Royal Palace, Tell el-Ful

Royal Palace at Tell el-ful is an abandoned structure near Beit Hanina, atop a hill known as Tell el-Ful (Hill of Beans, Hebrew: גבעת שאול, Givat Shaul, lit. Hill of Saul).[1]

Hussein's Palace
General information
Town or cityBeit Hanina, Jerusalem
Construction started1965
Completedunfinished
ClientKing Hussein of Jordan

History

The structure was intended to be a summer residence for King Hussein of Jordan, whose grandfather, King Abdullah I, conquered Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank, annexing the territory after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.[2]

Construction started in the mid-1960s, but was interrupted when Israel captured the area during the 1967 War. Still owned by the Hashemite Kingdom,[3] it remains today as found in 1967, an unfinished shell.

The hill, located just west of Pisgat Ze'ev overlooking the Arab neighborhood of Shuafat, is 2,754 feet (839 m) above sea level, making it one of the highest summits in the region.[4]

The palace was built in reaction to the locating of the residence of Israel's president in West Jerusalem.[5] Intended to be the official holiday retreat of the Jordanian royal family, it was to be an architectural masterpiece that would host dignitaries from around the world. The design envisaged a grandiose structure consisting of three levels, interconnected with arches plated with Jerusalem stone.[6] Construction came to a halt after the 1967 war when Israel took control of the West Bank. The structure was still a building site and was left uncompleted. The skeletal, two-storey cement structure remained empty and has since become a haven for drug users. Local officials said that attempting to redevelop the building and end the neglect would potentially "raise a storm in Jordan."[6]

In August 2011, the Jerusalem municipality stopped unauthorised workers who had erected a fence around the site.[7] The Jerusalem wakf denied that Jordan was preparing to renovate the palace.[8]

Archaeology

The identification of tell el-Ful with biblical Gibeah, the capital of King Saul, is generally accepted[9] and ruins of a fortress are apparent at the site.[1] Due to the site's archaeological significance, a number of digs have occurred at the site, the first in 1868. Jordanian plans to build the royal palace atop the mound prompted a third excavation in 1964 which attempted to salvage and document the findings prior to construction work.[10][11][12]

References
  1. Daniel Jacobs (1999). Jerusalem: the mini rough guide. Rough Guides. p. 164. ISBN 978-1-85828-579-5. Retrieved 23 December 2010.
  2. Michael Bernet (July 2004). The Time of the Burning Sun: Six Days of War, Twelve Weeks of Hope. Chester and West. p. 143. ISBN 978-0-9755825-1-0. Retrieved 23 December 2010.
  3. Marshall J. Berger; Ora Ahimeir (2002). Jerusalem: a city and its future. Syracuse University Press. p. 185. ISBN 978-0-8156-2913-9. Retrieved 23 December 2010.
  4. Walter George Williams (1965). Archaeology in Biblical research. Abingdon Press. p. 106. Retrieved 23 December 2010.
  5. John V. Canfield (February 2002). The Middle East in turmoil. Nova Publishers. p. 169. ISBN 978-1-59033-160-6. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
  6. Jordanian monarch's villa in Jerusalem turns into shelter for junkies, Xinhua News Agency, November 22, 2010.
  7. Work halted on King Hussein's old summer villa in J'lem, Jerusalem Post, August 14, 2011.
  8. Waqf spokesman denies renovation of King Hussein palace, Ma'an, August 14, 2011.
  9. Geoffrey W. Bromiley (March 1982). International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: E-J. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. p. 461. ISBN 978-0-8028-3782-0. Retrieved 23 December 2010.
  10. Simcha Shalom Brooks (31 October 2005). Saul and the monarchy: a new look. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. p. 130. ISBN 978-0-7546-5204-5. Retrieved 23 December 2010. The third season of excavation at Tell el-Full was a salvage operation, since King Hussein of Jordan was planning to build a palace on top of the mound.
  11. Philip J. King (1 January 1983). American archaeology in the mideast: a history of the American schools of oriental research. American Schools of Oriental Research. p. 161. ISBN 9780897575089. Retrieved 23 December 2010. Lapp was also prompted to dig at Tell el Ful because the ancient ruins were scheduled to be demolished to make way for the construction of a new West Bank palace for King Hussein of Jordan.
  12. Paul W. Lapp (January 1975). The tale of the Tell: archaeological studies. Pickwick Press. p. 83. ISBN 978-0-915138-05-0. Retrieved 23 December 2010. Tell el-Ful was on my list of sites in Jordan deserving prompt archaeological attention. The western slope is rapidly being covered with beautiful new homes, and at the present rapid building pace the mound will be covered within a few years. King Hussein has rented one of these homes as his West Bank palace. Press reports indicate that he may erect a palace at the summit, but apparently there are no immediate plans. In any case, there seemed some justification in considering the campaign a salvage operation.

31°49′23.74″N 35°13′51.82″E

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