An Egyptian green schist palette and an amazonite gemstone from the “Palace of the Copper Axes” at Batrawy, Jordan

Abstract

The exploration of the “Palace of the Copper Axes”, the Early Bronze Age III palace of the
easternmost city of Southern Levant during the 3rd millennium BC, was resumed in 2018, during the
14th season of excavation at Khirbet al-Batrawy in north-central Jordan, and completed in 2019. In
the entrance hall of the palace, a square space with ceilings supported by four pillars, an Egyptian
green schist palette, a cyan gemstone of amazonite and a pierced bead of fluorapatite were found
buried under the destruction layer, while a barrel-shaped carnelian bead from Mesopotamia was
found in the destruction layer just outside the Eastern Pavilion of the palace. These finds again testify
to the inclusion of the palace and the city into a wide international trade network and its special
connections with Pharaonic Egypt.