The emergence of ancient urbanism has long held the interest of archaeologists attempting to understand the origins of inequality and its links to early urban life. This volume presents the results of archeological research at the Early Bronze Age sites of Numayra and Ras an-Numayra, conducted to investigate the rise of Early Bronze Age urban society, with a distinctive focus on links between environmental and social systems. The Dead Sea Plain excavations at Numayra and Ras an-Numayra uncovered extraordinarily well-preserved architecture, artifacts, and faunal and paleoethnobotanical remains that offer exciting and profound insights that enhance our understanding of life in these walled settlements. Under the codirection of R. Thomas Schaub and Walter E. Rast, the Expedition to the Dead Sea Plain team designed their research with an explicitly anthropological focus, based on the New Archaeology’s principles for archaeological knowledge production. Their excavations at these sites in the mid-1970s and early 1980s heralded the now-common approach combining archaeology, paleoethnobotany, palynology, bioarchaeology, zooarchaeology, geology, and ethnoarchaeology into the research project, with a multidisciplinary team in the field to systematize collection and sampling procedures. These excavations at Numayra and Ras an-Numayra represent a watershed moment in the history of archaeological research in the southern Levant, setting new standards for scientific methods and a multidisciplinary approach to investigating the past.

The public s continuing fascination with Near Eastern archaeology has often been frustrated by highly technical and specialized studies. This volume masterfully rectifies that situation. Here, in concise and readable form, is a comprehensive introduction to Palestinian archaeology (the region encompassed by the State of Israel, the West Bank, and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan) from the Stone Age to the Islamic period. Readers are provided with clear explanations of unfamiliar terms, geographical locations, dates, archaeological procedures, links with biblical text, and the like. Photo illustrations enhance the presentation throughout. Selected bibliographies for each chapter direct readers to appropriate resources for additional information. Through the Ages of Palestinian Archaeology constitutes a handy reference both for those already familiar with archaeology and for those who know little of why archaeologists do what they do and what can be learned from their work and their discoveries. Walter E. Rast is Professor in the Department of Theology at Valparaiso University in Indiana. He is second vice-president of the American Schools of Oriental Research and former editor of the Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research. With R. Thomas Schaub, he is author/editor of The Expedition to the Dead Sea Plain Series whose first volume, Bab ed-Dhra, is now in print.