Archaeologists find 'snapshot' of 4,500-year-old Canaanite citadel's last hours

1/7. Pottery found buried under ashes and stone from the fiery destruction of a 4300-year-old Canaanite citadel palace in Khirbet al-Batrawy, Jordan. Lorenzo Nigro

As the ceiling of the blazing Canaanite palace collapsed, foods, jewelry, axes and treasures were buried, and beautifully preserved, under ash and blackened stone.

Excavations inside a 4,500-year-old citadel Khirbet al-Batrawy, located in the fringes of the black desert in northeastern Jordan, have uncovered a rich layer of archaeological finds beneath a destruction layer of ash and rock that, ironically, protected the antiquities from the final conflagration. Among the discoveries are prestige items in excellent condition, that the archaeologists believe have belonged to the rock-fortress chieftain of the palace.

Four copper axes, a bearskin and a highly decorated drinking cup were found inside a pillared hall of the vast ruined palace, along with dozens of ceramic pots, jars, cups and storage vessels that apparently served as feasting vessels.

Massive fortifications

The citadel of Khirbet al-Batrawy sits on top of a naturally fortified triangle hill overlooking the fertile and well-watered Zarqa River valley in north-central Jordan.

The city rose to prominence in the middle of the 3rd millennium B.C.E., largely due to its strategic location at the intersection of two important trading routes: a northeastern one leading into the Arabian Desert and Mesopotamia, and a southern route passing by the Gulf of Aqaba to the Sinai and the Arabian peninsula. [...] Haaretz