Vol.17,No.2 | [Article] A Border Site in the Iron Age Southern Levant

Borders in antiquity in general and during the Iron Age in particular, were very different from modern, formal borders, yet, they probably existed. This is also true regarding the Southern Levant which is located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean. The paper will discuss border types in antiquity and border sites  in  the  Iron  Age  (ca.  1,200–586  BCE)  Southern  Levant,  the  eastern Mediterranean. In particular the site of Khirbet ‘Aujah el-Foqa in the southern Jordan Valley, recently excavated, is discussed. This is a fortified small site located in a strategic spot in an arid border zone location. The area was probably the border between the ancient Kingdoms of Israel and Judah, as well as with the Ammonite Kingdom to the east. The site yielded a rich assemblage of pottery vessels from the 9th-8th centuries BCE as well as other finds, and was probably under the control of the Israelite Kingdom. During periods when stronger central administrations were evident there was more incentive to develop border sites also in marginal regions.