Archaeologists excavating a 3700-year old Canaanite palace at the site of Tel Kabri in the Western Galilee region, believe the structure was abandoned after it was destroyed by an earthquake. Tel Kabri is a 75-acre site containing a city which date from 1900-1700 BC. According to the study, which was recently published in the journal PLOS ONE, excavators discovered that a previously-unearthed trench extended farther than originally thought. Within the trench they discovered walls and floors tipping into it from either side, suggesting that the ground had shifted. They also found warped plaster floors and dozens of storage jars that had been buried the collapsed deposits of material which appeared to have accumulated rapidly. Furthermore, there were no weapons, mass graves or evidence of destruction by fire. In addition, geographical research revealed that Tel Kabri lies on a 10km long fault that runs from the foothills of the Galilee Mountains, and across the coastal plain towards the Mediterranean coast. The study’s authors have concluded that the sudden abandonment of the city was due to the site being severely damaged by an earthquake.
OFF-SITE LINKS:
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0239079
