Al Muṣallā: Local Ideas about Tall Ḥisbān
Narrating Archaeological Sites and Places - Fifty Years of the Madaba Plains Project at Tall Hisban, Tall al-`Umayri, and Tall Jalul - Douglas R. Clark
Frode F. Jacobsen [+]
Western Norway University of Applied Sciences; VID Specialized University, Norway
Description
In the imaginings of its present population, what sort of a place was Tall Ḥisbān before the foreign expedition arrived and how did this change with the arrival of the team? The chapter will report on interviews with local residents about this question over three field seasons by the author, a social anthropologist and ethnographer. Of special interest is the name by which the site is known locally, namely Al Muṣallā, place of prayer. The extent to which the summit of Ḥisbān was indeed a place of prayer for locals will be dealt with as part of a more general discussion of sacred aspects of Tall Ḥisbān in the conceptions of present-day local inhabitants. The chapter will conclude by offering reflections on the process of place-making by different groups: local residents, immigrants, the archaeological team, NGOs, and the government of Jordan and its tourism ministry and officials. This includes discussing how local people make sense of the past, present, and possible future of the mound and the surrounding village of Ḥisbān.