{"id":5257,"date":"2026-02-25T14:08:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T13:08:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eveha-international.com\/?page_id=5257"},"modified":"2026-02-25T14:09:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T13:09:13","slug":"mission-archeologique-du-sud-est-jordanien-masej","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/eveha-international.com\/?page_id=5257&lang=en","title":{"rendered":"Mission Arch\u00e9ologique du Sud-Est Jordanien (MASEJ)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Eveha International participe \u00e0 la Mission Arch\u00e9ologique du Sud-Est Jordanien, dirig\u00e9e par Wael Abu-Azizeh (CNRS, Arch\u00e9orient \u2013 UMR 5133) et Mohammad Tarawneh (Al-Hussein Bin Talal University, P\u00e9tra\/Wadi Mussa). Cette mission est plac\u00e9e sous l\u2019\u00e9gide du Minist\u00e8re des Affaires \u00c9trang\u00e8res et du D\u00e9veloppement International.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
Direction
Wael Abu-Azizeh<\/strong>\u00a0
(CNRS, Arch\u00e9orient \u2013 UMR 5133)
Mohammad Tarawneh<\/strong>\u00a0
(Al-Hussein Bin Talal University)<\/h6>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n

How Eveha International Participates
<\/strong>Archaeological digging<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

Localisation<\/strong>
Jordan<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Location and Historical Summary<\/strong>
The scientific program of the South Eastern Jordan Archaeological Mission (MASEJ)<\/strong> focuses on the study of human occupation development within the desert margins of the Near East\u2014outside the \u00ab\u00a0Fertile Crescent\u00a0\u00bb\u2014during 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<\/strong> 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<\/strong> 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 \u00ab\u00a0enclaves\u00a0\u00bb on the edge of the Fertile Crescent<\/strong>, 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\u2014a currently hyper-arid and remote area\u2014for global research into the Neolithization process<\/strong> 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Research History<\/strong>
The MASEJ<\/strong> was established in 2012 as part of a scientific cooperation previously initiated with the French Institute for the Near East (Ifpo-Amman)<\/strong> and the Faculty of Archaeology at Al-Hussein Bin Talal University (AHU, Ma\u2019an \u2013 Jordan)<\/strong>. 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<\/strong>) and the eastern zone of the al-Jafr basin (Zone 2<\/strong>). 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)<\/strong>. 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\u2014ranging from temporary campsites and mineral resource extraction sites to megalithic cairns<\/strong>, funerary structures, and mass-hunting traps<\/strong>\u2014allows for the study of numerous aspects related to the conquest of territories outside the \u00ab\u00a0Fertile Crescent.\u00a0\u00bb

While the initial focus was on the later phases (Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age) with the rise of nomadic pastoralism<\/strong> 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 \u00ab\u00a0Desert Kites,\u00a0\u00bb<\/strong> highlights unexpected development trajectories in the Neolithization process of these regions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n

Partners<\/strong>
Minist\u00e8re des Affaires Etrang\u00e8res et du D\u00e9veloppement International
D\u00e9partement des Antiquit\u00e9s de Jordanie
CNRS, Arch\u00e9orient \u2013 UMR 5133
Universit\u00e9 Lumi\u00e8re Lyon 2
Al-Hussein Bin Talal University
(P\u00e9tra\/ Wadi Mussa, Jordanie)
Institut Fran\u00e7ais du Proche-Orient<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n

Links<\/strong> :
Pr\u00e9sentation Arch\u00e9orient<\/a>
Site weg officiel<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The excavation campaigns (by year)<\/h2>\n\n\n