Heshbon

Heshbon was assigned to the tribe of Gad and designated as a Levitical city according to Joshua 13:27-28; Joshua 21:38-39 . Song of Song of Solomon 7:4 , describing a maiden's beauty, proclaims “thine eyes like the fishpools in Heshbon.” Herod the Great fortified the site, and it became a flourishing city (called Esbus) during late Roman times. Esbus continued as an active city during the Byzantine period (fourth through the sixth centuries A.D.), at which time its population embraced Christianity. A bishop from Esbus participated in the council of Chalcedon.

Excavations at tell Hesban, conducted between 1968,1978, produced occupational remains ranging from the beginning of the Iron Age (about 1200 B.C.) through medieval times. No evidence of pre-Iron Age occupation was discovered at the site. That is the period when King Sihon was supposed to have ruled from the city. See Gad; Moab; Reuben; Sihon .

Maxwell Miller