Dhahr Mirzbaneh is a site located about 16 mi. northeast of Jerusalem. The hillsides in the area are covered with tombs from the Middle Bronze I Age (2200-2000 B.C.).
View looking northwest. When the “Alon Road” was being constructed in the 1970’s, the construction workers cut through the hillside of Dhahr Mirzbaneh exposing a side, “cut-away,” view of a number of Middle Bronze I (2200-2000 B.C.) tombs. Some scholars place the migration of Abram from Ur to the Land of Canaan during this period.
A perfect “cut-away” view of such a tomb is visible on the left side of the image. The shaded semi-circular area is a tomb chamber, and to its left the “cut-away” outline of a vertical shaft (partially filled with rubble) is visible.
On the right side of the image more exposed tomb chambers are visible.
View of a MB I (2200-2000 B.C.) tomb which was sliced in half by road building activity.
A typical MB I tomb consisted of a vertical shaft, 4 to 9 ft. [1.2 to 3 m.] deep, cut into the rock. At the bottom of the shaft one or more chambers radiated from it. Usually only one person was placed in each chamber.
To the left of the leg of the man, the shaded arched outline of a burial chamber is clearly visible – it had an arched top and a flat horizontal floor. To the left of the chamber, partly shaded, is the outline of the vertical shaft, which led down from the surface to the burial chamber. This shaft is partly filled with rubble.
View of the silver cup/goblet that was found in one of the MB I (2200–2000 B.C.) at Ein Samiya (Dhahr Mirzbaneh). It is a very unique find in that the grave goods found in these tombs are usually few and simple (beads, knives, etc.).
The silver goblet is carved with a mythological scene from possibly the epic of Enuma Elish. The human figure is actually bounded on each side by dragons/snakes. The one on the left of the cup is clearly visible. Y. Yadin suggested that the scene depicts the victory of Marduk over Tiamat. Note the dress of the human. The goblet was probably made in Syria and was an heirloom.
The goblet is on display in the Israel Museum, Jerusalem.
To view more images of Dhahr Mirzbaneh, and a map, Click Here.
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