2015 Season

SCIENTIFIC REPORT OF THE ITALIAN-PALESTINIAN EXPEDITION TO TELL ES-SULTAN (2015), PALESTINE

XI Campaign - 2015

Lorenzo Nigro - Sapienza University of Rome 

1. INTRODUCTION

The eleventh campaign of archaeological activities at Tell es-Sultan/Jericho (fig. 1), 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 14 April to 13 June 2015, and was supported by the aforementioned institutions and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI).

The main objectives of the 11th campaign were:

a) the continuation of the archaeological investigations in Areas A, B, B West, G, P and S (§ 2);

b) the re-mapping of the site with the interventions of all expeditions (Fig. 2);

c) the continuation of restoration and museum work within the Archaeological Park of the Oasis of Jericho (§ 3);

d) the training of Palestinian archaeologists and restorers in all phases of documentation, publication and dissemination of the excavation results (§§ 4-5).

2. ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEYS (AREAS A, B and B-WEST, G, P and S) 

The archaeological survey activities involved six different areas: Area A, on the southern slopes of the tell, where research continued in Tower A1 (§ 2.1.); Area B and B-West, where investigations were resumed on the architectural structure of the Early Bronze III walls, at the south-western corner of the town (§ 2. 2.); Area G, on the eastern flank of the so-called "Spring Hill", in which the excavation of the two overlapping Early Bronze III ("Palace G") (§ 2.3.) and Middle Bronze II-III ("Hyksos Palace" § 2.4.) palaces has been extended; Area P, on the south-western side of Spring Hill (§ 2.5.); Area S near the Spring of 'Ain es-Sultan (§ 2.6.).

2.1 Area A: Tower A1 and associated structures in the Middle Bronze I-II period (Sultan IVa-b 1950-1650 BC)

In the eleventh campaign (2015) the archaeological investigations focused on Tower A1 and the structures adjacent to it in order to reconstruct the overall plan of the defensive systems of which this important monument was part and to reconstruct the organisation of the buildings that stood on the southern slopes of the tell in the 2nd millennium BC. The structure of the tower, founded on a mighty base of large orthostatic limestone blocks, was preserved in the elevation by more than 2.4 m with regular rows of mud bricks measuring 0.52 x 0.36 x 0.16 m. It had obvious defensive purposes. The blind room inside the tower, surrounded by 1.6 m thick walls, was accessed from above by a wooden staircase. The tower abutted 4 m from a north-west/south-east high wall (W.19), which delimited a large open space, a courtyard or a passage within a large defensive building, fortress or city gate from which a long curvilinear ramp allowed one to ascend into the upper town. Further to the north-west, the remains of this walkway were brought to light in Area E, flanked by the massive curvilinear stone retaining wall known as the Curvilinear Stone Structure. The stratigraphy of the courtyard in front of the tower to the west has made it possible to reconstruct the history of this monument, which was founded at the end of the 20th century BC when the city of Jericho was rebuilt after a long period of abandonment. In this first phase, called Sultan IVa (Middle Bronze Age IB, 1950-1800 BC), the tower building was connected to the first wall that was erected at the foot of the tell on the south-eastern side up to the sector in front of the spring. To the east and south of the tower, in the later Sultan IVb period (Middle Bronze II, 1800-1650 B.C.) extended the lower town, a densely populated residential quarter of multi-room houses that yielded numerous domestic installations.  The tower remained in use, with some repairs, while gradually being surrounded by houses on the outside. Around 1650 B.C., the entire city of Jericho suffered yet another destructive event, which also involved the southern lower city and Tower A1, which was finally destroyed. The new mighty wall of ramparts erected in defence of a city slightly smaller than the previous one in the later Sultan IVc period (Middle Bronze III, 1650-1550 BC), characterised by the 'Cyclopean Wall' that entirely surrounded it and included the spring of 'Ain es-Sultan, obliterated Tower A1 and the building connected to it, which were completely buried in the foot of the 'rubble rampart', as new investigations in the southernmost sector of Area A have shown.

2.2 Area B and B West: the double fortification city walls of the Early Bronze Age III (Sultan IIc, 2700-2300 BC)

Studies on the fortifications of the city of Jericho in the period of the first urban flowering of the southern Levant have continued in Areas B and B West, where investigations have focused for several campaigns on a complex section of the double wall of the Sultan IVc period (Early Bronze III, 2700-2300 BC). The architectural structure of the 'Main Inner Wall' (Fig. 5) and the 'Outer Wall' respectively were examined in several sections, where it was possible to examine both walls in the prominence from the stone foundations on two or more superimposed courses to the elevation characterised by the use of large bricks (0.60 x 0.40 m), which over time took on a reddish color due to the great final destruction of the Early Bronze IIIB (c. 2350 BC). The 'Main Inner Wall' built on the crest of the tell, along the route of the previous fortification wall of the Early Bronze II period, was characterised by a considerable thickness (3.8-4.2 m) and, therefore, faced significant static difficulties that were solved by inserting wooden chains inside it, both transversally (in the upper section) and longitudinally, in the lower section where the gutters helped to absorb and expel moisture from the base of the wall and make the entire structure cohesive. The wall was plastered with several layers of finely crumbled and mixed plaster and clay, taking on an ivory colour that must have made it very visible in the green oasis or pink background of the Mount of Temptation. The 'Outer Wall', located about 2 m lower and about 4 m from the 'Main Inner Wall', was characterised by a less impeccable construction technique, with bricks that were also irregular and not all of the same colour (even grey or greenish). The bricks were much thinner (1.6-18 m). In the space between the two walls, the excavation of the blind chambers, which served to thicken the overall defensive system and housed storerooms and walkways, continued during the 2015 campaign.

2.3 Area G: the Early Bronze Age III 'Palace G' (Sultan IIc 2700-2350 BC)

Work in Area G continued in the 2015 campaign in order to reconstruct the plan and elevation of 'Palace G', in its north-west (upper and middle terrace) and east (southern terrace) extensions (Fig. 7). The interventions, which also allowed for the recovery of several charred beems that were very useful for radiometric dating, were also aimed at integrating the data obtained from the previous British missions into the overall reconstruction of the architectural structure of the building, as well as the equipment of each room, in terms of fixed and movable furnishings and artefacts still preserved inside at the time of its final destruction. The findings of 2015 made it possible to further specify the structure of the building, its internal organisation and circulation, but also to recognise the functions of each sector. In addition, the most significant artefacts from each sector were identified, starting with the jars with seal impressions (Fig. 6) and the vase with spout shaped like a bull's head, passing through the potter's wheel, the mace head and above all the copper dagger, to arrive at the inlaid ivory bull's head, a probable decorative element of the armrests of a throne, all of which point to the role of the centre of power played by this imposing building.

2.4 Area G: the so-called 'Hyksos Palace' of the Middle Bronze Age II-III (Sultan IVb-c 1800-1550 BC)

Starting from the 2014 campaign and continuing into the 2015 campaign, the archaeological research activities on Spring Hill also involved the remains - poorly preserved, but still clearly recognisable - of the architectural structures of the Middle Bronze Age palace, named 'Hyksos Palace' by John Garstang in the 1930s, who systematically excavated a secondary wing (temporally and spatially) of it, calling it 'palace storerooms'. The remains brought to light along the upper western side of Area G were pertinent to some of the walls of the rooms of the central sector of the Palace, while further east, wall W.637 represents the foundation of the eastern perimeter wall of the central body, in the northernmost extension of which a gateway was identified that opened onto the paved road that descended directly to the spring. In the light of the newly identified structures, including wall W.1224 and its continuation towards the east, it was also possible to link the remains excavated by Sapienza expedition and John Garstang's first British mission with those unearthed by the second British mission directed by Kathleen M. Kenyon in squares HII and HIII, thus identifying an ancillary building, adjacent to the palace and probably intended to house stables for the horses and donkeys of couriers and caravans, a very short distance from the spring, which lies immediately below. The new planimetric data have thus made it possible to produce a reconstruction of the palace of the lords of Jericho-Ruha in the Middle Bronze Age (Fig. 8).

2.5 Area P: the Middle Bronze Age II-III Temple P (Sultan IVb-c 1800-1550 BC)

In the 2015 campaign, work resumed in Area P, on the south-western summit of Spring Hill, where the remains of a sub-foundation had been identified in 2012. The layout of the structure had led, together with its orientation, to the identification of what has been considered one of the city's major Middle Bronze Age temples (Fig. 9). Temple P reproduces a sacred typology known throughout the Levant, that of the so-called Migdol Temple or tower temple, with a longitudinal development, with a single cell bordered by thick and high walls. The building was located at the highest point of the city and faced east, which leads one to believe that it was dedicated to Baal. This deity in Jericho was traditionally connected to lunar aspects, a cult considered to have originated in the Levant culture of the Bronze Age. The work in 2015 made it possible to re-examine the dimensions of the temple, which must have been about 15.75 m long on the major east-west axis (the main eastern elevation, where two towers should have jutted out according to known parallels, was lost due to later cuts and erosion) and about 11.1 m on the minor north-south axis.  The cell inside was about 6.3 m wide, with walls 2.36 m thick. Reconstructing a niche that housed the divine simulacrum or one of its aniconic symbols seemed more difficult, although some of the blocks brought to light allowed for the reconstruction of a shallow doorway about 2.4 m wide. The identification of the temple fills a gap in the archaeology of Jericho and makes it possible to propose a complete reconstruction of the city at the height of its splendour during the 17th century BC.

2.6 Area S: the spring of 'Ain es-Sultan

The preliminary investigations conducted on the occasion of the important restoration works carried out in 2012 by the Municipality of Jericho at the Ottoman pool of the spring of 'Ain es-Sultan were resumed in the 2015 campaign with the aim not only of specifying the chronological scansion of the various construction works that affected the complex of buildings and hydraulic installations connected to the spring, but also of tracing the remains of possible pre-classical canalisations, in connection with the various wall circuits that on several occasions in the Bronze Age incorporated the spring into the urban area of Jericho. In particular, the field to the south-east of the spring was examined, with remains dating from the 3rd and 2nd millennium B.C. up to the emerging summit of the 'Cyclopean Wall' that enclosed the spring area to the north-east in the final phase of the Canaanite city's life. The large barrel-vaulted pipeline dating from the Roman period, of uncertain attribution (Hasmonean or Roman rulers?), was also identified.

3. RESTORATION AND TOURIST ENHANCEMENT OF TELL ES-SULTAN 

Restoration works in the eleventh campaign (2015) concerned Area A, where the restoration of Tower A1 was continued with the application of protective layers of mudbrick (Figs. 3-4), and Area G, where work on the structures of Palace G was continued, focusing on the terracing walls and the transverse structures of the middle terrace (Fig. 11). The work also involved updating the tour itinerary with the creation of explanatory panels, which were updated and equipped with QR codes for access through internet-connected devices. Sections of the mud-brick walls were also sampled in preparation for the future restoration of Area B (in which Building B1 was plastered; fig. 12).

4. TRAINING AND VALORIZATION 

Despite the difficulties of the context and the more general ones in the Near East, also during the eleventh campaign (2015) of archaeological activities in Jericho the Sapienza Mission, supported by MAECI, carried out training activities for local staff, in collaboration with both MOTA-DACH and the Municipality of Jericho. In particular, the participation of Palestinian archaeologists and students was encouraged both in the individual excavation and prospecting activities, and in the necessary and consequent documentation and finally publication of the results. Local students were also accompanied in activities on other sites in the Territories where the urgent intervention of archaeologists was needed for the protection of the threatened heritage, such as in the case of the necropolis of Khalet al-Jam'a near Bethlehem, or in the Jericho Oasis itself, in particular the Chalcolithic site of Tell el-Mafjar (fig. 13). Similarly, MOTA staff were trained in archaeological heritage management, through the use of GIS, and in tourism enhancement, through the implementation of online information provided to visitors through the mission's official websites.

5. SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH, OUTREACH AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN THE TERRITORIES

The eleventh campaign (2015) therefore served to further deepen and disseminate the scientific results achieved at Tell es-Sultan, both in the international context of archaeological research (very important, from this point of view, was the Mission's participation, with four papers including the keynote lecture at the conference organised by University College London in June, entitled Digging Up Jericho, which is currently being published), as well as in the local context, with activities that involved the community of the city of Ariha at many levels, from the installation of explanatory panels to the dissemination of brochures to courses and lectures held in collaboration with the Municipality. Outreach activities, also through the web, have made increasingly evident the importance of protecting and enhancing the extraordinary archaeological heritage of the Oasis of Jericho, which Italy is making more and more visible and usable with a constant commitment that is articulated on several levels in the field of research and in that of protection, training, management and fruition. This is a nodal point in a context, such as that of the Palestinian Territories, where economic resources and cultural initiatives risk being squeezed by the most urgent needs of the population.