*3.8. Buseirah*

A possibly cultic building was excavated at Buseirah, which is ancient Bozrah, the main city of the Edomites in the 7th and 6th centuries BC. In area A, the acropolis, two wings of a building were excavated, consisting of rooms around inner courtyards, a staircase flanked by two circular stone bases, plastered rooms and plastered water drains. Some of the smaller rooms contained a large number of cylindrical jars and may have served as storerooms. Bennet (1983, p. 15) interpreted the complex as a temple, an interpretation followed by Reich (1992, p. 219) though no objects were found in the building

<sup>3</sup> Another possible gate shrine in Jordan is discussed in Tyson (this volume, paragraph 4.1.4).

to corroborate this. In the publication of the excavations, Bienkowski (2002, p. 95) very cautiously accepts the notion that the building was a temple rather than a palace or public building.

Some elements of the Buseirah building can be compared with those in other temples in the Levant, such as the long narrow plastered room, the steps flanked by stone pedestals and the storerooms with storage jars, presumably with oil for use in temple ceremonies (Bienkowski 2002, p. 95). However, none of the parallels fits neatly and the lack of cultic objects indicates that another interpretation is possible.
