Heshbon (also Hesebon, Esebon, Esbous, Esebus; ar, حشبون, links=no, la, Esebus, links=no, he, חשבון, links=no, grc, Ἐσεβών, Ἐσσεβών, Ἐσβούτα, Ἐσβούς, Ἔσβους, Ἔξβους, links=no) were at least two different ancient towns located east of the

Jordan River The Jordan River or River Jordan ( ar, نَهْر الْأُرْدُنّ, ''Nahr al-ʾUrdunn'', he, נְהַר הַיַּרְדֵּן, ''Nəhar hayYardēn''; syc, ܢܗܪܐ ܕܝܘܪܕܢܢ ''Nahrāʾ Yurdnan''), also known as ''Nahr Al-Shariea ...

in what is now the Kingdom of

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

, historically within the territories of ancient

Ammon Ammon (Ammonite: 𐤏𐤌𐤍 ''ʻAmān''; he, עַמּוֹן ''ʻAmmōn''; ar, عمّون, ʻAmmūn) was an ancient Semitic-speaking nation occupying the east of the Jordan River, between the torrent valleys of Arnon and Jabbok, in ...

. The Bronze Age Heshbon of biblical King Sihon has not been identified. The town of Esbus from the Roman and Byzantine period has been identified with a tell (archaeological mound) known in Arabic as Tell Hisban or Tell Ḥesbān.

Location of Tell Hisban

The Roman and Byzantine town is believed to have been located at the ruin called Hesbân or

Hisban Hisban ( ar, حسبان) is a town in the Amman Governorate of north-western Jordan. Tell Hisban is one of a few possible locations thought to be biblical Heshbon Heshbon (also Hesebon, Esebon, Esbous, Esebus; ar, حشبون, links=no, la, E ...

, about southwest of

Amman Amman (; ar, عَمَّان, ' ; Ammonite: 𐤓𐤁𐤕 𐤏𐤌𐤍 ''Rabat ʻAmān'') is the capital and largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of 4,061,150 as of 2021, Amman is ...

, and to the north of Madaba, on one of the highest summits of the mountains of Moab. A large ruined reservoir is located east of the place, and below the town there is a fountain.

Biblical reference to Heshbon

Ancient Heshbon was beyond, i.e. east of, the Jordan. The city was where the Israelites passed by on their entry to the

Promised Land The Promised Land ( he, הארץ המובטחת, translit.: ''ha'aretz hamuvtakhat''; ar, أرض الميعاد, translit.: ''ard al-mi'ad; also known as "The Land of Milk and Honey"'') is the land which, according to the Tanakh (the Hebrew ...

, and was assigned to the

tribe of Reuben According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Reuben () was one of the twelve tribes of Israel. Unlike the majority of the tribes, the land of Reuben, along with that of Gad and half of Manasseh, was on the eastern side of the Jordan and shared a ...

; afterwards it was given to the

Tribe of Gad According to the Bible, the Tribe of Gad () was one of the Twelve Tribes of Israel who, after the Exodus from Egypt, settled on the eastern side of the Jordan River. It is one of the ten lost tribes.Tribe still originated from the original Hebr ...

and became a Levitical city for the Merarites. Heshbon is mentioned in the

Tanakh The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Numbers and

Deuteronomy Deuteronomy ( grc, Δευτερονόμιον, Deuteronómion, second law) is the fifth and last book of the Torah (in Judaism), where it is called (Hebrew: hbo, , Dəḇārīm, hewords Moses.html"_;"title="f_Moses">f_Moseslabel=none)_and_th ...

as the capital of

Amorite The Amorites (; sux, 𒈥𒌅, MAR.TU; Akkadian: 𒀀𒈬𒊒𒌝 or 𒋾𒀉𒉡𒌝/𒊎 ; he, אֱמוֹרִי, 'Ĕmōrī; grc, Ἀμορραῖοι) were an ancient Northwest Semitic-speaking people from the Levant who also occupied lar ...

king, Sihon (also known as Sehon). The biblical narrative records the story of the

Israelite The Israelites (; , , ) were a group of Semitic-speaking tribes in the ancient Near East who, during the Iron Age, inhabited a part of Canaan. The earliest recorded evidence of a people by the name of Israel appears in the Merneptah Stel ...

victory over Sihon during the time of the

Exodus Exodus or the Exodus may refer to: Religion * Book of Exodus, second book of the Hebrew Torah and the Christian Bible * The Exodus, the biblical story of the migration of the ancient Israelites from Egypt into Canaan Historical events * E ...

under the leadership of

Moses Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu ( Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pr ...

. Heshbon is highlighted due to its importance as the capital of Sihon, King of the Amorites: :"For Heshbon was the city of Sihon, king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and had taken all his land out of his hand, as far as the Arnon." Similar passages appear in Deuteronomy and

Joshua Joshua () or Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' lit. 'Yahweh is salvation') ''Yēšūaʿ''; syr, ܝܫܘܥ ܒܪ ܢܘܢ ''Yəšūʿ bar Nōn''; el, Ἰησοῦς, ar , يُوشَعُ ٱبْنُ نُونٍ '' Yūšaʿ ...

, with the primary emphasis being the victory of the Israelites over King Sihon at the site of Heshbon. Moses died soon after the victory, after viewing the "promised land" from the top of Mount Nebo. Following the death of Moses, Heshbon became a town at the border between the lands allocated to the

Tribe of Reuben According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Reuben () was one of the twelve tribes of Israel. Unlike the majority of the tribes, the land of Reuben, along with that of Gad and half of Manasseh, was on the eastern side of the Jordan and shared a ...

and the Tribe of Gad. Further biblical evidence suggests that the town later came under

Moab Moab ''Mōáb''; Assyrian: 𒈬𒀪𒁀𒀀𒀀 ''Mu'abâ'', 𒈠𒀪𒁀𒀀𒀀 ''Ma'bâ'', 𒈠𒀪𒀊 ''Ma'ab''; Egyptian: 𓈗𓇋𓃀𓅱𓈉 ''Mū'ībū'', name=, group= () is the name of an ancient Levantine kingdom whose territ ...

ite control, as mentioned by

Isaiah Isaiah ( or ; he, , ''Yəšaʿyāhū'', "God is Salvation"), also known as Isaias, was the 8th-century BC Israelite prophet after whom the Book of Isaiah is named. Within the text of the Book of Isaiah, Isaiah himself is referred to as "the ...

and

Jeremiah Jeremiah, Modern: , Tiberian: ; el, Ἰερεμίας, Ieremíās; meaning "Yah shall raise" (c. 650 – c. 570 BC), also called Jeremias or the "weeping prophet", was one of the major prophets of the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewis ...

in their denunciations of Moab, and later under

Ammonite Ammonoids are a group of extinct marine mollusc animals in the subclass Ammonoidea of the class Cephalopoda. These molluscs, commonly referred to as ammonites, are more closely related to living coleoids (i.e., octopuses, squid and cuttlefis ...

occupation as Jeremiah 49:3 strongly suggests. Heshbon also appears in the Song of Solomon, where the poet likens his love's eyes to "the pools of Heshbon", which refers to the magnificent fish-pools of Heshbon.

Historical reference to classical towns

Herodian Es(e)bonitis/Sebonitis: possibly elsewhere

The name occurs in Josephus very often under the form ''Esbonitis'' or ''Sebonitis''. According to

Josephus Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for '' The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly ...

, Heshbon was in the possession of the

Judea Judea or Judaea ( or ; from he, יהודה, Standard ''Yəhūda'', Tiberian ''Yehūḏā''; el, Ἰουδαία, ; la, Iūdaea) is an ancient, historic, Biblical Hebrew, contemporaneous Latin, and the modern-day name of the mountainous so ...

ns since Alexander Jannaeus the Maccabee (106–79 B.C.) took it and made it a Jewish town.

Herod the Great Herod I (; ; grc-gre, ; c. 72 – 4 or 1 BCE), also known as Herod the Great, was a Roman Jewish client king of Judea, referred to as the Herodian kingdom. He is known for his colossal building projects throughout Judea, including his renova ...

is also said to have had jurisdiction over the town and established a fort there. However, this town might not be identical with Tell Hesban: Josephus tell us that Pheroras, the younger brother of

and tetrarch of Perea, had his residence at Esebonitis. This Esebonitis, described as a strongly fortified garrison town, has not been firmly identified and might be identical with either Machaerus, a site well researched by archaeologists and closely resembling Josephus's description of Esebonitis, with Amathus, or with Gadora, the later placed by researchers at Tell Jadur near

Salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quant ...

Late Roman Esebon, Esboús

After the Great Revolt (

A.D. The terms (AD) and before Christ (BC) are used to label or number years in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The term is Medieval Latin and means 'in the year of the Lord', but is often presented using "our Lord" instead of "the Lord", ...

68–70) the country was invaded by the tribe that Pliny calls ''Arabes Esbonitae'', meaning "Arabs of (H)esebon". Restored under the name of ''Esboús'' or ''Esboúta'', it is mentioned among the towns of the Roman

Arabia Petraea Arabia Petraea or Petrea, also known as Rome's Arabian Province ( la, Provincia Arabia; ar, العربية البترائية; grc, Ἐπαρχία Πετραίας Ἀραβίας) or simply Arabia, was a frontier province of the Roman Emp ...

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importanc ...

Byzantine Hesebon

Under the Byzantines, as learned from

Eusebius Eusebius of Caesarea (; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος ; 260/265 – 30 May 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilus (from the grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος τοῦ Παμφίλου), was a Greek historian of Christianity, exegete, and Chris ...

' ''Onomasticon'', it grew to be a town of note in the province of Arabia; George of Cyprus refers to it in the seventh century and it was from Hesebon that the milestones on the Roman road to

Jericho Jericho ( ; ar, أريحا ; he, יְרִיחוֹ ) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank. It is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It is the administrative seat of the Jericho ...

were numbered. The Byzantine town is mentioned in the 3rd century CE Mosaic of Rehob.

Early Arab period

At the beginning of the Early Arab period, Hesebon was still the chief town of the Belka, a territory corresponding to the old kingdom of Sihon. It seems never to have been taken by the Crusaders.

History of excavation

In 1968, archaeological excavations were undertaken at the site of Tell Hesban (alternatively spelled ''Tall Hisban''). This excavation was the beginning of what became called the " Heshbon Expedition". This archaeological work was sponsored by

Andrews University Andrews University is a private Seventh-day Adventist university in Berrien Springs, Michigan. Founded in 1874 as Battle Creek College, it was the first higher education facility started by Seventh-day Adventists and is the flagship universi ...

and under the authority of the

American Schools of Oriental Research The American Society of Overseas Research (ASOR), founded in 1900 as the American School of Oriental Study and Research in Palestine, is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization based in Alexandria, Virginia which supports the research and teaching of ...

(ASOR). The Heshbon Expedition continued with excavation seasons through 1976. Following the cessation of Heshbon Expedition excavations, archaeological work at the site continued in 1996 under the Madaba Plains Project consortium. The site continues to be excavated into the 2010s; work is also ongoing to support archaeological tourism at the site.

Archaeological findings

Not the Bronze Age Heshbon

The lack of evidence for occupation during the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

led excavators to conclude that the site is not Sihon's Heshbon. William Dever's response was "The site was excavated in 1968–1976 in a large interdisciplinary project sponsored by a group of Seventh Day Adventist scholars who perhaps intended to “prove” the biblical traditions of the Israelite conquest of the site. Much to their consternation, however, the town turned out to be founded only in the Iron II period—long after any supposed conquest. There were only a few scattered remains of the 12th–11th century B.C. (pottery, but no architecture), and no trace whatsoever of occupation in the 13th century B.C. The excavators resolutely published their results, however, and reluctantly conceded that something was drastically wrong with the biblical story about Heshbon."

Roman-period Esbus

Classical period remains, however, confirmed its status as the Roman-period city of Esbus.

Byzantine period

Two churches have been discovered from the Byzantine era, and both churches produced impressive remains of mosaic floors. Particularly interesting is the nilotic (using motifs originating in the environs of the river

Nile The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered the longest riv ...

) mosaic of the presbytery of the North Church where the mosaicists have created a motif of a turtledove set on a nest made of an imaginary flower.Basema Hamarneh
"The River Nile and Egypt in the Mosaics of the Middle East"
christusrex.org

Ecclesiastical history

Hesebon is a

titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbi ...

of the ecclesiastical province of Arabia,

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdiction ...

Bostra Bosra ( ar, بُصْرَىٰ, Buṣrā), also spelled Bostra, Busrana, Bozrah, Bozra and officially called Busra al-Sham ( ar, بُصْرَىٰ ٱلشَّام, Buṣrā al-Shām), is a town in southern Syria, administratively belonging to the Dara ...

. Christianity took root there at an early period. Michel Le Quien (''Oriens christianus'' II, 863-64), and Pius Bonifacius Gams (''Series Episcoporum'', 435) mention three bishops between the fourth and seventh centuries: *Gennadius, present at the Council of Nicaea ( Heinrich Gelzer, ''Patrum Nicaen. Nomina'', p. lxi) *Zosys of Esbusa signature of the

Council of Ephesus The Council of Ephesus was a council of Christian bishops convened in Ephesus (near present-day Selçuk in Turkey) in AD 431 by the Roman Emperor Theodosius II. This third ecumenical council, an effort to attain consensus in the church t ...

in 431. *Zosius, whose name occurs in the lists of Chalcedon *Theodore, champion of orthodoxy against monothelism, who received (c. 649) from Pope Martin I a letter congratulating him on his resistance to the heresy and exhorting him to continue the struggle in conjunction with John of Philadelphia. To the latter the pope had entrusted the government of the patriarchates of Antioch and Jerusalem.

Konrad Eubel Konrad Eubel or Conradus Eubel (19 January 1842 – 5 February 1923) was a German Franciscan historian. He is known for his reference work, the ''Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi'', on medieval popes, cardinals and bishops. It appeared in thre ...

(''Hierarchia Catholica'', II, 168) mentions two Latin titulars of Hesebon in the latter part of the fifteenth century.

Hazboun family

The Hazboun family have long history roots from Heshbon.

References

External Links

Photos of Hesban
at the

American Center of Research The American Center of Research (ACOR) is a private, not-for-profit scholarly and educational organization. Based in Alexandria, Virginia, with a facility in Amman, Jordan, ACOR promotes knowledge of Jordan and the interconnected region, past and ...

{{Authority control Archaeological sites in Jordan Moab Hebrew Bible cities Torah cities Levitical cities Former populated places in Southwest Asia Former populated places in Jordan Ammon Tribe of Reuben