Tel Yarmuth (also Tel Yarmouth and Tel Yarmut; Hebrew name) or Khirbet Yarmuk (Arabic name) is an

ancient Near East The ancient Near East was the home of early civilizations within a region roughly corresponding to the modern Middle East: Mesopotamia (modern Iraq, southeast Turkey, southwest Iran and northeastern Syria), ancient Egypt, ancient Iran (Ela ...

archaeological site in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

located 25 kilometers southwest of

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

and near modern

Beit Shemesh Beit Shemesh ( he, בֵּית שֶׁמֶשׁ ) is a city located approximately west of Jerusalem in Israel's Jerusalem District, with a population of in . History Tel Beit Shemesh The small archaeological tell northeast of the modern city w ...

. It is a large single-period (EB II/III) site and has been suggested as possibly being the city of

Jarmuth Jarmuth, Hebrew: Yarmut (יַרְמוּת), was the name of two cities in the land of Canaan.Lemche (2010), p160 The Douai-Rheims version of the Bible has an alternative spelling, Jaramoth. Jarmuth near Beit Shemesh Jarmuth was an Amorite ci ...

, being only a tentative identification, as it is based solely on the similarity of the Hebrew name with the Arabic name and its areal location.

History

Early Bronze Age

Chronologically the city reached its peak at the same time as the

Old Kingdom In ancient Egyptian history, the Old Kingdom is the period spanning c. 2700–2200 BC. It is also known as the "Age of the Pyramids" or the "Age of the Pyramid Builders", as it encompasses the reigns of the great pyramid-builders of the Fourt ...

in Egypt and the Early Dynastic III period in

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...

. After that the city was abandoned, with modest occupation in later periods. Early Bronze period material from Tel Yarmuth has been radiocarbon dated and is being used to support the contention that EB III ended around 2500 BC. Samples tested were "3 from Final EB IB, 15 from EB II, and 19 from EB III". Results were Final EB IB to EB II transition between 3030 and 2960 BC, EB II to EB III transition between 2980 and 2910 BC.

Early Bronze IB

The only notable EB IB find was a basalt spindle whorl.P. de Miroschedji "The Late EB III Palace at Tel Yarmuth: A Descriptive Summary", Eretz-Israel, vol.27, pp.153–170, 2003

Early Bronze II-III

The entire site including the lower town was heavily occupied in the Early Bronze (EB) II and III periods.P. de Miroschedji, "The Early Bronze Age Fortification System at Tel Yarmuth, an Interim Statement", EI 20, pp. 48-61, 1990
. de Miroschedji., "The Early Bronze Age Fortifications at Tel Yarmut – An Update", Publication Name: Eretz-Israel, Archaeological, Historical and Geographical Studies, vol. 33 (Stager Volume), 2018 The site was abandoned around 2400 BC, during EB III. Eretz-Israel-Museum-ceramics-pavilion-tel-yarmut-early-bronze-42402

Eretz-Israel-Museum-ceramics-pavilion-tel-yarmut-early-bronze-42402

The EB II and III monumental construction includes the large "White Building", a plastered masonry broad-room temple with a side altar. At its peak the city had massive sophisticated fortifications and a large main city gate (Area E). The first city wall (Wall A) was made of stone, was 6 meters deep and is preserved to 4 meters in height. A larger wall (Wall B) was later added outside of that built of Cyclopean masonry, cyclopean construction. The fortifications were subsequently improved even further. A number of EB III flint Canaanite blades, believed to be used as sickle inserts or in threshing, were found.

Middle Bronze

The acropolis was lightly re-occupied, based on pottery shard finds, in the Middle Bronze IIA.

Late Bronze

The site saw some occupation in the Late Bronze II. It included 13th century BC Mycenaean and

Cypriot Cypriot (in older sources often "Cypriote") refers to someone or something of, from, or related to the country of Cyprus. * Cypriot people, or of Cypriot descent; this includes: ** Armenian Cypriots ** Greek Cypriots ** Maronite Cypriots ** Tur ...

shards. The only other epigraphic find was a hoe with a partial hieroglyphic inscription in a hoard of bronze objects, mostly fragmentary. They were dated to the time of the

19th Dynasty The Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt (notated Dynasty XIX), also known as the Ramessid dynasty, is classified as the second Dynasty of the Ancient Egyptian New Kingdom period, lasting from 1292 BC to 1189 BC. The 19th Dynasty and the 20th Dynasty furt ...

(12th century BC) and may not be in their original context.

Iron Age

Somewhat more substantial building occurred on the acropolis in Iron I times. Finds from that period included a 2nd-century BC cooking pot with a ''yršlm'' (Jerusalem) stamp. According to old Hebrew canonical books (), compiled during the late Bronze Age, Yarmuth (English text: Jarmuth) is mentioned along with the cities

Adullam Adullam () is an ancient ruin, formerly known by the Arabic appellation ''ʿAīd el Mâ'' (or ''`Eîd el Mieh''), built upon a hilltop overlooking the Elah Valley, straddling the Green Line between Israel and the West Bank. In the late 19th cent ...

and Socho as occupying a place in the Land of Canaan, in the region geographically known as the

Shefelah The Shephelah or Shfela, lit. "lowlands" ( hbo, הַשְּפֵלָה ''hašŠǝfēlā'', also Modern Hebrew: , ''Šǝfēlat Yəhūda'', the "Judaean foothills"), is a transitional region of soft-sloping rolling hills in south-central Israel s ...

, or what is a place of transition between the mountainous region and the coastal plains. It was one of many city-states with independent and sovereign kings. According to the same source, the king of Yarmuth (Jarmuth) was slain by

Joshua Joshua () or Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' lit. ' Yahweh is salvation') ''Yēšūaʿ''; syr, ܝܫܘܥ ܒܪ ܢܘܢ ''Yəšūʿ bar Nōn''; el, Ἰησοῦς, ar , يُوشَعُ ٱبْنُ نُونٍ '' Yūšaʿ ...

and the

Israelites The Israelites (; , , ) were a group of Semitic-speaking tribes in the ancient Near East who, during the Iron Age, inhabited a part of Canaan. The earliest recorded evidence of a people by the name of Israel appears in the Merneptah Stele o ...

during their conquest of the land of Canaan ().

Persian period

The only record of Yarmuth for this time-period (c. 539–331 BCE) is taken from the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. Hebrew: ''Tān ...

, specifically the account of

Nehemiah Nehemiah is the central figure of the Book of Nehemiah, which describes his work in rebuilding Jerusalem during the Second Temple period. He was governor of Persian Judea under Artaxerxes I of Persia (465–424 BC). The name is pronounced ...

who returned with the Jewish exiles from 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 def ...

, during the reign of

Artaxerxes I Artaxerxes I (, peo, 𐎠𐎼𐎫𐎧𐏁𐏂𐎠 ; grc-gre, Ἀρταξέρξης) was the fifth King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, from 465 to December 424 BC. He was the third son of Xerxes I. He may have been the "Artasyr ...

. According to

Ezra Ezra (; he, עֶזְרָא, '; fl. 480–440 BCE), also called Ezra the Scribe (, ') and Ezra the Priest in the Book of Ezra, was a Jewish scribe ('' sofer'') and priest ('' kohen''). In Greco-Latin Ezra is called Esdras ( grc-gre, Ἔσδρ� ...

, the acclaimed author of the book, some of these returnees had settled in Yarmuth, as shown by . The political entity that was established in Judea at the time was that of a vassal state, as Judea became a province of the Persian Empire, governed by a

satrap A satrap () was a governor of the provinces of the ancient Median and Achaemenid Empires and in several of their successors, such as in the Sasanian Empire and the Hellenistic empires. The satrap served as viceroy to the king, though with cons ...

Byzantine period

Some Early Byzantine era terraces and shards were found in the lower town area.

Layout and topography

The site is about 18 hectares (44.479 acres) in extent. The high point, 1.8 hectares (4.447 acres) in area, lies on the eastern side with a lower town extending to the west. The site is roughly 640 by 420 meters.Guérin, V., "Description géographique, historique et archéologique de la Palestine. Premiere partie.", Judée. 3 volumes. Paris: Imprimerie impériale, 1869

Research history

The mound, then known as Khirbet Yarmuk, was visited by French archaeologist

Victor Guérin Victor Guérin (15 September 1821 – 21 Septembe 1890) was a French intellectual, explorer and amateur archaeologist. He published books describing the geography, archeology and history of the areas he explored, which included Greece, Asia Min ...

in 1863. A survey of the site was conducted by Adam Druks in 1963. A. Ben-Tor conducted a sounding there in 1970 on behalf of the Hebrew University. Tel Yarmuth has been scientifically excavated since 1980 by

Pierre de Miroschedji Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...

under the auspices of the

French National Centre for Scientific Research The French National Centre for Scientific Research (french: link=no, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe. In 2016, it employed 31,63 ...

(CNRS). In 2014, extensive excavations were conducted at the site by the

Israel Antiquities Authority The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA, he, רשות העתיקות ; ar, داﺌرة الآثار, before 1990, the Israel Department of Antiquities) is an independent Israeli governmental authority responsible for enforcing the 1978 Law of ...

(IAA). After 2016 the site was declared a national park and since then excavations have been conducted, under the auspices of the Israel Antiquities Authority, in preparation for public access.Shalev, Omer, and Amir Golani, "Tel Yarmut: Preliminary Report.” Hadashot Arkheologiyot: Excavations and Surveys in Israel, vol. 130, 2018. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/26691759 An extensive geophysical survey of the lower town was also completed.

Gallery

File:Base of column at Tel Yarmuth.jpg, Base of column from ancient structure File:Dressed stone at Tel Yarmuth.jpg, Dressed stone at Tel Yarmuth File:Fieldstones embedded in mortar.jpg, Fieldstones embedded in mortar at Tel Yarmuth File:Foundation of house showing three bases of columns.jpg, Foundation of house showing three bases of columns File:Foundation of large house.jpg, Foundations of large house File:General view of stone walls at Tel Yarmuth.jpg, General view of stone walls at Tel Yarmuth File:Jambs of doorway - Tel Yarmuth.jpg, Jambs of doorway File:Layout of Tel Yarmuth.jpg, General layout of excavated ruin File:Remains of a column.jpg, Remains of column base File:Ruins of Yarmuth.jpg, Ruins of Yarmuth File:Stone wall at Tel Yarmuth.jpg, Thick stone wall at Tel Yarmuth File:Archaeological site of Yarmuth.jpg, View of archaeological site File:View of Tel Yarmuth.jpg, General view of ruins File:Wall of Tel Yarmuth.jpg, Defensive wall of Tel Yarmuth File:Walled city of Yarmuth.jpg, Walled city of Yarmuth (Jarmuth) File:Walled structures at Tel Yarmuth.jpg, Walled structures

References

External links

(IAA), {{YouTube, w3_-9hePL0E, Guided Tour at Tel Yarmuth (in Hebrew)