In a region where it feels like everything under the sun has been worshipped and discovered, yet another ancient city, 5,000 years old has been uncovered. They are calling it the Bronze Age New York City.
According to excavation directors this was among the first cosmopolitan and planned cities where thousands of people lived.
Massive excavations were started by the National Transport
Infrastructure Company Ltd, who were laying the groundwork for a new interchange.
Whenever new infrastructure is built in Israel and in its cities, Antiquities has to come in first to make sure nothing underground is waiting to be uncovered. The Near Middle East is a vast archeology site as its among the oldest inhabited areas of the world. Below the 5,000 year old city an even more ancient town was found, about 7,000 years old.
The sites without names are located in the Ein Iron area of northern Hasharon, which is north of Tel Aviv. About 6,000 people were once thought to live in an area covering several hundred acres and it includes a fortification wall, with residential and public areas, streets and alleys.
Ancient city of “New York” built on ancient water springs
The city was built upon two abundant springs originating in
the area in antiquity were a site of attraction throughout the period.
According to dig directors Itai Elad, Dr. Yitzhak Paz and Dr. Dina Shalem, directors 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.
These are the first steps in the country of Canaanite culture consolidating its identity in newly established urban sites; hence the immense importance of the ancient city exposed in northern Hasharon; the tools brought to Israel from Egypt found at the site, and its seal
impressions are proof of this.
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.
They unearthed a facility containing burnt animal bones – evidence of sacrificial offerings – as well as rare figurines, including a human head with the seal impression of a man hands lifted and next to him the figure of an animal, were uncovered inside the temple.
The inhabitants most likely earned a living from agriculture thanks
to the nearby springs, and the land used for crops.
The archaeological ruins are documented using advanced means; they will be covered in a controlled manner, studied and investigated by Israel Antiquity researchers, and the new interchange will be built high above
these ruins, to permit its preservation for future generations.
