Biblical Archaeology - Maps and Findings

Nativ Haasara

Es Suwweida is a rectangular fortress (70 x 70 m.) located in Chen Forest, in between Zikhron Ya'akov and Amikam, in Manasseh Heights. The fort is surrounded by a wall and lies on top of an hill rising 161 m. above sea level, overlooking its environment. From this hill flows the stream of Snonit, a tributary of Nahal Taninim which flows into the sea near Tel Mevorakh In each of the four corners of the fortress, there's a tower. Structures dated to the Iron Age have been identified as well.

The pottery sherds discovered at the site are dated to the Iron Age, Persian, Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine periods.

Sources:

"Es Suwweida" (Site 17) in Olami, Y, Sender, S and Oren, E. 2011. Map of Binyamina - 48 The Archeological Survey of Israel

[youtube_drone url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XffhzIfrTMI"]

Hurvat Lavnin extend on a hill on the west bank of the Nahal Khaklil in Adolum Park and are surrounded by fertile valleys

It is sometimes identified with the city of Kaszib in Nahal Yehuda (Yohshua 15, Md.) which is mentioned together with Keila and Merasha, and is also mentioned in the inherited prophecy of Micah together with Mershet and Gat Mersha and Udom. Another possibility of identification is the well-known "white" in the Shefala (although the accepted identification is in Tel Burna).

Location and Identification

The site of Tell Abu Zarad is a major mound in central Palestine at the border between Samaria and Judea, on the main north-south route (R60) connecting Tell Balata/ancient Shechem with Jerusalem/ancient Urushalimum, and Ras el-'Ain/ancient Aphek to the west with Beitin/ancient Bethel to the east.
The nearest pre-classical site to the south-east so far known is Khirbet Seilun/ancient Shiloh, which however seems partly later in terms of general occupation in respects of AZ.
AZ was already known from surveys in the 19th and 20th centuries and it was convincingly identified by Father F.-M. Abel o.p. with Biblical Tappuah (Josh. 12:17; 15:33; 16:8; 17:7-8)

Occupational outline of the site

Archaeological data concerning the site occupation in a chronological perspective were obtained by surface finds and survey, as well as by preliminary stratigraphic observations. There are, however, several historical sources which provide further information to be matched with archaeological evidence. They will be kept separated in the first stage of the project, as the site is untouched, and a fully unconstrained archaeological approach seems mostly required and appropriate.
Data provided by surface prospection and collection were mapped over the site topography to show the extension of human presence in different periods. The occupational range of AZ resulted from the Early Bronze Age to the Ottoman Period, i.e. from around 3000 BC to 1900 AD, with some somewhat significant gaps in the Intermediate Bronze Age, as well as in Middle Bronze I.
Basing upon surface finds, ground and underground investigations, a provisional draft of the site occupational history may be the following:

Period I – Early Bronze Age rural (unfortified) settlement (EB II-III, 3000-2500 BC)
Period II – Intermediate Bronze Age (tombs on the nearby hills) (EB IV, 2300-2000 BC)
Period III – Middle Bronze Age fortified city (MB II-III, 1750-1550 BC)
Period IV – Late Bronze Age town (LB I-III, 1550-1200 BC)
Period V – Iron Age settlement and city (IA I-II, 1200-586 BC)
Period VI – Hellenistic-Roman garrison (2nd century BC - 3rd century AD)/ar-Raja Burj
Period VII – Byzantine installation (4th - 7th century AD)
Period VIII – Islamic rural installation (Umayyad, Ayyubid, Mamluk, 7th - 16th century AD)
Period IX – Ottoman monument (17th - early 20th century AD)
Period X – 20th century (before Second World War).

Khirbet Jedor, located near the village of Beit Omer in the Judean Mountains, and north of Halhol and Beit Tzur, which are mentioned together with the city in the biblical description

Khirbat Rabud is an ancient mound located on the bed of the Hebron stream, about 8 km northwest of the Palestinian village of Samua and about 3 km west of Etniel in the south of Mount Hebron. As mentioned, the mound is identified by the researchers with the biblical city of Dvir.

[youtube_drone url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrfyhcuL3hk"]

Location and Identification

Qumran is located on the western shore of the Dead Sea, identifiable with 'Ir (City of Salt)

mentioned in the Bible (Joshua 15:61-62).

History

Iron age

Early Settlement: The earliest settlement dates back to the Israelite period, with structures from the 8th to the early 6th century BCE, destroyed during the fall of the Kingdom of Judah.

Hellenistic to Roman Period

Resettlement: After centuries of abandonment, Qumran was resettled, reusing the remnants of Israelite buildings. The community flourished during the Hellenistic period, particularly under John Hyrcanus and Alexander Jannaeus, with significant expansions and the construction of communal buildings.

Destruction and Reoccupation: The site was struck by an earthquake and a fire around 31 BCE, leading to a temporary abandonment. It was reoccupied shortly after, continuing its communal lifestyle until its destruction in 68 CE during the Jewish Revolt against Rome.

Excavations

• The first Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered by Bedouin shepherds in 1947 in Cave 1, near the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea.
• In 1949, the site of the cave was excavated by a joint expedition from the Jordan Department of Antiquities, the Palestine Archaeological Museum (now the Rockefeller Museum), and the Ecole Biblique et Archeologique Française.
• Khirbet Qumran, located about 1 km south of the cave and slightly farther west of the Dead Sea, was excavated under the same auspices in five successive campaigns from 1951 to 1956. The last campaign also surveyed the region between Qumran and 'Ein Feshkha, about 3 km to the south, where a building complex was excavated in 1958.

Findings

• Community Life: Excavations revealed a complex of buildings, including a large dining hall/refectory, pottery workshop, scriptorium, and elaborate water systems suggesting ritual purification practices. An extensive cemetery with over 1,100 graves indicates a significant, organized community.
• Scrolls and Manuscripts: The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls near Qumran in caves has been pivotal. These manuscripts provide insights into the community's beliefs, practices, and the sectarian life that distinguished them from mainstream Judaism.
• Connection with the Essenes: Most scholars link the Qumran community with the Essenes, a conclusion supported by the archaeological evidence and the descriptions by Pliny the Elder of the Essenes living in isolation near the Dead Sea.

Sources

Stern, Ephraim-New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land 4-Israel Exploration Society (1993)

Biblical hiking map

[youtube_drone url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TO7gi1FDyX8"]

Tel Nisha, also called Tel Neshem and in Arabic Tel al-Manshiya, is a prominent, medium-sized hill, east of Highway 200 - from the direction of Ein Hanziv towards Kibbutz Neve-Eitan. The mound was documented by the British Mandate and surveyed by Nehemiah Tzuri. The mound was not excavated.

The mound is part of dozens of mounds from biblical times that are in the Beit Shean Valley, the most important of which are Beit Shean and Tel Rehov. Prof. Mazar defines all the cities around Tel Rehov from the royal period as "daughters of Rehov". Tel Nisha was ruled during the monarchy by Tel Rehov and indeed its ceramics are the same as Rehov in the 9th - 10th centuries BC.

The height of the mound is about 10-15 meters and its size is about 5 dunams. To the southwest of the hill spring springs, which form Nahal Eitan and Adi al-Manashia, which descends to the Jordan from the east. The spurs basically crown half of the mound, which makes it impassable from these directions. Pottery from the Early Bronze I, Late Bronze, and Iron I-II periods were discovered in the mound. And it seems that it was some kind of administrative building. N. Tzuri writes: on the eastern and southern slopes of the hill, stone and brick walls are exposed, while in the extreme southern corner a brick structure is exposed, like a tower (Nehemiah Tzuri 1962).

It is possible to notice the remains of mud walls in the western upper part of the mound, apparently the remains of the city walls from the middle of the ninth century that were destroyed by King Hazal of Aram-Damascus. It is impossible to prove this because there are other Iron Age ruins in the Beit Shean Valley, but the assumption is reasonable in light of the nearby Tel Rehov excavations. It is possible that in the future the mud bricks will be taken for a magnetic test that will determine if it is a Hazal ruin, a placer discovery or a Shishak.

Candles, a pitcher with a strainer, ceramics painted in wild green, cooking pot handles, two alabaster vessels, two bowls, a zoomorphic vessel, limestone egg-shaped loom weights and a local alabaster and a bronze arrow were found in the mound. The mound is very well preserved, and from it there is an impressive view of the entire Beit Shean valley and towards the Jordan. The site appears in the archive file of the Mandatory Antiquities Authority, and it is noted that the upper part of the mound is cultivated (1932). Below is part of what was written on the mound:

An archaeological survey from 1932 reported: a fairly large mound that appears to have pottery in it from the 3rd millennium BC. The upper part of the mound is cultivated. There is a small spring of water that originates and surrounds the site from the southwest and from there continues to flow eastward and essentially creates a natural fortification / moat with Water in part of the mound. It is possible that there are graves on the sides of the mound in the southwest direction. The surveyor Ras added: "Three large and rough stones that were built as part of a wall were exposed by the influence of the heavy rain on the eastern corner of the upper end. Russ probably meant an Iron Age II mudbrick wall at this location.
This is probably the outer wall of the old upper settlement. The reviewers concluded: "recommended excavation".

Location

On the border with Egypt about 30 km south of Gaza Rafah is the southernmost city in the Gaza Strip

Bronze Age

Rafah has a history stretching back thousands of years. It was first recorded in an inscription of Egyptian Pharaoh Seti I, from 1303 BCE as Rph, and as the first stop on Pharaoh Shoshenq I's campaign to the Levant in 925 BCE. In 720 BCE it was the site of the Assyrian king Sargon II's victory over the Egyptians.

Iron Age

The diplomatic and military activity of Egypt at the beginning of the Iron Age I shows that the possibility of movement along the "sea route" from station to station was maintained continuously from the Late Bronze Age, at least as long as Egypt was present in the southern land of Canaan (approximately 1133 BCE). Rafah then passed under the control of the Philistines. , on the southern border of their kingdom. In 925 BC, Shishak's army stopped there on his journey to the Land of Israel.

Hellenistic and Roman periods

In 217 BCE the Battle of Raphia was fought between the victorious Ptolemy IV and Antiochus III. It is said to be one of the largest battles ever fought in the Levant, with over a hundred thousand soldiers and hundreds of elephants.

The town was conquered by Alexander Yannai and held by the Hasmoneans until it was rebuilt in the time of Pompey and Gabinius; the latter seems to have done the actual work of restoration for the era of the town dates from 57 BCE. Rafah is mentioned in Strabo , the Antonine Itinerary, and is depicted on the Map of Madaba.

Byzantine period

During the Byzantine period, it was a dioceseand Byzantine ceramics and coins have been found there. It was represented at the Council of Ephesus 431 CE by Bishop Romanus, but today remains a titular see of the Roman Catholic Church but a small Greek Orthodox presence exists.

Location

Khorbat Anim (originally: Khirbat A'vin a-Tatta) is the name of a site in the south of the Hebron mountains where the remains of a biblical and Talmudic settlement are found, about 20 km northwest of Arad and in the area of Yatir forest. The site is near the settlement of Livna to the southwest

General background

The site of Khirbet Ghuwein et-Taḥta was first identified with biblical 'Anim by Edward Robinson in the 1830s. It is also identified with Byzantine Anaia, which Eusebius describes as nine miles south of Hebron. After Robinson's survey, V. Guérin visited the site in 1863 and identified the presence of the Israelite fortress. Moshe Kochavi surveyed the site in 1968, followed by Zvi Meshel in 1976-77. It was not until the survey of Zvi Ilan in 1986-87 that the Byzantine synagogue was identified. He excavated the synagogue, along with David Amit, in 1988-89. Finally, in 2010-11, Amit and Oren Shmueli excavated two of the Byzantine (and later) subterranean dwellings on the site, including one containing an oil press. These dwellings, however, are not included in the project. Today, Horvat 'Anim is located in the middle of the Yattir forest, Israel's largest desert forest.

The synagogue is a broad room with the entrance facing the east, as is common among the southern Judean synagogues. The ark would have been located on a large bema at the northern end of the prayer hall. At the front of the entrance was a covered narthex, whose roof was supported by a row of columns, and an open paved courtyard, which included a cistern for ablutions to the south. Rooms outside the northern wall of the synagogue were probably service rooms for the synagogue.

The Israelite fortress has not yet been excavated.