Tell Nimrin (South Shuna), Jordan

 Archaeological square on top of Tell Nimrin
© David E. Graves

Tell Nimrin

(note: tried to post this on Wikipedia, but they said I was too close to the subject. So I will leave it to someone who doesn't know anything about the site to post it first and then correct their misinformation :-)

Location

The ruins of Tell Nimrin (Tel esh-Shunah, Beth-Nimrah  (Hebrew: בית נמרה), also called Nimrin and Bethennabris) is located in present-day South Shuna (or Shuneh), Jordan at the base of Wadi Shu‘aib at 31°54'00"N 35°37'30"E (Palestinian Grid reference 2094E/1451N) [1] approximately 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) southwest of Amman, Jordan. It is located on the highway (Route 65) connecting Amman, Salt, Jericho, and Jerusalem that runs along and cuts into the northern slope of the tell. It is approximately sixteen kilometers (10 miles) north of the Dead Sea and sixteen kilometers (10 miles) east of Jericho. It is not to be confused with the Palestinian village in Israel called Nimrin (Kfar Nimra) as some have done.

History

Tell Nimrin was visited and mentioned in the publications of explorers and early archaeologists such as Félix-Marie Abel [2], William F. Albright [3], Claude Reignier Conder [4], Alexis Mallon [5], and Selah Merrill [6]. The ancient city was believed by Nelson Glueck to have moved twice in its history, occupying successively three mounds: Tell el-Mustaḥ during the Early Bronze I, Tell Bleibel in the Iron Age I-II, and Tell Nimrin in the Roman through to the Early Muslim period, with similar large historical sedentary habitation gaps as those encountered elsewhere across the Jordan Valley. [11] Glueck based his dates on sherds found at the surface and, in the case of Tell el-Mustah and Tell Nimrin, in cuts caused by modern roads.^[11] However, later excavation carried out by Flanagan, McCreery, and Yassine indicate that Nimrin has occupation in the Early Bronze period and Iron age.

Identification

In 1943 the site was surveyed by Nelson Glueck who proposed that the nearby Wadi Nimrin should be identified with the “Waters of Nimrin” mentioned in Isaiah 15:6; and Jeremiah 48:34 [7]. The site is probably to be identified with Beth-nimrah, mentioned in Numbers 32:36 and Joshua 13:27, referred to as Bethnamaris by Eusebius (On. 44:17). Nimrin is also mentioned in the Mosaic of Rehob also called the Tel Rehov Synagogue inscription [8]. Some have identified the site as Admah one of the cities of the Plain destroyed by God along with Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 14:2). Collins states:

“The Bronze Age site of Tall Nimrin occupies a discrete territory with several “daughter” towns in close proximity. Thus, Tall Nimrin is a good candidate for Admah.”[9]

Based on a surface survey Glueck reported “not a single one [sherd] from any pre-Roman period.” [10]. However, later Glueck reports Early Bronze I, (no Late Bronze) Iron Age I, II, Roman-Umayyad [11].  Following excavations by Flanagan, McCreery, and Yassine the site demonstrates occupation in the Early Bronze IV, Middle Bronze IIC, IA II, Persian, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Umayyad, Ayyubid and Mamluk, Period. [12]

Archaeology

Tall Nimrin was excavated under the directorship of James W. Flanagan for four seasons in 1989, 1990, 1993, 1995 [13]. The stratigraphy of the site included:

• Modern (Stratum VIII) 
• Mamluk (Stratum VII) 
• Late Byzantine/Umayyad (Stratum VI) 
• Roman/Byzantine (Stratum V) 
• Persian (Stratum IV) 
• Iron II (Stratum III) Four distinct Iron II phases were well attested 
• Iron IC (Stratum II) 
• Middle Bronze (Stratum I)

Late Bronze Gap

In the 1993 Season of excavations, Flanagan, McCreery, and Yassine identified the mysterious phenomenon of no late bronze age strata and call it “a Late Bronze gap.” They continue to speculate that:

“The 500 year gap of occupation from ca. 1500 to 1000 B.C. [LB/IA] must be due to significant sociopolitical and/or environmental phenomena that remain to be explained.” [14]

Complete section of the Madaba Map
© David E. Graves

Madaba Map

Portion of the Madaba map.
Across from Jericho are two unnamed
sites marked site 1 and site 2.
Graves and Stripling identify
site 1 as Tall el-Kafrayn
or Khirbet el-Kafrayn=Abila
site 2 as Tall el-Hammam=Livias  [19].
© David E. Graves

 The Mosaic Madaba Map [15] as an early map of the Holy Land may provide clues for the identification of Tall Nimrin. While most sites portrayed on the Madaba Map are provided names, two sites (Sites One and Two) are missing the Tessera depicting their names. Scholars have long speculated, based on the Tessera vignette of the two cities and their general location on the map, about the identification of these sites. Site one on the Madaba Map is identified by Donner [16] as the archaeological site of Tall Nimrin and as the city of Beth-Nimra [17]. Piccirillo and Alliata,  identify Tall Nimrin as the city of Bethnambris, Bethnamaris; while Schick [18] identified Tall Nimrin as Beth Nimrin. However, Graves and Stripling, along with others, identify Site One as Tall el-Kafrayn or Khirbet el-Kafrayn [not Al-Kafrayn]=Abila as it is closer to Tall el-Hammam the closest site to Site One [19].
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References

• [1] Deirdre A. Dempsey, “An Ostracon from Tell Nimrin,” Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 289 (February 1993): 55 n.1.
• [2] F. M. Abel, “Exploration de la vallée du Jourdain.” Revue Biblique 7 (1910): 532–56; “Explorations du sud-est de la vallee du Jourdain.” Revue Biblique 40 (1931): 214–226, 375–400.
• [3]  William F. Albright, “The Jordan Valley in the Bronze Age”. Annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research 6 (1924–25): 48.
• [4] Claude Reignier Conder, The Survey of Eastern Palestine I: The 'Adwan Country (London: The Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund, 1889), 237–238.
• [5] Alexis Mallon, “Notes sur quelques sites du Ghôr oriental”. Biblica 10 (1929): 94–99.
• [6]  Selah Merrill, East of the Jordan: A Record of Travel and Observation in the Countries of Moab, Gilead, and Bashan (London: Darf, 1881), 206–207.
• [7] Nelson Glueck. Explorations in Eastern Palestine IV. Part 1. 4 vols. AASOR. (New Haven, CT: ASOR, 1945), 25–28. 
• [8] Avraham Negev and Shimon Gibson, eds., “Nimrin (Tell),” in Archaeological Encyclopedia of the Holy Land, 3rd ed., 1 vols. (New York: Continuum International, 2001), 369.
• [9]  Steven Collins, “Sodom and the Cities of the Plain,” in Lexham Bible Dictionary (Logos), ed. John D. Barry (Bellingham, WA: Lexham, 2016), op cit.
• [10] Nelson Glueck, Explorations in Eastern Palestine, 368.
• [11] Nelson Glueck, “Some Ancient Towns in the Plains of Moab”. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research no. 91 (October 1943): 7-26 see p. 12.
• [12]  Rudolph H. Dornemann, “Preliminary Comments on the Pottery Traditions at Tell Nimrin, Illustrated from the 1989 Season of Excavations,” Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan34 (1990): 153–81; Rami G. Khouri, Antiquities of the Jordan Rift Valley (Manchester, MI: Solipsist, 1988), 70–72.
• [13] James W. Flanagan, David W. McCreery, and Khair N. Yassine, “First Preliminary Report of the 1989 Tell Nimrin Project,” Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 34 (1990): 131–52; James W. Flanagan, David W. McCreery, and Khair N. Yassine, “Preliminary Report of the 1990 Excavation at Tell Nimrin,” Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 36 (1992): 89–111; James W. Flanagan, David W. McCreery, and Khair N. Yassine, “Tell Nimrin: Preliminary Report on the 1993 Season,” Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 38 (1994): 205–44; James W. Flanagan, David W. McCreery, and Khair N. Yassine, “Tall Nimrin: Preliminary Report on the 1995 Excavation and Geological Survey,” Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 40 (1996): 271–92.
• [14] Flanagan, McCreery, and Yassine, “Tell Nimrin: Preliminary Report, 1993,” 219; Flanagan, McCreery, and Yassine, “Tall Nimrin: Preliminary Report, 1995,” 286.
• [15] H. Donner, The Mosaic Map of Madaba. An Introductory Guide (Kampen: Kok Pharos (1992), 37–94; Eugenio Alliata and Michele Piccirillo, eds., The Madaba Map Centenary: Travelling Through the Byzantine Umayyad Period. Proceedings of the International Conference Held in Amman 7–9 April 1997, Studium Biblicum Franciscannum Collectio Maior 40 (Jerusalem: Studium Biblicum Franciscannum, 1999), 121–24.
• [16] H. Donner, The Mosaic Map of Madaba. An Introductory Guide (Kampen: Kok Pharos (1992), 39.
• [17] Eugenio Alliata and Michele Piccirillo, eds., The Madaba Map Centenary: Travelling Through the Byzantine Umayyad Period. Proceedings of the International Conference Held in Amman 7–9 April 1997, Studium Biblicum Franciscannum Collectio Maior 40 (Jerusalem: Studium Biblicum Franciscannum, 1999), 54.
• [18] Robert Schick, “Northern Jordan: What might have been in the Madaba mosaic map.” Pp. 228–29 in Eugenio Alliata and Michele Piccirillo, eds., The Madaba Map Centenary: Travelling Through the Byzantine Umayyad Period. Proceedings of the International Conference Held in Amman 7–9 April 1997. Studium Biblicum Franciscannum Collectio Maior 40 (Jerusalem: Studium Biblicum Franciscannum, 1999), 228.
• [19]  David E. Graves and D. Scott Stripling, “Re-Examination of the Location for the Ancient City of Livias,” Levant 43, no. 2 (2011): 178–200.

Further Reading

•  Dornemann, Rudolph H. “Preliminary Comments on the Pottery Traditions at Tell Nimrin, Illustrated from the 1989 Season of Excavations.” Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 34 (1990): 153–81. 
•  Dornemann, Rudolph H. “Preliminary Thoughts on the Tall Nimrin Krater.” In Studies in the History and Archaeology of Jordan, 621–28. 5. Amman, Jordan: Department of Antiquities, 1995.
• Flanagan, James W., David W. McCreery, and Khair N. Yassine. “First Preliminary Report of the 1989 Tell Nimrin Project.” Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 34 (1990): 131–52. 
• Flanagan, James W., David W. McCreery, and Khair N. Yassine. “Preliminary Report of the 1990 Excavation at Tell Nimrin.” Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 36 (1992): 89–111. 
• Flanagan, James W., David W. McCreery, and Khair N. Yassine. “Tall Nimrin: Preliminary Report on the 1995 Excavation and Geological Survey.” Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 40 (1996): 271–92. 
• Flanagan, James W., David W. McCreery, and Khair N. Yassine. “Tall Nimrin: The Byzantine Gold Hoard from the 1993 Season.” Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 38 (1994): 245–65. 
• Flanagan, James W., David W. McCreery, and Khair N. Yassine. “Tell Nimrin: Preliminary Report on the 1993 Season.” Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 38 (1994): 205–44. 
• Graves, David E., and D. Scott Stripling. “Re-Examination of the Location for the Ancient City of Livias.” Levant 43, no. 2 (2011): 178–200.
• Glueck, Nelson. ''Explorations in Eastern Palestine IV''. Part 1. 4 vols. AASOR 25–28. New Haven, CT: ASOR, 1945; Khouri, Rami G. ''Antiquities of the Jordan Rift Valley''. Manchester, MI: Solipsist, 1988. 
• McCreery, David W. “Chronique Archéologique: Jordanie: Fouilles et Prospections: Excavation at Tell Nimrin: 1989-1990: Summary of Results.” Syria 70 (1993): 265–68. 
• Metcalf, William E., and William J. Fulco. “Coins from the Excavations at Tell Nimrin.” American Journal of Numismatics 7, no. 8 (1995): 145–54. 
• Piccirillo, Michele. “A Church at Shunah Nimrin.” Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 26 (1982): 335–42. 
• Stewart, Robert Laird. The Land of Israel; a Text-Book on the Physical and Historical Geography of the Holy Land Embodying the Results of Recent Research. New York, NY: Revell, 1899. 
• Yassine, Khair. Tell Nimrin: An Archaeological Exploration. Amman, Jordan: The University of Jordan, 2011.

External links

• Aerial photos of the site of Tel Nimrin
• Photos of Tel Nimrin by Leen Ritmeyer

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Further Research

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Updated February 8, 2022