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The Discovery of the Great Wall of Jordan, Southern Levant
Issue:
Volume 9, Issue 1, June 2021
Pages:
1-9
Received:
3 December 2020
Accepted:
28 December 2020
Published:
12 January 2021
Abstract: Great wall of Jordan also known as Khatt Shebib is a unique ancient wall situated in Southern Jordan near Maan City. The remains of the wall which includes towers, barracks, rooms …etc. are 150 km long from south to north, making it the longest linear archaeological site in southern Levant &in Jordan. The archaeological remains of the wall were first identified by British experts, the discovery was unveiled in 1948, then it was documented by air photographing in 1982, the Department of Antiquities explored it in 1992, with survey, excavations, & documentation continued to the present day. Located in the south of the Kingdom, the wall is the world's second longest after the China Wall, as it spans a distance of approximately 150 kilometers approximately, making it the region’s longest structure. Known locally as Hableh or Khatt Shebib, the wall stretches northwards from Ras Al Naqab in Maan Governorate extending to the Wadi Al Hasa area of Tafileh Governorate, A Jordanian team of archaeologists and experts imitated a field project in 1992-1996, and 2020in order to document the nearby remains of the wall, where comprehensive survey and excavations urgently needed in several significant sites along the wall sides. The field study concluded in revealing significant architectural structures built directly adjacent to the wall, also focused on the importance of the wall to be an attractive point for tourism in South Jordan. The date of the wall's construction clearly refers to Nabataean Period.
Abstract: Great wall of Jordan also known as Khatt Shebib is a unique ancient wall situated in Southern Jordan near Maan City. The remains of the wall which includes towers, barracks, rooms …etc. are 150 km long from south to north, making it the longest linear archaeological site in southern Levant &in Jordan. The archaeological remains of the wall were fir...
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On Cleaning Methods and the Raw Radiocarbon Data from the Shroud of Turin
Larry Schwalbe,
Bryan Walsh
Issue:
Volume 9, Issue 1, June 2021
Pages:
10-16
Received:
19 February 2021
Accepted:
5 March 2021
Published:
12 March 2021
Abstract: The Shroud of Turin is a long, narrow strip of linen cloth believed by many to be the burial cloth of Jesus. The Shroud is unique because faint images of a crucified man are clearly visible on one surface. These body images along with accompanying blood stains have been the subject of scientific inquiry for over a hundred years, yet the process of the image formation has been and remains unknown. Among the more recent of coordinated studies of the Shroud was a radiocarbon dating of excised samples. The results, published in 1989, place the origin of the cloth to sometime in or around the 14th century. The objective of the present study is to survey the cleaning methods (or pretreatments) that were applied to the samples removed for the radiocarbon study. Specifically, we explore the extent to which these methods may have given rise to a peculiar structure in the "raw" radiocarbon data published in 2019. The data from two of the participating laboratories, Zurich and Arizona, appear to bifurcate into groups separated by roughly 100 radiocarbon years. By comparing the pretreatment for each subsample and its group membership, we conclude that these pretreatments do not account for the bifurcation effect. As all subsamples represent portions excised from an originally intact and continuous sample of Shroud material, we assume they are all the same calendar age. Granted this assumption and given the results of the present study, two hypotheses remain to account for the curious anomaly: either 1) the carbon isotope ratios 14C/12C of the fabric itself were altered by some currently unknown process, or 2) a non-isotropic distribution of contamination remained after the samples underwent the documented pretreatments. A resolution of the question is important for deciding whether future radiocarbon studies are called for and, if so, how the testing protocols should be structured.
Abstract: The Shroud of Turin is a long, narrow strip of linen cloth believed by many to be the burial cloth of Jesus. The Shroud is unique because faint images of a crucified man are clearly visible on one surface. These body images along with accompanying blood stains have been the subject of scientific inquiry for over a hundred years, yet the process of ...
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A Novel Method of Archaeological Bronze Identification - Electromagnetic Signatures vs Chemical Composition
Issue:
Volume 9, Issue 1, June 2021
Pages:
17-23
Received:
22 February 2021
Accepted:
8 March 2021
Published:
12 March 2021
Abstract: Bronze metallurgy was a significant step in human technology and civilization as societies evolved from the Neolithic to the Bronze period and acquired the ability to shape different metals into useful tools. The technology to work with copper and bronze was independently developed across the world and, due to different smelting techniques and local ore chemistry, metal ware developed in different regions of the world at various time periods have unique chemical profiles. We previously developed a technique to identify metal alloys based on their stimulated dynamic magnetic signatures. We demonstrated that metals of different chemical composition would exhibit different electrical conductivity, and thus different magnetic field strengths when evoked by different levels of electric current. We further demonstrated that the electromagnetic signatures could be detected by the internal magnetometers located inside most smartphones as a part of the internal compass. In this manuscript we have compiled the electromagnetic signatures and magnetic force vectors of different copper alloys in various electromagnetic fields. The database of signatures are cross-referenced to chemical composition and tensile strength such that one can quickly compare the magnetic signatures of any unknown copper and bronze artifact and arrive at a tentative identity of the metal artifact.
Abstract: Bronze metallurgy was a significant step in human technology and civilization as societies evolved from the Neolithic to the Bronze period and acquired the ability to shape different metals into useful tools. The technology to work with copper and bronze was independently developed across the world and, due to different smelting techniques and loca...
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A Find of Transoceanic Pottery at Bwejuu Island of the Rufiji Delta and Mafia Island, Tanzania: More Clue to the Elusive Ancient Azania’s Metropolis of Rhapta
Mandela Peter Ryano,
Felix Arkard Chami
Issue:
Volume 9, Issue 1, June 2021
Pages:
24-33
Received:
8 January 2021
Accepted:
31 January 2021
Published:
7 April 2021
Abstract: The island of Bwejuu is one of the islands of the Mafia archipelago on the central coast of Tanzania. It is only 15 km off the Rufiji Delta and its inhabitants carry out cultivation activities on the delta. The Rufiji delta has been considered by several scholars to be the location of the elusive ancient Azania’s metropolis of Rhapta. Past research on the island established that it was of the 16th–18th centuries post-Swahili civilization. This research has verified that finding although underwater work on the south-east part discovered pottery attributed to ancient transoceanic activities, possibly arriving from either the Mediterranean region or probably Oman or Indian regions. Sites with trade remains from those regions have been discovered on the Delta and Mafia archipelago. Also, an underwater site with wall-like structures believed to be remains of a long-submerged ancient settlement has recently been found in the northwestern waters of Mafia Island. The site has drawn attention of some archaeologists who believe it could be the long-lost metropolis of Rhapta. The new findings from Bwejuu Island may suggest that there are several trading sites in the region of the Mafia archipelago and the Rufiji Delta as outskirts of a large settlement which could be Rhapta. This study collected data through archaeological surveys and test excavations. Data analysis involved pottery attribute analysis and metric dating by thermoluminescence method.
Abstract: The island of Bwejuu is one of the islands of the Mafia archipelago on the central coast of Tanzania. It is only 15 km off the Rufiji Delta and its inhabitants carry out cultivation activities on the delta. The Rufiji delta has been considered by several scholars to be the location of the elusive ancient Azania’s metropolis of Rhapta. Past research...
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