Excavation Area at Tel 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 2003 - 2009

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Dr Charlotte Whiting (CBRL Honorary Fellow) and Prof Bill Finlayson (CBRL)

Sponsors:


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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 (Tel Aviv University).
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.

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.

Periods and Principal Remains present at Tel Jezreel

Chalcolithic Chipped Stone Report 2005
Bronze Age Pottery, Chipped Stone Pottery Report 2005; Chipped Stone Report 2005
Iron Age Pottery, Architecture, Metal and Ceramic Small Finds, Ground Stone Pottery Report 2008; Small Finds Report 2006; Ground Stone Report 2008
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 Report 200?; Worked Stone Report 2004; Glass Report 2005; Small Finds Report 2005; Ground Stone Report 2008; Faunal & Botanical Remains Report 2008; Shell 2009
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 200?; Worked Stone Report 2004; Glass Report 2005; Small Finds Report 2006; Ground Stone Report 2008; Faunal & Botanical Remains Reports 2008; Shell 2009
Post-Medieval Pottery, Architecture, Faunal and Botanical Remains, Shell, Metal and Ceramic Small Finds, Glass Pottery Report 2004; Glass Report 2005

Progress so far

2003/2004

2004/2005

2005/2006

2007/2008

2008/2009

Publications

Archival Material Available for Consultation at the British Institute Amman

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