Taur Ikhbeineh
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Taur Ikhbeineh was a prehistoric settlement in what is today the
Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...
,
Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...
. It was inhabited in the 4th millennium BC. Though the settlement was abandoned, there were burials at Taur Ikhbeineh in the late 3rd or early 2nd millennium BC. Excavations in the 20th century provided evidence of interactions between Canaanite and
Egyptian people Egyptians (, ; , ; ) are an ethnic group native to the Nile Valley in Egypt. Egyptian identity is closely tied to geography. The population is concentrated in the Nile Valley, a small strip of cultivable land stretching from the First Catarac ...
.


Location and topography

Taur Ikhbeineh is located inland from Gaza's Mediterranean coast. When the site was established in the prehistoric period it was likely located near an
estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime enviro ...
of the
Wadi Gaza Wadi Gaza () and Besor Stream (, ) are parts of a river system in the Gaza Strip in Palestine and the Negev region of Israel. Wadi Gaza is a wadi (river valley) that divides the northern and southern ends of the Gaza Strip, whose major tributar ...
, and the coast was closer. The extent of the site is uncertain though it is likely that it has been reduced by erosion over the millennia. Archaeological investigations identified three areas of activity (dubbed areas A, B, and C in the archaeological reports) within an area of ; area A was the main inhabited part and occupied an area of at least but it is unclear whether the three areas are part of the same settlement or whether areas B and C are peripheral to the main settlement.


History

The history of Taur Ikhbeineh is understood from partial archaeological excavations. The investigations identified four phases of occupation dated through radiocarbon dating to the 34th century BC, during the Early Bronze Age I (the first part of the Early Bronze Age, referred to as EBI) The EBI period saw the development of the first urban settlements. The settlement was abandoned in the Early Bronze Age, though there were later prehistoric burials at Taur Ikhbeineh. Human remains were found at the site and broadly dated to the Early Bronze Age IV or Middle Bronze Age I periods based on pottery found with the burials (corresponding to 2500/2300BC–1750BC). The bones belonged to two individuals: an adult aged 20–30 and a 3-month-old infant. The burial practice was similar to the burials found at
Tell el-Ajjul Tall al-Ajjul or Tell el-'Ajul is an archaeological mound or '' tell'' in the Gaza Strip. The fortified city excavated at the site dates as far back as ca. 2000–1800 BCE and was inhabited during the Bronze Age. It is located at the mouth of ...
, a nearby Bronze Age settlement. The earliest occupation layers at Taur Ikhbeineh, which dated to the 4th millennium BC, included evidence of Egyptian and Canaanite cultures interacting. Along with imported Egyptian pottery, archaeologists discovered locally produced material made with Egyptian and Canaanite techniques, assimilating Egyptian processes into local techniques. They hypothesised that there were two workshops either at Taur Ikhbeineh or in the area, with different groups producing different wares. Archaeologists Pierre de Miroschedji and
Moain Sadeq Moain Sadeq () is a Palestinian-Canadian archaeologist specialising in the archaeology of Gaza. He teaches at Qatar University and has worked at colleges in Canada. After completing a doctorate at the Free University of Berlin, Sadeq co-founded ...
suggest that
Tell es-Sakan Tell es-Sakan () is a tell (a mound created by accumulation of remains) about south of Gaza City in the Gaza Strip. It was the site of two separate Early Bronze Age urban settlements: the first was a fortified administrative centre of the E ...
, a nearby Bronze Age settlement, may have been intended to replace Taur Ikhbeineh. Tell es-Sakan was a major fortified Egyptian settlement established around 3300 BC.


Investigations and later history

The site was discovered in 1932, and investigated by Ram Gophna (Tel Aviv University) in 1977 and Eliezer Oren and Yuval Yekutieli (Ben Gurion University) in 1987, with surveys of the area and excavations conducted. Pottery discovered at Taur Ikhbeineh in the 1930s is in the
Rockefeller Archeological Museum The Rockefeller Archeological Museum, formerly the Palestine Archaeological Museum ("PAM"; 1938–1967), is an archaeology museum located in East Jerusalem, next to Herod's Gate, that houses a large collection of artifacts unearthed in the excav ...
's collection. In 2004 the site was used agriculturally. Since then, construction work has taken place nearby, along with clearances and the widening of the
Salah al-Din Road Salah al-Din Road (), also known as Salaheddin Road and the Salah ad-Deen Highway, is the main highway of the Gaza Strip, a territory of the State of Palestine. The highway extends over 45 kilometers, spanning the entire length of the territory ...
which passed north-west of Taur Ikhbeineh. During the
Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip The Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip is a major part of the Gaza war. Starting on 7 October 2023, immediately after the October 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel, Hamas-led attack on Israel, Israel began bombing of the Gaza Strip, bombing the Ga ...
the area around Taur Ikhbeineh was affected by
airstrikes An airstrike, air strike, or air raid is an offensive operation carried out by aircraft. Air strikes are delivered from aircraft such as blimps, balloons, fighter aircraft, attack aircraft, bombers, attack helicopters, and drones. The official d ...
. In late 2023, the Gaza Maritime Archaeology Project (GAZAMAP) used satellite imagery to identify a damaged building but the extent of the damage to the archaeological site could not be determined.


See also

*
Naqada culture The Naqada culture is an archaeological culture of Chalcolithic Predynastic Egypt (c. 4000–3000 BC), named for the town of Naqada, Qena Governorate. A 2013 Oxford University radiocarbon dating study of the Predynastic period suggests a beginn ...
– culture in Egypt partly contemporary with Taur Ikhbeineh


Notes


References


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * {{Gaza Governorate History of Palestine (region) Archaeological sites in the Gaza Strip Archaeology of the Near East Chalcolithic sites of Asia Bronze Age sites in Palestine Populated places established in the 4th millennium BC Populated places disestablished in the 4th millennium BC