Kenyon in Tomb A Reg. It is not clear if again an earthquake was the cause of such destruction, or it was due to a mili- tary attack, since at some spots fierce fire is documented However, this destruction did not interfere in the continuous cultur- al and economic development of Jericho. The city-wall and related structures were immediately reconstructed and further re- inforced with the addition of towers and Fig. IIIB , and it is distinguished at the level of material culture in pottery, for example, by a strong standardization of types and productions How could the Jericho rulers be able to afford such gigantic building enterprises?
One answer may be that they have at their disposal a significant agricultural surplus since they con- trolled the water and its distribution in the Oasis. Their palace was erected, in fact, just over the Spring, and some related structures detected under the modern road during the recent restora- tions of the Ottoman Spring , support this interpretation They, thus, could maintain a rela- tively numerous number of workers, especially in summer, when semi-nomads and nomads of Transjordanian Highlands and Judah Wilderness gathered in the Jordan Valley.
Large building activities were a way for linking people to the ruling authority and the socio-economic impact of the realization of Palestinian Early Bronze Age fortification systems seems, thus, one of the structural elements basically contributing to the life and development of this kind of early ur- ban society already in this period They had, of course, an ideological aim, that of manifesting the power of the ruling class and its concern for the community.
The more complex the fortifi- cations are, the more powerful one has to imagine the authority which erected them. Italian-Palestinian Expedition Nigro , pp. Garstang Garstang , pp. The presence of Early Bronze Marchetti - Nigro , pp. Nevertheless, around BC this date is supported by radiocarbon data , a definitive terrible conflagration documented all over the site figs. The Palace on the Spring Hill was set on fire and collapsed, as it is shown by a room excavated by the Italian-Palestinian Expedition fig.
No person was found underneath the collapsed walls: it seems thus unlikely that such a conflagration was caused by an earthquake. Evidence like the systematic dismantling of big wooden beams from the city-walls suggests that a violent human action caused such a terrible destruction. Climate variations are, of course, to be taken into consideration: in Sultan IIIc1 hyppopotamus bones are attested to for the last time57, as well as a considerable presence of bovines which were decisive for a strong growth of the population But it seems more likely that this depended on a variation of human cultural decisions and adaptive strategies, and not on deterministic environmental circumstances.
What seems meaningful is the violence of the destruction: the upper section of the city-walls was heavily burnt, bricks assumed a colour variable from reddish to dark grey or whitish, when their surface was fully baked, and big cracks cut vertically mud-brick structures causing inner subsiding and collapses The burnt layer is uniform both on the wide fortifica- tion system, and inside the city.
This means that the fire was deliberately set on, so that the city could not recover from a radical destruction, which was the final goal of a simple political strategy: to eliminate the centre of power of the city-state. War as a systemic element of early urbanization We are at the point: the Jericho evidence shows that war was a structural element in the development of the Palestinian early urban society.
Centralization, monumental architecture, administrative or proto-administrative control, hierarchic social organization, goods and ag- ricultural products accumulation, long distance specialized trade, are all shared distinguishing interacting factors in the formation of early urban societies, even in the restricted environ- ment of Palestine; another factor, which was systemically related to the others, was War, as a mean for accumulating or catching resources, imposing the subject supremacy and eliminating dangerous or disturbing competitors.
Destructions are, thus, as systemic and predictable as constructions, «collapse» is the regular result of «rise», but, in certain cases, destructions might determine the sudden end of a city, even of a very favourite one, like Jericho, for example, when the population was taken away as the most valuable resource, as it apparently happened at EB IIIB Tell es-Sultan, in this not so far from us violent past of ill-fated Palestine. Alhaique, Appendix B. Alhaique in press: F.
Alhaique, Un ippopotamo a colazione? Amiran R. Sanders ed. Amiran - Ilan R. Amiran - O. Bourke S. Levy eds , Egypt and the Levant. Interrelations from the 4th through the Early 3rd Millennium B. Caramiello, Appendix F. Chesson - Philip M. Chesson - G. Philip, Tales of the City? Esse D. Finkelstein I. Finkelstein - Ussishkin I. Finkelstein - D. Ussishkin, Area J, in I. Ussishkin - B. Halpern eds , Megiddo III.
Fried M. Garfinkel Y. Garstang J. Garstang, Jericho, Sir. Quarterly Statement 62, , pp. Garstang, The Walls of Jericho. Quarterly Statement 63, , pp. Garstang, Jericho: City and Necropolis. Garstang et al. Garstang - Garstang J. Garstang - J. Garstang, The Story of Jericho, London Gophna R.
Levy ed. Greenberg R. Greenberg, Early Urbanizations in the Levant. Harrison - Savage T. Harrison - S. Hennessy J. Holland Th. Shaath ed. Joffe A. Kempinski A. Kempinski, The Rise of an Urban Culture. Israel Ethnographic Society Study 4 , Jerusalem Kenyon K. Kenyon, Digging Up Jericho, London As Wood went on to point out, John Garstang l and Kathleen Kenyon both dug at Jericho for six seasons and a German excavation directed by Ernst Sellin and Carl Watzinger dug for three.
In September , Dr. Wood visited Jericho and examined the results of the Italian excavation first hand. Incredibly, he found the Italians had uncovered the stone outer revetment wall at the base of the tell with part of the mud brick wall built on top of it still intact.
In the balk of the Italian excavation, at the outer base of the revetment wall, Wood noticed the remains of the collapsed mud brick city walls which had tumbled. Not only did the Italians find the same evidence uncovered in the earlier excavations, it fits the Biblical story perfectly! We only have records, drawing and photos.
But the Italians uncovered a completely new section of the wall which we did not know still existed. I had my photograph taken standing next to the wall where the mud brick collapse had just been excavated! It is a sad commentary on the state of archaeology in the Holy Land, when the purpose of an excavation at a Biblical site is to disprove the Bible and disassociate the site with any historical Jewish connection.
Please pray our efforts. Pray for the removal of all obstacles blocking the publication of Dr. Your contribution makes a difference. All Rights Reserved. Log In Register Contact Donate.
0コメント