Excavations at an archaeological research site, En Esur (Ein Asawir), located near Wadi Ara north of Tel Aviv in the Sharon Valley have uncovered a 5000 year old city about ten times the size of Jericho. It includes remnants of fortification walls, residential areas, public squares, pottery fragments, flint tools, basalt stone vessels, and an ancient road system, the Jewish Press reported. This is about the same time era as some of the Egyptian pharaohs for historical reference.
"This is a huge city — a megalopolis in relation to the Early Bronze Age, where thousands of inhabitants, who made their living from agriculture, lived and traded with different regions and even with different cultures and kingdoms in the area," said Itai Elad, Dr. Yitzhak Paz, and Dr. Dina Shalem, Excavation Directors speaking on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority. “…There is no doubt that this site dramatically changes what we know about the character of the period and the beginning of urbanization in Israel.”
“This is a fascinating period in the history of the Land of Israel – Canaan of those days – whose population undergoes changes altering its face completely,” the excavation director trio continued. “The rural population gives way to a complex society living mostly in urban settings. These are the first steps in Canaanite culture to consolidate its identity in newly established urban sites; hence the immense importance of the ancient city exposed in the northern Sharon.”
Written by Erin Parfet
