Tel Dover

Tel Dover, 2021

Tel Dover (Hebrew name) or Khirbet ed-Duweir (Arabic name) is an archaeological site and Iron I-IIa settlement located southeast of the Galilee, on the northern bank of the Yarmuk River near (northeast of) modern-day Kibbutz Sha'ar Hagolan.

Tel Dover was surveyed on several occasions since the 12th century,[dubious – discuss] but a licensed excavation was conducted only between July and September 1997 by the Israel Antiquities Authority, in preparation for the construction of a dam as part of the Israel–Jordan peace treaty. The excavation was directed by E. On.

History and archaeology

The settlement of Tel Dover spanned from the Neolithic (10,000 BCE-2,000 BCE)[dubious – discuss] to the Mamluk period (1250-1517).

Neolitihic

Remains from the Neolithic era include a pit with a rounded stone wall, pottery with black and red edges, engraved and stamped decorations, and flint tools.

Byzantine period

During the Byzantine period (late 4th century to early 7th century CE),[clarification needed] Tel Dover fell within the province of Palaestina Prima. Evidence from that time also show a major earthquake that lead to the town's abandonment, which is often correlated to the 363 Galilee earthquake.

In the northern part of the settlement, archaeologists found a collection of broken church furniture imported from Cyprus,[clarification needed] suggesting the presence of a Christian community.

Early Muslim to Mamluk period

In the 8th-15th centuries, during the Early Muslim, Crusader/Ayyubid and Mamluk periods, the area of Tel Dover was densely occupied. Tombs from those periods were found, as well as architectural remains.[dubious – discuss]

References

  1. ↑ "15554 - Khirbet ed-Duweir - Chapel". dig.corps-cmhl.huji.ac.il. Retrieved 2025-08-10.
  2. ↑ "Tel Dover". deadseaquake.info. Retrieved 2025-08-10.
  3. ↑ "Tel Dover: modern identifications of places in the Bible". www.openbible.info. Retrieved 2025-08-10.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Rapuano, Yehudah (2001). "Tel Dover". Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel. 113: 19*–21*. ISSN 1565-043X. JSTOR 23487141. Retrieved 17 April 2026 – via JSTOR. Hebrew text in Hebrew section, pp. 21-23.
  5. ↑ Golani, Amir; Wolff, Sam (2025-01-01). "Tel Dover (Khirbet ed-Duweir) on the Yarmuk River - The Late Bronze and Iron Age Levels". Ägypten und Altes Testament (130): 5.
  6. ↑ Eisenberg, Michael (2024-03-04). "Evidence for Settlement Decline in Late 3rd–mid-4th Centuries CE in the Hippos Region and Beyond". ARAM: 153.
  7. ↑ Golani, Amir; Wolff, Samuel R.; Ben-Shlomo, David; Gershuny, Lilly; Hesse, Brian; Keel, Othmar; Maher, Edward F. (2025). "4. The Small Finds". Tel Dover (Khirbet ed-Duweir) on the Yarmuk River: The Late Bronze and Iron Age Levels. Zaphon Verlag. ISBN 978-3-96327-298-1.