ABSTRACT
Biblical Heshbon is identified by most experts with Tell Hesban, a site of several acres, located east of the Jordan river 15 miles southwest of Amman, the modern capital of Jordan. Heshbon is mentioned 38 times in the Hebrew Bible, most of them to identify the Ammonite king, Sihon (see Deut. 1: 4; 2: 24, 26, 30; 3: 2, 6; 4: 46; 29: 7; Josh. 9: 10; 12: 2, 5, and others). According to the tradition in Numbers 21: 21-31 the “Israelites” killed Sihon and settled in Heshbon (Num. 21: 25) at the time of the “conquest.” The biblical traditions also claim that ultimately the city was given to the tribes of
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Gad is given the city for an “inheritance”). In Joshua 21: 38-39, Heshbon is said to have been given to the Levites from the tribe of Gad.
