Tel Rehov (Tel Reḥov) () or Tell es-Sarem (Tell eṣ-Ṣarem) () is a large archaeological site situated in the Bet She'an Valley, a segment of the Jordan Valley, Israel. The site is located approximately south of Beit She'an and west of the Jordan River at an altitude between and Below Sea Level. Archaeological and historical evidences indicates that Tel Rehov was occupied in the Bronze Age and Iron Age.
The site is one of several suggested as Rehov (also Rehob), meaning "broad", "wide place".
The oldest apiary discovered anywhere by archaeologists, including man-made beehives and remains of the bees themselves, dating between the mid-10th century BCE and the early 9th century BCE, came to light on the tell. In the nearby ruins of the mainly Byzantine-period successor of Iron Age Rehov, a Jewish town named Rohob or Roōb, within it a synagogue with the Mosaic of Rehob, considered one of the most important discoveries from the Roman - Byzantine period and the longest mosaic inscription found so far in the Land of Israel.
Identification Tel Rehov does not correspond to the Hebrew Bible places named as Rehov, of which two were in the more westerly allotment of the Tribe of Asher, and one more northerly.Rehob at Bible Study Tools
Identification of Tell es-Sarem/Tel Rehov with the ancient Canaanite and Israelite city of Rehov was based on the preservation of the name at the nearby Islamic holy tomb of esh-Sheikh er-Rihab (one kilometre; 1000 yards to the south of Tel Rehov), and the existence of the ruins of a Byzantine-period Jewish town that preserved the old name in the form of Rohob or Roōb/Roob (one kilometre; 1000 yards northwest of Tel Rehov).
Rehov was one of the largest cities in the region during the Late Bronze Age (1550–1200 BCE) and Iron Age I–IIA (1200–900 BCE). During the Late Bronze Age, while Egypt ruled over Canaan, Rehov was mentioned in at least three sources dated between the 15th–13th century BCE, and again in the list of conquests of Pharaoh Shoshenq I, whose campaign took place around 925 BCE.
History Early Bronze Age Excavations revealed an eight meter wide mud brick fortification wall (with glacis) around the upper mound which the excavators attributed to the Early Bronze III period though no city of that period was found.
Late Bronze Age The site was clearly occupied during the Late Bronze I and Late Bronze II periods (15th century-13th century BCE). Actual occupation from this period was only excavated in a small area (Area D) of the lower mound, with possible exposure in probes on the upper mound, owing to the large Iron Age stratigraphic overburden. Some Egyptian material, including a scarab with the inscription "Scribe of (the) house of (the) overseer of sealed items, Amenemhat" indicates the town may have been under Egyptian control like other towns in the region, after the time of Thutmose III.
Iron Age The site was occupied in the Iron Age I and Iron Age II periods, from 12 century BC to 9th century BC. At that point it was destroyed and burnt which the excavators ascribe to the Assyrians in the mid-800s BC. During the Iron Age II, it was a city in the northern Kingdom of Israel. It had an estimated population of 2,000 during the 9th and 8th centuries BCE, according to archaeologist William G. Dever.
In the Levant there is a large Iron Age chronology controversy (similar the even more complicated Chronology of the ancient Near East with which there is some overlap). It is all very tangled with a High Chronology and a Low Chronology and some variants thereof. Given the careful stratigraphy and many radiocarbon dates Tel Rehov has been used to support and deny various chronologies. Mazar, Amihai, and Israel Carmi. "Radiocarbon dates from Iron Age strata at Tel Beth Shean and Tel Rehov." Radiocarbon 43.3 (2001): 1333-1342Bruins, Hendrik J., Johannes Van der Plicht, and Amihai Mazar. "14C dates from Tel Rehov: Iron-Age chronology, pharaohs, and Hebrew kings." Science 300.5617 (2003): 315-318.Finkelstein, Israel, and Eli Piasetzky. "Wrong and right; high and low 14C dates from Tel Rehov and Iron Age chronology." Tel Aviv 30.2 (2003): 283-295Bruins, Hendrik J., Amihai Mazar, and Johannes van der Pflicht. The end of the 2nd millennium BCE and the transition from Iron I to Iron IIA: radiocarbon dates of Tel Rehov, Israel. Vol. 37. Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2007 It has also been identified as a Lowland power center in opposition to the Omrides. Sergi. "Rewriting History Through Destruction: The Case of Tel Rehov and the Hebrew Bible." Writing and Re-Writing History by Destruction (2022): 18
Greek pottery From the 10th century BC and 9th century BC (Strata VI to IV) Greek pottery was found in stratified context. This is a useful result in addressing the chronology problems of the Levant (High vs Low) and of Greek pottery.Coldstream, Nicolas, and Amihai Mazar., "Greek Pottery from Tel Reḥov and Iron Age Chronology.", Israel Exploration Journal, vol. 53, no. 1, 2003, pp. 29–48
"Elisha" ostracon In 2013, a potsherd was found holding a partially preserved inscription, which has been reconstructed as to be the rare name of Elisha, best known as the name of biblical Prophet Elisha. Noah Wiener, Tel Rehov House Associated with the Biblical Prophet Elisha, Bible and archaeology news, July 23, 2013, Biblical Archaeology Society, accessed 13 July 2019 The association with the prophet is tenuous, based on the date of the ostracon (the second half of the ninth century), the rarity of the name, and the geographic vicinity of Elisha's biblical hometown, Abel-meholah; but the name reconstruction is disputed, and the presence of incense altars in the house of the find and throughout Tel Rehov is considered contrary to the teachings of biblical prophets.
Inscriptions In and near Tel Rehov, inscriptions containing references to the family of Nimshi have been found. King Jehu of Israel, anointed by a disciple of Elisha, is the son, grandson, or otherwise descendant of a certain Nimshi.
Iron Age beehives The oldest known archaeological finds relating to beekeeping were discovered at Rehov.
In September 2007, it was reported that 30 intact beehives and the remains of 100–200 more dated to the mid-10th century BCE to the early 9th century BCE were found (Strata V, Area C) by archaeologists in the ruins of Rehov.Friedman, Matti (September 4, 2007), "Israeli archaeologists find 3,000-year-old beehives", USA Today, Retrieved 2010-01-04 The hives had been destroyed by fire. The beehives were evidence of an advanced honey-producing beekeeping (apiculture) industry almost 3000 years ago in the city, thought to have had a population of about 2000 residents at that time, both Israelite and Canaanite. The beehives, made of straw and unbaked clay, were found in orderly rows of 100 hives each.Mazar, Amihai and Panitz-Cohen, Nava, (December 2007) "It Is the Land of Honey: Beekeeping at Tel Rehov" Near Eastern Archaeology, Volume 70, Number 4, Each individual beehive was shaped as a hollow cylinder measuring ca. 80 cm in length and 40 cm in diameter, with ca. 4 cm. thick walls. One end of the cylinder was sealed, with only a small hole in its center that allowed the bees to enter and exit the hive. Previously, references to honey in ancient texts of the region (such as the phrase "land of milk and honey" in the Hebrew Bible) were thought to refer only to "honey" produced from dates and figs; the discoveries show evidence of commercial production of bee honey and beeswax.
In addition to beehives, the remains of bees and bee larvae and pupae were also found. In 2010, using DNA from the remains of bees found at the site, researchers identified the bees as a subspecies, similar to the Anatolian bee, found now only in Turkey. It is possible that the bees' range has changed, but more likely that the inhabitants of Tel Rehov imported bees because they were less aggressive than the local bees and provided a better honey yield (three to eight times higher than Israel's native bees).
Supporting archaeological knowledge include evidence of other imports in Rehov from eastern Mediterranean lands; later Egyptian documentation of transferring bees in large pottery vases or portable beehives; and an Assyrian stele from the 8th century BCE that evidences that bees had been brought from the Taurus Mountains of southern Turkey to the land of Suhu—about the same distance as between the Taurus and Rehov ().
The beehives were dated by carbon-14 radiocarbon dating at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, using organic material (wheat found next to the beehives).
Ezra Marcus of the University of Haifa, said the finding was a glimpse of ancient beekeeping seen in Near Eastern texts and ancient art. Religious practice was evidenced by an altar decorated with fertility figurines found alongside the hives.Friedman, Matti. "Archaeologists Discover Ancient Beehives." Associated Press. 7 September 2007."Tel Rehov Reveals the First Beehives in Ancient Near East." Anthropology.net. 4 September 2007.
Archaeology The site of Tel Rehov consists of an upper and lower mound with a total area, including mound slopes, of 11 hectares (27 acres). The total area of the mound tops is 7 hectares (17 acres).
The site was inspected by W.F. Albright in the 1920s, identifying the main occupation period as being the 13th to 10th century BC.Albright, W.F., "The Jordan Valley in the Bronze Age.", AASOR 6: 13–74, 1925–1926 In the 1940s Avraham Bergman and Ruth Brandstater inspected Tel Rehov. While there they found a Proto-Canaanite inscription in the topsoil.Bergman (Biran), A. and Brandstater (Amiran), R., "Archaeological Trips in the Beth-Shean Valley.", Bulletin of the Jewish Palestine Exploration Society 8: 85–90, 1941 In the following decades some local residents collected items from the site, including a cylinder seal from the Old Babylonian period.Zori, N. 1962. An Archaeological Survey of the Beth Shean Valley. Pp. 135–198 in The Beth Shean Valley, The 17th Archaeological Convention. Jerusalem. (Hebrew)