Tall Hisban Highlights

View Madaba, Mt. Nebo, the Jordan Valley, and the plains of Moab. On a clear day, see the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem.

Experience a typical archaeological tall.

 

Enter a residential cave complete with Roman arches, columns and cisterns.

See the east wall of a massive Iron Age water reservoir.

See the northeast corner tower of the Ammonite citadel in Hisban. Follow the perimeter walls of what may have been a Hellenistic farm estate.

Get an idea of what a small-town Roman stairway and acropolis might have looked like.

Other highlights include:
  • Spy the remains of the north wall of a Roman public building, likely a temple
  • Walk inside the nave of a typical small town Byzantine basilica
  • Inspect the anteroom, steam room and hot-water oven of a small Early Islamic bath
  • Tour the official residence of a Mamluk appointed governor of this region
  • View the remains of an Ottoman cave village along the slope of Wadi Majaar
  • Get an idea of the process of settlement of the present-day village of Hisban
  • Contemplate biblical stories linked to this site (Num 21:21-31; Songs 7:4)
  • Try to figure out what additions Herod the Great made to this summit
  • Try to figure out the path of the Via Nova Traiana which included Esbous (Roman Hisban) as a way-station;
  • Picture what a worship service might have been like in the Byzantine basilica;
  • Imagine what it would be like to take a steam bath in the Early Islamic hammam;
  • Envision where Saladin might have camped during his visit to this site;
  • Visualize Mamluk horsemen sallying forth from Hisban to fight the Crusaders;
  • Think about the succession of imperial world-making projects in this area by the Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Umayyads, Abbasids, Seljuks, Ayyubids, Mamluks, Ottomans, and British.

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

© 2024 Madaba Plains Project. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized duplication of images or content on this site is strictly prohibited.