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Tall Zira'a

Tall Zira'a Fig. 1.28

Tall Zirā‘a. View from north to south. Overview with the Areas I, II and III. Photograph taken in 2011 (Source: BAI/GPIA).

Vieweger and Häser (2017)


Names
Transliterated Name Language Name
Tall Zira'a Arabic تالل زيرا'ا
Introduction
Introduction

Tall Zirā‘a, located in the middle of the Wādī al-‘Arab and ~4.5 km. SW of Ancient Gadara, was continuously occupied for at least 5,000 years (Vieweger and Haser, 2017).

Maps, Aerial Views, and Plans
Maps, Aerial Views, and Plans

Maps

  • Fig. 0.3 - Location Map from
    Figure 0.3

    Tall Zirā‘a and its geographic location

    (Source: BAI/GPIA)

    Vieweger and Häser (2017)
    Vieweger and Häser (2017:28)

Aerial Views

  • Tall Zira'a in Google Earth
    Tall Zira'a

    click on image to explore this site on a new tab in Google Earth

Plans

Site Plans

Normal Size

  • Fig. 1.32 - Site plan from
    Figure 1.32

    General Plan of the excavation area on Tall Zira'a (Source: BAI/GPIA)

    Vieweger and Häser (2017)
    Vieweger and Häser (2017:28)
  • Fig. 2.111 - Survey Squares
    Figure 2.111

    Tall Zirā‘a. Survey squares and areas of search:

    • north (yellow)
    • south (red)
    • east (blue)
    • west (green)
    • plateau (grey)


    (Source: BAI/GPIA).

    Vieweger and Häser (2017)
    of the site from Vieweger and Häser (2017)

Magnified

  • Fig. 1.32 - Site plan from
    Figure 1.32

    General Plan of the excavation area on Tall Zira'a (Source: BAI/GPIA)

    Vieweger and Häser (2017)
    Vieweger and Häser (2017:28)
  • Fig. 2.111 - Survey Squares
    Figure 2.111

    Tall Zirā‘a. Survey squares and areas of search:

    • north (yellow)
    • south (red)
    • east (blue)
    • west (green)
    • plateau (grey)


    (Source: BAI/GPIA).

    Vieweger and Häser (2017)
    of the site from Vieweger and Häser (2017)

Area Plans

Area I

Normal Size

  • Fig. 4.4 - Area I with
    Figure 4.4

    Area I and its excavation squares (Source: BAI/GPIA)

    Vieweger and Häser (2017)
    excavation squares from Vieweger and Häser (2017)

Magnified

  • Fig. 4.4 - Area I with
    Figure 4.4

    Area I and its excavation squares (Source: BAI/GPIA)

    Vieweger and Häser (2017)
    excavation squares from Vieweger and Häser (2017)

Area II

Normal Size

  • Fig. 4.5 - Area II with
    Figure 4.5

    Area II with its excavation squares (Source: BAI/GPIA)

    Vieweger and Häser (2017)
    excavation squares from Vieweger and Häser (2017)

Magnified

  • Fig. 4.5 - Area II with
    Figure 4.5

    Area II with its excavation squares (Source: BAI/GPIA)

    Vieweger and Häser (2017)
    excavation squares from Vieweger and Häser (2017)

Area III

Normal Size

  • Fig. 4.6 - Area III with
    Figure 4.6

    Area III with its excavation squares (Source: BAI/GPIA)

    Vieweger and Häser (2017)
    excavation squares from Vieweger and Häser (2017)

Magnified

  • Fig. 4.6 - Area III with
    Figure 4.6

    Area III with its excavation squares (Source: BAI/GPIA)

    Vieweger and Häser (2017)
    excavation squares from Vieweger and Häser (2017)

Archaeoseismic Chronology
Phasing

Tall Zira'a Tab. 4.1

Strata on Tall Zirā‘a in correlation with the periods (Source: BAI/GPIA).

Vieweger and Häser (2017)


Chronological Divisions

The Bronze Age of the Levant

The Iron Age in the Southern Levant

Stratum 16 Earthquake (?) - Middle Bronze IIC - ~1750 - ~1500 BCE

Discussion

Discussion

Stratum 3 earthquake - 8th century CE

Discussion

Discussion

References
Haser (2025)

Tall Ziraa

Tall Zira`a is situated in the Wadi al-Arab which con¬nects Gadara with the Jordan Valley on its southern side. Between 2001 and 2014, extended excavations were conducted by the German Protestant Institute of Archaeology and the Biblical Archaeological Institute 'Wuppertal and yielded Umayyad remains in all three excavation areas. An inscription found in the church in area III in 2014 as well as the architectural structures in all excavated areas demonstrate chat the tall was cov¬ered with a monastery consisting of a church and living quarters." The inscription was dated by A. Zerbini to AD 709. Probably, it does not refer to the construction of the building but to some renovation in which some monks and the hegumenos were involved.19

The buildings in the areas I and II consist of rows of rooms and courtyards. The earliest house units were built in the fourth or fifth century based on the pottery and coin finds.20 The process of constant extension and congestion of the building complex continued into the Umayyad period. Although the walls do not show any clear indication of an earthquake, it is highly probable that the destruction of the monastery was caused by the quake in 749. Afterwards, the site was abandoned almost entirely as only few sherds of Abbasid date and the absence of buildings, which can be attributed to this period, indicate. The fact that the site was not abandoned completely was probably due to the favourable living conditions close to the spring in the centre of the tall. However, the population there must have been very small. It is conceivable that some settlers were living there in simple constructions or only seasonally who were engaged in the famous wine production in the Wadi al-Arab (see below). A small settlement or larger farmstead was again constructed in the Mamluk period as the build¬ing remains in area III and Mamluk pottery demonstrate.

The survey at the north-west lower city of Tall Ziaa yielded pottery from the F ark Bronze Age to the Umayyad period. No diagnostic sherds of later periods were recognized.21
Footnotes

19  Rothe and others 2017, 268–70; Häser 2024, 351–52.

20  Häser 2024, 73–83 and 136–38.

21  Soennecken and Leiverkus 2021, 11, 112, site 211/225-16.

Undated landslide

Plans and Figures

Plans and Figures

  • Fig. 1.32 - Site plan from
    Figure 1.32

    General Plan of the excavation area on Tall Zira'a (Source: BAI/GPIA)

    Vieweger and Häser (2017)
    Vieweger and Häser (2017:28)
  • Fig. 1.68 - Landslide on the
    Fig. 1.68

    Tall Zirā‘a. Landslide on the east side. Photograph taken in 2009

    (Source: BAI/ GPIA)

    Vieweger and Häser (2017 v.1:45)
    east side of the Tell from Vieweger and Häser (2017 v.1:45)

Discussion

An undated landslide (Fig. 1.68) is present on the eastern side of the Tel (Vieweger and Häser, 2017:45).

Archaeoseismic Effects
Stratum 16 Earthquake (?) - Middle Bronze IIC - ~1750 - ~1500 BCE

Effect Location Image(s) Comments
Landslide                    western area of the settlement
Figure 1.32

General Plan of the excavation area on Tall Zira'a (Source: BAI/GPIA)

Vieweger and Häser (2017)
a landslide destroyed the western area of the settlement - Vieweger and Häser (2017:11)
Cave collapse beneath the settlement layers
Figure 1.32

General Plan of the excavation area on Tall Zira'a (Source: BAI/GPIA)

Vieweger and Häser (2017)
Calcareous sinter caves beneath the settlement layers collapsed - Vieweger and Häser (2017:11)

Stratum 3 earthquake - 8th century CE

Effect                                        Location Image(s) Comments
Collapsed Walls ? Monastery consisting of a church and living quarters in Areas I and II
Figure 1.32

General Plan of the excavation area on Tall Zira'a (Source: BAI/GPIA)

Vieweger and Häser (2017)
Although the walls do not show any clear indication of an earthquake, it is highly probable that the destruction of the monastery was caused by the quake in 749. Afterwards, the site was abandoned almost entirely as only few sherds of Abbasid date and the absence of buildings, which can be attributed to this period, indicate - Haser (2025:127)

Archaeoseismic Intensity Estimates
Stratum 16 Earthquake (?) - Middle Bronze IIC - ~1750 - ~1500 BCE

Effect Location Image(s) Comments Intensity
Landslide                    western area of the settlement
Figure 1.32

General Plan of the excavation area on Tall Zira'a (Source: BAI/GPIA)

Vieweger and Häser (2017)
a landslide destroyed the western area of the settlement - Vieweger and Häser (2017:11) IV+
Cave collapse beneath the settlement layers
Figure 1.32

General Plan of the excavation area on Tall Zira'a (Source: BAI/GPIA)

Vieweger and Häser (2017)
Calcareous sinter caves beneath the settlement layers collapsed - Vieweger and Häser (2017:11) III+
This evidence requires a minimum Intensity of IV (4) when using the Earthquake Archeological Effects chart of Rodríguez-Pascua et al (2013: 221-224.

Stratum 3 earthquake - 8th century CE

Effect                                        Location Image(s) Comments Intensity
Collapsed Walls ? Monastery consisting of a church and living quarters in Areas I and II
Figure 1.32

General Plan of the excavation area on Tall Zira'a (Source: BAI/GPIA)

Vieweger and Häser (2017)
Although the walls do not show any clear indication of an earthquake, it is highly probable that the destruction of the monastery was caused by the quake in 749. Afterwards, the site was abandoned almost entirely as only few sherds of Abbasid date and the absence of buildings, which can be attributed to this period, indicate - Haser (2025:127) VIII+?
This evidence requires a minimum Intensity of VIII (8) when using the Earthquake Archeological Effects chart of Rodríguez-Pascua et al (2013: 221-224.

Notes and Further Reading
References

Articles and Books

Haser, J. (2025) Chapter 8. The Hinterland of Gadara after the 749 Earthquake , in Lichtenberger, A. and Raja, R. (2025) Jerash, the Decapolis, and the Earthquake of AD 749, Brepolis

Excavation Reports

Tall Zira'a The Gadara Region Project (2001-2011) Volume 1, Introduction

Tall Zira'a The Gadara Region Project (2001-2011) Volume 2, Early and Middle Bronze Age

Tall Zira'a The Gadara Region Project (2001-2011) Volume 6, Hellenistic to Umayyad Period (Strata 8-3)

Final publication of the excavations and surveys between 2001 and 2011

Websites

The Gadara Region Project

Wikipedia Pages

Tall Zira'a