Tell site on the Palestinian coastal plain west of Hebron, occupied from the Early Bronze Age to the Hellenistic period. It was excavated in the 1890s first by Sir Flinders Petrie and subsequently by F.J. Bliss, and these early excavations mark the beginning of stratigraphical excavation in this area. They also saw the beginning of the establishment of an absolute chronology for Palestinian prehistory, through the discovery of imported, datable Egyptian objects in association with local material. Recent excavations by an American team have led to the revision of some of the conclusions, and especially the dates, suggested by the early excavators.
The Macmillan dictionary of archaeology, Ruth D. Whitehouse, 1983Copied