A team from the University of Sydney is undertaking a long-term project to examine the ebb and flow of settlement in the agriculturally marginal areas on the edge of the Jordanian steppe, and the relationships between settled and nomadic groups in the region. Current work is concerned with study of Middle Bronze Age settlement in the wadi al-'Ajib, one of the larger wadis draining southwards from jebel Druze in southern Syria. Excavations have been carried out at several small MB settlements in the middle reaches of the wadi, and at the major site of Rukeis, close to the Syrian border.
Rukeis appears to have been founded as a fortified
settlement in the Early Bronze Age (EB1B), abandoned and then
re-occupied early in the Middle Bronze Age. The Middle Bronze Age
remains are remarkably well preserved. There are two main phases
of occupation associated with a massive basalt fortification wall
with a chambered gateway. The internal structures were of stone
construction and include a complex of small cells, possibly for
storage, open areas and silos. The structures were probably
roofed with basalt corbelling. Some column supports for the
roofing are still preserved to over two metres in height. 
Aerial map showing the Tell
Rukeis and its associated farmsteads form part of a greater complex of Middle Bronze Age settlement across jebel Druze, the most easterly outpost of which is the citadel at Jawa. Sites are mostly stone built, some with peripheral settlement, towers and agricultural installations. Most appear to have been sustained through water-harvesting systems carrying water to pools, cisterns and small fields. The Middle Bronze Age seems to have been a time of expansion of settlement into the more marginal regions on the edge of the Badiayat al-Sham, perhaps associated with the increase in international trade and political exchange of the period. Click on the small map of Jordan to open a map showing the location of Rukeis.