destruction layers are cool

archaeologists love destruction. it preserves things really well.

those of you who know your bible, would know, that according to 2 kings chapter 12, verse 18 (or 17 in some translations):

אָז יַעֲלֶה חֲזָאֵל מֶלֶךְ אֲרָם וַיִּלָּחֶם עַל-גַּת וַיִּלְכְּדָהּ
וַיָּשֶׂם חֲזָאֵל פָּנָיו לַעֲלוֹת עַל-יְרוּשָׁלִָם

then hazael king of aram went up, and fought against gath, and took it;
and then hazael set his face to go up to jerusalem.

this line from the bible might actually be true.

throughout the tell, there is an impressive layer of destruction that has been dated to the 8th-9th century bce, the time period of hazael (who has been confirmed as an actual king, according to other historical and archaelogical sources). in their initial surveys of the site, archaeologists also found evidence of an extensive siege system surrounding the tell from that time period.

take a look at the picture below (click for a larger view), taken from on top of the tell, looking down. notice the line of dirt where there's no trees. they excavated and found a huge trench dug during hazael's time period.



this destruction layer was re-discovered in more locations of the tell this week, yielding really cool results:



take a look at the jar, with the lid still on it, a couple pieces of pottery, and a "mortar and pestle" mill stone.



this is a broken bowl - it looks like all the broken pieces are there. just a little super glue, then it's museum-time for you...