary of Artemis and stretching to the city walls.
The area is the highest within the ancient city of Jerash and it forms a natural hill which slopes to all four sides (fig. 1). The North side is a steep rock, to the East the hill descends considerably towards the Artemision, and to the South several terraces form the sloping hill creating the impression of a smoother descending hill.
In the survey of 2011 our results pointed to mainly late Roman/Byzantine and early Islamic remains in the Northwest Quarter, which the excavation campaign in 2012 confirmed. In 2013 the results indicated also a considerable Mamluk settlement covering parts of the top of the Northwest Quarter. In 2014 and 2015 the excavations gave new information about the devastating earthquake destruction in 749 CE when we were able to excavate an Umayyad house with many well preserved finds (trenches K and P). Another important result was the excavation of a cave complex in trench J which could not be finished and with the help of the DoA was covered to be continued in 2015. Unfortunately when we arrived 2015 heavy illicit excavation had taken place and most of the inventory has been destroyed. Trench N laid out in 2015 gave information about Roman military troops of the 6th century CE stationed in Gerasa through detailed inscriptions of mosaic floors, which were well preserved due to the collapse of the 749 CE earthquake having covered them.
On the basis of our survey results of 2011 and the results of the 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 excavation campaigns we chose six excavation areas to be investigated in 2016 (fig. 2):
The project team consisted of the two directors in charge of the project, Prof. Dr. Achim Lichtenberger and Prof. Dr. Rubina Raja assisted by Dr. Georg Kalaitzoglou (head of the field) and Dr. Heike Möller (head of the registration).
The field excavation team consisted of six trench masters and one trench master assistant. The field excavation team was assisted by between 12-52 workers for the duration of the excavation campaign. The documentation in the field was done by drawing profiles and plans/sketches with the help of a pantograph and photogrammetic documentation as well (3D-drawing). Photographic documentation with standard photography as well as geodetic documentation with a total station was also undertaken. Some special evidences in trench Q were also 3D-scanned. All measurements were entered into the CAD during the campaign. Photogrammetric documentation of all trenches was undertaken by Hans-Peter Klossek and the head of the field. Furthermore special finds were recorded and all pottery was registered.
All finds were processed by the registration team, which was headed by Dr. Heike Möller. The registration processed all finds from the 2016 campaign so that all excavated objects are documented. The registration team consisted of, apart from the head, four for sorting and counting pottery, ten for drawing it and two in charge of photography. In the registration ceramic sherds were washed, sorted, counted and registered and diagnostic sherds were described, drawn and photographed. Metal, stone, bone and glass finds were similarly registered, some of them 3D-scanned. Some finds required special treatment which was undertaken by the conservator, Margit Pedersen. Architectural elements were drawn and documented by the architect, Nicole Pieper. Find coins were all registered and prepared for detailed study by two numismatists abroad. Glass from 2014, 2015 and 2016 was documented by Dr. Holger Schwarzer, Berlin. All metal finds from 2012-2016 were documented in detail by PD Dr. Christoph Eger, Xanten. Mosaic finds, ex-situ and in-situ were studied and documented by Dr. William Wootton, London.
Prof. Dr. Ian Simpson, Stirling University, UK (Geochemistry) together with Dr. Søren M. Kristiansen and Dr. Genevieve A. Holdrige, Aarhus University, Denmark (Geochemistry) worked on erosion processes and soil formation and took several samples for further analysis.
The main objective of work in trench S was to continue investigations done in the area of trench A, which was excavated in 2012. This area is the absolutely highest area within the walled city of Gerasa and consists of what seems to be a large flat plateau. In the 2012 campaign a corner and part of a deep rock cut and plastered room as found in the easternmost part of this trench. This room has been filled in rapidly at some point in ancient times and intentional cooking pot deposits had been laid under the thick stone filling. Trench S was laid out to investigate the nature of this building and potentially the reasons for the filling in of the structure.
In the trench a long rock cut wall running east-west was found (fig. 3). On the south side the rock cut wall went four meters down and to the north floors running from the wall northwards were found. The floors were well made mortar floors with pebbles. As excavation progressed it became clear that the structure had been part of a large rock cut Roman cistern, which had been divided into several arched rooms (fig. 4). The walls and bottom of the cistern were heavily plastered with hydraulic mortar. In the northwestern corner a staircase leading from the upper floors down into the cistern was found as well as was the settling tank in the northwestern corner of the trench (fig. 5). In the dense fill layers both earlier Roman period material was found in secondary contexts, such as pieces of Roman period mosaics (fig. 6) and a small magical amulet (fig. 7). Furthermore cooking pot deposits such as those found in 2012 were encountered in the upper fill layers as well (fig. 8). In the staircase leading down to the cistern five layers of coloured wall plaster were found and a number of other well preserved finds such as coins, a griffin claw in marble and nicely preserved pottery (fig. 9). The western end of the structure, which had been found in 2012, was also found in the western end of trench S. The eastern end of the cistern was also found approximately forty meters to the east of the western end. In the layers above the cistern room itself and above the ancient floor levels a modest burial was found. The skeleton was carefully excavated and removed by conservator Margit Petersen.
The trench was excavated and documented by trench master Max Herbst between July 25th and August 30th 2016.
Trench T was a continuation of work begun in trenches C and D in respectively 2012 and 2013. The purpose was to investigate further the representative Mamluk period building (“Ionic Building”), which is located centrally on the central plateau in the Northwest Quarter. This building, which includes numerous Roman period spolia as building materials, is the most representative Mamluk period building excavated in Jerash until now. In the area around the building further Mamluk period buildings are located. A small part of one of these buildings was excavated in trench E in 2013 east of the large representative Mamluk period building. The archaeological investigations of the representative building in 2012 and 2013 included excavation of a bottle shaped cistern and several later phases in trench C and rooms inside and outside of the house in trench D. What is significantly noticeable was that inside the Mamluk period building earlier layers had been razed away to bedrock, while earlier structures had been left right outside the walls.
With trench T the intention was to investigate and better understand the development of the Mamluk period building in light of the analysis done on the material from trenches C and D. Furthermore the intention was to gain more information about the nature of this building, which held a prominent location overlooking the city and the immediate region.
Trench T was laid out over the northwestern corner of the house in order to investigate areas both inside and outside the house (fig. 10). In the rooms inside the Mamluk structure, which partly incorporated earlier period walls as its outer walls, three phases of Mamluk period floors were found in the westernmost room (fig. 11). Furthermore several Mamluk tabuns inside and outside the building were excavated. A well worked fragment of a basin decorated with a lion spout was found used in secondary context in a wall (fig. 12). All levels included pottery evidences, which upon further analysis will contribute to our understanding of the development of Mamluk pottery in Jerash and the region (fig. 13). The pottery is being studied by a doctorate student who is part of the Danish-German Northwest Quarter Project.
The trench was excavated and documented by trench master Jesper V. Jensen between July 25th and August 30th 2016.
Trench U was laid out on the southern slope on one of the lowest terraces belonging to the Northwest Quarter (fig. 14). This area had, as well as the rest of the Northwest Quarter, been part of the intensive survey undertaken in 2011, both geodetic as well as geophysical. However, in 2014, a ceramic surface survey was also undertaken, which gave no evidence of Mamluk settlement or activity in this area. As the surface of the southern terrace in general gives information about several industrial/production installations (oil press parts and the like) and earlier investigations by the project have focussed on the understanding of the large cistern further southeast in the campaigns 2013, 2014, 2015 as well as 2016, it was decided to investigate what seemed to be the most prominent collapsed structure on the south slope.
The trench indeed revealed information about a collapsed structure, and several rooms of a house were excavated (fig. 15). In these rooms, in particular the northwestern-most one there were numerous traces of installations, which could indicate various kinds of production, the nature of which needs to be clarified through analysis of the finds and pottery in the room. A small hearth was among other things excavated in the westernmost part of the trench and further samples were taken from this as well as from other evidences in the trench for further investigations and scientific datings among these 14C datings of the charcoal. Finds included a number of metal finds, among these a key on a keyring, fragments of a marble basin and pottery, including bag-shaped amphorae (figs. 16-18).
The house, which could not be excavated fully, consisted of several rooms and storeys. The upper storeys had collapsed on the lower floor, which in return had secured some good preservation conditions of finds from the ground floors (i.e. the abovementioned installations). Several of the ground floor rooms were situated on a variety of levels, a situation which would have been facilitated by the sloping terrain.
The trench was excavated and documented by trench master Gitte H. Lambertsen between July 25th and August 30th 2016.
After we in the 2014 and 2015 campaigns had excavated parts of two well preserved Umayyad houses, one with rich domestic inventory (trench K) and one which was undergoing extensive renovation (trench P), it was decided to continue investigation of this area (eastern terrace) in the 2016 campaign. The trench was laid out further south of the 2014 and 2015 trenches (fig. 19). We knew that the trench would give more information about the house, which was partly excavated in 2015. In trench V further rooms on various levels were found, including parts of the collapsed upper floor, which held mosaics made of black and white tesserae.
The house was destroyed by the earthquake of 749 CE, which is a date confirmed by 14C dates taken in the 2015 campaign in other rooms of the house. Until this campaign on casualties had been found in the earthquake destroyed evidences. However, in trench V immediately inside the doorstep to the entrance of the house a skeleton was found. This seems to be a skeleton of an adolescent, most likely a woman. The skeleton was carefully excavated for documentation, however, in the night illicit excavation took place for what seems to have been several hours and the skeleton was completely destroyed. We recovered all evidence possible.
The house had a monumental entrance to the south, which incorporated 3 large spolia columns (figs. 20 and 21). In front of the porched entrance a street had been running. The entrance held steps which would have lead down into rooms on a lower level, among these the one excavated in 2015, where almost a 100,000 unused white tesserae were found. In parts of the house substructures for the support of vaults and arches were found, which underlines the monumentality of this house structure. The house was extensive and the last days were used for cleaning topsoil around the excavated areas in order to find the extension limits of the house.
This trench as last years’ trenches K and P gives important insight into the latest Umayyad phase of Jerash and it provides us with undisturbed and well preserved layers, showing both the use of Roman period spolia as well as the material culture of the Umayyad period (figs. 22-25). This area, the eastern terrace, is of utmost importance for the understanding of Umayyad Jerash.
The trench was excavated and documented by trench master Line E. Nielsen between July 25th July and August 30th 2016.
Trench W was a continuation of work done in trench N that was excavated in 2015. In trench N south of the massive east-west running wall a large room with mosaic floors had been found in 2015. The floors were decorated in fields and had geometric patterns as well as two Christian inscriptions: One in a tabula ansata the other in a medallion. Both are well dated into the later 6th century CE. The room with the mosaic had an extension of at least 9 x 15 m was in 2015 only partially excavated and we wanted to investigate the nature and layout of the rooms further in 2016 through trench W (fig. 26). Further mosaic fields belonging to two of the three fields excavated in 2015 were found in the 2016 campaign and the extension of the building towards the east as well as west, the north as well as south was clarified (fig. 27). A sondage was also undertaken outside the east wall of the building (fig. 28). This sondage went down approximately 3 metres and showed several layers of soil activity but no built structures. Soil samples were taken in order to investigate through these the nature of the activity which had gone on in this area.
The extension of the building can now be said to have been approximately 20 meters by 12 meters, which is a considerable size. We also from the inscriptions know that it belonged to Justinianic special troops stationed in Gerasa in the 6th century CE and of which we had no information until now. The complex seems to have had a relationship with the church complex to the south of trench W.
Sometime before the earthquake of 749 CE the large room, the roof of which had been supported by a central row of pillars, had been transformed into several smaller rooms by the implementation of several division walls, which all respected the mosaic floor and only partially had disturbed the original layout in specific places. Pottery found on the floor dates to the early Islamic period (fig. 29). The whole evidence is of special significance since it attests to the transformation of ecclesiastical spaces after the Islamic conquest.
The trench was excavated and documented by trench master Kristine Thomsen assisted by Holger Fleischer between July 25th and August 30th 2016.
Trench X was laid out at the Northwest corner of the large cistern on the south slope of the Northwest Quarter (fig. 30). This large cistern and the area around it had been subject to archaeological investigations in 2013, 2014 and 2015 (trenches F, L and O). Aim of the new trench was to investigate the possible water inlet and a possible sediment basin of the large cistern. This aim was satisfyingly achieved. In 2016 the extent of the supposed sediment basin was found as well was the settling tank and there is therefore no doubt that this area with extremely durable mortared floor was that of the original Roman period sediment basin (fig. 31). This was already our assumption in 2015, but now it can be proved. A staircase leading into the sediment basin was also found with parts of the door frame in-situ door, which showed that this door had been closed originally by shutters. As in 2015, several evidences of mosaic production waste were found in fills in the trench. These were, as all other mosaic material from the project, studied on site by mosaic specialist William Wootton from King’s College London. In the fill layers many coins were retrieved (fig. 32), which need to be further studied.
Several structures post-dating the sediment basin were found built into and over the sediment basin floor and that the durable mortar floor had been used as a walk on level in several of the areas post-dating the use of the area as a sediment basin. The most significant results of this trench is the reconstruction of extensive Byzantine and early Islamic building activity post-dating the large cistern as well as the clarification of the extension of the Roman period sediment basin. All evidences retrieved could be related to trenches F (2013), L (2014) and O (2015) and support out previous assumptions.
The trench was excavated and documented by trench master Malene Byø between July 25th July and August 30th 2016.
In order to follow up on and complement the geodetic survey of the Northwest quarter which was undertaken in the 2011 campaign and expanded in the 2012 to 2015 campaigns, the fix point network was refined by the layout of a number of new fixed measuring points in 2016.
All trenches were backfilled after excavation. After consultation with specialists in mosaic conservation we decided to cover the well preserved mosaic floors in trench W by the natural soil, which we had excavated. We decided not to use geotextiles since that involves more potential problems than using the soil. After covering the mosaics with soil we also put large stones on top of it to prevent vegetation and keep illicit activity away.
The conservation campaign ran from 1st August to 29th August 2016 staffed by M.Sc. in conservation Margit Pedersen from Viborg Museum, Denmark. The conservation lab was set up in the kitchen of courtyard C in the Archaeologists’ Camp. Easy access to running water, natural day-light and out-door facilities were essential for several of the work procedures. The equipment consisted of a stereo microscope with photo attachment, a vacuum chamber run by a hand driven vacuum pump, rotating tools, an ultrasonic scaler, assorted hand tools and conservation chemicals. Conservation records were added by hand to the printed basic registration sheets generated by the project. Conservation work was undertaken according to a list of items prioritised by the archaeologists. Photos for registration and publication were performed after conservation.
As the best rendering of the original surfaces are to be found in the corrosion layers, no chemical cleaning procedures are feasible. Chemical treatment would leave the objects stripped to the naked metallic surface, thus losing all character in the original surface. The mechanical cleaning was performed under microscope and followed by a chemical stabilisation with an inhibitor. The physical stabilisation was enhanced by a coating of lacquer. Vacuum was used to optimise the contact between the metals and the relevant conservation chemicals.
All treated metal objects were bagged in acid free paper envelopes or wrapped in acid free paper and bagged in sturdy plastic boxes to better withstand the future conditions.
Glass objects were cleaned preferable under microscope using liquid solvents and hand tools. Before drying up a water-based dispersion with a maximum of ability to penetrate the lacunae in the glass matrix was used to stabilise the glass physically.
Furthermore, the conservator was able to assist the registrars and specialists by identifying the composition of various materials and in the field with the removal of fragile objects.
The results of the 2012-2014 campaigns showing an intensive Byzantine and Islamic settlement in the Northwest quarter of Jerash were substantiated by the research undertaken in the 2015 campaign. In all trenches we found extensive Byzantine and Early Islamic occupation. But this year also more Roman material was detected than in previous years. This relates to the construction of the large cistern in Trench S as well as to the finding of the sediment basin in Trench X belonging to the large cistern on the southern slope of the hill.
Some important further results are summarized here: (1) We gained new data for the date of the cistern in the southern part of the Northwest Quarter, which underlines a clearly Roman date. Further analysis of the finds may refine this date. (2) We found evidence for another Roman period cistern on the very top of the hill in trench S. This structure must be further investigated through the finds coming from it. (3) Furthermore impressive remains of late Umayyad buildings on the eastern terrace were excavated giving ample insight into the lavish buildings of the Umayyad culture and (4) Furthermore we further investigated the ecclesiastical complex which was related to the church south of it. It has further geometrically decorated mosaic floors, which interestingly also show that the mosaics completely followed the irregularities of the buildings structure. This complex is of special importance because it is one of the largest public buildings in the Northwest Quarter stemming from Late Antiquity and also presents important data for transformation processes in the aftermath of the Islamic conquest.
The directors and the team were supported by members of the DoA throughout the campaign. We thank the general director, Dr. Munther D. Jamhawi, for facilitating our preparations for the campaign. At the Department of Antiquities in Jerash especially Ali al-Khayyat supported us scientifically and with the practical organization and infrastructure. Our DoA representatives were also very supportive throughout our campaign. We were able to reach them anytime and they accompanied our work. Also the stay in the Archaeologists’ Camp contributed to efficient workflows and we thank all members of the DoA Jerash for their competent and efficient help in all matters concerning these issues. We would also like to thank Aktham Oweidi for professional and friendly advice and guidance as well as Ahmed Lash. We would like to thank the DoA for its good cooperation, which we hope to continue in the future. We would also like to mention that the German Protestant Institute of Archaeology in Amman has supported us with considerable help.
DoA representatives:
Ali al-Khayyat (24th July until 31st August 2016), Bilal Boreni (24th July until 12th August 2016), Iman Kuran (13th August until 31st August 2016)
The team consisted of the two directors Achim Lichtenberger and Rubina Raja, head of the field team Georg Kalaitzoglou, head of the registration team Heike Möller, architect Nicole Pieper, conservator Margit Petersen, geochemists Ian Simpson, Søren M. Kristiansen, Genevieve Holdrige, glas specialist Holger Schwarzer, metal specialist Christoph Eger, mosaic specialist William Wooton and the field and registration team:Christin Braeck, Malene Byø, Charlotte H. K. Christensen, Philip Ebeling, Holger Fleischer, Max Herbst, Jesper V. Jensen, Marion Jobczyk, Hans-Peter Klossek, Signe Krag, Signe B. Kristensen, Gitte L. Hjortlund, Mie E. Lind, Kevin Luijer, Line E. Nielsen, Mette Norman Pedersen, Alex H. Peterson, Julie T. Raunstrup, Alexander Reso, Michael Schwab, Kristine Thomsen, Steff E. Wiklund.
