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Document Details : Title: The Edomite 'Acro-Sites' in Transjordan Author(s): LINDSAY, John Journal: Ancient Near Eastern Studies Volume: 59 Date: 2022 Pages: 191-235 DOI: 10.2143/ANES.59.0.3291194 Abstract : This paper deals with archaeological evidence bearing upon the establishment of six sites, designated Edomite ‘acro-sites’, situated on the summits of rock massifs in Transjordan. An attempt is made to relate these sites to biblical texts in Obadiah (v. 3) and Jeremiah (49:16), which refer to Edomites dwelling 'in the clefts of the rock'. A number of reasons for the existence of these sites are examined. These include tribal customs, attempts to expand agricultural land, endeavours by some tribes to achieve independence, centre–periphery tensions, a need to establish places of refuge, a defensive plan for Edom, a strategy for the protection of the Edomite copper industry, a potential use as retreats for marauding bandits, a function as military fortresses or penal settlements, and the notion that these sites had some religious use. However, this paper argues that the occupation of these sites could be viewed as a contraction of Edomite settlement in contrast to Edomite attempts at expansion to the west of their homeland (see my 'Edomite Western Expansion: The Biblical Evidence', in Ancient Near Eastern Studies 36, 1999). The sites may indicate that some Edomites were withdrawing from mainstream society as a result of the political and economic pressures exerted on them, either by foreign powers or ruling elements in Edomite society. |
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