It was an honor to be one of the few to present remotely at the Near
East Archaeological Society (NEAS) presentation during the Evangelical
Theological Society (ETS) annual meeting held in San Antonio, Texas on
November 14-16, 2023. Twenty papers were presented in the NEAS meetings over the three day
period, covering a wide range of topics.
The highlight of the
event for me was presenting my paper, “Don’t Be Oblivious, Its Livias:
Eight Years of Excavations at Tall el-Hammam of a Monumental
Roman/Byzantine/Islamic Bath Complex.” Although I has presented in person many times, this was the first time I had
ever presented remotely at a NEAS presentation and I was excited.
Video
The presentations were all quite interesting
and I learned a lot from my peers. It was also great to connect with
archaeologists and scholars from all over the world and to exchange
ideas and learn from each other. All the papers presented can be found
on the ETS website, which is available here: [LINK].
Overall, it
was an amazing experience to present my paper at the NEAS presentation
with my colleagues and I look forward to participating in more conferences and
presentations in the future!
Tall el-Hammam with inset of Livia (upper left arrow Roman
area and hot spring, middle lower arrow another hot spring)
Spouted Byzantine jar (FBW) 2014
A video from Livias that was recorded a few years ago (before my beard ;-) in January 2011 that interviews Dr. Scott Stripling and myself (field supervisors of the Roman area) on the discovery of our bath complex (35X40 m.) and Roman aqueduct. We excavated the bath complex from 2007-2014 (Seasons 3-10). Dr. Scott Stripling is featured in the first video, but was excavating in Israel (Khirbet el-Maqatir & Shiloh) and not with us from 2012-2014.
Pottery hoard
Dr. Graves clarifying a ceramic jar
Livias was the leading city in the region (τοπαρχίαις toparchiais) of Perea (Transjordan; Josephus B.J. 2.252), on the road linking Esbus (Hesban) with Jericho and Jerusalem (Eusebius On. 12). The prominence of Livias is illustrated by Eusebius who frequently used it as a referent for his geography (On. 12; 16; 44, 48; 168). Herod Antipas, who beheaded John the Baptist, resided here while he was also busy building Tiberias as his Galilean capital (Josephus A.J. 18.36), having already built a wall around Sepphoris (Josephus A.J. 18.27). Here are two videos where I describe our work from 2011.
https://youtu.be/yxqz4nt5jcc
One correction in the first video from the narration where I say
Justin the Iberian and it should be Peter the Iberian. Also, the date of
the earthquake is January 18, 749 which destroyed many of the cities in
the Jordan Valley including Tiberias, Beit She'an, Hippos and Pella.
Livias was also destroyed at this time and indications are that it was
not rebuilt.
[1] While
Herod Antipas was rebuilding Livias in Perea, he was busy building Tiberias as
his Galilean capital (JosephusA.J. 18.36), having already built a wall around
Sepphoris (JosephusA.J.18.27).
Graves, David E. “Livias,” in Cities of the New Testament World: An Historical Geography of the Bible in the Steps of Jesus and the Apostles (Moncton, NB: Electronic Christian Media, forthcoming), 215-234.
Collins, Steven, Carroll M. Kobs, and Michael C. Luddeni. An Introduction to Tall Al-Hammam with Seven Seasons (2005–2011) of Ceramics and Eight Seasons (2005–2012) of Artifacts. Vol. 1. (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2015). Some samples of the Roman pottery from 2007-2012 are published here: Roman Glass, pp. 334-335; Byzantine oil lamps (special obj. 437, 578; “Eulogea oil lamp with Greek inscription “Jesus light shines for all” AD 500), p. 342; Tessara (obj. 314, 423, 338, 430, 449), p. 342; A total of nine Roman/Byzantine coins (obj. surface finds 349, 353, 411, 425, 248, in-situ; Late Roman coins obj. 413, 438, 439, 464), p. 321.
Collins, Steven, Khaled Hamdan, & Gary A. Byers. “Tall el-Hammam: Preliminary Report on Four Seasons of Excavation (2006–2009).” Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan (ADAJ) 53 (2009): 385–414.
Collins, Steven, Aljarrah Hussein, Gary A. Byers, Carroll M. Kobs, John Leslie, Adeib abu-Shmais, Jehad Haroun, et al. “Tall Al-Hammam Season Six, 2011: Excavation, Survey, Interpretations and Insights.” Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan (ADAJ) 55 (2011): 581–607.
Publication of the finds in the Roman Byzantine, Islamic remains at Tall el-Hammam. A Preliminary Report on the Tall al-Hammam Excavation Project: Roman, Byzantine, and Islamic Remains: Field LR (2005–2014). Edited by Steven Collins, Gary Byers and D. Scott Stripling. 2021
