It looked as if the ground had opened and everything on either side of it had collapsed downward. This is the conclusion reached by scientists from Israel and the United States, exploring the unique Canaanite palace of the Bronze Age.
The work was published in the journal PLOS One. Tel Kabri is an archaeological site of the Middle Bronze Age, located in Israel. In this place there was a Phoenician (Canaanite) city, the most important in the Western Galilee (an area in the north of the country). The central part of the city was occupied by a palace of 1.5 acres. Tel Kabri is the only fully excavated Phoenician city, since later there were no settlements in these places.
The same can be said for the Canaanite palace - it is the only fully excavated Phoenician palace of that time. The sudden destruction of the complex and its subsequent desolation after such a prosperous period have long remained a mystery to scientists.
Various versions were put forward - from climatic to economic, as well as the fact that the city was destroyed as a result of hostilities. The latest study sheds light on a catastrophe that occurred about 3,700 years ago. Several seasons ago, archaeologists discovered a trench that ran through part of the palace. Analysis showed that it is no more than two centuries old, but further excavations of this site last year led to the fact that scientists discovered a new part of it, along with the remains of a wall and a superstructure made of adobe bricks, which fell into a ditch in antiquity.
As a result, archaeologists came to the conclusion that the catastrophe that occurred here in the Bronze Age looked as if the earth opened up and everything that was on either side of it just fell down. Archaeologists have not found any traces of battles or violent destruction.
In 2013, scientists also discovered here the largest and oldest wine cellar in the Middle East, which, according to analysis, contained the remains of 40 jugs of wine. Then at least 70 such jugs were found in the same place: they were all buried underground at the same time.