| Summary: | The subject of Crusader-period Transjordan has still not been analyzed in depth by scholars. Nevertheless, this region, the Lordship of Crac and Montreal of the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem, is usually assumed to have had more or less the sole function of serving as the southeastern frontier of the kingdom, consisting essentially of a series of fortified points defending a border. This image of a series of castles in a largely deserted border area arises from several factors: the relative scarcity of textual sources available for 12th-century Transjordan, those that survive being largely focused on its military aspects; the scarcity of archaeological excavations at 12th-century sites, including the important castles of Karak and Shawbak; the fact that these two castles, being relatively well preserved, have attracted more scholarly interest than any other sites; and the lack of archaeological comparanda for the region, due to the only very recent development of interest of archaeologists in excavating medieval sites. The goal of the research exposed here is therefore to combine all available sources, including updated results from archaeological projects, in order to present a picture of settlement in Crusader Transjordan that is as complete as possible. A case study for Petra and the Jabal Shara is included in this work, since this area was intensely settled in the 12th century and currently offers new evidence from recent archaeological excavations. The conclusions from this research have provided information on the dynamics, variety and timing of settlement in the region, on the importance of the various settlements, on socio-economic aspects, and on the significance of Transjordan for the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem. Finally, this study provides some archaeological tools for better identifying the 12th century in the Petra region, in particular through the more precise characterization of local ceramics and building techniques.
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