Timna (Tel Batasch)

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Tel batash

Timna (Tel Batasch) (Hebrew תמנע, תל בטש) is an archaeological site between the Jaffa – Jerusalem railway line and the Nachal Sorek, northwest of Bet Shemesh . The tell is located on a square with a side length of 190 m, about 3.6 hectares.

At this point, which was inhabited throughout the Iron Age, was Timna, mentioned several times in the Bible; not to be confused with the Timna Park further south on the edge of the Negev desert. The name Timna means: allocation, that which is allocated.

Bronze age

The history of the settlement began with a Hyksos wall in the Middle Bronze Age . In the Late Bronze Age , a spacious public building stood on top of an artificial hill. During excavations, the foundations of an 8.9 m wide and 11 m long hall were discovered. In it one found the bases of two rows of wooden pillars that divided the hall lengthways. This hall was part of a building that dates back to the 14th century BC. Existed. There was no city wall, instead the outer walls of the houses on the edge of the hill were particularly thick.

Iron age

In the 12th century BC The Philistines settled the fire debris of the place, which is documented by finds of ovens, silos, ceramics and individual houses. This settlement was forcibly destroyed during the Iron Age I (1200 - 1000 BC), but later settled again by the Philistines, who stayed there until the Iron Age II A (1000 - 900 BC).

On the east side of the tell, a gate from the Iron Age II (8th / 7th century BC) was excavated on the plateau. It was accessible from the south via a ramp. Below it was an earlier gate from the 10th / 9th centuries. Century BC BC, which was accessible via a ramp from the north. It was flanked by two large towers with a square floor plan with a side length of 5 m.

After the Battle of Elteke, Sennacherib conquered Timna (discovery of a pitcher handle with the imprint lmlk in the layer of destruction from 701 BC). 701 BC BC Timna was destroyed, but then rebuilt and settled and only finally abandoned in Persian times.

Mentions in the Bible

Timna is mentioned in Gen 38:13  EU in the story of Judah and Tamar. In Jos 15,10  EU Timna is listed as one of the fixed points for describing the border of the territory of the tribe of Judah.

In Jos 19.43  EU , Timna appears as part of the inheritance of the tribe of Dan . Like the neighboring Ekron , it was still inhabited by Philistines .

In Ri 14,1-20 EU it is reported that Samson fell in love with a Philistine woman  in Timna. When he went to her, he killed a lion near the vineyards of Timna, in whose carcass he later found a swarm of bees and honey on the way to his wedding with the Philistine woman. This led to a puzzle contest, the failure of the wedding and several acts of violence.

Remarks

  1. ↑ a b c d Othmar Keel, Max Küchler: Places and Landscapes of the Bible, Volume 2, The South . Verlag Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1982, ISBN 3545230422 , p. 833
  2. ↑ Othmar Keel, Max Küchler: Places and Landscapes of the Bible, Volume 2, The South . Verlag Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1982, ISBN 3545230422 , p. 834

literature

  • Amihai Mazar : Timnah (Tel Batash) I: Stratigraphy and Architecture (= Qedem 37) Jerusalem 1997.
  • Amihai Mazar, Nava Panitz-Cohen: Timnah (Tel Batash) II: The Finds from the First Millennium BCE (= Qedem 42 ). Jerusalem 2001.
  • Nava Panitz-Cohen, Amihai Mazar: Timnah (Tel Batash) III: The Finds from the Second Millennium BCE (= Qedem 45 ). Jerusalem 2006.

Coordinates: 31 ° 47 ′ 5.1 "  N , 34 ° 54 ′ 39.4"  E