10,000-year occupation record ends around 1650 BCE, followed by 600-year gap

Settlement
Melted Brick, Airborne Pottery, Bones Burned - The Destruction Layer at Tal el-Hammam
Source: Melted Brick, Airborne Pottery, Bones Burned - The Destruction Layer at Tal el-Hammam by The Cosmic Summit

Site mentioned

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Tell el-Hammam is a major archaeological site with an occupation record spanning more than 10,000 years, from the Neolithic through the Middle Bronze Age. Fifteen years of excavations identified it as the largest continuously occupied Bronze Age city in the southern Levant. The site was destroyed around 1650 BCE. A contested 2021 Scientific Reports study proposed a cosmic airburst, while the excavation record shows no evidence of reoccupation for about 600 years. The video argues that springs helped the city survive the c. 2500 BCE collapse and that Egyptians later renamed the area “Abel”; neither claim is established fact.

Key facts

  • Tell el-Hammam's occupation record spans more than 10,000 years, from the Neolithic through the Middle Bronze Age.
  • The 2021 airburst study described it as the largest continuously occupied Bronze Age city in the southern Levant.
  • The site was destroyed around 1650 BCE. A cosmic airburst is a contested hypothesis, not an established cause.
  • The excavation sequence indicates no evidence of reoccupation for about 600 years, not 700; Iron Age occupation followed later.
  • The video attributes survival of the c. 2500 BCE collapse to groundwater and springs, and links the area to Egyptian names Shutu and Abel; these are interpretations, not established facts.

More about Tell el-Hammam

Sources

Tunguska-Sized Impact Destroyed Jordan Valley City 3,670 Years Agosci.news
... continuously occupied Bronze Age city in the southern Levant. More ... The extensive, ongoing excavations at Tall el-Hammam have continued ...
Tall el-Hammam - Biblical Archaeology Societybiblicalarchaeology.org
The past eight seasons have revealed a vast history of continuous occupation beginning from the Neolithic Period and extending well into the Middle Bronze Age.
RETRACTED ARTICLE: A Tunguska sized airburst destroyed Tall el ...nature.com
Then suddenly, the occupation of TeH ceased at ~ 1650 BCE (~ 3600 cal BP) at the end of MB II, followed by an enigmatic ~ 600-year occupational hiatus. The site ...
Tall el-Hammam Field Reports: CSI Hammam - The Fifth Seasonbiblearchaeology.org
... Hammam indicating continuous occupation at the site from the Chalcolithic to Middle Bronze Age. So, while the site continued to be occupied throughout a ...
Modeling how a Powerful Airburst destroyed Tall el-Hammam, a ...scienceopen.com
... continuously occupied Bronze Age city in the southern Levant [2]. Fifteen years of excavations revealed a widespread charcoal-and-ash-rich ...
Tell el-Hammamen.wikipedia.org
Excavations at Tell el-Hammam have been ongoing since 2005, led by Steven Collins of Trinity Southwest University. The site has been the subject of controversy
Tall El-Hammam 2008: A Personal Perspectivebiblearchaeology.org
In January 2009, we will be back in the field for our fourth season of excavating at Tall el-Hammam,1 Jordan. Situated seven miles north of the Dead Sea.
Buried secrets of the Bible, Jordan | Our Workwessexarch.co.uk
One of these sites is Tel el-Hammam, a large tell with archaeological remains dating from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age. The site is located north-east of ...
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