Tell Balata Archeological Park

Picture Resource: By TrickyH - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link

Tell Balata is an important cultural heritage site close to the city of Nablus. According to Egyptian and biblical literature, the site played an important role in history. It was famous for being a political and cultural center where trading took place. Tell Balata contains the remaining’s of an ancient village, Old Balata, which in the period of 4000-3500BC. During the 20th century Germans and Americans did excavations and found the remains of this village. Due to the outstanding discoveries which were made at Tell Balata, it is a potential World Heritage Site. In the past the archeological site was difficult to maintain, however thanks to different projects it is now accessible to visitors.

Old Balata used to be a small village with only few inhabitants. Afterwards in a period of 150 years it was uninhabited until a city was founded at the same place named Shakmu. Through the agriculture and trade the population was prosperous and the city became a city-state. Nevertheless the king of Shakmu, named Labaya, failed to succeed his plans and the city was destroyed at the end of his reign.
The Assyrians conquered Shakmu and rebuilt the city in 1100-330BC. After different periods of reign the city became smaller, especially when not far from Shakmu, the city Nablus was founded by the Roman Emperor.

Due to the broad history of this archeological site, it is definitely worth a visit!  
It is located between the mountains Gerizim and Ebal, close to the refugee camp Balata and not far away from the Jacob’s well. You can visit the site every day from 8am to 3pm. 

5715 Road | Tell Balata, Nablus, Palestine
http://www.tellbalata.com/