Tall Damiyah (also spelled Tell or Tall Damiyeh) is an
Iron-Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly a ...
archaeological site in
Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
. It is located in the Central
Jordan Valley
The Jordan Valley ( ar, غور الأردن, ''Ghor al-Urdun''; he, עֵמֶק הַיַרְדֵּן, ''Emek HaYarden'') forms part of the larger Jordan Rift Valley. Unlike most other river valleys, the term "Jordan Valley" often applies just to ...
in the
Balqa Governorate
Balqa' ( ar, البلقاء ''Al Balqā’'') is one of the governorates of Jordan. It is located northwest of Amman, Jordan's capital.
The governorate has the fourth largest population of the 12 governorates of Jordan, and is ranked 10th by are ...
and is identified by most scholars with the historical and
biblical
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
city of
Adama
Adama ( Oromo: ' or ', Amharic: አዳማ), formerly Nazreth ( am, ናዝሬት), is a city in the central Oromia Region of Ethiopia. Located in the East Shewa Zone southeast of the capital, Addis Ababa, the city sits between the base of an e ...
.
Tall Damiyah is nearby to, but distinct from, the
Damiyah Dolmen Fields.
Archaeological excavations
Tall Damiyah is a small settlement mound with evidence of continuous occupation throughout the Iron Age, located in the
flood plain
A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...
s of the Jordan Valley. Other archaeological evidence, such as pottery sherds, indicate additional human presence during the Late Bronze
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
, Persian-
Hellenistic period
In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in 3 ...
s, the
Byzantine period
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
, and the
Ottoman period
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
. Though recognized in travel writings as early as the 19th century, large-scale archaeological investigations only began to take place since 2012. Among the finds at this site are two-headed horse-figurines dating to the Late Iron Age—common to the broader region, though somewhat more unique in the
Levant
The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is eq ...
specifically.
[ Remains of at least two buildings have been investigated, including adjacent areas of differing elevations, thought to be used for strategic ends.]"Previously unknown in Near Eastern
The ''Near East''; he, המזרח הקרוב; arc, ܕܢܚܐ ܩܪܒ; fa, خاور نزدیک, Xāvar-e nazdik; tr, Yakın Doğu is a geographical term which roughly encompasses a transcontinental region in Western Asia, that was once the hist ...
archaeology and even beyond, this systematic sedentary occupation forces scientists to widen their geographic scope, in order to understand how these people interacted with the surrounding area. Inhabitants of the Central Jordan Valley during Iron Age II and the Persian Period were unequivocally engaged in a continuing cycle of migration, returning to previously settled sites; in other words, searching for preferred areas but leading a sedentary way of life."
Archaeologists surmise that the site was a "regional and interregional cultic place of gathering."[
Recent excavations at Tall Damiyah have been led by Lucas P. Petit of the Dutch National Museum of Antiquities and Zeidan Kafafi of Jordan's ]Yarmouk University
Yarmouk University ( ar, جامعة اليرموك), also abbreviated YU, is a comprehensive public and state supported university located near the city centre of Irbid in northern Jordan. Since its establishment in 1976, Yarmouk University (YU) ...
.[ Studies have also included ]luminescence dating
Luminescence dating refers to a group of methods of determining how long ago mineral grains were last exposed to sunlight or sufficient heating. It is useful to geologists and archaeologists who want to know when such an event occurred. It uses var ...
of Iron Age deposits.
Related sites
* Nearby archaeological sites in the Jordan Valley: Tell el-Mazar on the west bank;[ for the spelling ''Mazar'' and West Bank location.] Tell Deir 'Alla and on the east bank.
References
{{Reflist
External links
Tell Damiyah, Jordan: Reconstructing the Iron Age site
(April 18, 2019), at learningsites.com. Accessed 19 August 2022.
Photos of Damiyah
at the American Center of Research
The American Center of Research (ACOR) is a private, not-for-profit scholarly and educational organization. Based in Alexandria, Virginia, with a facility in Amman, Jordan, ACOR promotes knowledge of Jordan and the interconnected region, past and ...
Archaeological sites in Jordan