Abstract:

This monograph presents the results of nine seasons of archaeological excavations (2004–2019) at Tall Dāmiya, a key site in the Central Jordan Valley. Situated just south of the confluence of the Az-Zarqa and Jordan rivers, near one of the region’s few natural river fords, the settlement mound has long served a vital crossroads of cultures.

Founded in the Late Bronze Age, Tall Dāmiya developed into a prominent cultic centre in the Iron Age. In the second half of the first millennium BCE, it was repurposed as a storage site for mobile pastoralists, later serving as a graveyard in the Byzantine and Ottoman periods – before becoming a battleground in the twentieth century.

Presented in three volumes, this joint Jordanian–Dutch project explores how people lived in and moved through the arid Jordan Valley over time, offering a comprehensive reconstruction of Tall Dāmiya’s settlement history and shedding new light on its long and varied afterlives.

Contents

Contents Volume I:

Preface

PART I – INTRODUCTION

1. Introduction
Lucas P. Petit and Zeidan Kafafi

2. Jordanian-Dutch cooperation in the Central Jordan Valley
Zeidan Kafafi

3. Early records and history of study
Zeidan Kafafi and Lucas P. Petit

4. Modern habitation history of Tall Dāmiya
Zeidan Kafafi

PART II – REGIONAL STUDIES

5. Archaeological surface survey around Tall Dāmiya
Eva Kaptijn

6. The historiography of the Dāmiya bridges
Lucas P. Petit

PART III – THE UPPER MOUND: STRATIGRAPHY AND ARCHITECTURE

7. Iron Age occupation – Strata XVIII-IV
Lucas P. Petit and Zeidan Kafafi

8. Persian and Hellenistic remains – Stratum III
Lucas P. Petit and Zeidan Kafafi

9. The burials – Strata II-I
Jeroen Rensen

10. Contemporary occupation remains – Stratum 0
Lucas P. Petit

PART IV – THE LOWER MOUND: STRATIGRAPHY AND ARCHITECTURE

11. Area B
Lucas P. Petit and Zeidan Kafafi, with contribution by Jeroen Rensen

Contents Volume II:

PART V – FINDS AND SPECIALISED STUDIES

12. Pottery
12a. Pottery repertoire and statistics
Lucas P. Petit and Zeidan Kafafi
12b. Pottery catalogue
Lucas P. Petit and Zeidan Kafafi

13. Finds catalogue
Lucas P. Petit and Zeidan Kafafi

14. Seals, Scarabs, and scaraboids
Alexander Ahrens

15. Figurines and Anthropomorphic statues
Zeidan Kafafi and Lucas P. Petit

16. Finds with writing
Omar al-Ghul

17. Textile production
Jeanette Boertien

18. Archaeobotanical remains
18a. Archaeobotanical remains from the excavation seasons 2012, 2013, and 2014
Yotti van Deun
18b. Archaeobotanical investigation of two storage rooms in Stratum VII
Bart Verlijsdonk, with contribution by Corrie Bakels
18c. The botanical content of three Persian-Hellenistic pits
Corrie Bakels

19. Archaeozoological remains
19a. Faunal remains
Maaike Groot, Anna Hofmann, and Jana Eger
19b. Analyses and identification of serpent bones
Lucas P. Petit

20. Compositional analysis of soil, ceramics, and small finds at Tall Dāmiya, Jordan using non-destructive X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy
Dennis Braekmans

Contents Volume III:

PART VI – THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS, DISCUSSIONS, AND CONCLUSIONS

21. Worshippers, travellers, and trade: the Tall Dāmiya ‘sanctuary’ in its context
Diederik J.H. Halbertsma

22. A holistic view of cultic practices at Tall Dāmiya and a potential dual sanctuary
Michel de Vreeze

23. Conclusions
Lucas P. Petit and Zeidan Kafafi

References

Appendix A – Index of field loci
Appendix B – Index of finds
Appendix C – Profile drawings