Achia Kohn-Tavor E-mail: achiakohn@hotmail.com M.A. thesis topic:  The Settlement Pattern in the Beth-Shean Valley in the Iron Age Advisor: Prof. Amihai Mazar

Abstract:

The Beth-Shean Valley is the widest plain west of the Jordan River, and comprises a climatic and botanical transitional area. Though the climate is classified as semi-arid, there is an abundance of springs in the valley. Consequently, the flourishing of settlements in the valley is directly dependent on the existence of organized irrigation systems. The Beth-Shean Valley is also an important road junction, where roads running along the Jordan Valley meet the main road from the Mediterranean Sea to Trans-Jordan and Syria. As a result of this combination, settlement research in the Beth-Shean Valley may provide important data for understanding settlement processes in the southern Levant. 

My M.A. research is conducted in the framework of the Beth-Shean Valley Regional Project, headed by Prof. Amihai Mazar. In the framework of this project, Tel Beth-Shean has been excavated, the settlement pattern in the Middle Bronze Age has been studied, and Tel Rehov is currently being excavated. The aim of the current research is to broaden the picture to include the settlement pattern in the valley during the Iron Age. Data on ancient settlements in the valley were gathered by an archaeological field survey conducted in collaboration with the Israel Antiquities Authority as part of the Israel Survey, and by assembling data from academic publications, archives, other researchers, and the area’s inhabitants. 

Information on the Iron Age is analyzed in order to create a picture of the settlement pattern in the Beth-Shean Valley in terms of settlement hierarchy and subsistence. The results will be compared chronologically and geographically to the settlement pattern in earlier and later periods in this region, and to the settlement pattern in other regions in the Southern Levant in the Iron Age.