Of all Aramaean kingdoms, Aram-Damascus is probably the most famous, but it remains one of the least known. Due to a lack of fieldwork, it long appeared as a blank spot on the archaeological map of Iron Age Syria. Since the late 1990’s, however, several Syrian-French fieldwork projects in the Hauran – the basaltic region of Southern Syria – have provided new data on this southern march of the kingdom. Based on the results of these projects and on a reassessment of the previous archaeological and textual evidence, this lecture will address the settlement patterns and material culture of Iron Age Hauran, with particular emphasis on the issues of state formation and cultural identity. Following a period of fluctuating settlement in Iron Age I, Iron Age II sees the emergence of a hierarchized settlement pattern structured by a series of regional centres, probably reflecting the formation of the kingdom of Aram-Damascus. Interestingly, the architecture, artistic productions and pottery of these sites suggests that, in many ways, the Aramaeans of Southern Syria were culturally closer to their Israelite neighbours than to their alleged kinsmen from Central and Northern Syria. Judging by the data at hand, it seems that this settlement phase ended around the end of the 8th century BCE, due either to the Assyrian conquest, a major drought episode or a combination of both.