So, last week my department at university opened its first season of excavations at Tel Tibna, which is identified with Timnat Heres, the home of Joshua Bin-Nun. I'm going to be there for the entire season.
Here's a summary of what went on last week:
We opened up two digging areas on the Tel, areas A and B (yes, very creative names, especially when you realize that coincidentally, the respective area heads' names start with those letters...).
So far in Area A we've uncovered remains of a Jordanian bunker from the pre-Six Day War era. From the looks of the several IDF bullets found around the Tel, it seems that the IDF may have settled the bunker for a certain period after the war, clearing out Jordanian items. It's quite likely that they were the ones who subsequently covered the bunker with dirt. In other squares in the area, Hellenistic and Roman architectural pieces have begun to be uncovered, such as stone columns.
In terms of smaller items, we've found coins from various eras (from the Ptolemaic through the Roman periods), pieces of pottery, pieces of ancient glassware, a decorated stone fragment, clay bricks and an ammonite fossil.
In Area B we've uncovered a building with plastered walls and a previously-arched ceiling (now collapsed) which might have been some kind of bathhouse or even a mikveh, as well as several walls probably from the Hellenistic period. Among the smaller items are various coins, another ammonite fossil, the excavation's first in situ pottery vessel, a mini pottery candle and more.
Some pictures:
Area A at sunrise:
A pottery shard:
A cleaned shard of an Iron Age II cooking vessel, as well as other pottery shards:
My square after a few days of digging:
And the Jerusalem Post requested permission to use our pictures for an article about the excavation. Unfortunately, as they didn't consult us on anything else, the article came out poorly, with several mistakes. But you can check it out here:
First archaeological dig begins at site believed to be Joshua's tomb
Here's a summary of what went on last week:
We opened up two digging areas on the Tel, areas A and B (yes, very creative names, especially when you realize that coincidentally, the respective area heads' names start with those letters...).
So far in Area A we've uncovered remains of a Jordanian bunker from the pre-Six Day War era. From the looks of the several IDF bullets found around the Tel, it seems that the IDF may have settled the bunker for a certain period after the war, clearing out Jordanian items. It's quite likely that they were the ones who subsequently covered the bunker with dirt. In other squares in the area, Hellenistic and Roman architectural pieces have begun to be uncovered, such as stone columns.
In terms of smaller items, we've found coins from various eras (from the Ptolemaic through the Roman periods), pieces of pottery, pieces of ancient glassware, a decorated stone fragment, clay bricks and an ammonite fossil.
In Area B we've uncovered a building with plastered walls and a previously-arched ceiling (now collapsed) which might have been some kind of bathhouse or even a mikveh, as well as several walls probably from the Hellenistic period. Among the smaller items are various coins, another ammonite fossil, the excavation's first in situ pottery vessel, a mini pottery candle and more.
Some pictures:
Area A at sunrise:
A pottery shard:
A cleaned shard of an Iron Age II cooking vessel, as well as other pottery shards:
My square after a few days of digging:
And the Jerusalem Post requested permission to use our pictures for an article about the excavation. Unfortunately, as they didn't consult us on anything else, the article came out poorly, with several mistakes. But you can check it out here:
First archaeological dig begins at site believed to be Joshua's tomb
