A 5,000-year-old settlement unearthed near the central Israeli city of Beit Shemesh provides a glimpse into the beginning of the urbanization process in the ancient land of Israel, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced on Tuesday.
A three-year excavation at the previously uncovered archaeological site, which was carried out ahead of planned construction work on the western edge of the city, located between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, revealed a public building that may have been used for ritual activity, along with a room with about 40 vessels preserved intact, the state-run archaeological body said.
The vessels were preserved in their original place—just as they were placed by the people living there in the Early Bronze Age IB (end of the 4th millennium BCE).
“It is interesting that these many pots and juglets were placed here just shortly before the entire site was abandoned forever,” said excavation directors Ariel Shatil, Maayan Hemed and Danny Benayoun. “You can literally imagine the people who put down this ware and left it all here.”
The archaeologists added that it is not known what happened at the site later, but there are signs of burning, and vessels that fell on top of each other.
Laboratory testing will determine if the vessels contained oil, water or wheat, or whether they were specifically used for exotic oils or other substances.
“The size of the structure that we uncovered, its broad walls, the benches inside it and other variables indicate that it is an important and exceptional structure with a public function—perhaps a temple,” say the excavation managers. “We know almost no public buildings in Israel from this ancient period and earlier.”
Ancient urban development
Near the public building, a complex was also unearthed with large standing stones arranged in rows, which were constructed before the site itself.
“This is one of the indicators of urbanization development in Israel during the Early Bronze Age,” said Dr. Yitzhak Paz, Early Bronze Age expert at the IAA.
He noted that it appears that the site was originally used as an open area for prayer or cultish activity for the general public, and subsequently transformed into an enclosed compound for ritualistic activity with more controlled access.
Transition to urban life
The ancient settlement, known as Hurvat Husham, was first discovered in 2021, the IAA said, although the extent of the site and its importance in understanding the origins of the urbanization process in Israel only became clear during the excavations at the site over the last three and a half years.
“The site uncovered in Hurvat Husham is exceptional not only because of its size, but because it reveals to us some of the first characteristics of the transition from village life to urban life,” the excavation managers said. “The site teaches us that about 5,000 years ago, the first steps were already taken towards the development of an urban society in the Judean Lowlands.”
“The Land of Israel, due to its nature and its geographical location, was a fertile ground for the development of ancient civilizations,” according to IAA director Eli Escusido. “The site reveals another important piece in the puzzle of urban development in our region.”