Skip to content
  • Apply
  • Request Info
  • Campus Store
  • Donate
  • Contact
  • Alumnx
Menu
  • Apply
  • Request Info
  • Campus Store
  • Donate
  • Contact
  • Alumnx
Search
Facebook-f Instagram Youtube Linkedin Caret-right
Start Your Journey
  • Admissions
    • How To Apply
    • Tuition and Fees
    • Financial Aid
    • Scholarships
    • Request Information
  • Academics
    • Stackable Curriculum
    • Institutional Learning Outcomes
    • Degrees & Graduate Certificates
      • Doctor of Ministry
      • Master of Divinity
      • Master of Divinity / Master of Arts
      • Master of Arts
      • Master of Arts in Social Transformation
      • Master of Theological Studies
      • Certificate of Spirituality and Social Change
      • Certificate of Sexuality and Religion
      • Certificate of Theological Studies
    • Faculty
    • Academic Catalog
    • Current Course Offerings
    • Academic Calendar
    • Registrar
    • Community Engaged Learning
  • Students
    • Office of Community Life
    • Health and Wellness
    • Accessibility
    • Housing
    • Security and Safety
    • PSR Community Worship
    • Office of International Students & Scholars
    • Resources
  • Centers
    • Badè Museum
    • Center for LGBTQ and Gender Studies in Religion (CLGS)
    • Graduate Theological Union
    • Ignite Institute
    • Theological Education for Leadership (TEL)
  • Giving
    • 2021-2022 Honor Roll
    • Giving With Impact
    • Ways To Give
    • Planned Giving
    • Endowment Giving
  • About
    • A Transformative Future
    • Fast Facts
    • History
    • Leadership
    • Faculty & Staff
    • Press
    • News
    • Events
    • Denominational Partners
    • Directory
    • Human Resources
    • Student Employment Information
    • Contact Us
Menu
  • Admissions
    • How To Apply
    • Tuition and Fees
    • Financial Aid
    • Scholarships
    • Request Information
  • Academics
    • Stackable Curriculum
    • Institutional Learning Outcomes
    • Degrees & Graduate Certificates
      • Doctor of Ministry
      • Master of Divinity
      • Master of Divinity / Master of Arts
      • Master of Arts
      • Master of Arts in Social Transformation
      • Master of Theological Studies
      • Certificate of Spirituality and Social Change
      • Certificate of Sexuality and Religion
      • Certificate of Theological Studies
    • Faculty
    • Academic Catalog
    • Current Course Offerings
    • Academic Calendar
    • Registrar
    • Community Engaged Learning
  • Students
    • Office of Community Life
    • Health and Wellness
    • Accessibility
    • Housing
    • Security and Safety
    • PSR Community Worship
    • Office of International Students & Scholars
    • Resources
  • Centers
    • Badè Museum
    • Center for LGBTQ and Gender Studies in Religion (CLGS)
    • Graduate Theological Union
    • Ignite Institute
    • Theological Education for Leadership (TEL)
  • Giving
    • 2021-2022 Honor Roll
    • Giving With Impact
    • Ways To Give
    • Planned Giving
    • Endowment Giving
  • About
    • A Transformative Future
    • Fast Facts
    • History
    • Leadership
    • Faculty & Staff
    • Press
    • News
    • Events
    • Denominational Partners
    • Directory
    • Human Resources
    • Student Employment Information
    • Contact Us

Excavations at Tell en-Nasbeh

Home » Centers » Badè Museum » Bade-Home » Excavations at Tell en-Nasbeh

Bade Museum

Explore the Museum

Menu
  • Bade-Home
    • Director’s Welcome
    • Bade Museum News
    • Museum Services
    • Excavations at Tell en-Nasbeh
    • People
    • Visiting
    • Contact Us
  • Exhibitions
    • Permanent Exhibits
    • Current & Upcoming Exhibits
    • Past Exhibits
    • Traveling Exhibits
  • Collections
    • Search Our Collections
    • Access the Collections
    • Acquisitions Policy
    • Archives
    • Traveling Exhibits
    • Virtual Resources
  • Research
    • Search Our Collections
    • Visiting Researchers
    • Image Reproduction & Permissions
    • Select Publications & Projects
  • Get Involved
    • Current Events
    • Past Events
    • Support
    • Volunteer Opportunities
Subscribe to the Badè Mailing List

Excavations at Tell en-Nasbeh (1926-1935)

The core of the Museum collection consists of materials from the site of Tell en-Nasbeh (most likely the biblical town of Mizpah), excavated under the direction of William F. Badè. Dr. Badè’s work at Tell en-Nasbeh represents one of the earliest scientific excavations in Palestine. With a permit from the British Mandate Government’s Department of Antiquities, he was able to spend five seasons there from 1926 to 1935 and excavate two thirds of the eight-acre tell, or mound, exposing a small town that had been occupied at the time of the Hebrew monarchy.

Mizpah, in the region of Benjamin, flourished from 1000–586 B.C., and a massive fortification wall, impressive gateway, three and four-room houses, family tombs, pottery, and metal artifacts in great quantity date from this period, known as the Iron Age in Palestinian archaeology. Of the hundreds of lamps, pitchers, bowls, jars, jewelry and cosmetic items found in the ruins of the town, about half were deposited at the Rockefeller Museum in Jerusalem, while others were shipped to Berkeley. Those on display in the Bade Museum provide graphic evidence of everyday activities in a provincial town of three thousand years ago, and offer instructive comparison with life in this century.

While the tell itself contained Iron Age, Babylonian and Persian Period artifacts, nearby tombs dated from the Early Bronze Age (3200–2000 B.C.) and the Hellenistic and Roman Periods (330 B.C.–324 A.D.). Some of these artifacts are on display, as well as representative pieces from other areas of the ancient Near East.

At the close of each season of excavation, after artifacts were removed, the soil was replaced on the mound. Only one section of the huge town wall, deliberately left exposed, is visible at the site today. Dr. Badè’s original intention that the excavation and its results become an educational resource is fulfilled through the Badè Museum and its on-going research of material from Tell en-Nasbeh, where important aspects of ancient households, gender, and daily activities can be understood in new and exciting ways.

Check out the online database of artifacts from Tell en-Nasbeh here!

Excavation Film

This video is a compilation of two reels of silent excavation footage filmed by George Hedley and James Philmore Collins during the 1926 and 1935 seasons at Tell en-Nasbeh. These silent films are a treasure not only for their documentation of the burgeoning archaeological field of the early twentieth century, but for the window it provides on landscapes and life-ways seemingly vanished from this region now overrun with urbanization. Images of excavations at Tell en-Nasbeh commingle with traditional Palestinian dancing, Bedouin bread making and Jerusalem street scenes that act as a historical narrative transferred without words.

Students
  • Academic Catalog
  • SONIS Student Portal
  • Moodle
  • Office of Community Life
  • Health and Wellness
  • Accessibility
  • Housing
  • Library
  • Security and Safety
  • Worship
  • Registration
  • Employment Information
Admissions
  • The PSR Difference
  • How to Apply
  • Degrees and Certificates
  • Tuition and Fees
  • Financial Aid
  • Scholarships
  • Housing
Academics
  • Degrees and Programs
  • Faculty
  • Academic Catalog
  • Academic Calendar
  • Course Offerings
  • Accreditation
Alumnx & Giving
  • Alumnx Council
  • Alumnx News
  • Giving with Impact
  • Ways to Give
  • Endowment
  • Planned Giving
Community Engagement
  • Community Engaged Learning (CEL)
  • Theological Education for Learning (TEL)
Resources
  • COVID-19
  • Faculty & Staff
  • Students
  • Consumer Information Disclosure
  • Privacy Policy
  • News
  • Calendar
Follow Us
Facebook-f Instagram
Youtube Linkedin

Content © 2022 Pacific School of Religion

Technology & Design ©2022 T324 - Websites & Digital Marketing