Andrew M. Smith

Andrew M. Smith
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Andrew M. Smith II is an Associate Professor of Classical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies and History in the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences at the George Washington University. Smith specializes in the history and archaeology of the Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine Near East. His research focuses on processes of community formation and urbanism in the Roman and Byzantine Near East, with an emphasis on Arab communities. His most recent book, Roman Palmyra: Identity, Community, and State Formation (Smith 2014), examines the “making” of Palmyrenes and the development of Palmyra (Syria), into a classical Mediterranean city.
Prof. Smith also has a long-term interest in Nabataean, Roman, and Byzantine Petra (Jordan), where his research interests target social and economic activity in rural settings as well as the integration of cities with their hinterlands. Prof. Smith has worked in Jordan since 1993 and has been involved with and directed numerous archaeological surveys and excavations. Currently, he directs the Bir Madhkur Project and the Bir Madhkur Incense Route Project in southern Jordan, in the hinterland of Petra. In addition to supporting his research interests, both of these projects focus on the challenge of preserving Petra’s regional, cultural heritage through community engagement. In support of his work, Prof. Smith has received funding from the Loeb Classical Library Foundation at Harvard University, the Royal Geographical Society of Great Britain, National Geographical Society, the American Schools of Oriental Research, the Explorers Club, the American Center of Oriental Research in Amman, Jordan, Dumbarton Oaks, USAID, and GW.
Prof. Smith has previously served the American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR) as Co-Chair as well as an elected member of the Annual Meetings and Program Committee, the Finance Committee, and he currently serves on the Committee on Archaeology Policy. He has also served the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) as Co-Chair of the Near Eastern Archaeology Interest Group as well as Co-Chair for the local Washington, D.C., AIA Society; he is currently a member of the Near Eastern Archaeology Interest Group of the national AIA as well as a member of GW’s Capitol Archaeological Institute.
Prof. Smith teaches a range of courses at GW that attract students from across the various schools and programs at the university. In addition to a Roman History survey that he teaches each Spring, Prof. Smith alternates each Fall and teaches either Warfare and Diplomacy in the Ancient World, the Ancient Economy, or Ancient Identity: Greeks, Romans, and Others. He also teaches introductory Latin throughout the year.
- Ancient History
Smith, Andrew M., II. Wadi Araba in Classical and Late Antiquity: A Historical Geography. British Archaeology Reports, International Series No. 2173. Oxford: Archaeopress, 2010.
Smith, Andrew M., II. “The Bir Madhkur Project: A Preliminary Report on the 2008 Field Season.” Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 54 (2010): 143-52.
Smith II, Andrew M. Review of The World of the Herods: Volume 1 of The International Conference"The World of the Herods and the Nabataeans" Held at the British Museum, 17-19 April 2001, edited by Nikos Kokkinos. The American Journal of Archaeology 113.2 (2009): 300-301.
Smith II, Andrew M. Review of The World of the Nabataeans: Volume 2 of The International Conference "The World of the Herods and the Nabataeans" Held at the British Museum, 17- 19 April 2001, edited by Dino Politis. The American Journal of Archaeology 113.2 (2009): 300-301.
Smith, Andrew M., II. “Beyond the Nabataean and Roman City: Surveying the Central and Southern Wadi Araba.” In Crossing Jordan: North American Contributions to the Archaeology of Jordan, Thomas E. Levy, P. M. Michèle Daviau, Randall W. Younker and May Shaer, eds., 393-400. London: Equinox Publishing, 2007.
Smith, Andrew M., II. “Pathways, Roadways, and Highways: Networks of Communication and Exchange in Wadi Araba.” Near Eastern Archaeology 68.4 (2005): 180-189.
Smith, Andrew M., II. “Bir Madhkur Project: A Preliminary Report on Recent Fieldwork.” Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 340 (2005): 57-75.
Niemi, T. and Smith, Andrew. M., II. “Initial Results of the Southeastern Wadi Araba, Jordan Geoarchaeological Study: Implications for Shifts in Late Quaternary Aridity.” Geoarchaeology 14.8 (1999): 791-820.
Perry, M., and Smith, Andrew. M., II. “Bir Madhkur Excavation and Survey.” American Journal of Archaeology 102.3 (1999): 592-95.
Smith, Andrew M., II. “Bir Madhkur Excavation and Survey.” The Glyph 1.12 (1998): 10-11.
Smith, Andrew M., II, et al. “The Southeast Araba Archaeological Survey: A Preliminary Report of the 1994 Season.” Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 305 (1997): 45-71.
Smith, Andrew M., II, and Niemi, T. “Results of the Southeast Araba Archaeological Reconnaissance.” Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 38 (1994): 469-83.
Smith, Andrew M., II. “Southeast Wadi Araba Survey.” American Journal of Archaeology 98 (1994): 524
Smith, Andrew M., II. “Southeast Araba Archaeological Survey.” ACOR Newsletter 6.2 (1994): 9-10.
Ph.D., University of Maryland, College Park, 2004