The 2017–18 season marks the 50th anniversary of the start of the Heshbon Expedition to Jordan, the forerunner of the Madaba Plains Project (MPP). Andrews University, a Seventh-day Adventist school in Berrien Springs, Michigan, United States, was one of the first in taking part in those archaeological excavation projects at three Jordan locations—Tall Hisban, Tall al-Umairy, and Tall Jalul.
Leaders of the first team were Siegfried Horn of Andrews University, Roger Boraas of Upsala College (New Jersey), and Bastian van Elderen of Calvin College (Michigan). They completed the trip in summer 1968.
Today, MPP is the longest continuously collaborating archaeological consortium in Jordan. While the scholarly achievements that have resulted from this long-standing collaboration have been extensive and well-received, the challenge now is how to provide a sustainable future for the sites themselves.
Source: Adventist Review Online | Adventist University Celebrates 50 Years of Excavations in Jordan