News and Events

20 April 2026 The Petra Development and Tourism Region Authority (PDTRA), Global Digital Heritage (GDH), and the American Center of Research (ACOR) signed last week a Memorandum of Understanding at the PDTRA offices in Wadi Musa, establishing a formal partnership centered on the digital documentation of Petra Archaeological Park and its environs. The ceremony was […]

8 April 2026 Nisreen Abu AlShaikh, Chief Financial Officer and Deputy Director, and Lina Shara’an, Human Resources Manager, conducted an official visit to the Syrian Arab Republic, where they met with the Director General of the Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums (DGAM), Dr. Masaoud Badawi, and the Deputy Director, Dr. Lina Kutiefan. During the

7 April 2026 ACOR provided training to three employees from the Syrian Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums and four from Jordan’s Department of Antiquities who specialize in museums and object cataloging. The training equipped museum and heritage professionals with practical instruction in using Axiell Collections for the documentation and management of museum collections and

6 April 2026 To strengthen relationships with the Syrian DGAM, ACOR was honored in February to host the new Director General, Dr. Masaoud Badawi, and the Deputy Director, Dr. Lina Kutiefan, for three days of discussions and planning at our center. During their visit on February 19–21, the Director General of Jordan’s Department of Antiquities,

4 April 2026 (Please note that this presentation is in person only in WASHINGTON, D.C.) Co-hosted by The George Washington University’s Center for Ancient Arabian Studies. About the Lecture In 2021, the Cincinnati Art Museum reinstalled the Ancient Middle East gallery. Funded in part by grants from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the National

16 March 2026 The next issue of our newsletter (37.2) is now available online! It will be arriving in mailboxes soon. This issue features: Download your copy!

15 March 2026 The American Center of Research is honored to announce that the U.S. Embassy in Amman and the U.S. State Department’s Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation has granted us a two-year award to undertake archaeological work at Ain az-Zara, protecting cultural heritage of the Holy Land, and sharing that heritage directly with the

12 March 2026 (Please note that this presentation is online only.) About the Lecture The Early Bronze Age (c. 3700-2000 BCE) in Jordan was a time of significant social and economic changes, characterized by some of the world’s earliest experiments with urbanism. As people aggregated into larger, fortified settlements they faced difficult decisions, including how

10 March 2026 We are sad to relay news of the passing of Sally de Vries (1940–2026), widow of noted archaeologist Bert de Vries (1939–2021) and mother of Jenna de Vries Morton, who serves on ACOR’s Board of Trustees. Sally was ACOR’s administrative director (1988–1991) and also, for eight seasons, administrative director of the excavations

8 March 2026 The American Center of Research held a five-day workshop titled “Introduction to Geographic Information Systems for Archaeology and Cultural Heritage” from February 8 to 12, 2026 as a collaborative project between the ACOR and Global Digital Heritage (GDH). The workshop brought together nine participants—four heritage professionals from Syria’s Directorate-General of Antiquities and