Co-directors
Norma Franklin -- The Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa
Jennie Ebeling -- University of Evansville
The Jezreel Expedition is a multi-national team intent on exploring
the archaeology and history of the site of "greater" Jezreel.
We are returning to Jezreel because it is an amazing site with a long history that reflects the rich cultural heritage of the area
Perched on the foothills of the Gilboa mountain range it commands an unparelled view over the valley below. The famous sentry site of Megiddo, Biblical Armageddon, lies 15 kms to the west and to the east the renowned city of Bet Shean (Scythopolis).
The fertile Jezreel and Harod valleys, with their copious springs, provided ideal conditions for both agriculture and grazing. It was these ideal conditions that ensured that Jezreel (greater Jezreel) was continously occupied from the earliest times until the present day.
Due to Jezreel's prominent place in the Biblical narrative it is the Iron Age city that has prompted the most intense investigation. The dominant Iron Age feature at Jezreel was a 289 by 157 rectangular, casemate walled, compound that enclosed an area of ca 45 dunam which was surrounded on at least three sides (or possibly four) by a rock-cut trench ca 8 to 12 meters wide and ca 6.5 meters deep.
The compound was attributed to the Omride dynasty ca 880 BCE, based primarily on the Biblical narrative. It was noted that few structural changes were made to the compound and the excavators surmised that the Jezreel compound must have fallen into disuse a relatively short time after its construction. Based on this scenario they attributed the demise of the compound to Jehu’s revolt in 842 BCE. This position was later modified by Nadav Na’aman and the end of the compound is now more commonly associated with Hazael and the Aramaeans in the latter part of the 9th c BCE.
Read more...Jezreel was first excavated between the years 1990 and 1996 by David Ussishkin on behalf of Tel Aviv University and John Woodhead on behalf of the British School of Archaeology. Less than twenty years have passed since the last expedition to Jezreel but archaeology has moved on. The excavation of nearby Tel Megiddo, particularly the Iron Age levels, has provided new insights into the social and military structure of the northern Kingdom of Israel.
Read more...Ben-Tor, A. 2000
Hazor and the Chronology of Northern Israel: A Reply to Israel Finklestein. Bulletin of the American Schools of
Oriental Research No. 317 :9-15
Bradley, M. 2006
The Medieval Christian Cemetery at Tel Jezreel. Levant, Volume 38: 33-35(3)
Read more...The Book of Kings weaves a dramatic story around Jezreel; involving Ahab, Jezebel and Naboth; Jehu, Joram and Ahaziah.
Joshua 17:16 The tribe of Joseph said, "The hill country is not enough for us; yet all the Canaanites who live in the plain have chariots of iron, both those in Beth-shean and its villages and those in the Valley of Jezreel."
Read more...Antiquities of the Jews 8:346
So he came to the city of Jezreel; and in a little time the air was all obscured, and covered with clouds, and a vehement storm of wind came upon the earth, and with it a great deal of rain; and the prophet was under a divine fury, and ran along with the king's chariot to Jezreel, a city of Izar. {d} [Issachar?]
Read more...The Jezreel Expedition is a multi-national team intent on exploring the archaeology and history of the site of "greater" Jezreel.
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