This monograph is a result of research done for my PhD dissertation, the initial challenge being an attempt to add to our scant knowledge of a little-known people. In the process, however, it became obvious that certain ideas formulated in antiquity and carried through to the present were ideas repeated often without any significant change. In general these assumptions tended to be negative and at times disparaging, leaving the questions: how do we know, and why? This monograph attempts to address this dilemma, to look again at the few textual references mentioning Ituraeans, and to reassess what has been said about them. In the end there may be, as yet, no clear answer to any question, but it is hoped that in the questioning at least a new and more perceptive view will be taken in future scholarship.

Once again I would like to say thank you to the committee for the Canadian Friends of the École Biblique; their generosity in awarding me a second grant to cover full residence at the École is much appreciated. My time in Jerusalem in the summer of 2008 enabled me to update my material and spend many productive hours in the library. I would also like to thank Liz Bettles and Steve Mason, who willingly read sections of the manuscript and provided useful comments and suggestions. I am grateful for your efforts on my behalf.