Tel Shimron cultic megastructure and favissa - Biblical Archaeology Encyclopedia

Overview

Tel Shimron is a large mound on the northwestern edge of the Jezreel Valley, excavated since 2017 by Wheaton College and Tel Aviv University under Daniel Master and Mario Martin. Their published report for the 2017 and 2019 seasons describes, on the eastern acropolis (Grid 33), 'walls built of huge boulders' supporting a multi-story structure and large mudbrick walls running parallel to the slope, between which 'tens of thousands of bones and pottery fragments were recovered', including miniature vessels and several 'bowl with seven cups' vessels of a type known from the high place at Nahariya.

In November 2024 the excavators announced that these elements belonged to one monumental complex: a cone-shaped, white-chalk-surfaced structure rising nearly 20 feet (about 6 m) above the ancient mound, and an open-air favissa (a pit for discarded offerings) of over 700 square feet with thick mudbrick walls and two staircases. The favissa held about 40,000 animal bones (mainly cattle, sheep and goat, burned at high temperatures) and about 57,000 potsherds, with two bronze bull figurines and miniature jugs and bowls. A corbelled vault found in an earlier season is part of the same complex.

The site's ancient name is Shimron (Hebrew Bible, Masoretic Text) or Shim'on (Old Greek). A 2026 Tel Aviv article by Deirdre Fulton and Michelle Hunt argues that the form without /r/ is the older one. The monumental complex is Middle Bronze Age, centuries before any setting the book of Joshua describes.

What the evidence shows

Grid 33 (eastern acropolis): 'walls built of huge boulders supported a multi-story structure'; large mudbrick walls parallel to the slope; 'tens of thousands of bones and pottery fragments' between them (Master and Martin, HA 2021).
Grid 33 pottery includes miniature vessels and multiple 'bowl with seven cups' forms, compared by the excavators to the cultic high place at Nahariya (HA 2021).
Grid 92 domestic phases: radiocarbon places them in MB IIB (1750-1650 BCE) and MB IIC (1650-1550 BCE); Grid 33 pottery is contemporary with Grid 92 c. 1750 BCE (HA 2021).
Cone-shaped structure 'rising nearly 20 feet above the ancient mound', surfaced in white chalk (BAS 2025, reporting the excavators).
Favissa 'over 700-square-foot', originally unroofed, thick mudbrick walls, two staircases; about 40,000 animal bones (cattle, sheep, goat, burned at high temperature) and about 57,000 sherds; two bronze bull figurines; miniature jugs and bowls (BAS 2025).
A corbelled vault 'had been discovered in an earlier excavation season before the team realized that the entire complex was part of a single megastructure' (BAS 2025).
A hematite cylinder seal of North Syrian style, MB IIA-B, came from the first season (Rossberger, BASOR 385, 2021).
Later occupation on the mound includes an 11th-century BCE silo with whole vessels comparable to Megiddo VI, a Persian-Hellenistic village with an Antiochus III coin hoard abandoned in the mid-2nd c. BCE, and Roman houses with ritual baths (HA 2021).
No inscription naming the site has been reported from the excavation.

Open questions

Function of the complex. Daniel Master (quoted by BAS 2025) calls it 'very much an intentional, monumental thing designed to be seen from very far away'; the excavators read the burned animal bones, miniature vessels and seven-cup bowls as cultic (sacrificial) refuse. The full final publication of the megastructure was not located; the reading so far rests on the 2021 preliminary report and press interviews.
Date. The preliminary report ties the acropolis pottery to c. 1750 BCE via radiocarbon from Grid 92; press coverage gives 'around 1800 BCE'. No radiocarbon dates from the favissa itself were seen.
Name of the city. The Masoretic Text of Joshua 11:1, 12:20 and 19:15 reads Shimron; the Old Greek reads Shim'on. Fulton and Hunt (Tel Aviv 53:1, 2026: 103-116) argue from ancient Near Eastern sources and regional memory that the name lacked the /r/, and that the MT form is a scribal harmonisation with Shimron son of Issachar (Gen 46; Num 26; 1 Chr 7).

Since 2024

2024-11Megastructure and favissa announced (Haaretz, then BAS Bible History Daily 25 Nov 2024, republished 26 Nov 2025). [2]
2025-10Weiner, Boaretto, Martin, Albert and Master publish a micro-archaeological study of a water source at Tel Shimron (JAS: Reports 66). Covello-Paran's chapter on the MB royal wine economy of Tel Shimron appeared March 2025. Both confirmed via Crossref only; contents not read. [6]
2026-01Fulton and Hunt (Tel Aviv 53:1) argue the site's original name was Shim'on, the MT 'Shimron' being a scribal harmonisation. [4]
2026-09Project site announces the next season for June-August 2027; no 2025-2026 season report was found. [5]

Sources

Master, D. M. and Martin, M. A. S. 2021. "Tel Shimron - 2017, 2019." Hadashot Arkheologiyot - Excavations and Surveys in Israel (report id 25940), 26 Apr 2021. doi:10.69704/jhaesi.116.2004.25940 link excavation report
Steinmeyer, N. "Megastructure Uncovered at Tel Shimron." Bible History Daily, Biblical Archaeology Society, 26 Nov 2025 (first published 25 Nov 2024). link study
Rossberger, E. 2021. "A Middle Bronze II Cylinder Seal of North Syrian Style from Tel Shimron (Jezreel Valley)." Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 385: 119-130. doi:10.1086/712486 link study
Fulton, D. N. and Hunt, M. D. 2026. "A Problematic Toponym: Reconsidering (Again) Shimron/Shim'on Transliteration Traditions." Tel Aviv 53(1): 103-116. doi:10.1080/03344355.2025.2603863 link study
Tel Shimron Excavations project site. link excavation report
Weiner, S., Boaretto, E., Martin, M. A. S., Albert, R. M. and Master, D. M. 2025. "Identifying a water source in an occupation area at Tel Shimron, Israel: a macro- and microarchaeological approach." Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 66: 105352. doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105352 link study
Covello-Paran, K. 2025. "From Vine to Wine: The Royal Economy of Tel Shimron during the Middle Bronze Age." In Palace-Clan Relations in the Bronze and Iron Ages Levant, pp. 115-142. Berlin: De Gruyter. doi:10.1515/9783111411330-005 link study

Corrected from the earlier edition of this page

Circulating summaries say 'c. 1800 BCE'. The excavators' own report ties the acropolis phase to radiocarbon-dated MB IIB, 1750-1650 BCE.
Some summaries of this find list Minoan imports in the favissa; the BAS report does not mention any Minoan or Cypriot imports, and none were seen in the excavation report. Unverified.
BAS gives the favissa as 'over 700 square feet' (about 65 m2); figures of '~730 sq ft' are not in the source seen.

Checked against new publications through 2026-09.