Elaine Kirby

Industrial zone. The Bible gives little insight into how the Moabites made a living, although it does mention that Moab’s King Mesha was a major sheep breeder, having paid a substantial amount of lambs and wool to Israel in tribute (2 Kings 3:4). Like the land around Mesha’s capital at Dibon, the hillsides surrounding Khirbat al-Mudayna may well have been dotted with sheep, if the evidence of industrial activity already unearthed at the settlement is anything to go by. The remains of loom weights, an ivory spindle and a bone weaving tool attest that the building shown, south of the temple, was used for the production of textiles. (Weaving items were also found in the side rooms of the city gate, having fallen from upper story rooms when that structure burned.) Two rows of stone pillars, with limestone basins in between, partitioned this building into three sections or aisles.