Tel Kabri

This article is about the archaeological site of Tel Kabri. For the associated kibbutz, see Kabri, Israel. For former near-by Palestinian village, see al-Kabri. For other uses, see Kabri.
Tel Kabri
תל כברי
Aerial photo of palace at Tel Kabri. 2013 excavation team is lying on painted plaster floor, spelling out 'Kabri'.
Tel Kabri is located in Israel
Tel Kabri
Shown within Israel
Alternative nameRehov?[1]
LocationKibbutz Kabri
RegionUpper Galilee
Coordinates33°0′30.15″N 35°8′20.7″E / 33.0083750°N 35.139083°E / 33.0083750; 35.139083
TypeSettlement
Area80 ha (200 acres)
History
MaterialMudbrick, stone, plaster, mortar[2]
PeriodsPottery Neolithic – Byzantine[3]
CulturesYarmoukian, Wadi Raba, proto-Canaanite, Canaanite, Phoenician, Hellenistic,[4] Jewish[5]
Site notes
Excavation dates1957–1958, 1969, 1975–1976, 1986–1993, 1999, 2004, 2005–ongoing
ArchaeologistsEric H. Cline, Assaf Yasur-Landau, Andrew Koh, Nurith Goshen, Inbal Samet, Alexandra Ratzlaff, Wolf-Dietrich Niemeier, Aharon Kempinski, James Martin, Erin Brantmayer, Roey Nickelsberg, Henry Curtis Pelgrift, Samuel Pfister, Ariel Polokoff, Nimrod Marom, Peri Buch, Matthew Susnow, Moshe Prausnitz
OwnershipPrivate
ManagementIsrael Antiquities Authority (IAA)
Public accessNo
Websitedigkabri2015.wordpress.com
שָׁלוֹם
This article contains Hebrew text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Hebrew letters.

Tel Kabri (Hebrew: תֵל כַבְרִי), or Tell al-Qahweh (Arabic: تَلْ ألْقَهوَة, lit. 'mound of coffee'[6]), is an archaeological tell (mound created by accumulation of remains) containing one of the largest Middle Bronze Age (2,100–1,550 BCE) Canaanite palaces in Israel,[7] and the largest such palace excavated as of 2014.[8] Kabri is named for the abundance of its perennial springs 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 BCE) to the present day.[9] Located in the Western Upper Galilee, the site was at the height of its power in the Middle Bronze, controlling much of the surrounding region. Kabri declined as a local power at the end of the Middle Bronze, but the site continued to be occupied at times, on a much reduced level, up until the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.

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,[a] 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, these are the only Minoan paintings 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]

  1. ^ Stern, Lewinson-Gilboa & Aviram (1993), p. 840.
  2. ^ Horowitz (2002), p. 11.
  3. ^ Kempinski (2002), p. 449-461.
  4. ^ Marder & al. (2002), p. 305.
  5. ^ Aviram (1997), p. 23.
  6. ^ Khalidi (1992), p. 28.
  7. ^ Wiener (2013b).
  8. ^ Koh, Yasur-Landau & Cline (2014).
  9. ^ Tsuk (2002), p. 15.
  10. ^ Stern, Lewinson-Gilboa & Aviram (1993), pp. 839–841.
  11. ^ Cline, Yasur-Landau & Goshen (2011), p. 245.
  12. ^ Science Daily (2009).
  13. ^ Burrows (2013).


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