Figure 7 - uploaded by Gonen Sharon
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Nuheille Dolmen 1882 and 2018. Upper figure after drawing by the royal delegation 1882. Note the Hula Lake and the gorge of the Jordan River. Below, same dolmen in 2018.
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... structures were documented in this heavily disturbed region (Fig. 6). The area has been subject to damage by military activity, development (including the laying of Taplinè oil pipeline between Iraq and the Lebanese shores), and agricultural activity. The actual dolmens described in Conder's report were finally identified in the summer of 2018 ( Fig. 7; Conder 1882c; Prince Albert Victor and Prince George of Wales ...
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... The largest dolmen concentration in the Hula Valley surrounds Kibbutz Shamir ( Fig. 2; Berger and Sharon, 2018). Kagan and Stekelis surveyed more than 400 dolmens on the basalt stepped escarpment sloping westward from the Golan into the Hula Valley (Stekelis, 1962). ...
... The most distinct type of Shamir dolmen has a tumulus built around a large central chamber that is entered through a vestibule and is covered with a giant capstone (Fig. 3a). The massive capstones of these dolmens sit atop the tumuli, most likely designed by the dolmen builders to be a prominent landmark, visible even today (Berger and Sharon, 2018;Sharon et al., 2017). Though later intrusions from the Roman and the Ottoman periods were detected in most of the Shamir dolmens' excavated chambers, the pottery assemblages excavated on their floors are typical of the IB, hence dating their building and first use. ...
... In Dolmen 4, located to the south of Dolmen 3, a test pit was excavated near the entrance in 2014 yielding no significant finds (Berger and Sharon, 2018). One OSL sample was collected roughly in the middle of the chamber, under the second of three capstones. ...
... Dolmens are found in the thousands in the Golan, expanding eastward into the Syrian desert (Epstein 1985;Hartal 2017). They are present in large numbers around the Hula Valley (Berger and Sharon 2018) and on the basaltic uplift of the Korazim Plateau, and in small numbers in the Upper Galilee Mountains (Berger and Sharon 2018;Fraser 2018;Mottram and Menere 2008;Stepansky 2005;Yassine 1985). Interestingly, dolmens are practically absent west of the Jordan River and the Dead Sea Rift Valley south of the Sea of Galilee. ...
... Dolmens are found in the thousands in the Golan, expanding eastward into the Syrian desert (Epstein 1985;Hartal 2017). They are present in large numbers around the Hula Valley (Berger and Sharon 2018) and on the basaltic uplift of the Korazim Plateau, and in small numbers in the Upper Galilee Mountains (Berger and Sharon 2018;Fraser 2018;Mottram and Menere 2008;Stepansky 2005;Yassine 1985). Interestingly, dolmens are practically absent west of the Jordan River and the Dead Sea Rift Valley south of the Sea of Galilee. ...
... Dolmens form a reliable context in comparison to settings such as desert rock art panels. It is commonly accepted that the dolmens of the Golan and Hula Valley were constructed during the Intermediate Bronze Age (IB) (Berger and Sharon 2018;Epstein 1985;Sharon et al. 2017), dated 2450 to 2000 BC (Regev et al. 2012). In contrast, determining the dating and association of other rock art with the structure in or on which it is found is challenging. ...
Thousands of dolmens are scattered throughout the southern Levant, mainly in Syria, Israel, and Jordan. These megalithic burials, dated to the early stages of the Bronze Age, are an understudied and little understood phenomenon of Levantine archaeology. Unlike in Europe and other parts of the world, rock art has rarely been reported from Levantine dolmens, despite more than 150 years of research and hundreds of excavated dolmens of the thousands of megalithic structures recorded. A fortunate discovery, in 2012, of engraved features on the ceiling of the central burial chamber of a giant dolmen in the Shamir Dolmen Field has markedly altered our current body of knowledge. Since this finding, rock art has been discovered at three additional dolmen sites. These latest discoveries are presented in the context of their significance to the broader phenomenon of the mysterious megalithic burials of the Levant.
... The existing dolmen typologies (Epstein 1985;Steimer-Herbet 2004;Zohar 1992) try to incorporate all kinds of megalithic structures, but do not allow for a finescale differentiation of the Early Bronze Age dolmens (Frazer 2018). Either these typologies combine the trilithic structures with much larger long-barrow type structures (Epstein 1985), which has led to the intermingling of Early Bronze Age trilithon dolmens with EB IV megalithic structures (Berger and Sharon 2018;Frazer 2018). Or a very detailed typology of dolmens has been created, which includes a specific number of side-stones or end-stones, and is difficult to use on dolmens that are often damaged and not in a pristine stage of preservation. ...
The site of Murayghat, southwest of Madaba, consists of a central limestone knoll (Area 1) with numerous structures built from standing stones, single orthostat stones (Hadjar al-Mansoub), dolmen fields overlooking them, and domestic architecture situated around the central knoll. The dolmens, standing structures, and lower levels of the architecture date into the Early Bronze Age, while a reuse of the site is attested from the Middle Bronze Age. The dolmens are simple trilithon structures, which show planning and a relation with the possible cultic center. The EB I architecture features apsidal rooms and large walls made from orthostats similar to those on the central knoll. The site fits into the Early Bronze Age development of large cemetery structures related to settlement sites. The “Ritual Landscapes of Murayghat” project is carried out by the University of Copenhagen.
