Tell el-‘Orēme is a large archaeological site on the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee. Excavations of the site by Volkmar Fritz (1938–2007) in the 1980s and 1990s revealed its archaeological importance: Tell el-‘Orēme or ancient Kinneret had been a major city in the Bronze and Iron Ages. Stefan Münger (Bern), Juha Pakkala (Helsinki), Jürgen Zangenberg (Leiden) and Wolfgang Zwickel (Mainz) formed the Kinneret Regional Project in order to restart the excavations and to clarify unsolved problems. Building on Fritz’s results, the Kinneret Regional Project excavated from 2003 to 2008, and concluded that the site’s habitation left remains of at least 13 strata dating from the Chalcolithic/Early Bronze Age to Iron Age II. Remains of human activity predating and postdating these periods were also detected. This publication is the first of two volumes of the renewed excavations since the 1990s. It is thus the final excavation report that includes the results gained by Fritz in the 1990s and the results of the Kinneret Regional Project in the following decade. The volume covers the Chalcolithic/Bronze Age and Iron Age II strata, as well as other remains mainly from later periods. The current volume also contains the publication of some additional archaeological projects on the tell, and special studies on a number of finds and topics related to the excavations, such as stone objects, flints, archaeobotany, and archaeozoology.

Preface (Juha Pakkala / Wolfgang Zwickel)

Abbreviations

Major Archaeological Contributions Related to Tell el-‘Orēme

1. General Information and History of the Site

1.1. The Excavations: Goals, Organization, Documentation, and Conservation (Juha Pakkala)

1.2. Kinneret / Tell el-‘Orēme: The Site and its Name (Juha Pakkala / Wolfgang Zwickel)

1.3. Kinneret in Late Bronze Age and Biblical Sources (Juha Pakkala / Wolfgang Zwickel)

1.4. The Egyptian Stela Fragment from Tell el-‘Orēme (Stefan Jakob Wimmer)

1.5. History of Research before the Excavations at Tell el-ʽOrēme (Wolfgang Zwickel)

1.6. The German Excavations in 1932 and 1939 (Wolfgang Zwickel)

1.6.1. Field Diary of the Excavations in 1939 (Wolfgang Zwickel)

1.6.2. Field Diary of the Excavations in 1939: The Pottery (Wolfgang Zwickel / Seymour Gitin)

1.7. Israeli-American Excavations in 1982 and 1983 (Juha Pakkala / Wolfgang Zwickel)

2. Excavation Areas

2.1. Area D (2.1.1. Stratigraphy and Architecture (Wolfgang Zwickel) / 2.1.2. Locus List / 2.1.3. Central Storage Facilities for Grain – the Function of the Tripartite Buildings (Wolfgang Zwickel))

2.2. Area E  (2.2.1. Stratigraphy and Architecture (Volkmar Fritz / Wolfgang Zwickel) / 2.2.2. Locus list)

2.3. Area F (Wolfgang Zwickel) 

2.4. Area G (2.4.1. Stratigraphy and Architecture (Wolfgang Zwickel) / 2.4.2. Locus List)

2.5. Area H (2.5.1. Stratigraphy and Architecture (Wolfgang Zwickel) / 2.5.2. Locus List)

2.6. Area J  (2.6.1. Stratigraphy and Architecture (Wolfgang Zwickel) / 2.6.2. Locus List)

2.7. Area K (2.7.1. Stratigraphy and Architecture (Wolfgang Zwickel) / 2.7.2. Locus List)

2.8. Area L (2.8.1. Stratigraphy and Architecture (Volkmar Fritz) / 2.8.2. Locus List)

2.9. Area M (2.9.1. Stratigraphy and Architecture (Wolfgang Zwickel) / 2.9.2. Locus List)

2.10. Area N (2.10.1. Area N: Stratigraphy and Architecture (Kirsi Valkama) / 2.10.2. Locus List)

2.11. Area P (2.11.1. Area P: Stratigraphy and Architecture (Hana Abu al-Uqsawith additions of Wolfgang Zwickel) / 2.11.2. Locus List)

2.12. Area Q (2.12.1. Stratigraphy and Architecture (Wolfgang Zwickel) / 2.12.2. Locus List)

2.13. Area R (2.13.1. Stratigraphy and Architecture (Juha Pakkala) / 2.13.2. Locus List)

2.14. Area S  (2.14.1. Stratigraphy and Architecture (Wolfgang Zwickel) / 2.14.2. Locus List)

2.15. Area T (2.15.1. Stratigraphy and Architecture (Kirsi Valkama / Merja Alanne) /2.15.2. Locus List)

2.16. Area U (2.16.1. Stratigraphy and Architecture (Kirsi Valkama) / 2.16.2. Locus List)

2.17. Area W (2.17.1. Stratigraphy and Architecture (Wolfgang Zwickel) / 2.17.2. Locus List)

2.18. The 1964 Excavation at Tell el-ʽOrēme (Samuel R. Wolff / Gershon Edelstein)           

2.19. Notes on the Remains of Water Channels East of Area J at the Foot of Tell el-ʽOrēme and on the Premises of the Pilgrims’ Hospice of the German Association of the Holy Land at eṭ-Ṭābġa on the Lake of Galilee (Jürgen K. Zangenberg)

2.20. Random Finds of Tell el-ʽOrēme (Yosef Stepansky)

2.21. Tell Ḫunūd (Wolfgang Zwickel / Juha Pakkala)         

3. Pottery                           

3.1. The Pottery of Bronze Ages (Jihad al-Daire)

3.2. Pottery of Area D (Wolfgang Zwickel)            

3.3. The Middle Ages Pottery from Area L (Miriam Avissar) / Appendix: An Iron Arrowhead from Area L (Wolfgang Zwickel)

4. Other Finds  

4.1. The Flint Collection from Tell el-ʽOrēme (1995–1999) (Rina Y. Bankirer / Hamoudi Khalaily)  

4.2. The Flint Assemblages of Tell el-ʽOrēme and the Character of the Iron Age Lithic Technology at the Site (Ron Shimelmitz)

4.3. Stone Vessels: Seasons 1994–1999, 2001, 2003–2008 (Kirsi Valkama)           

4.4. Ground Stone Tools Seasons 1994–1999, 2001, 2003–2008 (Kirsi Valkama)

4.5. Scale Weights Seasons 1994–1999, 2001, 2003–2008 (Kirsi Valkama / Juha Pakkala)

4.6. Cosmetic Palettes (Roland Deines / Kirsi Valkama)

4.7. Copper ingots from Tell el-ʽOrēme (Yosef Stepansky)

4.8. Early Bronze Age Seal Impressions and a Cylinder Seal (Wolfgang Zwickel)   

4.9. Coins (Patrick Wyssmann) 

4.10. Tierreste der Bronze- und Eisenzeit in Tell el-ʽOrēme (Henriette Obermaier / Angela von den Driesch)          

4.11. Archaeozoological Analysis of the Faunal Remains of Tell el-ʽOrēme (1998–1999 Excavation Seasons) (Guy Bar-Oz / Noa Raban-Gerstel)    

4.12. Die früheisenzeitlichen Tierknochen von Tell el-ʽOrēme – eine archäozoologische Analyse (Iris Thomsen)

4.13. Charred Plant Remains from Bronze Age and Iron Age Tell el-ʽOrēme. Results of the 2003 Season (Marlies Klee / Marlu Kühn)     

4.14. Charred Plant Remains from Iron Age Tell el-ʽOrēme (Tel Kinrot) – Results of the 2004 Season (Marlies Klee / Marlu Kühn)

4.15. 14C Chronology of Tell el-ʽOrēme (Tel Kinrot) (Elisabetta Boaretto / Wolfgang Zwickel)         

5. Historical Studies

5.1. Low Chronology in Galilee? The Thutmosis III List and the Settlement History (Wolfgang Zwickel)

5.2. The Earthquake in Amos 1:1 and the Iron Age Chronology in Galilee (Wolfgang Zwickel)

6. Summary (Juha Pakkala / Wolfgang Zwickel)