Nahal Tut ( he, נחל תות, also ''Nachal Toot'') is an archaeological site excavated along the

streambed A stream bed or streambed is the bottom of a stream or river (bathymetry) or the physical confine of the normal water flow (channel). The lateral confines or channel margins are known as the stream banks or river banks, during all but flood st ...

of the same name in northern

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

Menashe Heights The Manasseh Hills or hill country of Manasseh, directly derived from Hebrew: Menashe Heights ( he, רָמוֹת מְנַשֶּׁה, Ramot Menashe, Manasseh Heights), called Balad ar-Ruha in Arabic, meaning "Land of Winds", is a geographical regi ...

from February to July 2005 by Amir Gorzalczany and Gerald Finkielsztejn in preparation for the northward extension of

Highway 6 Route 6, or Highway 6, may refer to routes in the following countries: International * Asian Highway 6 * European route E6 * European route E006 Albania * National Road SH6 Argentina * Buenos Aires Provincial Route 6 Australia New ...

. Trig Point N-568 is situated south of Nahal Melah highway (Hwy 70) about halfway between modern

Bat Shlomo Bat Shlomo ( he, בָּת שְׁלֹמֹה, ''lit.'' Salomon's Daughter) is a moshav in northern Israel. Located on the southern slopes of Mount Carmel near Binyamina and Zikhron Ya'akov, it originally was built on 8,068 dunams of land. It falls u ...

and Yokneam. The salvage operation exposed habitation layers of the following periods: *

Mamluk Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning " slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') ...

(Stratum I) *

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

(Stratum II) *

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

(Strata III-VI) The most significant finds reported thus far: *Large building with a courtyard (20 x 35 m) enclosed by thick walls *Ritual bath (

mikveh Mikveh or mikvah (, ''mikva'ot'', ''mikvoth'', ''mikvot'', or (Yiddish) ''mikves'', lit., "a collection") is a bath used for the purpose of ritual immersion in Judaism to achieve ritual purity. Most forms of ritual impurity can be purif ...

) within the courtyard *Numerous pottery vessels, especially jars with

LMLK seal LMLK seals (with LMLK meaning 'of the king') are ancient Hebrew Stamp seal, seals stamped on the handles of large storage jars first issued in the reign of King Hezekiah (circa 700 BC) and discovered mostly in and around Jerusalem. Several comp ...

impressions (type H2x and Z2x) *Hebrew signet seal on a precious stone about 1.5 x 1.0 cm, adorned with 4

pomegranate The pomegranate (''Punica granatum'') is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub in the family Lythraceae, subfamily Punicoideae, that grows between tall. The pomegranate was originally described throughout the Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean re ...

s and the inscription, "LMKAH Amihai" (of Makah

on of On, on, or ON may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * On (band), a solo project of Ken Andrews * ''On'' (EP), a 1993 EP by Aphex Twin * ''On'' (Echobelly album), 1995 * ''On'' (Gary Glitter album), 2001 * ''On'' (Imperial Teen album), 200 ...

Amihai) The buildings were found relatively intact (upright walls with doorways and window lintels still '' in-situ''). Gorzalczany, of the

Israel Antiquities Authority The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA, he, רשות העתיקות ; ar, داﺌرة الآثار, before 1990, the Israel Department of Antiquities) is an independent Israeli governmental authority responsible for enforcing the 1978 Law of ...

, speculates that "the site probably functioned as an administrative and government center at the end of the 8th century BCE, and may have been fortified." Nahal Tut joins 3 other northern sites where LMLK handles have been recovered (

Nahalal Nahalal ( he, נַהֲלָל) is a moshav in northern Israel. Covering 8.5 square kilometers, it falls under the jurisdiction of the Jezreel Valley Regional Council. In it had a population of . Nahalal is best known for its general layout, as d ...

Khirbet Sharta Khirbet Sharta is an ancient tell in northern Israel, northeast of Kiryat Atta, that covers two hills. Archaeology In 1965, the Israel Antiquities Authority conducted excavations of the western hill prior to the construction of residential housi ...

, and Jezreel). Speculation is abounding with possible reasons for their appearance in this isolated region apart from the vast majority found in the southern kingdom of Judah: *Pilgrimages to

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

in response to King Hezekiah's inauguration

Passover Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday that celebrates the The Exodus, Biblical story of the Israelites escape from slavery in Ancient Egypt, Egypt, which occurs on the 15th day of the Hebrew calendar, He ...

feast *Fortification of a northwestern outpost by

King Hezekiah Hezekiah (; hbo, , Ḥīzqīyyahū), or Ezekias); grc, Ἐζεκίας 'Ezekías; la, Ezechias; also transliterated as or ; meaning "Yah shall strengthen" (born , sole ruler ), was the son of Ahaz and the 13th king of Judah according to th ...

in preparation for an

Assyria Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the A ...

n attack *Trash deposited by

Sennacherib Sennacherib (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: or , meaning " Sîn has replaced the brothers") was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from the death of his father Sargon II in 705BC to his own death in 681BC. The second king of the Sargonid dynast ...

's army following their victorious campaign at

Lachish Lachish ( he, לכיש; grc, Λαχίς; la, Lachis) was an ancient Canaanite and Israelite city in the Shephelah ("lowlands of Judea") region of Israel, on the South bank of the Lakhish River, mentioned several times in the Hebrew Bible. Th ...

Arguments for/against each of these proposals have been suggested on Internet discussion lists.

References

*Gorzalczany, Amir (2005)
"An Administrative Center of the Iron Age in Nahal Tut"
''IAA website'' *Finkler, Kobi (11 July 2005 / 4 Tammuz 5765)
"Jewish Presence in the Land of Israel of Yesteryear"
''Arutz Sheva website'' {{coord, 32.623328, N, 35.059841, E, region:IL, display=title Archaeological sites in Israel Ancient Israel and Judah