Tell Far’a

Tell Far’a

Tell Al-Far'a is an archaeological site located in the Al-Far'a region, approximately 1 km south of the Al-Far'a refugee camp. The site covers an area of around 180 dunums (180,000 square meters) and is situated at an elevation of 198 meters above sea level.

The site has been mentioned in surveys of western Palestine conducted by the French scholar Victor Guérin and the British scholar Edward Robinson. Excavations at Tell Al-Far'a were undertaken by the French School of Archaeology in Jerusalem (École biblique et archéologique française de Jérusalem), under the supervision of Ronald de Vaux, between 1946 and 1960 over the course of nine seasons.

The excavations have revealed a multilayered archaeological record, with evidence of occupation dating back to the Neolithic Age, Copper Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age. From the Early Bronze Age, the site has yielded the remains of walls, fortifications, residential buildings, a two-room pottery oven, a temple, and an olive press, as well as the western gate of the settlement.

During the Middle Bronze Age, the city was found to be smaller in size compared to the Early Bronze Age. In the late 17th century BC, the city experienced a resurgence, with the construction of new fortifications. However, the Late Bronze Age saw no significant changes to the city.

In the Iron Age, archaeological evidence such as houses, statues, arrowheads, and pottery have been discovered, some of which have been distributed to museums, including the Louvre Museum in Paris, the Rockefeller Archaeological Museum in Jerusalem, and the Jordan Museum in Amman.

In 2016, a new excavation project was announced at Tell Al-Far'a, a collaborative effort between the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, the University of Lisbon in Portugal, and the University of Corna in Spain. This project aims to study the urban development and the archaeological and cultural layers of the site.