Middle Bronze I cult places in Northern Palestine and Transjordan. Original features and external influences

Cult buildings in the Southern Levant during the mature Middle Bronze II-III (1800-1500 BC) represent a homogenous architectural tradition, closely linked to the Syrian prototypes, well known, among the others, through the archaeological discoveries at Tell Mardikh, ancient Ebla, in north inland Syria. On the other hand, the first, formative phase of the Middle Bronze Age in the Southern Levant, Middle Bronze I (1950/1920-1800 BC), is characterized by a larger degree of variety within cult architecture. With regard to this issue, the article focuses on two well known southern Levantine multi-phased sacred compounds: those of Tell el-Mutesellim/ancient Megiddo, in the Jezreel Valley, in Strata XIII B-XII, and of Tell el-Hayyat, in the northeastern Jordan Valley, in Phases 5-4. These are both analyzed in regard to their regional context and compared to architectural parallels in search of possible inter-regional connections. The analysis shows that Middle Bronze I is characterized by a less unitary and not yet codified tradition of cult buildings compared to the following phases of the Middle Bronze Age. In fact, it was a period of elaboration and transformation, blending local features with Syrian influxes, whose ‘cultural’ implications are discussed in the article.