Gates
The gate potentially could be the most vulnerable part of a city’s defense system because the gate was, in a sense, a breech in the wall. Cities in the Iron Age typically only had one gate thereby reducing the risk. The gate had to be functionally efficient for everyday requirements in peace times. That meant the gates had to be wide enough for the citizens to conduct their business practically. Yet, a gate wide enough for a horse drawn cart was also wide enough for an enemy’s chariot, thus a potential problem. Furthermore, gate doors physically could not be made as strong as the adjacent walls. This made the city gate a popular point of attack by opposing armies.
Ancient builders tended to build massive gate complexes to compensate for these potential weaknesses. These complexes provided multiple doors and flanking towers. Between the doors on each side were chambers. Typically, Iron Age gate complexes had either four chambers, such as at Mudaybi’, or six chambers, as at Khirbat al-Mudayna (a site north of ancient Moab). An overhead perspective of a four-chambered gate can be described as a two capital “Es” facing each other with a gap between them representing the actual entrance. Each opening between the “Es” is a chamber. During peace times, these chambers became a place of commerce or a room for friendly conversation with friends. In times of war, soldiers could be stationed in these rooms to help support and defend the gate complex. Each pair of walls within the complex could be blocked in times of war to form three or four gate doors. Only the outer pair of walls had a door in times of peace, which usually pivoted in a socket and fit against a door jam.
Sometimes these gates complexes were covered with a roof. Charred beams found in the gate area at Mudaybi’ suggest its gate complex had a wooden or wood-supported roof.
Also, the ends of the chamber walls could be decorated with capitals, such as the proto-aeolic capitals found at Mudaybi. These capitals gave the gate complex an air of importance and wealth.
Towers
Towers served as guard stations and elevated defensive positions. They were built into the outer walls at key locations, such as on the corners, by the gates, and along the walls at regular intervals. Usually, towers were taller than the adjacent wall and protruded out past the wall so that a sentry could easily observe any activity along the base of the wall. Besieging armies often tried to gouge a hole through the wall for access to the city. A sentry on a tower could watch out for this kind of activity. Typically, towers also flanked the sides of the gate. This placement was especially important since the gate was the weakest point in a fortress’s defenses. (See the description of the gate.)
Mudaybi’ tower on northwest corner
Walls
As in most other periods, walls and towers were the primary means of defense for fortresses. Moabite Iron Age fortresses typically had solid outer walls, which were massive, thick, and built of large, quarried stone. Iron Age walls at Mudaybi’ were at least one and a half meter thick (more excavations need to be done to fully analyze the outer walls of Mudaybi’).
A few sites in the area may have had casemate walls. A casemate wall structure was two solid, parallel walls connected at intervals by traversing walls, thereby creating rooms between the walls. The spaces between the walls could be filled with debris for added protection. This type of construction was frequently used in Israel but seemed to be much less common in Jordan. Although a little north of the Moabite region, excavations at Tell Jawa and at Khirbat al-Mudayna revealed casemate walls. Discovery of casemate walls demonstrates that the technology certainly was available.
Ancient people usually built the walls to conform to the terrain. Walls at Akuzeh follow the slopes of the hill. However, since the ancient people built Mudaybi’ in a relatively flat area on top of a ridge, the walls are straight and almost form a square (about 88 x 85 meters).