TEL BET YERAH: Hub of the Early Bronze Age Levant
During more than one thousand years at the dawn of written history, ancient Bet Yerah emerged and grew to be a focal point of Early Bronze Age interaction. Established as a large village circa 3500 b.c.e., Bet Yerah was to become the prime city of the Jordan Valley, with massive fortifications, pave...
| Authors: | ; ; ; |
|---|---|
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
|
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
University of Chicago Press
2012
|
| In: |
Near Eastern archaeology
Year: 2012, Volume: 75, Issue: 2, Pages: 88-107 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (JSTOR) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Parallel Edition: | Non-electronic
|
| Summary: | During more than one thousand years at the dawn of written history, ancient Bet Yerah emerged and grew to be a focal point of Early Bronze Age interaction. Established as a large village circa 3500 b.c.e., Bet Yerah was to become the prime city of the Jordan Valley, with massive fortifications, paved streets, and trade connections extending across the Levant and to Dynastic Egypt. One of the most ambitious buildings of the ancient Levant, the Circles Building or Granary, was founded near the summit of the mound. Partial abandonments in the early third millennium signify a local crisis that corresponded with the influx of immigrants from the distant north; they introduced the Khirbet Kerak culture to the site. After centuries of shifting fortunes, Bet Yerah finally succumbed and was only sporadically inhabited in later times, as Hellenistic Philoteria and Umayyad al-Sinnabra. In our times it has become a heritage site associated with labor Zionism and the birth of the Kibbutz. This article tells the story of the Bronze Age city, based on extensive excavations since the 1930s, including new research and excavations since 2003. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 2325-5404 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Near Eastern archaeology
|
| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.5615/neareastarch.75.2.0088 |