The preliminary study brings together artifacts, documents, plants, animals and mosques from Quseir Al-Qadim.
The report, based on work at Quseir Al-Qadim in 1978, organizes evidence from Roman and Islamic areas of the site. It examines imported Far Eastern pottery, Roman and Islamic ceramics and glass, lamps, inscriptions, textiles and small objects, as well as storerooms linked to a Roman villa.
It also includes Arabic documents and narrative sources about the port, along with remains of animals, plants and marine invertebrates. Separate sections address conservation, the nearby site of Bir Kareim and some of Quseir’s old mosques.
Evidence from the port
The report catalogs a wide range of evidence from Quseir Al-Qadim, including Roman and Islamic ceramics; imported Far Eastern wares; Roman and Islamic glass; lamps; stamped pottery; inscriptions; Arabic documents; textiles; small objects; animal, plant and marine remains; and old mosques. It also describes Roman and Islamic excavation areas, large and small storerooms in a Roman villa, conservation work and Bir Kareim. The supplied abstract is a chapter list and does not provide detailed counts, dates for individual finds or specific interpretations.
Evidence and limits
This is a preliminary archaeological report organized around excavation summaries, objects, environmental remains, documents and historic buildings. The available abstract is only a table of contents, so it does not state the report’s detailed findings, the size or context of the excavated samples, the dating of individual materials or the authors’ overall conclusions. Those details would be needed to assess how representative the evidence is of Quseir Al-Qadim as a whole.
// Source
2026 · DOI: 10.83354/9yy6-w288
Authors: Donald Whitcomb, Janet H. Johnson
