1997-2000 Seasons

SCIENTIFIC REPORT OF THE ITALIAN-PALESTINIAN EXPEDITION TO TELL ES-SULTAN (1997-2000): AT THE DOWN OF URBANIZATION IN PALESTINE 

I-III Campaigns - 1997-2000

Lorenzo Nigro - Sapienza University of Rome 

The archaeologists and technicians of Rome "La Sapienza" University spent four seasons at Tell es-Sultan together with the Palestinian friends of the Department of Antiquities and Cultural Heritage, and the scientific results of such excavations - which were announced at the International Congresses of Near Eastern Archaeology held in Rome, Copenhagen and Paris - changed several interpretations concerning the Bronze Age city, which flourished on the limestone bank nearby 'Ain es-Sultan for more than one millennium. The Expedition updated the chronology of the constructive phases of the Early Bronze Age city-walls and of the Middle Bronze Age ramparts, consistently demonstrated the existence of a Lower City, unfortunately destroyed by modern building activities, and discovered huge buildings on top of the site and at its southern foot.

A brief summary of the discoveries is offered hereby, which is aimed at giving an idea of the monumental evidence available from a site which deserves, through the UNESCO nomination, not only the worldwide fame (which, actually, it already has), but also the world help to become the core of the first Palestinian National Archaeological Park.

1. INTRODUCTION 

In 1997, the main goals of the Italian-Palestinian Expedition at Tell es-Sultan/ancient Jericho were, of course, resuming archaeological excavations at such an important site, at the crossroads of many cultural areas and different environments, which has provided one of the most complete chronological sequence in pre-classical Palestine, but also starting a pilot project of cooperation between the Palestinian Department of Antiquities and Cultural Heritage, and Rome "La Sapienza" University, which foresaw the training of young Italian and Palestinian archaeologists. The main focus of the Expedition during the four campaigns (1997-2000) was the investigation of the urban plan, stratigraphy and culture of the Bronze Age city (Sultan III-IV), also re-evaluating data collected by previous Austro-German and British Expeditions. This task was accomplished opening nine excavation areas, with interesting results concerning the site topography and extension, the development of its fortification system, and the stratigraphic sequence, which has also allowed a reappraisal of finds of previous expeditions.

The fourth and last season of excavations of the Italian-Palestinian Expedition at Tell es-Sultan/Jericho took place in September-October 2000; unluckily, it was interrupted due to the severe political situation. Nevertheless, since then, the study of the results, stratigraphy and finds, produced by the Italian-Palestinian Expedition has continued, updating the archaeological knowledge of the history of the site.

 The following summary presents the excavations results in stratigraphic and chronological order, following the most recent periodization.

2. SULTAN IIIb – EARLY BRONZE AGE II (3000-2700/2650 BC)

Area L:

This earliest urban phase has been detected on the northern side of the site, where excavations in Area L allowed to identify the remains of a massive mud-brick city-wall, which is apparently the earliest urban fortification system. The erection of the first Early Bronze Age fortifications marks the definitive establishment of a city, which spread off as a physiological development from the previous proto-urban village of Sultan IIIa2 (Early Bronze IB).  The identification of the EB II city-wall represents one of the most prominent results of the latest seasons in the larger perspective of studying the earliest urban development in the Southern Levant, in which the ancient walled town of Jericho represents an utmost example of an articulated architectural work realized by a complex society. The EB II city-wall is made of very distinguished dune-yellowish mud-bricks, already noticed by previous excavators, and characterized by their large size.

Area F:

The dwelling quarter were reached in Area F, where the main feature was a street running south-west/north-east (L.435), that was in use during the entire EB urban period (Sultan IIIb-IIIc). On both sides of the street, several units were brought to light, as completion of the houses already excavated by the Austro-German and the British Expeditions.

3. SULTAN IIIc1 - EARLY BRONZE IIIA (2700/2650-2450 BC)

Area F:

In the following period (EB IIIA) the main street crossing the city south-west/north-east was kept. Here, a huge portion of the dwelling quarter extending to the west and to the east of the street running north-east (L.307), was brought to light. Eight domestic units (from south to north, L.450, L.323, L.319, L.305+L.327, L.303, L.403+L.405, L.445, L.904) in a fairly good state of preservation were exposed on the eastern side of the street, and one more unit (L.444) was uncovered on its western side. Only L.904 opened directly towards the street, through a doorway (L.902) with a raised threshold paved with three stone slabs. Further to the north, the street was brought to light up to the edge of denudation of previous excavations, thus showing that it turned slightly towards north-east. Architecture shows the use of mud-bricks on field-stones foundations only at the moment of the first erection of buildings. In the following reconstructions, walls were raised horizontally, and new mud-brick structures were built directly upon them without stone foundations. This made obviously quite complicated to investigate the constructional history of each house, also because the same houses were repaired many times and continuously used with varying layouts. Each domestic unit was provided with a hearth and various working installations, such as benches, cutting and grinding slabs, pulping holes. Another common architectural feature is the use of timber as pillars, often inserted within walls, or freestanding on stone bases, as known in many other Palestinian sites.

Findings belong to the ordinary domestic assemblage, mainly illustrating food production and preparation (flint blades and sickles, stone pestles and grinding stones). Faunal remains show an integrated diet of tamed animals (sheep and goats, but also bovines), and wild species, such as gazelle and wild boar. A hippopotamus bone, found in the 1998 campaign, and the bull’s head ,found by John Garstang,  made of hippopotamus tusk ivory deserves a particular interest. The presence of such an animal in the Jericho Oasis not only is the latest attestation in inland Palestine, but also testifies to the abundance of water sources in the Lower Jordan Valley, especially by the 'Ain es-Sultan and the nearby 'Ain el-Lodjia.

Other domestic activities are testified to by items such as worked bones, bone and copper pins, and loom weights and spindle whorls related to household textile production. Clay disks may be interpreted as counterweights used in weaving activities, as they were found together with spindle whorls and loom weights; sea-shells and mother-of-pearl fragments hint at commercial links with the Red Sea and the Mediterranean. Actually, the existence of a productive system coordinated by a central administration is perhaps consistently demonstrated by findings such as balance weights (of 2 shekels and 1 mine), which are possibly related to metal and other precious stuff (sulphur, salt, ointments, drugs, bitumen, etc.) exchange.

Area B and B-West:

The city was rebuilt with several important transformations affecting the fortification system. A completely new composite double city-wall was built all around the site. It was made of an inner main wall protected on the outer side by a filling sustained by an outer wall. The gap between the inner and outer walls was either filled up with crushed limestone (hawwara), or with soil resulting from razing activities on the previous collapsed strata or hosted blind rooms (a kind of "casemates") related to the main wall and used as storerooms or pathways. This articulated system was the major achievement of the Jericho ruling institution in the Early Bronze IIIA.

Area D:

As regards the general urban layout of the city during the EB IIIA, the investigation in Area D supported the hypothesis that the main city-gate during this period was located at the south-eastern foot of the Spring Hill in front of the 'Ain es-Sultan. On the other hand, excavations in Area G, on the preserved top of the Spring Hill, have shown that a main retaining wall supported the central area of the site, where public buildings were located (see below).

4. SULTAN IIIc2 - EARLY BRONZE IIIB (2450-2300 BC)

Area B and B-West:

Following a violent destruction, Jericho was fully rebuilt during Period IIIc2 (EB IIIB). The Inner Wall (W.1), both in Area B and B West, resulted to have been repaired in various spots, while the Outer Wall (W.51) had been moved inwards and rebuilt with a thickness of 3.0 m. On the southern side of the fortifications, excavations in Area B exposed Building B1, a structure erected against the Inner City-Wall. The building included a row of rectangular rooms (L.38, L.39, L.539), parallel to the city-wall, and a main east-west wall (W.34+W.534), delimitating a courtyard. Even if, due to erosion and previous excavations, these rooms were only partially preserved, finds suggest that they were devoted to food production: three limestone mortars where found in L.39, while L.38 was characterized by the presence of a hearth in a corner, paved with basalt stones and reemployed grinders. The plan, the number of rooms, the thickness of walls and their building technique, suggest that Building B1 had a public function, hosting extra-familiar food production. Building B1 was destroyed by a violent earthquake, as it is shown by its main wall ruinously collapsed, and it is also visible in cracks and subsided sections of the nearby city-walls. Calibrated radiocarbon dates allow to fix this event around 2350 BC. Successively, the area was re-occupied by the same inhabitants for some decades. Then, the site was definitively abandoned.

Area G:

Here, a major building (Building G1) was discovered, dated to Period IIIc2 (EB IIIB) showing a size and a plan markedly different from that of contemporary domestic architecture. Three rooms of Building G1 were fully exposed (L.620, L.644 and L.961), with thick mud-brick walls, showing a line lime revetment, and a series of modelled installations. In the smallest room (L.620) a plastered bin was present along the north wall (B.618), probably for working with liquids. The main room to the east (L.644) was destroyed by a fierce fire and the roof collapsed all together, as testified to by the carbonized wooden beams, fallen over the floor and found still parallel one to the other. Six large storage jars were found in this room proving that it was devoted to storage and to the transformation of food, as attested to by flint blades, flat stones used as working surfaces, benches (B.640 and B.645), and a series of clay bins. A third room to the east (L.961), aligned with the previous ones, was identified only in its southern wall (W.616). The scale, the location and the wealth of archaeological finds suggest that the building had a public function. After its destruction, due to the earthquake already noticed in Area B, which occurred towards the end of Period IIIc2 (around 2350 BC), Building G1 was rebuilt in a less monumental way, and then definitely abandoned around 2300 BC. 

5. SULTAN IIId - EARLY BRONZE IV (2300-2000 BC)

Early Bronze IV marks a distinct change in the life of Tell es-Sultan, which was first deserted for a certain while, and then reoccupied by a new rural community. A comparison of the Italian - Palestinian’s updated stratigraphy with the earlier Austro-German and British excavations, especially the excavation conducted by M.K. Kenyon in the necropolis, allowed a definition of two distinct phases: the early Sultan IIId1 when, after a certain gap in occupation, sparse dwellings occupied the summit of the Spring Hill; and the latter Sultan IIId2 when the settlement became a huge rural village also extended to the slopes of the tell. The Italian-Palestinian Expedition identified remains of Period IIId on top of the Spring Hill, and in the northern plateau of the tell; namely, dwellings, including ovens, silos, floors, and flimsy mud-brick walls, often made of reemployed bricks from Period IIIc2 collapsed structures. 

6. SULTAN IVa - MIDDLE BRONZE I (2000-1800 BC)

In respect of the Early Bronze Age city, that of the beginning of Middle Bronze Age was characterized by the enucleation of a major dominant urban area on top of the Spring Hill, extending towards north with a rectangular plan around 100 x 50 m, where the palace (and perhaps also the main city-temple) was located, and by a completely new fortification system built at the bottom of the tell, and consisting of a solid mud-brick wall with towers at regular intervals (see below). 

Area G:

On top of the Spring Hill a major sustaining wall (W.633) was identified, presumably terracing the acropolis with public buildings. Another huge mud-brick wall (W.7) was discovered at the bottom of the Spring Hill itself in Area D. This wall, may be identified with the structure already excavated by J. Garstang protruding from the East Tower (a massive defensive building possibly connected to a gate), while, its northern end was excavated by K.M. Kenyon (HCJ+HCP), who also identified a rectangular tower (HBL+HBJ+HBK) connected with it. A sounding below the foundations of Wall W.7 proved that it and the related tower can be attributed to Sultan IVa.

The terrace-wall W.633 sustained a public building (the north-western counterpart of this terrace wall was identified with W.420 in Area F) largely disappeared due to intense disturbing activities in the Byzantine period. Underneath this building, the southern wing of which was identified by E. Sellin, there was a group of built-up tombs with relatively wealthy funerary assemblages, which, for their location and general characteristics may be interpreted as royal tombs. One of these tombs (D.641), discovered by the Italian-Palestinian Expedition, consisted of two flexed bodies, apparently an adult and a female about 12-14 years old, with two sacrificed young animals (a gazelle and a goat) and six vessels of which at least one contained food offerings. The young lady wore a pair of bronze double earrings, a necklace of carnelian and rock crystal beads, a bronze pin for closing the tunic on the left shoulder, some chains of frit beads and a digital bronze ring with a steatite scarab of local manufacture, while another scarab was found under the left side of the head.

Area A:

Excavations in Area A, on the southern flank of the tell, brought to light the Building A1, a huge structure with a rectangular tower, which was erected during Sultan IVa, and kept in use during Sultan IVb (see below). The building technique of Tower A1, its orientation and its function are very similar to those of Garstang's East Tower, suggesting that both monuments belonged to the same early Middle Bronze Age fortification system, consisting of a solid mud-brick wall 2 m thick with various buttresses and towers.

Area F:

In Area F, the terrace-wall W.420, together with the wall of Area G W.633 of the same orientation, supported the uppermost area of the site, where a major building was erected, a wall of which was excavated in 1999 (W.431).

7. SULTAN IVb - MIDDLE BRONZE II (1800-1650 BC)

After a major destruction, occurred towards the end of Sultan IVa (Sesostris III's campaign?), the city of Jericho was again rebuilt and a new fortification system was erected all around the tell. This consisted of a rampart, made of a massive stone wall at the base, supporting a series of earthen fillings with a crushed limestone or clay revetment, and of an upper wall with subsidiary buildings over it. Sultan IVb was the most flourishing phase in the history of the Middle Bronze Age city of Jericho, as it is also shown by the rich necropolis, and it ended in the second half of the 17th century, due to an unknown cause.

Area E:

A long stretch of the stone wall at the base of the rampart has been brought to light in Area E, at the south-western corner of the site. At the middle of this wall a rectangular structure protrudes out of the line of the city fortification, possibly the foundation of a defensive tower. Inside the Tower, in a layer of destruction apparently belonging to MB II, a clay figurine of a lioness was found.

Area C:

The upper part of the rampart was examined during the first two seasons in Area C, at Kenyon's Trench I, where a series of supporting walls were identified just below its top. In different parts of the tell, the wall was built using different techniques, so it is difficult to determine the exact phase of use of each section.

Area A:

The major result of the Italian-Palestinian Expedition was the discovery of a Middle Bronze II lower city, encompassing the tell on the eastern and southern sides. In Area A, just south of Kenyon's Trench III, the defensive building (A1) continued to be in use, and its abutting tower  was now encircled by houses, as a results of the expansion of the city towards the Oasis. On the eastern side private houses abutted the Tower, while, on the western side, a wide area, interpreted as an inner courtyard of a fortress, was paved with pebbles. The group of houses built outside Building A1 and against the Tower, underwent three major reconstructions during Sultan IVb. These houses yielded a large inventory of domestic items and pottery, as well as some interesting finds, such as a calcite alabastron.

8. SULTAN IVc - MIDDLE BRONZE III (1650-1550 BC)

The final phase of the Middle Bronze Age, ie. Sultan IVc, was characterized by an overall urban reorganization of the city. This period ended with a violent destruction occurred around 1550 BC or some years later. There is no available evidence to attribute this event to an enemy, although the the strategic importance of the site, at the southern gate of the Jordan Valley, cannot be overlooked. The intervention of a strong foreign power seems historically possible, since the city was so badly destroyed that it was abandoned for several centuries and its inhabitants probably moved to another area in the Jericho Oasis.

Area A:

At the beginning of Sultan IVc (Middle Bronze III), the city of Jericho was again reduced in size, and part of the southern Lower Town was razed for the construction of a rampart sustained by a massive stone retaining wall set within a foundation trench and covered by a sloping embankment with a superficial revetment of crushed limestone. This wall, known as  “Cyclopean wall”, had already been excavated by the Austro-German Expedition and was not meant to be seen.

9. SULTAN V-VI - LATE BRONZE AND IRON AGE (1550-535 BC)

A few materials and some tombs are known from period V, the Late Bronze Age, even though not a single pottery fragment from this period was found on the tell by the Italian-Palestinian Expedition. Iron Age material was found in Area B, while in Areas G and F, on the summit of the Spring Hill and on the northern plateau, intensive later razing activities had removed all strata down to the Middle or even to the Early Bronze Age.

10. AREA H: BYZANTINE OCCUPATION OF THE SUMMIT OF THE TELL 

 In Area H, on the summit of the tell, to the north of the tourist shelter, on a saddle between Areas G and F, burnt remains of a collapsed building were clearly visible on the surface. To investigate the structure a sounding was opened in Square BeII19, where a Byzantine mid-6th century AD house (L.707) was discovered. An interesting set of materials (pottery, glasses and objects), including many fragmentary "Gaza Ware" amphoras, was retrieved. During the 2000 season surveys were carried out around the area. Six houses were identified, bordered by open spaces and refuse pits. A bronze lock of a wooden box was found on the surface. The Byzantine settlement thus seems to have been a small rural village resting upon the ruins of the preceding cities, in an area roughly corresponding to the northern and eastern parts of the tell.

11. CONCLUSIONS

The joint Italian-Palestinian Expedition at Tell es-Sultan has provided new insights into the urban structure of the Bronze Age city, focusing not only on the fortification systems, but also on the detailed urban history throughout the III and II millennia BC, and on the changes in material culture, in order to get a closer historical understanding of the archaeology of Jericho and the southern Jordan Valley. In the years which followed the forced stop of activities on the field (2001-2005), the Expedition continued to study materials, publishing a series of studies and articles. Moreover, the team of Rome "La Sapienza" University started a series of study programs with a group of PhD students, focused on the archaeology of Jericho and Palestine. The same team is, of course, eager of resuming restoration and excavation activities at Tell es-Sultan, however, with the awareness that such activities are conceivable only within the overall project of the Archaeological Park of the Jericho Oasis under the supervision of the Department of Antiquities and Cultural Heritage of the Palestinian National Authority.