Moab in the Iron Age

by
Bruce Routledge
School of Archaeology, Classics, and Egyptology, University of Liverpool

Iron Age Transjordan is still poorly understood in archaeological terms compared to the more intensively excavated sites in Israel-Palestine to the west. In this lecture, Dr Routledge provides a lucid and synthetic overview of our current knowledge of the archaeology of Central Jordan on the Jordanian plateau: Ancient Moab. Following on from his recent book, Moab in the Iron Age: Hegemony, Polity, Archaeology, Dr Routledge traces the development of settlement and society from village to emergent states during the Iron Age. Survey and excavation evidence demonstrates the short lived appearance of fortified or remote village settlements (such as Lehun and Khirbet al-Madayna al-Aliya) in Iron I to Early Iron IIA, becoming gradually abandoned at the end of that period. Although these isolated village settlements are usually associated with egalitarian societies, evidence for social complexity is now indicated by the varied sizes of houses, indicating the presence of a social hierarchy. By the late ninth Century BC (Iron IIB), centres such as Dibon are leaving behind substantial architecture and monumental inscriptions (e.g. the Mesha Stelae), indicating the emergence of new political authority in the region, although one that might not necessarily be highly centralised. Dr Routledge also provides new insights into Moabite religious practices by examining several recently excavated shrines or sanctuaries in Central Transjordan.