Excavation and OSL Dating of the Bedhat esh-Sha'ab Enclosure in the Jordan Valley

The Bedhat esh-Sha’ab enclosure was discovered in the Jordan Valley by the Manasseh Hill Country Survey and excavated by Ben-Yosef. Its foundation was dated to the Iron Age I; it was interpreted as a tribal cultic gathering site, grouped with similar survey sites designated as “foot-shaped enclosures,” and identified by Zertal as one of the biblical Gilgal sites.The renewed project at the site, which combines both ceramic and OSL dating, aims to date the construction of two of the site’s most prominent structures: the round unit U10 and the central courtyard. The ceramic and OSL results show that U10 was built in the Iron Age, probably in the time span between the later phases of the Iron Age I and Iron Age IIA. It remained in use until Iron Age IIB, slightly raising the possible dates for this structure. These results also indicate that, contra earlier suggestions, the main habitation phase of the central courtyard was in the Early Roman period. The new project proposes a more complex history for the site than had been posited in past investigations. (מתוך המאמר)