Latest on the Irbid Greco-Aramaic tomb comics

ARAMAIC WATCH PLUS DECORATIVE ART: 'Alas for me, I am dead': Greco-Roman tomb in Jordan offers clues about life in Capitolias. A tomb discovered by a bulldozer may show how the Aramaic population dealt with Greek and Roman overlords (Khaled Yacoub Oweis, The National). HT Rogue Classicism.

Enough details survived, mainly from a red mural on one wall of the tomb, to discern 64 Greek and Aramaic inscriptions written above figures depicting workers and other people.

Jordan's unheralded archaeological gem rivals Syrian neighbour Many were builders of Capitolias, one of a group of cities called the Decapolis League. Pliny the Elder wrote about it in Natural History, his epic work, almost two millennia ago.

The discovery was announced in April of 2018. I had a follow-up post on it later that year. The story has since been quiet.

The main takeaway from this article is the current conservation efforts:

The National was let into the tomb as part of a tour organised by Jordan’s Department of Antiquities for French diplomats and personnel from Ifpo, one of several western organisations working with the department to preserve and study the site through a US-funded project.

Among them is the American Centre of Oriental Research and the Italian Istituto Superiore per la Conservazione ed il Restauro, which is has been involved for years in rescuing Qusayr Amra, an Umayyad era gem in Jordan's eastern desert.

The article adds, "There are no plans to open the tomb to the public anytime soon."

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