November 15–18 | Boston, Massachusetts Welcome to ASOR’s 2017 Annual Meeting 2–6 History of ASOR 7 Program-at-a-Glance 12–15 Members’ Meeting Agenda 15 Business Meetings and Special Events 16–17 Academic Program 20–52 Projects on Parade Poster Session 52–53 Contents Digital Archaeology Demo Showcase Posters 54–55 of 2017 Sponsors and Exhibitors 56–61 2016 Honors and Awards 65 Looking Ahead to the 2018 Annual Meeting 66 Honorific and Memorial Gifts 67 Fiscal Year 2017 Honor Roll 68–69 Table Table ASOR’s Legacy Circle 70 2017 ACOR Jordanian Travel Scholarship Recipients 70 2017 Fellowship Recipients 71 ASOR Board of Trustees 72 ASOR Committees 73–75 Institutional Members 76 Overseas Centers 77 ASOR Staff 78 BASOR Recommendation Form 79 Paper Abstracts 82–187 Projects on Parade Poster Abstracts 188–194 Digital Archaeology Demo Showcase Poster Abstracts 195–201 Index of Sessions 202–204 Index of Presenters 205–211 Wifi Information 212 Hotel Information and Floor Plans 213–215 Meeting Highlights 216 Cover photo by Selma Omerefendic ISBN 978-0-89757-107-4 ASOR PROGRAM GUIDE 2017 | 1 American Schools of Oriental Research | 2017 Annual Meeting Welcome from ASOR President, Susan Ackerman Welcome to ASOR’s 2017 Annual Meeting, which promises to be ASOR’s biggest ever. Already back in February, we received a record number of paper proposals, and the Programs Committee has worked overtime to put the best of these proposals together into the richest and fullest set of sessions we have ever been able to offer—covering all the major regions of the Near East and wider Mediterranean from earliest times through the Islamic period. The poster session too, is bursting at the seams, with a wealth of new and important research to be presented. Several special sessions this year mark important anniversaries. Three different sessions focus on the 50th anniversary of the Madaba Plains Project (MPP), and the MPP’s fiftieth anniversary will also be celebrated at a reception on Thursday night. The CRANE Project—Computational Research on the Ancient Near East—is also celebrating an anniversary, its fifth, with two sessions on Friday afternoon and a reception that evening. Four other special sessions honor colleagues who have made especially distinguished contributions to the study of the Near East and the wider Mediterranean: Israel Finkelstein, Kenneth G. Holum, S. Thomas Parker, and Stuart Swiny. Other special receptions include the Institute for Oriental and European Archaeology (OREA) Reception on Thursday night and the Digital Archaeology Demo Showcase and Reception on Friday evening. Plus, our friends at the Harvard Semitic Museum have extended an invitation for as many of us as possible (for space reasons, there are a limited number of tickets available) to travel across the Charles River to join them for a reception on Saturday night. It is also appropriate that while we are in her home town, we honor one of one of ASOR’s most distinguished members, former Harvard University William Dorr Boardman Professor of Fine Arts Irene Winter, by inviting her to give this year’s plenary address, on the topic “Archaeology, Object History, Art History: Questions of Definition and Discipline.” I’m also particularly excited about some of the new member-organized sessions that will be featured in the ASOR Annual Meeting Program this year: for example, “Christians and Muslims in the Medieval Near East”; “Material Interconnections in the Levant during the Second Millennium B.C.E.”; and “Study of Violence from the Region of the Ancient Near East and Its Neighbors.” Some noteworthy member-organized sessions have also been renewed, for example, “The Archaeology of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq” and “Yerushalayim, Al Quds, Jerusalem: Recent Developments and Dilemmas in the Archaeological and Historical Studies from the Bronze Age to Medieval Periods.” Yet another important member- organized session, “The Soft Power of Place—Cultural Diplomacy, Archaeology, and the Overseas Research Centers,” allows ASOR members to reflect on the vital role played by our affiliates in Jerusalem (the W. F. Albright Institute for Archaeological Research), Amman (the American Center for Oriental Research), and Nicosia (the Cyprus American Archaeological Research Institute). The importance and the breadth of these member-organized sessions is vivid evidence of ASOR’s greatest asset—its committed and devoted membership—and this year’s meeting aims to engage that membership in new and better ways by moving the Members’ Meeting from Thursday, from 12:45–2:00 (a time when many members are just arriving at the meeting or even still in transit) to Friday at the same time block. We hope this makes it possible for many more of you to attend the meeting and participate both in the meeting’s business and in its celebration of the winners of this year’s ASOR Honors and Awards. But whether at the Members’ Meeting; in paper sessions; at the “Posters on Parade” event; at the Plenary Address; or at evening receptions, I look forward to seeing each and every one of you at ASOR’s 2017 Annual Meeting. Welcome to Boston! Susan Ackerman ASOR President 2 | ASOR PROGRAM GUIDE 2017 November 15–18 | Boston, Massachusetts Welcome from the Executive Director, Andrew Vaughn Welcome to our Annual Meeting in Boston! We are pleased to welcome the ASOR community to our hometown, which is overflowing with a rich array of culture, history, and architecture. Founded in 1630, Boston is one of the oldest cities in the United States and is Massachusetts’s capital and largest city. Boston’s history is showcased in numerous museums and historic sites and structures. Today, the area’s many colleges and universities make Boston an international center of higher education. Our conference hotel is located in the Seaport, a neighborhood nestled between Boston’s beautiful waterfront and the historic Fort Point district. With Thanksgiving nearly upon us, there are so many individuals to whom thanks are due for making our extraordinary program possible. This ambitious and wide- ranging meeting was overseen by one hard-working and talented committee in particular—the Annual Meeting Programs Committee, led by Co-Chairs Helen Dixon and Geoff Emberling. These Co-Chairs, and the Programs Committee members with whom they work, are dedicated, diligent, enthusiastic, and committed to putting together an exciting educational program of more than 650 papers and poster presentations. This is a record number and more than a 40% increase over last year! A full listing of all committees can be found on the ASOR Committees pages of this program book. Many thanks are also due to the session chairs and presenters who will bring the program to life. I wish to thank several groups in particular for their generous financial support of receptions. Notably, the Institute for Oriental and European Archaeology (OREA) is sponsoring the reception on Thursday night; the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology together with the University of California, San Diego’s Center for Cyber-Archaeology and Sustainability and the Scripps Center for Marine Archaeology are co-hosting the Digital Archaeology Demo Showcase on Friday night. The CRANE Project (Computational Research on the Ancient Near East) is hosting a reception on Friday evening as well. The Foundation for Biblical Archaeology and its director, Sheila Bishop, are providing crucial financial support for student scholarships. In addition, I would like to thank all of our exhibitors and encourage you to stop by and visit the displays. We would like to give our special thanks to this year’s sponsors, Penn State University Press (Platinum) and The University of Chicago (Silver). Last, but not least, I would like to extend special thanks and recognition to the ASOR staff. Their hard work and dedication throughout the year makes our Annual Meeting possible. Please mark your calendars for our 2018 Annual Meeting, which will be held at the Denver Marriott Tech Center in the Denver Greenwood Village suburb from November 14–17, 2018. Please visit the meeting website at www.asor.org/am for details. We once again anticipate a record attendance and full hotel, so I encourage you to make your reservations early. Please let me, or any member of the ASOR staff, know if there is anything we can do to make your experience in Boston a pleasant and rewarding one. I hope you enjoy this year’s Annual Meeting. With warm regards, Andrew G. Vaughn ASOR Executive Director ASOR PROGRAM GUIDE 2017 | 3 American Schools of Oriental Research | 2017 Annual Meeting Welcome from the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Richard Coffman Welcome to Boston, one of the oldest and most historic cities in the United States— which is appropriate considering we are here to learn about old stuff. Boston is one of America’s truly unique cities. From the Boston Harbor to Revolutionary War sites to Faneuil Hall Marketplace to Fenway Park to the multiple bastions of higher learning to the museums and restaurants, Boston is a veritable cornucopia of historic, educational, culinary, and cultural offerings. Speaking of cornucopias, we have one right here at the ASOR Annual Meeting. We received an all-time record number of abstract submissions this year—almost 700 paper proposals and 75 poster proposals. There are over 120 scheduled academic sessions to be led by a small army of intrepid archaeologists, biblical and Islamic scholars, anthropologists, conservators/curators, historians, and other interdisciplinary specialists working in the Near Eastern and Mediterranean regions. Since our last convocation, they have learned a lot of new stuff about old stuff and look forward to telling us what they learned and why it is important. But there is also cultural heritage to protect. And a new home to find.