A Preliminary Report on the Cemeteries of Bir Madhkur

79

introduction

recent preliminary report on the Bir Madh-

kur Project outlined results from archaeo-

logical surveys conducted by Andrew M.

Smith II in 1997 and 2003 (A. M. Smith 2005). The

exploration of Bir Madhkur’s hinterlands has greatly

expanded historical and archaeological understand-

ing of the economic and administrative role of Wadi

Araba and small waystations such as Bir Madhkur in

antiquity. Preliminary excavations of two cemeteries

at Bir Madhkur conducted concomitant with the sur-

vey in 1997 by project co-director Megan Perry pro-

vide additional data on the function of the site and

the nature of its community. This short report out-

lines the potential for a bioarchaeological investiga-

tion of Bir Madhkur’s ancient community.

the bir madhkur

excavation and survey

The Bir Madhkur Excavation and Survey project,

co-directed by Megan A. Perry and Andrew M.

Smith II from 1997 until 2001, sought to explore the

sociocultural, political-economic, and biological his-

tory of the Nabataean, Roman, and Byzantine site

of Bir Madhkur through bioarchaeological and cul-

ture-historical methods (Perry and Smith 1998). Bir

Madhkur was one of the more important sites within

Wadi Araba in southern Jordan and potentially can

reveal the nature of the Roman and Byzantine mili-

tary occupation in relation to civilian activity and

its economic and political links with regional cen-

ters such as Aila, Gaza, and Petra. The site, located

some 10 km northwest of Petra, was the first major

waystation encountered from Petra along the Petra-

Gaza trade route that apparently was used during the

Hellenistic through Byzantine periods (Bowersock

1983; Cohen 1982; Glucker 1987; Negev 1966)

(fig. 1). Visible ancient features at the site, such as

a quadriburgium-style castellum and possible bathand domestic complexes (fig. 2), attest to its role as

a military watchpost and travelers’ waystation along

the Petra-Gaza route. A. M. Smith (2005) discusses

these buildings in detail, in addition to a number of

agricultural installations, farmhouses, and fortifica-

tions documented during the 1997 season of the Bir

Madhkur Excavation and Survey and the 2003 sea-

son of the Bir Madhkur Project. Ceramic and archi-

tectural data provide a majority of the evidence for

the site’s date. In 1997, a coin issued by Constantine

II (a.d. 317–337), minted in Antioch, and dating to

A Preliminary Report onthe Cemeteries of Bir Madhkur

Megan A. Perry

Department of Anthropology

East Carolina University

Greenville, NC 27858

[email protected]

The Bir Madhkur Excavation and Survey’s 1997 season sought to uncover the Naba-

taean, Roman, and Byzantine site’s sociocultural, political-economic, and biological

history through archaeological survey and excavation. The excavation component of

this project served to demonstrate the feasibility of future bioarchaeological investiga-

tions through exploration of two cemeteries within the site’s environs. Skeletal remains

from Bir Madhkur’s cemeteries potentially can address questions regarding the nature

of regional military conscription and the origin of and social and economic interactions

between local populations. Excavation of three surface features within the two ceme-

teries revealed well-preserved burials dating to the Roman/Byzantine and Islamic peri-

ods. The date and preservation of these skeletal remains demonstrate the fruitfulness of

bioarchaeological analyses for addressing relevant archaeological and historical re-

search questions at Bir Madhkur.

A

80 MEGAN A. PERRY BASOR 346

Fig. 1. Sites and major trade routes in the Roman and Byzantine Near East (from Parker 2000b: fig. 1).(Reproduced with permission of S. Thomas Parker)

2007 CEMETERIES OF BIR MADHKUR 81

a.d. 330–335 also was discovered on the surface at

the site, albeit in a likely secondary context (see

Appendix A).

Previous surveys have identified a number of

other cemeteries in the site’s environs (King et al.

1989; McCreery 1977; A. M. Smith 1995; 2005;

Smith, Stevens, and Niemi 1997). Two cemeteries,

the “South Graves” (N = 9) and “North Graves”

(N = 60–75), were identified by King and colleagues

(1989) immediately surrounding the ancient struc-

tures (fig. 2). A small cemetery associated with the

Roman house southwest of the site (Site 10; A. M.

Smith 1995) is an additional possibility for future

investigation. A cemetery of unknown date in the

vicinity of Qasr al-Faysif (Site 11; A. M. Smith

1995) may further increase the regional skeletal

Fig. 2. Aerial photograph of Bir Madhkur showing major features and excavation areas.


sample. In addition, the Late Roman/Byzantine Site

149 from the 1994 Southeast Araba Archaeologi-

cal Survey (SAAS), ca. 8 km to the east (Smith,

Stevens, and Niemi 1997), includes a cemetery, of

approximately 13 burials, probably contemporary

with the site.

These cemeteries likely contain burials of the sub-

populations who traveled through and lived at the

site, including the Roman and possibly Nabataean

military, traders transporting goods along the Petra-

Gaza trade route, and local sedentary agriculturalists

and pastoral nomads. Bioarchaeological research at

the site thus can address many historical and archae-

ological research questions through investigation

of these cemeteries. By analyzing nonrandom inter-

and intra-site genetic population variation within

the cemeteries, we can investigate, for instance, the

origin of the Nabataean and Roman military at Bir

Madhkur, the origin of traders who passed through

the site, and the social and economic interactions

between different regional subpopulations. The radio-

genic strontium isotope ratio 87Sr/86Sr extracted

from archaeological human dental enamel similarly

can help trace population movement and migration

(for more information, see Price, Burton, and Bent-

ley 2002). Furthermore, bone chemistry data, used in

conjunction with biological distance measures com-

paring genetic relatedness within Bir Madhkur sub-

populations and between Bir Madhkur and other sites

can illuminate the geographic patterning of Naba-

taean, Roman, and Byzantine military conscription.

An assessment of skeletal biological indicators of

health, diet, and gene flow additionally can elucidate

the social and economic interactions between the

civilian and military populations. Analyzing within-

subpopulation (i.e., within-cemetery) genetic varia-

tion should reveal more heterogeneity among males

than females because of the presence of foreign-born

(or at least nonlocal), mostly male traders and mili-

tary usually seen in traditional patrilineal, patrilocal,

and endogamous populations (see Konigsberg 1987;

1988). A lower than expected within-subpopulation

genetic variance would show that male outsiders in

fact mated with local females at Bir Madhkur. A mul-

tivariate assessment of between-subpopulation (i.e.,

between-cemetery) differences in such nonspecific

indicators of stress as periostitis, dental enamel hy-

poplasias, childhood growth rates, cribra orbitalia,

and porotic hyperostosis furthermore can provide a

generalized reflection of infectious disease preva-

lence, nutritional deficiency, or other forms of chronic

and acute physiological and psychological stress

experienced by different groups at Bir Madhkur

(Aufderheide and Rodríguez-Martín 1998; Ortner

2003). Analysis of carbon (d13C) and nitrogen (d15N)

isotopes within the subpopulations should generate

further evidence of dietary differences expected be-

tween the different groups residing at the site. The

research potential of these cemeteries for under-

standing the military occupation of the region, the

social relations between the military and regional

subpopulations, and the role of trade within the east-

ern frontier of the empire prompted this exploratory

research of Bir Madhkur.

Soundings excavated within Bir Madhkur’s cem-

eteries conducted by the author in 1997 served as a

feasibility study for future bioarchaeological research.

The sectors explored included the “South Graves”

and “North Graves” mentioned by King et al. (1989:

212) (fig. 2). The viability of further research at Bir

Madhkur primarily depended upon two factors: the

date of the cemeteries, and the condition of the skele-

tal remains and related artifacts. First, the date of the

cemeteries remained under contention prior to exca-

vation. McCreery, through personal communication

with the author, mentioned in 1996 that Bir Madh-

kur’s burials probably dated to the Ottoman or mod-

ern periods based on evidence from his 1977 survey

(McCreery 1977). King et al. (1989: 212), however,

recovered primarily Nabataean and Roman ceramics

from the “South Graves” area and Roman and Byz-

antine sherds in the “North Graves” area during their

survey. The intrusive nature of grave construction

generally necessitates using dating techniques other

than surface ceramic collection, such as analysis of

material culture discovered within the grave or 14C

analysis of human skeletal material. Thus, excava-

tion of the burials would provide definitive evidence

of their date.

Exploratory excavation of graves at Bir Madhkur

was aimed at determining the level of the preserva-

tion of the skeletal material and associated artifacts

in this environment. We needed to know if additional

conservation or analysis would be required for study-

ing, hair, tissue, textiles, or other fragile items. A

few first- to third-century a.d. cemeteries in Jordan

have yielded partially mummified bodies and/or well-

preserved textiles and leather garments (e.g., Khirbet

edh-Dharih [Lenoble, al-Muheisen, and Villeneuve

2001], the Queen Alia Airport Cemetery [Ibrahim

and Gordon 1987; Perry 2002], Khirbet Qazone

[Politis 1998; Politis, Kelly, and Usman 2005], and


burials currently being analyzed by the author from

near al-Jafr [Perry, al-Shiyab, and Falahat 2006]).

But poor preservation of skeletal material would

hinder applying some bioarchaeological techniques,

such as biometric assessment of population genetics

or ancient DNA (aDNA) and bone chemistry analy-

ses. Discovering the level of preservation at Bir

Madhkur was essential to our development of re-

search questions to be answered through excavation

of the site’s cemeteries.

results of the preliminary

cemetery excavations

As mentioned above, cemetery excavations at Bir

Madhkur focused on two areas, the “South Graves”

and “North Graves” areas identified by King et al.

(1989: 212). The “South Graves” area, containing at

minimum nine graves, was located along the south-

ern ridge of the southern branch of Wadi Siyagh er

Rujm. The “North Graves” area, where 60–75 burial

features were identified, was on the eastern bank of

a small tributary wadi running into Wadi Siyagh.

Preliminary reconnaissance of both areas identified

surface features possibly associated with subsurface

burials. In the “South Graves” area, renamed for

excavation purposes “Area A,” this included ovoid

rings or collections of stones in addition to a large,

4.5-m-diameter stone cairn. Four features from Area

A were randomly sampled for excavation. Surface

features in the “North Graves” area, renamed “Area

B,” were mostly ovoid rings of stones. Two features

from Area B were selected for excavation.

Human burials were uncovered in three out of six

excavation trenches in Areas A and B by the end of

the season. Three out of four surface features ex-

plored in Area A (“South Graves”) apparently did

not mark the presence of a burial. The fourth feature

in Area A, the large cairn tomb (Trench A.4) (fig. 3),

contained a cist tomb covered with capstones within

the feature. The cist tomb was discovered on the

final day of excavation, and thus it was backfilled to

allow for proper and careful excavation at a future

date. Rudimentary observation, however, determined

that the cist tomb was oriented north-south, with the

individual’s head to the south. A number of fragmen-

tary, disarticulated human bones, beads, and a copper

ring were also recovered from within the cairn fill

Fig. 3. Trench A.4 cairn tomb (view to the north).


above the cist tomb. The skeletal remains came from

three individuals: an adult of unknown age and two

juveniles. Analysis of the beads by Fatma Marii iden-

tified copper alloy, amber, obsidian, and glass beads

within the cairn tomb’s corpus (table 1). The one

metal object recovered from the cairn fill probably

was a copper alloy earring about 1.6 cm in diameter

(fig. 4). These artifacts do not establish a concrete

Note: Objects were analyzed and identified by Ms. Fatma Marii.

Table 1. Bir Madhkur Graves Object List

Burial/Trench Item Material Description

A.4 Bead Amber Short convex bicone; length = 6.45 mm, width = 4.70 mm

A.4 Bead Copper alloy Annular; diameter = 3.55 mm, length = 3.90 mm

A.4 Bead Obsidian Cylinder disk; diameter = 5.35 mm, length = 4.10 mm

A.4 Bead Glass Annular; dark and light blue wound glass with stratified eyes; diameter =

5.45 mm, length = 3.65 mm

A.4 Ring/earring Copper alloy 5 pieces of small ring or earring; diameter = 1.60 cm, thickness = 1.00–

1.10 mm

B.5 Beads Glass 4 groups of 3 attached spheroid glass beads and 5 groups of 2 attached

spheroid glass beads probably from same object; glass has thick hydrate

enamel-like black surface; diameter of each bead = 4.15–4.50 mm

B.5 Beads Glass 2 glass beads attached to each other, perhaps from same object as above, but

beads are smaller; glass has thick hydrate enamel-like black surface;

diameter of each bead = 2.15 mm

B.5 Bead Pink stone Cylinder; diameter = 4.80 mm, length = 12.65 mm

B.5 Bead Ivory? Annular; has encrustation layer; diameter = 4.70 mm, length = 4.80 mm

B.5 Bead Stone Cylinder disk, possibly hand made; bicolor stone (cream and dark olive

cream); diameter = 4.35 mm, length = 5.70 mm

B.5 Bead Obsidian? Cylinder disk; diameter = 5.30 mm, length = 6.50 mm

B.5 Bead Glass Oblate; reddish brown; diameter = 5.75 mm, length = 4.10 mm

B.5 Bead Obsidian? Cylinder disk; diameter = 4.50 mm, length = 2.25 mm

B.5 Bead Glass? Cylinder; weathered layers with encrustations; diameter = 2.50 mm, length =

2.25 mm

B.5 Bead Obsidian 3 cylinder disk beads; average diameter = 3.15 mm, length = 1.55 mm

B.5 Bead Pink stone Cylinder; diameter = 4.50 mm, length = 13.10 mm

B.5 Bead Amber Cylinder disk; diameter = 5.60 mm, length 1.30 mm

B.5 Bead Alabaster Cylinder; diameter = 1.65 mm, length = 4.50 mm

B.5 Bead Alabaster Barrel; diameter = 3.85 mm, length = 3.85 mm

B.5 Bead Mother of

pearl

Cylinder; diameter = 2.30 mm, length = 5.55 mm

B.5 Bead Ivory? Barrel; encrustations; possibly glass; diameter = 3.90 mm, length = 4.55 mm

B.5 Bead Stone Barrel; possibly obsidian; diameter = 3.25 mm, length = 3.10 mm

B.5 Bead Glass Barrel; some weathering; diameter = 3.30 mm, length = 3.40 mm

B.5 Bead Stone Cylinder disk; black; diameter = 3.00 mm, length = 3.70 mm

B.5 Bead Obsidian Barrel; encrustations; broken

B.5 Bezel ring Copper alloy Almost complete with strap; 1 mm thick, 15.10 mm long, 6.70 mm wide

B.5 Pins/nails Iron 4 corroded remnants of pins or nails; ranging in thickness from 1.20 mm to

2.70 mm

Fig. 4. Bronze earring from cairn tomb in Trench A.4(Burial A.4:3, object 97.2). Drawing by Megan Perry.


date for the tomb, but the north-south orientation of

the burial precludes an Islamic-period or modern

date.

The presence of jewelry and human bone within

the Trench A.4 cairn fill, while perplexing, is not

unlikely within a cemetery. Environmental or human

disturbance of the surrounding tombs could well

have scattered the items they contained across the

surface or into the wadi. Builders of the cairn tomb

would have used the surrounding soil and stones

for construction, and these may have contained these

disturbed artifacts. The skeletal remains recovered

from the cairn show evidence of cracking and deg-

radation consistent with surface exposure, support-

ing this hypothesis.

The two features explored in Area B (“North

Graves”) both revealed human burials, one dating

to the third–fifth centuries a.d., the other of an un-

known, possibly Islamic-period date. Excavation in

Trench B.5 investigated a north-south ovoid align-

ment of six stones oriented 3.50 m northwest-

southeast x 1.50 m southwest-northeast (fig. 5). This

surface feature marked the burial of a female indi-

vidual estimated at 60+ years old based on cranial

and pelvic morphology (Buikstra and Ubelaker 1994).

The woman was oriented on her right side, with

her head to the southeast while facing southwest

(fig. 6). Her left hand was placed on her head, while

her right was slightly flexed alongside her body.

The knees were tightly flexed and the hips partially

flexed in order to accommodate the small 1.25 m

x 0.75 m grave cut. A large number of wood frag-

ments surrounding the burial, including one contain-

ing an iron nail, suggests that the woman had been

interred within a wooden coffin. Wood samples were

retained for future analysis. The coffin had been

placed in a simple burial pit dug 1 m deep into the

alluvial gravel and covered with seven limestone

capstones, three worked, and four unworked. The

skeletal remains were in fair condition, with many

of the long bones fractured through taphonomic

processes.

Fig. 5. Surface marker for grave in Trench B.5 (view to the northwest).


The woman displayed skeletal evidence of her

relatively old age. A number of her teeth were se-

verely worn; in almost all cases, only a thin ring of

enamel remained on the occlusal (bite) surface. She

apparently suffered from systemic osteoporosis and

from degenerative joint disease (osteoarthritis) in

her hip, elbow, and wrist and the synovial joints in

between her thoracic and lumbar vertebrae. Her ver-

tebrae also displayed extensive vertebral osteophy-

tosis which results from degeneration of the vertebral

disks, and a compression fracture of her 11th tho-

racic vertebra in her lower back. The woman addi-

tionally had healed fractures of the left lower fibula,

left fourth through seventh ribs, and distal left radius.

These fractures of her ankle, ribs, and wrist probably

resulted from a fall in the years before her death.

The woman from Trench B.5 was buried with

bead and bronze jewelry (table 1). Most of the pri-

marily glass, obsidian, amber, alabaster, mother of

pearl, stone, and ivory beads were recovered from

near the woman’s head and neck. In addition, a

bronze bezel ring (fig. 7) was discovered near her

left hand which rested under her head. Other small,

1-mm-thick pins recovered from around the head

could have been associated with clothing or a burial

shroud. These items are common throughout many

periods in Near Eastern antiquity and thus cannot

definitively date the burial. Human bone samples

taken for 14C analysis, however, provided a date of

237–469 cal a.d. (Sample GX-23645, CALIB 5.0.2

[Reimer et al. 2004]).

Another ring of unworked stones measuring 1.50

m east-west x 1.25 m north-south, ca. 0.25 m to the

south of Trench 5, was explored in Area B (fig. 8).

The burial in this trench, Trench B.6, was interred in

a plain grave 0.60 m deep and covered with three un-

worked capstones oriented in an east-west direction.

The Trench B.6 burial was of a three-year-old (±12

months) child based on dental development and ep-

iphyseal union (Buikstra and Ubelaker 1994). The

child was interred on its right side with its head to the

west and facing south (fig. 9). No artifacts associated

with the burial were discovered. The small size of the

child’s skeleton prevented 14C analysis from provid-

ing a date, but the grave’s orientation, the body po-

sition, and the excellent preservation of the skeleton

suggest this is an Islamic-period burial.

discussion

Evidence from preliminary excavations in two

cemeteries associated with the Nabataean, Roman,

and Byzantine site of Bir Madhkur confirmed the po-

tential for future bioarchaeological research. Exca-

vation identified the date of burials from the “North

Graves” and “South Graves” areas. The burial from

Trench A.4 in the “South Graves” area probably is

pre-Islamic and contemporary with the Classical-

Fig. 6. Burial in Trench B.5. Drawing by Laura Brian.

Fig. 7. Bronze bezel ring found with burial in Trench B.5(Burial B.5:5, object 97.1). Drawing by Megan Perry.


period occupation at the site. The burial from Trench

B.5 in the “North Graves” sector also dates be-

tween the third and fifth centuries a.d., correspond-

ing with Bir Madhkur’s Byzantine history. The

skeletal remains are sufficiently well preserved for

many bioarchaeological techniques, including chemi-

cal analyses utilizing collagen, based on the results

of 14C analysis. However, two potential problems for

future research emerged through this investigation.

First, many of the surface features, in particular those

from the “South Graves” sector (Area A), apparently

were not associated with burials. Further excava-

tion within the “South Graves” area should thus

include techniques such as ground-penetrating ra-

dar (GPR) for identifying subsurface features. GPR

is able to detect subsurface archaeological features

whose electrical properties contrast with those of

the surrounding soil. GPR can identify burials by

Fig. 8. Surface marker for grave in Trench B.6 (view to the north).

Fig. 9. Burial in Trench B.6. Drawing by Laura Brian.


locating disturbed soil within the grave shaft or radar

reflections associated with bones, grave goods, cof-

fins/cist tombs, and breaks in the natural soil stratig-

raphy. GPR can also identify changes in soil electrical

properties caused by calcium salts leaching into the

surrounding soil during body decomposition.

An additional problem emerged with dating the

burials. The lack of recovered diagnostic artifacts

dictates the use of other techniques for establish-

ing the burial date. The “North Graves” also seem-

ingly had burials from multiple occupation phases;

thus, dating only a few burials per cemetery may not

accurately identify its period of use. It therefore

will be necessary to collect skeletal samples from

each burial for dating via 14C analysis or amino acid

racemization.

The two likely pre-Islamic burials from Bir

Madhkur essentially parallel those excavated from

Nabataean, Roman, and Byzantine cemeteries within

Jordan and Israel. The cairn tomb partially excavated

in Trench A.4 resembles many other examples scat-

tered across Jordan from the Eastern Desert west

to Wadi Araba. A 4-m-wide cairn from ªAyn Abu

ºUwayna near Wadi Ramm (Farès-Drapeau and Zay-

adine 2004: 369–70) appears to be the only other ex-

cavated example noted in the literature. This cairn

also included a cist tomb in the middle that con-

tained a single skeleton, similar to the cairn from Bir

Madhkur. Most other cairns have been encountered

through archaeological surveys, such as those con-

ducted on the Kerak Plateau (Clark, Koucky, and

Parker 2006; Koucky 1987), in the southern Ghor

and Wadi Araba (King et al. 1987; A. M. Smith

1995; Smith and Niemi 1994; Smith, Stevens, and

Niemi 1997), near Wadi Musa (ºAmr and al-Momani

2001), in the Eastern Desert (King, Lenzen, and

Rollefson 1983), and near Tafileh and Busayra (Mac-

Donald, Herr, and Neeley 2004). These tombs aver-

age between 4 and 7 m in diameter, although they

can be as large as 13 m wide. A majority of these

cairns are associated with Chalcolithic, Iron II, or

Early Roman/Nabataean ceramics (see ºAmr and al-

Momani 2001; Clark, Koucky, and Parker 2006;

King et al. 1987; MacDonald, Herr, and Neeley

2004; Miller et al. 1991; A. M. Smith 1995; Smith,

Stevens, and Niemi 1997), although apparently they

have been used for burials throughout the prehistoric

through modern periods. Dating these cairns remains

difficult, as they frequently were constructed from

the remains of earlier structures, and thus they ac-

tually may postdate any associated surface artifacts.

Scattered human remains and associated artifacts

from robbed burial cairns occasionally can provide a

clear indication of their use and date (e.g., Koucky

1987: 59; Miller et al. 1991: 58, 127). Many of these

cairns, on the other hand, may not have been associ-

ated with burials at all and thus had other functions.

Recent excavation of cairns in Rajl in Jordan’s East-

ern Desert did not discover human burials (Bikai

2006), and some investigators additionally have not

observed human skeletal material associated with

robbed cairns (e.g., MacDonald, Herr, and Neeley

2004: 253, 261). Further excavation of cairns can as-

sist with identifying patterns unique to cairns used

for burials, as opposed to other functions, and dis-

tinctive of certain periods.

The tombs in Area B discovered in Trenches B.5

and B.6 represent a more typical tomb type for the

Nabataean through Byzantine periods in Jordan.

These tombs, ending with a single grave and often

sealed with roughly cut or uncut capstones, fall un-

der Krug’s “Type Vb” tomb style (Krug 1998: 151–

61), excavated at Abila (Davis 1985; R. W. Smith

1989; 1990; 1992) and Umm al-Jimal (Brashler 1995)

in northern Jordan, the Queen Alia Airport Cemetery

(Ibrahim and Gordon 1987) and Hesban (Beegle

1975; Waterhouse 1998b) in central Jordan, and from

near al-Jafr (Perry, al-Shiyab, and Falahat 2006) in

southern Jordan. Frequently, archaeologists identify

these relatively simple graves as burials for indi-

viduals who had less access to resources or poorer

socioeconomic status. This tomb style may, how-

ever, reflect a change in the regional mortuary pro-

gram from the Roman through Byzantine periods,

based on tomb date, lack of intra-site variation in

tomb styles, and regional geological differences.

First, rock-cut chamber tombs constitute the most

artifact-rich (and hence, are considered the “elite”)

tombs in Roman and Byzantine Jordan and Israel.

Although many of these tombs remained in use

through the Byzantine period, most were constructed

prior to the Late Roman period (see Waterhouse

1998a: 10–15). Archaeologists presume that one

family used these tombs for several generations (Wa-

terhouse 1998a: 10); thus, some families owning large

chamber tombs may have chosen to continue their

use to demonstrate a long-term connection to their

land, village, or familial heritage. Additionally, only

a few sites contain both large rock-cut chamber tombs

and the simpler tomb styles seen at Bir Madhkur,


e.g., Abila (Davis 1983; 1985; Fuller 1987; R. W.

Smith 1989; 1990; 1992), Hesban (Waterhouse

1998a), Umm Qais (Weber 1988), Petra (Bikai and

Perry 2001; Horsfield and Conway 1930; Horsfield

and Horsfield 1938a; 1938b; 1942; Murray and Ellis

1940; Parr 1960; Zayadine 1974; 1979; 1986), and

Umm al-Jimal (Brashler 1995; Butler 1913: 205–

11), suggesting that tomb styles may stem from re-

gional or personal preference rather than intra-site

class differences. Furthermore, many examples of

the simpler tombs postdating the Late Roman period

are located in areas that lack the underlying soft

limestone bedrock favorable for tomb construction.

Regional differences in mortuary architecture thus

likely stem from local geology and temporal shifts in

burial customs rather than from social stratification.

The Bir Madhkur graves contained relatively few

artifacts compared with many other similarly styled

graves, such as those from the Queen Alia Airport

Cemetery. Other burials from southern Jordan, on the

other hand, such as at Byzantine Aila (Parker 1996;

1997; 1998; 2000a; 2002), Nabataean and Roman

Khirbet Qazone (Politis 1998; Politis, Kelly, and

Usman 2005), and Roman sites near al-Jafr (Perry,

al-Shiyab, and Falahat 2006), also lack large num-

bers of associated artifacts, like Bir Madhkur. Arti-

fact assemblages therefore may reflect intra-regional

cultural attitudes toward interment of the dead rather

than socioeconomic status.

The bead and metal jewelry recovered from the

burials in Areas A and B parallel many examples dis-

covered at cemeteries around Jordan. The bezel ring

from the grave in Trench B.5 resembles other Roman

and Byzantine rings from Tell el-ºUmeiri (Platt 1991:

257 fig. 10.56; 2000: 212 fig. 8.5), Dhiban (Tushing-

ham 1972: figs. 26–28), Qasr ar-Rabbah (Perry and

al-Shiyab 2005: 83 fig. 7), Pella (R. H. Smith 1973:

180–91, pls. 64–68), and the Queen Alia Airport

Cemetery (Ibrahim and Gordon 1987: 25, pl. 15).

The amber, bronze, obsidian, glass, and stone beads

also bear similarity to those recovered from a num-

ber of Nabataean, Roman, and Byzantine cemeteries

in Jordan such as the Queen Alia Airport Cemetery

(Ibrahim and Gordon 1987: pls. 31–34), Umm al-

Jimal (Brashler 1995: 463), Pella (R. H. Smith 1973:

pls. 79–80; Smith and McNicoll 1992: 139, pl. 61),

Dhiban (Tushingham 1972: figs. 26–28), and Tell el-

ºUmeiri (Platt 1989: 355–56; 1991: 258–62; 2000:

212). The beads from Bir Madhkur come in a mul-

titude of shapes, including spheroid, oblate, convex

bicone, annular, cylindrical disk, and cylindrical,

similar to the other sites.

conclusions

Preliminary excavations in two cemeteries asso-

ciated with the Nabataean, Roman, and Byzantine

site of Bir Madhkur confirm the viability of bio-

archaeological research at the site and suggest direc-

tions for future research. Graves in both the “South

Graves” (Area A) and “North Graves” (Area B) were

in concurrent use with the ancient occupation at the

site. The skeletal remains recovered from these tombs

apparently are preserved sufficiently for chemical and

other analyses. No associated materials requiring

extraordinary conservation measures, such as tex-

tiles, soft tissue, or leather, were recovered. Future

excavation of the Bir Madhkur cemeteries, however,

would have to use GPR or other geophysical tech-

niques to correctly identify the location of burials,

for not all surface features indicate grave presence.

Indeed, the fact that many features originally in-

cluded in the sample size estimate actually do not

mark burials suggests that the “South Graves” ceme-

tery probably contains fewer burials than initially

projected. In addition, future excavators would have

to select burials for excavation with care, through

noting the orientation of surface features, to avoid

any Islamic burials intermingled with ancient tombs.

The lack of diagnostic artifacts furthermore means

that to definitely date the burials, researchers will

have to rely on other techniques such as 14C analy-

sis or amino acid racemization using the skeletal

remains.

The Bir Madhkur cemeteries potentially can pro-

vide information on the economic, social, and cul-

tural history of a small waystation and military post

in Wadi Araba. The presence of a 60+-year-old

woman at the site indicates that a civilian population

coexisted with the third- to fifth-century a.d. military

presence at Bir Madhkur, at least in a funerary con-

text. The exact role of this woman remains unclear,

although it could be elucidated through further ex-

ploration in the cemeteries surrounding the site which

would generate the larger sample size necessary for

further analyses. Although at the moment no future

research is planned in Bir Madhkur’s cemeteries,

continued excavation would add significantly to our

understanding of the role of these waystations and

the populations that they contained.


The author would like to thank James Weinstein and

two anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments on

this manuscript. The author is grateful to Dr. Ghazi Bisheh,

former Director-General of the Department of Antiquities

of Jordan, and Dr. Pierre Bikai, former Director of the

American Center of Oriental Research, for supporting this

field project in 1997. The 1997 field staff included co-di-

rector and human osteologist Megan A. Perry; co-director

and ceramics specialist Andrew M. Smith II; and field ex-

cavator Laura Brian. The author would like to thank An-

drew Smith and the other staff members for their efforts

during this field season. Funding for the 1997 excavation

season was provided by the Kyle-Kelso Foundation, the

Endowment for Biblical Research, Sigma Xi, the Graduate

Student Association of University of New Mexico’s De-

partment of Anthropology, and two anonymous donors.14C analysis was funded by a Graduate Student Research

Grant from Geochron Laboratories.

acknowledgments

appendix a

Numismatist’s Report

1997 Bir Madhkur Excavation and Survey

By Anne L. McClanan, Department of Art History,

Portland State University

1. #97BM001 Surface Find, Bir Madhkur

AE, a.d. 330–335, Antioch Mint

Issued by Constantine II (eldest son of Constantine

and Fausta), who was given the title of Caesar on 1

March 317, and the title of Augustus on 9 September

337; killed March 340.

Obverse

Inscription: CONSTAN (TINVSIVNNOBC)

Laureate bust facing right, cuirassed; eye, ear still

visible; lower part of image corroded.

Reverse

Inscription: GLOR IAEXERC (ITVS)

Two soldiers standing, each holding a spear in outer

hand and leaning on shield with inner hand; between

them, two standards.

Exergue: SMAN(A)

Conservation Treatment:

Initial conservation work was performed by Nancy

Buschini of the Harvard University Art Museums’

Conservation Department. This coin was treated

with BTA, for it had a small area of bronze disease.

ºAmr, K., and al-Momani, A.

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A Preliminary Report on the Cemeteries of Bir Madhkur

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