Preliminary Report on the 2013 Season

by Stephan G. Schmid and Piotr Bienkowski

I. Acknowledgments

The 2013 field season of the International Umm al-Biyara Project (IUBP) lasted from March 18th to April 11th. The IUBP 2013 was funded by the cluster of excellence „Topoi“ (Berlin), Humboldt-University (Berlin), the Palestine Exploration Fund (PEF, London) and the Association for the Understanding of Ancient Cultures (AUAC, Basel). We would like to thank the staff of the Department of Antiquities for their support and for granting the working permit, as well as Dr. Eimad Hijazeen, commissioner of the Petra Park Authority, and Tahani Salhi for their kind logistic support. We would also like to thank ACOR Amman for lodging the team during its stay in Amman.

The following persons participated in the 2013 season of the IUBP: as co-directors Stephan G. Schmid (Berlin) and Piotr Bienkowski (Manchester); as archaeologists Christoph Schneider, MA (Basel), Polly Agoridou (Berlin), Will Kennedy, BA (Berlin), Lydia Kappa, MA (Berlin), Jan Reimann, MA (Berlin) and Thomas Kabs, MA (Berlin); as surveyor Jana Falkenberg, BSc (Berlin). The representative of the Department of Antiquities was Haroun Amarat, whose help and advice were very much appreciated. During the team’s stay at Nazzal’s Camp in Petra and on top of Umm al-Biyara, Suleiman Mohammed al-B’dool, Saher Mohammed al-B’dool, Aziza Suleiman al-B’dool, Rasmieh Hussein al-B’dool and Ali Chalaf al-B’dool were a very efficient and helpful camp and supply team.