Tell Jisr
{{Short description|Hill and archaeological site in Lebanon}}
{{Infobox ancient site
|name = Tell Jisr
|native_name = Tell el-Jisr
|alternate_name = Tell ej Jisr
|image =
|alt =
|caption =
|map_type = Lebanon
|map_alt = {{convert|872|m|ft}}
|map_size =
|location = {{convert|1.5|km|mi}} northwest of Joub Jannine, Lebanon
|region =
|coordinates = {{coord|33.64|35.778611|display=inline}}
|type = Tell
|part_of = Settlement
|length =
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|builder =
|material =
|built = c. 8200-6200 BC
|abandoned =
|epochs =PPNB, Neolithic, Chalcolithic
|cultures =
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|event =
|excavations = 1965-1966
|archaeologists = Lorraine Copeland,
Peter J. Wescombe
|condition = ruins
|ownership =
|management =
|public_access = Yes
|website =
|notes =
}}
Tell Jisr, Tell el-Jisr or Tell ej-Jisr is a hill and archaeological site {{convert|1.5|km|mi}} northwest of Joub Jannine in the Beqaa Valley in Lebanon.{{cite book|author=Francis Hours|title=Atlas des sites du proche orient (14000-5700 BP)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KlZtAAAAMAAJ|access-date=30 March 2011|year=1994|publisher=Maison de l'Orient méditerranéen|isbn=978-2-903264-53-6}}{{cite book|author1=Council for British Research in the Levant|author2=British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem|author3=British Institute at Amman for Archaeology and History|title=Levant|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U2BtAAAAMAAJ|access-date=30 March 2011|year=1981|publisher=Council for British Research in the Levant}}
It was discovered in 1965-1966 by Lorraine Copeland and Peter Wescombe but the perimeter and extent of the find was not fully determined.{{cite book|author1=Rolf Hachmann|author2=Karl-Ernst Behre|title=Bericht über die Ergebnisse der Ausgrabungen in Kamid el-Loz (Libanon) in den Jahren 1966 und 1967|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a25tAAAAMAAJ|access-date=30 March 2011|year=1970|publisher=Habelt}} It is suggested to have been surrounded by fertile arable land suitable for crop cultivation and was likely a river crossing, situated on the east bank of the Litani.
Excavation
A large amount of the material collected by Henri Fleisch and M. Tallon is now kept by the Museum of Lebanese Prehistory, part of Saint Joseph University.{{cite book|last=Moore|first=A.M.T.|title=The Neolithic of the Levant|publisher=Oxford University, Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis|year=1978|pages=469–475|url=http://ancientneareast.tripod.com/207.html}} Flint tools were of the heavy type suggested to have been used for deforestation, they included trapezoidal axes, choppers, a variety of scrapers including advanced fan scrapers, segmented sickle blades with fine denticulation and some obsidian.{{cite book|author1=Université Saint-Joseph (Beirut|author2=Lebanon)|title=Mélanges de l'Université Saint-Joseph p. 99|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_SQOAAAAYAAJ|access-date=30 March 2011|year=1966|publisher=Impr. catholique}}
The range of pottery found included stone and basalt bowls and vessels ranging from coarse White Ware to fine, burnished and decorated sherds. A spectrum of jar designs were found with some having red or cream washes. The materials show an established neolithic settlement with many similarities to Byblos and lower Jordan Valley sites that flourished until the Bronze Age.{{cite book|last=Moore|first=A.M.T.|title=The Neolithic of the Levant|publisher=Oxford University, Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis|year=1978|pages=436–442|url=http://ancientneareast.tripod.com/182.html}} The tell is also notable as the location of the discovery of a fragment of pottery called the McClelland Sherd, Tell Jisr Sherd or El-Jisr Sherd that shows incisions suggested to be the oldest alphabetic writing yet discovered.[http://www.aiys.org/webdate/mend.html Mendenhall, George E., The Northern Origins of Old South Arabic Literacy, The University of Michigan and Yarmouk University, Yemen Update 33:15-19 (1993)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110709101437/http://www.aiys.org/webdate/mend.html |date=2011-07-09 }}{{cite book|author1=Iorwerth Eiddon Stephen Edwards|author2=Cambridge University Press|title=The Cambridge ancient history|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ytUNAQAAMAAJ|access-date=30 March 2011|year=1969|publisher=Cambridge University Press}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://geographic.org/geographic_names/name.php?uni=6516721&fid=3653&c=lebanon Geographic.org information on Tell ej Jisr]
{{Archaeological sites in Lebanon}}
{{Portal|Lebanon|History|Asia}}
Category:1965 archaeological discoveries