Umm al-Biyara, the highest mountain in Petra, southern Jordan, was the first Iron Age Edomite site to be extensively excavated. It was a domestic, unwalled site of stone-built longhouses dating to the 7th-6th centuries BCE. The stratigraphy, pottery, small finds and inscribed material, including the important bulla of Qos-Gabr, King of Edom are described, supplemented by chapters on the use of space and a landscape study of mountain-top sites in the Petra region. The later Nabataean remains on the edge of the summit indicate a major Nabataean complex of buildings, possibly a palace, which would make this the first Nabataean palace in Petra to be explicitly identified.

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Figures and Tables
• Foreword
• Acknowledgements and Chronology
• List of Contributors
• 1 The Site and its Exploration
• 2 The Stratigraphy
• 3 A Home High in the Mountains: the Use of Space in Umm al-Biyara
• 4 The Pottery
• 5 The Seal Material
• 6 The Ostracon
• 7 The Small Finds
• 8 The Animal Remains
• 9 Recent Shells and a Fossil Sea Urchin from Umm al-Biyara
• 10 The Iron Age Landscape of Umm al-Biyara
• 11 Nabataean Structures on Top of Umm al-Biyara
• 12 Conclusions
• Appendix 1. Crystal-M. Bennett OBE, DLitt, FSA (1918–1987)
• Appendix 2. Crystal Bennett and Umm al-Biyara
• Bibliography