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KERAK

(Arab. Karak) (also KARAK)

Ruins of the Frankish period Crusader castle (early 12th century c.e.) at Kerak (modern Karak)
(J. Maxwell Miller)

A major city in the western part of central Jordan; capital of a modern Jordanian administrative district (today usually Karak; 217066). The site is ca. halfway between Wadi Môjib (biblical Arnon) and Wadi el-µesa (Zered), along the route traditionally known as the “King’s Highway.” The main part of the modern city occupies a ridge that is surrounded by deep canyons; the main valley that drains the plateau at this point is known as Wadi el-Kerak. Kerak is located 18 km. (11 mi.) E of the Dead Sea, whose glistening surface can be seen from the town’s hilltop position. The city’s name is derived from an Aramaic word meaning “walled town,” and the place name Karakmōbā is well attested in the Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine periods. Apart from artifacts that have turned up in small-scale excavations or during construction, little is known about Kerak’s ancient life and culture. Literary and architectural evidence from the Middle and Late Islamic periods is better represented, especially because of Kerak’s role in the Crusades. Its castle is one of the best-preserved Crusader strongholds in the Levant. Much of the fortress that stands today was built by French Crusaders early in the 12th century, but major additions were made in later Islamic history, after the castle fell to Saladin’s forces in 1188.

Though the identification is far from certain, Kerak is often linked with the biblical place names Kir (Isa. 15:1), Kir-heres (Jer. 48:31, 36; Isa. 16:11), and Kir-hareseth (16:7; 2 Kgs. 3:25). In Isa. 15:1 Kir is associated with Ar, another Moabite name, whose identification is also uncertain (cf. “City of Moab”). In the other OT passages Kir-heres/Kir-hareseth refers to an important Moabite town which was involved in Mesha’s war with Israel (cf. 2 Kgs. 3), but it is possible that this site was situated N of Wadi Môjib. The discovery of a fragmentary Moabite inscription in Kerak, probably from the time of Mesha, indicates that the city was, in fact, important in the 9th century b.c. Its Aramaic name, which may have originated in the Persian period, confirms that Kerak was one of Moab’s leading towns.

The famous Early Bronze III style of pottery (“Khirbet Kerak ware”) is associated with another site, Khirbet Kerak (Beth-yerah; 204235), on the southwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee.

Bibliography. B. C. Jones, Howling over Moab: Irony and Rhetoric in Isaiah 15–16. SBLDS 157 (Atlanta, 1996); “In Search of Kir-Hareseth: A Case Study in Site Identification,” JSOT 52 (1991): 3-24; J. M. Miller, ed., Archaeological Survey of the Kerak Plateau. ASOR Archaeological Reports 1 (Atlanta, 1991); W. L. Reed and F. V. Winnett, “A Fragment of an Early Moabite Inscription from Kerak,” BASOR 172 (1963): 1-9.

Gerald L. Mattingly

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

KERAK

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)