Conference Presenters
1- Aleksandra Brzozowska-Jawornicka (Poland))
Has a PhD and is a lecturer at the Department of History of Architecture, Art and Technology, Faculty of Architecture, Wrocław University of Science and Technology. Brzozowska-Jawornicka has considerable archaeological fieldwork experience in Cyprus and Egypt. She is the Architect of the Polish Archaeological Mission at Kato Paphos (Cyprus). Hellenistic and Roman domestic architecture is her main scientific interest.
2- Andrea Vanni-Desideri (Italy)
Professor of History of Settlements and Dwelling Systems at the Postgraduate School for Archaeological Heritage of the University of Florence. He collaborated with the Universities of Firenze, Siena, Torino, Udine and Pittsburgh, the Soprintendenza ai Beni Culturali della Valle d'Aosta, the Soprintendenze Archeologiche della Toscana e della Puglia, the Department of Antiquities of Jordan, the Petra Archaeological Park (Jordan), the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum of Jerusalem, the Conservation du Patrimoine de Savoie (Chambéry, France), the Société Valdotaine de Préhistoire et d'Archéologie (Aosta).
3- Andrew M. Smith II (USA)
Is an Associate Professor of Classics and History at George Washington University. His research reflects his interests in the cultural history of the Roman Near East. Smith has directed archaeological surveys and excavations in Jordan since 1993. He currently directs the Bir Madhkur Project which examines the rural economy of Petra and the Incense Trade.
4- Anna Accettola (USA)
Is a PhD Candidate at UCLA. Her dissertation is on long-distance trade networks in the Hellenistic Mediterranean and the institutions of ancient Greek poleis, Rome, and Nabataea which supported them. Primarily trained as an ancient Greek historian, she now focuses on the economic and political structures of Greek and Near Eastern polities in the post-Seleucid world.
5- Björn Anderson (USA)
Is an Associate Professor in Art History at the University of Iowa, with a PhD in Classical Art and Archaeology from the University of Michigan. His work centers on Nabataean art and identity, as well as Arabia in the Achaemenid Period.
6- Caroline DURAND (France)
A former research fellow at the French Institute for the Near East in Amman (2012-2016), she holds a PhD in Archaeology on Nabataean trade from the University of Lyon. Her interests focus on trade networks of the Pre-Islamic Arabian Peninsula and on pottery production and circulation. As a pottery specialist, she has worked in Jordan (Dharih, Petra), Saudi Arabia (Hegra, Thaj, al-Wajh), Syria (Bosra) and Kuwait (Failaka).
7- Catreena Hamarneh (Jordan)
A geologist and archaeologist with more than 20 years' experience. Her field of research covers landscape archaeology, mosaic conservation, quarries and archaeometry fields. Having worked at the Department of Antiquities and in educational sectors, she is currently working at the German Protestant Institute of Archaeology. She has participated in several national and international conferences. She is a member of ICCM and ICOMOS.
8- Craig Harvey (USA)
Is a PhD candidate at the Interdepartmental Program in Classical Art and Archaeology at the University of Michigan, USA. His research focuses on Roman-period construction materials and techniques and on Roman baths in the Near East. He is the associate director of the Humayma Excavation Project and has worked on excavation projects at 'Ayn Gharandal and Petra.
9- David Graf (USA)
PhD Michigan, has been at the University of Miami since 1986. He is the author of Rome and Its Arabian Frontier from the Nabataeans to the Saracens (1997) and more than 130 scholarly articles, many on Nabataean culture. He is a specialist in Nabataean epigraphy and currently the director of the Hellenistic Petra Project.
10- David Johnson (USA)
Is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at Brigham Young University. He has excavated at Petra for 40 years, first with Dr. Phillip Hammond on the Temple of the Winged Lions and then directing his own excavations at Wadi Mataha since 1998. He has worked on archaeological expeditions in Egypt (Tell el Shukafiyya), Yemen (Marib), the Dhofar area of Oman (Khor Mughsayl) and on the slopes of Mt. Vesuvius in Italy (Pollena Tocchia). His major research interests are Nabataean trade, religion and burial practices.
11- Elisabeth Monamy (Switzerland)
Archaeological / historical research and experimental archaeology: labeling and rehabilitation of the South Arabian collection in the Kunsthistorisches Museum. In experimental archaeology, she provides insight into old civilizations through ancient cooking classes where ancient recipes are cooked.
12- Fawzi Muhammed Abudanah (Jordan)
Associate Professor, Department of Archaeology, Petra College for Tourism and Archaeology, Al-Hussein Bin Talal University. PhD in Archaeology, Roman Archaeology, awarded in June 2006, School of Historical Studies, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. He has many published articles on Petra and Nabataean sites.
13- Gaby Abou Samra (Lebanon)
PhD in Historical and Philological Sciences, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Sorbonne, Paris. Professor of Epigraphy and Semitistics at the Lebanese University of Beirut since 2002. Ancient Languages: Phoenician, Ancient Hebrew, Aramaic, Ugaritic, Syriac, Nabatean, Palmyrenean, Mandaic, Akkadian, South-Arabic, Greek and Latin. Associate scholar: UMR 7192, CNRS Paris.
14- Guillaume Charloux (France)
Research assistant at the CNRS UMR 8167 Orient & Méditerranée, has been working as an archaeologist in the Near East (Egypt, Southern Levant, Yemen and Saudi Arabia) since 1998. Codirector of the Saudi-Italian-French archaeological project at Dûmat al-Jandal (Saudi Arabia) from 2010 to 2017, he is now leading the archaeological project in al-Bad' (supposed ancient Madyan) in collaboration with Prof. Samer Sahlah (KSU).
15- John F. Healey (England)
Professor Emeritus of Semitic Studies at the University of Manchester, UK, and Fellow of the British Academy. His main publications are on Nabataean Aramaic and Syriac: The Nabataean Tomb Inscriptions of Mada'in Salih (1993), The Old Syriac Inscriptions of Edessa and Osrhoene [with Han Drijvers] (1999), The Religion of the Nabataeans: A Conspectus (2001), and Aramaic Inscriptions and Documents of the Roman Period (2009).
16- Jérôme Norris (France)
Is a PhD student at the University of Lorraine (France) preparing a thesis on the question of the identity and tribal geography of the peoples of north-west Arabia during the Achaemenid, Nabataean and Roman periods (sixth century BC – third century AD). The main material with which he is dealing is that of the inscribed texts left by the groups under discussion, particularly the Nabataean and the Ancient North Arabian (Safaitic, Dadanitic and "Thamudic") inscriptions. His work led him to participate in the French archaeological project at Wādī Ramm and to collaborate with the team of the Saudi-Italian-French project at Dūmat al-Jandal as the epigrapher in charge of the study of the Ancient North Arabian material.
17- Juan Manuel Tebes (Argentina)
Is a researcher at the National Research Council of Argentina and teaches in Buenos Aires. He is now research fellow at Ruhr-Universität Bochum. He also has been fellow at the Albright Institute of Archaeological Research (Jerusalem), American Center of Oriental Research (Amman), Maison de l'Archéologie et de l'Ethnologie (Paris), University of Sydney, New York University, and University of Michigan.
18- Lamia Kenoussi (France)
A graduate student in the archaeology and history of the Near East, she obtained two master's degrees in archaeology from Lumière Lyon II University – Maison de l'Orient et de la Méditerranée. Her field of research connects the archaeology of northwestern Arabia, including southern Jordan, with monotheistic religious texts. She is an associate member of the Center for Studies of Cultures and Religions, CERC.
19- Laurent Tholbecq (France)
Is a Professor of Provincial Roman Archaeology at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB, Brussels, Belgium) and Director of the French archaeological mission in Petra (Jordan). His research focuses on Nabataean sanctuaries and architecture in the Roman Near East.
20- Marco Dehner (Germany)
PhD candidate at Humboldt University of Berlin, "Architecture and architectural decoration in Petra (Jordan): Studies on the freestanding Nabataean architecture". Current position: Scientific researcher at BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg, DFG Research Training Group, Cultural and Technological Significance of Historic Buildings, Department of Architectural History. Working in Petra since 2009 on several projects such as the North-Eastern Petra Project. Working in Ostia (Italy) since 2014, Member of the Ostia Forum project.
21- Matthias Grawehr (Switzerland)
PhD, is a Classical Archaeologist teaching at Basel University in Switzerland. He has excavated in Jordan and Syria and has published on Nabataean archaeology and on Hellenistic and Roman architecture.
22- Megan Perry (USA)
Is a Professor of Anthropology at East Carolina University (USA) and the co-director of the Petra North Ridge Project. Her primary research interests involve investigating human skeletal remains to assess ancient disease, diet, and mobility patterns, in addition to mortuary practices of ancient populations in first-to-sixth century AD Jordan.
23- Mohammed Al Nasarat (Jordan)
Has a PhD in Late Byzantine and Early Islamic History, University of Jordan, 2009. Currently an Associate Professor at the Department of History, Faculty of Arts, Al-Hussein Bin Talal University, Jordan, and Director of Center of Studies, Consultations and Community Development. In addition, he has a lot of publications on Petra and Nabataean civilization.
24- Mohannad Al-Tantawi (Jordan)
Has a master's degree in Archaeology (University of Jordan, Classical Archaeology). MA thesis title: A Comparative Study of Nabataean Temples in Petra and Roman Temples in Jerash. Paper about Byzantine burial customs in Umm-Qais, Jordan, at the 2013 Conference on Burial Customs in Jordan: From Roman to the Modern Times. Since 2012, appointed as supervisor of archaeological excavations at the School of Archaeology and Tourism, University of Jordan, Amman.
25- Nicolas Paridaens (Belgium)
Is an archaeologist at Université Libre de Bruxelles. He specialized in the Roman period, more particularly, the Gallic provinces. From 2002 to 2009 he also worked on the Apamea site in Syria. Since 2012, he has been involved with the Franco-Belgian archaeological mission in Petra (Jabal Khubthah, Obodas, Wadi Sabrah).
26- Pauline Piraud-Fournet (France)
PhD in archaeology and an architect, specializing in architecture and settlement structures in ancient Syria and Jordan. From 2006 to 2012, she was an architect with the scientific archaeology department of Ifpo in Damascus, then in Amman. She has been working for many years on archaeological sites in the Near East, with a special focus on dwellings, sanctuaries, burial architecture and oil presses.
27- Rafe Harahsheh (Jordan)
Received his PhD in Semitic Languages from Baghdad University in 2001. Between 2001-2014, he worked for the Department of Antiquities in Jordan. During this period, he was a member of the editorial board of different publications of the Department of Antiquities. He directed and participated in several archaeological and epigraphic projects in Jordan and abroad. Published several papers in the field of Safaitic inscriptions.
28- Regine Hunziker-Rodewald (France)
Received her degrees from the universities of Zurich, Berne, and Tubingen, and is a Professor of Old Testament Studies and the History of Ancient Near East at the Faculty of Protestant Theology of the University of Strasbourg. She is director of the joint French-German-Swiss project focusing on the female terracotta figurines of Iron Age II found in Jordan. In 2018, sabbatical term at the University of Helsinki.
29- Sami al-Bayadi (Egypt)
PhD in Archaeology; Director General in the Supreme Council, Ministry of Antiquities, Egypt; head of the survey and excavation mission in Sinai since 1993. Articles: La forteresse de l'île de Graye (Qal'at Ayla); La route Şadr wa Ayla ; Deux hammams dans le Sinaï; The Inns (Khāns) of the road; Les hammams en Arabie centrale; Excavations and Discoveries in Ostracine.
30- Sophie E. M. Tews (Netherlands)
She studied the archaeology of the Mediterranean and the Near East at Leiden University, the Netherlands, where she finished her master's in 2014. Her thesis focused on Nabataean domestic architecture. She has been affiliated to several Dutch projects in the region: the excavation of the Neolithic Tell Sabi Abyad in Syria (Leiden University), the Udhruh Field Survey Project, Jordan (Leiden University and Al-Hussein Bin Talal University), and the excavation project of Tell Damiyah, Jordan (Dutch National Museum of Antiquities). In 2014 she was a trench supervisor within the Petra North Ridge Project (ECU and NCSU) and in 2016 she was an area supervisor within the same project.
31- Solaiman Abd. Al-Theeb (Saudi Arabia)
Is a professor at King Saud University and a specialist in Aramaic and Nabataean inscriptions, he has published a lot of books and articles on the Nabataean language and inscriptions which were found in Saudi Arabia and the kingdom of Nabataea.
32- Thibaud FOURNET (France)
An architect and archaeologist (CNRS) currently employed by Ifpo, Amman (Jordan). His main field of research is the architecture and urbanization of the ancient Mediterranean world and, more particularly, the Greco-Roman Near East (Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt). He has collaborated for many years with French archaeological expeditions in southern Syria and Petra.
33- Ueli Bellwald (USA)
Is an archaeologist, restorer and architect educated at Berne University, where he got his PhD in 1975, the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, and the Istituto Centrale del Restauro in Rome. He was an assistant professor of history of urbanism at the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich from 1973 to 1977. He started archaeological excavations in Switzerland in 1970 and, since 1977, he has been carrying out archaeological investigations and restoration work in Rome and southern Italy. Since 1991, he has been working in Jordan, mainly in Petra.
34- Virginia Cassola-Cochin (France)
Holds a PhD in Civilizations and Museum Studies from the University of Lorraine and Ecole du Louvre. Her research focuses on the construction of archaeological and historical heritages in both Saudi Arabian museums and online social networks. She often works as a curator for the Institut du Monde Arabe.
35- Younis Mohamed Alshdaifat (Jordan)
Graduated in Ancient Archaeology in Iraq in 1997 and is currently a Professor at Mutah University, Jordan. He has several years of research experience and has authored/co-authored scientific publications for various refereed international journals and conferences in the field of classical archaeology and epigraphy. Participated in a dozen surveys and excavations.
36- Zaid Adnan Tahseen (Jordan)
Is an academic researcher and a plastic artist who holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Baghdad and a Master's in Archaeology from the University of Jordan. He is a PhD Candidate (Sudan University of Science and Technology). He conducted research in the fields of arts and archaeology, published a book entitled The Limits of Subversion in Islamic Miniature and has another upcoming book entitled Comparative Sculptures at the Al Mushta Palace.
37- Zeyad M. Al-Salameen (Jordan)
Is an Associate Professor of Nabataean archaeology and epigraphy and the Chairholder of the UNESCO Chair on Heritage and Sustainable Tourism at al-Hussein Bin Talal University. He got his PhD in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Manchester in 2004. His research interests include Nabataean archaeology and epigraphy and the history and civilization of Petra and its hinterland. He has published several books and numerous articles on topics pertaining to these fields.
