Dor |
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Harbour situationThe bays at Dor are called in Arabic Tantura "peak of the cape" after the small cape which divides the bay in two. In the Talmudic literature, it is called "the tooth of Dor". It is one of the few natural anchorages on the coast of Israel. Dor is one of the largest ancient Tels (mound) in Israel.
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Sea Harbour
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SourcesThe Hellenistic name of Dor is Dora (Δώρα). The earliest known historical reference to Dor comes from an inscription in the temple at el-Amarna (Nubia), and dated to the reign of Ramesses II, the first halt of the 13th century BCE. This inscription refers to a list of eastern Mediterranean coastal cities and among them is mentioned Dor as being found in Canaan. Another Egyptian reference comes from a papyrus dated to the time of the Judges, around 1100 BCE. In the papyrus is told the story of Wen-Amon, an Egyptian official sent to Byblos to buy cedar wood for the construction of the sacred barge. On the way he made a stop at Dor, a town inhabited by Sikilians (Sikuli – one of the Sea Peoples). Dor is mentioned several times in the Bible: Joshua 11:2 – Dor is identified as an ally to Yavin, king of Hazor Joshua 12:23 – Dor is found on the list of thirty one kings defeated by Joshua Joshua 17:27 – Dor is found among the cities designated to be in the western half of the inheritance of Menasseh Judges 1:27 – Menasseh did not drive out the inhabitance of Dor I Kings 4:11 – Dor was made one of the twelve districts of Solomon. Stephen of Byzantium (probably the 5th century CE), wrote about Dor: "Next to Caesarea lies Dor, a very small city inhabited by Phoenicians. They settled here on somewhat rocky nature beaches and the abundance of the purple fish. When their business prospered, they split the rock, and made a harbour with good and safety anchorage. They called the place in their native tong Dor. But, the Greeks, for the sake of its more pleasing sound, agreed to call the city Dora. And some make the statement that Doros, the son of Poseidon was its founder." |
Selected Written Sources
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Sourceswritten sources – the earliest known historical reference of Dor comes from an inscription in the temple of el-Amarna (Nubia), dated to the regn of Ramesses II (first half of the 13th century BCE) - papyrus dated to the time of the Judges, c.1100 BCE, form the story of Wen-Amon, an Egyptian official sent to Byblos to buy cedar wood for the Sacrad Barge. Wenamon stopped at Dor, a Sikilian town (Sea Peoples) - Dor is mentioned in the Bible: in three Books of Joshua 11:2, 12:23, 17:11; Judges 1:27; Kings 4:11 |
Selected Written Sources
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Harbour Installations |
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The Slipways
The overall plan of the structure seems to be fitted to the description given by Vitruvius (V.xii.7), on the construction of shipyards: "Subsequently the shipyards are to be built facing the north… And for their size, no definite limits need to be set, but they must be built to suit the largest type of ship, so that if even larger ships are hauled up, they may find plenty of room there." Along the eastern face of the eastern slip (nr. 1) is a bench of 13 m long and 0.80 m wide. Further to the north, adjacent to the eastern edge of slip (nr. 1), there is a rock-cut pool: 2.4 m wide, 4.1 m long and 2.7 m deep. To the north-west side of the complex, next to the slip nr. 3, there were two larger pools, now too badly eroded and difficult to get their exact original size and shape. These pools were most probably used for soaking the wooden timbers and frames, thus they could be bent to the desired curvature without breaking. The south part of the eastern slip (nr. 1) was blocked by a cross wall running east-west. Behind this wall was built a room measuring 4 x 4 m, partly cut into the rock and partly built of kurkar blocks. It is possible that in this space was found a capstan or a similar pulling device to hauled the ship cradles up on the slope. |
Slipway
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The ShipwharfThere is plenty of comparative data and documentation concerning the size of ships and their length/breadth ration, to assume that the slipways at Dor were not shipsheds but rather a shipwharf. Considering the width/length of the slipways at Dor, one may reconstruct the size of the vessels that could be hauled up on them:
The ration of 1:4 is characteristic for merchant ships while the others of 1:6 and 1:5.7 would be appropriate to oared naval vessels. Parallels There are no good parallels for Dor’s slipways to be found in other sites in the Levant coast. Such installations come only from the Greek world. Similar structures were found in the Port of Pireus, Greece and in North Africa. The installations at Pireus were part of the dockyard/arsenal belonging the Athenian maritime power. The length of these slips was 38-40 m, the width almost 6 m and the angle of inclination is about 6º. At the base of the slips was a raised area, and along its center a shallow channel was cut to fit the keel of the vessels. Almost identical to the Pireus complex is found in the sunken remains of the Hellenistic harbor of Apollonia, in North Africa (Libya). Due to their being underwater at present, it is difficult to establish the exact length of the slips. An estimated range for their length is between 28 to 40 m. The width is about 6 m and the angle of inclination is 4º. The base of the slips is identical to those found at Pireus complex. The sites described above helped to conclude that the slipways at Dor were used for repairs and maintaining ships that anchored in the in the North Bay and in the Tantura Lagoon. The date of the Pireus and Apollonia (Libya) installations is not defined but cannot be earlier than 3rd - 2nd century BCE. During this period the standard vessels were the trireme which measured 38 m in length and 5.5 - 6 m in width. The dimensions of the docks at Dor indicate that they were not adequately fitted for triremes. It should be noted that the moderate inclination of 5º and the flat bottom of the slips are more suited for merchantmen rather than military vessels. The Dor docks could be dated to the 6th-5th century BCE, deduced from the Athenian sherds found on the eastern side of the installation complex. |
Wharf
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The QuayAt the foot of the Tel, in the South Bay is found a kurkar paved platform, made of three or four rows of long rectangular slabs, with their narrow side facing the sea. The platform, now tilts slightly towards the sea and its southern part is submerged, perhaps the effect of centuries long process of under-trenching waves erosion. The quay is about 35 long on the east-west axis and 11-12 m wide. The eastern and western edges of the quay were flanked by great rectangular structures. From all the probes made along the southern side of the quay it became clear that under-trenching and flooding from the sea water had disturbed the original stratigraphy. Slabs from the 3rd and 4th rows were removed along a 2 m wide trench, on the north-south axis. It was found that the slabs were laid directly on fine sand with only few shells. Some sherds collected at this level were LB II type, including Cypriot white slip II "milk bowls", a Canaanite crater decorated with incised herring bone pattern and two fragments of large pithoi of Tyrian type. |
Quay
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Landing StageThe architectural feature that had been studied during the probes indicate that the southern structure close to the water line is a quay or a landing stage. The interpretation does not rely on the reason for its presence near the water line but rather of the architectural characteristic and the natural deposits in its context. The excavations indicated that when this landing stage was built, the body of water next to it was separated from the open sea and it was not exerted to wave energy. The archeological investigations in the South Bay also revealed that during the 14th-13th century BCE the sea level was similar to the present one. |
Quay
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BibliographyBaly D., 1957: The Geography of the Bible: A Study in Historical Geography; Harper & Brothers Publication, New York Benvenisti M., 1970: The Crusaders in the Holy Land; Israel University Press, Jerusalem Raban A., 1985: The Ancient Harbours of Israel in Biblical Times; in Raban A. (ed.): Harbour Archaeology- Proceedings of the First International Workshop on Ancient Mediterranean Harbours. Caesarea Maritima, 24-28.6.83; BAR International Series 257: 11 - 44 ----------- 1987: The Harbour of the Sea Peoples at Dor; Biblical Archaeologists: 118 - 26 ----------- 1995: Dor-Yam; Maritime and Coastal Installations at Dor in their Geomorphological and Stratigraphic Context; in: Stern E. (ed.): Excavations at Dor, final Report, Volume I A; Areas A and C: Introduction and Stratigraphy; Qedem Reports; the Israel Exploration Society Raveh K. and Kingsley S., 1991: The Status of Dor in Late Antiquaty: A Maritime Perspective; Biblical Archaeologist 54.4: 198-207 Wachsmann S, and Raveh K., 1984: A Concise Nautical History of Dor/Tantura; International Journal of Nautical Archaeology 13: 223 – 41 Wente E. F., 1973: The Report of Wenamon; in Simpson W. K. (ed.): The Literature of Ancient Egypt: An Anthology of Stories, Instructions and Poetry; Yale University Press: 142-55
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Bibliography
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AuthorZaraza Friedman |
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