2014 Season

SCIENTIFIC REPORT OF THE ITALIAN-PALESTINIAN EXPEDITION TO TELL ES-SULTAN (2014), PALESTINE

X Campaign - 2014

Lorenzo Nigro - Sapienza University of Rome 

1. INTRODUCTION

The tenth campaign of archaeological activities at Tell es-Sultan/Jericho (fig. 1), in Palestine, conducted by the University of Rome "La Sapienza" and the Department of Antiquities and Cultural Heritage (MoTA - DACH) of the Palestinian National Authority, took place from 6 March to 12 April 2014, and was supported by the aforementioned institutions and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The main objectives of the 10th campaign were:

a) the continuation of archaeological investigations (§2);

b) the protection of several points of the site, where important finds emerged in excavated essays in the long archaeological history of Tell es-Sultan (§3);

c) the continuation of restoration and museum work within the Archaeological Park of the Oasis of Jericho (§4).

2. ARCHEAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH ACTIVITIES (AREAS A, B and B-WEST, F, G, L, Q and T) 

The archaeological survey activities involved seven different areas: Area A, on the southern slopes of the tell, where work was carried out at the eastern and western ends (§ 2.1.); Area B and B-West, at the south-western corner of the double fortification walls of Early Bronze Age III (§ 2.2. ); Area F, on the northern plateau of the tell (§ 2.3.); Area G, on the eastern flank of the so-called 'Spring Hill', with the Early Bronze III Palace (§ 2.4.); Area L, on the northern side of the Early Bronze III fortifications (§ 2.5.); Area Q on the western slope of the tell (§ 2.6.); Area T on the south-eastern slopes of the tell (§ 2.7.).

2.1 Area A: the Cyclopean Wall, the Middle Bronze Age IIB houses and the Iron IIC settlement

Work in Area A was carried out in two different sectors at opposite ends of the southern slope of the tell, continuing the excavation of Cyclopean Wall 4 and the exploration of the structures in front of it, respectively the Iron IIC (Sultan VIc) in Sector A-West, identified in the 2011 campaign, and the Middle Bronze IIB (Sultan IVb) in Sector A-East, where the excavation of a house already partly excavated in 2009 to the east of Tower A1 was completed.

In Sector A-West (Fig. 2), the exposure of the head of Cyclopean Wall 4, which supported the Middle Bronze III earthwork at its base, was continued by extending the essay in the eastern half of the AmIV11 + AmIV11/AnIV11 squares. The inner body of the wall had been damaged by a Byzantine pit (P.1917), beyond which the structure continued, curving 4m further northwards. The thickness of Wall 4 at the emerging elevation is 1.8 m. Further south, in AmIV12, the excavation of installation L.1770 was completed, characterised by the three circular silos (T.1775, T.1777, T.1773), delimited by walls W.1769 and W.1767, built in large-sized (0.65 x 0.25 x 0.15 m) straw yellow mud bricks, laid in a single row and preserved for three courses (0.46 m). To the south of the installation, in the NW quadrant of AmIV12, below a levelling layer (F.1762), an older structure (W.1771) was preserved, consisting of a foundation of small irregular stones (preserved for a length of 2.8 m and a thickness of 0.3 m), to which a grey clay beaten floor was attached (L.1924). The dating of these remains is between the end of Iron IIB and the beginning of Iron IIC (732-680 BC).

In Sector A-East, i.e. along the eastern boundary of the excavation site located on the southern slopes of Tell es-Sultan, the excavation sampling was extended in squares AtIV10+11+12 in order to complete the exploration of the Middle Bronze II dwellings, which grew up behind Tower A1, and to avoid the collapse of the excavation section transversal to Wall W.4.

Immediately behind the trench excavated by the archaeologists of the Austro-German mission in the early 20th century (P.1779), in square AtIV11, the remains of an open space (L.1905) and an installation (W.1907+W.1909) from the Byzantine period, with a limestone mortar (TS.14.115), were brought to light. Further south (in squares AtIV12+13), underneath some fill layers (F.1904, F.1906) part of the embankment of the Middle Bronze III rampart, the eastern half of the Middle Bronze II dwelling L.193 was finally brought to light, exposing the southern end wall W.1951, the eastern wall W.1953, and a structure (W.187; a pillar?) leaning against the south-west corner at the junction of walls W.179, W.168b, W.1951. The east side of the house had a fold (W.1957), continuing northwards (W.1955).

2.2 Area B: Wall 1 and Wall 2 the two later reconstructions of the main curtain wall in the Early Bronze III period

The work in Area B mainly concerned the main boundary wall (inner defensive line - Hauptmauer/Main Inner Wall) of the Early Bronze III (2700-2300 BC) defence system. In square AsIV5, a rubble of stones (P.1623) overlapping the bricks of Wall 1, preserved on only two rows above the stone foundations (W.1621), which were placed directly on the head of Wall 2, the main wall carefully shaved of the Early Bronze IIIA. The removal of the rubble also made it possible to observe from above both jambs of Gate L.1800, obstructed by a collapse at the end of its use in Early Bronze IIIA and, therefore, defunctionalized (Fig. 4). Instead, in Sector B-West, the excavation completed the exposure of the blind chamber L.1614 filled with limestone sand (F.1608), exposing the base of the western face of Wall 2, characterised by the insertion inside of the mudbrick stucture of stabilisation beam on the emerging stone foundation (a technique also observed in the western section of Trench III of the Kenyon excavations), which was found charred. The excavation was conducted up to 4.6 m from the face of Wall 2, while to the north the limit was identified with the cut of the Garstang trench (P.1611).

2.3 Area F: the houses of the Early Bronze Age II (3000-2700 BC)

Work in Area F, on the northern plateau of the tell, involved House M (L.444) and House L, already unearthed by the British mission directed by John Garstang and re-explored by the Italo-Palestinian mission (Nigro 2010, 94-96, figs. 4.34-4.40). In the latter, a hole-mouth jar was found embedded in the floor (fig. 5) and resting on a mud-brick platform, while in the former, two basalt millstones were found (TS.14.F.5, TS.14.F.6; fig. 6). This is typical of the settlement of the early city of Jericho in the Early Bronze Age II, when storage jars for water and cereals were part of the furnishings of dwellings.

An extremely interesting find was made in Building B1, where a shield-shaped shale trowel, badly abraded on the surface, probably of Egyptian import, was found in Room L.214 (fig. 7).

2.4 Area G: the overlapping Middle Bronze Age II (1800-1650 BC) and Early Bronze Age III (2700-2300 BC) palaces

The exploration of the Early Bronze III Palace erected on the eastern flank of 'Spring Hill' continued in the 10th campaign (2014) with a regular extension on the northern side of the excavation site, in the row of squares Ba-dIII6. In the upper and lower terraces of the essay, above the structures of the Early Bronze III Palace (and the levelling of the collapse above), the structures of the Middle Bronze II Palace, already excavated by previous expeditions, were identified.

Remains of the Middle Bronze II Palace

The 'Palace (of the Lords) Hyksos', as it was named by John Garstang, was a large building with at least two courtyards and a monumental entrance towards the spring, preceded by a wide stepped ramp, flanked by a projecting body. It was precisely this monumental entrance that was identified and brought to light, a very short distance from the limit reached to the west in square HII by Kenyon (Fig. 8). Above, in square BbIII6, where the upper sector of the palatial building extended, one of the main N-S walls, named W.1201, was identified, to which two parallel walls (W.1215, W.1217) were attached on firmly erected stone foundations in cuts made in the earlier structures of the Early Bronze Age palace. These walls must have belonged to the series of rooms arranged around the main courtyard of the palace. A worked limestone block with several holes (TS.14.G.21; a palace furniture?) and a limestone millstone (TS.14.G.19) were found here. Further east and about 2 m lower (in BdIII6), above the large terrace wall W.637 of the Early Bronze III palace, a further N-S bearing wall (W.1221), 1.1 m thick, was also identified. On the opposite lower side of the building, in the façade wall W.1231, opened the door L.1230, preceded by a raised step (B.1232) in what was probably a portico (L.1240), flanked to the north by the wall W.1239, which continued, on the right side of the access ramp from the spring, where an accessory wing, already identified and excavated by K.M. Kenyon, probably used as the palace storehouse, as shown by a series of jars visible in the eastern section of the earlier excavations.

The Early Bronze Age III Palace 

The Early Bronze Age Palace III was further investigated on the northern side (Fig. 9) and in the north-central sector of the central terrace behind the large terrace wall W.637, north of the reception device L.644. In the central terrace there were two rows of compartments with the floors at an elevation of approximately 0.5 m difference. In the lower row, to the north of room L.1160 was a staircase room (L.1212), between two east-west walls (W.1263, W.1203), a rectangular hallway (L.1210), bordered to the north by wall W.1223, and a second room symmetrical to the first (L.1224), containing a plumbing installation and probably a staircase. Both rooms had a mud-brick basement leaning against the west wall (W.1207 in L.1212 and W.1235 in L.1224), which supported a staircase. L.1224 was characterised by the presence of a small recess in which five charred wooden beams were found (Fig. 10), which, subjected to radiocarbon analysis, offered a very important chronological reference point around 2500 B.C., a date that must refer to the construction of the Early Bronze Age Palace IIIB. In the upper row, on the other hand, in addition to marking the northern limit of room L.621 (probably the main access route to the residential rooms located on the upper floors of the building), a limit represented by wall W.1233, a further room was identified, probably a small internal courtyard, named L.1220 and bordered to the east by W.1229, a structure leaning against W.1209 (the western wall of L.1212). The excavation also made it possible to expose the full length of the main north-south wall (W.637), which delimited the central terrace of the building, separating the reception hall and ancillary rooms connected to the northern courtyard from the lower terrace, where warehouses and administrative rooms connected to the spring were located. The Early Bronze III Palace has yielded numerous artefacts of great interest for the study of early urban institutions in Palestine in the 3rd millennium BC. These include palatial storage jars, characterised by the presence of marks and seals, palace service vessels with red metallic wash, a cultic vase with taurine protomes, a stone palette, a copper dagger that still had its handle preserved, as well as numerous elements of calculation in pottery and perforated shells, a marble mace head, and stone and bone tools.

2.6 Area L - northern limit of the Early Bronze III fortifications

During the 10th campaign (2014), cleaning works were carried out at the emerging remains of the large North-West Tower at the corner of the Early Bronze III wall circuit (Fig. 13). Ceramic materials from the Early Bronze IV were found, which can be related to the reoccupation of the city ruins at the end of the 3rd millennium BC.

2.7 Area Q - the Early Bronze II and III fortifications on the western slope

Cleaning works in Area Q, aimed at protecting the structures of the Early Bronze Age II and III Main Inner Wall on the western slope of the settlement in correspondence with the posterula L.1750 (identified and excavated in the 2009 and 2010 campaigns) led to the discovery of a small-sized mace head made of fine limestone (Fig. 14), which was characterised by the presence of two hollows, indicating that the sign had not been finished with the through-hole that must have passed through it vertically. The slightly flattened type was known in Jericho from earlier finds (Sellin - Watzinger 1913, 120, figs. 108-109).

2.8 Area T - south-eastern slopes of the tell

During the tenth campaign (2014) the excavation of a deep sounding was resumed in Area T, aimed at verifying the extension of the city beyond the eastern slopes of the tell, in the area of the spring and the oasis. Beneath the Middle Bronze II occupation levels, already identified and excavated in the 2012 campaign, Early Bronze layers were reached, whose suggests the presence of installations even outside the walled circuit of the period (walls were in fact identified in this sector of the site a little further north in Area R).

3. RESTORATION AND TOURIST VALORIZATION OF TELL ES-SULTAN 

Restoration works in the tenth campaign (2014) concerned Area A, where work was carried out inside the blind chamber of Tower A1 to stabilise and reinforce the base of the walls, and Area G, where work was resumed on the structures of the 3rd millennium B.C. palace, including the construction of an efficient rainwater drainage system (Fig. 16). The work involved the tour itinerary and the explanatory panels, which were renewed in light of the most recent excavation results. The entrance area was renovated and in 2014, Tell es-Sultan was visited by more than 400,000 people, making it the most visited archaeological site in the Palestinian Territories.

4. THE ITALIAN CONTRIBUTION TO RESEARCH AND THE CULTURAL AND TOURIST ENHANCEMENT OF THE ANCIENT CITY OF JERICHO

The Tenth campaign (2014) thus served to further fine-tune the scientific results achieved at Tell es-Sultan, with the important data obtained from the radiocarbon analysis of samples from Palace G, and to broaden the prospects for future investigations, especially in relation to the study of the diachronic and urbanistic development of the prominent Bronze Age city. In addition, field investigations and restorations have further enhanced research into the material, technological and cultural achievements made by the ancient inhabitants of Jericho: from the capture, control and management of the waters of the spring of 'Ain es-Sultan, with the creation of the oasis, to the construction of the imposing modular mud-brick defensive structures, the extension of territorial and commercial control over the Lower Jordan Valley, the introduction of the pottery wheel, the spread of copper and bronze weapons, the formation of early religious thought and the birth of ancestor worship.  In Jericho, finds and architecture become symbols and meanings of the deep roots of Mediterranean civilisation in the pre-classical Levant. It is thanks to these roots that many sensitive tourists searching for themselves through archaeology come to Jericho and are led on a multi-level cultural journey that enhances diversity and identity. At the same time, the Pilot Project is a unique opportunity for inter-agency cooperation and training for Palestinian personnel, both in the field of historical archaeology (with its palaeoenvironmental and archaeometrical branches) and in the field of architectural restoration and monument presentation. Numerous young Palestinians took part in the excavations as workers and as archaeologists, acquiring knowledge, techniques and procedures that will remain a shared value.

4.1 Divulgation

During the year 2014, the Mission contributed to the dissemination of scientific and cultural information on ancient Jericho with the distribution of the Jericho entry for the Oxford Encyclopedia of the Bible and Archaeology, which was in addition to the publication of the essay on the resilience of the Jericho community published in the ROSAPAT 11 volume dedicated to the results of national disaster research. The same year saw the publication of an important study on the value and role of water in the life of the ancient Palestinian city, published in the Uppsala University Water Studies Series. In addition, the information offered through the mission's website (www.lasapienzatojericho.it), in which the 2014 Fast Report was published, with the new complete plan of the Ancient Bronze Palace III, was implemented, and extracts were also distributed through the portal of www.academia.edu, on the sites of the numerous scholars (PhD students) involved in the Project.