Transitions, Urbanism, and Collapse in the Bronze Age - Essays in Honor of Suzanne Richard - Jesse C. Long, Jr.
5. Changes in the Architectural Fabric of Hazor’s Lower City from the Middle Bronze to the Late Bronze
Transitions, Urbanism, and Collapse in the Bronze Age - Essays in Honor of Suzanne Richard - Jesse C. Long, Jr.
Shlomit Bechar [+]
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Dr. Shlomit Bechar has been the co-director of the Tel Hazor excavations since 2015. She has a Master’s degree and PhD from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She has co-authored the seventh volume of the Hazor publications and is currently co-authoring both the eighth volume of publication as well as the publication of the lower city excavations. Her research interests include the Intermediate, Middle, and Late Bronze Ages in the Levant and the interconnections between the southern and northern Levant.
Description
This article deals with the changes in the built environment of the lower city of Hazor during the Middle and Late Bronze Ages. It will be shown that major changes occurred between Stratum 2, dated to the LBI, and Stratum 1b, dated to the LBIIa. During the Middle Bronze Age and the LBI, most of the excavated areas in the lower city comprised public and monumental buildings whereas in the LBIIa the city was mainly occupied by domestic structures. The historic and social implications of these will be discussed as well as the question of who were the inhabitants of the lower city of Hazor.