Aerial Photographic Archive for Archaeology in the Middle East

PATRON: HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS PRINCE HASSAN BIN TALAL

As this photograph of the Roman fort of Qasr Bshir in Jordan illustrates, the antiquities of Jordan can be spectacularly well-preserved (see Kennedy and Riley 1990; Kennedy and Bewley 2004; Kennedy 2004: 148-151).

The AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHIC ARCHIVE FOR ARCHAEOLOGY IN THE MIDDLE EAST was established in 1978 under the patronage of Prince Hassan bin Talal of Jordan. Financial support has been provided by, amongst others, the British Academy, the Society of Antiquaries of London, Palestine Exploration Fund, Seven Pillars of Wisdom Trust, and the Australian Research Council. To date (2008) it consists of over 20,000 photographs and several hundred maps for several countries, mainly Jordan.

See also the link to the Aerial Archive for Jordan.

Many other sites can be far less well-preserved. This small Byzantine town at Khirbet Khau in northern Jordan was difficult to interpret at ground level when visited by travellers a century ago and has been "lost" within the perimeter of a military base for the last half century. The air photograph of 1953, however, makes it far more readily and immediately intelligible, depicting the fort in the top right and the town which grew up around it on the west and south (Kennedy 2001). In this instance the site has been well-protected as the next photo shows but at ground-level is a baffling ruinfield pock-marked by the entrances to underground tombs.

The REMOTE SENSING FOR ARCHAEOLOGY IN THE MIDDLE EAST project is an outgrowth of the former, funded since 1991 by the Australian Research Council.

The core of the project is examination of the c4000 frames of the Hunting Aerial Survey of Jordan taken in 1953. These have been supplied through the courtesy of the Royal Jordanian Geographic Centre in Amman.

This is a long term research project designed both to investigate a methodology and to illuminate settlement history in the Near East. Some 25,000 sites have been identified on the photographs and the details transcribed on transparent overlays at 1:25,000. The third phase, archaeological interpretation, is now in progress. The material has been employed in several publications (below) and three major interpretative essays have been published (Kennedy 1997a, b and c below). A three volume publication of the full results is now in progress, beginning with that dealing with methodology and analysis of the material for the basalt desert of northeastern Jordan.

In principle the project is happy to co-operate and collaborate, for mutual benefit, with scholars interested in utilising air photographs. However, any material provided is part of the above academic project. Information is supplied on the understanding that we retain the option of publication or appropriate joint collaboration. See now the new web page devoted to this aspect of the project

Many more sites are far more difficult to see at ground level. This view of a site on the Wadi el-Ajib in northern Jordan shows a settlement as it appeared in 1953. The rectangular structure is a modern reconstruction preserving the outline of an ancient farm. To the right can be seen the "ghost" outlines of a series of cells for a substantial curvilinear structure. Sites such as these are quite common and frequently include a Roman phase. Many have now been wholly or partly obliterated by recent development and the photograph is the sole record of their form. By April 2007 agriculture had encroached and none of this survived.

Publications Arising and of Relevance

• Kennedy, D. L. (1980) The Aerial Photographic Archive for Archaeology in the Middle East, Aerial Archaeology 6: 54-9
• --- (1982) Archaeological Explorations on the Roman Frontier in North East Jordan, Oxford (BAR, Int. Series 134)
• --- (1983) The contribution of aerial photography to archaeology in the Middle East: with special reference to the Roman period, in A Hadidi (ed.) Studies in the History and Archaeology of Jordan, I , Amman, 1983: 29-36
• --- (1985) Ancient settlements in Syria, Popular Archaeology September (1985): 42-4.
• --- and Gregory, S. (1985) Sir Aurel Stein's Limes Report, Oxford (BAR, Int Series 272)--- (1987) Aerial Photographic Archive for Archaeology in the Middle East, Liber Annuus XXXVII (1987): 412-4
• --- (1992/1993) Remote Sensing for Archaeology in the Middle East, in C. E. V. Nixon (ed.) Chronicle of Excavations, Mediterranean Archaeology 5/6: 167; Pl 51.3.
• --- (1994) Remote Sensing for Archaeology in the Middle East, in B. de Vries and P. Bikai (eds) Fieldwork in Jordan, American Journal of Archaeology 98: 523.
• --- (1995) Remote Sensing for Archaeology in the Middle East, in P Bikai and D. Kooring (eds) Fieldwork in Jordan, American Journal of Archaeology 99 : 507-509
• --- (1995) The Via Nova Traiana in Northern Jordan: a cultural resource under threat, Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 39: 221-228.
• --- (1995) Water supply and use in the Southern Hauran, Jordan, Journal of Field Archaeology 22.3: 75-90
• --- (1996) Aerial archaeology in the Middle East. Aerial Archaeology Research Group News 12: 11-15
• --- (1995) Southern Hauran Survey 1993, Levant 27: 39-73.
• --- and Gilbertson, D. D. (1984) An archaeological reconnaissance of water-harvesting structures and wadi walls in the Jordanian desert north of Azraq Oasis,Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan XXVIII (1984): 151-62; 444.
• --- and Riley, D. N. (1990) Rome's Desert Frontier from the Air , London: Batsford/ Austin, TX: University of Texas Press
• --- (1996) Remote Sensing for Archaeology in the Middle East, in P Bikai and D. Kooring (eds) Fieldwork in Jordan, American Journal of Archaeology: 100: 507; 509.
• --- (1997a) The Umm el-Jimal area: maps, air photographs and surface survey, in B de Vries (ed) Umm el-Jemal, I, Ann Arbor (Journal of Roman Archaeology, Supplementary Volume 26): 39-90.
• --- (1997b) Aerial Archaeology in Jordan: Air photography and the Jordanian Hauran, in G. Bisheh (ed.) Studies in the History and Archaeology of Jordan, VI : 77-86.
• --- (1997c) Roman roads and routes in north-east Jordan, Levant 29: 71-93.
• --- (1998) Aerial archaeology in Jordan, Levant 30: 91-96.
• --- (1998) La Jordanie antique vue du ciel, Archéologia 346: 56-65.
• --- (1998) Declassified satellite photographs and archaeology in the Middle East: case studies from Turkey, Antiquity 72: 9: 553-561
• --- (2001) Khirbet Khaw: a Roman town and fort in northern Jordan, in N. Higham (ed.) Archaeology of the Roman Empire: a Tribute to the Life and Works of Professor Barri Jones, Oxford (BAR, International Series 940): 173-188
• --- (2004) The Roman Army in Jordan, 2nd ed., London (CBRL)
• --- and Bewley, R. (2004) Ancient Jordan from the Air, London (CBRL)

In Press

In Preparation

• Kennedy, D. L. and Bewley, R. H. (2008) Aerial Archaeology in Jordan, Antiquity
• Kennedy, D. L. and Bewley, R. H. (2008) A decade of Aerial Archaeology in Jordan, 1997-2007,
• Kennedy, D. L. (forthc) Remote Sensing for Archaeology in the Middle East, 3 vols, in preparation