Vered Yericho

Vered Yericho is a Judean fort that existed for a few decades before the Kingdom of Judah was destroyed by the Babylonians. Little is known about the Iron Age settlement of the Jericho area other than this small fort (an unexcavated Iron Age site is located 3 kilometers to the north).

Stop by and explore the fort.

Ha-Ro‘a

Ha-Ro‘a is just down the road from Haluqim (on which, see the previous post). Like Haluqim, this site has a large Negev-type “fortress” and a pillared house (5 room rather than 4 room) dating to the early Iron Age, possibly the tenth century BCE. The close proximity of these two contemporaneous “fortresses” is an indication, one among many, that they are not in fact fortresses. They are instead an early type of “Israelite” settlement.

Visit Ha-Ro‘a and compare it with Haluqim.

Haluqim

Haluqim, located in the central Negev, is a good example of an early Iron Age settlement with a so-called "Negev fortress." Two other houses and a Roman watch tower are also found at the site.

Haluqim was originally photographed in 2006 and went online shortly thereafter. The day on which it was photographed, however, was heavily overcast - a rare day in Israel. The site was thus re-photographed during the recent season in 2009 - on a beautiful sunny day. Moreover, many more spots at the site were photographed.

So, stop by and take a look at the new presentation of Haluqim.

Izbet Sartah

Located at the western edge of the hill country, the settlement at Izbet Sartah experienced the clash of Israelite and Philistine cultures. With material culture similar to the hill country sites, Izbet Sartah attests to the fluctuations of the early Israelite settlement.

Izbet Sartah give evidence of three short-lived settlements from the twelfth to the tenth century BCE. Stratum II, which includes a large central four-room house and smaller four-room houses on the periphery, attests to the beginnings of stratification of wealth with an uneven distribution of silos.

Come and explore this important site for understanding the Israelite settlement.

Nimrod Fortress

New spots at Nimrod Fortress was photographed during the 2009 season. Theses photos have now been added to the Virtual World Project’s presentation of the site. Especially noteworthy are new photos of the the eastern Towers 15 and 16, which were not previously photographed.

Ashkelon

At 60 hectares, Ashkelon is one of the largest archaeological sites in Israel. It certainly was certainly inhabited for a long period of time: 6000 years, from the Chalcolithic to the Mameluke period.

Since 1985 Lawrence Stager of Harvard University has excavated the site for the Leon Levy Expedition. He has uncovered many significant remains and aspects of life at Ashkelon from the Middle Bronze through the Byzantine periods. Although many of the results of the excavations are no long visible, a Middle Bronze IIA gate – the earliest extant arched/barrel vaulted gate in the world – is well preserved. Also at the site are the remains of a Crusader rampart and a Byzantine church.

Tel Kabri

In the early 1990s, the late Aharon Kempinski uncovered a monumental Middle Bronze palace with Aegean-style frescoes on the large mound of Tel Kabri. Renewed excavations under the direction of A. Yasur-Landau and Eric H. Cline are re-examining the palace as a way of exploring the Middle Bronze polity at Tel Kabri. Although the frescoes and the painted plastered floors are not visible at the site (they are protected with a sand and geo-textile covering), the plan and monumental character of the palace is evident.

Stop by and explore the palace for yourself.