Projects

George Washington University’s Center for Ancient Arabian Studies (CAAS) is the only institution with a geographic focus on projects in the Middle East and Arabia. Learn more about our current projects in the Arabian Peninsula and Northwest Arabia.

CAAS Projects

The ancient site of Petra, which was a major crossroads along the Incense Route

Bīr Madhkūr Incense Route Project

A desert landscape showing the archaeological site of Bir Madhhur. An ancient Roman fort lies in the center of the photograph

Bīr Madhkūr Project (Jordan)

An archaeologist in a hat standing in a desert landscape working on a notepad

Arabian Landscapes Imaging and Analytics AI Project (ALIA-AI Project)

Collaborations

An aerial black and white photograph of Aqaba from 1984

The Roman Aqaba Project

Aila was an ancient port city and important commercial exchange center on the Red Sea, now located within modern Aqaba in Jordan. It emerged in the first century BC within the Nabataean kingdom and continued to flourish into the early Islamic period, handling trade between the Roman Empire and south Arabia, east Africa and India. Between 1994 and 2002, the Roman Aqaba Project conducted six field seasons in Aila, aiming to provide a detailed picture of the economic history of the city.

Learn more about the project in Andrew M. Smith and S. Thomas Parker's book, The Roman Aqaba Project Final Report, Volume 1: The Regional Environment and the Regional Survey.