Karak Resources Project

Let us now turn for the remainder of the article to Mudaybi`, Jordan and its gate complex as evidenced after three seasons of excavation. Mudaybi` is located on the Karak Plateau of central Jordan, approximately 21 km southeast of Karak. This aerial photograph made by Richard Cleave in 1980 shows Mudaybi` in the center; it is made from the north facing southward (i.e. north is at the bottom) showing the modern dam in the right center. In this photograph the inner and outer structure and their wall lines are both very evident. The site is approximately 88m x 83m in size and lies near the edge of the desert marked by conditions too arid to support regular agriculture. The site also sits on top of a low hill that protects access into the interior of the Karak plateau. Mudaybi` is an Iron Age, Moabite fortress dating to approximately 800-600 B.C. The interior structure is a Late Byzantine-Early Islamic structure whose function is unclear because it has not yet been excavated. Mudaybi` has been excavated since 1997 as a part of the Karak Resources Project, an interdisciplinary study of resource utilization, past and present on the Karak Plateau.

The close-up aerial photo was made during the winter of 1997 by David Kennedy and first published in Aramco Magazine. This photo is oriented with north at the top. It shows the site after the first season of excavation. Again, clearly visible in the picture are the inner structure and the outer walls. To give a better idea of the layout of the site, a second copy of the aerial photo has superimposed a drawing of the inner fortress and outer fortress walls on the aerial photograph, and also indicates the location of the fields of excavation.

The gate complex is located in Field B. Even before the excavation began in 1997, a probable gate opening was evident, as seen in both in views toward the east and west. Remains of towers flanking the gateway were evident. Also visible on the surface was a large upright gatepost. The excavation team assumed all these items belonged to a later time period rather than the Iron Age. In addition, several lintels and one complete volute capital, one half capital and a capital fragment were visible on the surface. The capitals were known to belong to the Iron Age from similar capitals found in datable contexts elsewhere, but the team assumed they were present on the surface from secondary use. Based on these surface finds, the team decided to locate one of the excavation fields in the gate area, especially due to the presence of monumental architecture.

After three seasons of excavation we have excavated portions of five of the six pier walls of the Iron II gate complex. We clearly have a four-chamber gate. The complex is nearly 20 meters wide and 14.5 meters deep. The gate opening is 4.1 meters wide. The pier walls are each 1.65 meters wide. The two towers outside the outer pier wall are approximately the same width. The four gate chambers are 3.5 meters wide. The chambers on the south side are 6.7 meters long; we assume that the north chambers were approximately symmetrical.

In addition we have at least four volute capitals) three nearly complete and one half, and a fragment that may well be a fifth capital. All of these capitals were found in the immediate area of the gate. We also have found numerous lintels long enough to run from across the chamber width from pier to pier, including one that was still laying on top of a pier wall in Square N8. We also have the threshold stone for the outer gateway still in situ, pavement outside the gateway, a bench outside the gateway, and a gatepost at the gateway all belonging to the Iron Age Moabite gate complex. The Mudaybi` gateway is a very large and well preserved gate complex. When we look at other Iron II sites, we have one of the largest and best preserved gate complex found in Israel and Jordan.

Each of the pier walls thus far excavated is approximately 1.5 m in height. The walls are constructed primarily of fossiliferous limestone, apparently from a quarry several kilometers from the site. The walls are of semi-dressed stones laid in header-stretcher construction. There is no evidence of mortar in the walls, but chink stones were present.

The gate opening of 4.1 meters would allow easy passage for animals loaded with goods, as well as for wagons or chariots. In the table below all the towns have relatively similar openings, but the fortress at Tell el-Kheleifeh has the much smaller passage one might expect at a military outpost, or just for pedestrian access. The implication based on both size of the gate opening and presence of monumental architecture is that our site served as more than a military fortress, perhaps as a regional administrative center.

From the table it is clear that only the gate complexes at Tel Dan and Bethsaida/Geshur are significantly larger than our gate, even though all the sites are much larger than our site. And our gate complex is by far the finest in terms of workmanship and monumental architecture of any yet discovered in Jordan.(All measurements in meters)

We also have a bench outside the gatepost; this bench is still plastered to the gatepost and to the south tower of the gateway. This season, we discovered the area outside the threshold is paved with cobblestones. There are a few paving stones inside the threshold, but only a few. On the outside the entire area from the threshold stone to the east balk of the square is covered with paving stones, and the pavement continues into the balk.

What we do have at Mudaybi` is one of the richest sites for volute capitals in the Middle East. Only Megiddo and Ramat Rahel in Israel have more capitals than our site. Of the 40 or so known and published volute capitals, we have 3 nearly complete, one half, and a fragment—4 definite and likely 5 capitals. In addition we have 4 (or 5) of the 7 (or 8) now known in Jordan.

Furthermore, we have what I consider conclusive evidence for the original position of (at least our) volute capitals in a gate structure. Volute capital Md-5, excavated in 1997 at Mudaybi`, was discovered immediately off the pier wall, and still in perfect alignment with the pier wall. The base of the capital is exactly the same length as the width of the pier wall, 1.65 m. Apparently the capital tipped off the wall face down in an earthquake that caused the collapse of the gate complex.

We have an entryway that is quite well preserved, with a gatepost still in place. We have a threshold stone in situ, and apparently the threshold stone was of a single stone nearly 4 meters in length (I have to say apparently, because the northern portion of the threshold, and the northern outer gate pier hasn’t been excavated. Nonetheless, the excavated portion of the threshold is 2 ½ meters long, and .75 m wide.

On the last day of excavation in 2001, I began a small probe on the inside of the gatepost to determine if there was any plaster where the gatepost bonded to the pier wall. I found no plaster in this probe, but did discover the gatepost and pier wall were both sitting on a notched foundation stone. This notched stone may be a door socket. Unfortunately, I had no time to expand the probe or fully excavate around this notched stone to determine its function. This determination will have to await the 2003 season of excavation.

The numerous lintels we have found all run in an east-west direction, suggesting they originally spanned the chamber opening from pier wall to pier wall. In 1999 I found one lintel still resting on a pier wall, and sufficiently long to span the 3.5 m. width of the chamber. This lintel was fully excavated in removed during the 2001 season.

We also have charred remains of wooden beams that run in a north-south direction in the middle of the gateway. These beams apparently sat on top of the lintels and spanned the gate entryway. Samples from 2 of these beams have been dated at the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory by radiocarbon dating to 2760 BP = 760 B.C.E. +/- 50 years and 2740 BP = 740 B.C.E. +/- 40 years. These beams thus provide us not only data for the construction technique at our gate complex, but also clear evidence for the construction of our gate complex in the 8th century B.C.E., in the middle of Iron II. This dating is consistent with the fragments of pottery that have been recovered from the gate complex. We also have fragments of roofing material—sun-dried mud with reed impressions. The roof apparently was made of reeds on top of the wood beams covered with mud.

Putting all these pieces together, we can reconstruct what our gate complex looked like to a Moabite entering it in the 8th century B.C.E. The pier walls are constructed of quite large semi-dressed stones in header-stretcher construction. At just about eye level or slightly above (the pier walls are preserved about 1½ m. in height; the volute capitals would have been on top of these walls), one would find large carved volute capitals, evidence of the royal authority at this fortress/outpost. On top of the capitals, at a height of approximately 2 ½ m. would be large limestone lintels. Running above one’s head across the gate entryway at a height of 3-3 ½ m. would be thick wooden beams above which was a roof or second story.