Mission Archéologique du Sud-Est Jordanien (MASEJ)

Eveha International participe à la Mission Archéologique du Sud-Est Jordanien, dirigée par Wael Abu-Azizeh (CNRS, Archéorient – UMR 5133) et Mohammad Tarawneh (Al-Hussein Bin Talal University, Pétra/Wadi Mussa). Cette mission est placée sous l’égide du Ministère des Affaires Étrangères et du Développement International.

Location and Historical Summary
The scientific program of the South Eastern Jordan Archaeological Mission (MASEJ) focuses on the study of human occupation development within the desert margins of the Near East—outside the “Fertile Crescent”—during late Prehistory (from the Neolithic to the end of the Early Bronze Age).
Although desert margin regions were long considered entirely devoid of archaeological remains, pioneering research in the basalt Black Desert of northeastern Jordan, as well as in the Sinai/Negev, has revealed significant protohistoric human occupation. This precursor work led to various, and sometimes contradictory, hypotheses and theories regarding the origins and development of nomadic pastoralism in these desert fringes. To this day, this remains the primary mode of animal resource acquisition and management in these regions.
While these two areas were previously viewed as quasi-independent “enclaves” on the edge of the Fertile Crescent, the abundance of archaeological traces identified during MASEJ’s preliminary research phases calls for a profound reassessment of the interpretative models proposed thus far.
This fieldwork program aims to tap into the considerable potential of southeastern Jordan—a currently hyper-arid and remote area—for global research into the Neolithization process within the desert margins of the southern Levant and its diffusion into the Arabian Peninsula.
MASEJ conducts comprehensive research encompassing the socio-cultural, economic, ecological, and paleoenvironmental aspects that interacted during this conquest of new territories during late Prehistory.

Research History
The MASEJ was established in 2012 as part of a scientific cooperation previously initiated with the French Institute for the Near East (Ifpo-Amman) and the Faculty of Archaeology at Al-Hussein Bin Talal University (AHU, Ma’an – Jordan). It follows a preliminary study of a micro-region in a desert sector that was completely unexplored until then (survey and archaeological sounding campaigns in the Al-Thulaythuwat sector, 2007 and 2008). In 2012, the cooperation with AHU expanded, giving MASEJ its current form, focusing on two extensive regions: the southern zone (Zone 1) and the eastern zone of the al-Jafr basin (Zone 2). The mission conducts complementary and comparative field campaigns, including surveys and excavations, with the active participation of local researchers from AHU.

Funded since 2012 by successive CNRS grants and AHU, the mission took on a new dimension in 2016 thanks to four-year funding from the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (MEAE). It is highly interdisciplinary, involving international collaborations in fields such as geoarchaeology, environmental studies, geography, archaeobotany, archaeozoology, funerary anthropology, and the study of material culture and lithic industries. This structure allows the mission to develop robust research on its core scientific themes.

The diversity of structural remains identified and studied by MASEJ—ranging from temporary campsites and mineral resource extraction sites to megalithic cairns, funerary structures, and mass-hunting traps—allows for the study of numerous aspects related to the conquest of territories outside the “Fertile Crescent.”

While the initial focus was on the later phases (Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age) with the rise of nomadic pastoralism as a central theme, recent results have revealed a local phase of Neolithic development previously unknown in the region. This occupation, associated with a highly specialized subsistence strategy involving sophisticated megastructures for mass hunting known as “Desert Kites,” highlights unexpected development trajectories in the Neolithization process of these regions.

The excavation campaigns (by year)

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  MASEJ – 2016