The origin and purpose of Khirbat al-Mudaybi’

Abstract

Khirbat al-Mudaybi‘ is the site of an ancient fort on the eastern desert fringe of the Karak plateau in Jordan – an area known as Moab in biblical times. Little was known about the site until the Karak Resources Project between 1997 and 2014 excavated it. The most intriguing find at the site was a massive four-chambered gate decorated with ornate volute column capitals. Ceramic, architectural, and radiocarbon analysis indicate that the fort dates to the late Iron Age, very likely to the seventh century BCE. Who built it, why it was built and why such ornamental architecture was employed, and why it was abandoned remain questions to be answered. This article speculates that the fort was built by a Moabite ruler who, as a client-ruler of the powerful Neo-Assyrian Empire, was required to pay tribute to his overlords. This tribute came from levies on caravan traffic that passed by the site on the desert highway that connected Arabia with Damascus in the north. The impressive architecture was a symbol of royal authority. The fort was abandoned during the Neo-Babylonian period when the caravan route shifted and no longer passed the site.