Dhiban, biblical Dibon, was the capital of the kingdom of Moab. Archeological excavations here reveal that Bronze Age settlers built a town on this site as early as the 3^rd millennium BC. Moab came under Israel’s control in the early part of the 1^st millenium BC, but after the death of the Israelite king, Ahab, in 850 BC, a man named Mesha from Dhiban liberated the country and proclaimed himself king. Dhiban flourished under Mesha, who built new walls, towers, gardens, temples, palaces, and water systems. Later Dhiban fell to the Assyrians, and then to the Babylonians. There is a reference to Dhiban in the Book of Isaiah (15:9), which describes an Assyrian campaign against the city: "Ah, the waters of Dibon are swollen with blood, and worse disasters are still in store for Dibon." Prosperity returned to Dhiban with the Nabateans. It continued to be an important site after Nabatean control waned, and the many early Byzantine churches in the region attest to a vibrant Christian community in the area.