Ancient Jericho / Tell es-Sultan
تل السلطان
Palestine · Jericho and Al-Aghwar
In brief
Tell es-Sultan is a prehistoric and Bronze Age settlement mound northwest of modern Jericho. Excavations documented monumental structures from early settled life and the defensive systems of the later Canaanite city.
What was found?
- 1Neolithic tower
It is one of the early settlement's monumental structures. It shows that Neolithic communities could undertake large-scale collective construction.
- 2Neolithic wall and ditch
These are large structures documented alongside the tower at the settlement. They make visible the labor devoted to organizing a permanent settlement.
- 3Skulls with faces modeled in plaster
The facial areas of human skulls were shaped with clay or plaster, and seashells were placed in their eyes. According to researchers, these may be connected with commemorating deceased individuals or ancestors.
- 4Bronze Age defensive structures
The large Middle Bronze Age defensive system documents a developed Canaanite city-state. It shows the site's phases of urbanization after the Neolithic village.
What does it point to?
Tell es-Sultan shows that settled communal life developed alongside large construction projects and changing forms of subsistence. According to researchers, the modeled skulls indicate that relationships with the dead held an important place in community memory.
What did it teach us?
- It showed that monumental communal structures were built during the Neolithic period.
- It documented practices in which human remains were carefully modeled and preserved.
- It revealed development at the same location from an early settlement to a complex Bronze Age city-state.
Record
- Culture
- Neolithic communities and Canaanite
- Team / historical
- Sapienza University of Rome and Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities
- Coordinates
- 31.8713°, 35.4441°
Sources
- whc.unesco.org
- mvoem.web.uniroma1.it
- Birmingham Müzeleri — Modellenmiş insan kafatası
- Ashmolean Müzesi — Eriha kafatası
Nearby excavations
- Hisham's Palace 2 km
- Ain Ghazal 52 km
- Jerash / Gerasa 62 km
- Tel Lachish 66 km
- Pella 66 km
- Tel Megiddo 83 km
- —
- —
- 12.000
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