Tell Abu al-Kharaz


Tell Abu al-Kharaz is a Bronze and Iron Age archaeological site in Gilead in the eastern Jordan Valley.

Location

The site is located 35 km from the Sea of Galilee, and 80 km from the Mediterranean Sea; it is 4 km east of the Jordan River, and 6 km south-southwest of Pella, Jordan. It was at the crossroads of ancient trade routes that linked Megiddo and Beit Shean to the Mediterranean.
The Tell is about 60 meters high and covers an area of 300x400 m. It was excavated between 1989 and 2001 by the Swedish Jordan Expedition under the direction of Peter M. Fischer.
It has been suggested as a possible site of the biblical location Jabesh Gilead.

Chronology

The settlement mound was inhabited from the Chalcolithic until the Islamic period. Archaeological evidence demonstrates that the oldest town from the Early Bronze Age around 3000 BCE was the largest.
The site is believed to have been abandoned for over a thousand years – between the Early Bronze Age and the late Middle Bronze Age.

Finds

Since the Middle Bronze Age, local Jordan valley type pottery, and Cypriot-type pottery were predominant in Tell Abu al-Kharaz. Egyptian imports were almost completely missing. Cypriot imports were also found at the site.
A large amount of Chocolate-on-white ware was found at Tell Abu al-Kharaz. This type of pottery was most likely produced locally on-site, but it is also present at several other sites in the Jordan Valley and nearby areas.
There is no confirmed find of such pottery on Cyprus or in the Aegean.

Imports

The earliest imports have been identified as cylindrical jars, and mace heads coming from Egypt. Up to now, these finds represent the furthest northern spread of such Egyptian imports of this early period.