Tel Mevorakh is a small mound, spreading over one dunam, 15 m. above its surroundings. During most of its occupation periods, it was composed of one main structure, which was most likely attached to another, bigger settlement in the vicinity of the tel (Dor during the biblical periods, or later, Caesarea). The tel is located near the entrance to the village of Beit-Hananiah, 2 km. from the Mediterranean coast, on the southern bank of the Taninim (“Crocodiles”) river. It is situated on the border between the Carmel Coast region, which is hilly and boggy, and the Sharon Plain, at a central and accessible spot on the trade road along the coast. The site’s name (in Arabic: “Tell al-Mubarak”) is not mentioned in ancient sources, and therefore the site is unidentified. Although its small size, Tel Mevorakh was used for hundreds of years due to its strategic location and is therefore significant for understanding the history and archaeology of the Levantine coast.
Research History
In the 1920s and 1960s, there were finds related to burials found at the foot of the mound. An excavation directed by Ephraim Stern, on behalf of the Hebrew University worked at the tel between 1973-1976, and in 2006 and 2009 salvage excavations were conducted at its feet. An excavation directed by Sveta Matskevich and Paula Waiman-Barak, on behalf of the Hebrew University and the University of Haifa took place in 2017.
The Fort – The Middle Bronze Age Period (1710-1590 BCE)
In the Middle Bronze Age, a fort was built on a low hill, later surrounded by domestic buildings and a 3 m. high soil embankment forming a crater around the settlement. Underneath the buildings, babies’ burials in jars were found, and there were also stone and obsidian tools discovered in the tel, which were probably collected from a nearby Neolithic site. It seems this settlement was destroyed, and another fort was built on top of it, inside the embankment’s crater. In its context, more babies’ burials in jars (some of them with Hyksos stamps) were discovered, inside the embankment, as well as local and Cypriot pottery.
Road Temple – The Late Bronze Age Period (1550-1200 BCE)
In the Late Bronze Age Period, at the end of the 16th century BCE, a building interpreted as a temple was built on the entire surface of the mound. The rectangular construction was surrounded by stone-paved courtyards, and in it stood an elevated platform with a staircase, and benches along the walls. Its floors and implements were plastered, and in the center of the building, an empty refuse pit and four large stones were found, one of which was big, flat, and rounded and might have served as a base for a pillar. The building was renovated and changed during the years of its use: the floor, the benches, and other implements were raised, the platform enlarged, rooms were added, and the space was reorganized. Some unique finds were found: Mitanni-style cylinder seals, faience plaques, an alabaster mug, a palmette-decorated ring, bronze cymbals, and a bronze snake statuette. There were also Cypriot and local decorated pottery, a bronze knife, a spear, and arrowheads found. Because there were no domestic structures discovered, and due to the site’s location close to the coastal trade routes, the sites’ excavators interpreted it as a road temple. The temple was deserted at the end of the 13th century BCE.
The Iron Age Period (1150-520 BCE)
In the Iron Age, at the end of the 11th century BCE, a large structure was erected on top of the temple. It was destroyed in the 10th century BCE and was rebuilt in the second half of the same century as a four-roomed building, surrounded by a courtyard paved with shredded and pressed lime and fortified by a thick wall. Local and Cypriot pottery was found inside, some of them in Phoenician style. This building was also destroyed in unknown circumstances at the end of the 10th century BCE, and from its correspondence with a layer from Megiddo, it has been suggested that its destruction is connected to the Pharaoh Shishaq’s campaign. At the eastern foot of the mound, there were building remains found dated to the end of the 9th—8th century BCE, and at that time the settlement might have moved down the mound.
The Persian Period (520-332 BCE)
The use of the site in the Persian period began in the early 5th century BCE, with a large refuse pit, filled with ashes, bones, and pottery (some of it Attic and Cypriot). It is possible that the tel was used mainly for agricultural produce storage, while at its foot there were found quarries, walls, and a large structure built in the Phoenician style. It seems that this layer of the tel was destroyed, and in the 4th century BCE, a large building was constructed over the entire surface of the tel, built in the Phoenician style and fortified by a casement wall. It was interpreted as an administrative building or a farmstead. The material culture found indicates prosperity, but this building was destroyed too. According to Phoenician and Greek sources, the northern part of the coastal plain of Israel was granted to the Phoenicians by the Persians, and perhaps they occupied Tel Mevorakh in this period. It is possible that the destruction of the building occurred during the Phoenician revolt against the Persians in the middle of the 4th century BCE. Shortly afterward the building was reconstructed and again destroyed in 333-332 BCE by Alexander’s army.
The Hellenistic Period (3rd-1st century BCE) and afterward
The function of the tel in the Hellenistic period is unclear, since the preservation of the remains was not good, and there were only sporadic walls found, dated to the Seleucid period (2nd century BCE). After the Hellenistic period, the tel was abandoned, and during the Roman period, activity was moved to its base. The area served as a burial field, also in the Crusader period, and the Late Islamic periods.
Sources
Matskevich, S., Waiman-Barak, P., & Sharon, I. (2019). Tel Mevorakh – 2017. Hadashot Arkheologiyot: Excavations and Surveys in Israel, 131. https://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.aspx?id=25654&mag_id=127
Shadman, A. (2014). Tel Mevorakh: Iron Age IIB, Persian and Roman-Period Remains. Hadashot Arkheologiyot: Excavations and Surveys in Israel, 126. https://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.aspx?id=13678&mag_id=121
Stern, E. (1978). Excavations at Tel Mevorakh (1973-1976): Part one: From the Iron Age to the Roman period [Monograph]. Qedem 9, i-xiv, 1-105. https://www.jstor.org/stable/43588699
Stern, E. (1984). Excavations at Tel Mevorakh (1973-1976): Part two: The Bronze Age [Monograph]. Qedem 18, i-xiv, 1-168. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43588789
Stern, E. (1992). Mevorakh, Tel. In E. Stern (Ed.), The new encyclopedia of archaeological excavations in the land of Israel. Society for the Exploration of the Land of Israel and its Antiquities, Ministry of Defense – Publications, Carta Jerusalem.
Biblical Hiking map