Abstract
PROF. JOHN GARSTANG'S survey of the results of his excavations at Jericho in his article in the Times of December 6, following on his lecture at the University of Liverpool on November 17, affords a consecutive story of the history of the city which it is possible to accept with assurance in the light of the excavations of last season. Among the more interesting features are the evidence of Babylonian influence in the Early Bronze Age and the conspicuous rarity of Cretan and Mycenaean motives under the eighteenth dynasty when they might be expected. Four separate and distinct defensive systems have been differentiated, of which the earliest, belonging to the Early Bronze Age (c. 2500-2100 B.C.) rested on deposits of a still older period. The period of the city's greatest expansion was in the third phase (Middle Bronze Age II), which is marked by a cultural change. Under the Hyksos at that time, the city walls were much extended; and the character of the Palace and other buildings suggests that Jericho, as the residence of a Hyksos governor, had become a city of more than local importance. This phase comes to an end at about 1600 B.C. when the city was destroyed, presumably by the Pharaohs. It was rebuilt, but restricted within the bounds of the earlier area of occupation. From that time onward its history can be traced by means of scarabs and painted pottery having a range of dates between 1600 and 1400 B.C. At the latter date under Ameno-phis III the normal life of the city ceases abruptly. All the buildings of the Palace area and the few houses against the city wall bear witness to a great catastrophe-the indications are an earthquake- followed by an intense fire while the rooms were in occupation. Thenceforward until about 900 B.C. the site was practically deserted.
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Jericho. Nature 132, 923–924 (1933). https://doi.org/10.1038/132923c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/132923c0