Munhata ( Horvat Minha or Khirbet Munhata) is an archaeological site south of Lake Tiberias, Israel on the north bank and near the outlet of Nahal Tavor (Tabor Stream) on a terrace below sea level.
Excavations
The area of in the Jordan Valley was first excavated in 1962 by
Jean Perrot. The deposits on site were deep and divided up into six distinct layers of occupation. These have been divided into
PPNB aceramic during levels six to three, with later
Neolithic and
Chalcolithic, Yarmukian and Wadi Rabah cultures in levels two and one.
The scientific archives of the archaeological excavations of Munhata are deposited at the Archives Center of the Maison des Sciences de l’homme Mondes (CNRS, France)
Construction
Buildings in the earlier stages had stone, paved or plastered floors made of mud bricks on stone foundations with remains of hearths and other stone structures. The north walls of buildings contained a plastered niche, a feature found in a similar room in
Jericho.
The
PPNB levels also revealed an unusual circular
courtyard structure with rooms radiating out from it and a large platform with channels cut in it associated with a pebble lined trough, presumably used for craft purposes.
The Yarmoukian phase continued with round buildings which developed into rectangular ones in the Rabah phase.
A major break in settlement was detected between levels three and two, where the early levels were covered over with sandy soil.
Culture
Various flint tools and arrowheads were recovered from the site. Arrowheads had distinctive tangs (some barbed) with wings and pointed shoulders, some were diamond or leaf shaped and a few were notched. Finely denticulated
sickle blades were found in large numbers with other tools including end scrapers, blades, burins and borers. One piece of
obsidian was found in level six that originated from the same place as a piece from
El Khiam. Grinding tools were also found including pestle and mortars of basalt or limestone, polishers, rubbers and grooved stones.
Stoneware vessels were found along with a few greenstone beads.
The site was also notable for finds of clay figurines of males, females and animals.
Dating
Radio-carbon dating of the site had large stated errors due to problematic dating materials but gave dates between ca. 7210 and 5420
Before Christ. These provide a vague suggestion of the age of the site. Typological comparisons have been made of various artifacts highlighting a certain regional variation with more elaborate design arrowheads and less pressure flaking. This equates generally with the PPNB stages of Jericho and Beidha suggesting that occupations overlapped with these sites and a date of occupation during the middle and late 7th millennium BC.
Further reading
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Perrot, Jean., La troisieme campagne de fouilles a Munhata (1964), Syria 43, 1966.
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External links
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Finding from Munhata in the Louvre Museum
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Seated woman clay figurine from Munhata, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem
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Clay figurine from Munhata, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem
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Animal figurine from Munhata, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem
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Mortar and pestle from Munhata, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem
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Spoon from Munhata, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem
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Chalice from Munhata, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem
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Clay jar from Munhata, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem
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Small bowl from Munhata, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem
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Arrowhead from Munhata, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem
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Arrowhead from Munhata, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem
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Axe from Munhata, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem
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Pointed object from Munhata, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem
