Tel Esur: Summary of Fourteen Seasons of Excavations and a Long-Lasting Community Archaeology Project

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Tel Esur is situated in Israel’s Sharon Plain, near Nahal ‘Iron (Wadi 'Arah), 10 km southwest of Megiddo. I will present the results from the main excavation areas and insights into our community project:

Area B: Middle Bronze Age (henceforth MBA) IIa fortification system with a 3-m-thick city wall and a pyramidal tower. Abutting the wall were storage rooms and above them MBA strata of later unwalled settlements. Late Bronze Age (henceforth LBA) remains were also revealed, including a temple.

Area B1: LBA (14th Century BCE) structure, with 80 complete vessels crushed on its floors, including vessels exhibiting Egyptian influence. A 15th-century BCE stratum found supports the identification of the place with Djefti, mentioned in Thutmose III's Canaan campaign in 1457 BCE.

Area D: 9th-8th Century BCE administrative buildings were found, an indication of the efforts of the Kings of Israel to enforce their jurisdiction over the coastal plain.

A unique community excavation has been held at the site annually since 2010. Our team is comprised of students from local high schools. We promote cooperation between Jews and Muslims, coming from religious and non-religious backgrounds. During the last fourteen years, 6,000 children have worked with us.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37748.0