photo of the Australian lecturer

By Daoud Kuttab

Australian archeologist, Dr. Stephen Bourke, gave an illustration at the home of the Australian ambassador in Amman, Thursday, on recent discoveries at Pella, drawn mainly from the 2011 and 2013 field seasons.

Ambassador Bernard Lynch introduced Ziad Ghneimat the head of Jordan’s department of archeology in the Irbid governorate who spoke warmly of the hard work that Dr. Bourke has done on a regular basis in the Pella digs ever since 1979.

The lecture touched on the massive architecture recently uncovered dating to the proto-urban Early Bronze Age, before exploring recently uncovered Middle/Late Bronze and Iron Age civic/administrative complexes located five meters to the west of the monumental Fortress Temple. Recent Classical period discoveries (Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine/Umayyad) will then be outlined as they change the story of Pella’s Classical and Late Antique period history.

In the question-and-answer part, Bourke explained why he has chosen Jordan rather than Egypt and spoke highly of the importance of starting at a young age in schools and local communities to encourage Jordanians to learn more about their history. Senior Amman-based diplomats and people interested in archeology attended.

Stephen Bourke has worked as a Near Eastern archaeologist for more than 30 years, concentrating on pre and proto-history (ca. 5000-500 BCE) of the Levant.

He has worked at Pella since 1980 and has directed the Pella excavations since 1992.