proceedings of the eighteenth seminar for arabian studies held at cambridge on 17th - 19th july 1984...

A SURVEY OF THE SOUTHERN GHAWR, THE WADI ʿARABA AND WESTERN TRANS–JORDAN,1981–2Author(s): Geoffrey KingSource: Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, Vol. 15, Proceedings of theEighteenth SEMINAR FOR ARABIAN STUDIES held at Cambridge on 17th - 19th July 1984(1985), pp. 41-47Published by: ArchaeopressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41223028 .

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41

A SURVEY OF THE SOUTHERN GHAWR, THE WADI CARABA AND

WESTERN TRANS- JORDAN, 1981-2.

Geoffrey King

In 1981 and 1982 a Survey of Byzantine and Islamic sites in Jordan was carried out, concentrating on sites in the southern Ghawr (i.e. the southern and eastern shores of the Dead Sea), the Wadi Araba and the agricultural land west of the Jordanian desert. The Survey continued fieldwork initiated in 1980 (1).

Archaeological expeditions to the Jordanian side of the Dead Sea and the Wadi CAraba have not been frequent. The first major archaeological survey of the area was that of Alois Musil (2) and it remains an essential basis for survey-work today, despite the fact that his study of Arabia Petraea took place in 1898-1902. The difficulties of research in the Wadi CAraba in the period are well-illustrated by the Dominican Father A. Jaussen, who was told in 1896 that an expedition across the Araba would only be safe in the company of 50 armed men. It was not until after World War I that investigations of archaeological sites in the area were resumed, with W.F.

Albright initiating study of the Early Bronze site of Bab al-Dhra on the eastern shore of the Dead Sea. In 1932-3, Fritz Frank made a survey of the southern Ghawr and then travelled down the eastern side of the Araba before returning up the western side of the Wadi to the Ghawr. Although limited in his dating of sites by the absence of a ceramicist from his expedition, the fact remains that his descriptions and plans of sites were remarkably accurate and reliable (3). Nelson Glueck also examined the sites of the region in 1934, in the context of his extensive explorations in eastern Palestine (4). He visited a number of sites in the southern Ghawr and the eastern Araba as far south as Gharandal, before crossing to the west side of the Wadi to

reach Aqaba. His principal interest was in the identification of Early Bronze and Nabataean sites, although he also noted a number of Roman, Byzantine and what he

categorized as "mediaeval Arab" sites. The most recent published survey of the south-eastern shore of the Dead Sea is that conducted in 1973 by Dr Walter Rast and Dr Thomas Schaub, concerned mainly with Early Bronze sites. However, they also have made important observations on the incidence of Nabataean, Roman, Byzantine and Islamic sites, drawing attention to the efflorescence of the southern Ghawr in the Ayyubid-Mamluk period.

I:A THE SOUTHERN GHAWR

The southern Ghawr is defined in Jordan as the coastal plain running along the eastern and southern shores of the Dead Sea. The area is between -320 m. to -387 m. on the shore line and the climate is intensely hot and humid in summer, contrasting unpleasantly with the more comfortable weather of the highlands overlooking the Dead Sea from the east. However, it is only in high summer that the coast is so oppressive, for in winter when the^higlnads are sometimes bitterly cold, the Dead Sea shore remains clement and an attractive area for settlement. The agricultural land of the Ghawr is situated along the narrow coastal strip and is concentrated in the north around al-Hadltha, in the vicinity of Bab al-Dhra0, and in the region of al-Slfï and



4 2

al-Fayfã"1 in the south. There are several other narrow strips of agriculture and throughout the region there are signs that ancient farming and qanlts preceded the modern agricultural regime. However, modern farming has often obliterated traces of earlier fields and archaeological sites, and this is particularly true in the southern disctricts around al-Sãfi. Contrasting sharply with the rich farming areas of the coastal plain, the Lisãn Peninsula projects into the Dead Sea as a wilderness of low eroded hills and wad i s presenting a bleak and dazzling landscape of Lisãn marl. It is a desolate and uninhabited area today, although there is a Byzantine monastery on the north-east edge of the Lisãn plateau.

Al-Hadltha and its neighbourhood

The northernmost of the sites along the eastern shore of the Dead Sea which we examined in 1982 was al-Hadltha. The site includes an upper area with a fort on the summit of the hill, overlooking the town below which is built over the remains of the ancient lower site. The fort on the hill is still occupied by the Army and the building itself is late, perhaps Turkish. However, a more ancient rectangular structure lay east of the fort, reduced to foundation courses of well-cut masonry. This ancient structure produced a number of surface sherds, including some Fatimid wares and Mamluk material. in the town below, the sherds collected suggested an Ayyubid-Mamluk, Mamluk and Ottoman occupation. Such a ceramic reading for the Islamic period is common throughout the southern Ghawr. However, the lower site at al-Haditha also betrays evidence of a pre-Islamic occupation. Among the mounds and wall-traces of the ancient settlement, we located the remains of a mosaic floor of white tesserae which appeared to be of the Byzantine period of occupation. The floor had been only recently destroyed and like much of the site was in danger of further encroachment by modern buildings.

To the south of al-Haditha is an extensive farming area overlooking the Dead Sea. On the slopes to the east are several small archaeological sites, mostly on commanding positions. There is a great deal of water throughout the district which seeps in rivulets from the eastern mountains and foothills. A particularly interesting site in this district is al-Mutraba, where evidence of Umayyad occupation was indicated by surface sherding: this contrasted with the other sites in the southern Ghawr and the Wadi Araba where standard Umayyad pottery is uniformly absent. Al-Mutraba is set on the side of a hill, overlooking the coastal plain to the west. On the western slope of the site were the foundation traces of a building of massive masonry, which measured 21.4 m. x 19 m. On the eastern side of the Mutraba site were the tumbled remains of another hill-top building much of whose masonry had slid down the slopes. It was at this eastern end of the Mutraba site that Umayyad wares were located along with some Fatimid material. At the western end of the site further Fatimid wares were found along with evidence of more ancient occupation, indicated by Nabataean, Roman and Byzantine wares. The presence of Umayyad wares at al-Mutraba suggests that there was some sort of Umayyad outpost in the Ghawr where the conventional ceramics of more northerly parts of Jordan were in use; these included the red-on-white slip unglazed wares that are familiar from Umayyad urban sites and desert sites in Jordan and further north, but which seem to be entirely absent in the Ghawr (with the exception of al-Mutraba) and also absent from the Wadi Araba sites that we examined. The significance of this incidence of Umayyad presence at al-Mutraba is all the more striking given the importance of the region in Byzantine times, and deserves further study. Had occupation of the area declined by early Islamic times, or was it the case that Umayyad ceramic styles from the north had not penetrated beyond Umayyad centres of administration such as al-Mutraba may have been ?

The Lisln Peninsula

To the west of al-Haditha and al-Mazra lies the Lisan, where there are sites of some interest which are now deserted. In the north-east corner of the peninsula on the edge of a cliff is a Byzantine site, apparently a monastery, known locally as Dayr al-Qattal al-Byzanti. The mudbrick walls of the monastery are clearly visible, while



43

in the gorge beneath there are a number of caves which were used by the residents of the monastery. In the remains of the building some small green glass tessarae were recovered as well as considerable quantities of very fine, unglazed ceramics of Byzantine date, including black and grey ribbed wares. Although the monastery must have been a penitential place in the harsh environment of the Lisãn, nevertheless, the proximity of the site to the farmland al-Mazra and al-Hadltha suggests that the monastic community was supported by agriculture.

Another site on the Lisln is a water tank known as Birkat al-Hajj, refurbished in 1965. It is not clear if the water tank was built specifically to facilitate the Haj j or if it was more ancient than the Islamic period. There are a number of other birkats further south in the Ghawr and in the Wadi Araba, but many of these are associated with fortified positions and may be of Roman or Byzantine origin, or even earlier. Given the absence of defences at Birkat al-Hajj and its position on the route from Palestine, around the south end of the Dead Sea, and east to Karak, it may be that the tank is Islamic in origin as well as name, for this circuitous route is one that has been favoured during the Islamic period.

Ghawr al-Sãfi and its neighbourhood

The Ghawr al-Sãfi lies at the southermost end of the Dead Sea in ancient Edom. There are a number of important sites scattered among the agricultural areas, although many are reduced to low, flat mounds, which have been preserved from the encroachment of farming by the presence of Islamic graves.

In the vicinity of al-Sifi, identified with the ancient Zoar, the most impressive site is the mudbrick Qasr ai-Tuba with a stone entrance which is perhaps Mamluk. The

Qasr is associated with a sugar mill, known as Tawahhln al-Sukkar, one of two sites of this name in the southern Ghawr. On the basis of the Mamluk unglazed wares which are so prolific at the site (mainly water jars and sugar pots), it seems clear that the Tawahhln should be dated to the Mamluk period, when the sugar industry is known to

have "flourished in the Jordan Valley as well as the southern Ghawr (6).

Near the Tawahhln site is a flat mound known as Shaykh Isa after a prominent individual buried in' the cemetery which has ensured the mound's survival. The site is

typical of the sites along the east and south coasts of the Dead Sea, and for the

Islamic period its assemblage of ceramics coincides with what is found elsewhere in

the southern Ghawr. Unglazed, coarse body wares with slip painting are common and

match the range of Ayyubid-Mamluk and later wares known elsewhere in Jordan. Glazed

wares are also found on the site, including monochrome and polychrome sherds. Earlier

Islamic wares were not located, and the major efflorescence of the site appears to

have occurred in later times, as far as the Islamic period is concerned. This is a

recurrent situation in the southern Ghawr. The ceramics suggest an occupation in the

later Islamic period from the 12th through to the 15th century A.D.

At Shaykh °Isa we located glazed pottery wasters, and this may account for the

fact that in the southern Ghawr generally, the variety of later Islamic glazed wares

was greater and the quality finer than we had noticed in rural areas on the western

desert fringes of Jordan. However, it is likely that the greater wealth of the Ghawr

and the proximity of Karak contributed to the range of glazed wares at the sites

examined, with ceramics being imported from elsewhere. The richest site in terms of

ceramics was the graveyard of al-Sãfí itself, which surpassed all others in the area

in the quantity and range of glazed Islamic wares, dating from the 11th through to the

13th century A.D. The site itself is no more than a flattened mound, covered with

soft, deep ash.

A strong Byzantine presence in the area of al-Sãfi and the nearby site of

al-Fayfa' is reflected in our finds of Byzantine surface sherds. Al-Safi has been

identified with Zoar, the seat of a bishop within the Province of Palaestina III, and

in the 4th century it was the base of a contingent of cavalry, according to the

Notitia Dignitatum. Al-Fayfã ! has been identified with Praesidium, mentioned in the



44

Notitia as the base of a detachment of troops and also mentioned in the Edict of Beersheba. The survey shows, however, that Byzantine activity in the southern Ghawr extended well beyond these two towns. Between al-Haďitha in the north and al-Khanazlra in the south, there is a consistent picture of a Byzantine settlement

succeeding upon a Roman presence, which, in its turn, sometimes followed on from a Nabataean occupation. A similar sequence is found elsewhere in north and west Jordan, but as already observed, the lack of familiar Umayyad wares in the southern Ghawr is remarkable, and contrasts with the normal sequence in other parts of Jordan north of Wadi1 1-Mujib.

I B: THE WADI CARABA

The Wadi ° Araba presents a sharp contrast to the southern Ghawr. It runs from the

southern extremity of the Ghawr down to the Gulf of °Aqaba and is flanked by the Shara mountain range to the east and by the Naqab to the west. The highlands are reminiscent of the northern Hijaz. The floor of the Wadi Araba is about 200 m.

higher than the Ghawr al-Sãfi, being -100 m. below sea-level: the Wadi is not a wadi

proper but a rift valley draining water from the mountains on either side. The summer

temperature matches that of the Ghawr, but it lacks the humidity that makes the Ghawr so uncomfortable. There is little today in the way of farming or settlement in the Wadi CAraba, although Sharif Hussain b.Nasir has established a farming community at Mazar al-Sharif. In ancient times there was an agricultural regime at a number of the sites in the Wadi, most of which are situated along the tributary wadis leading from the mountains. Most notable in this respect are Qasr al-Tilãh, Finan and the Fidan (Ifdln) district. Further north at Bir Madhkur, Qasr Wadi Musa, Qasr Wadi Tayyiba and Gharandal, the agricultural area was more limited. All of these more southerly sites in the Wadi °Araba included water tanks or wells, the command of which gave control over east-west movement through the Araba.

In the Wadi °Araba we encountered a somewhat different occupation sequence compared to that which we had seen in the southern Ghawr. The principal settlement

periods in later historical times include an intense Nabataean occupation, which is

explained by the proximity of Petra. This is followed generally by Roman and

Byzantine period occupation, but once again, evidence of an Umayyad occupation seems to be lacking, just as in most of the Ghawr sites examined. Furthermore, there is

only a limited amount of evidence of a Mamluk occupation in the Wadi Araba, contrasting markedly with the situation in the Ghawr. This point is one that must be stressed for J. Sauvaget hypothesised (7) that some of the fortified buildings in the CAraba were Umayyad on the basis of their square plans, their towers and their

geographical position, as well as the existence of agricultural facilities. On the evidence of our survey, Sauvaget

f s hypothesis must be rejected, given the absence of

any material evidence of Umayyad occupation of the sites.

Qasr al-Tilãh

Qasr al-Tilãh is situated on the edge of the foothills of the Shara range of mountains in the northern Araba and it consists of a rectangular fortified Qasr, stone-built and with a great rectangular birka cut back into the hill-side above the site. Extensive ancient field traces were noted by Glueck around the site, although these have been disturbed. Ceramics recovered indicate a Nabataean, Roman and

Byzantine occupation sequence, but nothing significant of later date. Glueck identifies Qasr al-Tilãh with Roman Toloana, while a "Toloha" is mentioned in the Notitia Dignitatum as the base for a detachment of the Ala Cons tant iana in the 4th

century A.D.

Fin-an

Further south in the Wadi C Araba, in the foothills of the Shara range is Finan,

situated on the banks of the Wadi Ghuwir as it flows from the highlands. The site of Finan has been identified with the ancient town of Phaino. Three churches and a

building interpreted as a monastery reflect the religious prominence of Phaino and the



45

size of its population. The importance of the town arose from copper mining in its vicinity and also from farming, whose traces can be identified in much of the neighbourhood. Smelting took place at Finan and copper waste abounds at the site. Eusebius, writing in the 4th century A.D., refers to the fact that the copper mines at Phaino were a place of imprisonment with hard labour. Whether the population was largely convict labour is unclear. Mining in the region goes back to much earlier times and there is evidence in the area of copper smelting in the Early Bronze period.

The principal part of Finan lies on the north bank of the Wadi GhuwTr on a hill whose summit commands a view of the surrounding countryside. It is surmounted by a structure whose foundations remain but most of whose masonry has cascaded down the hillside. On the north side of the hill on the lower slope are the three churches, and to the north, a large cemetery scattered with waste from copper smelting. On the south bank of the Wadi is a second cemetery and a finely constructed stone birka fed by a qanlt system. This qanlt included an acqueduct across a tributary wadi which is also well built but which has mostly been destroyed by flood: however, the quality of the workmanship reflects the importance of ancient Phaino in the district.

Finan cannot be considered in isolation from the extensive agricultural areas to the west along the Wadi Ghuwir, where there are ancient field traces, while further west still at Fidãn there are a number of ancient sites which were apparently related to farming. None of the smaller sites further south in the Wadi Araba are on

anything like the scale of Finãn, but all of those examined serve a purpose shared by Finan, of controlling traffic across the CAraba to the west. This is important for

considering routes in use in the Nabataean, Roman and Byzantine periods, for whose

occupation there is plentiful evidence provided by surface sherds.

II : WESTERN TRANS- JORDAN (NORTH OF WADI'L-MUJIB)

Our survey in western Trans Jordan covered the area north of Wadi'l-Mujib as far as the vicinity of Madaba and Amman during 1981 and 1982. Our interest in this area arose from the fact that there are numerous ancient village and small town sites amidst the farmland that borders the western edge of the Jordan desert (8). The sequence of occupation in this area contrasts with the southern Ghawr and the Wadi CAraba in as much as the Roman and Byzantine settlement of these small town sites is usually followed by an Umayyad occupation, indicated by ceramics of the typical Umayyad range. Thereafter, a hiatus seems to follow, with settlement reviving in the

Ayyubid-Mamluk period (9). This early Islamic settlement in western Trans Jordan must be seen as complementing the Umayyad development of the desert sites at Qasr al-MusJiãsh , Qusayr Amra and elsewhere in the east. Certainly the Umayyad buildings in the desert and on the desert margins at Mshatta, for example, should not be seen as isolated foundations. They were in a more broadly-based pattern of settlement in the early Islamic period that was firmly established in the agricultural land on the western edge of the desert.

Umm al-Walid

A major discovery in this area was a mosque at Umm al-Walid, a large town site south-east of Madaba. The site appears to have flourished in the late Nabataean period and continued with an occupation in Roman, Byzantine and Umayyad times, and the usual re-occupation in the Ayyubid-Mamluk period. On the eastern outskirts of Umm al-Walfd are the well-cut stone foundations of a small mosque measuring 12.68 m. north to south (qibla) and 12.68 m. east-west, with a single curved mihrab recess, projecting on the exterior of the qibla wall. There is an entrance in the north wall, opposite the mihrab and another in the east wall, it appears. The mosque lacks a sahn. This building had been noted in 1872 by H.B. Tristram (10) who had identified it as a temple, but thereafter no first-hand description was published and K.A.C. Cresswell (11) could not locate it. Our discovery, or more properly, rediscovery of the mosque shows that it belongs among a group of similar small Umayyad mosques at Khan al-Zabîb, Qasr al-Hallabãt and Jabal Says, as Cresswell correctly hypothesised.



46

NOTES

1. Geoffrey King, "Preliminary report on a survey of Byzantine and Islamic sites in Jordan, 1980", ADAJ xxvi (1982), 85-95; "Survey of Byzantine and Islamic sites in Jordan, Second Season report, 1981", ADAJ (forthcoming).

The following have participated in the Survey: Mrs Elizabeth Rodenbeck, Dr C.J. Lenzen, Ms Amy Newhall, Ms Caroline Muir, Mrs J.L. King, Mr Mufleh Ghuraiba, Mr J.D.

Deemer, and the writer as Director.

2. Alois Musil, Arabia Petraea II (1097-8), Vienna.

3. Fritz Frank, "Aus der CAraba", ZDPV, Band 57 (1934), 191-280.

4. Nelson Glueck, "Explorations in Eastern Palestine, II", AASOR XV (1935).

5. W.E.Rast and R.T Schaub, "Survey of the Southeastern Plain of the Dead Sea, 1973" ADAJ xix (1974), 5-53. More recently, see also: W.E. Rast and R.T. Schaub (eds.), "The Southeastern Dead Sea Plain Expedition: An Interim Report of the 1977 Season", AASOR 46 (1981).

6. M. Ibrahim, J. Sauer and K. Yassine, "The East Jordan Valley Survey, ¿975", BASOR

222 (April, 1976), 63-65; S. Hamarneh, "Zirâ a qasab al-sukkar wa sin atu-hi and al-°arab al-muslimin", ADAJ xx i i (1977-8), рр.1л-»Г.

7. J. Sauvaget, "Remarques sur les monuments Omeyyades", J.Asiatique (Janvier-Mars, 1939), t.ccxxxi, 44-54.

8. Nelson Glueck described many of these sites in his "Explorations in Eastern

Palestine", published in AASOR. G.L. Harding recorded numerous sites in

"Archaeological Survey of the Limes Arabicus: A Preliminary Report", ADAJ xxi (1976), 19-31.

9. This hiatus occurs in northern Jordan generally, it would appear, on the basis of J. Sauer1 s study of the ceramics from Hisbãn (Heshbon Pottery 1971, Andrews University Press (1973), 49), and from our own experience. The Amman citadel seems to be

something of an exception at present (see CM. Bennett, "Excavations at the Citadel (Al QalCa) Amman 1977", ADAJ xxi i i (1979), 152-155).

10. H.B. Tristram, The Land of Moab, London (1874), 179-181, Fig. 13.

11. K.A.C. Cresswell, Early Muslim Architecture, Oxford (1969), I, part 1, 505-506.



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proceedings of the eighteenth seminar for arabian studies held at cambridge on 17th - 19th july 1984...

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