Select Archaeological Discoveries from Transjordan with Significance for Biblical Studies

Abstract

When one thinks of archaeological sites related to biblical studies, one usually thinks immediately of sites in the modern nation of Israel, sites west of the Jordan River. Yet there are also many significant sites related to biblical studies east of the Jordan. This article focuses on ten such sites in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The sites range chronologically from the Early Bronze site of Bab edh-Dhra‘ to the modern capital of Amman which also has Iron Age and Hellenistic-Roman-Byzantine and later Islamic remains. The sites cross Jordan from the Nabatean Petra in the south to the Cities of the Decapolis near the Syrian border in the north. They include the well-known and famous, Petra, “half as old as time itself,” and the unfamiliar and relatively unknown Umm ar-Resas, Khirbat an-Nahas, and Khirbat as-Sil. Also included are the ancient Moabite capital of Dibon/Dhiban, Madaba, and Tell Deir”Alla.