Tel Yarmuth

Archaeological site in Israel

Tel Yarmuth

Tel Yarmuth (Khŭrbet el-Yarmûk)

Shown within Israel

Alternative name| Tel Yarmouth
Location| Israel
Coordinates| 31°42′36″N 34°58′48″E﻿ / ﻿31.71000°N 34.98000°E﻿ / 31.71000; 34.98000
Grid position| 147/124 PAL
Type| settlement
Area| 18 ha
History
Founded| circa 3000 BC
Abandoned| 3rd millennium BC
Periods| Bronze Age
Cultures| Early Dynastic Period
Site notes
Excavation dates| 1970\. 1990-present
Archaeologists| Amnon Ben-Tor (1970), Pierre de Miroschedji (1980), Paz Yitzhak (2014), Mizrahi Sivan (2014), Adawi Zubair (2014), Haber Michal (2014), Radshkovsky Igal (2014), Zilberbod Irina (2014), Greenvald Roie (2014), Sapir Neria (2014), Yoav Tsur (2014), Eirikh-Rose Anna (2014)
Condition| Ruined
Ownership| Public
Public access| Yes

Tel Yarmuth (also Tel Yarmouth and Tel Yarmut; Hebrew name) or Khirbet Yarmuk (Arabic name) is an ancient Near East archaeological site in Israel located 25 kilometers southwest of Jerusalem and near modern Beit Shemesh. It is a large primarily single-period (EB II/III) site and has been suggested as possibly being the city of Jarmuth, being only a tentative identification, as it is based solely on the similarity of the Hebrew name with the Arabic name and its areal location.[1][2]

## History

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### Early Bronze Age

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Chronologically the city reached its peak at the same time as the Old Kingdom in Egypt and the Early Dynastic III period in Mesopotamia. After that the city was abandoned, with modest occupation in later periods.

Early Bronze period material from Tel Yarmuth has been radiocarbon dated and is being used to support the contention that EB III ended around 2500 BC. Samples tested were "3 from Final EB IB, 15 from EB II, and 19 from EB III". Results were Final EB IB to EB II transition between 3030 and 2960 BC, EB II to EB III transition between 2980 and 2910 BC.[3][4][5]

#### Early Bronze IB

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The only notable EB IB find was a basalt spindle whorl.[6]

#### Early Bronze II-III

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The entire site including the lower town was heavily occupied in the Early Bronze (EB) II and III periods.[7][8] The site was abandoned around 2400 BC, during EB III.[6]

Early Bronze Age vessel found at Tel Yarmuth

The EB II and III monumental construction includes the large "White Building", a plastered masonry broad-room temple with a side altar. In this period two large palaces were built with one, Palace B1, measuring 1750 square meters and the other, Palace B2, measuring 6000 square meters.[9] At its peak the city had massive sophisticated fortifications and a large main city gate (Area E). The first city wall (Wall A) was made of stone, was 6 meters deep and is preserved to 4 meters in height. A larger wall (Wall B) was later added outside of that built of cyclopean construction. The fortifications were subsequently improved even further.[7][8] A number of EB III flint Canaanite blades, believed to be used as sickle inserts or in threshing, were found.[6]

### Middle Bronze

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The acropolis was lightly re-occupied, based on potsherd finds, in the Middle Bronze IIA.

### Late Bronze

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The site saw some occupation in the Late Bronze II. It included 13th century BC Mycenaean and Cypriot sherds. The only other epigraphic find was a hoe with a partial hieroglyphic inscription in a hoard of bronze objects, mostly fragmentary. They were dated to the time of the 19th Dynasty (12th century BC) and may not be in their original context.[6]

### Iron Age

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Somewhat more substantial building occurred on the acropolis in Iron I times. Finds from that period included a 2nd-century BC cooking pot with a yršlm (Jerusalem) stamp.[10][11]

In the Hebrew Bible, Joshua 15:33–36, Yarmuth (Jarmuth) is mentioned along with the cities Adullam and Socho as occupying a place in the Land of Canaan, in the region geographically known as the Shefelah, or what is a place of transition between the mountainous region and the coastal plains. Also in the Hebrew Bible, Joshua 12:7–11, the king of Yarmuth (Jarmuth) was slain by Joshua and the Israelites during their conquest of the land of Canaan.

#### Period of the monarchy

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In the late 8th-century BC (ca. 700 BC), Yarmuth was in the territorial domain belonging to King Hezekiah. In the 14th-year of King Hezekiah's reign, Sennacherib embarked on his third military campaign, this time against the cities of the Levant, including against the king of Sidon and against Jerusalem in Judah, where King Hezekiah was besieged, based on 2 Kings 18:137 in the Hebrew Bible. Many of the king's important cities in Judah were at that time taken by Sennacherib and given over to other potentates faithful to Sennacherib. Although Yarmuth is not specifically named in the prism (Sennacherib's Annals) detailing Sennacherib's exploits, it can be assumed by the account that the city did not go unscathed:

> "As for Hezekiah, the Jew, who did not submit to my yoke, forty-six of his strong, walled cities, as well as the small cities in their neighborhood, which were without number...I besieged and took. Two-hundred thousand, and one-hundred and fifty people, great and small, male and female, horses, mules, asses, camels, cattle and sheep, without number, I brought away from them and counted as spoil. Himself, like a caged bird, I shut up in Jerusalem his royal city... The cities of his, which I had despoiled, I cut off from his land and to Mitinti, king of Ashdod, [and to] Padi, king of Ekron, [and to] Silli-bel, king of Gaza, I gave. And (thus) I diminished his land."[12]

### Persian period

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The only possible record for Yarmuth for this time-period (c. 539–331 BC) is taken from the Hebrew Bible, specifically the account of Nehemiah who returned with the Jewish exiles from the Babylonian captivity, during the reign of Artaxerxes I. According to Ezra, the acclaimed author of the book, some of these returnees had settled in Jarmuth, as shown in Nehemiah 11:25–29 of the Hebrew Bible. The political entity that was established in Judea at the time was that of a vassal state, as Judea became a province of the Persian Empire, governed by a satrap.[13]

### Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine periods

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During the Hellenistic and Roman periods, no records of events concerning Yarmuth have survived, although potsherds from the Roman period have been discerned.

Some Early Byzantine era terraces and potsherds were found in the lower town area.[14]

## Archaeology

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The site is about 18 hectares (44 acres) in extent. The high point, 1.8 hectares (4.4 acres) in area, lies on the eastern side with a lower town extending to the west. The site is roughly 640 by 420 meters.[15]

The mound, then known as Khirbet Yarmuk, was visited by French archaeologist Victor Guérin in 1863.[15] American archaeologist Frederick J. Bliss, who visited the site at the start of the 20th-century, remarked seeing interior walls of a building that were 4 feet and 6 inches thick in diameter, and that early Roman and Arab potsherds could be seen there.[16] A survey of the site was conducted by Adam Druks in 1963.[17] A. Ben-Tor conducted a sounding there in 1970 on behalf of the Hebrew University.[18]

Tel Yarmuth has been scientifically excavated since 1980 by Pierre de Miroschedji under the auspices of the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS).[19][20][21][22][23][24][25]

In 2014, extensive excavations were conducted at the site by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA). After 2016 the site was declared a national park and since then excavations have been conducted, under the auspices of the Israel Antiquities Authority, in preparation for public access.[26][27] An extensive geophysical survey of the lower town was also completed.

## See also

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* Cities of the ancient Near East
* Tell es-Sakan

## Gallery

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* Base of column from ancient structure

* Ramp leading to the gateway

* Dressed stone at Tel Yarmuth

* Fieldstones embedded in mortar at Tel Yarmuth

* Foundation of house showing three bases of columns

* Foundations of large house

* General view of stone walls at Tel Yarmuth

* Jambs of doorway

* General layout of excavated ruin

* Remains of column base

* Ruins of Yarmuth

* Thick stone wall at Tel Yarmuth

* View of archaeological site

* General view of ruins

* Defensive wall of Tel Yarmuth

* Walled city of Yarmuth (Jarmuth)

* Walled structures

## References

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1. ^ Aharoni, Y. (1979). The Land of the Bible: A Historical Geography (2 ed.). Philadelphia: Westminster Press. p. 437\. ISBN 0664242669. OCLC 6250553. (original Hebrew edition: 'Land of Israel in Biblical Times - Historical Geography', Bialik Institute, Jerusalem (1962))
2. ^ Robinson, Edward (1856). Biblical Researches in Palestine. Vol. II. Boston: Crocker and Brewster. p. 17 (note 2).
3. ^ J. Regev-P. de Miroschedji-E. Boaretto, "Early Bronze Age Chronology. Radiocarbon Chronological Models from Tel Yarmuth (Israel)", Radiocarbon 54, pp. 505-524, 2012
4. ^ [1] Regev, J., de Miroscedji, P., Greenberg, R., Braun, E., Greenhut, Z., and Boaretto, E., "Chronology of the Early Bronze Age in the South Levant: New Analysis for a High Chronology, Radiocarbon", 54(3-4), pp. 525-566, 2012
5. ^ Regev, Johanna, et al., "Wiggle-matched 14C chronology of Early Bronze Megiddo and the synchronization of Egyptian and Levantine chronologies", Ägypten Und Levante / Egypt and the Levant, vol. 24, 20, pp. 241–64, 2014
6. ^ a b c d P. de Miroschedji "The Late EB III Palace at Tel Yarmuth: A Descriptive Summary", Eretz-Israel, vol.27, pp.153–170, 2003
7. ^ a b P. de Miroschedji, "The Early Bronze Age Fortification System at Tel Yarmuth, an Interim Statement", EI 20, pp. 48-61, 1990
8. ^ a b [2] P. de Miroschedji., "The Early Bronze Age Fortifications at Tel Yarmut – An Update", Publication Name: Eretz-Israel, Archaeological, Historical and Geographical Studies, vol. 33 (Stager Volume), 2018
9. ^ Vieweger, Dieter, "The Early Bronze Age I-III (3600
2300 BC)", Early and Middle Bronze Age. (Strata 25-17), edited by Dieter Vieweger and Jutta Häser, Gütersloh: Gütersloher Verlagshaus, pp. 15-156, 2019
10. ^ Lipschits, Oded, Gadot, Yuval, Arubas, Benjamin and Oeming, Manfred, "Third Building Phase (Late 6th or 5th Century BCE)", What Are the Stones Whispering?: Ramat Raḥel: 3,000 Years of Forgotten History, edited by Oded Lipschits, Yuval Gadot, Benjamin Arubas and Manfred Oeming, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 98-116, 2017
11. ^ Richardson, H.N., "A Stamped Handle from Khirbet Yarmuk", Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research192, pp. 12–16, 1968
12. ^ Luckenbill, D.D. (1924). James Henry Breasted (ed.). The Annals of Sennacherib. Vol. 2\. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. pp. 32–33. OCLC 610530695. (Reprint 2005)
13. ^ Lester L. Grabbe, "A History of the Jews and Judaism in the Second Temple Period – Vol 1: A History of the Persian Province of Judah", 2004 ISBN 978-0-567-08998-4
14. ^ P. de Miroschedji, "Yarmuth: The Dawn of City-States in Southern Canaan", Near Eastern Archaeology, 62(1):2, March 1999 DOI : https://doi.org/10.2307/3210719
15. ^ a b Guérin, V., "Description géographique, historique et archéologique de la Palestine. Premiere partie.", Judée. 3 volumes. Paris: Imprimerie impériale, 1869
16. ^ Bliss, F.J. (1900). "First Report on the Excavations at Tell ej-Judeideh" (PDF). Palestine Exploration Fund Quarterly Statement. 32 (2). London: Palestine Exploration Fund: 98., (s.v. Tell Yarmûk)
17. ^ Druks, A., "Survey of Tel Yarmut", Hadashot Arkheologiyot 5:20-21, 1963 (Hebrew)
18. ^ Ben-Tor A., "Two Burial Caves of the Proto-Urban Period at Azor, 1971; The First Season of Excavations at Tell-Yarmuth", 1970 (Qedem 1). Jerusalem: Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1975
19. ^ P. de Miroschedji, "Yarmouth 1. Rapports sur les trois premières campagnes de fouilles à Tel Yarmouth (Israël) (1980-1982)", Syria, 67-2 pp. 523-524, 1990
20. ^ P. de Miroschedji, "Tel Yarmut, (1992)", Excavations and Surveys in Israel 14, pp. 105-108, 1994
21. ^ P. de Miroscheddji, "Tel Yarmut, 1992", IEJ42, pp. 265–72, 1992
22. ^ P. de Miroschedji., "fouilles de tel yarmouth: résultats des 11E, 12e et 13e campagnes de fouilles (1996-1999): académie des inscriptions & belles-lettres. comptes rendus de séances de l'année", iss. 2, pp. 679-717, 2000
23. ^ P. de Miroschedji,"Tel Yarmut, 1997", IEJ, vol. 48, pp. 136–144", 1998
24. ^ P. de Miroschedji, "Fouilles de Tel Yarmouth: Résultats des travaux de 2003 à 2009 (14th-18th campagnes)", in: Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, 157e année, N. 2, pp. 759-796, 2013
25. ^ Jasmin, Michaël, and Pierre de Miroschedji, "Fouilles de Tel Yarmouth (1980-2009). Rapport final. Volume 1: Les fouilles sur l’acropole.", (Peeters: Ancient Near Eastern Studies Supplement 56, 2020) ISBN 9789042939967
26. ^ Sivan Mizrahi et al., "Tel Yarmut, Site 203A: Preliminary Report.", Hadashot Arkheologiyot: Excavations and Surveys in Israel, vol. 129, 2017"
27. ^ Shalev, Omer, and Amir Golani, "Tel Yarmut: Preliminary Report.” Hadashot Arkheologiyot: Excavations and Surveys in Israel, vol. 130, 2018. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/26691759

## Further reading

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* Connan, Jacques, et al., "Bitumens from Tell Yarmuth (Israel) from 2800 BCE to 1100 BCE: A unique case history for the study of degradation effects on the Dead Sea bitumen.", Organic Geochemistry 168, 2022
* Jasmin, M., "L’étude de la transition du Bronze récent II au Fer I en Palestine méridionale", Oxford: BAR Publishing, 2006
* Jasmin, M., "The Political Organization of the City-States in Southwestern Palestine in the Late Bronze Age IIB (13th Century bc)", in “I Will Speak the Riddles of AncientTimes”: Archaeological and Historical Studies in Honor of Amihai Mazar on the Occasion of His Sixtieth Birthday, eds. A. M. Maeir, and P. D. Miroschedji, Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, pp. 161–91, 2006
* Levy-Reifer, Ayelet and Paz, Itzhak, "Tel Yarmouth, its Environs and their Reflection on the Urban Landscape of the Shephelah in the Early Bronze Age III", Tell it in Gath. Studies in the History and Archaeology of Israel. Essays in Honor of Aren M. Maeir on the Occasion of his Sixtieth Birthday, hrsg. v. Itzhaq Shai (Ägypten und Altes Testament 90)., pp. 77-99, 2018
* Manclossi Francesca, Rosen Steve A., De Miroschedji Pierre, "The Canaanean Blades from Tel Yarmuth, Israel: A technological analysis", Paléorient, vol. 42, n°1. pp. 49–74, 2016 DOI : https://doi.org/10.3406/paleo.2016.5693
* Miroschedji P. de, "Yarmouth 1: Rapport sur les trois Premières campagnes de fouilles à Tel Yarmouth (Israël) (1980–1982)", Editions Recherche sur les Civilisations, Mémoire 76, Paris, 1988
* de Miroschedji, Pierre, "Tell Yarmouth, un site du Bronze ancien en Israel", Paléorient, vol. 6, pp. 281–86, 1980 doi:10.3406/PALEO.1980.4282
* Paz, Y., Mizrahi, S., and Grossman, L., "Ancient Fields: An EB III Case Study from Tel Yarmuth", New Studies in the Archaeology of Jerusalem and Its Region, 9, pp. 91–98, 2015
* Salavert, Aurélie. "Olive Cultivation and Oil Production in Palestine during the Early Bronze Age (3500—2000 B.C.): The Case of Tel Yarmouth, Israel.", Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, vol. 17, pp. S53–61, 2008

## External links

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* Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), Guided Tour at Tel Yarmuth on YouTube (in Hebrew)