SOLDI, site of ancient copper mines on Cyprus. Built on the flank and in front of a hill overlooking tlie sea in the northwestern part of Cyprus, ancient Soloi lies on the western side of the Bay of Morphou, 8 km (5 mi.) east of the city of Vouni (35°o8'io" N, 32°47'45" E). The copper mines to which it owed its wealth are located to the souflt, in the mountains. The earliest archaeological finds consist of eleventh-century BCE (Iron Age) pottery.
According to Plutarch, tlie foundation of Soloi went back to mythological times and was attributed to Theseus’s son Demophon. Plutarch writes that the town, replacing a first city called Aipeia, found its present location under lung Phi-lokypros, when his visitor and friend, tire Athenian Solon, advised him to move it closer to the sea. It was then given its new name in honor of Solon. According to Herodotus, Soloi, a well-fortified city, was able to resist a five-month siege by the Persians at the very beginning of the fifth century BCE, before being conquered and perhaps ransacked. Because of its copper mines, it most probably regained some prosperity in the fifth and fourth centuries, altliough this period of its history is not known. Not until the coming of Alexander the Great did Soloi shake off the Persian yoke. After its liberation, Soloi became part of the Ptolemaic kingdom. Its last king was Eunostos, who married Eirene, daughter of Ptolemy I Soter and Thai's, the renowned courtesan. The city reached its acme in Roman times, under tlie An-tonines and the Severi. We read in Galen that its mines were in full operation during the second part of tlie second century ce; they were probably still very active in the third century.
Soloi was christianized early by St. Auxibius, a Roman converted by St. Mark, companion of the Apostle Barnabas. Auxibius, who landed in Cyprus soon after the middle of the first century CE, was the first bishop of Soloi: he died in 102/103. The history of Byzantine Soloi is poorly known. The exploitation of its mines seems to have diminished during the fourtli century when the city’s harbor was left to silt down. Christian Soloi, however, must have preserved some financial resources because it was able to build one of tlie most impressive basilicas on the island. Its prolonged prosperity seems to have been put to a definitive halt by tlie Arab raids of the seventh cenmry from which it never recovered. In medieval times it was reduced to a miserable hamlet called Casal Sofia.
When the British traveler Richard Pococke visited tlie site in 1745, he was impressed by tlie extent of its ruins. In 1870, the diplomat and collector Luigi di Cesnola identified a wall as that of the Roman tlieater and “excavated” some Roman tombs. In 1917, under the direction of the archaeologist Ei-nar Gjerstad, members of a Swedish expedition excavated tlie theater (later extensively restored) and, after some exploration mainly at the top of the hill, chose to concentrate tlieir work outside the city itself, on the neighboring hills of
Cholades where they excavated an important complex of Hellenistic and Roman temples.
Excavations on the site of Soloi resumed in 1964 with a team from Laval University (Quebec) under the direction of Jean des Gagniers. Laval archaeologists dug for ten seasons until tlieir work was disrupted by the turkish occupation of the site in 1974. In the lower part of the town, Rene Ginouves excavated an industrial and residential area including a fullonica or dye shop. Below the Byzantine and Roman levels, he found tlie corner of a carefully built Cy-pro-Classical monument, below which he observed the foundations of archaic houses (perhaps destroyed after the Persian siege). In the same area, Ginouves cleared a wide paved street crossing the town east-west and leading to the stone paved Roman agora, on the southern side of which he excavated an elegant marble Roman nymphaeum built in the second quarter of the third cenmry.
On the top of the hill, Lilly Kahil found the walls of an important building of the fourtli cenmry bge; these walls may belong to the royal palace. Kahil also excavated several tombs in the necropolis behind the hill. Besides gold, bronze, iron, and glass objects, some of these tombs contained ninth-cenmry pottery, already indicating that the city did exist long before Solon’s visit to Cyprus.
Not far from the city’s eastern gate, Tran Tam Tinh excavated a large Christian basilica, which underwent two main phases. Erected on a Constantinian Plan, the first basilica had one apse and two naves. Its remarkably well-preserved mosaic floor (with figures and inscriptions) was not destroyed when, in the second phase, a new and larger basilica was built over it. Prior to 550 ce, tliis basilica had three naves separated by two rows of twelve columns. It was 53.76 m (176 ft.) long (excluding the atrium) and 31.40 m (103 ft.) wide. It seems to have been destroyed by fire, perhaps by the arab invaders of 653-654. After these raids, tlie wretched city could erect only a small and very humble church over tlie ruins of the basilica.
[See also the biographies of di Cesnola and G]erstadi
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Gjerstad, Einar, et al. The Swedish Cyprus Expedition: Finds and Results of the Excavations in Cyprus, ig2y-ip3i. "Vol. 3. Stockliolm, 1937. Ginouves, Rene. Soloi, dix campagnes defouilles, vol. 2, La ville basse. Sainte-Foy, Quebec, 1989.
Tinh, Tran Tam, and Jean des Gagniers. Soloi, dix campagnes defouilles, 1364-1934, vol. I, Introduction historique; La basilique. Sainte-Foy, Quebec, 1985.
Jean des Gagniers
SOUNDINGS. Two basic excavation strategies, vertical and horizontal, are regularly used on archaeological sites. It is usually, not possible to excavate an entire site; even if tliis were possible it would not be desirable because something must be left for future excavators with the benefit of even more advanced tools and techniques. The goals of the excavation and the physical configuration of the site determine which strategy will be followed. Traditionally in the Near East, the use of a vertical strategy is referred to as a sounding (Fr., sondage). Recently the term sounding has become synonymous with test pit, trench, or deep probe.
A sounding is cut into the site from the top and extends vertically through tlie archaeological strata. Soundings are frequently used across a large site in order to probe different areas or to cut through enough of it to produce a full stratigraphic view. ¦
In the Near East sites with an accumulated depth of deposit are characterized as tells, or mounds. Initially, Near Eastern sites were excavated primarily to understand issues of chronology and relative cultural sequences. The earliest identified tell sites in Mesopotamia, Syria-Palestine, and Anatolia were usually very large. Their size and tlte tremendous depth of their cultural deposits made excavating even a modest percentage of their area impossible. Soundings were carried out instead, to establish stratigraphy and chronological parameters.
Soundings address a variety of diachronic issues. A sounding can help to establish a site’s occupational history, determine broad absolute dates, examine the depth and nature of occupational debris, assess site formation and the degree of preservation, test the potential of future excavation areas, and sample subsurface artifacts and ecofacts. A site’s deptli and the complexity of its stratigraphy enable a director to plan properly an excavation’s pace and scope. If an understanding of particular periods is sought, it is additionally necessary to pinpoint their stratigraphic location. To do this, a sounding offers speed in tlie search for answers to basic questions. Because it is, however, an exploratory strategy, its limitations must be taken into account.
One of tlie main drawbacks of a sounding is the limited horizontal scope of the exposure. A sounding provides almost no context for the artifacts uncovered during the excavation and will provide only a partial and potentially misleading picture of the site. In order to complete a sounding, architectural elements may have to be dismanded before tliey can be fully understood. However, by removing archaeological components in small pieces, the contextual integrity of the deposits can be greatly compromised. A second drawback is the sounding’s narrow focus: a sounding may miss entirely important cultural deposits or stratigraphic relationships. Additionally, a sounding will not usually produce an adequately large sample of artifacts for analysis beyond tlie purpose of chronology.
Much of the information garnered from a sounding is found in die ballc or section. The vertical section, which holds the more important stratigraphic information, is unavailable in horizontal excavation strategies. The combination of soundings and a more open, or horizontal, excavation strategy can provide a balanced approach to excavation. A sounding, first used to check stratigraphy and occupational history, can be used to preview different or distant areas of sites to assess which may be the most promising for excavation. Once these types of data are retrieved, horizontal exposure can provide fuller archaeological context and sequence.
Also Balk; Excavation Strategy; Excavation Tools; and
Tell.]
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Barker, Philip A. Understanding Archaeological Excavation. New York, 1986. Very good treatment of archaeological field techniques practiced in England; especially important regarding open-field excavation.
Greene, Kevin. Archaeology: An Introduction, Totowa, N. J., 1983. Clear and concise volume for the beginner.
Joukowsky, Martlia Sharp. A Complete Manual of Field Archaeology: Tools and Techniques of Field Work for Archaeologists. Englewood Cliffs, N. J., 1980. Excellent how-to guide for fieldwork, useful for anyone involved in tlie field, from the experienced volunteer to tlie excavation director. Details fieldwork techniques used throughout the world.
Renfrew, Colin, and Paul Bahn. Archaeology: Theories, Methods, and Practice. New York, 1991. Valuable, up-to-date sourcebook on all aspects of archaeology as it is practiced throughout tlie world. Sharer, Robert J., and Wendy Ashmore. Archaeology: Discovering Our Past. Palo Alto, Calif., 1987. Useful textbook for introductory-level classes in archaeology.
J. P. Dessel
SOUTH ARABIAN. The South Arabian languages and dialects are divided into two groups: Old South Arabian (sometimes termed Epigraphic South Arabian) and Modern South Arabian, widely separated in time and attested in distinct but adjoining geographic areas on die south and southwestern edges of the Arabian Peninsula. These two, together with Ethiopic Semitic, can be viewed as constituting a southern group wititin die Semitic language family. Northern Arabic, usually referred to simply as Arabic, is a completely distinct linguistic entity. The exact historical relationship between Old Soudt Arabian and Middle South Arabian, and between dtese two and Etliiopic Semitic, is not entirely clear. In any case, there is at this point no sure indication that any of the attested groups witiiin South Semitic stand in direct linear descent to any of tlie others.
Old South Arabian is attested from the first half of die first millennium bce, on thousands of monumental inscriptions, mostly dedicatory; some, however, are annalistic, ritual, or legal in content. The oldest inscriptions come principally from a series of city-states stretching southward, roughly from the modern Saudi-Yemen border, along the region where the eastern side of the Red Sea coastal mountain chain reaches die desert. This route is, presumably, thus, along die southern part of die first-millennium Spice
Route from the Indian Ocean to the northern Red Sea and the Mediterranean. The principal sites along this route, from north to south, are the city-states of mn (Ma'in), sb’ (Saba’), qtbn (Qataban), and, to die southeast, hdrrnwt (Hadhra-maut). From the striking linguistic differences among the texts from each of these centers it is clear that we are dealing with at least four quite distinct dialects, if not languages. Toward the end of the first millennium, the center of political power moves to the Yemeni highland (the predominance of the Himyars), and the Sabaic dialect gradually replaces tire others. From the last cenUiry bce onwards, monumental inscriptions, which continue to be written in great number up through the sixth century CE, are only in tlte Sabaic dialect.
The Middle South Arabian languages are spoken by relatively inaccessible, small population groups (probably of fewer than a total of tltirty tltousand native speakers for all languages), mainly in western Oman and on the island of Socotra. There are at present three main languages, Mehri (with a dialect, Harsusi), Jibbali, and Socotri. These unwritten languages are extremely important for what tliey can reveal to us about the history and development of South Semitic, tliey have been suidied sporadically since the end of tlie nineteenth century but have only recently been systematically described.
The Old South Arabian writing system represents a special southern development of tlie West Semitic alphabet. It has signs for consonants that had disappeared in tlie Nortli-west Semitic languages by the time they became involved in the invention or adoption of the alphabet. Particularly noteworthy is tlie existence of three “s-” signs: s' (value /§/, corresponds to the Hebrew letter shin)-, s" (value /!/, perhaps a lateralized sibilant, corresponds to the Hebrew letter siri)', and i" (value /s/, corresponds to tlie Hebrew letter samecK). South Arabian, Old and Modern, is the only part of Semitic that preserves all three of these consonants, commonly reconstructed for Proto-Semitic.
The study of Old South Arabian grammar suffers from two special handicaps. The first difficulty is that its orthography is tlie most relentlessly devoid of vowels of the Semitic writing systems. No vocalization system was ever developed for it, and tlie consonantal writing system gives few or no hints about vocalization (e. g., by the more-or-less systematic use of w, y, h, and aleph, as in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Arabic). Consequently, there are many aspects of the phonology, morphology, and lexicon of Old South Arabian—some of them crucial for an exact historical classification—that are completely opaque to us. For example, the third-person singular masculine imperfective, written yqtl, could have been pronounced lyaqtiiluj (as in Arabic), or lyaqtull, or lyiqattilj (as in Etliiopic; cf. the Middle South Arabian Socotri yakotdb and also the Akltadian ipaqqid), or lyaqattiluj, or any of a number of other possibilities—each of which would have important implications for the history of Soutli Semitic and the development and differentiation of the Semitic language family generally. The second difficulty arises from a unique stylistic peculiarity of Old South Arabian: although there are many thousands of texts, they are all confined to discourse in the third person, making virtually no use of any first - or second-person forms, pronominal or verbal. Consequently, although we know that the third-person singular forms, masculine and feminine, of the perfective tense are qtl and qtlt (cf. Arabic and Ethiopic qatala and qatalat), we do not know whether the first and second person would have been with a t, as in Arabic (qataltu and qatalta; Hebrew and Aramaic are similar), or with a k, as in Ethiopic {qatalku and qatalkai cf. Socotri katabk, katabk).
In spite of these uncertainties the independent, and archaic, nature of Old (and Modern) Soutli Arabian is amply indicated in its pronominal system (and in the causative prefix for the verb). Many South Arabian languages use an element s (also attested in Akkadian), as opposed to the hj’ found in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Arabic (also Ethiopic and Sabaic; Ugaritic uses a mixed system). Compare the element his in the following centers and languages: Ma'in, Qataban, and Hadhramaut (wzu); Jibbali. t; Socotri s/hi Mehri h; Sabaic hw, Ethiopic hu', and Akkadian su.
[5ee also Ethiopic; Hadhramaut; Semitic Languages.]
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Beeston, A. F. L. A Descriptive Grammar of Epigraphic South Arabian.
London, 1962. Basic grammar covering all the dialects.
Beeston, A. F. L., et al. Sabaic Dictionary: English-French-Arabic. Lou-vain-la-Neuve, 1982. Authoritative dictionary for the Sabaic dialect. Beeston, A. F. L. Sabaic Grammar. Journal of Semitic Studies Monograph, no. 6. Manchester, 1984. Contains more detailed information than Beeston (1962), but only for tire Sabaic dialect.
Biella, Joan C. Dictionary of Old South Arabic: Sabaean Dialect. Harvard Semitic Smdies, no. 25. Chico, Calif., 1982. Provides a range of textual citations for each word, but meanings should be cross-checked with Beeston et al. (1982).
Cotpus des inscriptions et antiquil. es sud-arabes. Louvain, 1977-. Authoritative editions, copies, photographs, and translations (usually in French or English) of more recently discovered texts. Continues several earlier series of text publications, in particular the Cotpus In-scriptionum Semiticarum, part 4 (Paris, 1889-1929), and the Repertoire d’epigraphie simitique, vols. 5-8 (Paris, 1928-1968).
Johnstone, Thomas M. The Modern South Arabian Languages. Afroas-iatic Linguistics, 1/5. Malibu, 1975. Identifies and provides outline grammars of tire major surviving South Arabian languages. Johnstone, Thomas M. Harsusi Lexicon and Bnglish-Harsusi Word-List. London, 1977. Introduction gives phonological notes on this Mehri dialect.
Johnstone, Thomas Mi. Jibbali laixicon. New York, 1981. Provides more comprehensive grammatical information on this language titan w'as available in 1975.
Johnstone, Thomas M. Mehri Lexicon and English-Mehri Word-List. London, 1987. Includes a long grammatical introduction and index of English definitions in tlte Jibbali lexicon.
Ricks, Stephan D. Lexicon of Inscriptional Qatabanian. Studia Pohl, no. 14. Rome, 1989. The only dictionary to date tltat provides lexical coverage of a non-Sabaic Old South Arabian dialect.
Gene Gragg
SOUTHEAST DEAD SEA PLAIN. In the Hebrew Scriptures the plain to the southeast of the Dead Sea is often described as devastated and unlivable, the probable location of tlie destroyed Cities of tlie Plain {Gn. 19:25, 29; Dt. 29:22). From Hellenistic times through the medieval Islamic period, the remnant site of Zoar (Gw. 19:22; Byzantine Zoara; Lat. Segor; Ar., Zughar) was located there. Recent archaeological surveys and excavations have traced a long occupational history for tlie region, beginning with the Pa-leolitltic and Neolithic periods, with extensive and flourishing cultures during tire Early Bronze, Nabatean-Roman, Byzantine, and Mamluk periods.
The northern limit of the habitable region is opposite tlie tip of the Lisan peninsula, slightly to tlie north of Wadi Jarra, where a steep ridge of hills descends only 250 m from tlie shoreline. A semicircle of high limestone cliffs 50 km (31 mi.) to the south, at the entrance to the 'Arabah defines tlie lower boundary. Between these limits, beginning at about —300 m mean sea level (m. s.L), a series of ghors (valley floors), many with alluvial cones, are fed by perennial streams in wadis descending from the 1,200-meter-high mountains of the Jordanian plateau. Settlement has concentrated on the bordering hills or broad plains in and above the ghors. From north to south the major wadis are Ibn-Hamid, Kerak (including the Wadi edh-Dhra‘ in its lower reaches), ‘Isal, Numeira, Hasa, Feifa, and Khanazir.
Unusual physical features have contributed to the lore and legend associated with this region. Salt-encrusted mud flats; rock-strewn plains; a desolate peninsula of sterile marl, clay, and thin layers of sulphur; constant mind-dulling, searing heat for most of the year, and an annual rainfall averaging 70 mm have led commentators to describe the region as a veritable hell, condemned by nature, and even by God (cf. the Hebrew prophets). Yet, during the winter months, with moderate temperatures and the wadis fed by the winter rains in the mountains above, it turns into a paradise—certainly a location pleasant enough to have allowed for major cultural occupation over lengthy periods.
Klnowledge of the area’s occupational history has emerged only gradually. Nineteenth - and early twentieth-century explorers and geographers often described ruins such as Sheildi Issa, Qasr at-Tuba, and Tawahin es-Sukkar in the Safi area, but tliey lacked chronological clues. A 1924 survey by William Foxwell Albright, Alexis Mallon, and M. G. Kyle was die first to date some of the sites, including the major site of Bab edh-Dhra‘, witit reliable ceramic evidence. [&e Bab edh-Dhra‘; and the biographies of Albright and Mallon.] Subsequent visits to the area by F. M. Abel (1929), F. Frank (1932), and Nelson Glueck (1934) drew attention to additional sites on the Lisan, at Wadi es-Safi, and near Feifa. [5ee the biographies of Abel and Glueck.] Since 1973, more intensive and extensive surveys have built up an impressive list of sites. Walter Rast and R. Thomas Schaub (1973) have highlighted tlie Early Bronze Age and G. R. D. King (1982) the Byzantine and later periods. Others have focused on subregions, such as David McCreery (1977), Vincent Clark
(1977), and Mark McConaughy (1977) on the Sahl edh-Dhra‘ region; Siegfried Mittmann (1979) and Linda Jacobs (1981) on Wadi Isal; Franlt Koucky (1983) on the Ghor en-Numeira; Udo Worschech (1983-1986) on theArd el-Kerak (mostly on die slopes to the east, but sites to the north and east of edh-Dhra‘ in the Ghor were included); and Burton MacDonald (1985-1986) on the Southern Ghors, south of Safi.
Excavated sites include Bab edh-Dhra‘ (Lapp, 19651967); Bab edh-Dhra‘ and Numeira (Expedition to the Southeast Dead Sea Plain [EDSP], 1975-1983); Feifa and Khanazir (EDSP, 1989-1990); Waidha, near Dhra‘ (Koer-ber, 1992); the Chalcolithic cemetery at Bab edh-Dhra' (Clark, 1977); Neolithic Dhra‘ (Bennett, 1979) and 'Ain Abata (Politis, 1989-1992). [YeeDhra'.]
Paul W. Lapp’s excavations (see above) and tiiose of the EDSP have made the Early Bronze Age the best-known period in the Ghor. Two towns, Bab edh-Dhra' and Numeira, were excavated over four seasons. Bab edh-Dhra' grew from an open village at the end of the fourth millennium to a 12-acre town with massive fortifications, an impressive sanctuary, and well-defined industrial and domestic areas. After a destruction in EB III it was again settled as a sprawling village in EB IV. The walled town of Numeira, which has many features in common with Bab edh-Dhra', also flourished in EB III. In tire large cemetery at Bab edh-Dhra' changing burial practices (multichambered shaft tombs, large burial houses, and single stone-lined shaft tombs) correspond to the major phases of the Early Bronze Age. Other cemeteries are at Feifa and Safi, where Late Chalcolithic/EB I cist tombs are the basic type; the Khanazir cemetery has stone-lined EB IV shaft tombs marked on the surface by rectangular structures. [See Burial Techniques.]
Other periods explored by soundings and excavations are the Neolithic, Chalcolithic, Iron II, and Byzantine. Dhra' is a pit-dwelling and flint factory site in tlie Sahl edh-Dhra' belonging to Pottery Neolitliic (PN) A. The EDSP also exposed similar PNA levels during its 1989 excavations in tlie plateau area east of Tell Feifa. In the Sahl edh-Dhra', seventeen tombs, constructed of concentric stone circles with monolithic stones in the center, were excavated and assigned to tlie Early Chalcolithic period. Soundings at Feifa by the EDSP in 1989-1990 revealed a walled town built in Iron II over EB I tombs. Five seasons of work at tlie Byzantine site of Deir ‘Ain Abata, north of Safi, revealed an impressive reservoir with a water catchment and distribution system and a three-apse basilica built next to a cave. Three mosaic pavements were uncovered that include Greek inscriptions, one of which mentions Lot (Politis, 1993).
Although surveys have listed more than two hundred sites, the majority of sites are small flint or sherd scatters. If the list is restricted to sites with excavated occupational levels or visible architectural remains, it is possible to define basic elements in the settlement patterns. Large to medium Mam-luk occupational sites are most numerous (ten), followed by Early Bronze (five), Byzantine (five), Chalcolithic (four), Nabatean (four), Roman (two). Iron II (two), and PNA (two). The sites are consistently associated with the major wadis. During the Chalcolitliic and Early Bronze Ages, settlement appears to have been confined to the nortli (Wadis Kerak and Numeira), although there are also large cemeteries in the south at Safi (Wadi el-Hasa), Feifa, and KLana-zir. In the Iron Age, settlements are found only in the south (Kdianazir, Feifa, and possibly Safi). Nabatean-Roman and Byzantine sites are found associated with the Wadis Kerak, Hasa, Numeira, and Feifa. Mamlult sites are found in all of tliose wadis, as well as In Wadi Ibn-Hamid and ‘Isal in the north.
One of the largest later sites is the Late Roman site of Umm et-Tawabin. It is a walled site (2.5 Ion [1.5 mi.] in circumference) built on a high ledge on the south bank of Wadi el-Hasa. A large tower at tire southeast corner and many structures, large and small, are visible within the enclosure wall. Later periods represented include Byzantine to Mamluk.
The need to locate near perennial streams in order to have access to water for irrigating fields and running mills is obvious. Evidence from EB cultures shows that irrigation was extensively practiced then, as it has been in all of the periods in which the Ghor flourished. Other water-management practices include aqueducts (either Byzantine or Islamic), remnants of which are found in Wadis Khanazir and Kerak, and large reservoirs (Byzantine) in the Safi area and Wadi Isal (Byzantine) and even on the Lisan peninsula (Islamic). [5ee Aqueducts; Reservoirs.]
Another reason for locating towns and villages near wadis was to guard the access routes to the highlands. Ottoman Turkish police posts and modern military emplacements follow the same reasoning. Attempts to record ancient trade routes have been most successful in the north: Linda Jacobs has traced a road down Wadi Isal and across the Lisan whose period of use is either Roman or Byzantine; Mitt-mann argues that tlie same track was used in tire Iron Age; and Worschech has traced remnants of road systems in Wadi Kerak. The walled ruins of er-Rishi (one is Early Bronze and a second is Nabatean), located where Wadi Kerak enters the Sahl edh-Dhra‘, suggest the use of this route during those periods.
One striking feature of the settlements, first noted by Albright, is the lack of true tells. EB, Iron II, and Nabatean sites are usually surface ruins witli no later occupations. Later settlements appear to have been built on earlier sites only since Byzantine times. Recent geological studies offer one explanation of these changing settlement patterns: analysis of measurements taken over the last 150 years shows a dependence of the Dead Sea levels on rainfall patterns in the mountains to the east and west. Further studies drawing on geological and archaeological evidence, together with ancient literature and maps, provide convincing arguments for major past fluctuations of the Dead Sea. The current low level of —400 m m. s.l., which has produced a dry south basin and a ford across the Lisan from west to east, has occurred many times in the past. There have also been several high points within the last three thousand years, during which the level of the sea rose 25-30 m, with one estimate of a rise of 70 m to a level of —330 m during the first century BCE. The most recent appraisal is for a Dead Sea level of -295 m m. s.l. from the mid-fourth to mid-third millennia. These proposed fluctuating levels of the Dead Sea correlate well with the known elevations of archeological sites during historical times. The primary early sites (Neolithic, Chalcolithic, and Early Bronze) are all above —300 m m. s.l. The latest Mamluk sites range in elevation from -290 to —366 m, witli most in the —320 to —360 m range.
Attempts to identify archaeological sites with place names mentioned in literary sources have met with varying degrees of success. The biblical Cities of the Plain (G«. 13:12, 19:29), Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Seboiim, andZoar (Gn. 14:2, 8) have been located in the soutli hy most commentators, although some have argued for a location nor± of the Dead Sea. Others have tried to place the ruins of these cities below the southern basin of the Dead Sea (generally rejected today). Recently, several efforts have linked the cities with the EB ruins at Bab edh-Dhra' and Numeira. Otliers continue to stress the mytlrical, ahistorical quality of the ancient traditions. In oracles about Moab, Zoar is mentioned in connection with the ascent of Luhith, the road to Horon-aim and the waters of Nimrin (7s. 15-16; Jer. 48). [5ee Moab.] The first two have been placed at tire head of Wadi ‘Isal by Mittmann, and Nimrin has been identified by some with Wadi Numeira.
Zoar is the most frequently mentioned site in die literature. Josephus lists it among tire cities of Moab {Antiq. 13.15.4; 14.1.4) and Ptolemy as a town in Arabia Petrea. Under Diocletian it is part of the southern region (Palaestina Tertia). Zoora is mentioned frequently in the Onomasticon of Eusebius and on the Madaba map it is shown as a three-towered fort under tlie name of Balak (Septuagint) and Zoora. [.See Madaba.] A Hebrew document from the Cairo geniza mentions Zoar. To tire Crusaders tlie place was known as Segor (Vulgate) and the Place of Palms (Pal-maria) . During the Middle Ages, Arab geographers describe the prosperity of Sugar or (Zughar). As a major commercial center it exported dates, indigo, sugar, and balm.
Although some have identified the Byzantine Zoara witli the mound of Sheikh Issa, recent surveys have interpreted this site as dominantly Mamluk. It seems likely tliat Zoar was located In different areas of the Safi region throughout its history, with placement probably influenced by the changing shoreline of the Dead Sea and erosional patterns
In Wadi el-Hasa. Umm et-Tawabin is the most likely identification for Zoar of the Nabatean-Roman period, and Qasr et-Tuba may offer a remnant of the Byzantine Zoar. The monastic complex at 'Ain Abata witli the Lot inscription may be identified with the building on the Madaba map with the notation “Agios L(ot).” Tawahin es-Suldtar, and perhaps the mound of Sheikh Issa, represents the flourishing Zughar of the Mamluk period. Other sites mentioned in the literature include Naarsafari, a Roman fort, probably Bu-leida near Wadi Kerak, and Beth Nimrin, a road station, probably the Rujm en-Numeira.
[See also Hasa, Wadi el-; Southern Ghors and Northeast 'Arabah. l
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary Sources
Avi-Yonah, Michael. The Madaba Mosaic Map. Jeru&altm, 1954. Color reproductions of the map with comments and bibliography on die place names. See plates 3 and 4 for the southeast Dead Sea region.
Bennett, Crystal-M. “Soundings at Dhra‘, Jordan.” Levant 12 (tgSo): 30-39.
King, G. R. D., et al. “Survey of Byzantine and Islamic Sites in Jordan: Third Season Preliminary Report (1982), the Southern Ghor.” Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 31 (1987): 439-459.
Le Strange, Guy, trans. Palestine under the Moslems: A Description of Syria and the Holy Land from A. D. 650 to i $oo (1890). Beirut, 1965. See pages 286-292 for translated passages of references to Zughar and the cities of Lot.
MacDonald, Burton. The Southern Ghors and Northeast ‘Arabah Archaeological Survey. Sheffield Archaeological Monographs, 5. Sheffield, 1992. Results of the most recent survey in the Safi, Feifa, and Khanazir areas.
Rast, Walter E., and R. Thomas Schaub, eds. The Southeastern Dead Sea Plain Expedition: An Interim Report of the 2977 Season. Annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research, 46. Cambridge, Mass., 1981. The articles by Ortner, Donahue, Harlan, McCreery, Ado-vasio and Andrews, and Finnegan provide necessary background for interpreting the Bronze Age settlement patterns.
Schaub, R. Thomas, and Walter E. Rast. Bab edh-DhrS.': Excavations in the Cemetery Directed by Paul W. Ijipp, 7965-67. Reports of the Expedition to the Dead Sea Plain, Jordan, vol. i. Winona Lake, Ind., 1989. Final report of Lapp’s cemetery excavations. Includes analytical and synthetic studies of all die artifacts and interpretation of tlie cultural and historical significance of the cemetery; a summary of previous work in the southeast Dead Sea region (chap, i); and a complete bibliography on the Early Bronze Age of tlie Southeast Dead Sea Plain.
Secondary Sources
Gubser, Peter. Politics and Change in Al-Karak, Jordan. London, 1973. Sociopolitical study of the Kerak district (including the Southern Ghors) focused on the fabric and dynamics of traditional and contemporary political society. Offers interesting insights for understanding the relationship between settlements in tlie highlands and the Lower Ghors.
Harland, J. Penrose. “Sodom and Gomorrah. Part I. The Location of the Cities of the Plain” and “Part II. The Destruction of the Cities of the Plain.” In Biblical Archaeologist Reader, edited by G. Ernest Wright and David Noel Freedman, pp. 41-75. Garden City, N. Y., ig6i. Outdated on the archaeological and geological sections but helpful in bringing togetlier summaries and many of the texts of ancient writers on the Dead Sea and the Sodom tradition.
Howard, David M., Jr. “Sodom and Gomorrah Revisited.” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 27 (1984): 385-400. Offers a conservative interpretation of the biblical texts, witli summaries of references to Zoar in the literature. The assessment of archaeological evidence needs to be supplemented with the article by Rast (below).
Kltouri, Rami G. The Antiquities of the Jordan Rift Valley. Amman, 1988. Popular, detailed, readable summary of tlie most recent archaeological surveys in the Southern Ghors, based on published accounts, interviews with the archaeologists, and extensive trips to tlie area.
Krieger, Barbara. Living Waters: Myth, History, and Politics of the Dead Sea. New York, 1988. Balanced account of ancient stories, current theories, present exploitation, and future possibilities of the Dead Sea region.
Politis, Konstantinos D. ‘“Ain 'Abata.” In The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land, vol. i, pp. 336-338. Jerusalem and New York, 1993.
Rast, Walter E. “Bab edh-Dhra and the Origin of the Sodom Saga.” In Archaeology and Biblical Inteiprelalion: Essays in Memory of D. Glenn Rose, edited by Leo G. Perdue et al., pp. 185-201. Atlanta, 1987. Examines the Sodom tradition, integrating research on its origins with recent archaeological evidence. Excellent bibliography.
Schaub, R. Thomas. “Bab edh-Dlira‘.” In The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land, vol. i, pp. 130-136. Jerusalem and New York, 1993. Convenient, up-to-date summary of the archaeological results in die site and cemetery.
R. Thomas Schaub
SOUTHERN GHORS AND NORTHEAST ‘ARABAH. Jordan’s southern Ghors and northeast ‘Ara-bah are part of the Great African Rift Valley that extends from Turkey in the north to Mozambique in tlie soutli. The southern Ghors includes the area along the east side of the Dead Sea, from Wadi Ibn Hammad, at the northern edge of the Lisan Peninsula, to Ghor KJiuneizir, where there is a major east-west escarpment. (Ghors refers to the land areas or alluvial fans at the moutlis of wadis entering tlie Rift Valley from the east.) Wadi ‘Arabah extends from this point to 'Aqaba on tlie Red Sea. Elevations in the southern Ghors range from about 390 to about 300 m below sea level in a north-south direction. The escarpment is characterized by a very sharp rise in elevation, from 300 to 200 m below sea level, over a very shoit distance. The terrain at tlie soutliern end of the escarpment is heavily eroded and dissected. In tlie ‘Arabah, elevations rise toward the south to above sea level and then drop down to the Red Sea. The terrain to the east and west of the southern Ghors and northeast ‘Arabah rises to more than 1,000 m above sea level.
Burton MacDonald carried out extensive archaeological work, namely, the Southern Ghors and Northeast ‘Arabah Archaeological Survey (SGNAS), in a portion of the abovedescribed territory in 1985-1986. He published a final report in 1992 (see below). SGNAS surveyed 240 sites, from just north of es-Safi southward to Wadi Fidan. The distance surveyed from north-south is about 40 km (25 mi.); tire width is considerably less because of the international border to the west and an increasingly rugged terrain to the east. The Early Bronze Age sites of Bab edh-Dhra‘ and Numeira, as well as the Pottery Neolithic-EB site of Dhra' are located in the Southern Ghors. However, they are located to the north of the SGNAS survey territory. [See Bab edh-Dhra‘; Dhra'.]
The work of SGNAS indicates that the earliest occupational evidence (recovered at only one site) is to be attributed to the Lower/Middle Paleolithic period. Middle Paleolithic sites are also few in number and limited in site. Sites from both periods are restricted to the southern segment of the territory, which is understandable, given the high levels of Lake Lisan during the Paleolithic periods. SGNAS found neither Upper Paleolithic nor Epipaleolithic sites in the survey territory. Both Pre-Pottery and Pottery Neolithic sites are present. The Chalcolithic period is represented by both lithics and ceramics. Occupation appears to intensify during the Chalcolithic/EB period. Not only is there evidence of occupation throughout the territory, but the number of sites increases as well. It is possible that copper mining and smelting began in the area at this time. The Early Bronze is also represented by both lithics and ceramics tliroughout the area. These artifacts are mostly found in association with human skeletal remains, however. There are EBI cemeteries at both es-Safi and Feifa and EB IV cemeteries in the central segment of the area in particular. SGNAS did not identify either Middle Bronze or Late Bronze occupational evidence. An Iron I presence is associated especially with mining and smelting sites in the southern extremity. The number of sherds and sites indicates increased occupation and activity in the region during Iron II. Natural resources, such as copper-manganese ores, were probably extensively exploited at tills time. Altliough SGNAS found Hellenistic sherds only in the central segment, there are major Late Plellenistic-Early Roman and/or Nabatean sites in tlie area. There is evidence of copper mining and smelting during the first-fourth centuries CE in the region, immediately south of the survey territory. Byzantine period sites are the most numerous of any period sites. The entire area of the southern Ghors appears to have been fertile for growing and processing sugar cane and indigo during the Early Islamic period. There is ceramic evidence for occupation during tlie Late Islamic/Ottoman period. Moreover, there are eye-witness accounts of a village in the neighborhood of es-Safi during the nineteenth century.
Prior to the work done by SGNAS, William Foxwell Albright (1924) made soundings at Khirbet Sheikh ‘Isa, southwest of modern es-Safi. In addition, Fritz Frank (1934), Nelson Glueck (1934), Walter E. Rast and R. Thomas Schaub (1974), Thomas D. Raikes (1980,1985), and G. R. D. King (1987, 1989) surveyed parts of die SGNAS territory. Since 1986 archaeologists, primarily under the auspices of the
American Schools of Oriental Research and the British In-stimte at Amman for Archaeology and Flistory, have excavated a number of the SGNAS sites. Their results have tended to support the findings of SGNAS.
Between 1988 and 1992, Konstantinos D. Politis (1989, 1990) excavated Deir ‘Ain ‘Abata, a Byzantine monastery/ church complex located halfway up a high mountain north of the Wadi el-Hasa gorge. [See Hasa, Wadi el-.] Excavations uncovered a seven-arched reservoir, a church with mosaics and inscriptions, and an associated cave. The site could be tlie Sanctuary of St. Lot depicted on the Madaba map (see Gn. 19:30). The excavator dates the main occupation of the site from the fourth to the beginning of the seventh century ce.
Rast and Schaub excavated at Feifa and Khirbet Khu-neizir in 1989-1990. Excavated materials at Feifa include Pottery Neolithic occupation levels; EB lA (or slightly earlier) and EB IB tombs; and a fortress consisting of a tower surrounded (perhaps a fortress) by a wail dating to the eighth century bce. The latter structure is built over EB I tombs. The structures excavated at Khirbet Khuneizir are EB IV tombs.
Russell B. Adams (1991) mapped tlie visible architectural remains and excavated four sites in Wadi Fidan between 1989 and 1992. Plis work uncovered Pre-pottery Neolithic B, Late Chalcolithic, and EB I remains. The Late Chalcol-itliic and EB I remains appear to be associated with metallurgy.
Andreas Flauptmann and Gerd Weisgerber (1992) of the Deutsches Bergbau-Museum, Bochum, Germany, investigated ore exploitation and metal production in Wadi Fidan and in tlie territory immediately to the south, especially in Wadi Feinan. [5'ee Feinan.]
[See also Soutlieast Dead Sea Plain.]
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Adams, Russell B. “The Wadi Fidan Project, Jordan, 1989.” levant. 23 (1991): 181-183. An investigation of several Neolitliic-Chalcolithic sites.
Albright, William Foxwell. “The Archaeological Results of an Expedition to Moab and tlie Dead Sea.” Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, no. 14 (1924): 2-12. A brief account of Albright’s work at Khirbet Sheikh ‘Isa.
Frank, Fritz. “Aus der ‘Araba I: Reiseberichte.” Zeitschrift des Deutschen Paldstina-Vereins 57 (1934): 191-280. Ought to be compared with Nelson Glueck’s explorations in the area.
Glueck, Nelson, Explorations in Eastern Palestine. Vol. 2. Annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research, 15. New Haven, 1934. Important for early exploration of the area.
Hauptmann, Andreas, and Gerd Weisgerber. “Periods of Ore Exploitation and Metal Production in the Area of Feinan, Wadi ‘Arabah, Jordan.” In Studies in the History and Archaeology of Jordan, vol, 4, edited by Ghazi Bisheh, pp. 61-66. Amman, 1992. Breaks new ground for mining-archaeological studies in Jordan.
King, G, R. D., et al. “Survey of Byzantine and Islamic Sites in Jordan:
Third Season Preliminary Report (1982), the Southern Ghor.” Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 31 (1987); 439~459-
King, G. R. D., et al. “Survey of Byzantine and Islamic Sites in Jordan: Third Preliminary Report (1982), the Wadi 'Arabah (Part 2).” Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 33 (1989): 199-215. King’s interests relate to the Byzantine and Islamic periods.
MacDonald, Burton. The Southern Ghors and Northeast 'Arabah Archaeological Survey. Sheffield Archaeological Monographs, 5. Sheffield, 1992. The most up-to-date study of the area’s archaeological remains.
Politis, Konstantinos D. “Excavations at Deir ‘Ain ‘Abate, 1988.’’ Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 33 (1989): 227-233. The site could be tire Byzantine sanctuary of St. Lot.
Politis, Konstantinos D. “Excavations at Deir 'Ain ‘Abate, 1990.” Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 34 (1990): 377-388.
Raikes, Thomas D. “Notes on Some Neolithic and Later Sites in the Wadi Araba and the Dead Sea Valley.” Uvant 12 (1980): 40-60.
Raikes, Thomas D. “The Character of the Wadi Araba.” In Studies in the History and Archaeology of Jordan, vol. 2, edited by Adnan Hadidi, pp. 95-101. Amman, 1985. Work carried out to a large extent in conjunction witii the building of the modern highway from es-Safi to ‘Aqaba.
Rast, Walter E., and R. Thomas Schaub. “Survey of the Southeastern Plain of the Dead Sea, 1973.” Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 19 (1974); 5-53' Survey followed upon the work of Paul Lapp at Bab edh-Dhra‘.
Bukton MacDonald
World History
