Missions

Under the supervision of the scientific director of the IKAP project (The Islamic Khaybar Archaeological Project), a large-scale project carried out within the Khaybar oasis in northwestern Saudi Arabia, the researcher will lead the excavation, as well as the study and publication of the Abbasid-period archaeological site of Kharāyib al-Sihlah (c. 8th-10th centuries CE).

Activités

Technical and scientific activities
- Lead the excavation of an Abbasid-period archaeological site with a multidisciplinary team ;
- Undertake the architectural study of the remains uncovered during the excavation work ;
- Carry out the recording and study of the material recovered from the excavations, in collaboration with the various specialists involved in the project ;
- Document the excavated site in a database dedicated to this task ;
- Produce detailed scientific reports ;
- Contribute to the scientific publications of the project (writing or participating in the writing of articles, participation in conferences and seminars).

Training activities
- Participate in the training of French and Saudi students in ceramics study.

Logistics
- Contribute to the preparation of field missions, in collaboration with the director and project manager (definition of requirements, timetable).

Compétences

- PhD. in Archaeology;
- Experience in Islamic archaeology of the Near East and the Arabian Peninsula ;
- Good knowledge of site recording and documentation methods in archaeology ;
- Fluency in spoken and written English (minimum level C1);
- Good level of standard and dialectal Arabic (B2 level minimum);
- Ability to lead a team and to train technicians and/or students in an international linguistic and cultural context;
- Writing of scientific publications in international peer-reviewed journals;
- Field experience in the Middle East, ideally in the Arabian Peninsula.

Contexte de travail

The Khaybar oasis, located in western Saudi Arabia, is an important site in local history. It has been preserved for millennia, and human occupation appears to have been almost continuous from the earliest prehistory to the present day.
The new IKAP project (The Islamic Khaybar Archaeological Project) began in December 2024 and will continue until the end of 2028. The project is led by S. McPhillips (CNRS, LA3M – UMR 7298, Laboratory of Medieval and Modern Archaeology in the Mediterranean) and is funded by the French Agency for the Development of AlUla (Afalula, France), in partnership with the Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU, Saudi Arabia).
The project aims, in particular, to provide new archaeological documentation to better understand human occupation and environmental dynamics in the Khaybar oasis during the Islamic period.
The researcher will be hosted within the UMR 7298 team in Aix-en-Provence.

Contraintes et risques

Travel to Saudi Arabia is planned, including 5-6 weeks of fieldwork. The work will take place in a hot desert environment.