The 1981 excavations were sponsored by Duke University and the American Schools of Oriental Research; in 1980 the National Geographic Society and Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary were additional sponsors. Eric Meyers served as Director, with Carol Meyers and James Strange as Associate Directors and Lawrence Belkin as Architect.
The 1980 season as a whole is presented in Meyers, Strange, and Meyers, “Preliminary Report on the 1980 Excavations at en-Nabratein, Israel,” Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research (BASOR) forthcoming; the 1981 dig will likewise be presented in a forthcoming BASOR article. The stone ark fragment is discussed in detail in Meyers, Strange, Meyers, “The Ark of Nabratein: A First Glance,” (Biblical Archeologist 44 September 1981).