Tel Shor

About

Tel Shor ("mound of the bull"), or Tell Thorah (Tell Thwrah) is an archaeological site in the center of the western Jezreel Valley. It contains a small settlement mound (tell) with an area of 3 dunams (0.30 hectares). It rises to a height of 5–6 metres (16–20 ft) above the alluvial plain. It is situated 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) north of Kishon River. South and west of the mound are springs the form a marsh. The site was surveyed in the past and building stones were found scattered on the mound. Based on the pottery found it was settled as early as the Early Bronze Age and human presence is noted in every period until the modern era. A mausoleum from the Roman era with a stone sarcophagus was damaged during drainage work in the 1960s along with the mound's western edges. An excavation took place around the site in 2007 and discovered several burials, mostly from the Persian period, as well as one burial dated to either the Late Bronze Age or Iron Age and another one from the Roman period in addition to the mausoleum. The site was suggested by several scholars as the possible location of Maralah, a border town in the possession of the biblical Tribe of Zebulun, mentioned in the Book of Joshua.

Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Photography via Wikimedia Commons.