My research focuses on pilgrimage and trade during the Late Byzantine period (5th to 8th centuries CE) in Jordan. I am fascinated by the role that landscape played in the religious and economic development of certain sites in this region. With this question in mind, I will be starting a new field project at the site of Khirbat al-Mukhayyat in the summer of 2014. The site is commonly associated with nearby Mount Nebo, the biblical site associated with the death and burial of Moses. In addition to overseeing this field project, I am also working on the final publication for Tell Madaba, a project that I have been directing since 2006. This project is part of a larger regional research effort (that includes Khirbat al-Mukhayyat) designed to investigate the development of centralized institutions and state-ordered societies in central Jordan.
