Review article: Excavations at Tall Jawa, Jordan. Volume 4: The Early Islamic House

Tall Jawa is located on a small mound in the Balqāʾ in Jordan, ca. 11 km south of Amman. In the past, the advantageous altitude above the surrounding plain gave this location a commanding view of the surrounding agricultural lands, especially those of the Madaba Plain to the southwest. Tall Jawa is not far from Qastal (12.5 km), al-Muwaqqar (15 km), and Ḥisbān (12.5 km), all important centers during the early Islamic period. Between 1991 and 1995, Michèle Daviau's team exposed a domestic structure (Building 600), found adjacent to a late Iron Age house (Building 800) and erected directly over a structure (Building 700) of Iron Age II (750–600 BCE). In fact, Daviau's archaeological project began by looking into remains of Iron Age and earlier occupation (Daviau 2002, 2003), but was diverted by the rich finds of the late Byzantine–Islamic periods. Building 600 certainly provides a glimpse into the full potential of Tall Jawa as a transitional site where, as rightly claimed by its excavator, further excavations are necessary to establish a full picture of occupation under the Byzantines, through the Ghassānids, and finally under Islamic rule. Its rich repertoire of finds makes this report an important contribution to the study of Jordan during late antiquity.