In 2017, archaeologists made a truly remarkable discovery, one that sheds light on a fascinating moment in history. At the site of ‘En Esur, located in the northwest part of Israel, an ancient city was discovered.
The city dates back to the Early Bronze Age (c. 3300–3000 BCE), and at its peak, was bustling with activity. Let’s ask two of the site’s archeologists, Itai Elad and Yitzhak Paz, some questions about this amazing find.
1. The site was first discovered during construction on a nearby road. What was the condition of the city at the time it was found, and did the road cause any damage to the site?
The site was already known to us since it was excavated on a small scale about 30 years ago. What we didn’t know was how big and densely built it was. Before the excavation, we did probe trenching, which is a common practice to understand the intensity of the archaeological remains before excavating them. This process means we dig many trenches (with a backhoe tractor) until we reach the first archaeological layer.
To our surprise, the remains of the Early Bronze Age city were found almost immediately under the modern-day surface, an extremely rare situation considering that they are about 5,000 years old.
In the excavation itself, we discovered that the remains were very well preserved, especially the architecture.
2. How long does it take to excavate a city of this size? Roughly how many people are working on it each day?
The length of the excavation depends on how many people are working each day. On average, we had about 200 workers per day, which is a lot!
Salvage excavations are usually fast since they are restricted by a certain budget and timetables. The size of the city, as we understand it, was approximately 65 hectares (approximately 161 acres). We excavated only about 10 percent of that, which is still one of the largest excavations ever conducted in Israel.
3. Who has helped excavate the site?
The excavation staff was composed of archaeologists, surveyors, and other professional personnel working in the Israel Antiquities Authority. The workers were, for the most part, paid employees, both Israeli and Palestinian.
We also hosted a large number of youths. They usually came in groups for about a week or two to both learn about archaeology and to participate in the actual excavation work.
4. What types of buildings have been uncovered?
The buildings of the Early Bronze Age city at ‘En Esur are some of the most remarkable things we’ve uncovered.
The people of the city constructed a very large and complex network of streets and alleys that allowed them to move freely within the settlement. Between the streets, neighborhoods were formed, and within them, private houses and courtyards.
The typical Early Bronze Age houses we found were either capsular in shape or rectangular with rounded corners. An average house would have measured about 10 x 3.5 meters, so they were quite large.
Beside the houses, we also uncovered two public buildings. The first is a 22-meter long building that we have identified as a temple. The second is a round structure, 7.80 meters in diameter, with walls two meters thick. These kinds of buildings, judging by their size and related finds, are not domestic.
5. What are the homes made of?
The houses in the Early Bronze Age were usually made of stones, mud, and wood. The walls were built of stone foundations that usually rise slightly above the level of the floor. Upon the foundations were courses, or layers, made of sun-dried mud brick made from local soils.
The floor was mostly beaten earth or more rarely paved with flat stones. We assume that the roofs of the houses were made of wood since we didn’t find them in the excavation. Organic materials such as wood don’t survive long in this region of the country.
6. Have any important artifacts been uncovered
during the excavation?
Yes, we have found many interesting artifacts. Probably the most exciting are the ones we found in the temple, including a very rare head of a humanlike figurine and a pottery shard that bears an impression of a cultic scene that involves humans and animals.
7. How do archaeologists decide a site has been fully excavated?
If you’re talking about sites in general, we never fully excavate them.
Archaeologists will always excavate only a portion of the site and leave other parts of it for future archaeologists who will surely have more knowledge and better technology than we currently possess.
If you are referring to the specific area of an excavation, archaeologists aim to excavate until reaching the virgin soil, or bedrock, meaning there are no more archaeological layers beneath.
8. Why is the site of ‘En Esur so important? What does it tell us about the history of the region?
‘En Esur is now the largest known site in Israel from the Early Bronze Age. Beginning as a small village, it ultimately grew to a staggering 65 hectares, and an extensive portion was revealed during our excavation. Although we already knew a little about the appearance of urban centers during the Early Bronze Age, this is the first large-scale city we have found.
The excavation has exceeded all of our expectations. The find is important because it helps us put this puzzle together, giving us a better understanding of this crucial moment in the history of our region, when people changed their way of living, building large cities and all that comes with them.