ARCHEOLOGY: STUDY TRIP TO JORDAN

Well-known for its excavations in Jordan, the École biblique et archéologique française de Jérusalem organised a topographical study trip to the sands of the Hashemite kingdom once again this year.

However, in order to adapt to the changing realities of ongoing conflicts, this year’s trip took place in the last rays of autumn sunshine rather than the long days of spring.

Starting with the Gulf of Aqaba, over fifteen participants continued their journey northwards through the key stages of the Wadi Rum desert, Petra, Mount Nebo, Amman and finally Jerash.

Following in the footsteps of their predecessors, each student took part in the exercise of presenting the various topographical, archaeological and biblical aspects of the sites that the founding fathers of the ÉBAF were often the first to document, in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Petra. In this maze carved out of the polychrome rock, researchers were impatient to find this site, famous for having been excavated by the Dominican friars of Jerusalem with the tomb of Turkmaniyeh. It was in 1896 that Fathers Lagrange, Jaussen, and Vincent made the very first stamping of the tomb’s royal inscription.

At the fortress of Macherus, in the cistern where Saint John the Baptist was said to have been held before being judged and beheaded by King Herod, there was a surprise: the makeshift ladder used by the Dominicans during the 1909 excavations still seems to be in place!

At Umm er-Rasas, the mosaics are the centre of attention. Reminiscent of those in Hisham’s palace in Jericho, the representations of the living have survived to the present day.

Photo: ÉBAF, Ordo Prædicatorum.
The group poses for the photo around a mosaic.

A special mention goes to the Amman Archaeological Museum, where a discovery made by the ÉBAF was patiently awaiting the students. It was during the 1991 excavations carried out jointly with the Jordanian Ministry of Antiquities that Fr. Jean-Baptiste Humbert, o.p., unearthed several objects, including a mask dating from the Second Iron Age.

All in all, these five days have first and foremost reminded us of our humility in the face of God’s wonders.
Even today, from the Red Sea to Mount Nebo, it is in the field that a truly incarnate study is taking place.

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