Tall and Wadi Hisban, Excavation Season 2025, Week One (18-22 May 2025)

Since March 2025, the Department of Islamic Archaeology at the University of Bonn has been preparing for the excavation season at Tell Hisban and Wadi Hisban. Preparations included three organizational meetings that addressed the project’s objectives, logistical arrangements, and field training, including the use of modern recording techniques. This season brings together archaeologists, soil scientists, and botanists to investigate the daily lives of local peasants, particularly their agricultural practices and diet.

The present project is an interdisciplinary endeavour, drawing upon the fields of archaeology, soil science, botany, manuscript studies and historical sources, in order to provide a comprehensive analysis of the relationship between food systems and land use. This season, the project aims to parallelly investigate the terrace orchards of the wadi near Tell Hisban and the structures of the Tell itself to develop a more nuanced understanding of the agricultural and dietary patterns of the Tell’s inhabitants.

Each season, the team includes a diverse range of experiences and cultures. The international team comprised students from Bonn University and the USA, faculty members from the United States and Germany, and workers from Hisban. Participants, students and experts come from Germany, the United States, Malta, Hungary, Greece, Poland, Syria, Jordan and Egypt. This diversity always enriches the prospecting season through the exchange of skills and discussion of different points of view.

After years of developing a network of environmental specialists, Prof. Dr. Bethany Walker has assembled a robust team of researchers that includes Prof. Dr. Robert Bates of Andrews University, landscape archaeologist Co-Director Dr. Catreena Hamarneh of German Jordanian University, macrobotanical scientist Dr. Kathleen M. Forste of Brown University, and soil and ecology scientist Dr. Ramona Mörchen of University of Bonn, Institute of Crop Science and Resource Conservation (INRES).

Since 2013, work has shifted from the hilltop, where the castle was built on the ruins of a Byzantine church and a Roman temple, to the hillsides, which have revealed rural dwellings, a group of houses inhabited until the Ottoman Period. This is the fourth/fifth season on the western slopes of the castle. So, the excavations since 2013 have focused on the architectural remains of a portion of the medieval village that occupied the slopes and base of the hill.

The following report details our first week of excavations at the site this season:

Wadi Hisban

The first week started with a survey of a section of the south side of Wadi Hesban. To say the vistas were breathtaking is an understatement. The landscape is dramatic, with agricultural terraces, both in use and relict, dotting the landscape. The barking of dogs and bleating of sheep and goats is an ever constant companion, and the trickle of fresh water from the local spring is a refreshing contrast to the Jordanian sun. The locals were truly friendly, as is to be expected in this region of the world. We would continue to make local connections, and be offered copious amounts of tea throughout our time at the Wadi. 

Shunat Dhiab, mentioned in the 1889 traveller’s account of Major C. R. Connor, was identified atop the high grounds, with two water-driven mills of possible Ottoman date located further down the slope of the wadi. During the survey, a number of possible terrace sites for excavation and sampling were identified, and plans were discussed, with a way forward agreed upon. After the day’s trek, preliminary OSL dates from the 2024 campaign awaited us at the hotel, and these supported what is known of the occupation of the area.

The second day commenced early, as would all subsequent days. Two trenches, S3 and S4, were opened behind a terrace wall located close to Shunat Dhiab. The work was hard, but always rewarding, and the vistas made the daily trek up to the site worth the effort. The trenches would continue to be excavated in the next three days, reaching depths of around two metres. Sampling commenced on trench S3 on day four. Samples for various analyses, such as soil biomarkers, OSL dating, soil texture, and microbotanical analysis, were collected. On day five, due to the absence of two of the team members, it was decided to postpone sampling of trench S4 to the second week of excavations. Thus, day five saw the opening of trench S5 lower down the slope of the wadi, below a terrace wall located close to the presumed older of the two water-driven mills. By the end of day, the trench had reached over a meter in depth.

Field O (Farm’s houses of the Tell):

Square 9:

The first week of work at O9 in 2025 is beginning to reveal an Abbasid layer beneath the Mamluk and Ayyubid kitchen layers exposed in previous seasons. The week began with cleanup of heavy backfill and removal of textile. The team worked on clearing a doorway, in front of which is positioned a sub-floor water channel providing indoor plumbing for the assumed pottery workshop in the adjacent room. The matrix is largely a brown sandy loam including abundant pottery sherds of varying periods, bones, and some glass and lithics. Interspersed are burn areas with charcoal pieces and preserved botanical seeds, suggesting the preparation of food items. Several flotation samples have been taken in order to further analyze these findings. Excavations are revealing a curious central arrangement of stones in the square, which could indicate structural collapse or intentional placement. Two probes indicate stratigraphy marked by alternating layers of plaster flooring and beaten earth. Our hope is that the next week of excavations will bring us deeper into the Abbasid layer and provide more information on earlier usages of this space.

Square 12:

Work on square O12 began with the cleaning of the surface layer and the removal of the workshop revealed in the previous season. Excavation began on the third day and a hearth was discovered on the southern side of the square. Then, the team excavated in a straight line one metre wide. During this process, the second tabun oven was found, along with several scattered tabun fragments and pieces of cooking pottery, all of which were found in the same location as the other end of the wall. Much of the ash was found in the corner at the centre of the north wall. A basin had previously been removed from the south-west corner and another tabun was found underneath it. Work continued with soil sampling in parallel with the excavation. In the second week, the team aims to reach the deepest possible point.

Field C:

A new excavation square was opened northwest of the castle and directly east of Square C12, which had previously been excavated in 2022. Initial work began with surface cleaning, followed by the identification on the second day of a layer of collapsed stones of varying sizes and shapes, composed primarily of limestone and/or chalk. On the third day, these collapsed stones were removed, and a soil sample was collected from beneath the collapse for flotation analysis. The underlying soil was characterized as loose and brown in texture.

The primary research objectives for the upcoming week include: identifying the western wall associated with Square C12; investigating the relationship between the collapse and the wall, which is hypothesized to be of Byzantine origin; clarifying the spatial and functional relationship between the collapse and the wall; determining whether Square C13 lies within a domestic living area; and gaining insight into the architectural complexity of the Byzantine period, particularly features such as the façade, kitchen, and living room.

During the current week of excavation, several significant finds were recovered, including coins from five different periods, two buttons, one bangle, four ceramic parcels attributed to the Ayyubid and Byzantine periods, and one Byzantine ring. The ceramic assemblage is notably diverse, comprising pottery sherds from the Umayyad, Abbasid, Ayyubid, and Mamluk periods, in addition to single pieces from the Ottoman period and Iron Age II.

After lunch and a brief rest, the team meets at 4 pm for pottery washing and reading, a time for group work with a fun, friendly, and beautiful atmosphere. Team members wash pottery, and the square supervisors read the pottery with Prof. Walker and record observations. This excavation season has already produced a diverse range of pottery findings representing several periods of Islamic history, including Umayyad, Abbasid, Ayyubid, and Mamluk, in addition to earlier pre-Islamic periods. Some of the types of pottery represented include cookware, storage vessels, and lamps. The soil flotation team, including Prof. Bates, Dr. Forste, aims to isolate botanical data from soil sampled at the site. 

On the weekend, most of the team has chosen to take an excursion to Petra to visit a number of archaeological sites, while others have chosen to explore Amman and further experience local Jordanian culture.

Good Start!