Khirbat Faris: Rural Settlement, Continuity and Change in Southern Jordan. The Nabatean to Modern Periods (1st century BC - 20th century AD) is the first of three volumes which chart the temporal, and spatial, occupational fluctuations at the site of Khirbat Faris in Southern Jordan and the stories of the communities that lived there. The detailed final excavation report follows the site and its environs throughout their many phases of use and occupation, from the 13th century BC to the present day. It provides a firm foundation for the succeeding discussions on key questions affecting our picture of the Nabatean, Late Antique and Islamic Levant. This well-illustrated book is essential reading for archaeologists, architectural historians, historical geographers, ethnographers: for anyone trying to understand the impact of varied environmental, social and economic forces upon settlement; for anyone seeking to unravel ways in which the use of ethnographic and historical data, together with archaeology and the types of excavation and analysis employed, can best respond to questions about rural settlement; for anyone eager to unpick the relationship between 'The Desert' and 'The Sown', between nomad and farmer, between tribe and state, between Christianity and Islam.