Description : Tel Qashish, also spelled Tel Kashish (from the Hebrew: תל קשיש) or Tell el-Qassis in Arabic, is a tell, or archaeological mound, located in the northwestern section of the Jezreel Valley, on the north bank of the Kishon River. The ancient settlement at Tel Qashish is considered a daughter of the ancient city of Yokneam, some 2 kilometres south of Tel Qashish. Yohanan Aharoni Identified the site with "Helkath" from the list of 119 cities conquered by Pharaoh Thutmose III. According to other studies, the site should be identified with "Dabeshet" from the Book of Joshua. Next to the mound is a spring called Ein Qashish, with remains of prehistorical human activity from the Middle Palaeolithic. Excavations at Ein Qashish have uncovered multiple campsites of the Mousterian culture (70,000–60,000 BCE) containing animal bones and flint tools. The site has a number of archaeological layers, which implies humans were drawn to this site during the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic periods. The humans who camped there, probably for short periods during summertime, when the Kishon river does not flood, were mostly hunting, based on the remains of animal bones there. Just like other sites of this kind, they left many man-made stone tools. According to a study, the flint was imported to the site from a more western area, next to Mount Carmel. One unique discovery was a cluster of human bones and remains of clay paint indicating some unusual, maybe ritual activity. Neolithic Flint tools, including microliths and arrow-heads from the Neolithic period (12,000–4,500 BCE) were uncovered sitting on the mound's bedrock.
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