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Abstract

A salvage excavation conducted west of Tel Iẓṭabba revealed a single-period settlement dating to the Intermediate Bronze Age. This settlement comprised three architectural complexes, each consisting of one or more central courtyards surrounded by rooms. Most of the walls followed a north–south or east–west orientation, suggesting a planned settlement layout. A wide street, oriented northeast–southwest, continued between the complexes. The finds from the complexes indicate an agricultural economy. Ceramic vessels found crushed in situ on the floors, together with grinding implements, basalt artifacts and other domestic assemblages left at the site, suggest that the settlement was violently destroyed and subsequently abandoned, possibly resulting from a migratory incursion from the Syrian region to the north. A plastered winepress exposed in the northern part of the excavation area may be attributed to the Hellenistic period, suggesting that the site was reused as an open area, possibly for viticulture.

Keywords

Intermediate Bronze Age, single-period site, settlement, Hellenistic period, winepress

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