An excellent drawing of a camel and rider surrounded by more than a dozen Thamudic inscriptions that the AMAES recorded in Wadi Hafir. Photo by Michael Bannigan.
Preliminary Reports of the AMAES
While Dr. Jobling unfortunately passed away before a final publication of the AMAES could be completed, he provided regular annual updates on the progress of the survey and its major discoveries in several academic journals, including the Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan (ADAJ), Syria, Liber Annuus, and Archiv für Orientforschung.
Season 1 (January–February 1980)*
Jobling, W.J. (1981), “Preliminary Report on the Archaeological Survey Between Ma‘an and ‘Aqaba, January to February 1980,” Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 25, pp. 105–112, pls. pp. 388–394.
Jobling, W.J. (1981), “The ‘Aqaba-Ma‘an Survey,” Liber Annuus 31, pp. 328–329, pls. 97–98.
Season 2 (January–February 1981)
Jobling, W.J. (1982), “‘Aqaba-Ma‘an Survey, Jan. – Feb. 1981,” Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 26, pp. 199–210.
Season 3 (January–February 1982)
Jobling, W.J. (1983), “The 1982 Archaeological and Epigraphic Survey of the ‘Aqaba-Ma‘an Area of Southern Jordan,” Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 27, pp. 185–196, pls. 32–38.
Jobling, W.J. (1983), “The ‘Aqaba-Ma‘an Archaeological and Epigraphic Survey 1982 Season,” Liber Annuus 32, pp. 467–470, pls. 111–113.
Jobling, W.J. (1983/84), “The ‘Aqaba-Ma‘ān Archaeological and Epigraphic Survey 1980–1982,” Archiv für Orientforschung 29–30, pp. 264–270. (Summary of Seasons 1–3)
Season 4 (December 1982–February 1983)
Jobling, W.J. (1983), “Preliminary Report on the Fourth Season of the ‘Aqaba-Ma‘an Archaeological and Epigraphic Survey, 1982/1983,” Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 27, pp. 197–208, pls. 39–49.
Jobling, W.J. and R.V.H. Morgan (1983), “The Fourth Season of the ‘Aqaba-Ma‘an Archaeological and Epigraphic Survey 1982–83: Some Aspects of Geomorphology, Climate and Epigraphy,” Liber Annuus 33, pp. 396–401, pls. 67–69.
Jobling, W.J. (1983), “Prospection archéologique et épigraphique dans la région d’‘Aqaba-Ma‘an,” Syria 60, pp. 317–323.
Season 5 (March–April 1984)
Jobling, W.J. (1984), “The Fifth Season of the ‘Aqaba-Ma‘an Survey 1984,” Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 28, pp. 191–202, pls. 41–45.
Jobling, W.J. (1984), “The Fifth Season of the ‘Aqaba-Ma‘an Archaeological and Epigraphic Survey, 1984,” Liber Annuus 34, pp. 423–428, pls. 85–86.
Jobling, W.J. (1985), “Prospection archéologique et épigraphique dans la région d’‘Aqaba-Ma‘an in 1984,” Syria 62, pp. 165–169.
Jobling, W.J. (1984), “The ‘Aqaba-Ma‘an Archaeological and Epigraphic Survey,” Australian Foreign Affairs Record 55.5, pp. 434–435.
Jobling, W.J. (1984), “The ‘Aqaba-Ma‘an Archaeological and Epigraphic Survey 1980–1984: Some Notes and Reflections,” TRASUS 2.2, pp. 35–52. (Summary of Seasons 1–5)
Season 6 (December 1984–February 1985)
Jobling, W.J. (1985), “Preliminary Report of the Sixth Season of the ‘Aqaba-Ma‘an Epigraphic and Archaeological Survey,” Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 29, pp. 211–220, pls. 43–50.
Jobling, W.J. (1985), “The Sixth Season of the ‘Aqaba-Ma‘an Survey, 1985,” Liber Annuus 35, pp. 396–399, pls. 99–101.
Jobling, W.J. (1986), “Prospection archéologique et épigraphique dans la région d’‘Aqaba-Ma‘an 1984–5,” Syria 63, pp. 405–415.
Jobling, W.J. (1985/86), “The ‘Aqaba-Ma‘ān Archaeological and Epigraphic Survey 1983–1985,” Archiv für Orientforschung 33, pp. 233–247. (Summary of Seasons 4–6)
Season 7 (September–December 1986)
Jobling, W.J. (1987), “The Seventh Season of the Aqaba-Ma‘an Survey,” Liber Annuus 37, pp. 376–379, pls. 55–56.
Jobling, W.J. (1988), “Prospection archéologique et épigraphique dans la région d’‘Aqaba-Ma‘an, 1986,” Syria 65, pp. 427–434.
Season 8 (January–February 1988)
Jobling, W.J. (1989), “Report of the Eighth Season of the ‘Aqaba-Ma‘an Archaeological and Epigraphic Survey (January–February 1988),” Liber Annuus 39, pp. 253–255, pls. 74–75.
Jobling, W.J. (1989), “‘Aqaba-Ma‘an Archaeological and Epigraphic Survey,” in Archaeology of Jordan, Vol. II, eds. D. Homes-Fredericq and J.B. Hennessy, Akkadica Supplimentum 7 (Leuven: Peeters), pp. 16–24. (Summary of Seasons 1–8)
Jobling, W.J. (1989), “William Jobling Collects North Arabian Inscriptions,” ACOR Newsletter 1.1, pp. 4–5.
Season 9 (February–March 1990)
Jobling, W.J. (1990), “The ‘Aqaba-Ma‘an Archaeological and Epigraphic Survey, 1990,” ACOR Newsletter 1.2, p. 6.
Jobling, W.J. (1990), “The ‘Aqaba-Ma‘an Survey 1990,” Liber Annuus 40, pp. 455–457, pl. 67.
Jobling, W.J. (1991), “Aqaba-Ma’an Survey,” in “Archaeology in Jordan” segment, American Journal of Archaeology 95.2, pp. 268–270.
Jobling, W.J. (1992), “The ‘Aqaba-Ma‘an Survey 1980–1990: Research Report,” Liber Annuus 42, pp. 351–356, pls. 39–40.
Jobling, W.J. (1993), “The ‘Aqaba-Ma‘an Archaeological and Epigraphic Survey 1988–1990,” Syria 70, pp. 244–248. (Summary of Seasons 8–9)
Post-Survey Progress Reports
Jobling, W.J. (1993), “‘Aqaba-Ma‘an Survey,” in “Archaeology in Jordan” segment, American Journal of Archaeology 97.3, pp. 514–516.
Jobling, W.J. (1993), “Southern Jordan Survey: Inscriptions, Rock Art, and Overland Trade,” Biblical Archaeologist 56.2, pp. 105–106.
Jobling, L., M. Bannigan, and R.V.H. Morgan (1997), “‘Aqaba-Ma‘an Survey,” in “Archaeology in Jordan” segment, American Journal of Archaeology 101.3, p. 500. (Overall Summary of AMAES)
Additional Publications and Studies
During and after the AMAES, Dr. Jobling as well as different scholars and experts affiliated with the project (including Daniel Tangri, R. Godfrey Tanner, and Neil Munro), published numerous articles and reports summarizing and/or synthesizing different aspects of the archaeological and epigraphic material the survey collected.
Jobling, W.J. (1983), “Recent Exploration and Survey in Southern Jordan: Rock Art, Inscriptions and History,” Berytus 31, pp. 27–40.
Jobling, W.J. (1984–1986), “Desert Deities: Some New Epigraphic Evidence for the Deities Dusharas and Al-Lat from the Aqaba-Ma’an Area of Southern Jordan,” Religious Traditions 7–9, pp. 25–40.
Jobling, W.J. (1986), “North Arabian (Thamudic) Inscriptions and Rock Art from the ‘Aqaba-Ma‘an Area of Southern Jordan,” Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 30, pp. 261–284, pls. 48–55.
Jobling, W.J. and R.G. Tanner (1989), “Zeno the Tribune,” Studi Epigrafici e Linguistici 6, pp. 135–142.
Tanner, R.G. (1990), “Greek Epigraphy in South Jordan,” Zeitschrift fur Papyrologie und Epigraphik 83, pp. 183–193.
Jobling, W.J. (1990), “Hellenism in North Arabia: A New Epigraphic Focus,” in Greek Colonists and Native Populations, ed. J.P. Descoeudres (London: Clarendon), pp. 551–557.
Jobling, W.J. (1990), “Some New Nabataean and North Arabian Inscriptions of the Hisma in Southern Jordan,” ARAM Periodical 2.1/2, pp. 99–111.
Jobling, W.J. (1990), “New North Arabian Epigraphic Evidence for the History of the Decipherment of the Alphabet,” in History and Historiography of Linguistics: Papers from the Fourth International Conference on the History of the Language Sciences, Vol. 1: Antiquity–17th Century, eds. H.J. Niederehe and E.F.K Koerner (John Benjamins), pp. 125–134.
Jobling, W.J. and D. Tangri (1991), “A Prepottery Neolithic Site in the Hisma Basin, Southern Jordan,” Paleorient 17.2, pp. 141–148.
Jobling, W.J. (1991), “Nabataean and North Arabian Writing Systems: History and New Approaches,” Languages of the World (Sprachen der Welt) 1, pp. 33–41.
Jobling, W.J. (1992), “The Annotated Rock Art of Southern Jordan,” in Rock Art in the Old World: Papers Presented in Symposium A of the AURA Congress, Darwin (Australia) 1988, ed. M. Lorblanchet (New Delhi: Indira Ghandi National Centre for the Arts), pp. 385–392.
Jobling, W.J. and R.G. Tanner (1993), “New Evidence for Early Christianity in the North-West Hejaz,” Studia Patristica 25, pp. 313–317.
Munro, R., R. Morgan, et al. (1997), “Optical Dating and Landscape Chronology at ad-Disa, Southern Jordan, and its Potential,” Studies in the History and Archaeology of Jordan 6, pp. 97–103.
*While the AMAES exploration of the Hisma began in January–February 1980, Jobling had begun investigating portions of the Wadi Arabah in 1979. As such, some publications list the starting date of the survey as 1979.
