Results 2009
Excavations are supported by Rome "La Sapienza" University, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
and the Italian Ministry for University and Scientific Research
Preliminary Report on the 5th Season of Archaeological Investigations
and Restorations at Khirbet al-Batrawy by Rome “La Sapienza” University
1. Introduction: the Fifth Season (2009) at Khirbet al-Batrawy
The
fifth season of investigations at Khirbet al-Batrawy (Lat. 32°05’,218”
N, Long. 36°04’,237” E), the Early Bronze Age fortified town in the
Upper Wadi az-Zarqa discovered in 2004 (Nigro ed. 2006; Nigro 2006a;
2006b; 2006c; 2007a; 2007b; 2008; Nigro ed. 2008), was carried out under
the
auspices of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan between May 16th
and June 15th 2009 (fig. 1), and was focused on excavation
and restoration of the EB II-III Main City-Wall,
and on
the excavation of the EB III double (EB IIIA) and triple (EB IIIB) line
of fortifications in Area B North; on the excavation of EB IV dwellings
and EB IIIB houses and buildings (B1, B2, B3) in Area B South; and on
the completion of restoration of the EB II-III Broad-Room Temple brought
to light in the previous seasons on the easternmost terrace of the site
(Area F).
2. Area B North - the EBII-III main city-wall and the EB III triple line fortification
The
exploration of the articulated defensive system of the city of Batrawy
in the 3rd millennium BC was carried on in the fifth seasons
by opening a series of new squares towards the west and the north with
the aim of further investigating the superimposed and adjoined
structures which composed such an impressive fortification system (fig.
2).
The overall sequence of defensive works in Area B North based upon stratigraphy can be summarized as follows (Nigro ed. 2008: 77-103): the earliest structure is the main city-wall preserved with a height of 3.2 m in the westernmost stretch so far exposed; this monumental work marked the foundation of the city and suffered a dramatic destruction due to a violent earthquake at the end of Early Bronze II. The main city-wall was reconstructed with several repairs and an Outer Wall (W.155) was added 1.8 m off in Early Bronze IIIA; this structure was reinforced with a curvilinear Outwork (W.185) and underwent a major destruction towards the end of the period. Successively, in Early Bronze IIIB, a Scarp-Wall (W.165) wad added to the Outer Wall, strengthening its outer side.
After
the final destruction of the city, around 2300 BC, the ruins of the
triple line fortification in Area B North were abandoned for a century
or something more, when an EB IV rural community settled sparsely on the
khirbat. This community was responsible of the erection of a
stone embankment, representing the regularization of the northern slope
of the hill, made with big stones from previous partially collapsed
structures used as supporting foot. Archaeological excavation in Area B
North in 2009 brought about new light on the above mentioned defensive
structures.
The EB II-III Main
City-Wall was further excavated towards the west (in squares
BmII5+BmII4), exposing its battering foot and repaired superstructure up
to a breach (P.819), probably caused by the collapse of the outer
curtain wall (W.163) at the final destruction of the city (fig. 3). In
front of the wall, the collapse layer was excavated exposing a thick
layer of burnt soil with ash and charcoal.
The EB IIIA Outer Wall (W.155), uncovered in square BmII4, turns sharply northwards, neatly diverging from the Main City-Wall. This suggests that a major tower, or presumably the main gate of this period was located just to the west. The curvilinear Outwork (W.185), brought to light in squares BpII5+BpII4+BoII4+BoII3 and linked to the Outer Wall, was further explored by digging the collapse and destruction layers burying it (fig. 4). This 1.5 m high structure emerged with big boulders employed in the lower courses and medium size stones on the upper courses.
The
EB IIIB Scarp-Wall (W.165), adjoined to the Outer Wall and superimposed
to the curvilinear Outwork, was explored in squares BnII4+BoII4, where
the latter was preserved up to the height of 1.9 m. This structure runs
parallel to the Outer Wall, but to the west, in square BnII4, it ends
against the latter with a semicircular bastion (W.825;
fig. 5). This
features again points to the possible presence of a gate through the
projecting Outer Wall further to the west. Some meters east of the
bastion, a major transversal wall (W.177) was uncovered springing out
from the outer face of the Scarp-Wall towards the north for a length of
around 9 m and with a width of 1.2 m. Such a structure was a further
external defensive work, taking the place of the curvilinear Outwork,
and protecting the protruding stretch of the Outer Wall which probably
was linked to a tower or a gate.
The
EB IIIB defensive system was destroyed by a fierce destruction, which
outside the Scarp-Wall and in between it and protruding wall W.177 was
preserved with a 0.8 m thick layer of ashes, burnt and broken mud-bricks
and charred materials (fig. 6). An almost identical stratum was
excavated also in squares BpII5+BpII4+BoII4 east of wall W.177 and
against the eastern face of the re-employed lower courses of the
curvilinear Outwork.
The 2009 season showed that after the earthquake which brought to a sudden end the EB II city, the fortification of the northern side of Batrawy were progressively strengthened and multiplied, with the addition of a second Outer Wall and of a curvilinear Outwork in the Early Bronze IIIA, and of a Scarp-Wall with a semicircular Bastion (W.825), plus a protruding rectangular structure (W.177) during the Early Bronze IIIB, thus demonstrating the constant flourishing of the city until a final dramatic event to be dated around 2300 BC.
After a century or more of abandonment, the khirbat was re-occupied by an EB IVB rural village, with sparse clusters of dwellings. A group of farm-houses and installations arose inside the northern edge of the site, and the slope with the ruins of the EB II-III triple line of fortification was regularized with an embankment supported at its foot by a row of big blocks (W.815), which was excavated in this season.
3. Area B South - EB IVB dwellings, EB IIIB Building B1, House B2 and Warehouse B3
Excavation
in Area B South just south of the Main City-Wall brought to light a
series of dwellings and installations of the EB IVB rural village stood
upon the ruins of the EB II-III city, and, after their removal, allowed
to explore some houses and buildings of the EB IIIB city itself.
Excavation works were carried out in three different sectors expanding
the Area towards the east, the south-west and the west.
In
squares BrII8+BrII7, to the east, a further portion of House L.122 was
excavated (Nigro ed. 2006: 170-174). Underneath it, there were simple
installations of a camp site (circular bins S.912 and S.913 with bench
B.911), belonging to the earliest phase of the period (Phase 2e; Nigro
ed. 2008: 134-136, 164-167).
In square BoII8, a quite
monumental corner (W.1005) of a house was brought to light in the SW
sector of the square, associated with a pebble-paved yard (L.1004) with
a circular bin (S.1008), a slab-paved squared device (L.1009) and a
horse-shoe storeroom (S.1011).
Underneath
them a pebble floor (L.1030) lying against the reemployed top of
collapsed EB IIIB walls, reused in the new farm-house structures, was
associated to two infant burials: one (D.1020; fig. 7) was laid inside a
circle of stones vertically set in the ground; the other one (D.1026)
was identified inside a semi-circle of medium-sized stones.
In squares BnII6+BnII7, to the west, further domestic units delimited by single-line stone walls and installations for food producing and storage were excavated.
Underneath
the rural village, houses and buildings of the EB IIIB city were
uncovered in the three sectors already mentioned. The street running
inside the Main City-Wall (L.133+L.424+L.1060) was excavated both to the
east and to the west. In squares BrII7+BrII8, wall W.409 running
parallel to the Main City-Wall was excavated up to bringing to light a
rectangular domestic unit (House B2) with a circular pillar base in the
middle, a slab located against the inner southern face of the northern
wall, and the entrance (L.938) opened in the western side (fig. 8), to
which a semicircular plastered device (W.135) was also adjoined (inside
this device a fragmentary copper spike was retrieved with two stoppers;
fig. 9). Such a house thus communicated with the small yard (L.936)
already excavated in previous seasons, where oven T.413
was
located, protruding from the eastern side of Building B1. The passage
(L.464) connecting the yard and street was closed or restricted towards
the end of Early Bronze IIIB.
Building B1 was further
explored by digging squares BoII8+BoII7, so that its western side-wall
was exposed for a length of more than 6.5 m (fig. 10). The excavation of
partition wall W.391 delimiting the to the south northernmost room
(L.430) of the building was completed, bringing to light the door
(L.1066) entering the room itself, while to the south another large room
(L.1046) was excavated, with several interesting findings in the
collapse layer.
West of Building B1, a lane (L.1050) was uncovered separating the latter from a second structure (fig. 11), of which only the northern and western side-walls (W.1033 and W.1043) were brought to light. Inside this Building (B3), aligned along its northern wall W.1033, a row of pithoi were found in situ still completely preserved in the 1 m thick collapse layer (fig. 12). Such huge storage vases hint at an extra-familiar dimensions also for activities carried out in this building, which is, however, almost completely unexplored except for its northern and eastern sides, which exhibit the same width (0.70-0.80 m) of wall W.109 in Building B1.
4. Area F - restoration of the Broad-Room Temple
In the fifth season (2009) the restoration of Broad-Room Temple in Area F (Nigro ed. 2008: 276-293) was completed (fig. 13), further clarifying its architecture and plan, both in the EB II phase (phase 4, Temple F1), and in its EB III one (phase 3, Temple F2). The original building (Temple F1; Nigro ed. 2008: 276-281) was a broad-room elongated structure, with a major entrance facing an open courtyard, where a circular platform (S.510) with central cup-mark stood, flanked by a basis possibly for a freestanding betyl (Nigro ed. 2008: 283-284). Inside the cella, which was roofed with wooden beams supported by four pillars aligned along the median axis of the room, there was a niche (L.562) facing the entrance, with a bench and a slab with two shallow depressions (cup-marks for libations?).
After
the earthquake which destroyed the EB II city and caused the collapse of
the central stretch of the temple façade, the sacred building was
largely reconstructed with a new protruding front wall and a monumental
entrance (a pillar or an altar stood at the centre of the façade:
S.536), and with a re-arrangement of the cella. Here, the cult focus was
moved to the short western side, where a raised platform hosted a
semicircular niche, partly set into the wall and flanked by two small
orthostates . On the southern side there was a basin with a large slab,
while in front of the niche two betyls were aligned not far from the
step of the platform (Nigro ed. 2008: 285-289). The temple, thus,
achieved a bent-axis plan in spite of its original broad-room layout.
Restoration works also drove the attention on the wall protruding from the front wall on its western end (wall W.577), which possibly had a counterpart to the east, cut off by later EB IVB dwellings. These architectural elements result as projecting antae (similar to those reconstructed for the EB II-III temple of ‘Ai/et-Tell; Sala 2008: 134), characterizing the EB III temple in respect of the original one.
5. Conclusions
The fifth season of excavations and restorations at Khirbet al-Batrawy brought about new light on the Early Bronze II-III city of Batrawy, and, especially, on its triple line fortification on the northern side of the hill, which reached the overall width of around 20 m (fig. 2), protecting the main entrance to the city for many centuries, until its final destruction around 2300 BC. Inside the Main City-Wall, in Area B South, the discovery of a further portion of Building B1, the excavation of House B2, and the identification of Warehouse B3, with a series of pithoi fully preserved in situ, showed the urban layout and the richness of the city at its floruit during the third quarter of the 3rd millennium BC.
Restoration of Broad-Room Temple erected on the easternmost terrace of the hill allowed to distinguish the meaningful architectural transformation of the sacred building from its foundation through its reconstruction in the Early Bronze III and to admire its full structure, which makes it a major monument of Jordanian pre-classical archaeology, to be compared with the renown building of similar function at Bab edh-Dhra‘.
While detailed study and interpretation is carried on with the full publication of the second and third season (Nigro ed. 2008), excavations and restorations continue to provide new interesting insights on this previously unknown major urban centre of Jordan at the time of its earliest urbanization.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
L. Nigro
2006 “Khirbat al-Batrawi”, in MUNJAZAT 7 (2006), pp. 57-59.
2007 “Khirbat al-Batrawi”, in MUNJAZAT 8 (2007).
2007 “Nella città fantasma”, in Archeo 272 (ottobre 2007), pp. 44-57.
in press “Khirbet al-Batrawy: a Case Study of 3rd millennium BC Urbanism in North-Central Jordan”, in Studies in the History and Archaeology of Jordan X, Amman.
in press “Khirbat al-Batrawi”, in MUNJAZAT 9 (2008).
L.Nigro (ed.)
2006 An Early Bronze Age Fortified 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 2006.
2008 Khirbet al-Batrawy II.The EB II city-gate, the EB II-III fortifications, the EB II-III temple. Preliminary report of the second (2006) and third (2007) seasons of excavations (= Rome «La Sapienza» Studies on the Archaeology of Palestine & Transjordan, 6), Rome 2008.
L. Nigro, M. Sala, A. Polcaro
2008 “Preliminary Report of the Third 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 52 (2008), pp. 209-230.