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Tel Dover

Figure 2

The lower terrace of the tell, wedged in between the Yarmuk River on the left and a local basalt cliff on the right, looking south-west. Note the smaller tell or acropolis, centre right

click on image to explore this site on a new tab

Golani and Wolff (2016)


Names
Transliterated Name Source Name
Tel Dover Hebrew?
Tel Dober Hebrew?
Khirbet ed Duweir Arabic
Tall al Mudawwarr Arabic
Introduction
Introduction

Tel Dover is located in northern Israel, south of the Sea of Galilee and near the southern tip of the Golan Heights, known in Egyptian texts as the land of Geshur. The site lies on the northern bank of the Yarmuk River to the north-east of its confluence with the Jordan River, both of which form the international border between Israel and Jordan. Tel Dover is not far from other well-known and excavated sites such as Gadara (Umm Qeis) in Jordan and Tel Hadar, Hammat Gader and ‘Ein Gev in Israel (Fig. 1).

The site lies close to abundant farmland and has a perennial freshwater source. It is strategically located on inter-regional routeways including those leading from Beth Shean to Ashtaroth and Damascus. During the Roman period the roads leading to Gadara from Beth Shean-Scythopolis or Tiberias would have passed close to the site and it is probable that the same roads were in use in earlier periods as well.

The site consists of a small tell or acropolis, approximately 5 dunams in size, with an extensive lower city covering approximately 20 dunams to its south-east. This was bounded by the Yarmuk River to the east and a basalt cliff to the west (Fig. 2). The acropolis itself has been surveyed but not excavated and has yielded material primarily of the Middle Bronze, Late Bronze, Iron Age II and Roman periods. As the site lies within a restricted military area, access to it is limited.

Following the Israeli-Jordanian peace negotiations in 1997, a scheme involving the construction of a dam across the Yarmuk River close to the site was proposed. Because the site of Tel Dover is located on the Israeli side of the border, this proposal necessitated a large-scale rescue excavation which was undertaken by the Israel Antiquities Authority under the direction of the late Alexander Onn. The excavation focused on the terrace occupied by lower city, although the tell itself and the immediate environs of the site were also surveyed. The dam was eventually built at another location and the site remains intact. The full publication of the rescue project is in preparation (for a preliminary note, see Rapuano 2001).

The excavations identified ten phases of occupation on the lower terrace (Fig. 3), although it remains to be seen if all these periods and/or others are also represented on the acropolis. Occupation on the terrace was intermittent and included periods of intense occupation followed by periods of abandonment and resettlement.

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

Maps

Normal Size

  • Fig. 1 - Location Map
    Figure 1

    Map with sites mentioned in the text

    (D. Shalem and M. Eisenberg)

    Eisenberg and Osband (2022)
    from Eisenberg and Osband (2022)
  • Fig. 1 - Location Map
    Figure 1

    General location map of Tel Dover

    Golani and Wolff (2016)
    from Golani and Wolff (2016)

Magnified

  • Fig. 1 - Location Map
    Figure 1

    Map with sites mentioned in the text

    (D. Shalem and M. Eisenberg)

    Eisenberg and Osband (2022)
    from Eisenberg and Osband (2022)
  • Fig. 1 - Location Map
    Figure 1

    General location map of Tel Dover

    Golani and Wolff (2016)
    from Golani and Wolff (2016)

Aerial Views

Normal Size

  • Fig. 2 - Aerial View
    Figure 2

    The lower terrace of the tell, wedged in between the Yarmuk River on the left and a local basalt cliff on the right, looking south-west. Note the smaller tell or acropolis, centre right

    Golani and Wolff (2016)
    from Golani and Wolff (2016)
  • Tel Dover in Google Earth
    Tel Dover

    click on image to explore this site on a new tab in Google Earth
  • Tel Dover on govmap.gov.il
    Tel Dover

    click on image to explore this site on a new tab in govmap.gov.il

Magnified

  • Fig. 2 - Aerial View
    Figure 2

    The lower terrace of the tell, wedged in between the Yarmuk River on the left and a local basalt cliff on the right, looking south-west. Note the smaller tell or acropolis, centre right

    Golani and Wolff (2016)
    from Golani and Wolff (2016)
  • Tel Dover in Google Earth
    Tel Dover

    click on image to explore this site on a new tab in Google Earth
  • Tel Dover on govmap.gov.il
    Tel Dover

    click on image to explore this site on a new tab in govmap.gov.il

Plans

Area Plans

Normal Size

  • Fig. 4 - Remains of the
    Figure 4

    Remains of the Late Bronze Age Stratum VIII in the south-western portion of the terrace

    Golani and Wolff (2016)
    Late Bronze Age Stratum VIII from Golani and Wolff (2016)

Magnified

  • Fig. 4 - Remains of the
    Figure 4

    Remains of the Late Bronze Age Stratum VIII in the south-western portion of the terrace

    Golani and Wolff (2016)
    Late Bronze Age Stratum VIII from Golani and Wolff (2016)

Arcaheoseismic Chronology
Stratigraphy

Lower Terrace

Fig. 3

The archaeological periods of settlement revealed through the excavation of the lower terrace at Tel Dover

Golani and Wolff (2016)

Comparison to other sites - Iron and Bronze Age

Fig. 13

Comparative stratigraphy and chronology of Tel Dover with other sites of the region

Golani and Wolff (2016)

Rapuano's Destruction Layer - 4th century CE

Discussion

Discussion

References
Eisenberg and Osband (2022)

Tel Dover

Tel Dover is a large site where large-scale excavations were conducted but have not been finally published. It is unclear whether the site is located within the southern edges of Hippos Territorium or whether it belonged to Gadara like the nearby site of Hamat Gader,just 4 km to the east (Pazout and Eisenberg 2021). A destruction layer was dated to the beginning of the 4th century, perhaps due to the 303 CE earthquake (Rapuano 2001).36 The site continued into the Byzantine period as well as the Early Muslim period. It seems that the 363 and 749 earthquakes did not end settlement at the site.
Footnotes

36 The excavators mention a 306 CE earthquake but that quake is considered by most scholars today to have occurred in 303 CE, as do we in this article (Zohar, Salamon and Rubin 2017: 4).

Rapuano (2001)

Stratum V

Stratum V (Roman period). Three phases have been attributed to this period:
  • Phase Va (late 1st century to mid CE)
  • Stage Vb (mid-2nd century to late 3rd century CE)
  • Phase Vc (first half of the 4th century CE)
It appears that during the Early Roman period (first centuries BCE-first centuries CE) the site remained unchanged since the end of the Hellenistic period. It included several residential buildings with no apparent planning, and perhaps some remains of a tower. The finds in the layer include limestone tools, mainly 'measuring tools', as well as cups, bowls, and large jars made on a lathe. Most of the finds date to the Middle and Late Roman periods (second-third centuries CE). During this period, the population of the site increased significantly, probably as a result of the settlement of Jews who fled Judea after the failure of the Bar Kokhba revolt. Tel Dover became a prosperous town during this period, w ith public buildings alongside residential houses.

The section of the site uncovered in the excavation allows us to determine to some extent the urban outline of the lower city in the Roman period: a main street, on an east-west axis, running along the foot of the cliff, between the tell and the lower city. The street was crossed by several paths and secondary streets that ran down the hill, from north to south, between the buildings. These led to another main street, a kind of promenade, that ran along the bank of the Yarmouk River; the course of the promenade was not examined because it is outside the excavation area. The promenade may have been supported by a step, which collapsed and deteriorated down the slope. One of the streets on the north-south axis was wide and paved with pebbles, and on both sides of it were built rooms that opened onto it—perhaps shops, as evidenced by the large amount of pottery discovered in them.

Near the center of the excavation area, a row of rooms was uncovered, facing east, towards the river, and in front of them was a large open area paved with stones. Fences were installed on top of the paving, creating closed enclosures, in which several hourglass-shaped 'donkey's tusks' were discovered. These installations, as well as millstones and grinding stones discovered at the site

Stratum IV

Stratum V (Byzantine period). This layer is divided into two phases:
  • Phase IVa (6th century CE)
  • Stage IVb (7th century CE)
During this period, a large public building was built in the settlement (35 x45 m), which was uncovered at the southwestern edge of the excavation area. Only its northwest corner and several interior walls were exposed. The building was destroyed during the 6th or early 7th century CE, and a new building was erected in its place (c. 2000 m2), with a northeast-southwest axis. The plan of the new building included a central courtyard, a ketura, and a hand-breadth (10.2 20.4x m), surrounded by rooms. The main entrance to the building was probably on its southeastern side, through an elongated corridor that led from the river. On the northeast side of the building were built three long rooms, parallel to each other, which seem to have been used as stables or storehouses. On the south side of the building stands a square tower (ca. 10 x 10 cm). m). The central courtyard and the rooms of the building were paved with stones. Some of the paving stones had crosses carved into them, and it was clear that they were used in a secondary way; these were probably looted from the earlier public building. In one of the rooms, a two-letter Greek monogram was engraved on one of the paving stones: Rheo and Epsilon. It is possible that this building served as a fortress or guard post, built to protect the important passage on the road to Damascus. Some of the residential buildings from the previous periods were reused in this layer; in some places, paths and streets were blocked and courtyards or balconies were installed in their place. During the 7th century CE, a new wing was built on the western side of the public building, which included a row of rooms; incense burners and paved balconies surrounded the building

Notes and Further Reading
References

Articles and Books

Eisenberg, M. and Osband, M. (2022) Evidence for Settlement Decline in Late 3rd–mid-4th Centuries CE in the Hippos Region and Beyond, Aram 34:1–2, 153–184

Golani, A. and Wolff, Samuel R. (2016) The Late Bronze I and Iron Age I Remains at Tel Dover in the Jordan Valley, Israel, in Proceedings of the 10th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, Volume 2

Khalaily, H., Milevski, I., Horwitz, L.K., and Marder, O. (2016) Early Wadi Rabah and Chalcolithic Occupations at Tel Dover: Environmental and Chronological Insights, in From Sha‘ar Hagolan to Shaaraim: Essays in Honor of Prof. Yosef Garfinkel, Israel Exploration Society

Rapuano, Y. (2001) Tel Dover, Hadashot Arkheologiyot: Excavations and Surveys in Israel (Hebrew) – at JSTOR

Websites

Tel Dover at OpenBible.info

Kh. ed Duweir (aka Tel Dover) at Palestine Open Maps

Wikipedia pages

Geshur