082) Samarat, Tell es-
[PADIS code 0004]
Arabic: تل السمرات
Site location: Lat. +31° 51' 52.50" N; Long. +35° 26' 22.01" E.
Site extension: the hippodrome is 320 x 85 m, the northern part of the mound (the podium) is 70 x 70, the diameter of the cavea is 70 m.
Elevation: 280 m b.s.l.
State of preservation: partly preserved, partly under modern cultivations, modern edification and erosion.
Disturbance: road cutting, modern cultivations, modern building activities.
Occupational periods: Early Bronze IV, Middle Bronze II, Iron Age II-III, Hellenistic, Roman.
Plates: I, III, LXXX-LXXXIII.
Early Bronze IV
Site typology: cemetery.
Funerary architecture: shaft-tombs.
Material culture: pottery.
Bibliography: Netzer 2004, 195; Stacey 2004, 226, fig. 265:1.
Middle Bronze II
Site typology: cemetery.
Funerary architecture: shaft-tombs.
Material culture: pottery, scarab.
Bibliography: Netzer 2004, 195; Stacey 2004, 226, fig. 265:2-3.
Iron Age II-III
Site typology: occupational layers.
Material culture: pottery.
Bibliography: Netzer 2004, 195; Stacey 2004.
Hellenistic Period
Site typology: architectural remains.
Funerary architecture: tombs.
Material culture: architectural features, coins, iron sword, unguentaria, pottery.
Bibliography: Netzer 2004, 195; Stacey 2004; Stiebel 2004.
Roman Period
Site typology: other.
Public architecture: hippodrome (320 m × 85 m), theatre (70 m of diameter), gymnasium.
Material culture: frescoes, architectural features, mosaic floors, coins, pottery.
Bibliography: Conder - Kitchener 1883, 222, 225, note 3; Horoner 1899; Sellin - Watzinger 1913, 12; Dalman 1925, photo 71; Augustinović 1951, 115-116; Mellaart 1962, 156, site n. 87; Robinson - Smith 1970, 564; Humphrey 1974, 34-35; Netzer 1980; 1999; 2004; 2006, 72-80; 2008, 72-80; Greenberg - Keinan 2009, 69, site n. 336.
Bibliography
| Augustinović, A. | |
| 1951 | Gerico e dintorni, Gerusalemme 1951 (in particular pp. 172, 177-178). |
| Bliss, F.J. | |
| 1894 | "Notes on the plain of Jericho", in Palestine Exploration Fund Quarterly Statement 6 (1894), pp. 174-183 (in particular p. 177). |
| Cirelli, E. - Zagari, F. | |
| 2000 | "L'oasi di Gerico in età bizantina e islamica. Problemi e proposte di ricerca", in Archeologia Medievale 27 (2000), pp. 365-375. |
| Conder, C.R. - Kitchener, H.H. | |
| 1883 | The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology. Volume III. Sheets XVII-XXVI. Judaea, London 1883 (in particular p. 222). |
| Dalman, G. | |
| 1925 | Hundert Deutsche Fliegebilder aus Palästina, Guetersloh 1925 (in particular photo 71). |
| Greenberg, R. - Keinan, A. | |
| 2009 | Israeli Archaeological Activity in the West Bank 1967-2007. A Sourcebook, Jerusalem 2009 (in particular p. 69, site n. 336, map 2). |
| Hachlili, R. | |
| 1997 | "Herodian Jericho", in E.M. Meyers (ed.), The Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East, Vol. 3, Oxford 1997, pp. 16-18 (in particular p. 17). |
| Holland, T.A. | |
| 1992 | "Jericho", in The Anchor Bible Dictionary, Vol. 3, New York 1992, pp. 723-740. |
| Horoner, J.E. | |
| 1899 | "The ruins of the Herodian Jericho", in Palestine Exploration Fund Quarterly Statement 31 (1899), pp. 127-128. |
| Humphrey, J. | |
| 1974 | "Prolegomena to the Study of the Hippodrome at Caesarea Maritima", in Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 213 (1974), pp. 2-45 (in particular pp. 34-35). |
| Kenyon, K.M. | |
| 1956 | "Jerichò", in Revue Biblique 63 (1956), pp. 70-73. |
| Mellaart, J. | |
| 1962 | "Preliminary Report on the Archaeological Survey in the Yarmouk and Jordan Valleys", in Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 6-7 (1962), pp. 126-157 (in particular p. 156, site n. 87). |
| Netzer, E. | |
| 1975 | "Jerichò", in Revue Biblique (1975), pp. 270-274. |
| 1980 | "The Hyppodrome That Herod Built at Jericho", in Qadmoniot 13 (1980), pp. 104-107. |
| 1993 | "Tell es-Samarat", in E. Stern (ed.), The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavation in the Holy Land, Vol. 2, Jerusalem 1993, pp. 691-692. |
| 1999 | Die Paläste der Hasmonäer und Herodes' des Grossen (Antike Welt Sonderhefe, Zaberns Bildbände zur Archäologie), Manz am Rhein 1999 (in particular pp. 56-59). |
| 2004 | "Tell es-Samarat", in E. Netzer - R. Laureys-Chachy - Y. Meshorer (eds.), Hasmonean and Herodian Palaces at Jericho. Final Reports of the 1973-1987 Excavations Volume II: Stratigraphy and Architecture, Jerusalem 2004, pp. 195-225. |
| 2006 | The Architecture of Herod, the Great Builder, Tübingen 2006 (in particular pp. 72-80). |
| 2008 | The Architecture of Herod the Great Builder, Grand Rapids, MI 2008 (in particular pp. 72-80). |
| Robinson, E. - Smith, E. | |
| 1970 | Biblical researches in Palestine and the adjacent regions. A journal of travels in the years 1838 and 1952. By E. Robinson and E. Smith. Drawn up from the original diaries, with historical illustrations, by Edward Robinson, Jerusalem 1970 (3rd edition by W.G. Dever) (in particular p. 564). |
| Sellin, E. - Watzinger, C. | |
| 1913 | Jericho. Die Ergebnisse der Ausgrabungen (Wissenschaftliche Veröffentlichung der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft 22), Leipzig 1913 (in particular p. 12, fig. 4). |
| Sellin, E. - Watzinger, C. - Nöldecke, A. | |
| 1909 | "Vorläufige Nachrichten über die Ausgrabung in Jericho im Frühjahr 1909", in Mitteilungen des Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft zu Berlin 41 (1909), pp. 1-36. |
| Stacey, D. | |
| 2004 | "Tombs in the Vicinity of the Hippodrome at Jericho", in E. Netzer - R. Laureys-Chachy - Y. Meshorer (eds.), Hasmonean and Herodian Palaces at Jericho. Final Reports of the 1973-1987 Excavations Volume II: Stratigraphy and Architecture, Jerusalem 2004, pp. 226-227. |
| Stiebel, G.D. | |
| 2004 | "A Hellenistic Gladius from Jericho", in E. Netzer - R. Laureys-Chachy - Y. Meshorer (eds.), Hasmonean and Herodian Palaces at Jericho. Final Reports of the 1973-1987 Excavations Volume II: Stratigraphy and Architecture, Jerusalem 2004, pp. 229-232. |