Hamadia

Hamadia
Hamadia
Coordinates: 32°31′12.72″N 35°31′11.27″E / 32.5202000°N 35.5197972°ECoordinates: 32°31′12.72″N 35°31′11.27″E / 32.5202000°N 35.5197972°E
Region	Beit She'an Valley
Affiliation	Kibbutz Movement
Founded	1939 1942 (refoundation)

Hamadia (Hebrew: חֲמַדְיָה) is a kibbutz in the Beit She'an Valley, just north of Beit She'an in northern Israel. It belongs to the Valley of Springs Regional Council.

History

The kibbutz was founded in 1939 as part of the Tower and stockade movement. It was re-established in 1942 by the "Hermonim" pioneers, a garin of native-born Israelis who were part of a youth group.

The kibbutz took its name from al-Hamidiyya, an abandoned Arab village north of the kibbutz named for the sultan of Turkey, Abdul Hamid II.

Archaeology

The location is situated on a terrace of ancient Lake Beisan, 200 metres below sea level.^[1] Tell Hamadia is a single layer archaeological site of about 100 m² (0.010 ha), first reported and excavated at Hamadia by N. Tzori in 1958 then again by Jacob Kaplan in 1964.^[2] Ovens, pits and fireplaces were found with Yarmukian pottery and an assmeblage of many axes, picks, scrapers, "saw" elements and sickles. Large saw elements indicated possible earlier Neolithic occupation which was suggested to date at least to the early Chalcolithic (MOM period 7). A flint sickle workshop was located close to the site with over 300 sickle blades found. Tell Hamadia is 10 km (6.2 mi) south of Munhata and is suggested to date between ca. 5800 and 5400 BCE.^[3] Detailed reports have yet to be published.^[4]

Notable residents

• Gal Nevo

References

1. Michael Avi-Yonah (1978). Encyclopedia of archaeological excavations in the Holy Land, p. 468. Prentice-Hall. ISBN 978-0-13-275123-0. Retrieved 3 May 2011.
2. British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem (2005). Levant. Retrieved 3 May 2011.
3. Francis Hours (1994). May 2011 Atlas des sites du Proche Orient (14000-5700 BP) Check |url= value (help). Maison de l'Orient méditerranéen. ISBN 978-2-903264-53-6.
4. Garfinkel, Y., The Yarmukian Culture in Israel, Paléorient, Volume 19, 19-1, pp. 115-134, 1993