Table of Contents

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Tall Hisban 2001

Borstad Visits AU

Herr Lectures

Women Potters

Random Survey

INSTITUTE OF ARCHAEOLOGYHORN ARCHAEOLOGICAL

MUSEUMNEWSLETTER

Paul J. Ray, Jr. EditorDavid Merling Assoc. EditorRandall W. Younker Assoc. EditorRobert D. Bates Asst. Editor

The Newsletter is published four times ayear by the Institute of Archaeology,Andrews University. Annual subscriptionprice is $7.50. Museum membership,subscription, and editorial correspon-dence should be addressed to the HornArchaeological Museum, Institute ofArchaeology, Andrews University,Berrien Springs, MI 49104-0990,Telephone 616-471-3273, Fax 616-471-3619, e-mail hornmusm@andrews.edu.

Volume 22.3 Summer 2001

ISSN 1095-2837

Tall Hisban 2001The Madaba Plains Project-Hisban excavated at Tall Hisban in Jordan this summer from

May 24 - June 1. The primary focus of research this season was the Islamic occupation of the site.Proposals made during the 1998 season regarding the Mamluk period at Hisban were corroboratedand clarified this season. The large residence that dominates the summit of the tell, dated to thefourteenth century A.D., served as the administrative center of the Balqa for the Mamluks, adynasty of military slaves ruling from Cairo. Contemporary Arabic sources combined with exca-vation indicate that this building was the residence of the governor of the Balqa. It consisted of anopen courtyard flanked by a private bathhouse, a diwan, and a reinforced rectangular tower. It isbuilt of roughly hewn stone masonry and was completely barrel-vaulted. New squares opened onthe north side of the tall uncovered a series of domestic rooms, which perhaps served as barracksand storerooms. On the south side of this complex is a large, barrel-vaulted storeroom full of sugarjars, glazed wares with military-style inscriptions, and javelin points. Earthquake collapse and firefrom the mid-14th century destroyed the complex and preserved its contents.

One of the most significant discoveries of the season is an inscription in Safaitic script. It wasfound by Adeeb Abu Schmeis of the Department of Antiquities on a large building stone belongingto the Hellenistic wall which surrounds the summit of the tall. It contains some 40 characters, buthas not yet been deciphered.

Lynda Carroll with Leen Fakhoury and four architecture students from the University of Jordan have been focusing on the Ottoman Turkish occupation at Hisban. For Jordan as a whole,the 17th through 19th centuries A.D. are hardly known. The Ottoman caves and buildings in thevillage of Hisban offer a much-needed window on these unknown centuries. Investigations drewon four interrelated lines of research: 1) examination of pottery and other archaeological evidence

(con’t on p. 2)

Lintel with Greek Inscription

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3

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(Hisban, cont’d)

of the Late Islamic centuries on the tall;2) architectural and archaeological sur-veys of buildings to the south of the tall;3) ethnoarchaeological interviews withlocal residents; and 4), examination ofpertinent textual sources and traveler’saccounts dealing with these centuries.

A major focus here was a complex offarm buildings, known as the “qasr,” inthe village of Hisban. The team tookmeasurements and mapped it, makingartistic representations of these buildings.It appears that this complex has under-gone several episodes of construction,destruction, and restoration. The earliestconstruction appears to be during the pio-neer period, in which an earlier founda-tion (perhaps dating back to Romantimes) was used for the building. Anearthquake in 1927 destroyed parts of thehouse, but repairs have been made sincethe 1970s to restore the first floor forstorage. In addition, two caves, beneathand extending directly to the south, werealso modified for habitation and otheruses. Possible cistern openings, a pen foranimals, and a major structure inside thecave, possibly used as a storage facility,were also found.

Maria Elena Ronza (University ofRome), a Roman architecture historian,has discovered some important newinsights about the nature of the Romanand Byzantine buildings on the summit.After spending time inventorying anddrawing architectural fragments from var-ious locations, she has established thatsome of the column bases and capitalswere typical of Late Roman construction,while others are Byzantine. Based onthese fragments and the remains of foun-dation walls, she affirms that a publicbuilding existed on the summit duringLate Roman times. It had a small podium,four columns in front, a vestibule withanta-capitals, and a cella. It is likely thatit was a temple, but could also have beenan administrative building or even anympheum. A very exciting discoveryalso relating to the Roman period wasthe finding of a neatly cut stone in AreaM, which turned out to be an inscribed

door lintel. Found by Teddy Burg (NotreDame University) and Keith Mattingly(Andrews University), the 1 m x .50 mstone contained four lines of neatly chis-eled Greek letters. Initial reading indi-cates a Late Roman or Early Byzantinedate for the lintel, which may haveadorned the entrance to the Byzantinechurch on the summit. No inscription ofthis length (over 100 letters) has previ-ously been found at Tall Hisban.

The political role of Hisban duringthe Umayyad (630’s/40’s - 750 A.D.) andAbbasid (750-12th century A.D.) periodswas illustrated clearly for the first timethis season. Earlier excavations suggestedthat these periods were ones of abate-ment. The new excavations uncoveredtwo rooms in Field N, on the northwestcorner of the tall. This is the firstUmayyad-period architecture that hasbeen identified at Hisban. The rooms,built against the Hellenistic fortificationwall and close to the northern sally gate,attest to continued occupation of the tallwell after the Islamic conquest. After anearthquake of the mid-7th century A.D.,which was responsible for the collapse ofthe stone barrel vaults, the structure wasreoccupied and continued to be used intothe Abbasid period. (Øystein S. LaBiancaand Bethany Walker)

Dr. Karen Borstad visited AndrewsUniversity from Feb 20-27, 2001. Shedeveloped the DIER system softwareused by the MPP for storing and analyz-ing excavation data. She is currently theassistant manager of GeographicalInformation Systems (GIS) responsiblefor the design and development of GISapplications for cultural resource researchand management. While on campus sheupdated the Jalul database, and trainedothers to synthesize multiple seasons ofdata, link graphics to the database andgenerate statistical reports.

On Feb 26, Dr. Borstad spoke for theHorn Archaeological Museum Lecture-

ship. Her lecture was entitled: The King’sHighway: Its Role in the Holy Land inBiblical Times. Her primary researchinvolves the study of both roads from OTtimes and Roman roads.

The “King’s Highway” or the royalroad was the main N-S route stretchingfrom the Gulf of Aqaba to Damascus. Inbiblical times, Moses promised Edom andSihon, king (Num 21:25; Deut 2:26-27)of Hesban (Tall Hisban) that the Israeliteswould strictly follow the road while pass-ing through their territory. According tothe 9th-century B.C. Moabite stone, KingMesha claims that he repaired that part ofthe highway that crossed the Arnon (WadiMujib). Later, the road was used byNabataean traders until Trajan conqueredthem and had it rebuilt. After that time itwas known as the “Via Nova” or“Trajan’s Road.” By the end of theRoman period much of the Road waspaved with cobblestones and marked withmilestones. Today the modern JordanianKing’s Highway and many other roadsuse the much of the same route fromancient times.

Dr. Borstad has discovered cobble-stone paving and milestones along theKing’s Highway as well as traces of otherancient roads. Using the GIS she is ableto predict their routes through rough ter-rain. One newly discovered road servedas a pilgrim route from Amman to Mt.Nebo and then onto Palestine. Many ofthese routes began in antiquity as com-

Karen Borstad

Borstad Visits AU

mon paths which developed into the roadsconnecting Palestine with the King’sHighway or the Desert Highway. Throughthe GIS program Borstad is rediscoveringthese ancient routes. (Robert D. Bates)

Herr LecturesOn May 3, 2001 Larry Herr, the

director of the MPP-Tall al-‘Umayri exca-vations in Jordan, presented a lecture enti-tled Where O Where Have the AmoritesGone?: Tall al-‘Umayri and the Bible forthe Horn Museum Lecture Series.Although there are earlier (an EB I dole-man and an EB III domestic complex)and later (an Iron II/Persian administra-tive complex during Ammonite times)features at the site, Dr. Herr focused pri-marily on the Bronze and early Iron Ageruins which may have been ethnicallyAmorite.

Possible Amorite ruins at MB and LBAge Tall al-‘Umayri consist of a moat cutinto a ridge on the western side of the tallwith a rampart up to the city walls and alarge multistory building with two well-preserved rooms. Fertility figurines andceramic imports (Mycenaean ware) wereamong the artifactual remains.

The above building was suddenlydestroyed toward the end of the LB afterwhich a new settlement was begun (ca.1225 B.C.). This phase was short-livedhowever, being destroyed by an earth-quake ca. 1200 B.C. The inhabitants ofthe following settlement rebuilt the MBmoat, added a retaining wall, a new ram-part and a perimeter wall with evidencethat it was built in sections with differentsize stones, possibly by different families.Two large buildings (A, with a shrine andhearth; and B, a 4-room house) withceramics similar to those found inCisjordan near Mt. Ebal were also found.Further to the south a late Iron Age I plas-

tered-cobbled surface was located onwhich a fenenstrated cultic stand wasfound. (Paul J. Ray, Jr.)

Women Potters ofWomen Potters ofCyprusCyprus

A film by Gloria London

This film is a 26 minute video based on 15 years ofethnoarchaeological researchamong traditionalpotters in Cyprus.

Traditional women potters working on theMediterranean island of Cyprus, who coilbuild cooking Pots, jars, jugs, ovens, andother clay Containers on a slow movingturntable, use a technique reminiscent ofancient pottery. The women are the last oftheir generation. The similarities betweentraditional and ancient shapes, inciseddecorations, materials, and wood-burning kilns, provide an ideal eth-noarchaeological study of ctraft specialists.

Available in NTSC or PAL for $24.00 plus $2.00 shipping. To order, contact:Gloria London,7701 Crest Dr., N.E.,Seattle, WA 98115-5215

Larry Herr

Velazquez Wins Award:

Efrain Velazquez, assistantto the curator of the HornMuseum and AndrewsUniversity Ph. D. student inarchaeology, has recentlywon an award from theHispanic TheologicalInitiative, a program whichpromotes the presence ofLatina/o faculty in seminar-ies and schools of theologyand the training of leaderswho will teach ideas thatwill inform and impact theLatino community.Congratulations, Efrain!

Stonehenge in Yemen?

A Bronze Age Stonehenge-like enclosure of 3 m tall, 7 ton granite and basalt monolithsdating to ca. 2000 B.C. has recently been found near the Red Sea coast of Yemen byexcavators from the Royal Ontario Museum. Four skeletons have been found under sepa-rate pillars as well as a cache of copper weapons and a chunk of obsidian.

Underwater City Discovered:

The submerged city of Yarmuta has recentlybeen discovered about 800 m out to sea offthe coast of Lebanon between Zahrani andSerapta. Roads, squares and statues can beseen just a few meters below the surface.

Sean Dever Memorial Prize:

Sean Dever, the son of Billand Norma Dever, died onApril 13, 2001. He was agifted writer and creator ofvisual effects, with severalmovies to his credit. Born inJerusalem, it was only natu-ral for a memorial to be setup through the W. F.Albright Institute ofArchaeological Research,where the Devers spent sev-eral years as Director of theCenter. The memorial prizeis a cash award for the bestpublished paper presented ata conference by a Ph. D.candidate in Syro-Palestinian and BiblicalArchaeology.

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Sumerian Town found in Iraq:

A Sumerian town stretching over 6 sq km has been discovered inthe desert region of Um al-Aqareb, ca. 120 km north of Ur, in Iraq.Excavations by Haidar Abdulwahad since 1999 have uncoveredmany houses, a palace ziggurat, and a temple dating to 2700 B.C.A cemetery with thousands of tombs dating between 2600-2300B.C. has also been located. In addition, two bodies in flexed posi-tion, ceramics, figurines, jewelry and weapons have been found.