William Morton's Excavations at Dhiban, Jordan: 1955, 1956, 1965

Dhiban is one of Jordan's most important archaeological sites. Made famous in the 19th century by the discovery of the Mesha Inscription and its connections to the Bible, Dhiban has been subject to systematic exploration for almost 100 years. Early archaeological projects were primarily interested in illuminating Dhiban during the Iron Age, when it was ostensibly capital of the biblical kingdom of Moab, and in this regard they were all rather disappointed. William Morton was one of these early archaeologists, a professor of biblical languages and history, he worked at Dhiban from 1950-1953 as part of the American Schools of Oriental Research excavation team. Morton took over this project in 1955 and decided to shift excavations to the summit of the mound in the hopes of discovering substantial Iron Age remains. Here Morton was unusually successful, uncovering substantial deposits dating to the peak period of the kingdom of Moab (ca. 850-700 B.C.), most of which were related to a very large building he dubbed 'Mesha's Palace'. Despite his biblical interests, Morton also excavated and recorded an extensive area of Mamluk era (ca. 1265-1450 AD) housing that overlay the Iron Age remains, during a period went through a 'boom and bust' cycle of expansion followed by site abandonment. Unfortunately, Morton suffered from a number of illnesses after excavating Dhiban which prevented him from ever publishing his results. This AHRC Research leave project proposes to complete the publication of Morton's excavation of Dhiban, making these very important results available to the wider world for the first time. Particular attention will be given in carfeully sorting out the relative succession of building and occupation phases within each of Morton's three major excavation areas, and then using a formal analysis of the distribution of different types pottery to connect these three areas together and create an overall picture of the site in two key periods (Iron Age and Mamluk). For both the Iron Age and Mamluk periods, Dhiban appears to be a key site for understanding important large-scale issues in the history of Jordan; the nature of Iron Age state-formation and governance in the first instance, and the impact of an empire wide economic crisis on an isolated market town in the second. Given that the results of Morton's excavations have yet to replicated or superseded with regards to either of these issues, it is vital that these results are finally brought to press and made more widely available.