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HESHBON

(Heb. ḥešbôn)

A city of Moab, taken by the Israelites under Moses’ leadership when its Amorite king, Sihon, refused their request for passage through his territory (Num. 21:21-31; Deut. 2:24; Josh. 12:2; Judg. 11:19-26).

According to Num. 32; Josh. 13:15-28 Heshbon (“stronghold”) “and all its towns that are in the tableland” were given as an inheritance to the tribe of Reuben. Num. 32:37-38 asserts that “the Reubenites rebuilt Heshbon,” and Judg. 11:26 adds that Israel occupied Heshbon, Aroer, the surrounding settlements, and all the towns along the Arnon for 300 years. Other biblical accounts indicate that the town and its surrounding territory were at various times controlled by the tribe of Gad (Josh. 21:38-39) and by the Iron Age tribal kingdoms of Ammon and Moab (Judg. 3:14-30; 11:13-28). The Heshbon region was apparently famous for its pasture lands, vineyards, wells and “pools” (Num. 21:22; Cant. 7:4; Isa. 16:8-9).

The identification of biblical Heshbon with Tell µesbân (226134), a ruin located in the highland plateau of Transjordan ca. 10 km. (6 mi.) N of Madaba, has been generally supported by a series of excavations under the auspices of Andrews University, initiated in 1968 by Siegfried Horn. Perhaps most significant is what has been learned about the wide range of types of settlements at the site over the past four millennia. For example, the remains of a dry-moat from the 13th and 12th centuries b.c. suggest that some sort of stronghold, a fortified agricultural village perhaps, likely existed there then. The discovery of a variety of bowls and jars which occur contemporaneously on both sides of the Jordan during this same period adds weight to the biblical claim that there were members of the same people group (Israelites?) living in this part of Transjordan at this time.

The discovery of a 7 m. (23 ft.)-deep water reservoir dated to the 10th century suggests a process of growth involving gradual transformation of the earlier fortified village into a larger town, complete with its own large “pools” of water — possibly the “pools of Heshbon” of Cant. 7:4. For some reason, toward the end of the 10th century this larger town ceased to grow, and eventually its buildings became neglected and crumbled. Throughout the 9th and 8th centuries these ruins, along with the numerous habitation caves which are located throughout the hill of µesbân, were used by people who lived very simple lives, very likely that of semi-nomadic agriculturalists who camped in the caves and ruins in order to grow wheat and barley in the fertile valleys on both sides of the tell.

In the 7th–5th centuries a large town re-emerges on the hill, this time rebuilt by the Ammonites. Their presence is evidenced by a range of finds, including several ostraca with Ammonite script, pottery typical of their ceramic traditions, and a booming economy based on production and export of vine products. This town came to an end, however, and its ruins and caves again become the makeshift dwellings of semi-nomadic agriculturalists. These cycles of build-up and collapse of villages and towns on the hill of µesbân repeated themselves again and again throughout the remaining centuries until the present.

However, regarding evidence for the existence of the “capital city of the Amorites” or proof of a battle over this city between the forces of Sihon and those of Moses, the archaeological data are largely silent. They neither support nor refute the biblical account, but simply are insufficient at present to illuminate this part of the biblical record.

Øystein S. LaBianca

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HESHBON

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)