Tel Burna (Arabic: Tell Bornat) is located on a hill above the northern bank of Nahal Guvrin, between Tel Goded and Tel Zayit. The settlement at the site existed almost continuously, with ups and downs, from the Early Bronze Age to the Persian period. The two main layers are from a Canaanite city, in which a temple survived, and a Judean city that was first used as a fortress on the border with Palestine, and then as an administrative site. From the site, which dominates one of the ancient trade routes from the sea to the mountain region, you can look west to see Gaza all the way to Ashdod. According to some researchers, the site should be identified with the biblical Libnah.
Research history
Research on the site began in the 19th century, and speculations were made regarding its identification. Two possibilities have been proposed for the meaning of its Arabic name: the first relates the shape of the site to a kind of “hat,” and the second to the Aramaic term “birna” (fortress or palace). From the 1950s, surveys were conducted on the site and various researchers proposed to identify it with various settlements mentioned in the Bible. Among them is Libnah and Makkedah.
Since 2009, there have been ten excavation seasons at the site, which were concentrated in six excavation areas (which can be seen in the 3D model). The excavation was managed by Joe Uziel and Itzhaq Shai and since 2012 by Shai only. Until 2014, the excavation expedition was operated by Bar-Ilan University and, starting in 2015, by Ariel University. The research is conducted in collaboration with universities from the USA, the Czech Republic and Canada, and focused on Tel Burna as an example of a border site in antiquity.
The beginning of the settlement: a Canaanite city and a cult structure
The ancient findings at the site date to the Early Bronze Age 2-3 (around 3000-2500 BCE) and the Middle Bronze Age 2 (17-16th centuries BCE). The Canaanite city flourished at the end of the Late Bronze Age (14th and 13th c. BCE). The size of the settlement during this period was estimated according to the survey to be about 60 dunams, with most of the small finds originating from the Aegean-Cypriot world. Egyptian and Levantine influences were also evident in some of the findings. One structure, which dates to the end of the Late Bronze Age (13th c. BCE), has been identified as a ritual building. The settlement at the place was significantly reduced to only 2 dunams during the Iron Age 1.
Tel Burna as a border town between Judah and Palestine
According to the archaeological survey, in the Iron Age 2-3 (9-6th c. BCE) the site reached its peak size – about 80 dunams. The settlement expanded beyond the mound itself. After its destruction in the 10th c. BCE, the mound was fortified with an impressive enclosure wall (numbers 1 and 4 in the 3D model), which created a 70×70 meter enclosure. The fortification has been dated to the Iron Age 2a (10-9th centuries), but the exact date is not clear. About 9 km north of the Philistine Gate and about 9 km south of Lachish, Tel Burna stands in an ideal location between Judah and the cities of Philistia. The fortifications were used in the 9-8th c. BCE. Thus, the researchers concluded that it was a citadel with an “open” settlement, and not a standard fortified settlement. The material culture was typical of Judah at that time. This includes Judahite pillars figurines and jar handles with “lmlk” and private seal impressions similar to the findings from nearby Lachish. In the 7th c. BCE, when Judah was a protectorate of Assyria, the site was gradually converted from a military site to a place for managing agricultural produce, and the inner wall of the fortifications ceased to be used.
Libnah or not Libnah: the essential question of identification in the light of the biblical text
The identification of Tel Burna with the biblical Libnah is not certain, but according to the site’s excavators, the archaeological find accompanied by a geographic-historical analysis supports this supposition. The other sites competing for the title are Tel Goded, Tel Zayit and Horvat Labinin.
In 2nd Kings, Libnah is the only settlement in the entire biblical text that ever rebelled against a king from the House of David. The biblical text does not elaborate on the circumstances or the results of the rebellion. The royal house’s attempt to regain control of the city is not indicated; only the fight against the Philistines is mentioned. In the description of the Assyrian King Sennacherib’s campaign against Judah, Libnah is mentioned as a Judean city. According to the Bible, Assyria conquered the city, something that does not appear in other texts. At the same time, the researchers concluded that the city remained Judean until the end of the 7th century BCE in light of the fact that a daughter of the city, Hamutal, daughter of Jeremiah, married Josiah, the king of Judah.
The end of the settlement on the tel
The settlement in the mound continued until the Persian period, when scattered buildings were built on the top of the mound. In the fields south of the tel, a considerable amount of pottery dating to the Roman and Byzantine periods was discovered. These areas have not been excavated.
sources
Y. Shay and others “Ten years of research at Tel Borna: a Canaanite cult center and a Judean border town”; Antiquities, No. 158 (2019): pp. 83-91
Y. Shay “Tel Burna: Preliminary Report”; Archaeological News, Issue 133 for 2021
J. Uziel and I. Shai. “The Settlement History of Tel Burna: Results of the Surface Survey.” TA 37 (2010), no. 2: pp. 227–45
Ch. Locatell, Ch. Mckinny & I. Shai “Tree of Life Motif, Late Bronze Canaanite Cult, and a Recently Discovered Krater from Tel Burna.” Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. 142 (2022), no. 3: pp. 573–96