Rapporto sui risultati degli scavi a Khirbet al-BatrawyReport on the results of the excavations at Khirbet al-Batraw

D'ANDREA, MARTA

GALLO E.

NIGRO, Lorenzo

English

Archivio della ricerca- Università di Roma La Sapienza

Proceedingsof the 6th International Congresson the Archaeologyof the Ancient Near EastMay, 5th-10th 2009, “Sapienza” - Università di Roma Volume 3Islamic SessionPoster SessionThe Ceremonial Precinct of Canaanite HazorEdited byPaolo Matthiae, Frances Pinnock, Lorenzo Nigroand Nicolò Marchettiwith the collaboration of Licia Romano2010Harrassowitz Verlag · WiesbadenABSTRACTLORENZO NIGRO, MARTA D’ANDREA, ELISABETTA GALLOTHE EARLY BRONZE AGE II CITY-GATEAT KHIRBET AL-BATRAWY, JORDANRecent excavations carried on by Rome “La Sapienza” University at the site of Khirbet al-Batrawy, an EB II-III fortifi ed town in north-central Jordan, brought to light a long stretch of the fortifi cation wall around the site and especially on the northern side in Area B North, where the earliest (Batrawy II, Early Bronze II, 2900-2700 BC) city-gate was uncovered. This gate, its structure and location, represents a perspicuous example of defensive architecture in Southern Levant during the Early Bronze Age. The identifi cation of the earliest gate in the city-wall of Batrawy allowed to reconstruct a basic point of the urban layout of the Jordanian city. Khirbet al-Batrawy arose as a fortifi ed town encircled by a continuous city-wall running all around the edge of the hill during the Early Bronze II, around 2900 BC. The fortifi cation line was strengthened at the corners and in other strategic spots by abutting towers and bastions,1 and it had only one main opening at the middle of its northern side, where a shallow saddle made easier the access to the city (Fig. 1).2 Here, a street climbed the hill fl ank and approached the gate, which was a simple passage, 1.6 m wide,3 as it was presumably used only by pedestrians and donkeys (onagers) of caravans entering the city (Fig. 2). There were no door sockets, since there was no wooden gate; the passage was blocked by a wall at the beginning of the Early Bronze IIIA after the earthquake destruction which caused the end of the EB II city (Figs 3-4).4 Large limestone boulders supported the city-wall at its outer base, slightly protruding on the street. The door jambs were also reinforced by big stones and supported on the outer side by a monolithic capstone, apparently set in the wall at 2 m height. On the inner side of the gate, since the passage through the wall was 4 m deep, the superstructure of the walls was supported by wooden beams. The door jambs show big cracks possibly caused by the earthquake which brought to a sudden end the life of the city. A step marked the entrance to the gate on the outer side, while inside a series of beaten earth fl oorings illustrated the 1 Nigro 2006a: 235-236; Nigro (ed.) 2006: 25-37.2 Nigro (ed.) 2006: 16, Fig. 1.18.3 Nigro 2006b: 57-58, Figs 1-2; 2007: 352, Figs 10-11; Nigro (ed.) 2008: 83-88.4 Nigro 2007: 349-350, Fig. 8; Nigro (ed.) 2008: 89-90, fi gs 3.38, 3.40.Lorenzo Nigro, Marta D’Andrea, Elisabetta Gallo448uses of the gate (from around 2900 to 2700 BC). The simple layout of the gate (Fig. 2) fi nds several comparison in contemporary EB II defensive architecture of the region, such as at Khirbet Kerak,5 ‘Ai,6 Arad7 and, later on, also at EB III Bab edh-Dhra‛.8BibliographyAmiran, R., Ilan, O.1996 Early Arad. The Chalcolithic and Early Bronze IB Settlements and the Early Bronze II City: Architecture and Town Planning. II. Sixth to Eighteenth Seasons of Excavations, 1971-1978, 1980-1984 (= Judean Desert Studies), Jerusalem.Callaway, J.A.1980 The Early Bronze Age Citadel and Lower City at Ai (et-Tell): a Report of the Joint Archaeological Expedition at Ai (et-Tell). No. II, Cambridge.Greenberg, R., Paz, Y.2005 The Early Bronze Age Fortifi cations at Tel Beth Yerah: in Levant 37, pp. 81-103.Nigro, L.2006a Preliminary Report of the First Season of Excavations by the University of Rome “La Sapienza” at Khirbat al-Batrāwī (Upper Wādī az-Zarqā’): in Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 50, pp. 229-248.2006b Khirbat al-Batrawi: in Munjazāt 7, pp. 57-59.2007 Preliminary Report of the Second Season of Excavations by the University of Rome “La Sapienza” at Khirbat al-Batrāwī (Upper Wādī az-Zarqā’): in Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 51, pp. 345-360.Nigro, L. (ed.)2006 Khirbet al-Batrawy. An Early Bronze Age Fortifi ed Town in North-Central Jordan. Preliminary Report of the First Season of Excavations (2005) (= Rome «La Sapienza» Studies on the Archaeology of Palestine & Transjordan, 3), Rome.2008 Khirbet al-Batrawy II. The EB II City-Gate, the EB II-III Fortifi cations, the EB II-III Temple. Preliminary Report of the Second (2006) and RThird (2007) Seasons of Excavations (= Rome «La Sapienza» Studies on the Archaeology of Palestine & Transjordan, 6), Rome.Rast, W.E., Schaub, R.Th.5 The south-east gate in Wall A, possibly also blocked at the beginning of the Early Bronze III (Greenberg, Paz 2005: 84, 86-89, Figs 8, 10-14).6 The Citadel Gate at Site A (Callaway 1980: 63-65, Figs 38, 41); the Postern Gate (Callaway 1980: 72-73, Figs 48-49, 51) and the Lower City Gate (Callaway 1980: 114-115, Figs 74-75) at Site L.7 Amiran, Ilan 1996: 20-22.8 The EB III West Gate in Fields IV and XIII, also blocked during the Early Bronze III (Rast, Schaub 2003: 272-280).The Early Bronze Age II City-Gate at Khirbet al-Batrawy 4492003 Bâb edh-Dhrâ‛: Excavations at the Town Site (1975-1981). Part 1: Text, Part 2: Plates and Appendices (= Reports of the Expedition to the Dead Sea Plain, Jordan, Volume II), Winona Lake, In.Lorenzo Nigro, Marta D’Andrea, Elisabetta Gallo450Fig. 1: General view from north of Area B North at the end of 2006 excavations, with the articulated EB II-III fortifi cation system; from back to front: the EB II-IIIB main city-wall W.103+W.163 with EB II city-gate L.160; the EB IIIA-B outer wall W.155; and the EB IIIB reinforcing scarp-wall W.165. In the right foreground, the EB IIIA round defensive outwork W.185.The Early Bronze Age II City-Gate at Khirbet al-Batrawy 451Fig. 2: Area B North. General view of city-gate L.160; note the step marking the en-trance, the plastered fl oor over the bedrock inside the passage and the battering boulders at the foot of the city-wall, from north-west (Batrawy II, Early Bronze II, 2900-2700 BC).Lorenzo Nigro, Marta D’Andrea, Elisabetta Gallo452Fig. 3; Area B North: city-gate L.160 after the blockage at the beginning of the Early Bronze IIIA, from north (Batrawy IIIa, 2700-2500 BC).The Early Bronze Age II City-Gate at Khirbet al-Batrawy 453Fig. 4: Area B North. Northern prospect of city-wall W.103+W.163 with city-gate L.160 (Batrawy II, Early Bronze II, 2900-2700 BC.), before (top) and after (bottom) the blocking at the beginning of the Early Bronze IIIA (Batrawy IIIa, 2700-2500 BC).

The Early Bronze Age II City-Gate at Khirbet al-Batrawy, Jordan

https://iris.uniroma1.it/bitstream/11573/54871/1/Nigro-D%27Andrea-Gallo_6ICAANE.pdf

The Early Bronze Age II City-Gate at Khirbet al-Batrawy, Jordan

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Archivio della ricerca- Università di Roma La Sapienza