Ḥorvat Tevet, the Jezreel Valley: a village and an Israelite royal estate

Ḥorvat Tevet is a small site located in the north-eastern margins of the Jezreel Valley. During the late Iron IIA (9th century BCE) a large, public, pillared building was erected on the site’s summit, with areas dedicated to agricultural processing and craft specializations around it. In light of evidence from the pottery assemblages, the faunal remains, and the various means of production detected at the site, we argue that Ḥorvat Tevet served as an administrative centre of a royal estate within early monarchic Israel. We further discuss the archaeological evidence for royal estates in the southern Levant during the Late Bronze Age and its meaning for the origins of royal economy in early monarchic Israel.