Tel Arad

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Aerial view of Arad: in the foreground the early Bronze Age city, in the background the Iron Age fortress
Plant of the national park

Tel Arad (Hebrew תל ערד) is an archaeological site near modern Arad in the Israeli Negev desert ; the archaeological sites are now a national park . At this place, the remains of an early Bronze Age city ​​were found at the foot of the hill and an Iron Age Judean fortress on the hill , from which some important ancient Hebrew inscriptions come.

Bronze age

The earliest traces of settlement form the Stratum V and belong to the period from 4000–3400 BC. This settlement was scattered over some hills and belonged to the Beersheba culture . A small, unfortified village dates back to the last two centuries of the 4th millennium BC. Egyptian ceramics originate from this time, partly with the name of Pharaoh Narmer , which shows trade connections between southern Canaan and predynastic Egypt and at the same time the dating of this settlement is secured. The traces of settlement from this period include not only smaller houses but also a burial chamber with 16 burials. At the beginning of the 3rd millennium, Arad was fortified with a 1.2 km long wall with protruding towers, public facilities, namely a "marketplace", a sanctuary and a palace were built and a water reservoir was created at the lowest point of the city. Around 2800 BC Arad was destroyed and soon afterwards rebuilt. In the period that followed, Arad shrank until it was around 2650 BC. Was completely abandoned. Agriculture was predominant in the Bronze Age Arad, but there is also evidence of craft and trade.

Iron age

Contrary to the biblical story ( Num 21,1  L ; Num 33,40  L ; Jos 12,14  L ) Arad was uninhabited in the Late Bronze Age. Only in the 11th century BC In BC ( Iron Age I) Arad was settled again. At first there was a small village on the ruins of the early Bronze Age city complex, which was abandoned a few decades later. Shortly afterwards, in the northwest of the Bronze Age city, at the highest point of the area, a 55 × 50 m rectangular fortress was built. End of the 10th century BC The complex was destroyed by Scheschonq I (around 946–925) (mentioned on the relief in Karnak). Tell Arad and Tell Masos formed an economic zone that connected the Arava Depression and the Dead Sea with the Mediterranean, presumably as an intermediate station for overland transports of copper and probably also of goods from the Arabian Peninsula to the Mediterranean. Soon afterwards, the fortress was rebuilt with a square floor plan and a side length of 52 m. The new complex also contained a small YHWH temple, which was abandoned towards the end of the 8th century. The remaining area was taken up by residential and farm buildings. Over a hundred ostraka and inscribed clay vessels date from this period .

Persian and Hellenistic-Roman times (Strata V-III)

In the Persian period (from 538 BC) Arad was only sparsely populated. 85 Aramaic ostracas date from this period , but most of them are difficult or impossible to read. A fortress begun in the Hellenistic period was not completed. The place was fortified again in Roman (Stratum III) times and abandoned around 200 AD.

Arab Period and Middle Ages (Strata II and I)

The most recent remains represent an Arab street station from the 7th / 8th centuries. Century and a Bedouin cemetery that was used from the 13th to the 19th century.

literature

  • Yohanan Aharoni : Arad Inscriptions ( Judean Desert Studies ). Jerusalem 1981.
  • Ruth Amiran : Early Arad 1: The Chalcolitic Settlement and Early Bronze City. First – Fifth Seasons of Excavations, 1962–1966 ( Judean Desert Studies ). Jerusalem 1978.
  • Ruth Amiran, Ornit Ilan: Early Arad 2: The Chalcolitic Settlement and Early Bronze IB Settlements and the Early Bronze II City: Sixth to Eighteenth Seasons of Excavations, 1971–1978, 1980–1984 ( Judean Desert Studies ). Jerusalem 1996. ISBN 965-221-031-5
  • Ruth Amiran, Ornit Ilan: Arad. A 5000 year old city in the Negev desert . Wachholtz, Neumünster 1992. ISBN 3-529-01842-2
  • Ornit Ilan u. a .: Arad. In: Eric M. Meyers (Ed.): The Oxford Encyclopedia of Archeology in the Near East. Vol. 1. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1997, pp. 169-176. ISBN 0-19-506512-3
  • Ze'ev Herzog u. a .: The Israelite Fortress at Arad . In: Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 254, 1984, pp. 1-34.

Web links

Commons : Tel Arad  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 31 ° 17 '  N , 35 ° 8'  E