Several graduate students and faculty from the NCSU history department presented papers on their research at the annual meeting of the American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR) in Atlanta in November. ASOR, founded in 1900, is the oldest and largest academic organization devoted to the study of the ancient Near East and adjacent lands. More than 900 faculty and students registered for this year’s meeting.

Russell Gentry, a graduate student in ancient history, presented a paper on trade in the Arabian Peninsula: “Between Nabataea and Hadrawmat: Transformation from Trade in the First Century”.

Pamela Koulianos, who received her M.A. in May, 2015, presented a paper about the ceramic evidence from the great Nabataean capital city of Petra in Jordan: “The Chronology of the Petra Garden and Pool Complex through Coarse Wares”.

Jesica Jayd Lewis, who also received her M.A. in May, 2015, discussed ceremonial feasting based on her M.A. thesis: “Syssitia and Pre-Roman Cretan Society”.

Christopher Mansfield, a graduate student in ancient history, presented a paper (co-authored with S. Thomas Parker) on economic history based on ceramic transport jars from Aqaba in southern Jordan: “The Economic Implications of the Imported Amphorae of Roman Aqaba”.

Dr. Helen Dixon, a Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow in history at NCSU in 2013-2015 and now at the University of Helsinki in Finland, presented a paper on “Untangling Myth and History at the Neo-Babylonian Siege of Tyre”.

Professor S. Thomas Parker presented a paper on his current excavation at Petra in Jordan, “A Nabataean and Late Roman Domestic Complex at Petra”.