Pella in Jordan

Human occupation stretches back over half a million years

Pella is a magnificent ten-hectare site, set in beautiful surroundings beside a perennial spring in the eastern foothills of the north Jordan valley.

 

Over the past 45 years, excavations by the University of Sydney have unearthed many important discoveries, including:

  • Neolithic housing (ca. 6000 BCE)
  • Chalcolithic period storage complexes (ca. 4200 BCE)
  • Early Bronze Age stone defensive platforms (ca. 3200 BCE)
  • Massive Middle Bronze Age mud-brick city walls (ca. 1800 BCE)
  • Middle and Late Bronze Age Temples and Palaces (ca. 1800-1200 BCE)
  • a Late Bronze Age Egyptian Governors’ Residence with clay tablets (ca. 1350 BCE)
  • large areas of a Hellenistic city (destroyed by war in 80 BCE) 
  • a theatre, bathhouse and public fountain of the Roman Imperial city (ca. 150 CE)
  • three Byzantine churches and a Bishop’s palace (ca. 550 CE)
  • an Umayyad Islamic city destroyed by an earthquake (ca. 750 CE)
  • an Abbasid caravanserai (ca. 950 CE)
  • a Mameluke mosque and administrative compound (ca. 1350 CE)
  • a late Ottoman village (ca. 1900 CE) that bring Pella’s history up to the present day.

Pella volunteer scheme

For the past 30 years, we have provided members of the public with the opportunity to work on the University of Sydney’s excavations at Pella in Jordan.

The 2025 Field Season is postponed until 2026

Information about the January-February 2026 excavation season at Pella will be available in 2025. During that season we  will further investigate:

  • The MBA Palace (Area 32) uncovered in 2023, and aspects of the LBA palace (perhaps its entrance) immediately above
  • The LBA monumental architecture uncovered in 2023 at the base of two soundings (Area 28), west of the main south tell exposure.
  • The northwest corner of the huge EBA fortification system (Area 34) on Tell Husn
  • The eastern enclosure wall and gateway of the Mameluke period civic/military complex (Area 23) on the central mound.

Finds from the most recent season include alabaster vessels, ceramic chalices, pottery zoomorphic figurines and a complete ivory wand from Iron Age pits, and an alabaster bulls-head protome (from a ceremonial mace), a cylinder seal of a temple, and a column base, all perhaps associated with a nearby Early Bronze Age civic building.

The cost of participating in either group is $6450 (TBC)

The fee includes food and board (and, hopefully, a lot of fun!) for the three weeks you will be at the Pella site, as well as internal transport to and from the site.

We do not arrange group bookings as most volunteers tend to have travel plans before or after their time with us at Pella. If you are interested in working at the important and beautiful site of Pella, please fill in the Pella Application form.

More information

neaf.archaeology@sydney.edu.au
+61 2 9114 0921
Volunteer Coordinator,
Pella Volunteers
NEAF School of Humanities, A18
The University of Sydney 2006 

Download the 2026 volunteer application form

Contact us

Volunteer Coordinator

Email: neaf.archaeology@sydney.edu.au
Address: Pella Volunteers, NEAF, School of Humanities, A18 University of Sydney, NSW 2006