Tell el-Badawiya \ تل البدويه (“mound of the Bedouins”) is among the largest archaeological sites in northern Israel, dating from the Bronze and Iron Ages. It is strategically located on the ancient route that connects the Hauran and the Akko Plain, known in more recent times as the Darb el-Hawarna. The site is unanimously identified as the location of ancient Hannathon/Ḫinatuna, mentioned in the Amarna Letters (EA 8 and 245), the royal annals of Tiglath-Pileser III (Ann. 18, Line 5), and the Hebrew Bible (Josh 19:14).
The Tell el-Badawiya/Hannathon Archaeological Project (TBH-AP) is a scientific corporation between the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, the Israel Antiquities Authority, and Leipzig University. It aims to explore the site’s occupational history and material culture in the Bronze and Iron Ages, focusing, in particular, on the processes of collapse and subsequent regeneration of human activity.
The project’s first stage will focus primarily on the archaeology and history of Tell el-Badawiya/Hannathon in the Late Iron Age and the Persian Period. Our main objective is to gather archaeological data concerning the attack of the Assyrians mentioned in Tiglath-Pileser III’s royal annals, to understand its mechanism and intensity, and to explore the events that followed this event. We are particularly interested in shedding new light on the question of whether the Lower Galilee experienced an extensive occupational gap following the collapse of the Kingdom of Israel in the late 8th century BCE.
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