Tell es-Sultan ( ar, تل السلطان, ''lit.''
Sultan
Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it c ...
's Hill), also known as Tel Jericho ( he, תל יריחו) or Ancient Jericho, is a
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...
-nominated
archaeological site
An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...
in the
West Bank
The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
, in the
State of Palestine
Palestine ( ar, فلسطين, Filasṭīn), officially the State of Palestine ( ar, دولة فلسطين, Dawlat Filasṭīn, label=none), is a state located in Western Asia. Officially governed by the Palestine Liberation Organization ( ...
,
located adjacent to the
Ein as-Sultan refugee camp two kilometres north of the centre of
Jericho. The
tell was inhabited from the 10th millennium BCE, and has been called "the oldest town in the world", with many significant archaeological finds; the site is also notable for its role in the history of
Levantine archaeology.
The area was first identified as the site of ancient Jericho in modern times by
Charles Warren in 1868, on the basis of its proximity to the large spring of
Ein es-Sultan that had been proposed as the spring of
Elisha
Elisha ( ; or "God is my salvation", Greek: , ''Elis îos'' or , ''Elisaié,'' Latin: ''Eliseus'') was, according to the Hebrew Bible, a prophet and a wonder-worker. His name is commonly transliterated into English as Elisha via Hebrew, Eli ...
by
Edward Robinson three decades earlier.
History
Natufian hunter-gatherers, 10,000 BCE
The first permanent settlement on the site developed between 10,000 and 9000 BCE.
During the
Younger Dryas period of cold and drought, permanent habitation of any one location was impossible. However, Tell es-Sultan was a popular camping ground for
Natufian
The Natufian culture () is a Late Epipaleolithic archaeological culture of the Levant, dating to around 15,000 to 11,500 years ago. The culture was unusual in that it supported a sedentary or semi-sedentary population even before the introducti ...
hunter-gatherer groups due to the nearby
Ein as-Sultan spring; these hunter-gatherers left a scattering of crescent-shaped microlith tools behind them.
Around 9600 BCE the droughts and cold of the Younger Dryas
stadial came to an end, making it possible for Natufian groups to extend the duration of their stay, eventually leading to year-round habitation and permanent settlement.
Epipaleolithic construction at the site appears to predate the invention of
agriculture
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people ...
, with the construction of Natufian structures beginning earlier than 9000 BC, the very beginning of the
Holocene
The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togeth ...
epoch in geologic history.
[Freedman et al., 2000, p. 689–671.]
Pre-Pottery Neolithic, 8500 BCE
Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA)
The
Pre-Pottery Neolithic A phase at Tell es-Sultan (ca. 8500 – 7500 BCE)
saw the emergence of one of the world's first major
proto-cities. As the world warmed up, a new culture based on agriculture and sedentary dwelling emerged, which archaeologists have termed "Pre-Pottery Neolithic A" (abbreviated as PPNA), sometimes called the
Sultanian
Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) denotes the first stage of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic, in early Levantine and Anatolian Neolithic culture, dating to years ago, that is, 10,000–8,800 BCE. Archaeological remains are located in the Levantine and U ...
era after the town. PPNA villages are characterized by small circular dwellings, burial of the dead under the floor of buildings, reliance on hunting wild game, the cultivation of wild or domestic cereals, and no use of pottery yet.
The PPNA-era town, a settlement of around , contained round mud-brick houses, yet no street planning. Circular dwellings were built of
clay and straw bricks left to dry in the sun, which were plastered together with a mud mortar. Each house measured about across, and was roofed with mud-smeared brush. Hearths were located within and outside the homes.
The identity and number of the inhabitants of Jericho during the PPNA period is still under debate, with estimates going as high as 2000–3000, and as low as 200–300.
["Jericho"](_blank)
Encyclopædia Britannica
The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various t ...
It is known that this population had domesticated
emmer wheat,
barley
Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley p ...
and
pulses
In medicine, a pulse represents the tactile arterial palpation of the cardiac cycle (heartbeat) by trained fingertips. The pulse may be palpated in any place that allows an artery to be compressed near the surface of the body, such as at the nec ...
and hunted wild animals.
The town was surrounded by a massive stone wall over high and wide at the base (see
Wall of Jericho), inside of which stood a stone tower (see
Tower of Jericho), placed in the centre of the west side of the tell.
This tower was the tallest structure in the world until the
Pyramid of Djoser, and the second-oldest tower after the one at
Tell Qaramel.
The wall and tower were built around 8000 BCE.
[''World's first skyscraper sought to intimidate masses'']
Arieh O'Sullivan for ''Jerusalem Post'', 14 February 2011 For the tower carbon dates published in 1981 and 1983 indicate that it was built around 8300 BCE and stayed in use until ca. 7800 BC.
The wall and tower would have taken a hundred men more than a hundred days to construct,
thus suggesting some kind of social organization and
division of labour.
The major structures highlight the importance of the Tell for the understanding of settlement patterns in the
Sultanian
Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) denotes the first stage of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic, in early Levantine and Anatolian Neolithic culture, dating to years ago, that is, 10,000–8,800 BCE. Archaeological remains are located in the Levantine and U ...
period in the southern
Levant
The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is ...
.
[ 2021: no more preview.]
Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB)
After a few centuries, the first settlement was abandoned. After the PPNA settlement phase there was a settlement hiatus of several centuries, then the
Pre-Pottery Neolithic B
Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) is part of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic, a Neolithic culture centered in upper Mesopotamia and the Levant, dating to years ago, that is, 8800–6500 BC. It was typed by British archaeologist Kathleen Kenyon durin ...
settlement was founded on the eroded surface of the
tell. This second settlement, established in 6800 BCE, perhaps represents the work of an invading people who absorbed the original inhabitants into their dominant culture. Artifacts dating from this period include ten
plastered human skulls
Plastered human skulls are human skulls covered in layers of plaster, typically found in the ancient Levant, most notably around the modern Palestinian city of Jericho, between 8,000 and 6,000 BC (approximately 9000 years ago), in the Pre-Pott ...
, painted so as to reconstitute the individuals' features.
These represent either
teraphim or an early example of
portrait
A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this ...
ure in
art history
Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today, ...
, and it is thought that they were kept in people's homes while the bodies were buried.
The architecture consisted of rectilinear buildings made of mudbricks on stone foundations. The mudbricks were loaf-shaped with deep thumb prints to facilitate bounding. No building has been excavated in its entirety. Normally, several rooms cluster around a central courtyard. There is one big room () and a second slightly smaller room () containing internal divisions. The remaining areas are small, and presumably used for storage. The rooms have red or pinkish
terrazzo-floors made of lime. Some impressions of mats made of reeds or rushes have been preserved. The courtyards have clay floors.
Kathleen Kenyon interpreted one building as a
shrine
A shrine ( la, scrinium "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred or holy space dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, daemon, or similar figure of respect, wherein they ...
. It contained a niche in the wall. A chipped pillar of volcanic stone that was found nearby might have fit into this niche.
The dead were buried under the floors or in the rubble fill of abandoned buildings. There are several collective burials. Not all the skeletons are completely articulated, which may point to a time of exposure before burial. A
skull
The skull is a bone protective cavity for the brain. The skull is composed of four types of bone i.e., cranial bones, facial bones, ear ossicles and hyoid bone. However two parts are more prominent: the cranium and the mandible. In humans, th ...
cache contained seven skulls. The jaws were removed and the faces covered with plaster;
cowries were used as eyes. A total of ten skulls were found. Modelled skulls were found in
Tell Ramad and
Beisamoun
Baysamun or Beisamoun ( ar, بيسمون, ''Beisamûn'') was a small Palestinian Arab village, located in the marshy Hula Valley northeast of Safad. In 1945, it had a population of 20.Hadawi, 1970p. 69 It was depopulated during the 1948 War on M ...
as well.
Other finds included flints, such as arrowheads (tanged or side-notched), finely denticulated sickle-blades,
burins, scrapers, a few
tranchet axes,
obsidian, and green obsidian from an unknown source. There were also
querns, hammerstones, and a few ground-stone axes made of greenstone. Other items discovered included dishes and bowls carved from soft limestone, spindle whorls made of stone and possible loom weights, spatulae and drills, stylised anthropomorphic plaster figures, almost life-size,
anthropomorphic
Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology.
Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...
and
theriomorphic
The word ''zoomorphism'' derives from the Greek ζωον (''zōon''), meaning "animal", and μορφη (''morphē''), meaning "shape" or "form". In the context of art, zoomorphism could describe art that imagines humans as non-human animals. It ...
clay figurines, as well as shell and malachite beads.
Bronze Age
A succession of settlements followed from 4500 BCE onward, the largest constructed in 2600 BCE.
Tell es-Sultan was continually occupied into the Middle Bronze Age; it was destroyed in the Late Bronze, after which it no longer served as an urban centre. The city was surrounded by extensive defensive walls strengthened with rectangular towers, and possessed an extensive cemetery with vertical shaft-tombs and underground burial chambers; the elaborate funeral offerings in some of these may reflect the emergence of local kings.
During the Middle Bronze Age Tell es-Sultan was a small prominent city of the
Canaan
Canaan (; Phoenician: 𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍 – ; he, כְּנַעַן – , in pausa – ; grc-bib, Χανααν – ;The current scholarly edition of the Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus T ...
region, reaching its greatest Bronze Age extent in the period from 1700 to 1550 BCE. It seems to have reflected the greater urbanization in the area at that time, and has been linked to the rise of the
Maryannu, a class of chariot-using aristocrats linked to the rise of the
Mitanni
Mitanni (; Hittite cuneiform ; ''Mittani'' '), c. 1550–1260 BC, earlier called Ḫabigalbat in old Babylonian texts, c. 1600 BC; Hanigalbat or Hani-Rabbat (''Hanikalbat'', ''Khanigalbat'', cuneiform ') in Assyrian records, or '' Naharin'' ...
te state to the north. Kathleen Kenyon reported "...the Middle Bronze Age is perhaps the most prosperous in the whole history of Kna'an. ... The defenses ... belong to a fairly advanced date in that period" and there was "a massive stone revetment... part of a complex system" of defenses (pp. 213–218).
The Bronze-Age city fell in the 16th century at the end of the Middle Bronze Age, the calibrated carbon remains from its City-IV destruction layer dating to 1617–1530 BCE. Notably this carbon dating 1573 BCE confirmed the accuracy of the stratigraphical dating 1550 by Kenyon.
Iron Age
Tell es-Sultan remained unoccupied from the end of the 15th to the 10th-9th centuries BCE, when the city was rebuilt. Of this new city not much more remains than a
four-room house on the eastern slope.
[ (Snippet view).] By the 7th century Jericho had become an extensive town, but this settlement was destroyed in the
Babylonian conquest of
Judah in the early 6th century.
Abandonment of the tell
After the destruction of the Judahite city by the Babylonians in the late 6th century, whatever was rebuilt in the Persian period as part of the
Restoration after the
Babylonian captivity
The Babylonian captivity or Babylonian exile is the period in Jewish history during which a large number of Judeans from the ancient Kingdom of Judah were captives in Babylon, the capital city of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, following their defeat ...
, left only very few remains.
The tell was abandoned as a place of settlement not long after this period.
Archaeological excavation
The first excavations of the tells around Ain es Sultan ( ar, عين سلطان, lit=Sultan's spring) were made by
Charles Warren in 1868 on behalf of the
Palestine Exploration Fund
The Palestine Exploration Fund is a British society based in London. It was founded in 1865, shortly after the completion of the Ordnance Survey of Jerusalem, and is the oldest known organization in the world created specifically for the stud ...
. Warren excavated nine mounds in the area of the spring; during one of the excavations his workmen dug through the mud bricks of the
wall
A wall is a structure and a surface that defines an area; carries a load; provides security, shelter, or soundproofing; or, is decorative. There are many kinds of walls, including:
* Walls in buildings that form a fundamental part of the s ...
without realizing what it was.
The spring had been identified in 1838 in
Edward Robinson's ''
Biblical Researches in Palestine'' as "the scene of
Elisha
Elisha ( ; or "God is my salvation", Greek: , ''Elis îos'' or , ''Elisaié,'' Latin: ''Eliseus'') was, according to the Hebrew Bible, a prophet and a wonder-worker. His name is commonly transliterated into English as Elisha via Hebrew, Eli ...
's miracle", on the basis of it being the primary spring near to Jericho.
On this basis Warren proposed the surrounding mounds as the site of Ancient Jericho, however, Warren did not have the funds to carry out a full excavation. Believing that it was clearly the spring where Elisha healed, he suggested shifting the entire mound for evidence, which he thought could be done for £400.
Ernst Sellin and
Carl Watzinger excavated Tell es-Sultan and Tulul Abu el-'Alayiq between 1907–1909 and in 1911, finding the remains of two walls which they initially suggested supported the
biblical
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of ...
account of the
Battle of Jericho. They later revised this conclusion and dated their finds to the Middle
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
(1950-1550 BC).
The site was again excavated by
John Garstang between 1930 and 1936, who again raised the suggestion that remains of the upper wall was that described in the
Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus ...
, and dated to around 1400 BCE.
Extensive investigations using more modern techniques were made by
Kathleen Kenyon between 1952 and 1958. Her excavations discovered a
tower
A tower is a tall structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting structures.
Towers are specific ...
and
wall
A wall is a structure and a surface that defines an area; carries a load; provides security, shelter, or soundproofing; or, is decorative. There are many kinds of walls, including:
* Walls in buildings that form a fundamental part of the s ...
in trench I. Kenyon provided evidence that both constructions dated much earlier than previous estimates of the site's age, to the
Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several pa ...
, and were part of an early
proto-city
A proto-city is a large, dense Neolithic settlement that is largely distinguished from a city by its lack of planning and centralized rule. While the precise classification of many sites considered proto-cities is ambiguous and subject to consid ...
. Her excavations found a series of seventeen early Bronze Age walls, some of which she thought may have been destroyed by
earthquake
An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, fr ...
s. The last of the walls was put together in a hurry, indicating that the settlement had been destroyed by nomadic invaders. Another wall was built by a more sophisticated culture in the Middle Bronze Age with a steep
plaster
Plaster is a building material used for the protective or decorative coating of walls and ceilings and for moulding and casting decorative elements. In English, "plaster" usually means a material used for the interiors of buildings, while "re ...
ed escarpment leading up to mud bricks on top.
Lorenzo Nigro and
Nicolo Marchetti conducted excavations in 1997–2000. Since 2009 the Italian-Palestinian archaeological project of excavation and restoration was resumed by Rome "La Sapienza" University and Palestinian MOTA-DACH under the direction of
Lorenzo Nigro and Hamdan Taha.
Walls
The PPNA-era city wall was designed for either defensive or flood protection purposes;
the mass of the wall (approximately
thick and high) as well as that of the tower suggests a defensive purpose as well. It is suggested to date to approximately
8000 BC.
If interpreted as an "urban fortification", the Wall of Jericho is the oldest city wall discovered by archaeologists anywhere in the world. Surrounding the wall was a ditch wide by deep, cut through solid
bedrock with a circumference around the town of as much as .
[Negev & Gibson, eds. (2001), ''Fortifications: Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods'', p. 180] Kenyon commented that the "labour involved in excavating this ditch out of solid
rock must have been tremendous."
Tower of Jericho
The Tower of Jericho is an stone structure, built in the
Pre-Pottery Neolithic A period around 8000 BCE.
It is among the earliest stone monuments of mankind.
[Parry, Wynne., Tower of Power: Mystery of Ancient Jericho Monument Revealed, LiveScience, 18 February 2011](_blank)
/ref> Conical in shape, the tower is almost in diameter at the base, decreasing to at the top, with walls approximately thick. It contains an internal staircase with 22 stone steps. The construction of the tower is estimated to have taken 11,000 working days.
Comparative chronology
External links
*
References
Bibliography
*
{{Authority control
10th millennium BC
1868 archaeological discoveries
Jericho
Bronze Age sites in the State of Palestine
Hebrew Bible cities
Natufian sites
Neolithic
Neolithic settlements
Prehistoric art
Tegart forts
Torah cities
Destroyed cities
Canaanite cities
Archaeological type sites
Tells (archaeology)
Historic Jewish communities
Pre-Pottery Neolithic B
Pre-Pottery Neolithic A