Tel Burna

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Israeli archaeological site

title: "Tel Burna" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["archaeological-sites-in-israel"] description: "Israeli archaeological site" topic_path: "philosophy" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tel_Burna" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Israeli archaeological site ::

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|coordinates = |grid_position = 138115 PAL |type = |part_of = |length = |width = |area = |height = |builder = |material = |built = |abandoned = |epochs =Bronze & Iron Ages |cultures = |dependency_of = |occupants = |event = |excavations = 2010-2024 |archaeologists = Itzhaq Shai, Joe Uziel |condition = |ownership = |public_access = |website = |notes = }}

Tel Burna (also Tell Bornât) is an archaeological site located in the Shephelah (Judean foothills), along the banks of Nahal Guvrin, not far from modern-day Qiryat Gat. Tel Burna is located near Beit Guvrin/Maresha, Tel Goded, Lachish, Tell es-Safi/Gath and Tel Zayit (4 kilometers to the west). The site is thought to have been one of a series of sites along the border between Judah and Philistia.

Identification

Due to its location, and its prominence in the Iron Ages, W. Albright and Y. Aharoni, among others, have suggested identifying the site with Libnah, a site mentioned several times in the Bible, and noted to be one of the 13 Kohanic cities. Libnah had also revolted against the Kingdom of Judah in the 9th century BCE () and where Hamutal, Queen of Judah in the 7th century BCE was born ().

Eusebius (3rd–4th century CE) in his Onomasticon mentions the ancient biblical city of Gath (), saying that it was a village formerly inhabited by the Anakim and that the village was still inhabited in his day and situated "not far from Eleutheropolis (Beit Gubrin) near Diospolis (Lod), near the fifth milestone from Eleutheropolis." Eusebius' description, who places the village at the 5th-milestone from Beit Gubrin, puts Tel Burna in approximate position as a contender for the site of ancient Gath, or else Tell ej-Judeideh, as both ruins are principal Bronze Age sites only 2 mi apart, and situated in the direction of Lod as one sets out from Beit Gubrin. Nearby Maresha is placed by Eusebius at about 2 milestones from Eleutheropolis (2 km southeast of Beit Gubrin.

If in fact the location of Libnah should be sought out at Tel Burna, the excavations thus far do conform to what is understood about the city from the Biblical texts. Moreover, some recent work in 2013 has led the leader of the excavation, Itzhaq Shai, program director of the Tel Burna Excavation Project, to believe that Tel Burna is the site of the biblical town of Libnah.

History

The site was established in the Early Bronze II period and extensively settled in the Middle Bronze, Late Bronze, and Iron Ages (with peak activity in the Early Bronze age and Iron II periods). It was lightly occupied in the Persian and Byzantine periods.Shai, I., and J. Uziel, "Addressing Survey Methodology in the Southern Levant: Applying Different Methods for the Survey of Tel Burna, Israel" Israel Exploration Journal 64(2), pp.172–190, 2014

During the Late Bronze IIB (13th century BC) occupation began, on virgin soil, on a 40 meter by 100 meter platform below and to the west of the summit. The site reached its maximum occupation are during this period. Large quantities of LBA pottery shards, a 500 square meter cultic structure with a large courtyard containing a standing stone, Cypriot zoomorphic vessels, Mycenaean figurines, a Cypriot three-cupped votive vessel, and a steatite Mittani cylinder seal were found. Analysis of pottery and sediments in the courtyard indicated it had been used for feasting activities. Embedded in the courtyard were two large Cypriot pithoi alongside locally produced pithoi.

After a period of modest use in Iron Age (IIA) occupation expanded in the IIAB-C period (c. 9th to 7th century BC) though restricted only to the summit of the mound which was protected by a casemate fortification wall. The fortification consisted of two parallel walls (2 meters apart) with perpendicular connectors. The other was 2 meters wide and the inner wall 1.5 meters wide, both constructed of large field stones. The fortification encloses a 70 by 70 meter area and has a length of about 270 meters. Along the southern section of the wall a monumental city gate with a massive stone tower and buttresses was excavated. Finds included a large number of pottery shards, some with LMLK seal impressions.

In 1948 the site was used as a military outpost in the war.

Archaeology

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/Tel-Burna-595.jpg" caption="Tel Burna excavation"] ::

The site consists of a roughly 70 meter by 70 meter central mound and about a 16 hectare lower town. A limited survey of the site occurred in the 1950s.

A site survey was conducted in 2009. The first excavations at the site were conducted in the summer of 2010, by a team from the Institute of Archaeology at Ariel University, as part of a long term archaeological project, headed by Itzhaq Shai and Joe Uziel, affiliated with Bar Ilan University which continues to the present. Among the Iron Age II finds on the summit were six storage silos which went out of use after that time. One silo cuts the inner fortification wall, indicating that the wall had fall out of use by that date. Among the late Iron Age II finds in the backfill of one silo was a jar handle fragment stamped with a private seal "'zr followed by hgy" which the excavators took as two names.

Finds included an illustrated krater, unique but parallel to the Lachish ewer.

References

References

  1. (1978). "Israel Guide - Judaea (A useful encyclopedia for the knowledge of the country)". Keter Publishing House, in affiliation with the Israel Ministry of Defence.
  2. Aharoni, Y.. (1979). "The Land of the Bible: A Historical Geography". Westminster Press.
  3. (1994). "(TIR): Tabula Imperii Romani. Iudaea, Palestina: Eretz Israel in the Hellenistic , Roman and Byzantine Periods; Maps and Gazetteer". [[Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities]].
  4. (2003). "Palestine in the Fourth Century A.D.: The Onomasticon by Eusebius of Caesarea". Carta.
  5. Savitsyk, S., [https://www.foxnews.com/science/archaeologists-enlist-volunteer-help-to-uncover-biblical-city/ Archaeologists enlist volunteer help to uncover Biblical city], Fox News: Science, 11 July 2013, accessed 31 December 2017
  6. Shai, Itzhaq, McKinny, Chris and Uziel, Joe, "Late Bronze Age Cultic Activity in Ancient Canaan: A View from Tel Burna", Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, BASOR, no. 374, pp. 115-133, 2015
  7. Sharp, Casey, Chris McKinny, and Itzhaq Shai, "Late Bronze Age Figurines from Tel Burna", Strata 33, pp. 61–76, 2015
  8. Shai, Itzhaq, and Chris Mckinny, "Canaanite Votive Offerings and Their Significance within Their Context at Tel Burna", Israel Exploration Journal, vol. 70, no. 1, pp. 1–17, 2020
  9. António de Freitas. C. Mckinny, Itzick Shai, "A Mittanian-Style Cylinder Seal from Tel Burna", Journal of Historical Archaeology & Anthropological Sciences, Volume 3, Issue 6, pp. 751-754, 2018
  10. Shai I., Tavger A. and McKinny C., "A Glimpse into the Canaanite Ritual Practices at Tel Burna during the Late Bronze Age" In E. Klein, A. Sasson, and A. Levy-Reifer eds. Ashkelon and Its Environs: Studies of the Southern Coastal Plain and the Judean Foothills in Honor of Dr. Nahum Sagiv, Ashqelon, pp. 47–58, 2020 (in Hebrew)
  11. [https://d-nb.info/132345134X/34#page=87]Orendi, Andrea, Chris McKinny, and Itzhaq Shai, "Archaeobotanical and Archaeological Indications to Feasting at Late Bronze Age Tel Burna, Israel", Beyond subsistence, pp. 85-99, 2024
  12. Shai, Itzhaq, "Two Cypriot Pithoi from Late Bronze Age Tel Burna", Tel Aviv. Journal of the Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University, vol. 46, no. 1, pp. 65-82, 2019
  13. [https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/671691366B472C29FDBD3723CC670DE8/S0959774324000088a.pdf/object-biographies-object-agency-and-a-local-communitys-encounter-with-and-response-to-foreign-commodities-the-pithoi-from-lb-tel-burna-as-a-case-study.pdf]Susnow, Matthew, Chris McKinny, and Itzhaq Shai, "Object Biographies, Object Agency and a Local Community's Encounter with and Response to Foreign Commodities: The Pithoi from LB Tel Burna as a Case Study", Cambridge Archaeological Journal 34.4, pp. 653-670, 2024
  14. (2022). "The contribution of POSL and PXRF to the discussion on sedimentary and site formation processes in archaeological contexts of the southern Levant and the interpretation of biblical strata at Tel Burna". Quaternary International.
  15. Shai, Itzhaq, et al., "The Fortifications at Tel Burna: Date, Function and Meaning", Israel Exploration Journal, vol. 62, no. 2, pp. 141–57, 2012
  16. Tavger, Aharon, et al., "The Fortifications of Tel Burna: A Reappraisal after Twelve Seasons of Excavations (2010–2022)", ’Atiqot, vol. 111, pp. 73–102, 2023
  17. McKinny, Chris, et al., "Tel Burna after a Decade of Work: The Late Bronze and Iron Ages", Near Eastern Archaeology, vol. 83, no. 1, pp. 4–15, 2020
  18. Ayalon A., "Givati Brigade against the Egyptian Invader", Tel Aviv, 1963 (in Hebrew)
  19. The site was described by Victor Guérin in 1869 (as Tell Bournat) and then a decade later by Lieutenant Claude Conder of the Palestine Exploration Fund (noting 4 foot high fortification walls).Guérin V., "Description Géographique, Historique et Archéologique de la Palestine, accompagnée de cartes détaillées 2: Judée", Paris, 1869
  20. Conder C.R. and Kitchener H.H., "The Survey of Western Palestine, Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography and Archaeology III. Sheets XVII–XXVI", Judaea, London, 1883
  21. Aharoni Y. and Amiran R., "A Tour of the City-Mounds of the Shephelah. BIES 19, pp. 222–225, 1955 (in Hebrew)
  22. (2010). "The Settlement History of Tel Burna: Results of the Surface Survey". Tel Aviv.
  23. Shai, Itzhaq. (2021-06-15). "Tel Burna". [[Israel Antiquities Authority]].
  24. Shai, Itzhaq, et al., "A Private Stamped Seal Handle from Tell Bornāṭ/Tẹ̄l Burnā, Israel", Zeitschrift Des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins (1953-), vol. 130, no. 2, pp. 121–37, 2014
  25. Locatell, Christian. (2022-09-30). "The Tree of Life Motif, Late Bronze Canaanite Cult, and a Recently Discovered Krater from Tel Burna". [[Journal of the American Oriental Society]].

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archaeological-sites-in-israel