Jordan Valley - cradle of civilisations?
Archaeological finds in the northern Jordan Valley are forcing experts to rethink the patterns of the earliest civilisations.
In Tabqat Fahel, 90 kilometres north of Amman, recent finds indicate that the ancient site of Pella, which spans across the earliest pre-historic times to the Mameluke era, may have been a part of the cradle of civilisations.
Over the past five seasons, University of Sydney teams have been focusing on the early Bronze Age period, 3600BC-2800BC, a time when humans went from smaller villages to larger towns and large-scale urban communities.
When Australian and Jordanian teams began exploring early urbanisation in the Jordan Valley, many expected it to occur later and be influenced by the burgeoning civilisations to the east and west.
Findings of a city wall and other structures, dating back to 3400BC and as early as 3600BC, show that Pella was a formidable city-state at the same time Sumerian Iraq was taking shape.
Although experts currently turn to Mesopotamia and Egypt when discussing the earliest centres of ancient civilisation, the northern Jordan Valley should also be given a mention, according to Stephen Bourke, University of Sydney professor and Pella project leader.
“We found stuff as early if not earlier than Mesopotamia and much earlier than ancient Egypt,” he said.
With the unearthing of a fortified hilltop and large city walls on nearby Tal Husn, experts believe that the site of Pella was a formidable city around 3200-3400BC, 500 years earlier than previously expected for the area.
“These are not just the signs of a small city, this is a massive mega-city,” Bourke said.
Copper findings at Pella originating from Anatolia and Cyprus also indicate significant economic, social and political development at a time as early as Mesopotamia and predating the reign of Egyptian pharaohs, Bourke said.
The discovery of Cypriot copper even led experts to believe that ancient Cyprus began exporting copper in 2500BC, 300 years earlier than previously thought.
According to the findings, Bronze Age Pella grew in parallel with the mighty civilisations in Egypt and Mesopotamia, rather than being influenced by its neighbours.
The similarities, however, end in 2800BC, when civilisation abruptly stopped in ancient Pella.
“Pharaonic Egypt and Mesopotamia further developed into massive empires - and why didn’t the Jordan Valley follow suit?” Bourke remarked, adding that future surveys, starting in 2011, will attempt to answer that question.
Bourke theorised that a devastating earthquake combined with climate change may have contributed to slowing down development in the Jordan Valley, while nearby Egypt sped into the third dynasty.
Also as part of future excavations in Pella, Australian and Jordanian teams will attempt to locate an elusive Bronze Age palace, a structure expected to be similar to the palaces built west of the River Jordan during the period.
Some even hold out hope that the palace may yield one of the initial dreams of the Pella project when it was established some 30 years ago: A library of ancient clay tablets.
“Initial findings indicate that the palace probably dates back to around 1400BC, which would be the right time period for the text and libraries in the area,” Bourke said.
Another “holy grail” for the ancient site is remnants of the time of Alexander the Great. Pella, which is named after his hometown in Macedonia, has long been associated with Alexander.
“With a name like Pella, we knew there should have been an early Hellenistic link to the site,” he said.
Although Hellenistic findings have been few and far between over the past three decades, last year teams discovered a caché of coins and pottery on the west slope of Husn indicating that Ptolemic rule in Egypt may have extended to western Pella.
“Pella probably would have been on the edge of the effective line of control in the third century, and this fortification was most likely established on an earlier settlement - a Macedonian settlement - on the western edge of Tel Husn,” Bourke said.
“We haven’t really found Hellenistic Pella yet - it’s there somewhere. We aren’t expecting to find our shining glory, but an insight into the period in the Jordan Valley,” he added.http://www.jordantimes.com/index.php?news=26973
Something is not right. This message is just to keep things from messing up down the road