Et-Tell
Encyclopedia
Et-Tell is an archaeological
site in the West Bank
that is popularly thought to be the Biblical
city of Ai
.
for "the ruin-heap") is about 3 km east of the modern village of Beitin
(Bethel
), atop a watershed
plateau
overlooking the Jordan Valley
and the city of Jericho
14 km east.
. Eight trenches were dug, five against the outer side of the southern city wall and three within the city itself. The outcome of this excavation was never formally published, and the only report known is a three-page summary filed by Garstang at the end of the work. In a later book, Garstang claimed that Late Bronze Age pottery
, dating to ca. 1400 BC, was found in this excavation, but this pottery was not mentioned in his earlier summary of the work and cannot now be located.
The next excavation at et-Tell took place during three seasons between 1933 and 1935 and was led by Judith Marquet-Krause, with backing from Baron Edmond de Rothschild. A fourth season of excavation was cut short by Marquet-Krause's untimely death in July 1936; however, her husband compiled a catalog of objects found in the excavation and published it in 1949. This campaign concentrated on the upper region of the mound and exposed regions of the acropolis
and a village dating to the Iron Age
.
The most recent campaign at et-Tell, the Joint Archaeological Expedition, was undertaken in nine seasons from 1964 to 1970 and overseen by Joseph Callaway and the American Schools of Oriental Research
. Eight new sites were opened at et-Tell in areas next to Marquet-Krause's expedition and along the lower east city walls, and three smaller sites in the neighborhood were surveyed to create a more whole archaeological profile of the region.
s dug in caves on the northeastern slopes of the hill. Pottery styles from this period show both indigenous and foreign cultural influences and may signify a mingling of peoples from nearby areas and newcomers emigrating from more distant regions. Over time, the foreign elements tended to predominate over indigenous ones.
About 3100 BC, et-Tell entered the "Urban A" phase. A large, well-planned walled city, about 110,000 square metres in area, was built on the site. Some notable buildings from this time include a great acropolis complex consisting of a temple-palace compound, a market and residential area, and four fortified
city gates. Sometime between 2950 BC and 2860 BC, the Urban A city was brought to an end by violent destruction. Most of the main buildings were burned to the ground; a layer of scorched stones and ash covers the floors of the EBI buildings.
Following this destruction, the city was rebuilt and entered into the "Urban B" phase, which coincides with the Early Bronze II period. Buildings were repaired and modified, and the fortifications were strengthened. Two distinctive new pottery shapes that first appear in this period suggest that new leadership was imposed on the city; these newcomers may also have been responsible for the destruction of the Urban A/EBI settlement.
The Urban B city, like its forerunner, was destroyed violently by fire. Excavations uncovered the ruins of buildings, collapsed stones and beams at every site investigated. Fire trapped under the debris of collapsed roofs smoldered hotly enough to change the chemical composition of the stone, a process called calcination
. The walls of the compound on the acropolis were tilted and displaced by a rift in the bedrock
, suggesting that an earthquake
may have been responsible for the destruction. This happened around 2720 BC, based on carbon-14 dating.
Following this destruction, the city lay in ruins for some time. Erosion channels cut through the debris; based on their depth and spread, the city was most likely abandoned for between 20 and 40 years. Finally, in the Early Bronze Age III, et-Tell was rebuilt and entered the "Urban C" phase. Egypt
ian influence in this stage is evident, attested by the use of stone pillars shaped with copper saws as well as other typically Egyptian building techniques. Two gates in the city wall, along with a great open reservoir designed to capture rainwater, are known. Around 2550 BC, there was a temporary disruption at the site, based on damage and rebuilding to the fortifications and major changes in the temple area. Finally, about 2400 BC, complete destruction again overtook the site. Callaway has proposed that a local Canaan
ite ruler may have managed to conquer the city away from the Egyptians, following which it was destroyed in an Egyptian counterattack.
After the destruction of the "Urban C" layer, et-Tell was abandoned and lay in ruins for over a thousand years. The next settlement period did not begin until the Iron Age
I, about 1200 BC, when a wave of settlers came and peacefully began a new occupation there. This new village was unfortified and took up only a small region of the mound, smaller by far than the Early Bronze cities. This level is marked by the digging of rock-cut cistern
s into the hill to catch rainwater and the use of terrace farming on the slopes of the mound. The discovery of farming tools and great quantities of animal bones in every house suggests that these people were both farmers and shepherds. About 1050 BC, this village was abandoned without burning or destruction.
suggested in 1838 that et-Tell could be the location of the Biblical city of Ai, as did Charles Wilson in 1866, on the evidence of Biblical references and nearby topography
. This identification was backed by the American
scholar William Foxwell Albright, who further argued in a 1924 paper that the site of et-Tell held the ruins of a great Canaan
ite city, corresponding with the Biblical tradition that the Israelite
commander Joshua
"burnt Ai and made it a heap for ever" (Joshua
8:28). Another point in favor of this hypothesis is that the Hebrew word "Ai" means "the ruin", which is more or less the same meaning as the modern Arabic name, et-Tell. Albright's identification has been accepted by the majority of the archaeological community, and today et-Tell is widely believed to be one and the same as the Biblical Ai.
If et-Tell is indeed Ai, this poses a problem for defenders of the literal historicity of the Biblical accounts concerning the origin of ancient Israel
. The reason for this is that traditional dating schemes place the Exodus
from Egypt and Joshua's conquest around 1400 BC. In this version of events, Joshua and the invading Israelites are depicted as conquering Ai, killing its residents and burning the city; however, et-Tell was unoccupied at this time according to the established archaeological chronology, and the later Iron Age I village appeared with no evidence of initial conquest. The Iron I settlers seem to have peacefully built their village on the forsaken mound, without meeting resistance.
One proposal to resolve this difficulty holds that the account of Ai's conquest in the Book of Joshua
is not meant to be historical, but etiological; that is, the writers of the Bible noted the presence of a great, impressive local ruin (the remains of the Early Bronze city) and sought to explain this destruction in terms of a legendary ancestor.
Another hypothesis is that the Iron I settlement wave at Ai, as well as in other sites in the region at this time, fits better with the account given in the Biblical Book of Judges
, which posits the settlement process of the nation of Israel in somewhat different terms than the Book of Joshua.
An alternative proposal is that the Bible's chronology of events is accurate, and the Biblical Ai is not to be located at et-Tell, but a different site entirely. Dr. Bryant Wood has proposed that Ai should instead be located at the site of Kirbet el-Maqatir arguing that the evidence for this site being Ai is stronger than at et-Tell.
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
site in the West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
that is popularly thought to be the Biblical
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
city of Ai
Ai (Bible)
Ai refers to one or two places in ancient Israel:*A city mentioned along with Heshbon by Jeremiah 49:3, whose location is currently unknown, and which may or may not be the same as:...
.
Location
The site of et-Tell (ArabicArabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
for "the ruin-heap") is about 3 km east of the modern village of Beitin
Beitin
Beitin is a Palestinian town in the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate in the central West Bank, located northeast of Ramallah along the Ramallah-Nablus road...
(Bethel
Bethel
Bethel was a border city described in the Hebrew Bible as being located between Benjamin and Ephraim...
), atop a watershed
Water divide
A drainage divide, water divide, divide or watershed is the line separating neighbouring drainage basins...
plateau
Plateau
In geology and earth science, a plateau , also called a high plain or tableland, is an area of highland, usually consisting of relatively flat terrain. A highly eroded plateau is called a dissected plateau...
overlooking the Jordan Valley
Jordan Valley (Middle East)
The Jordan Valley forms part of the larger Jordan Rift Valley. It is 120 kilometers long and 15 kilometers wide, where it runs from Lake Tiberias in the north to northern Dead Sea in the south. It runs for an additional 155 kilometer south of the Dead Sea to Aqaba, an area also known as Wadi...
and the city of Jericho
Jericho
Jericho ; is a city located near the Jordan River in the West Bank of the Palestinian territories. It is the capital of the Jericho Governorate and has a population of more than 20,000. Situated well below sea level on an east-west route north of the Dead Sea, Jericho is the lowest permanently...
14 km east.
Excavation history
The first archaeological exploration of et-Tell was undertaken in September 1928 under the supervision of John GarstangJohn Garstang
John Garstang was a British archaeologist of the ancient Near East, especially Anatolia and the southern Levant....
. Eight trenches were dug, five against the outer side of the southern city wall and three within the city itself. The outcome of this excavation was never formally published, and the only report known is a three-page summary filed by Garstang at the end of the work. In a later book, Garstang claimed that Late Bronze Age pottery
Pottery
Pottery is the material from which the potteryware is made, of which major types include earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. The place where such wares are made is also called a pottery . Pottery also refers to the art or craft of the potter or the manufacture of pottery...
, dating to ca. 1400 BC, was found in this excavation, but this pottery was not mentioned in his earlier summary of the work and cannot now be located.
The next excavation at et-Tell took place during three seasons between 1933 and 1935 and was led by Judith Marquet-Krause, with backing from Baron Edmond de Rothschild. A fourth season of excavation was cut short by Marquet-Krause's untimely death in July 1936; however, her husband compiled a catalog of objects found in the excavation and published it in 1949. This campaign concentrated on the upper region of the mound and exposed regions of the acropolis
Acropolis
Acropolis means "high city" in Greek, literally city on the extremity and is usually translated into English as Citadel . For purposes of defense, early people naturally chose elevated ground to build a new settlement, frequently a hill with precipitous sides...
and a village dating to the Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
.
The most recent campaign at et-Tell, the Joint Archaeological Expedition, was undertaken in nine seasons from 1964 to 1970 and overseen by Joseph Callaway and the American Schools of Oriental Research
American Schools of Oriental Research
The American Schools of Oriental Research, founded in 1900, supports and encourages the study of the peoples and cultures of the Near East, from the earliest times to the present. It is apolitical and has no religious affiliation...
. Eight new sites were opened at et-Tell in areas next to Marquet-Krause's expedition and along the lower east city walls, and three smaller sites in the neighborhood were surveyed to create a more whole archaeological profile of the region.
Settlement phases
The earliest settlement phase known at et-Tell, called "Pre-Urban", coincides with the Early Bronze Age I and lasted from about 3200 BC to 3100 BC. In this period, an unfortified village (about 200 m in diameter, large for the EBI) was settled at the site, with accompanying tombTomb
A tomb is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes...
s dug in caves on the northeastern slopes of the hill. Pottery styles from this period show both indigenous and foreign cultural influences and may signify a mingling of peoples from nearby areas and newcomers emigrating from more distant regions. Over time, the foreign elements tended to predominate over indigenous ones.
About 3100 BC, et-Tell entered the "Urban A" phase. A large, well-planned walled city, about 110,000 square metres in area, was built on the site. Some notable buildings from this time include a great acropolis complex consisting of a temple-palace compound, a market and residential area, and four fortified
Fortification
Fortifications are military constructions and buildings designed for defence in warfare and military bases. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs...
city gates. Sometime between 2950 BC and 2860 BC, the Urban A city was brought to an end by violent destruction. Most of the main buildings were burned to the ground; a layer of scorched stones and ash covers the floors of the EBI buildings.
Following this destruction, the city was rebuilt and entered into the "Urban B" phase, which coincides with the Early Bronze II period. Buildings were repaired and modified, and the fortifications were strengthened. Two distinctive new pottery shapes that first appear in this period suggest that new leadership was imposed on the city; these newcomers may also have been responsible for the destruction of the Urban A/EBI settlement.
The Urban B city, like its forerunner, was destroyed violently by fire. Excavations uncovered the ruins of buildings, collapsed stones and beams at every site investigated. Fire trapped under the debris of collapsed roofs smoldered hotly enough to change the chemical composition of the stone, a process called calcination
Calcination
Calcination is a thermal treatment process applied to ores and other solid materials to bring about a thermal decomposition, phase transition, or removal of a volatile fraction. The calcination process normally takes place at temperatures below the melting point of the product materials...
. The walls of the compound on the acropolis were tilted and displaced by a rift in the bedrock
Bedrock
In stratigraphy, bedrock is the native consolidated rock underlying the surface of a terrestrial planet, usually the Earth. Above the bedrock is usually an area of broken and weathered unconsolidated rock in the basal subsoil...
, suggesting that an earthquake
Earthquake
An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...
may have been responsible for the destruction. This happened around 2720 BC, based on carbon-14 dating.
Following this destruction, the city lay in ruins for some time. Erosion channels cut through the debris; based on their depth and spread, the city was most likely abandoned for between 20 and 40 years. Finally, in the Early Bronze Age III, et-Tell was rebuilt and entered the "Urban C" phase. Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
ian influence in this stage is evident, attested by the use of stone pillars shaped with copper saws as well as other typically Egyptian building techniques. Two gates in the city wall, along with a great open reservoir designed to capture rainwater, are known. Around 2550 BC, there was a temporary disruption at the site, based on damage and rebuilding to the fortifications and major changes in the temple area. Finally, about 2400 BC, complete destruction again overtook the site. Callaway has proposed that a local Canaan
Canaan
Canaan is a historical region roughly corresponding to modern-day Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and the western parts of Jordan...
ite ruler may have managed to conquer the city away from the Egyptians, following which it was destroyed in an Egyptian counterattack.
After the destruction of the "Urban C" layer, et-Tell was abandoned and lay in ruins for over a thousand years. The next settlement period did not begin until the Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
I, about 1200 BC, when a wave of settlers came and peacefully began a new occupation there. This new village was unfortified and took up only a small region of the mound, smaller by far than the Early Bronze cities. This level is marked by the digging of rock-cut cistern
Cistern
A cistern is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. Cisterns are distinguished from wells by their waterproof linings...
s into the hill to catch rainwater and the use of terrace farming on the slopes of the mound. The discovery of farming tools and great quantities of animal bones in every house suggests that these people were both farmers and shepherds. About 1050 BC, this village was abandoned without burning or destruction.
Comparisons with the City of Biblical Ai
Edward RobinsonEdward Robinson (scholar)
Edward Robinson was an American biblical scholar, known as the “Father of Biblical Geography.” He has been referred to as the “founder of modern Palestinology.” -Biography:...
suggested in 1838 that et-Tell could be the location of the Biblical city of Ai, as did Charles Wilson in 1866, on the evidence of Biblical references and nearby topography
Topography
Topography is the study of Earth's surface shape and features or those ofplanets, moons, and asteroids...
. This identification was backed by the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
scholar William Foxwell Albright, who further argued in a 1924 paper that the site of et-Tell held the ruins of a great Canaan
Canaan
Canaan is a historical region roughly corresponding to modern-day Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and the western parts of Jordan...
ite city, corresponding with the Biblical tradition that the Israelite
Israelite
According to the Bible the Israelites were a Hebrew-speaking people of the Ancient Near East who inhabited the Land of Canaan during the monarchic period .The word "Israelite" derives from the Biblical Hebrew ישראל...
commander Joshua
Joshua
Joshua , is a minor figure in the Torah, being one of the spies for Israel and in few passages as Moses's assistant. He turns to be the central character in the Hebrew Bible's Book of Joshua...
"burnt Ai and made it a heap for ever" (Joshua
Book of Joshua
The Book of Joshua is the sixth book in the Hebrew Bible and of the Old Testament. Its 24 chapters tell of the entry of the Israelites into Canaan, their conquest and division of the land under the leadership of Joshua, and of serving God in the land....
8:28). Another point in favor of this hypothesis is that the Hebrew word "Ai" means "the ruin", which is more or less the same meaning as the modern Arabic name, et-Tell. Albright's identification has been accepted by the majority of the archaeological community, and today et-Tell is widely believed to be one and the same as the Biblical Ai.
If et-Tell is indeed Ai, this poses a problem for defenders of the literal historicity of the Biblical accounts concerning the origin of ancient Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. The reason for this is that traditional dating schemes place the Exodus
The Exodus
The Exodus is the story of the departure of the Israelites from ancient Egypt described in the Hebrew Bible.Narrowly defined, the term refers only to the departure from Egypt described in the Book of Exodus; more widely, it takes in the subsequent law-givings and wanderings in the wilderness...
from Egypt and Joshua's conquest around 1400 BC. In this version of events, Joshua and the invading Israelites are depicted as conquering Ai, killing its residents and burning the city; however, et-Tell was unoccupied at this time according to the established archaeological chronology, and the later Iron Age I village appeared with no evidence of initial conquest. The Iron I settlers seem to have peacefully built their village on the forsaken mound, without meeting resistance.
One proposal to resolve this difficulty holds that the account of Ai's conquest in the Book of Joshua
Book of Joshua
The Book of Joshua is the sixth book in the Hebrew Bible and of the Old Testament. Its 24 chapters tell of the entry of the Israelites into Canaan, their conquest and division of the land under the leadership of Joshua, and of serving God in the land....
is not meant to be historical, but etiological; that is, the writers of the Bible noted the presence of a great, impressive local ruin (the remains of the Early Bronze city) and sought to explain this destruction in terms of a legendary ancestor.
Another hypothesis is that the Iron I settlement wave at Ai, as well as in other sites in the region at this time, fits better with the account given in the Biblical Book of Judges
Book of Judges
The Book of Judges is the seventh book of the Hebrew bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its title describes its contents: it contains the history of Biblical judges, divinely inspired prophets whose direct knowledge of Yahweh allows them to act as decision-makers for the Israelites, as...
, which posits the settlement process of the nation of Israel in somewhat different terms than the Book of Joshua.
An alternative proposal is that the Bible's chronology of events is accurate, and the Biblical Ai is not to be located at et-Tell, but a different site entirely. Dr. Bryant Wood has proposed that Ai should instead be located at the site of Kirbet el-Maqatir arguing that the evidence for this site being Ai is stronger than at et-Tell.
External references
- Callaway, Joseph. "Ai." In David Noel Freedman (ed.), The Anchor Bible Dictionary, vol.1, p. 125-130. Doubleday, 1992.
- Callaway, Joseph. "Ai." In Ephraim Stern (ed.), The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land, p. 39-45. Simon & Schuster, 1993.