ABSTRACT
Tuleilat Qasr Mousa Hamid, located at the southern end of the Dead Sea, is believed to be biblical Zoar. Recent archaeological investigations suggest that this Edomite site was an important agricultural and industrial settlement dated to the terminal Iron Age II, a period for which limited evidence has been discovered in the lowland region of southern Jordan. The excavation revealed two Iron Age strata of occupation and a large amount of Iron Age IIC pottery. One stratum was associated with architectural features and installations that had been destroyed in a conflagration. The extensive material uncovered at the site, and especially the unusual nature of its extensive stone tool assemblage, is of particular interest and may be connected to the site’s significant location at the junction of Assyrian trade routes.
