Tel Gerisa
From ArchaeoWiki
Tel Gerisa (Tell Jerishe, 'Napoleon's Hill') is an archaeological site located within the boundaries of present-day Ramat Gan, an eastern suburb of Tel Aviv. The mound is situated at the end of the third kurkar ridge that runs the length of the Coastal Plain in the southern Levant, close to the point where the ridge is crossed by the Yarkon River, some 4 km from its Mediterranean estuary. The ancient name of the site is currently unknown / uncertain, the site taking its present name from a former Arab village.
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Excavation
Five seasons of excavation were held at the site between 1927 and 1950 under the direction of Eliezer Sukenik, assisted by Yeivin, Pinkerfield and Avigad.
A further, brief excavation of the site was mounted in 1976 by Shulamit Geva on behalf of the Tel Aviv University Institute of Archaeology.
The same institution conducted eleven seasons of excavations on the mound of Tel Gerisa between the years 1981-1995 under the direction of Ze'ev Herzog. The excavations wereinitiated as part of a regional investigation of the western Yarkon River basin, which also included the excavation of Tel Michal and preliminary investigations of Tel Yafo.
The excavations at Tel Gerisa revealed evidence relating to fortification systems of the MB IIA period as well as to the material culture of the Philistines. In more recent years, excavation has concentrated on the exposure of a Late Bronze Age palace from the period of Egyptian suzerainty in Canaan. A unique water supply system, which apparently dates to the Middle Bronze IIA, has been excavated since the 1988 season and may necessitate a reevaluation of the history of the development of such installations.
Stratigraphy
Late Bronze Age
The MB IIB city wall remained in use during the first phase of the Late Bronze Age, juxtaposed by poorly constructed buildings. Chocolate-on-White Ware was found in this phase.
The acropolis occupied during the MBA period was apparently not utilised in the later stages of the LBA; rather, it seems that administrative functions shifted to the middle of the mound, probably closer to the contemporary city gate.
Bibliography
- Geva, Shulamit [1982], Tell Jerishe: The Sukenik Excavations of the Middle Bronze Age Fortifications, [Qedem 15], Jerusalem: IES, 1982.
- Herzog, Zeev
- Herzog, Zeev and Tsuk, T. [1996], "Tell Gerisa - 1991/1992", HA-ESI 15 (1996), pp.60-62.
- Rainey, Anson F. [1990], "Tel Gerisa and the Danite Inheritance", in Zeevy, R. (ed.), Israel — People and Land, Eretz Israel Museum Yearbook, 5-6 (23-24) — 5748-9 (1987-9), Tel Aviv: Eretz Israel Museum, 1990, pp.59-72.
