Project summary

The Islamic Baydha Project focuses on a Middle to Late Islamic-period rural village located in Baydha, north of Petra, which holds what looks the most substantial and accessible evidence in the region of a settlement during the Islamic period.

Project details

Location: Jordan

Year(s): 2018-2019

Project director(s): Micaela Sinibaldi

Lead institutions and funding:

• CBRL

Project description

The Islamic Baydha Project is part of broader project, the Late Petra Project, that aims to reconstruct the post-urban history of Petra and its region, which was inhabited after the Nabataean period without significant chronological gaps. The Islamic Baydha Project focuses on a Middle to Late Islamic-period rural village located in Baydha, north of Petra, which holds what looks the most substantial and accessible evidence in the region of a settlement during the Islamic period.

The project, launched in 2014, has now been conducted for six continuous seasons, and it has investigated one habitation and two mosques, which are a rare feature in the Petra region.

The goals of the project include recording and reconstructing the architecture and building style of the structures; understanding daily life at the village and framing it within the broader context of the other sites in the region, including Petra itself, during the Islamic period. The project encompasses the synergic use of the different components: study of the local, modern material culture to better understand the archaeological record; fieldwork training to Jordanian and international archaeologists; and community engagement through the training of local staff and activities with schools of the Petra region.

Related projects

Islamic Bayda Project 2020. More information here.

Project bibliography

Sinibaldi, Micaela. 2020. Islamic Baydha project. Bulletin of the Council for British Research in the Levant 2018-2019, p 24.

Published:06 December 2021