The Early Bronze Age Fortifications At Tell Es-Safi/Gath,Israel |
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| Authors: | Itzhaq Shai Jeffrey R. Chadwick Eric Welch Jill Katz Haskey J. Greenfield Aren M. Maeir |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Israel Heritage Department, Ariel University, P.O.B. 3, Israelshai.itzick@gmail.com;3. Brigham Young University, Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies, Israel;4. University of Kansas, Jewish Studies Program, Lawrence, USA;5. Department of Sociology, Yeshiva University, New York 10016, USA;6. Department of Anthropology and St. Paul's College, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg MB R3T 2N2, Canada;7. The Martin (Szusz) Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan 52900, Israel |
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| Abstract: | Tell es-Safi/Gath is a multi-period site located on the border between the Judean foothills (Shephelah) and the southern coastal plain in central Israel, which has been subject to survey and excavations over the last two decades. Excavations by Bliss and Macalister in 1899 exposed a fortification system which was dated to the “Jewish period”. In this paper, we present updated data on these fortifications which have led to fresh insights. In two separate excavation areas, we excavated portions of the fortification system that surrounded the site which can now be dated to the EB III of the southern Levant. The EB fortification system influenced the location of later fortifications at the site. The nature of the construction techniques of these fortifications and the character of the settlement which they surrounded suggest that Tell es-Safi/Gath was a major regional urban centre during the EB III and was governed by a centralised administrative hierarchy. |
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| Keywords: | Early Bronze Age III fortifications Tell es-Safi/Gath Bliss and Macalister |
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