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Excavation Area at Tell Jezreel with the "Tower" in the Background.
 
Excavation Area at Tel Jezreel with the Jezreel Valley in the Background.
Photograph of the Village of Zerin on Tel Jezreel in ca. 1900.
 
The ‘tower’ at Tel Jezreel
The medieval Church at Tel Jezreel
 
 

Tel Jezreel Post-Excavation and Publication Project


Site plan of Tel Jezreel. Clicking on the image to enlarge

Tel Jezreel Post-Excavation and Publication Project (2003-2009)
Dr Charlotte Whiting (CBRL) and Prof Bill Finlayson (CBRL).
Project Sponsors: CBRL, The Russell Trust, The Dr M. Aylwin Cotton Foundation and The Mediterranean Archaeological Trust

Introduction to the Project

The Tel Jezreel Post-Excavation and Publication Project aims to bring to publication the excavations at Tel Jezreel (1990 - 1996)directed by Mr John Woodhead on behalf of the British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem (BSAJ) with Prof David Ussishkin.

As both of the original excavators have moved on to other fields of interest, the CBRL, as the successor body to the former BSAJ, has undertaken the task of producing a final report. The current post-excavation and publication project was therefore begun in September 2003 under the direction of Prof Bill Finlayson and Dr Charlotte Whiting, jointly in consultation with John Woodhead.

As the regional headquarters of the CBRL, the Amman office functions as the main base for the project. The excavation archive has been gathered there, and the institute supplies workspace and facilities. The finds which still require specialist reports are stored in the CBRL office in Jerusalem - the Kenyon Institute. Upon completion of the project, the final report on the excavations at Tel Jezreel will be published in the CBRL Monographs series.

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The Site and Excavations
Tel Jezreel occupies the brow of a hill overlooking to the north and east the plain of Esdraelon or Jezreel, at the point where it becomes the valley of Jezreel, falling away south-eastwards into the Jordan rift valley. Tel Jezreel is roughly rectangular in shape, being ca. 350m long and 170m wide, covering an area of ca. 15 acres. The site is multi-period, with material from the Chalcolithic to the recent past, the most important material being represented by the Iron Age, and with a significant Crusader element.

Excavations were conducted between 1990 and 1996 in a total of eight areas (see plan of the site above for their location). The most significant results of these seven seasons of work were the excavation of the medieval church on the site and the uncovering of substantial Iron Age remains. These included a large enclosure surrounded by a moat with a six-chambered gate and monumental corner towers. Based on the limited stratigraphical evidence published so far and in accordance with the pottery, this monumental compound has been broadly dated to the 10th and 9th centuries BC.

Three preliminary reports, a number of articles on figurines and weights, inscriptions, seal impressions, pipes, and medieval burials, as well as some interim notes on the Bronze and Iron Age pottery, the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age material, and the Classical to Ottoman pottery have been published. In addition, some post-excavation analysis was completed before the present project, including bringing together the site archive in Amman and producing a Data Structure Report, various specialist studies (lamps and coins), and the preparation of papers on some aspects of the site history. However, a substantial number of tasks remain to be undertaken, including the basic account of the excavation and stratigraphy and a range of specialist studies. Outstanding specialist reports include studies of the plaster and mortar, faunal and botanical remains and shell.

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Periods and Principal Remains present at Tel Jezreel

Chalcolithic

Chipped Stone

Analysis Jan/Feb 2005

Bronze Age

Pottery, Chipped Stone

Analysis Jan/Feb 2005

Iron Age

Pottery, Architecture, Metal and Ceramic Small Finds, Ground Stone

- Pottery analysis Jan/Feb 2005

Roman /Byzantine

Pottery, Architecture, Glass, Faunal and Botanical Remains, Shell, Metal and Ceramic Small Finds, Mortar and Plaster, Ceramic Building Materials, Ground Stone, Worked Stone

- Pottery reports completed 2004
- Glass analysis Jan/Feb 2005
- Worked Stone report completed 2004

Medieval

Pottery, Architecture, Faunal and Botanical Remains, Shell, Metal and Ceramic Small Finds, Glass, Mortar and Plaster, Ground Stone, Human Remains, Worked Stone

- Pottery report  completed 2004
- Human Remains reports completed 2004
- Worked Stone report completed 2004

Post-Medieval

Pottery, Architecture, Faunal and Botanical Remains, Shell, Metal and Ceramic Small Finds, Glass

Pottery report completed 2004

Progress so Far
2003/2004

  • Completion of the final report on the excavation of the medieval church (Charlotte Whiting)

  • Completion of the final report on the worked stone from Area E (Andrew Skelton and Charlotte Whiting)

  • Completion of the final report on the medieval Christian cemetery of the site (Matthew Bradley)

  • Conversion of the excavation archive into electronic format held in a Microsoft Access Project Database

  • Completion of final reports on the Classical to Ottoman period pottery (Tony Grey)

  • Completion of the final report on the Classical to early Islamic lamps (Anna de Vincenz)

2004/2005

  • Completion of the final report on the chipped stone (Anne Pirie)

  • Completion of the final report on the Classical glass (Daniel Keller)

  • Completion of the final report on the stamped amphora handles (Donald Ariel)

  • Translation of all remaining site diaries in Hebrew

  • Illustrations for publication of Classical glass, Bronze and Iron Age pottery

2005/2006

  • Completion of the final report on the Small Finds (Ina Kehrberg-Ostrasz)

  • Completion of the final report on the Ground Stone (Yorke Rowan)

  • Completion of the Project Database (C. Edwards, J. Fraser, K. McRae, A. Poepjes)

  • Completion on illustrations of Lithic and Ground Stone Artefacts (K. McRae, C. Schofield)

  • Report on the Faunal Remains from Areas C and E held in Cyprus (Paul Croft)

  • Reports on the stratigraphy of Areas C, G, F and H (Charlotte Whiting)

Publications

Bradley, M. (2006) The Medieval Christian Cemetery at Tel Jezreel, Levant, 38: 33-35.

Mitchell, P. (2006) Child Health in the Crusader Period Inhabitants of Tel Jezreel, Israel, Levant, 38: 37-44.

Whiting, C. (2004) The Tel Jezreel Post-Excavation and Publication Project, CBRL Newsletter, 2004, 30-31.

Whiting, C. (2005) The Tel Jezreel Post-Excavation and Publication Project, CBRL Newsletter, 2005, 49-50

Whiting, C. (2006) The Tel Jezreel Post-Excavation and Publication Project, CBRL Bulletin, 2006, 39-41

Archival Material Available for Consultation at the CBRL

  • Worked stone archive Area E

  • Project database

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