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Jezreel
by Jennie Ebeling; Norma
Franklin
Jezreel,
Hebrew Yizre’el, meaning “God sows,” is mentioned more than 30 times in the
Hebrew Bible as the setting for a series of dramatic events during the reigns
of Kings Ahab, Joram, and Jehu of the northern kingdom of Israel.
In
1 Kings 21, when Naboth the Jezreelite refuses to sell his vineyard to Ahab,
Ahab’s wife Jezebel has him stoned to death.
This
is followed by a visit from none other than the prophet Elijah and the
subsequent gruesome death of Jezebel.
Strategically
located in Galilee at the intersection of the ancient international highway
between Egypt and Mesopotamia — the Via Maris — and the route south to Samaria
and Jerusalem — the Way of the Patriarchs — Jezreel was the location of a
military compound, a sometime residence for Israelite kings, and an agricultural
Eden.
Tel
Jezreel was excavated in the early 1990s by David Ussishkin of Tel Aviv
University and John Woodhead of the British School of Archaeology; since 2012
the Jezreel Expedition directed by Norma Franklin of the University of Haifa
and Jennie Ebeling of the University of Evansville has explored greater
Jezreel, which includes the northern slopes of the tel as well as the Spring of
Jezreel below.
Both
excavations have yielded information that helps us understand the nature of the
site from prehistory to modern times, including the period of the kings of
Israel (ninth–eighth centuries B.C.E.).
What
was the nature of the Israelite settlement at Jezreel?
Although
the main royal residence was in the Israelite capital of Samaria, Jezreel may
have been occupied for at least part of the year by Ahab and Jezebel.
Some
years after the death of Ahab, when his son Joram was king of Israel, Jezreel
was described as a military center and staging post for battles in the north
and east, and the military theme continues with Jezebel’s death by trampling
under the hooves of the usurper Jehu’s horses.
Jezreel
also served as a royal retreat of sorts, as Joram went to Jezreel to rest after
being wounded in battle with the Arameans (2
Kings 9).
Excavations
at Tel Jezreel in the 1990s revealed the remains of a rectangular compound
surrounded by walls, a moat, and a four- or six-chambered gate on the southern
side.
No
domestic structures were found within the compound, strengthening its
identification as a military or royal center.
The
excavators dated the compound’s construction to the Omride dynasty (circa 880
B.C.E.) on the basis of the biblical narrative; a destruction layer in the
southeastern tower was accordingly attributed to Hazael and the Arameans in the
late ninth century B.C.E.
The
current excavators have challenged both of these conclusions: the compound may
date slightly later, and the destruction in the southeastern tower was too
localized to signify the demise of the entire compound.
What
made Jezreel such an attractive location?
Located
at the narrowest part of the Jezreel Valley, in a position to control the major
east–west and north–south highways, Jezreel was surrounded by fertile farmland
that attracted inhabitants from prehistoric times.
The
spring of Jezreel that flowed nearly one kilometer north of Tel Jezreel
provided the site and surrounding fields with a constant supply of water; even
today, the lush fields surrounding Jezreel are considered ideal for growing two
traditional staple crops of the region: grapes, as reflected in the narrative
of Naboth’s vineyard, and olives.
The
perennial spring waters would have attracted commercial and military travelers
early on; the earliest biblical event associated with the site is the
encampment of the Israelite army at the spring of Jezreel while Saul prepares
for battle at Gilboa (1 Samuel 29:1).
A
landscape archaeology project conducted by the Jezreel Expedition has
identified evidence of the military character of Jezreel over millennia along
with a network of roads and paths that connected different parts of the site
from as early as the Roman period.
These
discoveries underscore the agricultural plentifulness alluded to in the story
of Naboth’s vineyard in 1 Kings 21 and the military character of Jezreel
described in 2 Kings 9.
Located
in the fertile Jezreel Valley, Jezreel was the setting for the dramatic stories
of Naboth’s vineyard and Jezebel’s death in 1 and 2 Kings.
Did
you know…?
Jezreel
has been continuously inhabited from the Neolithic period
until the present day.
The
site of Jezreel gave its name to the valley and not the other way around.
According
to the biblical narrative, Jezebel died not from falling from the window but by
being trampled underfoot by Jehu’s team of chariot horses.
We
still do not know where people lived during the Iron Age period
when Jezreel functioned as a military center.
Jezreel’s
strategic location attracted crusaders in the 12th century C.E., and they named
the site Le Petit Gerin, in reference to nearby Jenin. A tower and church from
the crusader period still stand on the western part of the site.
Jennie Ebeling
Associate Professor,
University of Evansville
Jennie Ebeling is an associate
professor of archaeology and chair of the Department of Archaeology and Art
History at the University of Evansville in Indiana. Codirector of the Jezreel Expedition
and a stone artifact specialist, Ebeling has edited volumes on household
archaeology and ground stone artifacts and is the author of Women’s Lives in
Biblical Times (T&T Clark, 2010).
Norma Franklin
Associate Fellow, W. F.
Albright Institute
Norma Franklin is a research
associate at the Zinman Institute of Archaeology at the University of Haifa and
an associate fellow at the W. F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research
in Jerusalem. Codirector of the Jezreel Expedition, Franklin is a field
archaeologist with a particular interest in the northern kingdom of Israel and
its three key cities: Samaria, Megiddo, and Jezreel.
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