Phase 9A Earthquake (?) - Iron I
Humbert in Stern et al. (1993 v. 3:866) reports that
"Stratum 9A was destroyed by fire."
In Area B, in what appears to be a two-storey domestic
structure,
Briend and Humbert (1980:22–23) uncovered a
sealed destruction layer
up to 1 m thick consisting of a collapsed roof, burnt
plant material, burnt furniture, and collapsed
mudbricks
"still assembled in
courses."
Briend and Humbert (1980:22–23) reconstructed the
sequence of destruction as follows: furniture burned
first, leaving black ash directly on the paved floor;
then the roof collapsed, producing a 10–20 cm layer
of "granular brick earth, reddened by the fire, and
containing the remains of a frame of wooden beams";
next plant materials stored on the terrace
("kindling, straw, harvest …") burned, leaving a 10 cm
thick powdery white ash; afterward adobe slabs from
the walls fell; finally the mudbrick walls collapsed.
Humbert in Stern et al. (1993 v. 3:866) dated this
destruction to "about 1000 BCE," while noting that
"there is no concrete evidence" and that "it is only a
conjecture that the destruction occurred concurrently
with that of
Tell Abu Hawam IV,
Hazor XI,
Megiddo VIA, and
Tell Qasile X."
Briend and Humbert (1980:213) dated Phases 9A and
9B to Iron I on ceramic grounds, noting that
"undeniably, the ceramics presented offer all the
characteristics of Iron I with features that bring it
closer to the tradition of the Late Bronze Age." They
further dated Phases 9A and 9B to "between 1050 and
1000" BCE (
Briend and Humbert 1980:214).
Humbert in Stern et al. (1993 v. 3:866) suggested that
"the destruction of Keisan, like that of Tell Abu Hawam
IV, was probably due to local events," as "the nearby
grain fields had always been controlled by the
inhabitants of the coastal region, and when newcomers
began to covet the fertile land, a fierce struggle must
have ensued." They observed that there are no Biblical
references to conquest by
King David
and that David's
military campaign to the north (2 Sam. 8:3–12)
was aimed at
Syria (Aram)
and did not proceed along the coast.
Cline (2011:67) suggested that the Keisan 9A
destruction may be related to and coincident with the
Megiddo VIA destruction, which he attributed to an
earthquake. However, the stratigraphic sequence
observed by
Briend and Humbert (1980:22–23) — with burning
episodes preceding structural collapse — suggests that
fire led to collapse rather than collapse due to seismic
shaking initiating the fire.
