תל ערד تل عراد | |
 Aerial view of the 9th-century BCE Israelite fortress | |
  Tel Arad Shown within Israel | |
| Alternative name | Tell 'Arad |
|---|---|
| Location | Israel |
| Region | Negev |
| Coordinates | 31°16′52″N35°7′34″E / 31.28111°N 35.12611°E /31.28111; 35.12611 |
| Site notes | |
| Archaeologists | Ruth Amiran (lower city),Yohanan Aharoni (fortress) |
| Public access | National Park |
Tel Arad (Hebrew:תל ערד) orTell 'Arad (Arabic:تل عراد,romanized: Tall ʿArād) is anarchaeological site consisting of a lower section and atell or mound. It is located west of theDead Sea, about 10 kilometres (6 miles) west of the Israeli city ofArad in an area surrounded by mountain ridges which is known as the Arad Plain. The site is about 10.1 ha (25 acres) in size.
The site comprises two parts: aCanaanite settlement on lower ground and aJudahite fortress and settlement on a hill. The Canaanite settlement was inhabited from the early 4th to the mid 3rd millennium BCE, while the Judahite habitation was established in the 10th century BCE and continued until 135 CE during theBar Kokhba revolt. After a period of abandonment, the settlement was reinhabited in the 7th century CE during theEarly Muslim period and was used for approximately two centuries.
The lower and upper sites are part of the Tel AradNational Park, which has undertaken projects to restore the upper and lower sites and opened them to the public. Tel Arad has been excavated in the 20th and 21st centuries.
It was first identified in modern literature in 1841 byEdward Robinson in hisBiblical Researches in Palestine, on account of the similarity of the Arabic place name, Tell 'Arad, with theArad in theBook of Joshua.[1][2]
Historical geographer Yoel Elitzur says that although the site remained uninhabited for the last 1,100 years, the name has endured, preserved by nomads.[3]
The lack of Middle and Late Bronze Age remains seems to invalidate the identification with biblical, i.e. Canaanite Arad.[4] On the other hand, the two Hebrewostraca containing the name Arad confirm the site as being the Iron Age, i.e.Israelite Arad.[4] One theory trying to solve the problem suggests that "the Negev of Arad" was only the name of the surrounding region at the time, with no city in existence.[4] A second theory places Canaanite Arad atTel Malhata [fr], 8 mi (13 km) southwest of Tel Arad, where archaeologists found substantial Middle Bronze Age fortifications.[4] An argument in favour of the latter theory is PharaohSheshonk's list of captured cities, with one "Arad the House of YRHM", possibly at Tel Arad and referring to the settling there ofJerahmeelite families, and another "Great Arad" (possibly Tel Malhata) towering over the "Negev of Arad".[4]
Tel Arad is positioned on the northern edge of the southern IsraeliBeersheba–Arad Valley,[5] defined by scholars as "the eastern (biblical) Negev", theHebrew Bible using the termNegev only for the northern part of the region known today by that name.[6]
This east-west oriented valley was a convenient route for caravans during periods of sustained commercial activity.[7]
The water supply was first ensured by a system of harvesting rainwater and itsrunoff built during the Early Bronze Age, and later by a well; archaeologists disagree on whether the well was already dug by the Early Bronze Age settlers or only during the Iron Age.[8]
Stratum V: The site is divided into a lower section and an upper section on a hill. In the LateChalcolithic (c. 4000 BCE), the lower section was settled for the first time.[9][10] It was an open settlement, i.e., lacking fortifications.[4]
For the subdivisions of the Bronze Age, seehere, and for an overview for this regionhere.
In the Early Bronze Age (EBA), Tel Arad (Strata IV-I) was occupied in the EBA I–II and took part in theBeersheba Valleycopper trade. In general Tel Arad lies in a drier region where frequencies of human activity depended upon oscillations toward wetter climate conditions.
The Early Bronze IB (EB IB, c. 3300/3200–3050/3000 BCE) saw the Stratum IV city flourishing. There was an amount of Egyptian pottery found indicating trade.
Climate. The Southern Levant during the EB IB was dominated by very humid climate conditions.[11] In the northern part of the Southern Levant there were higher levels of arboreal Mediterranean tree pollen and olive pollen. This was aproto-urban period where settlements spread and population grew, also spreading human activity into the Negev region.[12][page needed]
In Early Bronze II (c. 3050/3000–2750/2700 BCE) Arad was a large fortified city,[4] with rich remains contained in Stratum III (EB IIA) and II (EB IIB).[13][14]
The Early Bronze III (c. 2750–2350 BCE) saw Arad abandoned. This may have been associated with the rise of central trading sites in theNegev Highlands related to the copper industry in theArabah and trade towards Egypt in theOld Kingdom.[15]
Herzog's 2002 interim report adopts the now better accepted "low chronology", lowering by a century most of the dates previously proposed for the Iron Age by adherents of the "biblical archaeology" approach:[16] this is also the base chosen here for this section.
With theLate Bronze Age collapse, the fall of the EgyptianNew Kingdom during the20th Dynasty saw its control over polities in the Southern Levant decline.
After a 1,500-years-long period of abandonement, the northeastern hill, the highest elevation on the margin of the destroyed Bronze Age city, was settled again during the 10th-9th centuries BCE (Iron Age IIA).[17] The village there made use ofbroadroom Bronze Age house remains, while also buildingnew dwellings.[17]
In the 9th century BCE, after the apparent evacuation of the villagers, a fortress was built on the mound.[17] It went through a cycle of destruction and - as it seems - immediate reconstruction totalling six phases over a timeframe of 260 years, until the early 6th century BCE,[5][17] until the time when Judah was crushed by the Babylonians.
Aharoni, thoroughly updated by Herzog, distinguished 13 occupation strata on the "fortress mound":[5][17]
The ancient settlement period was again interrupted, with two more strata to follow much later:
The site was resettled in the second half of the 10th - first half of 9th century BCE by a small number of people, c. 80-100, the Stratum XII village eventually taking the shape of an oval "enclosed settlement" with 20 to 25 dwellings set wall to wall around a courtyard probably serving as a sheep pen.[20] The enclosure only had one exit on the east, toward the depression in the earlier "Lower City" which again served for collecting water.[20] Herzog, writing in 2002, categorically distances himself from earlier interpretations which were motivated by a literal acceptance of the biblical narrative down to its details, typical for the "biblical archaeology" approach practiced until the 1980s, and refutes with thorough arguments the existence of any ritual site at this early date.[20][21]
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Tel Arad became a fortified stronghold of theKingdom of Judah.
Between 1962 and 1964, some200 ostraca (inscribed potterysherds) were excavated.[22][23] 107 of them are in ancient Hebrew, written using thePaleo-Hebrew alphabet and dated to circa 600 BCE (Stratum VI). Of the ostraca dated to later periods, the bulk are written inAramaic and a few inGreek andArabic.[24] Most of the Hebrew ostraca consist of everyday military correspondence between the commanders of the fort and are addressed to Eliashib, thought to be the fort'squartermaster.[25] Oneostracon mentions a "house of YHWH", which some scholars believe is a reference to theJerusalem temple.[26] With them was found a partial ostracon inscribed inhieratic Egyptian script, similarly dated. The supplies listed included south-Egyptianbarley and animal fats (vs the wheat and olive oil in the Hebrew ostraca).[27] In 1967 an ostracon was found with text written in a combination of intermingled hieratic andHebrew-Phoeniciansignary, without being abilingual text .[28]
The Tel Arad temple was uncovered by archaeologistYohanan Aharoni during the first excavation season in 1962. He spent the rest of his life investigating it, and died prematurely in 1976 before publishing the excavation results.
In theholy of holies of this temple twoincense altars and two possiblestele or massebot orstanding stones were found.[29]
Unidentified dark material preserved on the upper surface of the two altars was submitted fororganic residue analysis, with severalcannabis derivates being detected on the smaller altar:THC,CBD, andCBN. The residue on the large altar contained many chemicals associated withfrankincense. While the use of frankincense for cultic purposes is well-known, the presence of cannabis was novel, if not shocking. It represents the "first known evidence ofhallucinogenic substance found in the Kingdom of Judah."[29] It has also been noted thathemp cloth is extremely rare in the Iron AgeLevant, the only occurrence in an archaeological context being a piece of very fine hemp textile found on a loomat a site further up north in theJordan Valley, in a probably cultic complex containing theDeir Alla inscription, where it is thought to have been woven for the goddessShagar. The complex most likely dates to the 2nd half of the 9th century BCE, being destroyed by an earthquake around 800 BCE.[30][31]
Stratum V: The settlement belonging to the Persian period.
Stratum IV (Hellenistic): It is believed that several citadels were built one upon the other and existed in the Hellenistic and Roman periods.
Herod even reconstructed the lower city for the purpose of making bread.[dubious –discuss] The site lasted until the end of theBar Kokhba revolt 135 CE.
Tel Arad lay in ruins for 500 years until theEarly Muslim period, when the former Roman citadel was rebuilt and remodeled by some prosperous clan in the area and functioned for 200 years until around 861, when there was a breakdown of central authority and a period of widespread rebellion and unrest. The citadel was destroyed and no more structures were built on the site.
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Tel Arad was excavated during 18 seasons, first between 1962 and 1967, with further excavations lasting until 1984, the lower area byRuth Amiran and the mound byYohanan Aharoni.[32][33] Due to Y. Aharoni's premature death, the final report for that excavation was still in progress as of 2022.[5] An additional 8 seasons were done on the Iron Age water system.[34]
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