Hešbon in Early Byzantine IV - Late Byzantine III
By koot van wyk (DLitt et Phil [Pretoria South Africa], ThD [Rikkyo
Stratum VIII was allocated by R.S. Boraas and L.T. Geraty to he Early Byzantine IV-Late Byzantine III period.1 According to the coin investigation by A. Terian, the closest parallels to this period was the Nummus of Justinian I, 527-565 A.D. Hešbon was inhabited during this period. According to the historical report of the site that was written by Boraas and S.H. Horn, the report of the acts of the council of
In 1988, Stefan Timm questioned whether the excavators of tell Heṣban were able to locate Hešbon. If one looks at the coin of Esbus from the time of Elagabulus 207-217 A.D., then one have to admit that it was called by a similar name in that period. That was at least the Roman way of honoring the tradition of the inhabitants of that time. Our fundamental question is whether Esbus is Hešbon or Heṣban in that time. That it was later called by the Arabs tell Heṣban was only a way of carrying on the tradition that was already clear in the time of the Late Roman I-II empire.
Not mentioned previously by the scholars on Hešbon is the evidence from archaeological source pertaining to Judaism of the period: Early Byzantine-Late Byzantine. The inscription in the Synagogue at Reḥob mentioned the name of Hešbon, among other names that might be useful to identify where the city was seen to be in the period 500-560 A.D. The excavators are uncomfortable about the dating of the site, but nevertheless suggested that the time of the synagogue was probably between the fifth until the seventh century A.D.2 If our coin of 527-565 A.D. would allow us such a dating and if the Jewish artist designed his mosaic with that reference to Hešbon, then one will have to see it as a city inhabited during the period of the Jewish inscription.
1AUSS 16/1 (1978) :16.
2J. Sussmann, "The Inscription in the Synagogue at Rehob," in Ancient Synagogues Revealed. Lee I. Levine (Jerusalem: Academic Press, 1981), 146-153, especially pages 150 and 152.
The inscription is mentioning that at the Jewish centers of Beth-Shean and Paneas of that time, certain agricultural products were forbidden in the seventh year and in all the other sabbatical cycles: marrows, melons, cucumbers, the parsnips, the mint, Egyptian beans, leeks, seeds, dried figs, sesame, mustard, rice, cummin, dry lupine, large peas, garlic, village onions, onions, pressed dates, wine, oil.3 Then the cities are listed which are permitted around Beth-Shean (line 6). The forbidden cities are mentioned (lines 9-18). From line 13 the towns are mentioned which is seen as Eretz
Ninety cities and towns and thirty kinds of fruit are mentioned. The regions were considered 'pagan" and this was the reason that they were listed.5 The problem with such a view as presented here by Sussmann, is why would the territory "and all which Jews have purchased" (line 12) and "the territory of Eretz-Israel, the place which they that returned from Babylon [held]" (line 13) also be seen as "pagan"? In line 26 is the answer, "and if there is a place which was purchased by Jews )our rabbis are suspicious of it. Shalom." Probably this inscription should be seen as dating after certain groups of Jews came from
3Ibid., 152 lines 1-5.
4See here the form in line 17, left of the major black hole in the center of the mosaic on page 147.
5Ibid.
Readers of the history and development of Judaism are well aware of the two schools of Judaism that developed in
This we can see from the inscription in the synagogue (line 26). Altogether eight generations existed in
Although we are using the term Hešbon here, and the Arabic name is Heṣban, we are not making the superflous methodological error of saying that Hešbon of the Old Testament is Heṣban of the Arabic period or Hešbon of this Byzantine period. Why? Since cities in ancient times sometimes included regional districts attached to it through treaties and bonds. If a king is in charge of such a city the likelihood that a larger area than only a tell may be in mind, is greater.
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