Tel Beth Shean 2005 Overview

Amihai Mazar and Nava Panitz-Cohen, Excavations at Tel Beth-Shean, 1989-1996, Volume III: The 13th - 11th centuries BCE (Areas S and N)

Tel Beth Shean is located in the Beth Shean Valley, a region of prime historic importance in northern Israel, due to its auspicious geographic location at the juncture of the major north-south route through the Jordan Valley and the main east-west route leading from the coast inland, by way of the Jezreel Valley. Rich agricultural land and numerous springs enhance the appeal of this region for human settlement, since the 6th millennium BCE until modern times.

Extensive surveys have emphasized the intensity of settlement in this region from the 6th millennium BCE until modern times. Beth Shean was a central site that was occupied almost uninterruptedly from the 4th millennium BCE to the Byzantine Period. Within this long-lived sequence, of paramount importance was the period of the Egyptian 19th and 20th Dynasties (13th-12th centuries BCE), when Beth Shean served as the seat of an Egyptian garrison, complete with an imposing governor’s residence and rich material culture, including inscriptions, statuary and objects that reflected this presence, alongside the indigenous Canaanite culture.

Wide-scale excavations conducted by the University of Pennsylvania between the years 1921 – 1933, yielded rich finds, as well as many unresolved issues. This warranted renewal of investigation of the site, between the years 1989- 1996 under the auspices of the Institute of Archaeology of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and directed by Prof. Amihai Mazar. These excavations yielded numerous finds ranging from the Early Bronze Age I to the Byzantine Period.

The rich architectural remains and artifacts, found in secure stratigraphic context, that date mostly to the period of the 20th Egyptian Dynasty garrison in Areas S and N, have vast and virtually unique potential for illuminating this period, particularly the complexity of interaction between Egyptians and Canaanites, as well as other ethnic entities such as Sea Peoples, in this period of shifting geo-political alliances that characterized the transition from the Late Bronze to the Iron Age.

This report will be published as the third volume in the series of publications of the Tel Beth Shean Excavations, which will be published by the Institute of Archaeology, Hebrew University and the Israel Exploration Society.