Pella, Jordan
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Pella (, ) was an ancient city in what is now northwest
Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...
, and contains ruins from the
Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...
,
Chalcolithic The Chalcolithic ( ) (also called the Copper Age and Eneolithic) was an archaeological period characterized by the increasing use of smelted copper. It followed the Neolithic and preceded the Bronze Age. It occurred at different periods in di ...
,
Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...
,
Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...
, Canaanite,
Hellenistic In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...
and
Islamic Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
periods. It is located near a rich water source within the eastern foothills of the Jordan Valley, close to the modern village of Ṭabaqat Faḥl () some south of the
Sea of Galilee The Sea of Galilee (, Judeo-Aramaic languages, Judeo-Aramaic: יַמּא דטבריא, גִּנֵּיסַר, ), also called Lake Tiberias, Genezareth Lake or Kinneret, is a freshwater lake in Israel. It is the lowest freshwater lake on Earth ...
(Lake Tiberias). The site is situated north of
Amman Amman ( , ; , ) is the capital and the largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of four million as of 2021, Amman is Jordan's primate city and is the largest city in the Levant ...
: a drive of about two hours (due to the difficult terrain), and an hour southwest by car from
Irbid Irbid (), known in ancient times as Arabella or Arbela (Άρβηλα in Ancient Greek language, Ancient Greek), is the capital and largest city of Irbid Governorate. It has the second-largest metropolitan population in Jordan after Amman, with a ...
, in the north of the country. Pella's ruins – predominantly temples, churches, and housing – have been partially excavated by teams of archaeologists; they attract thousands of tourists annually but especially in spring, during which time the area is awash with spring flowers.


Tourism

During the Roman period, Pella was a thriving city with evidence of urban planning, public spaces, and luxurious villas. The city’s location along ancient trade routes contributed to its prosperit

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Name

The Semitic languages, Semitic name of the
ancient Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history through late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the development of Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient h ...
, pre-
Hellenistic In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...
site, was Pahil or Pihil. Pehal is the name under which the city is mentioned in early Egyptian (
Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...
) historical texts. Pella is the name of
Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...
's birthplace in Macedonia. It is not known (as of 2006) who founded the Hellenistic town of Pella in Transjordan, which makes it hard to assess who exactly gave it its Greek name and precisely why. Stephanos (fl. 6th century CE), a quite late source, seems to indicate that it was founded by Alexander himself, and Ptolemy III Euergetes is another possible founder. ''The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites'' write that it was founded by veterans of Alexander's army, and named it after the
Pella Pella () is an ancient city located in Central Macedonia, Greece. It served as the capital of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. Currently, it is located 1 km outside the modern town of Pella ...
in Greece which was the birthplace of Alexander. Getzel M. Cohen sees it as plausible that the name Pella was chosen either due to its similarity with the older Semitic name, or due to a common characteristic of both the Macedonian and Transjordan sites: their richness in springs. For the Greek meaning of the name, see the
Etymology Etymology ( ) is the study of the origin and evolution of words—including their constituent units of sound and meaning—across time. In the 21st century a subfield within linguistics, etymology has become a more rigorously scientific study. ...
paragraph in the article on the original
Pella Pella () is an ancient city located in Central Macedonia, Greece. It served as the capital of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. Currently, it is located 1 km outside the modern town of Pella ...
. The town is said to have been called Pihilum.Graf, D.F. (1992) "Hellenisation and the Decapolis." ''ARAM'' 4(1): 1–48.
/ref> Berenike in Greek, often Latinised to Berenice, is another name of Pella from the Hellenistic period, based on only one source: Stephanos. The Macedonian name Berenike was often used in the royal family of
Ptolemaic Egypt Ptolemaic is the adjective formed from the name Ptolemy, and may refer to: Pertaining to the Ptolemaic dynasty * Ptolemaic dynasty, the Macedonian Greek dynasty that ruled Egypt founded in 305 BC by Ptolemy I Soter *Ptolemaic Kingdom Pertaining ...
, who conquered southern Syria and thus Pella in 301, and ruled over the city until 218 BCE, when they lost it to the Seleucid king
Antiochos III Antiochus III the Great (; , ; 3 July 187 BC) was the sixth ruler of the Seleucid Empire, reigning from 223 to 187 BC. He ruled over the Syria (region), region of Syria and large parts of the rest of West Asia towards the end of the 3rd century B ...
. It is not possible to assess after which Ptolemid the city was renamed, possible candidates being the wife of Ptolemy I, a daughter of Ptolemy II, and the wife of Ptolemy III. Cohen presumes that under Seleucid rule, the city reverted right away to being called Pella. Philippeia is another name of the city from the Roman period, seen by Cohen as an attempt of claiming Marcius Philippus as its founder as a reaction to other cities in the region claiming an illustrious, but fictitious pedigree. The Arab geographer of Greek origin, Yaqut (1179–1229), could find no Arabic meaning for the modern name Fahl and believed it to be of foreign origin.


History and archaeology

Pella has been almost continuously occupied since
Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...
times. During the
Hellenistic In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...
period, the town formed with other like-minded towns in the region a political and cultural league known as the " Decapolis", an alliance that grew in stature and economic importance to become regionally influential under Roman jurisdiction. However, Pella expanded to its largest size during the
Byzantine period The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...
, when it was a bishopric in the province of
Palaestina Secunda Palaestina Secunda or Palaestina II was a province of the Byzantine Empire from 390, until its conquest by the Muslim armies in 634–636. Palaestina Secunda, a part of the Diocese of the East, roughly comprised inland Galilee, the Jezreel Valley ...
. In Islamic times, after 635 CE, the town became part of the Jund al-Urdunn (Province of Jordan), but in time was negatively impacted by natural calamities and eclipsed by the geo-political successes of the nearby towns of
Amman Amman ( , ; , ) is the capital and the largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of four million as of 2021, Amman is Jordan's primate city and is the largest city in the Levant ...
, Beisan and especially Tabariyah (Tiberias).


Neolithic

The University of Sydney's Pella Excavation Project discovered at Tabaqat Fahl the remains of
Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...
housing dated to ca. 6000 BCE.


Chalcolithic

The Australian teams also found storage complexes from the
Chalcolithic The Chalcolithic ( ) (also called the Copper Age and Eneolithic) was an archaeological period characterized by the increasing use of smelted copper. It followed the Neolithic and preceded the Bronze Age. It occurred at different periods in di ...
period (ca. 4200 BCE). Since being headed by Stephen Bourke in the 1990s, the excavation has been focusing on the site's
Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...
and
Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...
temples and administrative buildings.The Near Eastern Archaeology Foundation, University of Sydney: Pella
/ref>


Early Bronze

In May 2010 Bourke announced to the press the discovery of a city wall and other structures dating back to 3400 BCE and some even to 3600 BCE, indicating that the city standing at the top of Pella's Tell Husn at the time was a "formidable"
city-state A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world throughout history, including cities such as Rome, ...
around 3400-3200 BCE, at the same time the cities of
Sumer Sumer () is the earliest known civilization, located in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia (now south-central Iraq), emerging during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age, early Bronze Ages between the sixth and fifth millennium BC. ...
were taking shape.Taylor Luck,
Jordan Valley - cradle of civilisations?
, The Jordan Times, 28 May 2010 , vi
StonePages.com
an
FreeRepublic.com
accessed 25 December 2020.
The official University of Sydney excavation page only mentions Early Bronze Age stone defensive platforms from ca. 3200 BCE.


Middle Bronze

The Middle Bronze Age IIA city of ca. 1800 BCE boasted massive mud-brick city walls. Australian archaeologists also discovered Middle and Late Bronze Age temples and palatial residences (ca. 1800-1200 BCE). The city was first mentioned in the 19th century BCE in Egyptian execration texts, and it continued to flourish throughout the
Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...
. A
Canaan CanaanThe current scholarly edition of the Septuagint, Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus Testamentum graece iuxta LXX interprets. 2. ed. / recogn. et emendavit Robert Hanhart. Stuttgart : D ...
ite temple was uncovered during the 1994-2003 campaigns.Ben Churcher, The Discovery of Pella's Canaanite temple
/ref>


Late Bronze

In the Amarna Period (c. 1350 BC), Pella was the site of an Egyptian "governor's residence" containing clay tablets. The Amarna Archive contains letters showing that the city was ruled by ruled by Mutbaal, a son of
Labaya Labaya (Labayu or Lib'ayu) was the ruler of Shechem and warlord in the central hill country of southern Canaan during the Amarna Period (c. 1350 BC). He lived contemporaneously with Pharaoh Akhenaten. Labaya is mentioned in several of the Amarna L ...
of Shechem. Apparently, they rebelled and expanded their territory and associated with the Habiru.


Iron Age

The urban heart of the Iron Age city-kingdom seems to have suffered a major destruction in the later 9th century, from which it did not recover.


Hellenistic period

Re-established as an urban centre under the early Seleucids, its ancient name must still have been known, for its new, Greek name was a close synonym,
Pella Pella () is an ancient city located in Central Macedonia, Greece. It served as the capital of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. Currently, it is located 1 km outside the modern town of Pella ...
– the birthplace of
Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...
in Macedon. As yet no public buildings from the Hellenistic period have been identified, although well-appointed private houses attest to their integration into the wider norms of urban living, such as wall-paintings and statuary. Several of these houses suffered what appears to be the same fiery destruction in the Late Hellenistic period. This has been attributed to a massive destruction by the Hasmonean king,
Alexander Jannaeus Alexander Jannaeus ( , English: "Alexander Jannaios", usually Latinised to "Alexander Jannaeus"; ''Yannaʾy''; born Jonathan ) was the second king of the Hasmonean dynasty, who ruled over an expanding kingdom of Judaea from 103 to 76 BCE. ...
, about 83 or 82 BCE (
Josephus Flavius Josephus (; , ; ), born Yosef ben Mattityahu (), was a Roman–Jewish historian and military leader. Best known for writing '' The Jewish War'', he was born in Jerusalem—then part of the Roman province of Judea—to a father of pr ...

''The Jewish War'' 14.4.8
. From Josephus, it is clear that Pella had been damaged and so needed some restoration by
Pompey Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey ( ) or Pompey the Great, was a Roman general and statesman who was prominent in the last decades of the Roman Republic. ...
decades afterwards, but his specific reference to the destruction of Pella by Jannaeus because its inhabitants refusing to follow Jewish customs, seems to refer to a different place (''Antiquities'', XIII.395-397): it is listed as if amongst southern Levantine cities and out of its more normal sequence between Gadara,
Gerasa Jerash (; , , ) is a city in northern Jordan. The city is the administrative center of the Jerash Governorate, and has a population of 50,745 as of 2015. It is located 30.0 miles north of the capital city Amman. The earliest evidence of settl ...
and Scythopolis.


Roman period

In 63 BCE, the Roman General
Pompey Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey ( ) or Pompey the Great, was a Roman general and statesman who was prominent in the last decades of the Roman Republic. ...
integrated the region into the Eastern portion of the
Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...
, converting the old Seleucid empire into the province of Coele-Syria and incorporating Judaea as a client kingdom. A group of cities claiming Greek Hellenistic foundations asked Pompey to avoid incorporation within Rome's new client-state of Hasmonaean Judaea. Pompey agreed, and these cities were called the Decapolis – literally, the ten cities – although the lists which have survived vary in composition and number. Pella, however, is consistently a " Decapolis" city, and the city in the northernmost bounds of the region known as Perea. If these cities had previously dated their years from their foundation under Alexander the Great or Seleucis I Nicator, they now honoured Pompey by counting 63 BC as a new "Year One". Like most cities within the empire, Pella would have had its own town council. It also minted coins in the Roman period. Pella was incorporated within Roman Judaean territory (''Jewish Wars'' 3.5). According to Josephus, Scaurus "laid waste the country around Pella" (''The Jewish War'' 1.8.1). Pella was one of eleven administrative districts (toparchies) in Roman Judea. During the outbreak of the First Jewish-Roman War, when the Syrian inhabitants of Caesarea had slain its Jewish citizens, there was a general Jewish uprising against neighboring Syrian villages, who sought revenge for the murder of their countrymen, during which time Pella was ransacked and destroyed. Growing Jewish dissent over Roman military occupation in Judea brought about Roman reprisals against Jewish enclaves in the regions of Galilee, the coastal plains of Judea, Idumea and Perea, until, at length, the Roman army had subdued all insurgents and their military governors established during the Jewish revolt. University of Sydney digs unearthed the theatre, baths, and nymphaeum of the Roman city of ca. 150 CE.


First Christians: the "flight to Pella"

In what is known as the " flight to Pella", sometime before the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE, tradition holds that a Jewish-Christian sect of Nazoreans made their way to Pella and settled in the city which became a Jewish Christian hub during the early days of
Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
. According to Epiphanius, the disciples had been miraculously told by Christ to abandon Jerusalem because of the siege it was about to undergo. Epiphanius claims that after the destruction, some returned to Jerusalem. Similarly to Epiphanius,
Eusebius of Caesarea Eusebius of Caesarea (30 May AD 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilius, was a historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian polemicist from the Roman province of Syria Palaestina. In about AD 314 he became the bishop of Caesarea Maritima. ...
recounts how Pella was a refuge for Jerusalem Christians who were fleeing the First Jewish–Roman War in the 1st century CE. Pella is alleged to have been the site of one of Christianity's earliest churches, but no evidence has been found of this. According to historian Edward Gibbon, the early Church of Jerusalem fled to Pella after the ruin of the temple, staying there until their return during the reign of
Emperor Hadrian Hadrian ( ; ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. Hadrian was born in Italica, close to modern Seville in Spain, an Italic peoples, Italic settlement in Hispania Baetica; his branch of the Aelia gens, Aelia '' ...
, making it a secondary pilgrimage site for early Christians and modern Christians today.


Byzantine period

In the late Roman and
Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...
periods, the town extended over the ancient tell (archaeological mound), across the broad central valley of the town today known as the ''Wadi al-Jirm'' (see photograph), and over the slopes and summit of the southern hill known as ''Tell al-Husn''. By the Byzantine era, Pella had reached its maximum size and, probably, prosperity. Being part of the province of ''
Palaestina Secunda Palaestina Secunda or Palaestina II was a province of the Byzantine Empire from 390, until its conquest by the Muslim armies in 634–636. Palaestina Secunda, a part of the Diocese of the East, roughly comprised inland Galilee, the Jezreel Valley ...
'' ("second Palestine"), it certainly had a bishop by the year AD 451. At least three triapsidal churches have been identified within the city: the West Church at the western foot of the tell; the Civic Complex church in the ''Wadi al-Jirm'' at the southeast foot of the tell and which, due to its size and location, was probably the cathedral; and the elevated East Church on the higher slopes of the ''Jebel Abu el-Khas''. A Bishop's palace from ca. 550 CE was also discovered. On the tell, the entire summit was leveled off and a new gridded urban zone constructed during the time of the Byzantine emperor
Justinian I Justinian I (, ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 527 to 565. His reign was marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovatio imperii'', or "restoration of the Empire". This ambition was ...
. The access streets were lined with newly built shops and large buildings, serving both commercial and residential functions. This concern with urban development matched similar activities in other Decapolis towns, such as Gadara (Umm Qays) and Gerasa ( Jerash/Jarash), and reflects the role of regional centres in serving local populations during late antiquity.


Early Islamic period

On the plain of the Jordan Valley below Pella, a historically decisive battle took place in January 635 CE (13 AH) between a Muslim army and the Byzantine forces stationed at Pella and Scythopolis (
Beit She'an Beit She'an ( '), also known as Beisan ( '), or Beth-shean, is a town in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. The town lies at the Beit She'an Valley about 120 m (394 feet) below sea level. Beit She'an is believed to ...
; Beisan). This encounter, one of the earliest between Muslims and Byzantines, came to be known as the Battle of Fihl (also Battle of Fahl, Fahl being a later variant of Fihl). As the Byzantine forces practically annihilated in this battle, the Muslims forces continued to the town of Pella, where they faced little resistance with the town of Pella surrendering by treaty, thereby avoiding occupation by military conquest. Accordingly, the archaeological record shows no disruption attributable to the arrival of Islam, as was the case for nearly all the towns of
Bilad al-Sham Bilad al-Sham (), often referred to as Islamic Syria or simply Syria in English-language sources, was a province of the Rashidun, Umayyad, Abbasid, and Fatimid caliphates. It roughly corresponded with the Byzantine Diocese of the East, con ...
. Rather, the churches, markets and houses of Pella continued in use, with the archaeology showing their progressive modification to meet evolving social and political conditions, as in many of the other towns of the Decapolis alliance in north Jordan. In particular, a large market and workshop area was installed adjacent to the Civic Complex church at the heart of the Byzantine town plan.
Umayyad The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a membe ...
Pella, which by the eighth century CE had officially returned to its original Semitic name of Fihl (variant of Pihil), was totally devastated by the massive
749 Galilee earthquake A devastating earthquake known in scientific literature as the Earthquake of 749 struck on January 18, 749, in areas of the Umayyad Caliphate, with the epicenter in Galilee. The most severely affected areas were west and east of the Jordan River ...
, as a Jordan Valley rift fault line runs directly under the site. The stone and mudbrick two-storeyed houses on the top of the tell (main mound) collapsed in on themselves, thereby trapping the inhabitants – human and animal – and preserving a rich collection of finds sourced from distant regions, such as Egypt and the
Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...
. Subsequent settlement at Pella, dated from the later eighth to eleventh centuries CE (from the
Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 C ...
into the
Fatimid The Fatimid Caliphate (; ), also known as the Fatimid Empire, was a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries CE under the rule of the Fatimid dynasty, Fatimids, an Isma'ili Shi'a dynasty. Spanning a large area of North Africa ...
period), was reduced in size, but featured an enclosed double-courtyard architectural complex in the valley immediately north of the tell. The configuration of the complex suggests markets (khans), with commercial activities such as glass workshops. An Abbasid khan (caravanserai) dating to ca. 950 CE was unearthed at Pella. Recent work on the tell has identified widespread rebuilding following the 749 earthquake, as indicated by wall foundations, plastered floors and refuse pits filled with finely worked bone and moulded glassware.


Later history

Evidence for a presence in the Crusader period (12th century CE) is slight – a few pottery sherds only – but in the following Ayyubid and Mamluk periods the flat summit of the tell was inhabited by a large village, featuring a stone-built mosque with a minbar (pulpit), residential compounds defined by lane ways, and a large cemetery. Australian archaeologists discovered a Mameluke mosque and administrative compound (ca. 1350 CE). Late 16th century Ottoman '' defter''s list a village called Fahl el Tahta in the administrative district of Ajlun where wheat, barley, and sesame were grown and taxes collected on goats, beehives and water-driven mills.


Recent excavations

The site was first published as part of a regional survey by G. Schumacher, but the first excavation was conducted by Funk and Richardson only in 1958, revealing Bronze and Iron Age material in two soundings. From 1966–1967, R. H. Smith led a team from Wooster College (Ohio) to prepare a plan of the site and its environs, and begin excavations, but was interrupted by the Six Day War. A joint project with the
University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...
(Australia), but with separate excavation teams and seasons, explored the city from 1978–1985. The Australian expedition was initially directed by Prof. J. B. Hennessy and Dr A. W. McNicoll. Wooster stopped excavations in 1985, but the Australian project continues. Between 1994 and 1996, Pam Watson (at the time, Asst Director of the British Institute at 'Amman) and Dr Margaret O'Hea of the
University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide is a public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. Its main campus in the Adelaide city centre includes many Sa ...
conducted the Pella Hinterland Survey to identify land-use in an area approx. 30 square km around the city.Watson and O'Hea (1996), Pella Hinterland Survey 1994: Preliminary Report. ''Levant'' 28: 63–76
Watson, P. (2006) Changing Patterns of Settlement and Land Use in the Hinterland of Pella (Jordan)in Late Antiquity. pp. 171–192 in A. Lewin and P. Pellegrini (eds), ''Settlements and Demography in the Near East in Late Antiquity.'' Pisa: Istituti Editoriali e Poligrafici Internazional
Since the 1990s, with the project headed by Stephen Bourke, the focus has been on the site's
Bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...
and
Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...
temples and administrative buildings. A Canaanite temple was uncovered between 1994 and 2003. In 2010 Stephen Bourke announced the discovery of a city wall and other structures, some dating back to the mid-4th millennium BCE.


See also

* Flight to Pella * Diocese of Pella * Bayt Nattif, another 'Pella' from the Roman province of Judaea


References


Bibliography

* * * * *


External links


Pictures of Pella
2013, at PBase.com
Photos of Pella
at the American Center of Research {{Authority control Archaeological sites in Jordan Roman towns and cities in Jordan Decapolis Former populated places in Jordan