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Vol. 41 (2019), pp. 12–29 •
  5.18 MBRESEARCH ARTICLE
Loay Abu Alsaud
Department of Tourism and Archaeology, Faculty of Humanities, An-Najah National University (loayabualsaud@najah.edu)
 Abstract
Tall Sufan, a 1.5-hectare hill in an area with a number of archaeological sites, is located 1.5 km west of the city of Nablus.
This site contains remains from Bronze (3600–1200 BC) and Iron Age II (918–539 BC), Roman (63 BC–324 AD), Byzantine (325–638 AD/16H) and Islamic periods (638/16 Hijra–1918).
From the Ottoman-Turkish period until modern times it was in agricultural use. However, in recent decades, human activities have destroyed sections of Tall Sufan.
The surviving features include a fortification system, a pond, an aqueduct, a watermill and several dry-stone terrace walls, cylindrical weigh oil press, silos, and burial caves.
This article describes these structural elements and compares them to similar sites in Palestine. In addition, it provides information on coins recovered during the 2016–2017 campaigns.
Resumen
Tall Sufan se encuentra a 1,5 km al oeste de la ciudad de Nablús y tiene una superficie de 1,5 hectáreas. Es una pequeña colina en un área donde hay una serie de sitios arqueológicos que se remontan a varios periodos.
En las últimas décadas, las actividades humanas han destruido algunos sectores de los espacios fortificados. Los restos arqueológicos estudiados incluyen un sistema de fortificación, un estanque, un acueducto, un molino de agua y varias terrazas de piedra seca, una prensa de aceite de peso cilíndrico, silos y varias cuevas de enterramiento.
Todas las estructuras localizadas fueron construidas con piedras de diferentes tamaños, unidas con mortero de barro. Los suelos consistían en piedras incrustadas en el material del piso. Después de comparar estos elementos estructurales con otros similares en Palestina y las monedas descubiertas en el sitio, Tall Sufan muestra evidencias de la Edad del Bronce (3600-1200 a. C.), la Edad del Hierro II (918-539 a. C.), la época romana (63 a. C.-324 d. C.), la bizantina (325-638 d. C.) y la islámica (638/16 héjira-1918).
Desde el periodo otomano-turco hasta los tiempos modernos tuvo un uso agrícola. Finalmente, se presentan las monedas localizadas durante las campañas 2016-2017.
Keywords
Tall Sufan; silos; olive oil press; tombs; fortifications; coins; shrines.
Palabras clave
Tall Sufan; silos; prensa de aceite de oliva; tumbas; fortificaciones; monedas; santuarios.
Cite as
Abu Alsaud, L. 2019.
Survey and Excavation Results from Tall Sufan and its Surrounding (Western Nablus, Palestine). Arqueología Iberoamericana 41: 12-29. Received: January 8, 2019. Modified: January 22, 2019. Accepted: January 23, 2019.
Publication date: January 28, 2019.
Other Persistent Identifiers
PURL: http://purl.org/aia/4102. ARK: http://n2t.net/ark:/49934/178.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank the Acting President of An-Najah National University Professor Maher Al-Natsheh and the Deanship of Scientific Research Professor Naji Qatanani for their financial support.
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