Lecture entitled “Jerusalem in the Stone Age”

Within the series of the history of Jerusalem issued by the Orient Center for Research and Culture, prepared by

It is presented by Dr. Essam Adwan, President of the Center.

(Video at the end of the article)

Paleolithic:

The man of this period was mobile and collected the food necessary to keep him alive, The remains of this civilization have been found in several sites in Palestine, including the Red Cave of Iraq in the mountains of East Jerusalem. The site of al-‘Ubaydiya near Bethlehem, south of Jerusalem.

Mesolithic:

The Natufian civilization prevailed in Jerusalem and its region, relative to Wadi Al-Natuf, northwest of Jerusalem, where it was discovered in the cave of Shaqba located in this valley, and there were found distinct effects of the Palestinian man, and this civilization was launched from the mountains of Jerusalem, and pervaded Palestine and the whole Levant, and man tended in this civilization to domesticate wild animals, which indicates his tendency to settle and abandon nomadic life.

Archaeological discoveries in this era showed the great development in the method of burying the dead, and placing tools, weapons and ornaments with the deceased, This indicates the emergence of religious rites and beliefs that believe in the idea of life after death.

Neolithic:

Man discovered agriculture, and turned into a food producer instead of a collector, The most prominent of his first crops were wheat and barley, which spread its cultivation in all of Palestine. Especially in the Jericho and Wadi al-Tahoun areas in the Jerusalem Mountains. In this era, the city of Jericho was built with its walls and houses consisting of two or more rooms, and the level of housing has evolved, as round houses were replaced by rectangular houses with two or more rooms.

New religious beliefs have also emerged, different from the previous ones, centered in their entirety on the principle of fertility. The worship of the mother goddess, symbolizing fertility, appeared. and the worship of skulls, which refers to the veneration of the souls of the dead ancestors, At the end of this era, man discovered copper and the Amorite migrations to Palestine intensified. He called it the land of the Amorites.

Source: Jerusalem History Course No. (0104) at Al-Quds Open University.

We leave you with a video lecture entitled “Jerusalem in the Stone Age” by Dr. Essam Adwan