Heshbon (Tell Hesban)
Sihon's capital in Numbers, where a decade of digging found no Late Bronze city
Found 1968 — Heshbon Expedition of Andrews University (Siegfried Horn, then Lawrence Geraty), five seasons 1968–1976; Madaba Plains Project (Øystein LaBianca) from 1996
Where Tell Hesban, 20 km south-west of Amman, 9 km north of Madaba (Jordan)
Dates from c. 1200 BCE – 1500 CE · Iron Age I – Ottoman (no Late Bronze level found) · Wilderness wanderings and conquest of Transjordan; Moabite oracles
Now at In situ; finds at Andrews University (Horn Museum) and the Jordan Museum
How Heshbon (Tell Hesban) was found
A Seventh-day Adventist university set out to find the Amorite city of Sihon. Instead of a Late Bronze town it found an Iron I settlement with a large plastered reservoir (about 17 by 17 m, 7 m deep), Iron II remains, a Hellenistic–Roman town (Esbus), Byzantine churches with mosaics, and a Mamluk fortress. The result forced the team to rethink both the conquest date and the site, and gave rise to the wider Madaba Plains Project at Tall al-Umayri and Tall Jalul.
What it is
A 5-hectare mound on the Madaba plateau with an Iron Age reservoir cut into bedrock, walls and towers of the 7th–6th centuries BCE (the age of Jeremiah's Moab oracles), a Roman temple platform later turned into a Byzantine church, and a well-preserved Islamic citadel.
Why it matters for the Bible
Heshbon is the model of an honest negative result. Numbers 21 makes it Sihon's royal city, taken by Israel; the site bearing its name has nothing older than about 1200 BCE. Either the biblical Heshbon lay elsewhere (Tall Jalul and Tall al-Umayri have been suggested), the story reflects a later period, or a small Late Bronze camp left no trace. The great Iron Age reservoir, meanwhile, has been paired with the 'pools of Heshbon' in Song of Songs. The site's later Esbus was a bishopric.
The Hebrew word: chesh-BOHN
חֶשְׁבּוֹן
חֶשְׁבּוֹן is pronounced chesh-BOHN and means Heshbon — 'reckoning'; the same root gives 'accounting' in modern Hebrew (Strong's H2809).
People this discovery connects to
- Sihon — סִיחֹן (see-CHON) — uncertain; perhaps 'warrior'
- Moses (Moshe) — מֹשֶׁה (mo-SHEH) — drawn out
Places
- Heshbon — חֶשְׁבּוֹן (chesh-BOHN) — reckoning, device
Events
Israel's defeat of Sihon king of the Amorites · Reuben's settlement · Oracles against Moab
Heshbon (Tell Hesban) in Scripture
Numbers 21:25-26 Israel takes Heshbon, 'the city of Sihon'; the excavation found no city of that age, the heart of the debate. (First mention of Heshbon.)
Jeremiah 48:2 Judgement 'in Heshbon' on Moab; the 7th–6th-century town is the one Jeremiah's hearers knew.
Song of Songs 7:4 'Your eyes are like the pools of Heshbon' — the Iron Age reservoir is the physical candidate.
Questions people ask
What is Heshbon (Tell Hesban)?
A 5-hectare mound on the Madaba plateau with an Iron Age reservoir cut into bedrock, walls and towers of the 7th–6th centuries BCE (the age of Jeremiah's Moab oracles), a Roman temple platform later turned into a Byzantine church, and a well-preserved Islamic citadel.
When was Heshbon (Tell Hesban) discovered?
It was found in 1968 by Heshbon Expedition of Andrews University (Siegfried Horn, then Lawrence Geraty), five seasons 1968–1976; Madaba Plains Project (Øystein LaBianca) from 1996, at Tell Hesban, 20 km south-west of Amman, 9 km north of Madaba.
Where is Heshbon (Tell Hesban) today?
In situ; finds at Andrews University (Horn Museum) and the Jordan Museum.
Which Bible verses does Heshbon (Tell Hesban) relate to?
Numbers 21:25-26, Jeremiah 48:2, Song of Songs 7:4.
Is Heshbon (Tell Hesban) authentic?
Excavation results are accepted. The absence of Late Bronze remains is a real problem for locating Sihon's Heshbon at this tell; alternatives and explanations are debated.
Related discoveries
- עַבְדִּיאֵלTomb of the Vizier Aper-ElA Semitic-named vizier of Egypt under Amenhotep III and Akhenaten
- עַיִןMaqna 'Springs of Moses' (Arabian Elim and Marah claims)Palm-oasis springs on the Gulf of Aqaba offered as the twelve wells of Elim
- צוּרThe 'Split Rock of Horeb' near Jabal MaqlaA giant cleft boulder in Saudi Arabia claimed as the rock Moshe struck
- עָרֵי מִסְכְּנוֹתPi-Ramesses (Qantir)The Delta capital of Ramesses II, the 'Rameses' of Exodus 1:11
- פִּסְגָּהMount Nebo: The Memorial of MosesByzantine basilica and mosaics on the peak where Moshe viewed the Land
- כָּתַבProto-Sinaitic Inscriptions, Serabit el-KhadimSemitic workers in Sinai writing the world's first alphabet
Sources
- Wikipedia, 'Heshbon' / 'Tell Hesban'
- Geraty, L. T., 'Heshbon', Anchor Bible Dictionary (1992); Hesban series vols. 1–14 (Andrews University Press)
- Madaba Plains Project