“EAST OF THE JORDAN” Territories and Sites of the Hebrew Scriptures ASOR Books Volume 6 Victor Matthews, editor Billie Jean Collins ASOR Director of Publications “EAST OF THE JORDAN” TERRITORIES AND SITES OF THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES by Burton MacDonald American Schools of Oriental Research • Boston, MA “EAST OF THE JORDAN” Territories and Sites of the Hebrew Scriptures Copyright © 2000 The American Schools of Oriental Research Cover illustration: Aerial photograph of Tell Hisban, courtesy of Richard Cleave. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data MacDonald, Burton, 1939- “East of the Jordan” : territories and sites of the Hebrew scriptures / by Burton MacDonald. p. cm. — (ASOR books : v. 6) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-89757-031-6 (alk. paper) 1. Jordan—Antiquities. 2. Excavations (Archaeology)—Jordan. 3. Bible. O.T.—Antiquities. I. Title. II. Series. DS153.3 .M32 2000 933—dc21 00-008888 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper. Contents List of Figures vi List of Tables vi Abbreviations vii Acknowledgments viii 1 Introduction 1 2Biblical Site Identification: History and Methodology 9 3Natural Environment 21 4 Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, Bela (=Zoar)— the “Cities of the Plain”—and Lasha 45 5 Exodus Itineraries: Routes and Related Sites East of the ªArabah, the Dead Sea, and the Jordan 63 6 Settlement of the Israelite Tribes East of the Jordan 101 7 Ammonite Territory and Sites 157 8Moabite Territory and Sites 171 9 Edomite Territory and Sites 185 10 Gilead Territory and Sites 195 Appendix: List of Biblical Site Identifications for Jordan 209 References 213 Indexes 275 v List of Figures Fig. 1 Situation Map of Jordan 22 Fig. 2 Major Morphological Units 24 Fig. 3 Major Wadis 28 Fig. 4 Rainfall Map 32 Fig. 5 Soils 35 Fig. 6 Plant Geographical Territories 37 Fig. 7 The Dead Sea Region 46 Fig. 8 Exodus Itineraries East of the 'Arabah, the Dead Sea and the Jordan 64 Fig. 9 Israelite Settlements “Beyond the Jordan” 102 Fig. 10 Ammonite Territory and Sites 158 Fig. 11 Moabite Territory and Sites 172 Fig. 12 Edomite Territory and Sites 186 Fig. 13 Gilead: North and South of the Jabbok 196 List of Tables Table 1 Mean Monthly Temperature in °C30 Table 2 Precipitation in mcm 30 vi Abbreviations ASGA Archaeological Survey of Greater 'Amman DH Deuteronomistic History JVS Jordan Valley Survey LXX The Septuagint MI The Mesha Inscription/The Moabite Stone MT The Massoretic Text NAB The New American Bible (1986, 1991) NJB The New Jerusalem Bible (1985) NOAB The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocryphal/ Deuterocanonical Books (1991) NRSV The New Revised Standard Version Bible (1991) OL Old Latin P Priestly writer REV The Revised English Bible (1989) SGNAS Southern Ghors and Northeast 'Arabah Archaeological Survey WHS Wadi al-Hasa Archaeological Survey vii Acknowledgments A number of people made important contributions to this book. Among them, I wish to acknowledge Alexander (Sandy) MacEachern who devel- oped the database for the project and helped in numerous ways with its operation. Allan MacKinnon and Geri Frizzle acted as research assistants; they did most of the data entry and management of the database. Gregory Walsh worked on the maps for the book as well as doing the layout while Jane Strickler provided invaluable editorial assistance. While in Jordan, I had access to the facilities of the American Center of Oriental Research (ACOR) in Amman; I am grateful to the staff of ACOR for their help. Library staff at St. Francis Xavier University, the University of Toronto, and the École Biblique et Archéologique Française à Jerusalem gave their time and energy to the project. The Social Sciences and Humanities Re- search Council of Canada provided the major funding for the work. In addition, the St. Francis Xavier University Council for Research provided annual grants towards the completion of the project. viii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION The present work stems, in part, from an interest in the archaeology of Jordan that goes back to the late 1970s when I worked as an area supervisor at Bab adh-Dhra', an Early Bronze Age site on the eastern side of the Wadi 'Arabah-Dead Sea-Jordan Depression (see Chapter 2). My interest at the time (as it continues to be) was not merely archaeological but also biblical since my training was primarily in Near Eastern Studies with an emphasis on the Old Testament/Hebrew Scriptures. A reading of that body of literature convinced me of the importance of the area “east of the Jordan” (1 Kings 17.3) relative to biblical peoples, places, and events. One cannot do archaeological work in Jordan for long and have an interest in biblical studies without raising questions relative to the location of the biblical places and events that are so much a part of the narratives, for example, of Genesis, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, 1 and 2 Chronicles, and the major prophets. And this interest is one that Christians, Jews, and Muslims share. But it is not only the student of the Bible who wishes to know the identity of the site that he/she is surveying and/or exca- vating. All archaeologists will, at one time or another, ask the question, “What was the name (or, What were the names….) of this site during its periods of occupation?” Abel (1967), Glueck (1934; 1935; 1939a; 1951), and Simons (1959) produced major works on biblical site identification that are of relevance to areas east of the Jordan River. There is much in these volumes that is of value and, thus, they will be referenced throughout this work. These vol- umes, however, were completed before the late 1960s, a period that can be seen as a watershed as far as archaeological work in Jordan is concerned. Moreover, the segments of these works that deal with areas in Transjordan depend, to a large extent, on Glueck’s own archaeological survey work, namely, “Explorations in Eastern Palestine,” in the 1930s and 1940s. This work, however, is now dated and does not reflect current archaeological reality. For example, Glueck posited that the Early Iron history of South Gilead and Ammon paralleled that of Moab and Edom, “a flourishing pe- riod between the thirteenth and eighth centuries B.C., and a period of increasing deterioration culminating in final ruin probably during the first part of the sixth century B.C.” (1939: 269; see also his 1934: 81–83; 1935: 137–40; 1951: 423). In the 1960s and 1970s, Glueck revised somewhat his 1 2 / “East of the Jordan” position on the archaeological histories of Ammon, Moab, and Edom in the light of new archaeological data (1970). However, his positions on the location of biblical sites continue to be repeated in biblical atlases and geographies. Furthermore, Glueck’s excavation of Tall al-Khalayfi in the spring months of 1938–1940 (1938a; 1938b; 1939b; 1940; 1965b) led him to identify the site with biblical Ezion-geber (Num 33.35–36; Deut 2.8; 1 Kings 9.26; 2 Chr 8.17; 20.36), date it to the tenth century, and associate it with Solomon (1970: 109–10). However, Pratico’s reassessment of Glueck’s excavated material and reports on the site has led him to date it no earlier than the eighth century B.C. (1982; 1985; 1992). But the identification of Ezion-geber with Tall al-Khalafyi, as if the site dated to the time of Solomon, is still made (see, for example, Pritchard 1987: 224). Beginning in the late 1960s, archaeological excavations and survey projects have revealed an archaeological history for the area “east of the Jordan” that is, in many cases, at variance with Glueck’s scenario. For example, the results of Mittmann’s survey work in northern Jordan in 1966– 1967 (1970), Ibach’s work in the Hisban region in 1973, 1974, and 1976 (1987), McGovern’s survey and excavations in the Baq'ah Valley just north of 'Amman beginning in 1977 (1980; 1983; 1986; 1987; 1989; 1992; 1993; 1997), Miller’s survey of the al-Karak plateau in 1978, 1979 and 1982 (1991), the writer’s work between 1979 and 1983 along the south bank of Wadi al-Hasa (1988), in the Southern Ghors and Northeast 'Arabah in 1985 and 1986 (1992), and in the Tafila-Busayra region beginning in 1999, and Jobling’s work in the 1980s (1989) in the al-'Aqaba to Ma'an region caused many to question Glueck’s conclusions relative to the archaeological his- tory of Jordan. Moreover, numerous excavations, the results of which will be referred to repeatedly in this work, over the past thirty years provide results for specific sites that are not in keeping with Glueck’s survey results for these same sites (see, for example, Sauer 1985; 1986). This all leads to the need to reassess biblical site identification in Jordan in the light of recent findings. This reassessment is evident in the work of such scholars as Aharoni (1979), Bartlett (1989), Dearman (1989b), Hübner (1992a), Kallai (1986), Knauf (1991a; 1992a), Lemaire (1981; 1987a; 1992a; 1992b), MacDonald (1994a), Miller (1983; 1989a; 1991), Mittmann (1970; 1995), and Peterson (1980). The work of these researchers and their positions on the identifica- tion of specific biblical sites will be mentioned frequently in subsequent chapters. The area “beyond the Jordan toward the east” (Josh 12.1) is pivotal in the first book of the Bible. For example, in the stories about Abraham and his nephew Lot, the latter, after separating from his uncle, settled among Introduction / 3 the “cities of the Plain and moved his tent as far as Sodom” (Gen 13.12), a region generally associated with the area east of the Dead Sea.