Tell el-Hammeh

Tell el-Hammeh is a medium-size archaeological tell (mound) in the West Bank, at the southern fringe of the Beit She'an valley.[1] It has been identified with the Canaanite city state of Hammath, mentioned in a late-13th century BCE Egyptian inscription.[2][1]

This article is about a tell west of Jordan river. For a nearby tell in Jordan, see Tell Hammeh.

Etymology

A nearby hot water spring gave the site its name,[1] as hammah is Arabic forn "hot spring",[3] therefore Tell el-Hammeh means "tell of the hot spring".

Geography

Tell el-Hammeh is a kidney-shaped, high and steep mound situated at the place where the small inner valley of Wadi el-Hammeh exits into the southernmost part of the Beit She'an valley.[1] Two close-by springs allowed long-term settlement; a good fresh-water spring and a thermal one.[1] The site is about 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) north-west of the moshav-type Israeli settlement of Mehola, and some 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) south of Beit She'an.[1][4] The entire site has an area of 30 dunams (3ha); the tell rises by about 30 metres (98 ft) from the surrounding plain, and its top covers an area of 5 dunams (1.2 acres).[4]

The tell rises on the east side and close to Road 90, which follows the Jordan Valley and connects Beit She'an with Jericho.[1]

Identification

William F. Albright was the first to identify Tell el-Hammeh with the Canaanite city state of Hammath, known from a stela of Seti I (r. 1290–1279 BCE) describing a military campaign during which the Egyptian pharaoh aided an alliance between Pahel (Pella) and Hammath in their fight against Beth-shal (Beth-shan) and Rehob. This identification is now widely accepted.[4][1][2][5]

Surveys and excavation

The tell was excavated in 1985-1988 by Jane Cahill, who reported of layers of the Iron Age, or 11th to 7th centuries BCE, separated by the remains of major fires. One layer, from the 9th century or later, revealed a stone building, while earlier ones only had mud-bricks. Unusual concentrations of loom weights and spindles from different periods suggest the city maintained a weaving industry.[4]

Pottery finds from various surveys date to the Middle Bronze II, Late Bronze I-III, Iron I-II, Persian, Early and Late Roman, Byzantine and Erly Muslim periods.[1]

Khirbet el-Hammeh

The large khirbeh (town ruin) extends west, south and north at the foot of the tell. It contains many remains of a town founded during the Byzantine period, apparently replacing the older one from the tell. A 1986 survey found shards from the Byzantine, Early Muslim and Medieval period in relatively equal quantities. [6]

See also

References and further reading
  1. Zertal, A.; Bar, Shay (2017). Tell el-Hammeh (Site 30). The Manasseh Hill-Country Survey, Volume 4: From Nahal Bezeq to the Sartaba. Culture and History of the Ancient Near East. BRILL. pp. 164–169. ISBN 978-90-04-34696-3. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  2. Hallo, William W; Younger, K. Lawson, eds. (2003). The Context of Scripture: Canonical compositions, monumental inscriptions and archival documents from the biblical world. II. Brill. p. 26, note 1. ISBN 1423714490.
  3. Richardson, John (1829). A Dictionary, Persian, Arabic, and English: With a Dissertation on the Languages, Literature, and Manners of Eastern Nations. London: Cox. p. LXXII. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  4. Cahill, Jane; Lipton, G.; Tarler, D. (1987-01-01). "Tell el-Hammah, 1985-1987 [NOTES AND NEWS]". Israel Exploration Journal. 37 (4): 280–284. ISSN 0021-2059. JSTOR 27926080.
  5. "Seti I quells a rebellion in the Beth-shean Valley, 1291 B.C - Historical Maps". CARTA MAP BANK. Retrieved 2014-08-04.
  6. Zertal, A. (2008). Khirbet el-Hammeh (Site 67). The Manasseh Hill-Country Survey, Volume 2 – The Eastern Valleys and the Fringes of the Desert. Culture and History of the Ancient Near East. BRILL. p. 237. ISBN 978-90-04-16369-0. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  • Cahill Jane M., "The excavations at Tell el-Hammah: a prelude to Amihai Mazar's Beth-Shean Valley regional project". In Aren M. Maeir (ed.) I will speak the riddles of ancient times, volume II. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 2006. Pages 429-459.
  • Tell el-Hammeh site record, in the Digital Archaeological Atlas of the Holy Land.

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