Tell er-Rumeith lies at the eastern edge of the Irbid plain in northern Jordan not far from the Syrian border and the present town of Ramtha. The publication presents the most complete corpus of Iron Age pottery for this area and its occupation reflects the Biblical traditions of the region. Tristan Barako and the other authors have used the field notes, reports, and photographs of Paul Lapp's excavations in the 1960s to bring together this final report. In Part I of the volume, Barako presents the basic stratigraphy of the site and the corpus of Iron Age pottery that represents its main period of occupation. Part II presents studies of artifacts by a variety of authors, including the post-Iron age pottery, noteworthy presentations of the community health (the human skeleton evidence) and textile production at the site, as well as a fascinating collections of figurines, groundstone, and other small finds.
About the Author: Tristan J. Barako has broad experience as a writer, researcher, and fundraiser in diverse settings, especially in academia and media production. As Senior Writer and Researcher at Providence Pictures, he researched, wrote, and edited highly-rated, award-winning documentaries for national and worldwide distribution on NOVA, the premiere science series on American Public Television. Dr. Barako trained as an archaeologist, receiving his doctorate and masters degrees at Harvard University and undergraduate degree at McGill University. During this time, he excavated and surveyed throughout the Mediterranean region, both on land and at sea. Currently he serves as Associate Director of Research Initiatives in Brown University's Office of the Vice President for Research. Nancy L. Lapp was Curator of the Bible Lands Museum at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary for thirty years before her retirement in 2000. She is the author of Shechem IV, The Persian-Hellenistic Pottery of Shechem/Tell Balatah, and has edited the final excavation reports of Paul Lapp's excavations at Wadi ed-Daliyeh, Tell el-Ful, and Araq el-Emir. Paul Lapp was Director and Professor of Archaeology at the American School of Oriental Research in Jerusalem from 1960 through 1968. During that time he directed excavations at Bab edh-Dhra`, Taanach, Wadi ed-Daliyeh, and Tell el-Ful, among other sites. His publications include Palestinian Ceramic Chronology, 200 B.C. - A.D. 70, The Dhahr Mirzbaneh Tombs, and Biblical Archaeology and History. He tragically died in 1970.