Tel Yarmuth (Yarmut)
תל ירמות · Tel Yarmuth · Tel Yarmut · Khirbet Yarmuk
Early Bronze Age II–III (c.3000–2350 BCE) with MB II and Iron I–II reuse·EBA III Canaanite urban (Proto-Canaanite) — Jordan Valley city-state network·🇮🇱 Jerusalem District, Shfela east near Beit Shemesh, Israel
About
About Tel Yarmuth (Yarmut)
Largest Early Bronze Age city in Israel (16–20 ha) with EBA III (2700–2350 BCE) Palace and fortifications: French excavations by Pierre de Miroschedji (CNRS) 1980–2009 uncovered massive 6-m stone rampart, Palace B2 (6000 m²) with storerooms and columned hall — earliest palace in Levant. MB II reoccupation and later Judahite village. Type-site for EBA II–III urbanism and Levantine palace evolution contemporary with Arad and Ai but far larger. Buried mudbrick superstructure and extramural cemeteries.
Why it mattersLargest EBA III city-palace in Levant; earliest monumental palace proving indigenous Canaanite urbanism without Egyptian model.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Who was EBA III king — palace archive missing or undeciphered?
- 02Why abandonment so complete — warfare or climate?
Theories
- 01de Miroschedji endogenous Levantine urbanism vs Egyptian stimulus
- 02Greenberg EBA III southern Levant city-state peer polity model
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.3000 BCE EBA II walls; EBA III Palace B2 2700 BCE
- Period
- Early Bronze Age II–III (c.3000–2350 BCE) with MB II and Iron I–II reuse
- Culture
- EBA III Canaanite urban (Proto-Canaanite) — Jordan Valley city-state network
- Builders
- EBA III Canaanite urban (Proto-Canaanite) — Jordan Valley city-state network builders
- Purpose
- Shfela EBA regional capital controlling Jerusalem–Lachish–Coastal trade node
- Abandoned
- c.2350 BCE EBA III collapse (4.2kya precursor); 200-year gap before MB II squatter village
- Rediscovered
- Excavated 1980–2009 Pierre de Miroschedji (CNRS French Mission) with Hebrew Univ.
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
2000
Initial work at Tel Yarmuth (Yarmut)
2015
Stratigraphy and geophysics synthesis for Tel Yarmuth (Yarmut)
On the ground
Structures & features
31.7110° N · 34.9750° E · 400 m · 3 mapped features
Palace B2 complex
palaceEBA III 6000 m² palace with hall
31.7112° N · 34.9752° EEBA III rampart & gate
fortification6-m fortification with bastion
31.7108° N · 34.9748° ELower town extramural
settlementEBA III domestic quarter
31.7114° N · 34.9755° E