town or village

Bozrah

Today Buseira

History

Bozrah, a chief city of Edom, is usually identified with the ruins at Busayra (Buseira) in southern Jordan, about 10 km south of Tafila and some 50 km north of Petra. Crystal-M. Bennett excavated the site between 1971 and 1980, and Piotr Bienkowski published the final report in 2002. She uncovered large public buildings, among them Building A, a monumental complex of more than 2,300 m² whose courtyard is taken to belong to a temple or a palace.

The excavated town belongs to the late Iron Age. Its beginnings were first dated to the eighth century BC, while later studies place the main remains no earlier than the seventh. In that age Assyrian records name kings of Edom: about 673 BC Esarhaddon summoned Qaush-gabri, king of Edom, with Manasseh, king of Judah, and other kings of the west to bring building materials for his palace at Nineveh.

Genesis names Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah among the kings who reigned in Edom before any king reigned over Israel. For the prophets Bozrah stands for Edom itself. Amos foretells a fire "which shall devour the palaces of Bozrah"; Isaiah says that "the LORD hath a sacrifice in Bozrah" and asks, "Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah?" Jeremiah warns that Bozrah "shall become a desolation" and that the enemy will fly as the eagle and spread his wings over it.

The Nabonidus Chronicle, in a damaged line, has the Babylonian king encamp against Edom in his third year, 553/552 BC, and the destruction of part of Building A in the seventh or sixth century may belong to that campaign. In the fifth and fourth centuries BC the western half of the building was rebuilt on the old foundations while the eastern half lay in ruins. Early in the fourth century AD Eusebius distinguished Bosor, the city of Esau in the hills of Idumea of which Isaiah speaks, from Bostra in Arabia.

Scripture: Gen 36:31–33; 1 Chr 1:44; Amos 1:12; Isa 34:6; Isa 63:1; Jer 49:13; Jer 49:22

Sources

Esarhaddon, Nineveh prism A (RINAP 4, Esarhaddon 1) v 54-56: Qaush-gabri, king of Edom
Nabonidus Chronicle (ABC 7) i 17 (encampment against Edom in the third year)
Eusebius, Onomasticon, s.v. Bosor
C.-M. Bennett, 'Excavations at Buseirah, Southern Jordan', preliminary reports in Levant 5 (1973) 1-11; 6 (1974) 1-24; 7 (1975) 1-19; 9 (1977) 1-10
P. Bienkowski (ed.), Busayra: Excavations by Crystal-M. Bennett 1971-1980 (British Academy Monographs in Archaeology 13, 2002)
P. Bienkowski, 'Umm el-Biyara, Tawilan and Buseirah in Retrospect', Levant 22 (1990) 91-109
B. W. Porter et al., 'The Busayra Cultural Heritage Project's 2025 Season', Archaeology in Jordan 5 (2026) 119-121
B. Crowell, 'Nabonidus, as-Sila', and the Beginning of the End of Edom', BASOR 348 (2007) 75-88

Checked against its sources; not yet read by a historian.

Verses (8)

Gen 36:33: And Bela died, and Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his stead.
1 Chr 1:44: And when Bela was dead, Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his stead.
Isa 34:6: The sword of the LORD is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the LORD hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea.
Isa 63:1: Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save.
Jer 49:13: For I have sworn by myself, saith the LORD, that Bozrah shall become a desolation, a reproach, a waste, and a curse; and all the cities thereof shall be perpetual wastes.
Jer 49:22: Behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle, and spread his wings over Bozrah: and at that day shall the heart of the mighty men of Edom be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.
Amos 1:12: But I will send a fire upon Teman, which shall devour the palaces of Bozrah.
Mic 2:12: I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah, as the flock in the midst of their fold: they shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of men.

King James Version