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1190-1150/25 BCE). At several locations, Late Bronze Age floors and walls were partially reused. These structures represent the so-called squatter occupations. The ceramological material displays a continuation of the local material into the Iron Age I without the common imported Late Bronze Age wares from Cyprus or the Aegean world. The handmade and burnished cooking ware remains in use. Characteristic for Level 6GH is a red fabric covered in white slip and red paint. The second architectural phase attested for the Early Iron Age at Tell Tweini and labelled Level 6EF can be found in clusters on Field A. The clear in situ contexts with similar material evidence point to a revival of the site before catapulting into the more monumental Iron Age II period during the 9th century BCE. A number of rooms and structures were probably reused from the underlying 6GH level, complemented with newly constructed buildings with an extension similar to the Late Bronze Age settlement. The foundation of a larger rectangular edifice, with several room annexes to the south, was exposed in Field A. This building is interpreted as the initial construction phase of the later monumental
Building A. A conflagration caused the final occupation phase of level 6EF to be well preserved with several in situ inventories.
292:. Several soundings illustrate a stratigraphy of two occupation levels for the Late Bronze Age: Level 7DE and Level 7BC and one destruction level; Level 7A. The oldest phase, Level 7DE (Late Bronze Age I), was only recognized within the deep sounding. Cypriot Base-Ring Ware I, White Slip I and Red Lustrous Wheelmade Ware were associated with partially excavated stone constructions within this level. The vast occupation of Level 7BC is exemplified by large buildings with stone pavements, occasionally constructed on different terraces. Similar features occurred at the end of the Late Bronze Age II at Ugarit. Besides local ware, this level produced a wide range of Cypriot and Late Helladic ceramics. Noteworthy objects are a number of cylinder seals, a bronze ring with
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burials and chamber tombs. All burials were implemented within the confines of domestic structures, traditional for this period. A monumental collective tomb is considered as one of the most exceptional finds from this period. It contained the skeletons of 58 individuals, dated to the Middle Bronze Age IIB/C (ca. 1700 BCE), based on numerous grave goods such as well-preserved ceramic vessels, bronze pins, a cylinder seal and a figurine. A number of
Cypriot ceramics – which were not only found in the tomb, but also in its fill layers – underline the mercantile relations between
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structure, with an elaborate street system connecting several monumental buildings, including a
Phoenician temple district, with domestic and industrial areas. During the second half of the 9th century BCE (Level 6AB) the urban lay-out of Tell Tweini slightly altered. Official buildings were reused and extended and new residential houses were erected. Numerous imports of Cypriot pottery at Tweini reflect the expanding economic and commercial network between Cyprus,
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Bretschneider, Joachim, et al, “The Early Iron Age at Tell Tweini: Results from the 2008, 2009 and 2010.” In Tell Tuqan
Excavations and Regional Perspectives : Cultural Developments in Inner Syria from the Early Bronze Age to the Persian/ Hellenistic Period, Proceedings, ed. Francesca Baffi, Roberto
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inscription and a bifacial seal with an inscription in
Hieroglyphic Luwian. The numerous imports found in the Late Bronze Age levels at Tell Tweini confirm the existence of an elaborate network of international relations and commercial activities. The material culture of the latest phase of the Late
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Al-Maqdissi M., Badawy M., Bretschneider J., Hameeuw H., Jans G., Vansteenhuyse K., Voet G. and Van
Lerberghe K. 2008: The Occupation Levels of Tell Tweini and their Historical Implications, in: Biggs R., Myers J. and Roth M. (eds.), Proceedings of the 51st Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale,
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Iron Age II – Level 6CD-6AB (ca. 930-750 BCE). By the beginning of the 9th century BCE Tell Tweini had been completely redeveloped. Excavations and a geomagnetic survey revealed a well-preserved plan of the city during the Iron II/III period (ca. 900-500 BCE), showing a new orientation of the city
686:
Kaniewski D., Marriner N., Bretschneider J., Jans G., Morhange Ch., Cheddadi R., Otto Th., Luce F., Van Campo E. 2019: 300-year drought frames Late Bronze Age to Early Iron Age transition in the Near East: New palaeoecological data from Cyprus and Syria, in: Regional
Environmental Change. 19(8).
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The Middle Bronze Age Period – Level 8 (ca. 2000-1600 BCE). Two occupation phases (Level 8CD and Level 8AB) can be assigned to the first half of the second millennium BCE. The exposed structures demonstrate stone floors, beneath which tombs were installed, ranging from simple earth graves, to jar
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sanctuary, a large communal tomb from the end of the Middle Bronze Age containing 58 human remains, a large city wall, several domestic and public structures from the Iron Age I-II and multiple small finds. Excavations ended in 2010, interrupted by of local condition but work on the findings
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Iron Age III – Level 5 and 4 (750-333 BCE). By the end of the 8th century BCE, an architectural reorganization occurred at the centre of Tell Tweini. Production of olive oil and wine became the major economic activity of the town; many buildings were equipped with oil presses and refining
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The Iron Age I – Level 6GH and 6EF (ca. 1200-930 BCE). The creation of new buildings, erected on the destruction debris (Level 7A) of the Late Bronze Age settlement, evidences the earliest remnants of Iron Age I urbanisation at Tell Tweini (Level 6GH), datable to the 12th century BCE (ca.
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Kaniewski D., E. Paulissen, E. Van Campo, H. Weiss, T. Otto, J. Bretschneider and K. Van
Lerberghe 2010: Late Second-Early First Millennium BC Abrupt Climate Changes in Coastal Syria and their Possible Significance for the History of the Eastern Mediterranean, Quaternary Research 74,
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Bretschneider J, et al, The Late Bronze Age and Iron Age in the Jebleh region: a view from Tell Tweini. In: Kühne H, Czichon RM, Kreppner FJ, editors. Proceedings of the 4th
International Congress of the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, pp. 33–46,
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Beginning in 1999, Tell Tweini was investigated by a Syro-Belgian interdisciplinary team led by Michel al-Maqdissi, Joachim
Bretschneider and Karel Van Lerberghe. The Syrian team worked in Field B while the Belgian team worked in Fields A and C. Major discoveries include a
189:, the site is the result of centuries of habitation on the same place, which resulted in a rising mound, as every new generation built their houses on top of the remains of older structures. The tell is sited about 1.7 kilometers from the coast but it appears that in the
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The Early Bronze Age IV Period – Level 10-9 (ca. 2400-2000 BCE). The site seems to have been settled during the Early Bronze Age IV period when structures were built on top of the limestone plateau. A sequence of two main architectural levels (Level 10 and 9) includes
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The Late Bronze Age – Level 7 (ca. 1600-1200 BCE). During the Late Bronze Age II period (14th and 13th century BCE), Tell Tweini was integrated in the Ugaritic Kingdom as its southernmost harbour and is mentioned as Gibala for the first time in the treaty between
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Al-Maqdissi M., K. Van Lerberghe, M. Badawi & J. Bretschneider, "Tell Toueini", in: Le Royaume d’Ougarit. Aux origines de l ́alphabet. Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon du 21 octobre 2004 au 17 janvier 2005, Paris-Lyon 2004, pp.
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Bronze Age at Tweini (Level 7BC) is equivalent to that of Ugarit. Around 1200 BCE, presumably shortly before the destruction of Ugarit, some parts of the site of Tweini seem to have been damaged by fire. The ceramic repertoire of this
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of the Late Helladic IIIC Early 1 style. Within this destruction layer a significant new ceramological feature emerges, namely handmade and burnished cooking pots. This ware also appears in the superimposing Early Iron Age levels.
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Marinova, Elena, et al. "An experimental approach for tracing olive processing residues in the archaeobotanical record, with preliminary examples from Tell Tweini, Syria." Vegetation history and archaeobotany 20.5 (2011):
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onward the settlement moves towards the coast and the tell is abandoned. Only scattered sherds, remains of tombs and some installations found in Field A and B, albeit on a very limited scale, refer to the Hellenistic,
682:
Kaniewski D., Van Campo E., Van Lerberghe K., Boiy T., Vaansteenhuyse K., Jans G. , Nys K., Weiss H., Morhange C., Otto T. and Bretschneider J. 2011: The Sea Peoples, from Cuneiform Tablets to Carbon Dating, PLoS ONE
377:(2000 to 1600 BC), the local diet was mainly composed of plant-based foods. However, the presence of sheep, goats, and cattle remains suggests that meat and dairy were also part of their diet, albeit occasionally.
598:
Bretschneider, Joachim, and Greta Jans. "The glyptic of Tell Tweini field A." About Tell Tweini (Syria): artefacts, ecofacts and landscape: research results of the Belgian Mission. Vol. 281. Peeters, 2019.
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Al-Maqdissi M., J. Bretschneider, P. Degryse, H. Hameeuw, D. Kaniewski, E. Paulissen, S. Van Simaeys & K. Van Lerberghe, "Environmental Changes in the Jebleh Plain", in: Res Antiquae 4, 2007, pp. 3-10
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Bretschneider, Joachim, Anne-Sophie Van Vyve, and Greta Jans., “Tell Tweini: a Multi-period Harbour Town at the Syrian Coast.” In Egypt and the Near East - the Crossroads, ed. J Mynarova, pp. 73–87, 2011
611:"Agropastoral and dietary practices of the northern Levant facing Late Holocene climate and environmental change: Isotopic analysis of plants, animals and humans from Bronze to Iron Age Tell Tweini"
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Bretschneider J., M. Al-Maqdissi, K. Vansteenhuyse, J. Driessen & K. Van Lerberghe, "Tell Tweini, Ancient Gibala in the Bronze Age", in: Egypt and the Levant XIV, 2005, pp. 215-30
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Gibala-Tell Tweini. Storage jars found in the Early Iron Age destruction layer. The carbon-14 dating results provide a chronological framework for the Early Iron Age in the Northern Levant.
671:
Bretschneider J. and Jans G.(eds.) 2019: About Tell Tweini (Syria): Artefacts, Ecofacts and Landscape. Research Results of the Belgian Mission (Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta Series 281).
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Fuller, Benjamin T.; Riehl, Simone; Linseele, Veerle; Marinova, Elena; Cupere, Bea De; Bretschneider, Joachim; Richards, Michael P.; Neer, Wim Van (2024-06-12).
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comprises a great quantity of Mycenaean sherds dating to the Late Helladic IIIA:2 and Late Helladic IIIB periods, as well as a small number of locally produced
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In search of Gibala. An Archaeological and Historical Study based on Eight Seasons of Excavations at Tell Tweini (Syria) in the A and C fields (1999-2007)
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used isotopic analysis on various remains to understand the food chain and agricultural practices of that time. The findings indicate that during the
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Bretschneider J., T. Cunningham & K. Van Lerberghe, "Gibala. The First Two Excavations 1999-2000", in: Ugarit Forschungen 31, 1999, pp. 75-131
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Jung R. 2018: Mycenaen Pottery in Coastal Syria, in: Badre L. et al. (eds.), Tell Kazel au Bronze Récent. Études Céramiques, Beyrouth, p. 47-51.
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369:, primarily consisting of grains, grapes, olives, and small amounts of meat and dairy. Archaeologists from the University of Leuven and the
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installations. The public buildings in Field A lost their initial function and were divided into small chambers used as workshops. From the
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Societies in transition: evolutionary processes in the Northern Levant between late Bronze Age II and early Iron Age
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A study on the diet of the Bronze inhabitants of Tell Tweini reveals that their diet was similar to the modern
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The site consists of a tell, 350 meters by 290 meters, with a height 15-20 meters above the surrounding plain.
177:. It is situated within the coastal plain of Jableh, a short distance of two other main archaeological sites:
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continue. Finds from the Middle Bronze II period included cylinder seals, stamp seals, and clay sealings.
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Tell Tweini was at least inhabited from the end of the third millennium BCE until the
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Fiorentino, and Luca Peyrone, pp. 325–342, CONGEDO EDITORE, 2014
503:"The Bronze to Iron Age Transition at Tell Tweini (Syria)"
436:"The Sea Peoples, from Cuneiform Tablets to Carbon Dating"
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Collective tomb from the Middle Bronze Age before opening
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Geophysical prospection results from the 2004 campaign
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Bretschneider, Joachim; Otto, Thierry (8 June 2011).
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a sea incursion provided a harbor access to the sea.
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568:Joachim Bretschneider and Karel Van Lerberghe,
169:located 1 kilometre east of the modern city of
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742:Archaeological sites in Latakia Governorate
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161:) possibly the ancient town of
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501:Vansteenhuyse, Klaas (2010).
245:) from the 13th century BCE.
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387:Short chronology timeline
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727:Neolithic sites in Syria
28:City wall of Tell Tweini
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371:University of Tübingen
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113:35.37167°N 35.93639°E
63:Alternative name
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275:during this period.
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367:Mediterranean diet
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185:(6 km). As a
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54:Shown within Syria
578:978-84-88810-79-3
375:Middle Bronze Age
323:and inner Syria.
303:Mycenaean pottery
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721:Categories
666:References
354:Phoenician
290:Muršili II
243:Ras Shamra
215:Sea People
191:Bronze Age
179:Tell Sukas
137:Site notes
132:Settlement
104:35°56′11″E
101:35°22′18″N
637:1932-6203
509:. CLUEB.
470:1932-6203
340:periods.
338:Byzantine
321:Phoenicia
142:Condition
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615:PLOS ONE
488:21687714
440:PLOS ONE
381:See also
310:Iron Age
271:and the
256:mudbrick
241:(modern
157:, (also
145:In ruins
71:Location
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479:3110627
448:Bibcode
286:Niqmepa
231:Persian
197:History
77:, Syria
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269:Cyprus
239:Ugarit
235:Gibala
171:Jableh
163:Gibala
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82:Region
66:Gibala
683:6(6).
530:60-61
399:Notes
334:Roman
175:Syria
651:PMID
633:ISSN
574:ISBN
511:ISBN
484:PMID
466:ISSN
412:2008
361:Diet
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