The Head of All Those Villages

This article reconsiders the urban character of Middle Bronze Age Jerusalem, as it was presumed by past scholarship. Instead, Jerusalem's character is investigated through the examination of modes of integration and interaction, to create a more holistic picture of the social fabric in the site, and in its region. For this purpose, published MBA remains from Ancient Jerusalem and from the MBA II-III rural site of Nahal Repha'im are presented, and their meaning regarding human behavior is discussed. The investigation of the relationship between the two sites highlights their low connectivity and shared identities, indicating that Jerusalem was not in full control of the agricultural land in its surrounding, but rather an independent rural settlement which prevailed slightly over the neighboring site, and exerted some sort of power, mainly connected with control over manpower, rather than agricultural surplus.