Tell el-Mazar (central east Jordan valley, c. 3km north of Tell Deir Alla and 5.5km south of Tell es-Sa'idiyeh) forms part of a complex of sites in the East Jordan Valley that were all occupied in the Late Bronze and Iron Ages: the regional density of nearby occupation testifies to the importance of the locality. It was not only economically important because of its climate, but it was also a crossroads, connecting north and south, as well as east and west. Towards the end of the Late Bronze Age an Egyptian trade route ran from Beth Shean towards the Amman Plain, crossing the river first by...