Locating Tall el-Hammam on the Madaba Map

by David E. Graves and Scott Stripling

The Madaba Mosaic Map indicates a prominent but unnamed site near the upper-left edge, just above the Jordan River. Various attempts have been made to identify it with Tall Iktanu, Tall Kefrein, Tall Nimrin, Tall Rama, and Khirbet Sweimeh. This article demonstrates that the better candidate for this site is Tall el-Hammam which boasts superior size, perfect location, abundant water, and Early Roman/Byzantine remains.