The archaeology of the land of Edom

The principal aim of this thesis is to review the current status of our understanding of Edomite archaeology and, with the introduction of new material, attempt to enhance this understanding. Very little serious work has been published on Edomite archaeology to date. Excavation reports (for the sites of Tell el Kheleifeh, Umm al Biyara, Tawilan, Buseirah and Ghrareh) have appeared only in preliminary form. -- The only archaeological thesis has been Oakeshott's PhD "A Study of the Iron II Pottery of East Jordan", which appeared in 1978 and is based substantially on the pottery excavated from Buseirah . This work provides an excellent typology for Edomite pottery, but is limited in its analytical content due to the unavailability of the Buseirah stratigraphy. -- This thesis addresses the problem by analysing stratified pottery from the author's recent excavations at Ghrareh, stratified pottery from a part of Buseirah (Area D) and additional material from Tawilan, as well as already known material from Umm al Biyara and Tell el Kheleifeh. Chapter 2 discusses Ghrareh in detail, Chapter 3 discuss Buseirah Area D and Chapter 4 discusses the material from the other Edomite sites. -- Chapter 5 is the core of this work, attempting to produce a relative chronology for Edomite sites and Edomite pottery. Detailed comparisons are made of the pottery from the main sites. It is not possible with the material available to reach firm chronological conclusions for all Edomite pottery but conclusions on certain types can be made and are summarised in Chapter 5, section 3.5. -- Also important to an understanding of Edomite archaeology is the distribution of sites within Edom. The original surveys of Nelson Glueck (undertaken in the 1930s) are no longer adequate in the light of current knowledge and to address this problem a number of recent surveys in the area, including the author's own work, are examined. -- Chapter 7 discusses the place of Edom in its historical and geographical contexts and the way in which it relates to North-West Arabia and the area of the Negev and southern Judah which were to become known in the classical period as Idumea (a term closely related to Edom). The last section of Chapter 7 (7.4) contains the conclusions which can be made from this thesis and looks at future work necessary to enhance and extend these conclusions.