Re-discovering the Iron Age Fortress at Tell Qudadi in the Context of the Neo-Assyrian Imperialistic Policies

Tell Qudadi (Tell esh-Shuna) is located on the northern bank of the mouth of the Yarkon River. A preliminary trial excavation was conducted at the site in October 1937 under the direction of P. L. O. Guy, followed by extensive excavations carried out from November 1937-March 1938 on behalf of the Hebrew University, headed by E. L. Sukenik and S. Yeivin with the participation of N. Avigad. An impressive Iron Age fortress with two architectural phases was reported to have been found in the excavations. The excavators dated the first phase of the fortress to the 10th/9th century BCE, whereas the second phase, in their opinion, existed from the latter part of the 9th century BCE until 732 BCE, when it was destroyed as a result of the military campaign led by Tiglath-pileser III. Although the excavations were conducted some seventy years ago, the findings were never published. Considering the importance of the site to the history of the Land of Israel during the Iron Age, and as a result of cooperation between the Tel Aviv University and the Hebrew University, it was recently decided to publish the final excavation report. The preliminary study has produced interesting results that challenge the insights gained by the excavators. The ceramic assemblage is now thought to indicate that the site was not established before the second half of the 8th century BCE. Moreover, the ceramic evidence made it possible to determine that the fortress existed during the neo-Assyrian period. It seems reasonable to assume that the Tell Qudadi fortress was one of a series of neo-Assyrian fortresses constructed along the coast of the Land of Israel (some of which were erected at the mouths of rivers) at the end of the 8th and in the first half of the 7th century BCE.