Dr Lucy Wadeson

Lucy Wadeson is a classical archaeologist specialised in the material culture of the Greco-Roman Near East. In particular, she is an expert on the Nabataean kingdom and its principal city of Petra where she directs her own excavation of tombs in the royal necropolis. Her academic career began at the University of Canterbury in her hometown of Christchurch, New Zealand, where she completed a BA (Hons) in Classics, much inspired by the Department’s Logie Collection of Antiquities. She then earned an MPhil (specialised in Roman Archaeology) and DPhil (PhD) in Classical Archaeology at the University of Oxford in 2010. Based on months of fieldwork in Petra, her dissertation made the first ever study of the insides of Petra’s renowned rock-cut façade tombs, elucidating their chronology and Nabataean funerary practices for the first time.

Lucy has held numerous research and teaching positions in Jordan (Council for British Research in the Levant), Belgium (Université Libre de Bruxelles) and the United Kingdom (University of Oxford, University of Nottingham, University of Edinburgh). While living in Jordan for four years, she was able to establish two excavation projects in and around Petra. The “International al-Khubthah Tombs Project” involves the study and excavation of two monumental façade tombs in Petra’s elusive “royal” necropolis, while the “Petra Hinterland Tombs Project” surveys and excavates subterranean Nabataean family tombs in the hinterland, in collaboration with Hussein Bin Talal University in Jordan. Lucy has also excavated in the Forum in Rome and lived in Siena (Italy) where she studied Italian. She has undertaken fieldwork on rock-cut tombs in Egypt, Palestine and Syria.

Since a young age, Lucy has been fascinated with the Mediterranean and Middle East and her travels and international academic positions have allowed her to immerse herself in local languages and cultures. With time, her research has led her further east, into the heart of Arabia, where she has been exploring how the classical ‘western’ world interacted with Arabia and the ‘east’, particularly via the ancient incense routes. She is fascinated with the themes of cultural identity in the ancient Near East and Arabia and how cultural traditions from antiquity have survived into the present day, as well as how the natural environment affected social and cultural practices.

Lucy is enthusiastic about sharing her knowledge and passion for the ancient world and inspiring interest through teaching and public lectures. She has taught a variety of subjects in Classics, Ancient History and Archaeology from the early classical period to the onset of Islam. She has always played an active role in outreach, promoting study of the ancient world through public lectures, radio interviews and school visits. She has over 40 publications, not only covering Petra and the Nabataeans, but also art in the Late Antique Levant and sculpture in Palmyra. Most recently, Lucy has been working for the Royal Commission for AlUla as an archaeological research consultant focused on the Nabataean city of Hegra in the modern Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. She is excited to lead the ASA tour to Oman in 2026.

Get to know Lucy by listening to the following Podcast: