Benjamin W PorterBenjamin W. Porter is an Associate Professor of Middle Eastern Archaeology at the University of California, Berkeley's Near Eastern Studies Department, and is a curator and former director of the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology. Porter is an nthropologist who specializes in Middle Eastern Archaeology. He investigates how past Middle Eastern and Mediterranean societies built resilient communities and institutions in arid and semi-arid zones. He directs field archaeology projects in Jordan at the Iron Age capitals of Dhiban and Busayra. He also co-directs a museum collections project at the Hearst Museum, researching evidence from Peter B. Cornwall's 1941 expedition to Bahrain and Eastern Saudi Arabia. He was a Co-Principal Investigator for the UC Office of the President's Research Catalyst Award that funded the research discussed in this volume. Read More Read Less