Weekly report from the field
2-8 July 2007
Temperatures dropping to more seasonal levels, accompanied by cool morning breezes over the tall, made fieldwork this week easier. Targeted stratigraphic operations in all fields produced complex and unexpected sequences; interpreting these sequences for describing the occupational history of the site awaits the last week and a half of excavation.
Field Q, at the northern entrance of the citadel, continued to present stratigraphic challenges within and adjacent to the fortifications. The focus of this week’s work was to clarify the physical and functional relationships among the architectural elements that collectively formed a single complex in the 14th century C.E. These elements include the entrance staircase (much of which was built in the Byzantine period), the northwest corner tower at the entrance (which appears to have been filled in during the 14th c.), the Mamluk storeroom (built and used during the first half of the 14th c.), and the bathhouse (which we suspect may be an Umayyad construction). A beautifully preserved plaster surface of the Mamluk period was discovered in Q.2, forming not only the floor but also once covering all of the walls of a room that backed the east end of the storeroom and opened towards the staircase. The plaster surfaces and walls formed a single phase of construction. Questions about what was clearly a covered, interior space located at the top of and facing what was believed to be a monumental, fortified entrance necessitated expansion of this square to include more of the northern entrance. The flanking tower in Q.1 was built on a platform of large wall stones reused from a monumental structure and apparently filled to the top at the time the room in Q.2 was built and plastered. Removal of the balk between these squares began at the end of the week.
As for the bathhouse, although last used as a bath in the Mamluk period and physically incorporated into the Mamluk “governor’s residence,” there were stratigraphic indications from Phase I excavations that the original construction may be Umayyad. Therefore, Q.3, which is located between the storeroom and bathhouse, has the potential of clarifying not only the stratigraphic relationship between these components but also dating with more certainty the original construction of the bath. It is our hope to identify unpaved areas that had not been excavated and that maintain stratigraphic connections between the Mamluk storeroom and the potentially Early Islamic bath. The south end of the bath was built on a rough flagstone pavement, tentatively dated by the Andrews team in the 1970s to the Abbasid period on the basis of pottery. This week we dismantled a collapsed segment of the east wall of the storeroom, where no pavement was preserved. Excavation here identified several layers of ash, at levels below the pavement to the north, repeating a stratigraphic sequence first discovered in section under and along the east face of the bathhouse in 2001 and possibly related to the firing of the bathhouse furnace. A pit containing collapse from the south wall of the bath, first uncovered in 1976, offers more evidence for earthquake damage of the structure. The pottery recovered from these contexts this week were mostly Early Islamic (both Umayyad and Abbasid) and Late Byzantine.
On a final note for Field Q, clearance of the southeast corner tower continued this week in Q.4, with the exposure of a cistern first visible in 1971. We excavated what appears to be a Roman-era water channel, with a horse tether embedded into it, and which may feed into the cistern.
Rock removal continued at a frantic pace in Field M, in order to expose the inner and outer faces of the monumental northeast tower of the citadel. What appears to have been a massive stone buttress inside the tower was finally removed in M.6. M.7 on the outside continued to produce an astonishing variety of medieval and post-medieval wares (and most notable Ottoman glazed imports) not previously identified at the site. While we do not expect to reach founding levels of this tower this season, we hope to expose enough of it to describe its construction and locate architectural parallels from elsewhere in the region. On the northern slope below, in M.4, careful excavation identified a hearth and several surfaces, possibly associated with a kitchen of the Byzantine era.
Two structures were simultaneously excavated in Field C. The three squares of excavation in the monumental building opened at the beginning of the season continued, clearing the faces of well constructed walls of two-face and rubble masonry, belong to a structure of two or three rooms. A doorpost was identified, along with a plaster floor with multiple replasterings. The plaster in C.108 covered the floor and walls and produced Byzantine sherds. A considerable amount of Roman and Nabatean pottery (much identified as Petra production) from these three squares is significant chronologically and in terms of charting Hisban’s trade relations in the classical periods. We returned this week to excavation of C.102, a room in the center of the “Byzantine farmhouse” first excavated in 2004, to complete the excavation of this room and reach founding levels of the structure. Several plaster surfaces were carefully removed, yielding numerous fragments of at least three restorable vessels -- two Mamluk HMGP (hand-made geometric-painted) jars and a beautiful, early Mamluk, black-under-turquoise fritware jar, usually associated with Damascene kilns.
In the “Ottoman village” of Field O we continued to clear rubble and stone vault collapse from the walls of a substantial building, a likely farmhouse. Two squares in the courtyard of the complex were closed after reaching founding level of the exterior wall to the west and locating a beaten earth surface. Excavation began Friday of two new 5x5 meter squares to the northeast, where wall lines are visible on the surface. As in the 2004 season, pottery here was quite mixed, with Mamluk dominant and occasional sherds of Ottoman wares, both handmade (the clay mixed with grog and chaff) and glazed. Numerous fragments of large tabuns indicated domestic activity here, as expected. A possible stone qiwara (built grain storage bin) was identified in the northeast corner of this building.
This week’s academic program included a lecture Tuesday evening by Walker on the Umayyad “desert castles,” their form and debates over their possible functions, as well as the relevance of these academic debates to dating the bathhouse on the summit of Tall Hisban. Following work on Friday, the team visited the sites of Tall Jalul and Tall al-‘Umeiri, our “sister sites” on the Madaba Plains, and was treated to tours of the excavation fields by the directors and staff there -- Randy Younker, Paul Ray, and Doug Clark. On Sunday we visited three of the Umayyad castles discussed in lecture: Mshatta, Qasr al-Kharrana, and Quseir ‘Amra.
July 5, work on the site ended at second breakfast, to allow everyone to help in final preparations for the celebration of 40 years of excavations by the Madaba Plains Project in Jordan – work which began in Tall Hisban . The previous day, two large tents had been set up, one for food service following the ceremony and one for the ceremony itself.
Prince Raad Bin Zeid and Senator Michel Hamerneh (representative for Prince Hassan Bin Talal) represented the Jordanian royal family at the celebration; Prince Raad Bin Zeid, who engaged in archaeological work with the Tall Hisban Project in the 1970s, spoke about his fond memories of the project. Prince Raad followed an introduction and welcome by Andrews University President Neils-Erik Andreason and Director of the Madaba Plains Project Lawrence T. Geraty. United States Ambassador to Jordan David Hale attended, and spoke about the special relationship been Jordan and the United States. Ghazi Bisheh, former director of the Department of Antiquities spoke, as did Barbara A. Porter, director of the American Center for Oriental Research in Amman, Jordan. President of the Audit Bureau and Hisban native Mustafa Al Barrari spoke about how his involvement with the Hisban team has impacted his life after a memorable, touching introduction by Lawrence T. Geraty. Øystein S. LaBianca concluded the program with a call for continued partnership and understanding between the archaeological community, the Jordanian government, and the people of Hisban. To orient guests to the site, Bethany Walker gave a brief introduction to the different fields of the site, and then the congregation moved as a unit towards the snack and drink table, where savory pastries, fruit, tea, coffee, and Arabic sweets awaited.
The celebration was pulled together by a significant volunteer effort on the part of the archaeology students, under the direction and leadership of Andrew Gerard and Grace Carlos. Dignitaries were escorted up to the summit of Hisban by volunteers, food was prepared by volunteers, and many students filled in when needed by the 40th celebration project coordinators. The event went off without a hitch thanks to the hard work of these individuals.
Jointly submitted by Walker and LaBianca
July 8, 2007
