User:Flinders Petrie/Tel Kabri
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Tel Kabri (Hebrew: תֵלְ כַבְרִי; Arabic: تَلْ ألْقَهوَة, Tell al-Qahweh, "the mound of coffee"[6]) is an archaeological site, home to one of the largest Middle Bronze (MB) Age (2,100–1,550 BC) Canaanite palaces in ancient Israel,[7] and the largest such palace excavated as of 2014.[8] Kabri is named for the abundance of its perennial springs—as described in the Etymology section below—the presence of which has led to the site's occupation and use as a water source from the Pottery Neolithic (PN) period (6,400–4,500 BC) to the present day.[9] Located in the Western Upper Galilee, the site was at the height of its power in the MB, controlling much of the surrounding region. Kabri declined as a local power at the end of the MB, but the site continued to be occupied at times, on a much reduced level, up until the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.
תל כברי | |
Alternative name | Rehov?[1] |
---|---|
Location | Kibbutz Kabri |
Region | Upper Galilee |
Coordinates | 33°0′30.15″N 35°8′20.7″E |
Type | Settlement |
Area | 80 ha (200 acres) |
History | |
Material | Mudbrick, stone, plaster, mortar[2] |
Periods | Pottery Neolithic – Byzantine[3] |
Cultures | Yarmoukian, Wadi Raba, proto-Canaanite, Canaanite, Phoenician, Hellenistic,[4] Jewish[5] |
Site notes | |
Excavation dates | 1957–1958, 1969, 1975–1976, 1986–1993, 1999, 2004, 2005–ongoing |
Archaeologists | Eric H. Cline, Assaf Yasur-Landau, Andrew Koh, Nurith Goshen, Inbal Samet, Alexandra Ratzlaff, Wolf-Dietrich Niemeier, Aharon Kempinski, Moshe Prausnitz |
Ownership | Private |
Management | Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) |
Public access | No |
Website | http://digkabri2015.wordpress.com |
Since 1957, Tel Kabri has been excavated by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), formerly the Israel Department of Antiquities and Museums (IDAM), as well as Israeli and American universities.[10] Among the discoveries at the site by the two full-scale archaeological expeditions [nb 1] two have attracted particular attention from the archaeological community. The first finding to come to international attention was the discovery of Minoan-style frescoes in the palace at Kabri.[11] As of 2015[update], these are the only Minoan-style frescoes ever discovered in Israel.[12] Second, in 2013, the Tel Kabri Archaeological Project uncovered the oldest and largest known palatial wine cellar in the Ancient Near East in Kabri's palace.[13]