 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 Ksila  64 pictures
 3 minutes HQ video There are only a few museums in Israel that a whole antiquity hill is one of its exhibits, bearing the traces of a small, ancient town. Ksila  Such is the Land of Israel Museum, located in the north of Tel Aviv, whose stands were built around Ksila Hill, the Arab name of the hill near the northern bank of the Yarkon, as the ancient name could not be traced. The excavations of Tel Ksila brought important findings, mostly concerning the settlement of the Philistines during the first period of the Iron Age. The Philistines were one of the peoples identified with a group known as "the sea people". Its origin is in the Aegean Sea. It came to that part of the Mediterranean at the end of the 12th and 13th century B. C. The struggle of the Philistines against the Israelites is clearly described in the Bible. It was a struggle over the control of the Land of Israel, headed by King Saul and King David, which ended with Philistine defeat. Aside from their main cities, "Five Philistine Towns", known from the Bible, the Philistines also established small towns, such as Ksila Hill. It was probably a small port town, with the Yarkon being its port. As suitable for a site located in the middle of the red loam and gravel hills of Israel Coastal Plane, in this settlement the houses are made of sun dried mortar bricks. The dried mortar was damaged and washed away in the winter rains, and therefore the ancient settlers had to re-plaster their homes every year. That is the reason why it is necessary in present time, as well, to protect the excavated parts from the rain. For that purpose, open sided shelters were built. In the homes, a large amount of objects was discovered, such as many decorated earthenware, all exhibited in the nearby stand. One of the homes was reconstructed in order to show the visitor what an ancient home looked like. Yet the main finding discovered in Ksila is a public building, which was used as the local temple, as indicated by its structure, the benches along the walls, the altars that was built at the end of the hall, and of course, the uniquely shaped tools of rite which were found in it.      Back to Israel Index
|
|||||
