The second excavation campaign in spring 2004

In April 2004 the BAI conducted its third season of archaeological investigations on Tall Zira'a, the second excavation campaign. The focus was on the northwest area (Area I), where 250 square metres were opened by 40 volunteers supervised by the Evangelische Akademie Bad Boll (Dr. Thilo Fitzner). The 10-strong BAI team consisted of archaeologists, theologians and a surveyor.

In addition to the four strata from the Roman-Byzantine Area (1), the Iron Age (2-3) and the Late Bronze Age (4), already identified in 2003, another Early Bronze Age stratum was discovered. It contained a 2.5 m thick/high city wall, which was excavated by a step-by-step section performed on the steep slope. In view of the tall’s massive cultural layers, excavations in the next few years will only go down as far as the Late Bronze Age. Only after excavating these (3-3.5 m thick) strata will it be possible to safely explore older strata.

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to all our sponsors and supporters, especially the BAI Freundeskreis. We are also indebted to the Hugo Gressmann Stiftung in Hannover, for its generous support of our young scholars.

Last updated: 2004