Major recent excavations have shed much light on the complexity of Iron Age society and religion in southern Palestine, a region where both Judeans and Edomites lived. However, it is not clear whether the religious practices attested at these sites were a reflection of localised customs or were common rituals for peoples of Cisjordan and we do not know their extent. An isolated shrine site at Wadi ath-Thamad Site WT-13 in northern Moab which contained numerous finds of Iron Age figurines and statues has been the subject of detailed excavation. The rich harvest of figurines, ceramic statues, beads, miniature ceramic vessels, architectural models, faunal remains and shells and fossils constitutes the evidence for repeated cultic activities. Although dating to the Iron Age at the time of the consolidation of the kingdom of Moab, there is insufficient evidence at present to determine the full range of cultic practices and deities venerated by the peoples of the lands within ancient Moab and by those visitors to the shrine. The links between WT-13 and the surrounding town sites is only now coming to light with excavation at Atarus and Khirbat al-Mudayna, as well as at the Ammonite site of Tall Damiyah in the Jordan Valley, where a comparable shrine has recently been uncovered. WT-13 clearly serves as a link between the Jordan Valley and the Negev, adding to our knowledge of local and foreign influences in the region during the Iron Age.
Preface
List of Team Members
List of Tables and Graphs
List of Illustrations
PART ONE. THE SITE AND ITS EXCAVATION
Chapter One. Introduction and Geographical Setting
P. M. Michèle Daviau
with an excursus by Carlos Cordova
Chapter Two. Approaches to Religious Rituals and Cultic Behaviour
P. M. Michèle Daviau
Chapter Three. Stratigraphy, Architecture and Finds at WT-13
P. M. Michèle Daviau
PART TWO. THE FINDS FROM THE STRATUM II SHRINE
Chapter Four. The Anthropomorphic Figurines and Statues: Images of Gods and Worshipers
P. M. Michèle Daviau
Chapter Five. Typology of the Small Finds
P. M. Michèle Daviau
Chapter Six. WT-13 Pottery and the Central Jordan Tradition
Margreet L. Steiner
Chapter Seven. Tripod Cups, Miniature and Specialized Vessels
P. M. Michele Daviau
Chapter Eight. The Provenance of Anthropomorphic Statues, Figurines and Pottery
Jan Gunneweg and Marta Balla
Chapter Nine. The WT-13 Faunal Bone Collection
David Lipovitch
Chapter Ten. Shells and Fossil Invertebrates from WT-13
David S. Reese
Chapter Eleven. Fossil Sea Urchins from WT-13
Kenneth J. McNamara
Chapter Twelve. The Beads
P. M. Michèle and Gabrielle Cole
Chapter Thirteen. Nabataean and Roman Pottery and Objects
P. M. Michèle Daviau
with an Excursus by Robert M. Kerr
PART III. LANDSCAPE ARCHAEOLOGY
Chapter Fourteen. Regional Survey and Landscape Archaeology at WT-13 and WT-18 (al- Rumayl)
Christopher M. Foley
with contributions by P. M. Michèle Daviau
Chapter Fifteen. Sacred Landscape in Central Jordan
P. M. Michèle Daviau
Index
Bibliography
Databases and Images
Field Images
Pottery
Artefacts
Beads
"We have to thank [the author] for such an impressive work of one of the major discoveries of the last decades... a stimulating excavation report and a valuable source of information for every scholar interested in ancient religion, the ancient Near East and material culture in general."
Lucas P. Petit
Bibliotheca Orientalis
(18/03/2019)
"A Wayside Shrine in Moab is a splendid volume for both the archaeology of the Levant broadly construed and for religion in the Levant. As an all too often understudied region, the volume is a welcome addition. Moreover, with a large range of data—data also available online—scholars will undoubtedly engage it and link it with other finds throughout the region."
William Brown
The Biblical Reviewer
(20/01/2020)
