Results 2008
Excavations are supported by Rome "La Sapienza" University, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
and the Italian Ministry for University and Scientific Research
RESULTS OF THE FOURTH SEASON OF EXCAVATIONS AND RESTORATIONS AT KHIRBET AL-BATRAWY 2008
The fourth season of investigations at Khirbet al-Batrawy, the Early Bronze Age fortified town in the Upper Wadi az-Zarqa discovered in 2004, was carried out under the auspices of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan between May 26th and June 19th 2008, and was focused on excavations and restorations of the EB II-III city-wall and city-gate in Area B North, and on the complete uncovering and partial restoration of the EB II-III Broad-Room Temple discovered in the previous seasons on the easternmost terrace of the site (Area F).
Area B North – the EBII-III city-walls and city-gate
In Area B North, corresponding to the central part of the northern side of the site, excavation and restoration works were focused on the articulated fortification line, where a 30 m long stretch of the main inner city-wall was excavated in previous seasons together which the EB II city-gate, and where restorations with antique-like mortar were started. A further stretch of the main city-wall was so far excavated towards the west, in square BnII5, identifying from the top the following series of defensive structures: an EB IV embankment, regularizing the collapsed previous walls (W.199); the EB IIIB double line of city-walls with the main wall (W.103a) and the outer wall (W.155) with the adjoined scarp wall (W.165); the EB IIIA double defensive line, including the reconstructed inner main wall (W.103b) and the outer wall (W.155); the EB II main inner wall (W.103c) with a varying width of 2.9-3.2 m, and a preserved average height of 2 m (which allows to reconstruct the original height of the city-wall as 8-9 m).
In
squares BpII5, BqII5, BrII5, BqII6, BrII6, facing the EB II city-gate,
excavations were addressed to bring to light and to restore a further
section of the EB IIIA outer wall (W.155), which was uncovered for a 25
m long stretch, both on its outer and inner sides. This impressive
defensive work, 1.7 m wide, was made of cyclopean limestone boulders
laid in superimposed intermingled courses with a battering face on its
outer northern side, while on its southern side less big blocks
supported the rubble inner filling of the structure and delimited to the
north the passageway running in between the main wall and the outer
wall.
A section of the inner face of wall W.155 was also
restored,
in
the area just east of the EBII gate, with a reversible technique and
using the same stones collapsed from this structure in antiquity, in
order to prevent the falling inwards of the inclined cyclopean blocks of
the outer face (fig. 1).
As concerns the EB II city-gate (fig. 2), further restoration works and the removal of baulk BqII6/BrII6, just east of the gate, lead to the discovery of some blocks abutting from the main city-wall foot, on both sides of the passageway, and presumably related to it, and of a squared stone pillar, with a central shallow smoothed depression, which possibly was used in the gate closure (fig. 3).
Rehabilitation works at Khirbet al-Batrawy also included the systematic removal of a large amount of collapsed and erratic stones from the northern slope of the site, in order to enhance the readability of the urban topography and to facilitate further exploration of the town defences in the next seasons.
Area F – the EB IV rural village and the EB II-III Broad-Room Temple
Excavation
and restoration works in Area F were aimed at completing the exploration
of the western side of the EB II-III Broad-Room Temple, and at further
investigation of the EB IV dwellings which partially cut away the
eastern side of this major building.
The excavation of baulks CpII17/CoII17 and CpII18/19 allowed to complete the exploration of a large square EB IV dwelling, House L.530, with its inner room L.560 and semi-circular annex L.564, and a series of installations for food preparation and storage. In squares CmII17 and CmII18 the western side of the Broad-Room Temple was brought to light, also uncovering a north-south wall (W.557) protruding from the southern façade of the building towards the south (fig. 4). Excavations within the cella (L.500) have revealed the presence of a couple of pillars facing a raised slab-paved platform (B.585) where two vertical slabs delimited a restricted central area. Also the rear wall of the temple was excavated up to its western end, discovering a curvilinear structure (W.587) connected with the north-western corner of the building, which possibly represents a boundary wall, like the one known at et-Tell (‘Ai) EB II temple.
Conclusions
The
fourth season of excavations and restorations at Khirbet al-Batrawy
improved our knowledge of the Early Bronze II-III city of Batrawy, and,
especially, of its formidable defensive system which reached the overall
width of around 9 m (fig. 5), and protected the city for many centuries,
until its final destruction around 2300 BC. The major Broad-Room Temple
erected on the easternmost terrace of the site, overlooking the ford and
the crossroad in the valley, today occupied by the modern city of Zarqa,
was further investigated uncovering the western side of the cella with
its cult installations (a raised platform with a niche delimited by
stelae and two pillars).
Thanks to restoration works the Batrawy city-gate and city-wall stand now as among the best preserved monuments of this kind in the region, and hint at the resources and capabilities of the local community during the Early Bronze Age at the dawn of urbanism in Southern Levant.
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.