Tell Ushayer – A Late Bronze-Iron Age Fortress on the Edges of Irbid (original) (raw)

15th International Conference on the History and Archaeology of Jordan (ICHAJ 15), 2022

Abstract

Recent excavations of the Freie Universität Berlin at Tell Ushayer, located only 3 km to the west of Irbid, have started to expose the impressive remains of a heavily fortified settlement founded in the Late Bronze Age and occupied well into the Iron Age. Erected on a prominent, and partly artificially raised mound, the massive stone fortifications enclose a circular area of 0.6 ha. Despite this rather modest settlement size, the complex defensive system consisted of a wide double stone walls reinforced with projecting bastions at regular intervals as well as towers in front of the city-gate. This imposing structure is indicative of an intentionally planned fortress that obviously had the potential to protect its inhabitants and the stored goods, as well as to control the surrounding area. In this respect, the geostrategic salient location of the site at the border to the north of the Jordan Plateau and along an important caravan route that connected the Jordan Valley with Damascus has to be discussed. The paper, therefore, provides a comprehensive summary of the new excavation results from Tell Ushayer accompanied by a discourse on the socio-political landscape of the Late Bronze-Iron Age in the southern Levant from which such an outstanding monument arose.

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