Israel's Kin Across the Jordan: A Social History of the Ammonites in the Iron Age II (1000-500 BCE).

Abstract

The Hebrew Bible portrays the origins of the “sons of Ammon” or “Ammonites” in the hoary past, the product of incestuous relations between Abraham’s nephew Lot and his younger daughter (Genesis 19). The biblical book of Judges, traditionally thought to represent events of the twelfth century BCE, portrays the Ammonites with a king before Israel (Judges 11). On the other hand, extant primary sources—Neo-Assyrian texts, Ammonite epigraphs, and archaeological finds—refocus attention on the eighth through sixth centuries BCE as the main period of Ammonite sociopolitical and economic growth and complexity. This dissertation investigates the social history of the ancient Ammonites during the Iron Age II (ca. 1000–500 BCE) with a focus on the transformative role that the Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian empires played in Ammonite sociopolitical and economic development. In addition to the biblical texts, this study examines the growing body of archaeological remains, Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian texts, and Ammonite epigraphs. Furthermore, this study reflects on the practices of the Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian empires in administering and controlling the Levant, and cites cross-cultural examples of how empires affect peripheral societies in order to understand changes among the Ammonites. During this period, the area saw growth in the number of elite items, growth in the use of writing for administrative and display purposes, growth in sedentary settlement, and a growth in the number of imported items. This period also brought the first secure references to Ammonite kings and their officials. Taken together in the light of imperial domination, one can explain the changes visible among the Ammonites as the product of several identifiable factors. In the ninth century, the need for security against Israel, Damascus, and the re-emerging Neo-Assyrian Empire provoked military organization. As time went on, other factors grew in importance, including: 1) the elites’ increasing access to wealth through long-distance trade; 2) elite access to and appropriation of internationally recognizable markers of status, authority, and power; 3) the elites’ role in securing and fructifying the Amman Plateau for their own needs and in order to supply the needs of the Assyrian military.