Tall al-Ajjul

This article is about an archaeological site near Gaza. For the Palestinian village in the West Bank, see Ajjul. For the tell in the Jezreel Valley, see Endor (village).

Coordinates: 31°28′04″N 34°24′15″E / 31.467665°N 34.404297°E / 31.467665; 34.404297

Bronze-Age gold jewellery from Tell el-Ajjul in the British Museum.[1]

Tall al-Ajjul or Tell el-'Ajul is an archaeological mound or tell in the Gaza Strip. The fortified city excavated at the site dates as far back ca. 2000-1800 B.C. and was inhabited during the Bronze Age. It is located at the mouth of Wadi Ghazzah just south of the town of Gaza.[2]

History

Bronze Age

Archaeologists have excavated remains dated mainly to the Middle and Late Bronze Age.[3] Large quantities of pumice were deposited during the Late Bronze Age, which may have been caused by the Thera (Santorini) volcanic eruption. If proven correct, this would offer a good correlation and dating tool.[3]

Treaty of Tell Ajul (1229)

The Sixth Crusade came to an end with the so-called Treaty of Jaffa and Tell Ajul.[4] These were in fact two different treaties, the first being the one signed at Tell Ajul by the competing Ayyubid rulers of Egypt, Syria and various smaller principalities. This treaty settled their territorial disputes and left Sultan Al-Kamil of Egypt in a very powerful position. The follow-up treaty was signed at Jaffa by Al-Kamil and the leader of the Sixth Crusade, Emperor Frederick II, removing also the threat posed to Al-Kamil by the European armies.[5][6]

Excavations

In 1930-1934 Tall al-Ajjul was excavated by British archaeologists under the direction of Sir Flinders Petrie, who thought the site was ancient Gaza, as it is sometimes known. In the 1970s, the archaeologist Aharon Kempinski proposed identifying Tall al-Ajjul with Sharuhen, the last stronghold of the Hyksos c. 1550 BC.

In 1999 and 2000 the excavations were renewed by Peter M. Fischer and M. Sadeq because of a common interest in the protection and exploration of the site, for the moment interrupted due to the political circumstances.[3][7]

A large amount of imported pottery from Cyprus has been discovered. These imports begin with Base-ring I, and White Slip I types of pottery. In particular, over 200 sherds of White Slip I have been found, which pottery is rarely found outside of Cyprus. The majority of the sherds, nevertheless, are of the later White Slip II and Base-ring II wares. There are also sherds of other kinds of Cypriot pottery, including Bichrome Wheel-made, Monochrome, Red Lustrous Wheel-made, and White Painted V/VI. Mycenean pottery and such from Upper Egypt were also found.[3][8]

Ajjul has been and remains one of the proposed sites for Sharuhen and for Beit Eglaim mentioned in Eusebius's Onomasticon, in contrast with Petrie's initial identification with ancient Gaza.[3]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ British Museum Collection
  2. ↑ http://www.fischerarchaeology.se/?page_id=78
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Avraham Negev and Shimon Gibson (2001). Ajjul (Tell el-). Archaeological Encyclopedia of the Holy Land. New York and London: Continuum. pp. 25–26. ISBN 0-8264-1316-1.
  4. ↑ Adrian J. Boas (2001). Jerusalem in the Time of the Crusades: Society, Landscape and Art in the Holy City Under Frankish Rule. London: Routledge. p. 1. ISBN 9780415230001. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
  5. ↑ Humphreys, R. Stephen (1977). From Saladin to the Mongols: The Ayyubids of Damascus 1193-1260. State University of New York (SUNY) Press. pp. 197–198. ISBN 0873952634. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  6. ↑ Adrian J. Boas (2009). Jerusalem in the Time of the Crusades: Society, Landscape and Art in the Holy City under Frankish Rule. London: Routledge. p. 1. ISBN 9780415488754. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  7. ↑ Swedish Archaeology in Jordan, Palestine and Cyprus, Tell el-’Ajjul excavations, Season 2000, Preliminary Results -- by Peter Fischer
  8. ↑ Celia J. Bergoffen, Early Late Cypriot Ceramic Exports to Canaan: White Slip I. In : Leaving No Stones Unturned / Hansen Donald P. - Winona Lake : Eisenbrauns, 2002. - p.23-41

Bibliography

Early Descriptions

Excavation Reports

Subsequent Archaeological Studies

Encyclopedia Articles

Museum Collections

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