Dr Carol Palmer is an anthropologist, archaeologist and botanist. Her research interests concentrate on food production and consumption, including the contemporary and recent use of plants on the broadest level, cultivated, gathered and grazed (ethnobotany); changes in and the long-term impact of food production practices on the landscape and in society; archaeobotany; and food as material culture.

Carol originally trained as an environmental archaeologist (BA Durham; MSc Sheffield), specialising in archaeological plant remains. She developed her expertise in anthropology through her PhD (Sheffield) research, an ethnobotanical study of traditional farming practices in northern Jordan. Between 1999 and 2002 she held a CBRL Post-doctoral Fellowship at the University of Leicester during which time she conducted ethnographic fieldwork in southern Jordan, mainly at Wadi Faynan as part of Prof Graeme Barker’s (now at the University of Cambridge) project there. She gained extensive experience in plant ecology as a Research Associate (2003-2006) on the FIBS (Functional Interpretation of Botanical Surveys) project with Prof Glynis Jones and Dr Mike Charles (University of Sheffield), and has gone on to conduct plant surveys in Greece and Croatia examining the impact of changes in modern landscape use on vegetation, as well as conducting botanical studies in Jordan. Continuing her ethnographic interests, she is currently completing researching and editing a manuscript held by the Palestine Exploration Fund, London, written by the Polish ethnograher, Lucjan Turkowski, based on fieldwork he conducted in the Bethlehem area between 1943 and 1947. She has a long-term fascination with the rural Middle East, and with the cultural heritage of fellahin and bedouin, research she is continuing as part of her current post.

Carol became Director of the British Institute in Amman in September 2009 and is an Honorary University Fellow at the University of Exeter. She currently serves as the editor of the CBRL Bulletin.

Selected publications:

• C. Palmer, S. Colledge, A. Bevan, and J. Conolly (2010) Vegetation recolonisation on abandoned agricultural terraces on Antikythera, Greece. Environmental Archaeology 15: 64-80.
• C. Palmer, D. Gilbertson, H. el-Rishi, C. Hunt, J. Grattan, S. McLaren and B. Pyatt (2007) The Wadi Faynan today: landscape, environment, people, 25-57. In G. Barker, D. Gilbertson and D. Mattingly (eds) Archaeology and Desertification: The Wadi Faynan Landscape Survey, southern Jordan. Wadi Faynan Series 2; Levant Supplementary Series 6. Oxford: Council for British Research in the Levant and Oxbow Books.
• C. Palmer, H. Smith and P. Daly (2007) Ethnoarchaeology, 369-395. In the above monograph by G. Barker et al..
• C. Palmer and P. Daly (2006) Jouma’s tent: bedouin and digital archaeology, 97-127. In P. Daly & T. Evans (eds) Digital Archaeology. Routledge.
• G. Jones, M. Charles, A. Bogaard, J. Hodgson, and C. Palmer (2005) ‘The functional ecology of present-day arable weed floras and its applicability for the identification of past crop husbandry’. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany 14 (4): 493-504.
• C. Palmer (2002) Milk and cereals: identifying food and food identity among fallahin and bedouin in Jordan. Levant 34: 173-195. (Arabic version available)
• C. Palmer (1999) Whose land is it anyway? An historical examination of land tenure and agriculture in northern Jordan, 288-305. In C. Gosden & J. Hather (eds) The Prehistory of Food. Routledge.
• C. Palmer (1998) ‘Following the plough’: the agricultural environment of northern Jordan. Levant 30: 129-165.

She also contributed to the plant section of the Field Guide to the Plants and Animals of Petra (2006) by Isabelle Ruben with Ahmed Disi, published by the Petra Natural Trust.

Alex Bellem is a linguist specialising in theoretical and comparative phonology (and the interface with phonetics) with a special interest in Middle Eastern languages, particularly Arabic dialects. After graduating from the University of Manchester with a degree in Middle Eastern Studies (Arabic and Turkish), she lived in Damascus for a while, before returning to the UK to complete an MA in Linguistics at UCL. She subsequently spent several years parenting, working as an academic editor and then teaching English language, before moving on to PhD research and teaching in the Department of Linguistics at SOAS in London. Before taking up her post with the British Institute in Amman she spent a sabbatical year as a Pronunciation Linguist in the Pronunciation Unit of the BBC. Alex is currently based in Damascus, Syria. She is also a Research Associate of the University of Salford.

Alex’s PhD research (completed in 2007) was on the ‘emphatic’ consonants of the Semitic languages – in particular across the dialects of Arabic. Her thesis comprised the initial step towards setting up a typology of emphatics within the context of their overall sound systems, and also investigated the phonological representation of the various types of emphatics (both synchronically and diachronically) within a Government Phonology framework.

More generally, Alex’s research is on Semitic phonology, with a particular focus on Iraqi and Syrian dialects; her major interest is is in pharyngealisation (emphatics) and phonation; she is currently also collaborating on an investigation into the phonology and phonetics of Mehri, an endangered Modern South Arabian language spoken in Yemen and Oman.

Research Interests:

• Phonological theory (in particular, segmental representations)
• Phonetics
• Arabic dialect studies (comparative phonology)
• Comparative Semitic
• Middle Eastern languages

Selected Publications:

• (in press) with J.C.E. Watson, ‘Glottalisation and Neutralisation in Yemeni Arabic and Mehri’ in: (eds) B. Heselwood & Z. Hassan, Instrumental Studies in Arabic Phonetics. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
• (in press) with J.C.E. Watson, ‘A Detective Story: Emphatics in Mehri’ Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 40 (2010): 1–12.
• (2004) ‘On Laryngeal Contrasts and the Definition of “Emphatic” (or: When is a ṭ not a ṭ?)’ in: (eds) K. Rowan & A. Bellem SOAS Working Papers in Linguistics 13: 15–48
• (2003) ‘Aziz al-Samawi’ in: (ed.) S. Simawe Iraqi Poetry Today (Modern Poetry in Translation 19 [special issue]): 204–15
• (2001) ‘Lughat al-ḍād and the Status of [A]: The Composition of Arabic Gutturals / Emphatics’ in: (eds) H.-J. Lee & S. Hellmuth SOAS Working Papers in Linguistics 11: 57–72
• (1997 ‘The Blind River: Self and Anxiety in Aziz al-Samawi’s Poetry’ Arab Studies Quarterly 19, No. 4: 111–29

Conference Papers:

• Seminar for Arabian Studies – British Museum, London
  23–25 July 2009
  (with J.C.E. Watson) ‘A Detective Story: Emphatics in Mehri’
• Seminar for Arabian Studies – British Museum, London
  23–25 July 2009
  (with J.C.E. Watson) ‘The Changing Role of Semitic Emphatics? Evidence from Arabic and Beyond’ (poster)
• 17mfm – 17^th Manchester Phonology Meeting
  28–30 May 2009
  ‘Consonant Representations Revisited: The problem of ejectives’ (poster)
• International Workshop on Pharyngeals and Pharyngealisation – Newcastle University
  26–27 Mar 2009
  (with J.C.E. Watson) ‘The Phonetics and Phonology of Emphatics in Mehri’
• International Workshop on Pharyngeals and Pharyngealisation – Newcastle University
  26–27 Mar 2009
  ‘The “Problem” of Pharyngealisation and its Role in the Sound Systems of North-East Caucasian Languages’ (poster)
• 16mfm – 16th Manchester Phonology Meeting
  22–24 May 2008
  ‘Characterising the Arabic Sound System (Consonant Resonance and Phonological Representations)’
• Conference on Manner Alternations in Phonology – ZAS, Berlin
  23–25 June 2005
  ‘Semitic Variations: Ejective vs Pharyngealised Emphatics’
• RFP2005 – 7th Annual Meeting of the French Network of Phonology
  2–4 June 2005
  ‘“Pharyngeal” and “Pharyngealisation” in the Caucasian Languages: Phonological Correlates vs Phonetic Realisations’
• 13mfm – 13th Manchester Phonology Meeting
  26–28 May 2005
  ‘“Pharyngeal” and “Pharyngealisation” in the Caucasian Languages: Phonological Correlates vs Phonetic Realisations’
• London Phonology Seminar – Dept of Phonetics and Linguistics, UCL
  2 March 2005
  ‘“Pharyngeal” and “Pharyngealisation” in the Caucasian Languages: Phonological Correlates vs Phonetic Realisations’
• GDP Workshop on Consonantal Representations – Leiden
  3 December 2004
  ‘Towards a Definition of “Emphatic” ’
• London Phonology Seminar – Dept of Phonetics and Linguistics, UCL
  13 October 2004
  ‘On Laryngeal Contrasts and the Definition of “Emphatic”’
• 12mfm – 12th Manchester Phonology Meeting
  24–26 May 2004
  ‘Consonantal Licensing, Conflation and the R Tier’ (poster presentation)
• BVGP4 – 4th Budapest–Vienna GP Roundtable – Vienna
  8–9 May 2004
  ‘Consonantal Licensing, Conflation and the R Tier... or Does the Early Worm Catch the Bird?’
• London Phonology Seminar – Department of Phonetics and Linguistics, UCL
  3 December 2003
  ‘In the Dark: Pharyngeal [A]ctivity’

Jehan Saleh holds a BA (Hons) in Politics from Queen Mary, University of London and an MA in International Relations from King's College London. Before joining CBRL She worked on the Teaching & Learning Research Programme at the Institute of Education-London. Jehan has also held two research internships with the Council for Arab-British Understanding (CAABU) and the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).

Her primary research interests lie in the politics and international relations of the Middle East. Her previous work has analysed the British Empire’s attempts to create the state of Iraq in the 1920s in comparison with the present American led initiative in Iraq from 2003. Her recent MA project focused on the development of Islamic political movements in the Middle East, with particular reference to Hamas in the Occupied Territories and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Jehan's current research is focusing on the political development of the Shi'a community as a whole in Lebanon.

Research Interests

• Identity
• Islamic Political Movements
• Ethnic Conflict
• Post-colonial development & state-building
• State-society relations

Alison Damick holds a BA in the History of Art and Architecture from Middlebury College and an MA in Field Archaeology from the Institute of Archaeology, University College London. She is currently involved with the Epipalaeolithic Foragers in Azraq Project excavations at Kharaneh IV, for which she is developing a long-term community engagement strategy, and with the American University in Beirut excavation at Tell Fadaous-Kfarabida, where she is studying the ground stone artifacts.  She has also worked with the Beirut Digital Archives Project and held a Presidential Internship with the Department of Performing and Visual Arts at the American University in Cairo.

Alison’s research interests lie in the development of collaborative archaeological practice, archaeology as civic engagement, and the contemporary socio-political context of archaeology in the Middle East. She is also interested in domestic material culture, particularly stone technologies, in the Levant and especially Lebanon in later prehistory and proto-history. Her current work attempts to engage with localized pathways of communication about the past, archaeology, and heritage in Jordan and Lebanon within archaeology-specific and non-archaeology-specific contexts in an attempt to promote a working methodology for collaborative archaeology in these regions and to establish productive frameworks for future research.

To see a video clip of one of the recent school programs held at Azraq (in Arabic), click here: Aramram Film's website

Research Interests

• Community archaeology
• Field methodology
• Later prehistoric and proto-historic Levant

Nadja Qaisi completed her BA in Archaeology at the University of Jordan and worked for the German Protestant Institute (GPI), The German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) and United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) before starting at CBRL (BIAAH) in 1996.

Moh’d Fseiseh worked in Iraq for 9 years before returning to Jordan, where upon he worked for 2 years with a satellite company. At the beginning of the seventies he joined the staff of the BIAAH (British Institute at Amman for Archaeology and History) where he worked for its first director Dr Crystal Bennett as the cook and driver. He has worked continuously for the BIAAH/CBRL ever since; a period covering over 30 years and is now the Institute’s caretaker, driver and general fix-it person.

Baby Delgado worked in the Philippines and travelled to Singapore and Bahrain before settling in Jordan in 1986. She first started working for the BIAAH as a housekeeper in 1998, when Alison McQuitty was director. Baby has been with the organisation for many years and is a vital member of the local team, who ensures the smooth running of the centre.