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The Digital Archaeological Atlas of the Holy Land

 


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DAAHL Site Record for Tel Bira (Tel Yas'ur) 12:70:

DAAHL SITE #: 353206311
FIELD / INSTITUTION #: 0006
SITE NAME: Tel Bira (Tel Yas'ur) 12:70
LATITUDE: 32.90072
LONGITUDE: 35.16841
PRIMARY REFERENCE: Israel Antiquities Authority
NOTES: Settlement remains were found on the tell and in areas around the foot of the mound (“lower city”). Cemeteries were located E of the mound. No architecture is visible today on the tell and in the lower areas around it. Rock-cut tombs of the Iron Age, the Persian and the Hellenistic period were exposed when the modern road E of the tell was built (cf. E.J. Stern 1996:29). A rock-cut tomb (at coordinates 166351.256166) was observed in a cut created by modern road construction. It is the burial of a single individual cut about 1.5 m deep into the rock. The bottom of the grave was sealed by stones and the rest of the grave shaft was filled with soil (Fig. 49). At the bottom of the grave was a Persian or early Hellenistic period juglet (Fig. 51:3). On the S and SW slope of the mound large stones of an ancient fortification wall are visible. A total of 1,069 diagnostic sherds from the Middle Bronze Age through the Hellenistic period were counted. Although the Middle Bronze levels are buried by later periods, 117 Middle Bronze sherds were noted, 11% of all diagnostics. The pottery was found over an area of about 100 dunams. On the slope of the mound are indications of a Middle Bronze glacis. During the Late Bronze Age, the site was significantly smaller. Only 15 Late Bronze sherds were identified, constituting about 1.3% of all diagnostic sherds. The Late Bronze pottery was found over an area of about 30 dunams. In the Iron Age I, the settlement was slightly larger than in the preceding period. Thirty-three Late Bronze sherds (3%) were identified, found over an area of about 40 dunams. Only in the Iron Age II did the site again become a significant settlement, with 254 sherds (23.7%) identified from this period, collected over an area of 80 dunams. During the Persian period the settlement was a bit smaller, and surveyors collected 126 sherds (12%) from this period in an area of about 50 dunams. Tel Bira must have been an important site in the early Hellenistic period, as 524 sherds (49%) of the diagnostic sherds, found over an area of 100 dunams, date to this period, . Most of the graves found E of the mound date to the Persian and early Hellenistic periods. During the Hellenistic period, the mound was abandoned and the settlement continued at el-Birwa (Site 88).
Site Contributed by:
CONTRIBUTOR: Dr. Gideon Avni    
INSTITUTION: Excavations and Surveys Dept. Israel Antiquities Authority
ADDRESS: P.O. Box 586, Jerusalem 91004, Israel
E-MAIL: gideon@israntique.org.il
URL: http://www.antiquities.org.il
LINKS: IAA Site Record
IAA Map Record
DATA DESCRIPTION: Early Brone IV site and survey data from Israel. These sites were delivered in Israel TM projection, and converted to WGS 84 with ReprojectME.

 
Alternate Site Names:
MNEMONIC ARTICLE SITE NAME
Tell Bir el-Gharbi (Tell el-Gharbi)

Site Components:
PERIOD FEATURE TYPE SIZE (ha) DESCRIPTION
Unspecified Village Site (No Fortifications) Remains of settlement
Unspecified Fortress / Fortification Fortification
Unspecified Cemetery / Necropolis Cemetery
Unspecified Rock-Cut Shaft Tomb/Cave Rock-cut tomb
Unspecified Glacis / Ramp Rampart/ramp
Unspecified Unspecified Settlement Settlement
Unspecified Non Site/Feature Type Findings Juglet
MB II Other / Unspecified
MB II Multi-Period Stratified Site (Tell or Khirbet)
LB Other / Unspecified
LB Multi-Period Stratified Site (Tell or Khirbet)
Iron I Other / Unspecified
Iron I Multi-Period Stratified Site (Tell or Khirbet)
Iron II Other / Unspecified
Iron II Multi-Period Stratified Site (Tell or Khirbet)
Persian (Iron III) Other / Unspecified
Persian (Iron III) Multi-Period Stratified Site (Tell or Khirbet)
Hellenistic Other / Unspecified
Hellenistic Multi-Period Stratified Site (Tell or Khirbet)
Site Pictures:
DESCRIPTION THUMBNAIL
Click to enlarge.