William Morton's Excavations at Dhiban, Jordan: 1955, 1956, 1965

迪班是约旦最重要的考古遗址之一。世纪，迪班因发现米沙铭文及其与《圣经》的联系而闻名，近100年来，迪班一直受到系统的探索。早期的考古项目主要对铁器时代的迪班感兴趣，当时它表面上是圣经中摩押王国的首都，在这方面他们都相当失望。威廉莫顿是这些早期的考古学家之一，圣经语言和历史教授，他在迪班从1950年至1953年的一部分，美国学校的东方研究挖掘队。莫顿在1955年接手了这个项目，并决定将挖掘工作转移到土堆的顶峰，希望能发现大量铁器时代的遗迹。莫顿在这里取得了不同寻常的成功，发现了大量的沉积物，可以追溯到摩押王国的鼎盛时期（约公元前200年）。公元前850-700年），其中大部分都与一座他称之为“米沙宫殿”的巨大建筑有关。尽管他对圣经感兴趣，莫顿也挖掘和记录了马穆鲁克时代的广泛地区（约1000年）。公元1265-1450年）覆盖铁器时代的住房仍然存在，在一段时间内经历了一个“繁荣和萧条”的扩张周期，然后是场地废弃。不幸的是，莫顿遭受了一些疾病后，挖掘迪班这使他无法发表他的结果。这个AHRC研究休假项目建议完成莫顿对迪班的挖掘的出版，使这些非常重要的结果首次向更广泛的世界提供。特别注意的是，在莫顿的三个主要挖掘区域内，将仔细整理出建筑和占领阶段的相对顺序，然后使用不同类型陶器的分布的正式分析，将这三个区域连接在一起，并创建两个关键时期（铁器时代和马穆鲁克）的遗址的全貌。对于铁器时代和马穆鲁克时期，迪班似乎是理解约旦历史上重要的大规模问题的关键地点;首先是铁器时代国家形成和治理的性质，其次是帝国范围的经济危机对一个孤立的集镇的影响。鉴于莫顿的挖掘结果尚未复制或取代关于这两个问题，至关重要的是，这些结果最终被带到新闻界，并更广泛地提供。

Dhiban is one of Jordan's most important archaeological sites. Made famous in the 19th century by the discovery of the Mesha Inscription and its connections to the Bible, Dhiban has been subject to systematic exploration for almost 100 years. Early archaeological projects were primarily interested in illuminating Dhiban during the Iron Age, when it was ostensibly capital of the biblical kingdom of Moab, and in this regard they were all rather disappointed. William Morton was one of these early archaeologists, a professor of biblical languages and history, he worked at Dhiban from 1950-1953 as part of the American Schools of Oriental Research excavation team. Morton took over this project in 1955 and decided to shift excavations to the summit of the mound in the hopes of discovering substantial Iron Age remains. Here Morton was unusually successful, uncovering substantial deposits dating to the peak period of the kingdom of Moab (ca. 850-700 B.C.), most of which were related to a very large building he dubbed 'Mesha's Palace'. Despite his biblical interests, Morton also excavated and recorded an extensive area of Mamluk era (ca. 1265-1450 AD) housing that overlay the Iron Age remains, during a period went through a 'boom and bust' cycle of expansion followed by site abandonment. Unfortunately, Morton suffered from a number of illnesses after excavating Dhiban which prevented him from ever publishing his results. This AHRC Research leave project proposes to complete the publication of Morton's excavation of Dhiban, making these very important results available to the wider world for the first time. Particular attention will be given in carfeully sorting out the relative succession of building and occupation phases within each of Morton's three major excavation areas, and then using a formal analysis of the distribution of different types pottery to connect these three areas together and create an overall picture of the site in two key periods (Iron Age and Mamluk). For both the Iron Age and Mamluk periods, Dhiban appears to be a key site for understanding important large-scale issues in the history of Jordan; the nature of Iron Age state-formation and governance in the first instance, and the impact of an empire wide economic crisis on an isolated market town in the second. Given that the results of Morton's excavations have yet to replicated or superseded with regards to either of these issues, it is vital that these results are finally brought to press and made more widely available.