Nabataean influence revealed in excavations at Mughur Sabik, Mudayna Thamad

AMMAN — Mughur Sabik and Mudayna Thamad are located in the close proximity, just a few kilometres from each other. Both are surrounded by farmland, reservoirs, water installations and architectural structures with building blocks tooled in the Nabataean style. 

These two large settlements along with smaller sites in the region attest to a strong Nabatean presence in this rich agricultural region, said Maria-Louise Sidoroff, an independent scholar.

Sidoroff added that analysis of painted fine ware from each site finds the greater percentage similar to decor phase 3b to indicate settlement phases in the second half of the 1st century AD.

Pottery from Mudayna Thamad came from the Nabataean settlement and composed of a reservoir and villa.

"There were two phases of occupation in the plastered reservoir. In the first phase the reservoir walls were deeply footed below the level of the floor. Superimposed layers of flat-topped boulders and cobble stones packed with mortar/cement were laid as the foundation for the floor."

"The floor itself and the walls were coated with four to five layers of fine plaster," noted Sidoroff, adding that the second phase of occupation suggests reuse of the structure as a domestic or storage facility. 

The ten piers built on top of the plastered floor supported stone arches and created separate rooms. Eight seasons of excavations revealed that the villa was composed of two adjoining structures built in one stratum with two phases close in time.

“First a thick-walled two room sector was constructed and, a short time later using the similar construction techniques, a many roomed sector was built to completely enclose a central courtyard. The greatest number and variety of vessel types were excavated in the area around the doorway to the first structure,” Sidoroff said. 

"This doorway had a cut stone frame, which consisted of a pair of vertical doorjambs and a locking mechanism for the door. A stairway of eleven steps was immediately to the right of the entrance leading to a second and possibly a third floor."

"One would pass through this entry area into a high status room with a finely dressed stone floor and three massive stone arches," the scholar explained.

While all the pottery in villa was broken and widely scattered, due in part to the late, Ottoman period burials which were intrusive in the overlying debris, both diagnostic and non diagnostic sherds were kept for possible restoration. Work continues on the ceramic corpus stored in two locations with permission of the Jordanian Department of Antiquities.

Pottery

“Most of the pottery studied from Mudayna Thamad came from the two excavated structures. Within the reservoir, in the area of an oven in the northeast corner, unpainted and painted fine ware were excavated,” Sidoroff continued.

The scholar added that within the villa complex, the Nabataean pottery consisted of common ware, such as jugs, jars, bottles, bowls and well-fired thin walled cooking pots with exterior ribbing. Also present were Nabataean unpainted bowls and painted fine ware.

"In a selection of diagnostic sherds from the villa representing 447 vessels, 60 per cent were small bowls with 39 per cent unpainted and 21 per cent painted. Other vessels include 9 per cent bottles, 8 per cent jars, 7 per cent storage jars and 1.7 per cent cooking pots," Sidoroff elaborated.

Most bowls uncovered in the reservoir and villa were manufactured in the technological style of the well documented Nabataean bowls.

“Generally, the unpainted bowls are slightly smaller with thicker walls. Painted bowls have around base, while unpainted bowls have a ring base. The unpainted bowls are present at sites in greater numbers than the painted bowls, which were more laborious to produce,” noted Sidoroff.

The scholar added that at Mudyna Thamad a few of the details on some unpainted bowls suggest they were manufactured by potters who had not perfected the technological style. 

"For example, some bowl interiors were unsmoothed, others had a roughly trimmed ring base, a few presented brushed reddish-brown bands on the interior, and dull fired colours, indicating low firing temperatures especially when compared to the red colours of Petra bowls," Sidoroff underscored.