An Iron Age site in the ‘Ayun Musa Valley TELL AL-MASHHAD An Iron Age site in the ‘Ayun Musa Valley (Mount Nebo – JORDAN) Campaigns 2010 - 2011

The site of Tell al- Mashhad lies at the foot of mount Nebo, just 9 km NW of the modern city of Madaba and 40 km SW of the Jordanian capital town Amman. In the antiquity, the site should be not far from the border between the ancient kingdoms of Ammon and Moab.

Picture by Gertrude Bell (March 1900) The site appears for the first time in a picture by the British she- writer Gertrude Bell, who visited the ‘Ayun Musa valley during her travels in the Middle East in 1900. The top of the tell is the highest point of the hill on the right.

Pictures by Tony Andrè (1909) Nine years later the Italian traveler Tony Andrè took several pictures of the ‘Ayun Musa springs and surroundings. In the first picture, the southern slope of the tell is visible on the left; in the second one, the lowest point of the closer hill is the top of the tell, with the remains of the Building A.

Pictures by Tony Andrè (1909) The most spectacular pictures by T Pictures by Tony Andrè (1909) The most spectacular pictures by T. Andrè are dedicated to the ‘Ayun Musa rainfall, just SE of the tell.

The Nelson Glueck Visit (1932) The site of al-Mashhad-Khirbet ‘Ayun Musa was visited for the first time by Nelson Glueck on May 3rd, 1932. He described the very important archaeological features of the old settlement, an important site near the 'Ayun Musa spring, at the foot of mount Nebo, collected a number of potsherds and a small clay figurine, and prepared a draft of the first rough map of the site, dating its main human occupation to the Iron Age.

Tell al-Mashhad and the ‘Ayun Musa Valley In the Nineties, the wady Ayun Musa was surveyed by the Danish team of the Danish Palestinian Foundation, recording dozens of archaeological sites, mainly dated to the prehistoric times, such as dolmens, menhirs and stone circles.

The ‘Ayun Musa Valley The Springs and the Ancient Hermitages Ayun Musa springs from the site and ancient Byzantine hermitages, probably realized re-using the ancient necropolis related to Tell al-Mashhad.

The starting of the archaeological activities (1999-2000) A new project, with a staff from The Fondazione "Ing. C.M. Lerici" (Rome), for archaeological investigation at Tell al-Mashhad, was begun in 1999 in response to an invitation from the Franciscan Archaeological Institute, within the framework of the archaeological activities that have been carried since 1933 in Jordan by this institution in the Mount Nebo area, with a view to protecting the important archaeological evidence in the region. The excavation activities were concentrated on a series of rooms identified in the southern area of the site, on a cliff some 20 metres above the wadi bed.

Tell al-Mashhad The Building A (drawing 2010-2011) The most important activities carried out during the 2010 campaign at Tell al-Mashhad were focused on the draft of a preliminary sketch plan and the opening of trenches in the area of the Building A, dominating the site from the top of the hill.

Tell al-Mashhad The Looter’s Trench on the Top of the Building A (2010) In 2010 the preliminary visit of the site evidenced a very recent looting activity with a very deep trench (6 m deep), dug just in the middle of the Building A. This represented a danger not only for the archaeological evidence, but also for the safety of people involved in the excavation activities. Thus it was decided to re-fill the hole with the same extracted soil, after examining it in order to collect possible pottery sequence, this allowed to concentrate efforts on the enclosure wall.

Tell al-Mashhad The Building A from North before (2010) and after (2011) the Excavation

Tell al-Mashhad The Wall N of Building A before and after the Excavation (2010) The Wall N was completely excavated on two sides, North and West. It was erected directly on bedrock and emerged from the ground to a height of at least 2.50 m (North), and for about 1.20 m (West).

Tell al-Mashhad The Wall N of Building A (2010)

Tell al-Mashhad The Wall N1 of Building A (2011) During the 2010 and 2011 campaigns, the excavation of the wall N1, facing the big wall N of the Building A, was completed. The medium distance from the wall N is about m. 1.50, while the medium height is around m. 1.00. This wall is build with stones of medium and small size, just above the bedrock. The extremities are linked to the walls E1 and W. The purpose of this low wall doesn’t appear very clear , but the presence of Iron Age IIC potsherd shows that it was erected in the same period of the squared building.

Tell al-Mashhad The Building A - Area A (excavation and drawing 2011) The archaeological activities of the 2011 season were mainly concentrated inside the large squared building, in the sector close to the north-western corner, called “Area A”. Here, several dressed stones were part of a wall, north-south oriented and called W1; it actually divided Area A from the upper terrace of the building and was erected using stones of different sizes just above bedrock. Wall W1 appeared to be supported by three smaller walls, denoted as W1a, W1b and W1c, all erected with stones of medium and large sizes and all with a east-west course.

Tell al-Mashhad Building A: Area A from North before Excavation (2011)

Tell al-Mashhad Building A: Area A from North at the End of the Excavation (2011)

Tell al-Mashhad Building A: Area A from South at the End of the Excavation (2011)

Tell al-Mashhad Building A - Area A: Wall W1a (2011) Wall W1a showed a double step to wall W1. At the intersection of wall W1a and wall W, the last showed a gap between the stones, possibly a passage to the upper terrace. Consequently, wall W1a could be a stair with a double step, connected to an opening in the wall W1. Walls W1b and W1c didn’t show similar features; they only seem to divide Area A in smaller rooms, and probably served as support to wall W1.

Tell al-Mashhad Stone objects During the 2010 and 2011 season of excavations at Tell al- Mashhad, it was possible to collect a number of stone objects, scattered on the site surface or in the excavated areas. It was possible to recognize at least four groups: a) the upper grinding stones; b) the lower grinding stones, c) the pestels, usually a ball-shaped, or cylindrical pebble; d) the mortars, very different in size and shape, from the basalt dish with a ring base, to the large limestone mortar with a deep hole in the centre. All these objects are usually realized in limestone or basalt.

Tell al-Mashhad Grinding Stones (2010)

Tell al-Mashhad Lower Grinding Stones (2010)

Tell al-Mashhad Pestels (2010)

Tell al-Mashhad Painted Pottery (2010) The most of the objects from the excavated areas seems to be datable to the latest phase of Iron Age II (VIII-VI century B.C.). The painted fragments usually show a decoration with brown or reddish parallel lines.

Tell al-Mashhad Iron Age II C Pottery (2010) The best represented types of the Tell al-Mashhad assemblage are the Ridged Neck Jars and kraters with a large mouth.

Tell al-Mashhad Faience pendant (2010) In the group of other objects found during the excavations, there is also a small number of spindle whorls and a small fragment of a glazed object, found at the foot of the wall N. It is probably an unidentified part of a possible amulet.

Tell al-Mashhad Mamluke potsherd (2010) During the 2010 campaign, a nice fragment of Mamluke pottery was also found at a very short distance from the site.

Tell al-Mashhad Horse head from a cultic vessel (2011) The main object discovered during the 2011 season is a small horse head, clay made, very similar to those found in Palestine and Transjordan; the head from Tell al-Mashhad shows an inner water channel, making possible its interpretation as a part of a cultic vessel.

Chronological Conclusions According to the archaeological data, Tell al- Mashhad main phase of occupation is the Iron Age IIC, corresponding to the period of Assyrian and Babylonian domination of Transjordan (722-586 BC), and the majority of the pottery typologies are datable to that period. During the following periods, the site doesn’t seem have been inhabitated. The second, and last, important phase of occupation was the Byzantine period, particularly in the western sector of the site, where the remains of at least two different small buildings, probably linked to the presence of the churches of Kayanos and Deacon Thomas, are still visible.