Transitions, Urbanism, and Collapse in the Bronze Age - Essays in Honor of Suzanne Richard - Jesse C. Long, Jr.
19. The EB IV / Intermediate Bronze Age at Batrawy and Jericho: Post-urban vs. Proto-urban
Transitions, Urbanism, and Collapse in the Bronze Age - Essays in Honor of Suzanne Richard - Jesse C. Long, Jr.
Lorenzo Nigro [+]
Sapienza University of Rome
Description
Two major projects carried on in the last decades by Sapienza University of Rome, the Palestinian MOTA-DACH, and the Jordanian DoA, respectively at Tell es-Sultan in Palestine (Nigro 2015) and Khirbet al-Batrawy in northcentral Jordan (Nigro 2017a: 149), yielded fresh data about the Early Bronze Age IV/Intermediate Bronze Age (Amiran 1960; Albright 1962; Dever 1970; 1980; Oren 1973; Prag 1974; Richard 1980; 2003; Palumbo 1990; Nigro 2003a; Richard 2010: 1; D’Andrea 2012; 2014 vol. 1: 265-287), which may further our understanding (or interpretation) of such post/pre-urban periods in the history of southern Levant. In both cases, the excavations have exposed occupation layers and have obtained stratigraphic sequences to be included into the regional scenario. Both Jericho and Batrawy in fact were re-settled after a major destruction marking the end of the Early Bronze Age III city (Nigro 2017a: 165-166) and occupied for a time span of about a century or more. Their almost parallel archaeo-narratives offer a cue for further reflections about EB IV. There has already been such a plea, but I hope fresh data and analyses will provide extra insights. To present them to a distinguished scholar, Suzanne Richard, a friend and an esteemed colleague, is an honour and a pleasure.