Author Description

This Festschrift is a tribute to Zeidan Kafafi in appreciation for his lifelong commitment and contribution to the field of Near Eastern archaeology and in particular that of Jordan with the Archaeology Department at the al-Yarmouk University. In accordance with his focus of interest, the 18 contributions assembled in this volume predominantly cover Jordan, Syria, the Levant and North Arabia with an emphasis on the Neolithic and the Chalcolithic. Among others, "Religion and Ritual in Early Neolithic Jordan" is examined by B. Finlayson. K. Bartl presents an overview of the "Neolithic Developments in Syria". G. van der Kooij discusses the temple at Tell Deir 'Alla, while L. Nigro focuses on "Urbanism in Early Bronze Age Jordan". The "History of Research on the Iron Age at the Amman Citadel" is presented by K. Schmidt and the recent history of the "American Center of Research" in Jordan by B.A. Porter.