Eyes to the East: Round Watchtowers Overlooking the Roads Leading from the Jordan Valley to the Kingdom of Israel in Iron Age II

A small, isolated round tower, dating from the Iron Age, was unearthed near the settlement of Poriyya, overlooking the Jordan Valley. This tower is discussed below together with other, similar Iron Age structures exposed in eastern Samaria, which were built along main roads in the Kingdom of Israel under the initiative of the rulers of the Omride dynasty. It is suggested that these towers commanded the Jordan River crossings and the Gil‘ad Mountains, controlling the routes ascending from the Jordan Valley to the key administrative regions of the Kingdom of Israel. The research presented below considers historical sources dating from the second and first millennia BCE that relate to such towers, as well as data accumulated from previous excavations and surveys of contemporary round towers, to reconstruct their plan and function.