The site lies adjacent to an ancient roadway connecting Jerusalem with the
northern hill country, which is how Tell en-Nasbeh gained importance as
Judah's northern border fortress during its prime phase of occupation in the
Iron Age II (Strata 3A-C; 1000–586 BCE). There are also archaeological
remains at the site and in surrounding cave tombs that have been dated to the
Early Bronze I (Stratum 5; 3500–3300 BCE), Iron I (Stratum 4; 1200–1000 BCE),
Babylonian and
Persian (Stratum 2; 586–323 BCE),
Hellenistic,
Roman and
Byzantine Periods (Stratum 1; 323 BCE – 630 CE).
Early Bronze Early Bronze I Tell en-Nasbeh (Stratum 5, EB I, 3500-3300 BCE) was a small
village in the
Late Chalcolithic and
Early Bronze I periods. It was then abandoned until the beginning of the Iron Age.
Iron Age Iron I Tell en-Nasbeh (Stratum 4, Iron I, 1200-1000 BCE). The settlement started to develop again after a long period of abandonment. Around the 10th century BCE it had become a sizable agricultural village.
Iron II Tell en-Nasbeh (Stratum 3A-C, Iron II, 1000-586 BCE). By Iron Age IIA (9th–8th centuries BCE), it was a walled settlement with a massive
city gate, on the frontier between the
southern and
northern Israelite kingdoms.
Babylonian and Persian periods Tell en-Nasbeh Stratum 2 (Babylonian, Persian periods 585-323 BCE). During the
Jewish–Babylonian War, the area to the north of Jerusalem yielded to the Babylonians without a battle, according to archaeological evidence and other indications in the Hebrew Bible. After the
destruction of Jerusalem by
Nebuchadnezzar II in 587/6 BCE, Mizpah became the administrative center for the district of
Binyamin in Judah. Later finds, including a tower, tombs in the extramural cemeteries, and the floor of a
Byzantine church near the western cemetery, speak to some occupation in later periods. ==Excavations==