Tel Yarmuth
Tel Yarmuth or Khirbet Yarmuk is an ancient Near East archaeological site in Israel located 25 kilometers southwest of Jerusalem and near modern Beit Shemesh. It is a large primarily single-period site and has been suggested as possibly being the city of Jarmuth, being only a tentative identification, as it is based solely on the similarity of the Hebrew name with the Arabic name and its areal location.
History
Early Bronze Age
Chronologically the city reached its peak in Early Bronze IIIA, at the same time as the "Pyramid Age" of the Old Kingdom in Egypt and the early Early Dynastic III period in Mesopotamia. After that the city was abandoned, with modest occupation in later periods.Early Bronze period material from Tel Yarmuth has been radiocarbon dated and is being used to support the contention that EB III ended around 2500 BC. Samples tested were "3 from Final EB IB, 15 from EB II, and 19 from EB III". Results were Final EB IB to EB II transition between 3030 and 2960 BC, EB II to EB III transition between 2980 and 2910 BC.
In the conventional chronology, 2500 BCE marked the end of EB IIIA at which time climate became gradually drier toward 2000 BCE. Many sites in the Southern Levant went into decline or were abandoned in EB IIIB-EB IV which can give the impression that the EBA ended around 2500 BCE as contended by Regev et al. The study has been criticized with Jericho providing a better overall picture of the late EBA. Tel Yarmuth thus came to an end around the end of EB IIIA and the drier conditions of EB IIIB.
Early Bronze IB
The only notable EB IB find was a basalt spindle whorl.Early Bronze II-III
The entire site including the lower town was heavily occupied in the Early Bronze II and III periods. The site was abandoned around 2400 BC, during EB III.The EB II and III monumental construction includes the large "White Building", a plastered masonry broad-room temple with a side altar. In this period two large palaces were built with one, Palace B1, measuring 1750 square meters and the other, Palace B2, measuring 6000 square meters. At its peak the city had massive sophisticated fortifications and a large main city gate. The first city wall was made of stone, was 6 meters deep and is preserved to 4 meters in height. A larger wall was later added outside of that built of cyclopean construction. The fortifications were subsequently improved even further. A number of EB III flint Canaanite blades, believed to be used as sickle inserts or in threshing, were found.
Middle Bronze
The acropolis was lightly re-occupied, based on potsherd finds, in the Middle Bronze IIA.Late Bronze
Egyptian period
In the LBA, the Southern Levant became part of the Egyptian New Kingdom empire, with local vassal rulers in regional centers.The site saw some occupation in the Late Bronze II. It included 13th century BC Mycenaean and Cypriot sherds. The only other epigraphic find was a hoe with a partial hieroglyphic inscription in a hoard of bronze objects, mostly fragmentary. They were dated to the time of the 19th Dynasty and may not be in their original context.
Biblical narrative
In the Hebrew Bible,, Yarmuth is mentioned along with the cities Adullam and Socho as occupying a place in the Land of Canaan, in the region geographically known as the Shefelah, or what is a place of transition between the mountainous region and the coastal plains. Also in the Hebrew Bible,, the king of Yarmuth was slain by Joshua and the Israelites during their conquest of the land of Canaan.Iron Age
Iron I
The Transitional Late Bronze Age-Iron Age was characterized by climate change and the Fall of the New Kingdom empire in the Southern Levant. Iron IA roughly corresponds with 20th Dyn after Ramesses IV, while Iron IB correlates with 21st Dyn centered on Tanis.Somewhat more substantial building occurred on the acropolis in Iron I times. Finds from that period included a 2nd-century BC cooking pot with a yršlm stamp.
Iron II
In the late 8th-century BC, Yarmuth was in the territorial domain belonging to king Hezekiah of Judah. In the 14th-year of King Hezekiah's reign, Sennacherib of Assyria embarked on his third military campaign, this time against the cities of the Levant, including against the king of Sidon and against Jerusalem in Judah, where King Hezekiah was besieged, based on in the Hebrew Bible. Many of the king's important cities in Judah were at that time taken by Sennacherib and given over to other potentates faithful to Sennacherib. Although Yarmuth is not specifically named in the prism detailing Sennacherib's exploits, it can be assumed by the account that the city did not go unscathed:Persian period
The only possible record for Yarmuth for this time-period is taken from the Hebrew Bible, specifically the account of Nehemiah who returned with the Jewish exiles from the Babylonian captivity, during the reign of Artaxerxes I. According to Ezra, the acclaimed author of the book, some of these returnees had settled in Jarmuth, as shown in of the Hebrew Bible. The political entity that was established in Judea at the time was that of a vassal state, as Judea became a province of the Persian Empire, governed by a satrap.Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine periods
No Hellenistic or Roman periods records of Yarmuth have survived, although potsherds from the Roman period have been discerned. Some Early Byzantine era terraces and potsherds were found in the lower town area.Archaeology
The site is about in extent. The high point, in area, lies on the eastern side with a lower town extending to the west. The site is roughly 640 by 420 meters.The mound, then known as Khirbet Yarmuk, was visited by French archaeologist Victor Guérin in 1863. American archaeologist Frederick J. Bliss, who visited the site at the start of the 20th-century, remarked seeing interior walls of a building that were 4 feet and 6 inches thick in diameter, and that early Roman and Arab potsherds could be seen there. A survey of the site was conducted by Adam Druks in 1963. A. Ben-Tor conducted a sounding there in 1970 on behalf of the Hebrew University.
Tel Yarmuth has been scientifically excavated since 1980 by Pierre de Miroschedji under the auspices of the French National Centre for Scientific Research.
In 2014, extensive excavations were conducted at the site by the Israel Antiquities Authority. After 2016 the site was declared a national park and since then excavations have been conducted, under the auspices of the Israel Antiquities Authority, in preparation for public access. An extensive geophysical survey of the lower town was also completed.