Tel eton / tell etun and its interregional contacts from the late bronze age to the persian-hellenistic period: Between highlands and lowlands

This article examines the role of Til 'ItonlTrll 'liin within the settlement system of Shcphelah and the Hebron Highlands from the Late Bronze Age to the early Hellenistic Period. For each period, the article reviews the nature of occupation and examines the ceramic style and petrography, in order to learn about the settlement's position in the period's settlement system and its relations with other sites. The analysis indicates that Tel 'Eton's role changed significantly through time. During the Late Bronze Age the site was a Canaanitc center in the southern Shcphelah. and was one of the few sites in the region to survive the turmoil of the transition to the Iron Age I. at whkh time it served as a place of refuge, with little interregional connection. The Shcphelah gradually became Judahite during the Iron Age II. and Til 'Eton was one of the central sites in the kingdom's administration in the region. The site was destroyed by the Assyrians in the lale 891 cent. BC.E., and was abandooed for about 300 years. In the late Persian Period a fortress and a village were erected at the site, which served as a regional center in the province of Idumaea, with strong connections with the highlands.