Studies in The Archaeology of The Iron Age in Israel and Jordan

JOURNAL FOR THE STUDY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT
SUPPLEMENT SERIES
331
Editors
David J.A. Clines
Philip R. Davies
Executive Editor
Andrew Mein
Editorial Board
Richard J. Coggins, Alan Cooper, J, Cheryl Exum, John Goldingay,
Robert P. Gordon, Norman K. Gottwald, John Jarick,
Andrew D.H. Mayes, Carol Meyers, Patrick D. Miller
Sheffield Academic Press
This page intentionally left blank
Studies in the Archaeology
of the Iron Age in Israel
and Jordan
edited by
Amihai Mazar
with the assistance of
Ginny Mathias
Journal for the Study of the Old Testament
Supplement Series 331
Copyright 2001 Sheffield Academic Press
Published by
Sheffield Academic Press Ltd
Mansion House
19KingfieldRoad
Sheffield SI 1 9AS
England
Typeset by Sheffield Academic Press
and
Printed on acid-free paper in Great Britain
by Bookcraft Ltd
Midsomer Norton, Bath
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library
ISBN 1-84127-203-5
CONTENTS
Preface 7
Abbreviations 9
List of Contributors 11
PARTI
SETTLEMENT PATTERNS AND LANDSCAPE ARCHAEOLOGY
1. AV IOF ER
The Monarchic Period in the Judaean Highland:
A Spatial Overview 14
2. ADAM ZERTAL
The Heart of the Monarchy: Pattern of Settlement
and Historical Considerations of the Israelite
Kingdom of Samaria 38
3. GU NNAR LEHMANN
Phoenicians in Western Galilee: First Results
of an Archaeological Survey in the Hinterland of Akko 65
4. SHIMON GIBSON
Agricultural Terraces and Settlement Expansion
in the Highlands of Early Iron Age Palestine:
Is There Any Correlation between the Two? 113
Part II
TEMPLES, CULT AND ICONOGRAPHY
5. AV RAHAMBIRAN
The High Places of Biblical Dan 148
6 Studies in the Archaeology of the Iron Age
6. ZE'EV HERZOG
The Date of the Temple at Arad: Reassessment of the
Stratigraphy and the Implications for the History of
Religion in J udah 156
7. RAZ KLETTER
Between Archaeology and Theology: The Pillar
Figurines from Judah and the Asherah 179
8. KAY PRAG
Figurines, Figures and Contexts in Jerusalem and Regions
to the East in the Seventh and Sixth Centuries BCE 217
9. TALLAY ORNAN
Istar as Depicted on Finds from Israel 235
10. NORMA FRANKLIN
A Room with a V iew: Images from Room V at Khorsabad,
Samaria, Nubians, the Brook of Egypt and Ashdod 257
Part III
ASPECTS OF MATERIAL CU LTU RE
11. MARGREET STEINER
Jerusalem in the Tenth and Seventh Centuries BCE:
From Administrative Town to Commercial City 280
12. AMIHAI MAZAR
Beth Shean during Iron Age II:
Stratigraphy, Chronology and Hebrew Ostraca 289
13. PIOTR BIENKOWSKI AND LEONIE SEDMAN
Busayra and Judah: Stylistic Parallels in the Material Culture 310
Index of Authors 326
Index of Place Names 333
PREFACE
The present volume is the outcome of a colloquium initiated and
organized by the Institute of Jewish Studies, University College
London, 16-17 April 1996. Professor Mark Geller was the initiator of
the conference, and I helped in academic and professional matters. The
colloquium took place in the Institute of Archaeology, U CL and was an
opportunity for Israeli, British and other European scholars to meet and
discuss matters relating to the Iron Age of Israel and Jordan. Out of the
18 lectures given during the colloquium, 13 lectures were submitted for
publication.
The papers in this volume deal with various aspects of the Iron Age.
The first four papers deal with spatial archaeology and settlement
patterns. This subject has been extensively developed in Israel thanks to
surface surveys carried out in the country since the early 1960s.
Changes in settlement patterns are now recognized as a crucial tool for
the study of changes in ancient societies; in Israel and Jordan they have
a special significance for historical studies as well. The four papers in
this section demonstrate the power of this tool. All of them are based on
extensive field work carried out by A. Zertal in Samaria, A. Ofer in
J udah, G. Lehman in the Akko Plain, and S. Gibson in various areas in
the hill country of Israel.
The six papers in the second section deal with religion and icon-
ography. The only two Iron Age temples known today in Israel, those
of Dan and Arad, are discussed by A. Biran and Z. Herzog. Herzog's
paper on Arad is revolutionary in relation to earlier conclusions
presented by Y . Aharoni and by the author himself. R. Kletter and
K. Prag discuss aspects of clay figurines and other cult objects;
T. Oman identifies the Assyrian goddess Istar on a number of seals and
on a silver pendant at Tel Miqne, and suggests relations to the biblical
'Queen of Heaven'; N. Franklin examines the iconography and mean-
ing of the wall relief in Room V at Sargon's palace in Khorsabad.
The last section comprises three studies related to specific sites.
M. Steiner presents her views on the controversial question of the urban
development of Jerusalem during Iron Age II; A. Mazar presents the
data concerning Iron Age II at Tel Beth Shean, and publishes Hebrew
ostraca from that site. Finally, P. Bienkowski and L. Sedman discuss
several finds from Busayra, the capital of Edom, and their relation to
finds from Horvat Qitmit and 'En Haseva in Israel.
The present volume is published at a time when many questions
relating to the Iron Age of Israel are under scrutiny. The controversial
subjects are the relative and absolute chronology of the twelfth to ninth
centuries, the nature and development of the Israelite states, and the
role of archaeology in examining the validity of the biblical text.
Though these questions are hardly discussed in the present volume, I
hope that nevertheless the volume will contribute to the dynamic and
ever-expanding subject to which the colloquium was dedicated.
I thank Professor Mark Geller and the Institute of Jewish Studies,
U niversity College London, and Professor Philip Davies and Sheffield
Academic Press for making this publication possible. I also thank Miss
Ginny Mathias from the Institute of Jewish Studies for her efforts in
copy-editing and preparing the papers to go to press.
Amihai Mazar
The Hebrew U niversity of Jerusalem
ABBREV IATIONS
AASOR
ABD
ADAJ
AJA
AN
ANET
AnOr
AOAT
AOS
BA
BAR
BARev
BASOR
BBB
BHS
BN
BO
BWANT
BZ
BZAW
CTA
EB
El
HAR
HSM
HTR
IEJ
JAOS
JBL
Annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research
David Noel Freedman (ed.), The Anchor Bible Dictionary
(New Y ork: Doubleday, 1992)
Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan
American Journal of Archaeology
Archaeological News (Jerusalem: Israel Antiquities Authority;
Hebrew)
J.B. Pritchard (ed.), Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to
the Old Testament (Princeton: Princeton U niversity Press, 3rd
edn,1969)
Analecta orientalia
Alter Orient und Altes Testament
American Oriental Series
Biblical Archaeologist
British Archaeological Reports, International Series
Biblical Archaeology Review
Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research
Bonner biblische Beitrage
Biblia hebraica stuttgartensia
Biblische Notizen
Bibliotheca orientalis
Beitrage zur Wissenschaft vomAlten und Neuen Testament
Biblische Zeitschrift
BeiheftezurZ AW
A. Herdner (ed.), Corpus des tablettes en cuneiformes
alphabetiques decouvertes a Ras Shamra-Ugarit de 1929 a
1939 (Paris: Imprimerie nationale Geuthner, 1963)
N. Tur-Sinai, S. Y eivin and B. Mazar (eds.), Encyclopaedia
Biblica (J erusalem, 1958-1976; Hebrew)
Eretz-Israel (Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society)
Hebrew Annual Review
Harvard Semitic Monographs
Harvard Theological Review
Israel Exploration Journal
Journal of the American Oriental Society
Journal of Biblical Literature
JNES
JNSL
JSOT
JSOTSup
JSR
JSS
NEAEHL
OBO
PEFA
PEFQS
PEQ
PJ
RB
RSV
SBL
SBLDS
SJOT
UF
VT
V TSup
ZAW
ZDMG
ZDPV
Journal of Near Eastern Studies
Journal of Northwest Semitic Languages
Journal for the Study of the Old Testament
Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, Supplement Series
Z. Ehrlich and Y . Eshel (eds.), Judaea and Samaria Research
Studies, Proceedings of the Tenth Annual Meeting
(Kedumim-Ariel; Hebrew)
Journal of Semitic Studies
E. Stern (ed.), The New Encyclopaedia of Archaeological
Excavations in the Holy Land (4 vols.; Jerusalem, 1993).
Orbis biblicus et orientalis
Palestine Exploration Fund Annual
Palestine Exploration Fund, Quarterly Statement
Palestine Exploration Quarterly
Paldstina-Jahrbuch
Revue Biblique
Revised Standard V ersion
Society of Biblical Literature
SBL Dissertation Series
Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament
Ugarit-Forschungen
Vetus Testamentum
Vetus Testamentum, Supplements
Zeitschrift fur die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft
Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenldndischen Gesellschaft
Zeitschrift des deutschen Paldstina-Vereins
LIST OF CONTRIBU TORS
AV RAHAM BIRAN
Nelson Glueck School of Biblical Archaeology, Hebrew U nion College,
Jerusalem, Israel
PIOTR BIENKOWSKI
National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside, Liverpool Museum, U K
NORMA FRANKLIN
Department of Archaeology, Tel Aviv U niversity, Israel
SHIMON GIBSON
W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research, Jerusalem, Israel
ZE'EV HERZOG
Tel Aviv U niversity, Israel
RAZ KLETTER
Land of Israel Studies Department, U niversity of Haifa, Israel
GU NNAR LEHMANN
Ben-Gurion U niversity of the Negev, Israel
AMIHAI MAZAR
The Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew U niversity of J erusalem, Israel
AV I OFER
Judaean Highland Project, Israel
TALLAY ORNAN
The Israel Museum, Jerusalem
KAY PRAG
The Manchester Museum, The U niversity of Manchester, U K
LEONIE SEDMAN
School of Archaeology, Classics and Oriental Studies, U niversity of
Liverpool, U K
MARGREET L. STEINER
Leiden, Holland
ADAM ZERTAL
Department of Archaeology, Haifa U niversity, Israel
Parti
SETTLEMENT PATTERNS AND LANDSCAPE ARCHAEOLOGY
1
THE MONARCHIC PERIOD IN THE JUDAEAN HIGHLAND:
A SPATIAL OV ERV IEW*
Avi Ofer
The Judaean Highland project was conducted by me, with the
assistance of Gideon Suleimani and partially also Raz Kletter, from
1982 onwards. The research was conducted on behalf of the Israel
Exploration Society, the Nadler Institute of Archaeology in Tel-Aviv
U niversity and the Israel Ministry of Science. I would like to thank
especially Professor Kochavi, who gave me access to the material from
his important rescue survey in the same region (1968; see Kochavi
1972), and helped us in many other ways.
1
In the first part of this paper I will describe the region, the survey and
the methods of evaluation. In the second half I will present some of the
results concerning the Iron Age phases
2
especially those of Iron Age
2, which is usually taken (rightly, as will be seen later) as the period of
the Monarchy.
The Highland of Judah is the whole region south of Jerusalem, not
including the city itself.
3
The area is around 800 sq. km.
The original lecture is reproduced here with detailed apparatus and minor
changes (including the title). It is based on my dissertation (Ofer 1993), which was
carried out under the supervision of Professors Moshe Kochavi and Nadav
Na'aman. I would like to dedicate the article to the memory of liana, Na'aman's
late wife, who passed away a few days before the original lecture was presented in
the conference. All biblical references are according to the BHS; all English
translations of biblical texts are taken from the RSV , unless otherwise stated.
1. For a full list of institutions and individuals who helped us, see Ofer 1993:
2* -3* .
2. For the ceramic sub-division of the Iron Age in Judah see Appendix 1 A.
3. In this I follow the biblical concept, cf. Josh. 15.8, 18.16. For some other
purposes the Highland of Hebron may be a better unit to analyse, which includes
OFER The Monarchic Period in the Judaean Highland 15
It is divided into six sub-regions:
1. The South
4
: dry, moderate topography.
2. The Southern Desert Fringe.
3. The 'Southern Springs': a mid-region between the South and
the Central Highland, with some major perennial springs.
4. The Central Highland: characterized by fertile high valleys,
the real heart of the J udaean Highland. Here is found the Tel
of ancient Hebron, the natural centre of the Judaean Highland.
5. The Northern Highland: a narrow mountainous region in the
north.
6. The Northern Desert Fringe.
All in all, 334 dated sites were surveyed in the Judaean Highland, from
all ceramic periods. To evaluate this mass of data, a new method was
developed.
5
The crucial problem, once we have surveyed a site and identified the
pottery, is estimating its size in each period in which it existed. For this,
we use the percentages of identified sherds, in relation to the estimated
maximum inhabited area of the site. Calculating the sherds' percentages
is, in principle, a simple taskbut one has to take care not to
oversimplify it. First, we have to identify the pottery-rims which are
indicative for each period, existing only then. We call those the unique
sherds of each period.
6
An example is a pottery analysis of Khirbet Karmil
7
(Table 1.1, Fig.
1.1). Note the typical distribution of unique sherds, as compared to
those common to two following sub-periods, and to those common to
the whole period of Iron Age 2. At first sight one may think that
only the first four sub-regions described below.
4. In Hebrew I call it Negev Ha'har, the Negev (southern and dry region) of
the Highland, following Achsah, daughter of Caleb: "^nfQ 33Jn f I N ""D' ('since
you have set me in the land of the Negeb'), J osh. 15.19 = J udg. 1.15.
5. For the theoretic base and the practical evolution of this method see Ofer
1993: Part 2, 143-79 (excursi 2/A-2/B), English summary pp. 26* -28* .
6. Or fossiles directeurs. Although not fashionable, \hefossiles directeurs are
still highly important in ceramic analysis and dating of survey material.
7. Kh. Karmil, site no. (16-09) 321/32/1; see Ofer 1993: II, Appendix 2/A, 44,
and pi. 50e(n). The exact length of periods may, of course, be disputable. However,
as in any case of quantification, one has to decide, and the figures here represent
what I think is the best approximation. They are generally rounded to units of half a
century, or 25 years in the very short stages of the Iron Age 2.
OTTOMAN
MEDIAEV AL
Byz-Med
BY ZANTINE
Rom.-Byz.
ROMAN 2
1-2
ROMAN 1
Hel.-Rom.l
HELLENISTIC
PERSIAN
3-Persian
I RONS
2c-3
IRON 2C
2b-2c
IRON 2B
2a-2b
IRON 2A
Iron Age 2 (undivided)
MB 2-3 ('2a-b')
EB 1
U nidentified
Total
Raw sherd-
counting
1
1
1
15
11
5
4
2
5
3
2
4
4
4
6
5
2
2
3
8
26
4
16
134
U nweighted Weighted
percentages count
1
1
1
13
9
4
3
2
4
3
2
3
3
3
5
4
2
2
3
7
22
3
1.0
1.1
24.2
10.6
5.1
6.0
3.3
10.6
15.5
5.2
5.4
26.0
4.0
Count-weighted Period length
percentages (centuries)
1
1
20
9
4
5
3
9
13
4
5
22
3
4
8
3
3
1
2.5
2.5
1.25
1.25
1.25
1.25
3
3.5
Time-weighted
percentages
0
0
13
6
9
4
2
14
21
7
7
14
2
Table 1.1. A7z. Karmilpottery reading and weighting (database for the following graphs). For the Iron Age phases see Appendix 1A.
PERIODS
Fig. 1.1. Kh. Karmil: unweighted sherd-count
Middle Bronze Age and Byzantine Period are dominant in the site,
while the Iron Age is not.
However, we have many sherds which can be identified, but not so
accurately as the previous ones: they may belong to two or three conse-
cutive periods. They have to be distributed among the identified periods
according to the percentage of their proved sherdsthe unique ones.
8
After such calculation, the graphs change; in our example the MB and
Byzantine ages still higher, but Iron Age 2 phases are now much more
significant (Fig. 1.2).
The next step refers to the different length of each period. The same
number of people, living in the same inhabited area, during a period
double in length, will leave us double number of sherds. We have to
weight this factor. This can be done by dividing our sherd counting by
the length of each period, then recalculating the percentage. This pro-
cedure changes the results to a large extent. Thus, the simplified
counting of sherds was misleading. Iron Age 2c-3 phases, much shorter
than the undivided MB or Byzantine ages, appear only now as they
really are: the most significant phases of occupation in the site (Fig.
1.3).
8. However, when we have such intermediate sherds but only one of their pos-
sible periods is clearly attested in the site, all of them will be attributed to that
period only.
Fig. 1.2. Kh. Karmil: weighted count
Fig. 1.3. Kh. Karmil: weighted percentages
Thus, the estimation of the size of settlement for each stage seems to
be clear: the maximum weighted percentage is that of the period cover-
ing the maximum area. The settlement size of each other stage is prop-
ortional to its weighted percentage. Finally, a small correction is
applied for those ancient periods covered by later ones (although in the
eroded Highland this problem is not so crucial).
OFER The Monarchic Period in the Judaean Highland
19
It is now possible to draw the settlement graphs and maps of each
identifiable period, and follow the settlement development in the given
region: here, the Highland of J udah.
Figure 1.4 presents the summary of the history of the region, in terms
of inhabited dunams (1 dunam =V io hectar). Note the low figures in the
Bronze Ages, the three cycles of Bronze Age settlement: EB1, EB3,
MBand the declines following them. A fourth wave of settlement
appears in the Iron Age I,
9
but this time it continues to the Iron Age
2a
10
and onwards. In the Iron Age 2 the J udaean Highland is no longer
a fringe area, but an integral part of the settled land. Note also the two
peaks of inhabited area: one in Iron 2c,
n
toward the end of the eighth
century BCE; the othermuch higherin the Byzantine period.
Fig. 1.4. Settled area in the Judaean highland
But is the settled area the best indication for population size? The
conventional factor of 20-25 inhabitants per settled dunam is but a
mean.
12
The actual figures range between less than 10 to more than 40
9. c. twelfth to mid-eleventh century BCE.
10. c. mid-eleventh to tenth century BCE.
11. c. eighth century BCE; stratigraphically ending at 701 BCE, ceramically end
ing some decades later.
12. Archaeologists of the Land of Israel tend to use the coefficient of 25 inhabi-
tants per settled dunam (i.e. Broshi and Gophna 1984: 42), and regard it as even
somewhat high (Finkelstein 1988: 331-32, and n. 37 there).
inhabitants per settled dunam,
13
Here, recording the intensity of sherds
in every site, for example in terms of sherds per one hour survey by one
surveyor, gives a better indication of the amount of human activity.
14
The graph of the ceramic intensity during the various periods is the
greatest surprise of all (Fig. 1.5).
Fig. 1.5. Ceramic intensity
Comparing the two kinds of data: settled area, versus ceramic activity,
note that the Byzantine period has the largest settled area of all, but the
sites are not so densely populated. The ceramic activity, so maybe the
proportional amount of population, seems to be much higher in Iron
2c.
15
13. The latest research in the population of traditional society (Arab villages) in
this land is that of Biger and Grossman (1990, 1992). This research shows that the
density of population may vary as much as 6-100 (!) inhabitants per settled dunam,
and in many cases it varies between 10-40/50 (Biger and Grossman 1992: Table 1).
Although in their examined period the density in the J udaean Highland was only
14.5, it is clear that in different conditions the figures could be much different (as in
the contemporanous nearby Shephelah: 28.1, Table 3 [Biger and Grossman 1992]).
14. In our survey we recorded systematically the time spent sherd-collecting
and the number of surveyors. We also estimated the effectiveness of the surveyors
according to three categories: professionals, students with some training, others.
Hence, we have a reasonable estimation for this factor. However, using a simple
scale of five or even three categories of sherd intensity at the site may be enough
(many, moderate, few), and this data can be deduced from most published surveys.
15. These results lead to the conclusion that for the Iron Age we should use a
higher coefficient per dunam, especially for phase 2c. If the mean coefficient is 20-
22 inhabitants per settled dunam, I tend to conclude that for most phases of the Iron
However, most of the following evaluations are still based on the
conservative settled area factor. These further evaluations form the
basis of the overview of the Iron age in the Judaean Highland (below).
We may calculate the land use, still per settled dunam: on the one
hand rendzina soils, best fitted for winter crops and grazingnamely,
for a more pastoral society; on the other the terra-rossa soils, less
abundant but better for horticulture (see Fig. 1.6).
16
Fig. 1.6. Relative land uses
We can also compare their relative relationshipsthis is a disinterested
evidence for the pastoral or settled background of the settlers, not
dependent upon our historical premises, not to say pre-judgments. Note
in the graph in Figure 1.7,
17
Early Bronze, Middle Bronze, Late Bronze,
and the surprising Iron 1: most horticultural of all, this period does not
seem to reflect any desert-fringe pastoralism, it seems! The latter
occurs, with growing use of rendzina soils, in Iron 2a, and Iron
Age we should use at least 25, and for Iron 2c we should use 30; even those figures
may be somewhat low.
16. This graph shows the average settled area per 100 square kms of each of the
two main types of soils (namely, the settlements which mainly use one of the two
types). Hence, it shows the preferences of the population in relative terms.
17. Fig. 1.7 just emphasizes the preferences shown in Fig. 1.6the results of
dividing the relative settled areas of terra-rossa by those of rendzina.
2b. Then, in Iron 2c, the process reaches its peak and the society
stabilizes. Only with the impoverishment of the South following the
end of the Iron Age, horticulture regains priority for a while, during the
Persian-Hellenistic Period.
Fig. 1.7. Comparative land use
We may follow the distribution of settlements, according to their size
a rank-size analysis, common in geography.
18
This may indicate
social units, their centres, and their measure of inner integration.
18. Rank-size analyses were intoduced into humanities and social sciences by
Zipf (1941; 1949, esp. pp. 324 onwards). Hagget (1965), Berry and Morton (1970)
and others applied these analyses to geography. Soon afterward, they were
incorporated into spatial archaeology, for example by V apnarsky (1969), Hodder
and Orton (1976), and most remarkably by J ohnson (1977, 1980, 1981, 1987). In
brief, the analyses are based on the fact that empiric data from various societies
show that in a well-integrated socio-economic unit, the second site (according to its
size or other factors of human activity) is 1/2 of the 1st site (the greatest site), the
third is 1/3 of the first, and so on: the n site is \ln of the first. This is true for sites
above some minimal size (5-10 dunams or more). This distribution appears as a
diagonal on a logarithmic scale, which is hence the best representation of that
analysis. A concave logarithmic distribution (a primate distribution) represents a
system dominated by a primate-city, much larger than usual (Smith 1982a, b). It
may be only a part of the whole unit (including its capital), or a very large unit
composed of some integrated sub-units, with a larger capital.
One has to put these distributions on a logarithmic scale,
19
and calcu-
late a certain index to express its shape and nature.
20
A diagonal curve,
in Figure 1.8, indicates one well-integrated social unit in the region,
such as Early Bronze Age 3, third millennium BCE: an integrated unit
under dominant Ras-Tawra (60 dunams).
Fig. 1.8. Early Bronze 3: rank-size distribution
The Middle Bronze Age, under Tel-Hevron, fits well with the adminis-
trative tablet which we found there (Ofer 1989; Anbar and Na'aman
1987) (Fig. 1.9).
19. If the graphs are not logarithmic on both axes they are always concave,
although in different degrees, and a visual comparison is effectively very hard.
Thus, Gophna and Portugali (1988) published detailed non-logarithmic graphs
(their Figs. 10-11), all concaves of course, so that they could deduce from thembut
few meaningful conclusions.
20. Among the different indices which were offered (El-Shakhs 1972; Malecki
1975), that of J ohnson (1980, 1987) is still the best, although not without problems.
J ohnson's Rank Size Index (RSI) is zero (0) for a perfect diagonal, positive (up to
1) for a convex logarithmic graph, and negative (down to minus-infinity) for a
concave one. In the future I hope to introduce an improved index; meanwhile, any
comparison has to consider the difference between the positive and the negative
ranges. The RSI is calculated for those sites bigger than the minimum indicated
above (n. 18), which is called 'RSI cut point' (J ohnson 1987: 109). In the following
distributions two different cut points are examined and calculated (5 and 10
dunams); however, any comparison is to be made with the same cut-point for all
the distributions examined.
Fig. 1.9. Middle Bronze 1 (2a): rank-size distribution
Once the curve becomes convex, in a relatively small region like this,
it indicates that we are dealing with just a part of a unit, not including
its centre.
21
In the Highland of J udah it happens for the first time, and
from then on, in Iron Age 2aaround 1000 BCE (Fig. 1.10).
When adding the closest dominant site outside our region ('Site J '),
we see a quite well-integrated unit (Fig. 1.11), under the dominance of
this site, which should be therefore the capital of this unit.
22
The rank size index (RSI) of different periods can also be compared
to analyse this aspect of the region's history (Fig. 1.12).
21. The convex distribution was much discussed from the 1980s onwards, i.e.
by J ohnson in his articles (above, n. 18), Kowalewsky (1982), Paynter in an
essential article including many references (1983), and Bunimovitz (1989: 57-70;
see also 1994) for Canaan during the second millenium BCE. Sometimes it may
represent the existence of more than one unit in the analysed area, but that only in
very large regions. In relatively small regions it represents generally a part of a
wider unit, and one has to look around the region to find the rest of the unit,
including its centre.
22. 'Site J' is of course the archaeological site of Jerusalem. Its area before Iron
2c is hard to estimate, but there are pure archaeological reasons to ascribe to it
about 150 dunams at that period (Ofer 1993, part 2: 203-204). The conventional
estimation is also about 160 dunams, but that relies mainly on the interpretation of
the biblical sources.
Fig. 1.10. Iron 2a: rank-size distribution
Fig. 1.11. Iron 2aincluding 'site J': rank-size distribution
\
1
Fig. 1.12. Rank size index (RSI) through the periods
General Overview and Conclusions
23
The Late Bronze Age in the Judaean Highland is a void.
Iron Age I,
24
twelfth to mid-eleventh century BCE: new settlers;
nothing in the wide pasture areas in the east, almost nothing in the
south; no one clear capital. Hebron, Jerusalem and Tell es-Safi seem to
be the principal sites in J udah. Who are these apparently non-pastoral
settlers? In J erusalem, we know, they are Jebusites, most probably of
Anatolian origin.
25
In Tel es-Safi (Gath), they are Philistines (Rainey
1975; Singer 1994, esp. 305-306, 315-18, 324-25). Perhaps this is the
time when the so-called 'Hittites' arrive to Hebron, mentioned later in
the biblical traditions? (cf. Na'aman 1994: 239-40). 'Yelidei ha'anaq'
who are mentioned in the Caleb traditions as the predecessors of the
Calebites in Hebron and Debir, may also be a group which emerged at
that time.
26
Iron 2a, mid-eleventh to tenth century BCE, marks the beginning of
settlement in the pasture areas. There is a major change in the site of
Hebron. It seems that the beginning of this stage is the time of the
23. For estimations of settled area and population in the various stages of the
Iron Age, see Appendix I B.
24. For a more detailed review of that period in the J udaean Highland see Ofer
1994.
25. As were probably most of the 'seven peoples of Canaan'cf. Mendenhall
1973: 144-63, Na'aman 1994: 239-43.
26. The problem of 'Yelidei ha'anaq' is complicated (for my detailed
discussion see Ofer 1993: Part 1, 10-11). In brief, they may be West-Semitic
(Lipinski 1974, esp. pp. 41-44), of northern 'Hittite' origin (Na'aman 1994: 263-
64), or a combination of Semitic and northern elements (Ofer 1993, above).
Ahiman and Talmai may be West-Semitic names (Zadok, oral communication)
although the latter may also be Hurrian (Zadok, cf. de V aux 1948), Sheshay is not
indicative (being an onomatopeic name), while ' Anaq itself is clearly West-Semitic
(Noth 1966: 105); the suggestion of a Greek origin by Maclaurin (1965) seems to
be impossible, ignoring the clearly Semitic 'Ayin in the name, and his discussion is
highly speculative and oversimplified. Most probably 'Yelidei ha'anaq' was a tribal
unit, maybe with three chieftains. The theory of L'Heureux (1976), following
Willesen (1958) and adopted by Na'aman (above), that yelidim are members of a
'cultic association of warriors', seems to me too speculative to build a super-
structure upon it. For the Caleb traditions see n. 27.
Calebites' arrival, conquering not a Bronze Age city, but an Iron Age 1
site in Hebron, populated by 'Yelidei ha'anaq' and/or the 'Hittites'.
27
At the beginning of this stage we have also the first inhabitation of
desert fringe sites such as Teqoa', ha-Qain, Ma'on, and our Kh. Karmil/
Carmel.
But probably the most important archaeological fact is, as discussed
above, that the socio-economic and political structure of J udah at that
period is that of a well-integrated unit, most probably a kingdom, most
probably subject to the site of J erusalem. This may be highly important
in view of the new trend which doubts the existence of a real monarchy
in tenth-century J udah.
28
Realistically, the biblico-historical evidence
cannot prove or disprove that. But the spatial analysis, which ignores
any prejudgment, seems to support the existence of such a kingdom.
However, this kingdom still follows the geographical boundaries of the
old city-state of Bronze Age J erusalem.
An analysis of the material published from Benjamin seems to con-
firm these conclusions.
29
As concerns the Shephelah, Y ehuda Dagan's
survey shows that it only began to be populated at that stage.
30
27. About the Calebites and the Caleb traditions I rely on my detailed analysis,
Ofer 1993: Part 1, 5-11 (summarized in Ofer 1994: 110-12); see also the disserta-
tions of Beltz (1974) and Pace (1976), and the important contributions by Noth
(1966: 101-12), Auld (1976: esp. 210-20) and especially Mittman (1975: 34-64).
For the late arrival of the Calebites, and the other southern pastoral elements in
J udah and Israel, there is an important argument that has not been sufficiently
noted. This is the dominance of their traditions in the Bible, which is itself a hint to
their relatively late arrival as the last important element to influence and shape the
biblical account and traditions.
28. This school is well attested in the works of scholars such as Thompson 1994
andDavies 1992.
29. Finkelstein and Magen 1993. As there are no spatial analyses nor overall
discussions about the Highland of Benjamin in this important publication, I
analysed the published data according to my own methods.
30. Dagan 1992: 252-55 (English summary p. V II). This work is highly impor-
tant, although in my opinion the results have to be calibrated before they can be
properly used. However, Iron 2a is very weak according to Dagan himself. Taking
into account that even the identified 'tenth century' settlements were mostly paral-
leled to Lachish StratumV , which we know now is ceramically equal to StratumIV
and both are defined as Iron 2b (see Appendix 1A), the Iron 2a in the Shephelah
may be even sparser.
Iron 2b, the ninth century, which is so hard to identify, is now more
identifiable through Orna Zimhoni's important work on Lachish Strata
V and IV .
31
The settlement process in the east and the south still continues. This
evidence, as well as the biblical evidence, sheds new light on the
common definition of the Settlement Age and its customary chronolo-
gical frame. Instead of twelfth-eleventh centuries BCE as the date of the
age of settlement and sedentarization, we probably should take a much
wider and more complex range. The settlement age in Judah seems to
last no less than 400 years, from the twelfth to ninth centuries BCE. Its
first stage, up to the mid-eleventh century, seems to have mainly a
horticultural basis. The second and third stages, mainly sedentarization
of desert-fringe pastorals, overlap the first half of the Monarchy period.
Iron 2c: in the eighth century the process stabilizes, with an impres-
sive growth of settlement numbers, settlement size and human activity
(as indicated by ceramics), but now in the whole area. J udah reaches its
zenith; only by now, when the sedentarization of pastorals is completed,
is it crystallizing into an homogenous unit. It seems that the historical
analysis also confirms this. In the Shephelah and Benjamin the situation
is the same, and these regions overshadow the Judaean Highland
32
but
not for long.
31. Zimhoni 1997; see again Appendix 1A below.
32. In Benjamin (see n. 29 above) the archaeological situation is unequivocal,
as the surveyors did not separate the different phases of Iron 2. However, most
archaeological evidence shows that as in the Judaean Highland, phase 2c was the
zenith of Iron 2 settlements, including most of the undivided Iron 2 sitesand their
number and overall settled area are higher than in the much larger Judaean
Highland. In the Shephelah, Dagan (1992: 256-58, English p. V III) attributed to
this phase more than 4000 settled dunams (and more 4000 dunams for the
unsurveyed area!), but this is when taking the maximal area of the sites, which is
not identical with the maximal settled area (including unsettled slopes of the tels,
and so on). These figures may be important by themselves, but what we are looking
for here is the maximal settled area, which is generally only 60 per cent of Dagan's
maximal area. Moreover, it is clear that in many sites even this maximumwas
reached during periods other than the Iron Age. All in all, a detailed analysis of
Dagan's highly important survey leads me to an estimate of about 2500 settled
dunams (including the gaps in our knowledge)which is still the highest figure in
Judah. A biblical analysis also shows the supremacy of Benjamin and the
Shephelah at that timeOfer 1993: Part 1, excursus 1/B, esp. pp. 52-53.
The massive destruction by Sennacherib at the end of this stage
affected the whole country, as confirmed by all the surveys and
excavations, and no region shows a full recovery from it.
However, in the next stage, Iron 3, the northern highland of J udah,
and apparently also Benjamin, recover much more than the Sheph-
elah.
33
Here begins a long-term process, whose results are clear in the
subsequent period.
In the Persian period, the northern Judaean Highland flourish as
never before, while from Hebron southward the settlements become
more and more impoverished.
34
The cycle of the Monarchy period is
now completed. The wide socio-political unit of greater J udah
disappears, and a lesser J udah replaces itthe northern highland and
Benjamin. Actually, its borders are quite similar to those of the Iron 2a
J udah, and even earlier, to those of the Bronze Age kingdom of
Jerusalem.
35
In longue duree terms, greater J udah of the mid-monarchic period
was but an episode. However, greater or lesser, later-monarchic and
post-exilic Judah was the main arena for the emergence of Judaism. The
33. The archaeological situation in Benjamin is even more unequivocal than the
previous stage. In the Shephelah the surveyor estimates that the number of settle-
ments was reduced to about 14 per cent of the previous stage and their total settled
area to 24 per cent (Dagan 1992: 259, English p. IX); my estimates are rather
higher (up to 40 per cent for the settled area).
34. Here we have an ideal agreement between the historical sources, which put
the southern border of Y ehud around Beth-Zur, and the archaeological picture
which is changing dramatically south of this site.
35. The discussion about the size and influence of the Canaanite kingdom of
J erusalem was renewed recently. Finkelstein (1990) argued that it was one of the
two main powers in the central highland of Canaan (following Kallai and Tadmor
1969), while Na'aman (1992) maintained that the periphery and influence of this
kingdom was much more limited (following Alt 1925 a, b). That the highland of
Benjamin was dominated by J erusalem is, however, generally accepted (cf.
Na'aman 1986). It is well attested that during the Amarna period Jerusalem had
strong influence in the inner Shephelah, around Keilah. The region of the Hebron-
Debir highland was almost devoid of population, and should also be under the
influence of Jerusalem and/or the Shephelah kingdoms, most probably maneu-
vering between them as Keilah did. In any case, the maximal periphery of Late
Bronze Age Jerusalem should include the highlands of Benjamin and Hebron, as
well as the fringes of the Shephelah. This seems to be very similar to the borders of
early J udah, as well as those of Persian Y ehud (which even has loose control in the
southern highland).
archaeological evidence provides us with the settlement background of
this process.
Here ends our spatial overview of the region. But the Highland of
J udah, and Hebron, are not merely one more region to be explored and
analysed. Our civilization has deep roots there. While walking through
the length and breadth of this land, in these troubled years, I could not
avoid thinking about both past and present of the region. Hebron, el-
Halil, is today (the 1990s) a main centre of fundamentalist hate and
terror. Let us hope that despite all the difficulties, peace will return to
this tormented area. Let us hope that new contributions to human
civilization, and a new cultural synthesis, will again emerge here, in
peace.
Appendix 1A: Preliminary Notes about the
Ceramic Sub-Division of the Judaean Iron Age
The ceramic sub-division of the Iron Age in J udah which is used in this article
deserves some explanation (for detailed discussion see for the time being in my
thesis, Ofer 1993, vol. I, part 2: 15-51, chapter 2.B; I intend to publish a special
article based on it). The old divisions, important as they were, are no longer valid:
cf. Garstang et al. 1922; Albright 1949: 112. The new subdivision of the 'Israelite'
period, offered by Aharoni and Amiran (1958), is hard to implement in J udah, as
stated by Amiran herself (1969: 191). The Old Encyclopedia of Archaeological
Excavations (Avi-Y onah and Stern 1995-98) adopted a hybrid system in which
Iron 2c included both eighth and seventh/sixth centuries BCE which are absolutely
different (cf. Lachish Strata III versus II), while Iron 2b was practically unidentifi-
able. In the new edition (Stern 1993) Iron 2c was limited to the distinctive seventh/
sixth century (=Lachish Stratum II), but Iron 2b was enlarged to include now both
eighth and ninth centuries BCE, which are again absolutely different (Lachish Strata
III versus IV , see below). Archaeologists began then to use an absolute chronolo-
gical terminology for the essentially relative phasing of the Iron Age, which may be
very misleading. To the best of my recognition we have to return to the relative
nomenclature of phasing, and there are fiveand only fivedistinctive ceramic
phases in Iron Age J udah:
Iron 1: c. twelfth to mid-eleventh century BCE (round figures: c. 1200-1050
BCE).
This is what is called generally 'Iron 1' or 'Early Iron 1': i.e. Izbet Zarta III, Ebal
2-l,Giloh.
Iron 2a: c. mid-eleventh to tenth century BCE (round figures: c. 1050-925 BCE).
Generally known as 'tenth century BCE', this phase includes strata such as Tel
Qasileh XI-IX, Izbet-Zartah II-I, 'Beer-Sheba' V III-V I (and at least some of the
material from IX and V ), Tel Esdar III-II, Arad XII-XI. In most sites this stage
can be divided into two stratigraphic assemblages (and even more), taken
generally as late eleventh (or just eleventh) and tenth centuries BCE, accordingly.
However, the ceramic assemblages consist in my opinion of a single identifiable
ceramic stage, which cannot be further separated in the survey or other non-
stratigraphic context. To some extent this phase is close to that of Holladay
(1990), although his dating seems to me untenable (see Ofer 1993: Part 2, 21-
23). To sum up: we have here but one ceramic stage, generally dated to c. mid-
eleventh to tenth century BCE.
Iron 2b: c. ninth century BCE (round figures: c. 925-800 BCE).
This stage was absolutely unidentifiable in J udah till recently. However, Stratum
IV in Lachish was successfully separated and analysed through Orna Zimhoni's
work on the pottery from this key-site of Iron Age 2 J udah (Zimhoni 1997). The
pottery of Lachish IV and the identical pottery of StratumV now defines this
ceramic stage. It differs absolutely from the pottery of Lachish III (Iron 2c), and
is separate from Iron 2a assemblages although (in my opinion) close to them.
Iron 2c: c. eighth century BCE (round figures: c. 800-675 BCE). Stratigraphically
it surely ended at 701 BCE, ceramically maybe some decades later (our division
here is the ceramic one).
Lachish III and parallel strata in Judah. Here is a typical case of the old
confusion between ceramic versus stratigraphic phases (cf. the bitter dispute
about Samaria, Hazor and Megiddo: Aharoni and Amiran 1958: 178 ff, Tufnell
1959: 94 ff, Kenyon 1964: 145 ff and table on p. 148). As the ceramic
assemblages of the 701 destructions define this ceramic stage, we have to
assume by definition that it lasted at least some more few decades following
these destructions.
Iron 3: c. seventh to mid-sixth century BCE (round figures: c. 675-550 BCE).
Lachish II and parallel strata in J udah. Here again, the assemblages are defined
by the 587/6 destructions and the ceramic phase should last then some more
decades, including probably most of the 'Babylonian' phase.
The Persian Period is dated in J udah to 538-332 BCE (round figures: 550-350
BCE).
Appendix IB: Estimations of Settled Area and
Population in Iron Age Judah
These estimations are based on my material from the J udaean Highland, a prelim-
inary analysis of mine for the surveys in Benjamin (Finkelstein and Magen 1993)
and the Shephelah (Dagan 1992), and more data from the various regions of J udah.
The analyses and figures are preliminary, but I hope that they give a reasonable
impression about this important topic (see also Ofer 1993: Part 2, 216-21, excursus
2/D, and the table there). All figures are rounded.
OTTOMAN
MEDIAEV AL
Byz-Med
BY ZANTINE
Rom.-Byz.
ROMAN 2
1-2
ROMAN 1
Hel.-Rom.l
HELLENISTIC
PERSIAN
3-Persian
IRON 3
2c-3
IRON 2C
2b-2c
IRON 2B
2a-2b
IRON 2A
Iron Age 2 (undivided)
MB2-3('2a-b')
EB 1
U nidentified
Total
Raw sherd-
counting
1
1
1
15
11
5
4
2
5
3
2
4
4
4
6
5
2
2
3
8
26
4
16
134
U nweighted Weighted
percentages count
1
1
1
13
9
4
3
2
4
3
2
3
3
3
5
4
2
2
3
7
22
3
1.0
1.1
24.2
10.6
5.1
6.0
3.3
10.6
15.5
5.2
5.4
26.0
4.0
Count-weighted Period length
percentages (centuries)
1
1
20
9
4
5
3
9
13
4
5
22
3
4
8
3
3
1
2.5
2.5
1.25
1.25
1.25
1.25
3
3.5
Time-weighted
percentages
0
0
13
6
9
4
2
14
21
7
7
14
2
Table 1.1. Kh. Karmilpottery reading and weighting (database for the following graphs). For the Iron Age phases see Appendix 1A.
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2
THE HEART OF THE MONARCHY : PATTERN OF SETTLEMENT
AND HISTORICAL CONSIDERATIONS OF THE
ISRAELITE KINGDOM OF SAMARIA
Adam Zertal
Introduction
The central part of the northern Israelite kingdom and its nucleus, that
is, the area around the capital Samaria, has not had the benefit of much
information either in the biblical sources or from in-depth archaeolo-
gical research. Despite general attempts to evaluate the history of the
kingdom and special events in it (Whitley 1952; Y adin 1955; Haran
1967; Cody 1970; Lipinski 1972; Soggin 1984: 205; Sader 1984: 270-
72; Reinhold 1989: 125-52; Mazar 1990: 406-16; Lemaire 1991, 1993),
less effort was invested in estimating the population of the region
(Zertal 1989a, and later Broshi and Finkelstein 1992) and its pattern of
settlement had not had enough 'hard' information available for
research. The first three volumes of the Manasseh hill-country survey
(Zertal 1992a, 1996, 2000), covering some 50 per cent of the area, and
the additional unpublished information covering more than 30 per cent
of the rest, has opened new sources for the study of the region.
With this detailed data one can assess an important field of historical-
archaeological research: the pattern of settlement, a valuable tool for
historical studies. However, the complicated nature of the human
settlement process, with its components and nuances, calls for a prudent
sense of balance in evaluating the various factors and painting the
historical picture.
The goal of this paper is to use the new data to create a picture of an
area of c. 2500 sq. km, of the hill-country of Manasseh. This region
includes most of the Middle-Eastern landscapes, excluding sea-shores:
Mediterranean hill-country, fertile inner valleys, wide wadi-beds, desert
ZERTAL The Heart of the Monarchy 39
fringes and the Jordan valley. The location of the area between the
Mediterranean coast on one side and the Transjordanian plateau on the
other, makes it most appropriate for an examination of the interrela-
tionship between the two regions and their influence on the geography,
economy and history of the Israelite kingdom.
We shall begin with some general problems. An interesting historical
phenomenon is that all four capitals of the Northern Kingdom were
located in the tribal territory of Manasseh: Shechem (1 Kgs 12.25),
Penuel in Transjordan (1 Kgs 12.25), Tirzah (Tell el-Far'ah North:
1 Kgs 14.17) and Samaria (1 Kgs 16.23-24). To these, perhaps, should
be added the 'second capital', Jezreel.
This fact stands in some contradiction to the biblical narratives,
according to which it was the Ephraimite tribal territory which grew in
power during the 200 years of the history of the Northern Kingdom. In
the books of 1-2 Kings and the eighth century prophets the Northern
Kingdom is regularly called 'The Kingdom of Ephraim', indicating the
so-called late Ephraimite superiority.
We have, therefore, a historical problem: while in the Bible Ephraim
is superior in the time of the late Northern Kingdom, it was Samaria
and the Manassite territory which remained the formal and the actual
centres of the kingdom. What could have been the reasons for such a
situation? Why, for example, did the capital not 'move' later into
Ephraim? (Shiloh, with its cultic traditions, could have been a good
candidate.)
In a series of papers (Sellin 1917; Albright 1931; Lemaire 1972,
1978, 1985; Zertal 1988: 343-57, 1991: 42-48, 1992a: 55, 1994: 66-69)
the possibility was already discussed that Manasseh played a central
role in the early history of Israel. In these papers it was suggested that
Manasseh was the nucleus of the early Josephite territory and the core
of the crystallization of early Israel. This interpretation may explain to
some degree the important role that the Manassite tribal allotment
continued to play in the intertribal relationships, if not its influence on
the location of the Israelite capitals.
Alt (1913) and Mazar (1935) tried to solve the Manasseh-Ephraim
problem by analysing the list of the Solomonic districts in 1 Kgs 4.7-
20, a document preserving some political conflicts between the tribes
and the kingdom. Alt claimed that according to the list the first district,
the hill country of Ephraim (1 Kgs 4.8) has stretched north and 'swal-
lowed' the old Manassite tribal territory, considered to be the third
district (1 Kgs 4.9). This, according to him, is evidence of the early
superiority of Ephraim vis-a-vis Manasseh. But later research (Zertal
1984, 1992b, c) has shown that Arubboth, the capital of the third dis-
trict, and Hepher (1 Kgs 4.9) are both located in the old Manassite terri-
tory. This means that the third district kept the boundaries of tribal
Manasseh, and the possible explanation should be sought in the process
of the editing of the Bible, which is beyond our scope here.
Alt (1966b) has also shown the different chararcter of the Northern
Kingdom vis-a-vis J udah: a 'moving' capital with changing dynasties in
the north, much like the contemporary Assyrian and Babylonian models
(Grayson 1992: 750), as against the 'personal union' of the Davidic
dynasty in Jerusalem.
Dating and Terminology
The Iron Age II period begins, according to most scholars, with the
U nited Monarchy. The tenth century BCE still seems a good starting
point for the research. As for the end of the period, 721 BCE (the fall of
Israelite Samaria and the foundation of the Assyrian province of
Samaria) and 586 BCE were both kept as 'fixed dates' for the end of the
period. In the survey, we based the interpretation of our finds mainly on
the dated pottery of the excavations of Samaria (Kenyon 1957), Tell
Balatah/Shechem (Holladay 1966) and Tell el-Far'ah North (Chambon
1984). These three provided us with relatively accurate tools for dating
the pottery of the Iron Age II sites.
The subdivision of Iron Age II has been a focus of debate. Without
entering to this debate here, we find the period from 1000 to 586 BCE,
namely Iron Age II, to be too long for the chronological scheme of the
Northern Kingdom, characterized by rapid and stormy political
changes. We will therefore temporarily use the term Iron Age III for the
period from the fall of Samaria in 722/1 BCE to the fall of Jerusalem in
586/7 BCE (Zertal 1996: 84-86). In these 150 years Samaria was the
capital of the Assyrian province of northern Palestine, and its material
culture can be easily distinguished from that of Judah (Holladay 1966:
547-54; Zertal 1989b).
General Characteristics
From the archaeological data the Northern Kingdom of Israel emerges
as a well-organized state, rich in agricultural resources and well
protected. Its capital Samaria controlled the main roads which crossed
it: the international 'V ia Maris' from the coast to the valley of Jezreel
(Aharoni 1979: 52-53), the main road of the hill-country from Hebron
to Beth-Haggan (Aharoni 1979: 57-58) and the crossing road from the
coast to Transjordan (Aharoni 1979: 60). By means of this control, and
its political and military power, this state played a central role in the
history of Palestine in the ninth-eighth centuries BCE. Apart from the
evidence of economic prosperity, remarkable efforts were invested by
the kingdom in fortifying its borders, in its roads and in the capital
itself. These are clearly evinced in the military investments in general,
and in the length of the siege by the Assyrian army of Samaria in
particular (contra Na'aman 1990).
In addition to settlements and military posts, cult places may have
been present too, although these tend not to have survived unless
located in the desert fringes.
Statistics
The Manasseh survey has revealed so far more than 300 sites with Iron
Age II pottery, 80 per cent of which were previously unknown. Of
these, only 262 have so far been entered into the computer and pro-
cessed according to our method.
1
The Iron Age II is one of the peaks of
settlement density in all periods, with only the Byzantine period being
more populous.
The number of sites in the same territory was double that of the Iron
Age I period (c. 1250-1000 BCE), the pottery of which was found at
135 sites. Iron Age II sites spread throughout almost all the territory,
with only a few areas left unsettled. To draw the pattern of settlement,
various factors were checked. These were divided into two groups:
A. The inner division and distribution of Iron Age II sites in the
surveyed area and the relationships between Iron Age II and sites
of other periods (Fig. 2.1); and
B. The relationship between Iron Age II sites and the environmental
factors. This part is not included in this paper.
For group A, comparisons were made in three consecutive periods: Late
Bronze Age (49 sites), Iron Age I (135) and Iron Age II (262 sites). For
the sake of statistical convenience enclosures, cave sites, fortresses and
camps were put temporarily under their size-groups.
1. For our method of processing see Zertal and Greenberg 1983. All the
computer data for this article was processed by Mrs V iki Ben-Ari, to whom I am
deeply indebted.
Fig. 2.1. Map of the Iron Age II sites in the Manasseh survey
A. The Inner Division and Distribution of Iron Age II Sites
Foundation and Continuity
Sixty-five per cent of the Iron Age II sites (171 in number) are newly
founded, compared with 75 per cent in Iron Age I (102 sites) and 16 per
cent in the Late Bronze Age (8 sites). This settlement 'peak' in the
region can be explained by two factors: the economic prosperity in the
kingdom (mainly during the eighth century) and the high rate of foun-
dation of new sites in the desert fringes. This is indeed the first time that
the 500 sq. km of the desert fringes and Jordan valley are almost
entirely settled, mainly by family farms.
Was this development simply an organic and natural process, or was
it also a deliberate effort to settle the borders of the kingdom? We
assume that some of the kings of the ninth-eighth centuries undertook
major projects of settling people on formerly underpopulated territories.
This view is supported by the speedy settlement on the desert fringes,
where the number of sites was doubled within less than 100 years. One
can probably find hints to this process in the Bible and other sources,
where kings are fortifying the borders and developing new terriories.
Ahab is distinguished by 'all the cities that he built' (1 Kgs 22.39).
Mesha the king of Moab praises himself for building projects (ANET
320-21). In two casesU zziah and Hezekiah of Judahthere are
descriptions of agricultural projects: 'Also he [U zziah] built towers in
the desert, and digged many wells, both in the low countries and in the
plains; husbandmen also, and vinedressers in the mountains, and in
Carmel; for he loved husbandry' (2 Chron. 26.1). Although these
descriptions are missing for Israel, this is most certainly due to the fact
that biblical information regarding the latter's history is rare, laconic
and sometimes hostile.
Single- and Multi-Period Sites
Here again the special character of the Iron Age II prosperity is indi-
cated. Sixty-two per cent (161 sites) of the Iron Age II are single-
period, namely they were founded and ceased to exist between the ninth
to the seventh centuries BCE, and existed mainly during the eighth
century. This is compared to 47 per cent (64 single-period sites) of the
Iron Age I and 12 per cent (6 single-period sites) of the Late Bronze
Age. The opposite is true for multi-period sites: during the Late Bronze
Age long-lived, multi-period tells are the main group (88 per cent of the
total); in Iron Age I half of the sites are of this category,
2
and in Iron
Age II only 38 per cent are multi-period sites.
Reasons for Prosperity and Cessation of Settlement
Since no indications exist for changes in the natural conditions during
the Iron Age II period (Lipschitz and Weisel 1987: 253) the question
arises what caused the prosperity and how did it come to an end.
Though more research is needed to establish accurately the reasons for
2. The fact that 50 per cent of the Iron Age I sites are multi-period (mostly
tells) can be explained by the Canaanite-Israelite relationships in the Manassite
territory, when Iron Age I populations (mainly Israelites) merged with the existing
societies by way of trade, intermarriage (see Gen. 34) or adoption. Alt (1966a)
indicated the special character of Manasseh in this respect, and see also Aharoni
1979:211.
the prosperity, two sets of economic and political factors may be
suggested: the close relationship of Israel with Phoenicia, which
developed international trade; and the stability and power of the Omri-
Ahab dynasty and later, which were translated into population density,
security and development. In spite of consecutive attacks on the
Israelite kingdom by Aram, in addition to other wars (Miller 1967,
1996; Lipinski 1979; Lemaire 1993) the northern state seemed not only
to survive but to prosper, evidence supported by our finds.
Circumstances for the end of the Iron Age II sites are clearer. The
area under research was a focus of the Neo-Assyrian policy of popula-
tion exchange in 722/1 BCE onwards (and see also Oded 1979), and the
influence of the Assyrian conquest and deportations was crucial. In
another paper I wrote:
The Assyrian conquest of 722/1 BCE seems to have emptied large parts
of the country. The 27,290 persons deported from Samaria by Sargon II
(ANET: 284) represented about half of the estimated eighth-century pop-
ulation (nearly 50,000).
3
The main regions which suffered were the
eastern valleys, for reasons still unknown (Zertal 1989a: 14-15).
It can be suggested that the time of the Israelite kingdom (Iron Age II)
was a short and rare period of settlement expansion under optimal poli-
tical and economic conditions. This came to an abrupt end owing to the
Assyrian occupation, which seems to have destroyed most of the east-
ern part of the Samaria region. It was brought about by the deportation
of population and the resettlement, in their stead and to a much lesser
degree, of new deportees from Mesopotamia and Arabia (Oded 1979).
These results run somewhat counter to the biblical description of the
Babylonian deportation in Judah following the fall of Jerusalem in 586
BCE, when Nebuzaradan left in the country just the 'vinedressers and
husbandmen' (2 Kgs 25.12; Jer. 52.16). In Samaria the Assyrians seem
to have depopulated entire regions and to have settled newcomers there.
A piece of archaeological evidence for this process may be the
distribution of the wedge-shaped decorated bowl over the territory. This
special decoration can now be used as an indicator for the period
between 722 BCE and the end of the seventh century (Zertal 1989b).
3. The estimated population according to the survey results until 1989 was
50,000, while in the last seven years of survey an estimated 20,000-25,000 people
were added. Secondly, it is the desert fringes which have been explored during
these years, so that most of the new additions came from there.
Size and Types of Sites
a. Farms. One half (131 sites) of the Iron Age II settlements are small
in size (about half a hectare in area). Most of them were defined by
their plans as family farmsteads, comprising a house or houses for the
family and its associated structures and courtyard(s) for the animals.
Many of these have been explored and drawn during the survey (Fig.
2.2). Their excavation and detailed research is a goal for the future, as
they provide us with the basic information about the social structure of
the family and its economy.
Fig. 2.2. Plans of two Iron Age II family farms in Manasseh:
Abu Sha 'am (top) and Wadi Ras el-Kharubeh (bottom)
Stager (1985), who explored the archaeology of the family in the Iron
Age I period, concentrated on the private household within a village.
The Iron Age II, though, was the period when the isolated family farms
fluorished. The farm is an ideal means for exploiting small, remote or
infertile pieces of land. Their high proportion in the Iron Age II society
again indicates prosperity and the search for the formerly underrated
lands. Their especially high rate of occurrence in the desert fringes is
additional evidence for this phenomenon (Fig. 2.3). A similar picture of
farm distribution was presented from the western fringes of the
Ephraimite territory during the Iron Age II (Dar 1982, 1986; Finkelstein
1981; Faust 1995).
The distribution of farms indicates the basic social structure of
Israelite society, where small independent peasants played a central role
in quantity and quality. It is well attested by the biblical sources, where
independent farming appears as the ideal way of life (e.g. 1 Kgs 5.5;
2Kgs 18.31; Isa. 36.16; Mic. 4.4).
U nlike Iron Age II J udah, where this phenomenon is well known
(Stager 1976, 1977; Meitliss 1989, 1992; Amit 1992), no farm has been
excavated so far in the Kingdom of Israel, but the farm economy can be
initially traced through the works of Eitam (1992, 1996: 695-99) and
others (Bornstein 1992). In Eitam's research, installations for the prod-
uction of wine, olive-oil and other products, dated to the Iron Age II
period, were discovered in the desert fringes of Manasseh. Eitam's finds
form additional support for the suggestion that Iron Age II is the period
of expansion into this region and that the settlers' economy was mostly
based on sedentary agriculture. The beginnings of this sedentary
agriculture only in the Iron Age II may indicate the semi-nomadic char-
acter of their predecessors, the Iron Age I early Israelites, who pre-
sumably lived on the same territory with an economy based on sheep
husbandry (Zertal 1998a).
Farmsteads are mentioned in the Bible in various terms: the words
are bayit (house), lira (translated wrongly as 'castle'Gen. 25.16;
Num. 31.10; Ezek. 25.4), hatzer (a house with a courtyardLowen-
stahm 1958) and probably hava (translated as 'small town'Num.
32.41). The latter appear only in connection with Jair in Transjordanian
Manasseh, which means it is not a common term (Schmitz 1992).
Fig. 2.3. The Desert Fringes of the Northern Kingdom during the Iron Age II period
b. Villages. Nearly one-third (82 sites, 31 per cent of the total) of the
Iron Age II sites are villages, 1-5 acres in size and presumably with
200-250 inhabitants on average.
4
J udging by the survey, the villages
as well as the farmswere unfortified, a fact indicating the relative
security provided by the kingdom and the fortified towns, used as
refuges in times of war or disturbance.
Two excavated villages from the Iron Age I-II period, Tell 'Amal in
the Beth Shean valley (Levy and Edelstein 1972; Edelstein and Feig
1993) and Tell Qiri in the Jezreel valley (Ben-Tor 1987, 1993) may be
used as an example of this type in the Mediterranean region of Manas-
seh. Although only a small part of Tell Qiri was excavated, it is evident
that the place (estimated at some 1-1.5 hectares in area) was unfortified
(Ben-Tor 1993: 1229) and its inhabitants were occupied mainly, or
even solely, with agriculture. The excavator presumes that a cultic place
stood there (Ben-Tor 1993: 1229). Indications of the village economy,
evidently similar to those found in our survey, are as follows:
1. Bones of sheep, cattle and other domesticated animals, pointing
to an economy based on animal husbandry, were found (Davis
1987). Some small-scale hunting was recorded as well.
2. Grinding stones and sickle blades indicating wheat and barley
agriculture (Ben-Tor 1987: 236-43; Rosen 1987).
3. Oil-presses, cup-marks, olive-stones and other botanical finds
(Lipschitz and Weisel 1987) attesting to growing of olives, other
fruits (pomegranates), vegetables (peas, vetch) and wheat.
4. Many silos again indicate large-scale grain growing.
It is thus suggested that the traditional Mediterranean agriculture did
not change during Iron Age II, persisting as the basic economy of the
region (Eitam 1980; Zertal 1988: 329-40).
It seems that the main economic focus at the village of Tell 'Amal
were the workshops for weaving and dyeing (Edelstein and Feig 1993:
1448), judging by the loomweights of different sizes and other semi-
industrial installations. It adds an additional angle to the activities of the
village, though it is hard to ascertain whether this activity belonged to
private persons or to the kingdom.
4. For recent population estimates see Ofer 1993: 153-86. We still believe that
the average of 25 inhabitants per 1000 sq. m of a built-up area may be a balanced
figure for population statistics.
The village is regularly called in the Bible 'ir ('town'). The Aramaic
and Arabic termkefar ('village' as opposed to 'ir. 'town') is mentioned
only twice (Song 7.21; 1 Chron. 27.25).
c. Towns and Cities. The remaining 18 per cent of the sites were
defined as towns (more than 2 hectares in areaaltogether 49 sites).
Additional definitions for towns, apart from size, were fortification,
location and shape: most of the towns are located upon hilltops, are
fortified and are elliptical or round in shape. The inner design and
architecture of Israelite towns has been the focus of various studies
(Lampl 1968; Shiloh 1978; Breamer 1982; de-Geus 1984, 1993; Fritz
1990) and deserve a separate paper. Here we say only that in the area
under analysis there was one metropolisSamaria, all other cases
being average towns (2-4 hectares in size). The estimated area of Iron
Age II Samaria according to Kenyon (Avigad 1993: 1302), is 70
hectares, with an estimated population of 17,000. Samaria had
developed into a large central capital, larger than Jerusalem in the same
period.
Our knowledge of the medium-size towns comes from a series of
excavations at sites like Megiddo, Beth-Shean, Razor, Tell el-Far'ah
(N), and probably Tell en-Nasbeh. All these were enclosed by wide
city-walls with towers and a city-gate complex, their interior was occu-
pied by administrative buildings, and only a small living area was left
for the population. The fortified towns should be considered as fortres-
ses and administrative centres rather than dwelling places. Most of the
people lived in the smaller settlementsfarms and villages. The popu-
lation density map (Fig. 2.4), shows the interrelationship between the
capital Samaria, the centre, and the area around it populated by villages
and farms. The central town was also used as shelter for the population
in times of war.
A town is called 'ir (town) or 'ir mivtzar (fortified town, and note the
first millennium terms 'al sarrutikingdom city, and 'al dannuti
fortified city (Ikada 1979).
From the map (Fig. 2.1) it seems that fortified towns of the medium-
size group are dispersed equally over the territory. Such a division of
towns is found not only in the Mediterranean region but also in the east-
ern valleys and the desert fringes of Manasseh, where fortified towns
are situated 5-10 km apart: in the valleys of Zebabdeh these are the
tells Tilfit, Zebabdeh and Kh. Salhab; in Tubas valley are Kh. 'Ainun
and Kh. Fuqaha; in Wadi Malih are Kh. Mhallal and Tell Hilu; in Wadi
Far'ah are Tell el-Far'ah, Tell Miski, Beit Farr (A), Tell Za'annuni,
Mrah el-'Anab etc, (see Zertal 1996: 81-84).
This pattern may be interpreted either as the result of natural
development and growth and/or as a deliberate effort by the kingdom to
fortify its remote areas, prepare a shelter for the growing population of
the farms and villages and create a tax-collecting network.
5
Only
further research may elaborate on this interesting problem.
Fig. 2.4. Population density in Iron Age II Manasseh (1998), Some of the sites on
the desert fringes were discovered later and do not show on this map
5. Without entering here into the matter of the Samaria ostraca, it should be
added that we were not able to distinguish in the field any evidence of large-area
estates, owned either by the king or by rich viziers (Lemaire 1977: 23-85).
d. Enclosures and Seasonal Sites in the Desert Fringes and the Jordan
Valley: Semi-Nomads and Transhumance. These two regions constitute
a special phenomenon: seasonal sites of shepherds and semi-nomads,
living in permanent transhumance. These sites, already prominent in the
Iron Age I period, can be subdivided into two types: enclosures and
cave sites.
Enclosures, oval or round and built of large stones, typify the Iron
Age I-II sites in these two regions. Their average diameter is 20-30 m,
so they can enclose up to 100 head of sheep. In some cases they are
surrounded by buildings (as in Tullul el-Beidha in the Jordan valley),
where it seems that the enclosure was the centre of a village. In other
cases just the enclosure is discernable; here it may be presumed that the
animals were kept inside, while the people lived around and outside,
probably in tents.
A problem that arises is the presence in some cases of large quantities
of potsherds inside the enclosures, indicating that people were living
inside.
This conclusion is arrived at from the similarity in pottery distribu-
tion between these and the permanent sites. It might be suggested that
some of the enclosures were used as fortified camps for some tempor-
ary groups of population (shepherds, caravaneers, soldiers and so on
Figs. 2.5-2.6).
Cave sites are a special feature of the Jordan valley. These are natural
caves with courtyards in front. Caves are good shelters in summer or
winter, and the courtyards are used to enlarge the defended space.
According to the finds, cave sites were used since the Chalcolithic
period, with Iron Age II pottery present as well. Some are in use up to
our own time.
Enclosures are called gedera (e.g. Num. 32.16, 36; Isa. 24.4) and
hazera (-im) (e.g. Josh. 15.45; 21.12). The desert fringes are called
naveh in the Bible, a name which can also be applied to the sites men-
tioned above. This is where the sheep are found (2 Sam. 7.8): 'the
habitation of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down' (Jer. 33.12),
and it is a word repeated by Amos (1.2) and others
e. Fortresses, Towers and Camps. The 20 sites defined as such show
that the Northern Kingdom was well protected by at least three kinds of
fortified sites (apart from the towns), or combination of the three: look-
out points, road fortresses (which include the special group of fortresses
around Samaria) and military camps.
Fig. 2.5. Plan of the possible gilgal (fortified enclosure) at el-'Unuq near Wadi
Far'ah, built in the Iron Age I period and continuing in existence until Iron Age II
53
Fig. 2.6. An aerial photograph ofel-'Unuq
1) Lookout points: these are small sites located on high hilltops with
especially good visibility. Umm ej-Jurein (Zertal 1996: 474-75, site
200) is an example: it is located on a hill high above Wadi Far'ah, and
its architecture comprises a simple building with two rooms (Fig. 2.7).
Although its function is uncertain, the location can hardly be interpreted
other than as a lookout. Another example is U mm Hallal on the Sartaba
massif (Israel grid 1917/1696, to be published in V ol. 4 of the survey),
where a circular pile of stones may indicate a lookout point. Its location
at the highest point on a bare rocky mountain also points in this
direction. A third example is Abu Ghazi near Samaria (see below).
2) Road fortresses: Two types of these could be discerned among the
fortified sites built to protect roads: the courtyard type and the circular
'towers' of the Jordan valley.
To the first type belong the fortress el-Bird (Wadi Malih), most of the
fortresses around Samaria, and one discovered on the Sartaba massif
(Kh. Abu Daraj, Israel grid 1912/1698).
The first, el-Bird (Zertal 1996: site 91, 273-76), is located near Wadi
Malih, on top of a large site of the Middle Bronze Age I period (Inter-
mediate Bronze). It consists of a rectangular court with rooms around,
but the site has not been excavated. Kh. Abu Daraj is located on a steep
saddle on the north-western Sartaba massif. At this point the road
ascending from Wadi Far'ah to the south-west crosses the saddle near
the 'Ain Abu Daraj spring, and a road from the Roman period was dis-
covered nearby. The fortress itself consists of a large courtyard surroun-
ded by a wall of big stones, with a square tower at the highest point.
ZERTAL The Heart of the Monarchy
Fig. 2.7. Location of the possible lookout point ofUmm ej-Jurein
The pottery includes Iron Age II and Roman period; thus, though part
of the architecture may be of the Roman period, it appears that an Iron
Age fortress was already located at this place.
A fortress of the same type was excavated at Kh. Abu Tuwein in
J udah, where a central courtyard is surrounded by rooms (Mazar
1993a). Some of the Iron Age Negev fortresses are of the same type.
Circular towers were found in three locations near the Jordan valley,
where the main roads run from the valley westwards into the heart of
the kingdom. They have been published in detail (Y eivin 1974, 1992,
1993; Zertal 1995), so only a brief description is given here.
In all three (Kh. esh-Shaqq in Wadi Malih, Kh. el-Mahruq in Wadi
Far'ah and Rujum Abu Muheir south of Sartaba) circular towers 19-
21 m in diameter and consisting of three concentric circles were discer-
ned (Fig. 2.8). In two cases (Shaqq and Mahruq) there was a rectang-
ular building associated with the tower, and in one case (Shaqq) what
seems to be the remains of a casemate wall which enclosed the fortress.
Fig. 2.8. Plans of the circular towers of Kh. esh-Shaqq in Wadi Malih (top)
and el-Mahruq in Wadi Far'ah (bottom)
The dating of the fortresses is not certain. Y eivin (1993: 931), who
excavated Kh. el-Mahruq, dated its foundation to the tenth-ninth centu-
ries BCE. No certain date was given to Rujum Abu Muheir, also
excavated by Y eivin. It has been suggested that these towers could have
been the forerunners of the Ammonite round towers, considered to be
the most typical Ammonite architectural feature. (Zertal 1995: 269-72).
A different possibility is that they represent an Ammonite influence on
eastern Israel during the ninth-eighth centuries or even an invasion,
probably echoed by Amos (1.13) as a part of his prophecy on Ammon.
3) Network of fortresses around Samaria: Some 14 fortified sites,
located on the roads leading to Samaria from the north and the east,
were located during the survey. They are distributed along the roads
crossing the high hilly range north of Samaria with Jebel Abu Y azid at
the centre, and on the hilly region east of Samaria. It is here suggested
that the 14 sites, all bearing Iron Age II pottery exclusively, or extend-
ing into the Iron Age Ill/Persian periods, were built and used as part of
an organized network of defensive sites around the capital (Zertal
1998bandFig. 2.9).
Apart from two (nos. 1 and 4), all of them are courtyard-type fort-
resses. The following is a list of these sites, from north to south and
from west to east (the site numbering and pages are from Zertal 1992a):
A. Sites on the roads leading from the north (Dothan valley) to
Samaria:
1. The fortified Tell es-Sirtassa (site 137: 296-98, probably to be
identified with biblical Abi'ezerZertal 1992a: 71);
2. The lookout fortress of Abu Ghazi, overlooking Samaria
from the north (site 139: 300-301);
3-4. The fortress Qasr Abub'r (site 141: 302-303) and the
courtyard fortress of Dabth el-'Afarith (site 142: 304-305).
Both on the pass through Jebel Dabrun;
5. Kh. en-Naqb (site 143: 306-307), on the pass through Jaba;
B. Sites on the roads leading from the east (Tell el-Far' ah/Tirzah) to
Samaria:
6. el-Mizan (site 216: 408);
7. Khirbet Mujrabin (site 227: 421-22);
8. Karm el-Qasqas (site 224: 418);
9-10. Dhahrat en-Nisnas (A-B): sites 237-38: 434-36;
11. Dhahrat es-Senobar (site 239: 436-37);
12. Qasr ez-Zoreh (site 240: 437-38);
13. Khirbet el-Isyar (site 250: 452-53);
C. Sites on the road leading from the south:
14. Maqtal Bil'aish (site 246: 447-48).
The elements which led us to see these as road and lookout fortresses
are the similar location and architecture and the common pottery dating,
but until large-scale research and excavations are undertaken the whole
concept should remain a suggestion.
Fig. 2.9. Map showing the fortresses around Samaria
(numbers are according to the text)
f. Military Camps and Bases. I suggest identifying two Iron Age II sites
as camps and/or military bases.
1) el-Qa'adeh, published in the survey (Zertal 1992a: site 56, 323-
25), and in a special article (Zertal 1993b), is a fortified enclosure dated
to the Iron Age II and the Persian periods, located c. 10 km north-east
of Samaria, near the Sanur valley. It consists of a large square, c. 70 m
long on each side, surrounded by a stone-wall 6-7 m wide with rooms
or constructions inside the wall. The square enclosure is empty of archi-
tecture apart from two rows of rooms, and a gate-complex at the eastern
side. The very unusual architectural features (including a large cistern
and a special 'service' area outside), and the similarity to Assyrian mili-
tary camps depicted in the ninth/eighth centuries BCE reliefs, point to
the likelihood of its being an Assyrian military camp, probably erected
in connection with the siege of Samaria. In fact, hardly any other expla-
nation can be given concerning the site, but in the absence of known
archaeological parallels for fortified Assyrian sites, the grounds for our
identification are the similarity to the reliefs (U nger 1912; King 1915;
Gadd 1936: pi. 29(a); U ssishkin 1982: 118 and Fig. 73) and the process
of elimination of other possiblities. Twenty-five per cent of the pottery
at the site was dated to Iron Age II-III and 75 per cent to the Persian
period, which means a prolonged use of the base. Some pieces of thin
grey 'Assyrian' carinated bowls are of special interest (Kenyon 1957:
12, 15, 17, Fig. ll;Chambon 1984: 1-11, pi. 61).
2) Khirbet Za'atarah (Zertal 1992a: site 156, 162-63), is located in
the north-eastern part of Manasseh, c. 3 km south of J enin. The site is a
large, square enclosure comprising a courtyard surrounded by walls
each 60 m long and 4-5 m wide. The site is cultivated now, so the loc-
ation of the gate and other elements inside the courtyard are not clear.
A camp is the biblical mahaneh, meaning, for our purpose, a military
camp (EB IV , 801-805), like in J udg. 7.21; 2 Kgs 7.7 and others.
g. Cultic Sites. Cultic sites are commonly mentioned by the eighth-
century Israelite prophets (places like Beth-El and the gilgalim in Amos
4.4; 5.5; Hos. 4.15; 9.15 and so on), but only a few of them survive.
Apart from large-scale temples excavated inside Iron Age II towns
(Dan, Arad, Beer-Sheba), only relatively undisturbed sites, which show
a distinctive cultic architecture, can be traced during surveys. An
example of an outside temple is the Edomite shrine at Kh. Qitmit in the
Beer-Sheba valley (Beit-Arieh 1993). In this respect, two sites on our
desert fringes might be suggested as cultic installations: Jebel el-
Mahjara 2 and Merah 'Arrar.
Jebel el-Mahjara 2 is located on a very prominent hilltop (378 m
above sea-level) on the north-western side of the Sartaba massif. It
overlooks the Mechora valley, the eastern high range of Jebel el-Kebir
and the region of Wadi Zeit to the north. The site consists of a large
oval enclosure, 120 x 150 m in diameter (c. 1.5 hectares in area), sur-
rounding a rocky hilltop. At the centre there is a square building with
two small round enclosures 10-15 m in diameter, one above the other
(Fig. 2.10). An entrance (?) is located on the northern side. All the pot-
tery is dated to the eighth century, but many of the potsherds belong to
types unknown to us.
Merah 'Arrar is located not far from Jebel Mahjara. Its large 'temen-
os' wall, c. 100 m in diameter, surrounds a very rocky hilltop close to
the large site of Kh. Tana et-Tahta. At the centre of the enclosure there
is a square construction with an entrance on the northern side. The
pottery is similar to that of Jebel el-Mahjara 2 and differs from the
regular Iron Age II inventory.
The location and the extraordinary size of these enclosures, as well as
the elimination of other possibilities, indicate that they are probably
cultic places. They might be the continuation of the Iron Age I Israelite
tradition of high places upon high mountains, which consist of an
enclosure with a cultic place in the middle.
Fig. 2.10. Plan of the large enclosure (possibly cultic) of
el-Mahjara 2 on the Sartaba Massif
Conclusions
The territory of Manasseh, the geographical centre of the Northern
Kingdom of Israel, was explored by a full survey. The results indicated
a high degree of prosperity in the economy and pattern of settlement in
the ninth and (mainly) the eighth centuries BCE. The natural develop-
ment of the population and of agriculture were presumably accompan-
ied by deliberate efforts on the part of the central government to settle
the desert fringes and to fortify the roads and the borders.
The nearly 300 Iron Age II settlements explored were divided into
groups by size and other characteristics. Most of the population dwelt
in farmsteads and villages and some in the fortified towns, considered
to be administrative and fortified 'castles' rather than dwelling-sites.
The farms and villages were the main means of the kingdom to settle
free peasants in formerly unsettled areas, by giving them land and sec-
urity. The capital Samaria was a prominent metropolis thanks to its size
and status as a centre for the whole region. The survey, together with
information provided by excavations and biblical accounts, presents a
picture of the social and economic structure of the Northern Kingdom
until its fall to the Assyrians in the end of the eighth century BCE.
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3
PHOENICIANS IN WESTERN GALILEE: FIRST RESULTS OF AN
ARCHAEOLOGICAL SU RV EY IN THE HINTERLAND OF AKKO*
Gunnar Lehmann
Palestine was never a country of just one ethnicity, one language,
religion or culture. Its differentiated topography favoured a heteroge-
neous population. During the Bronze and Iron Ages different groups of
population with distinct patterns of economic and social capacities
developed in their geopolitical setting, in the rich coastal plains and
wide valleys and in the less wealthy highlands, steppe or desert.
The study of ethnicity and ethnic identifications in the ancient Near
East based on the archaeological or historical record is under new
scrutiny (cf. Kamp and Y offee 1980). For a long time concepts of
ancient Near Eastern ethnicity were overshadowed by common prejud-
ices which eventually have been attacked as 'orientalism' (Said 1978)
and as a projection of modern, anachronistic understanding of national-
ism and the character of national states being forced upon the archaeo-
logical and historical record (see for example the study of Anderson
1991). Much of the reconstructed traditions based on ethnic differen-
tiations turned out to be in fact invented traditions, created by modern
scholars in the context of western society (see also the discussion in
The Akko-Survey, conducted in 1993-96, was sponsored by the Evangelische
Kirche Deutschlands. During most of this period the author was the acting director
of the German Protestant Institute of Archaeology in J erusalem. In a crucial phase
1994-95 the project was continued with the financial support of the German
Embassy in Tel Aviv. It was later continued during 1995-96 on behalf of the Freie
U niversitat Berlin. The final research and the preparation of the publication was
made possible by a research grant of the Deutsche Archaologische Institut in
Berlin, Germany. I am in particular grateful for the support of Dr Susanne Wasum-
Rainer, Professor Ricardo Eichmann and Professor H.J. Nissen.
Hobsbawm and Ranger 1983). Such approaches may have encouraged
historians to deconstruct the traditional concepts of 'Canaanites' or
'Ancient Israel' (Lemche 1991 and Davies 1992); attempts which them-
selves were challenged in an ongoing debate (see Rainey 1996 and
Lemche's reply 1998).
Kamp and Y offee (1980: 99) warned us that 'pure cultures' never
existed in the ancient Near East and that 'hybrid cultures' were in fact
the norm. However, both authors conclude that one organizational
principle in this plurality in fact is that of ethnicity (among the vast lit-
erature on ethnicity see, e.g., Alonso 1994; Banks 1996; Brett 1996; or
Jones 1996). In this paper I will address to the question of Phoenicians
and their impact on northern Palestine during the Iron Age. While in
modern research the Phoenicians are ranked prominently among the
peoples of the ancient Near East, there are only a few studies which are
concerned with the question of who these people actually were. And
even fewer will go beyond a mere description, trying to explain the
development of the term 'Phoenician' in its socio-cultural context.
According to Davies there are three dimensions of an ancient ethni-
city such as the Phoenicians (in his context 'Ancient Israel'): one is the
literary (the Bible, Phoenician, Egyptian, Assyrian, Greek and other
sources), another is the historical (the inhabitants of the Lebanese and
Syrian coast during the Iron Age) and the third is what modern scholars
have constructed out of the other two (Davies 1992: 11). From my point
of view Davies, being a biblical scholar, neglected to some extent the
potential of archaeology in this context. In fact there is an abundant
literature today, often under the label of 'pots and people', dealing with
the question of how to identify ethnicity with archaeological evidence,
i.e. the material record (see now Jones 1996). While identification of
Hurrians, Philistines and Israelites was discussed (Kramer 1977;
Bunimovitz 1996; Finkelstein 1997; Dever 1995), apparently there are
no problems in identifying Phoenicians. This is at least the impression
given, since there is almost no one working on the topic (except for i.e.
Pastor-Borgonon 1988-90 and especially Winter 1995).
Apparently, the Phoenicians never formed a united political entity or
national state 'Phoenicia'. They were organized in a number of city
states along the Lebanese and Syrian coast. Often competing with each
other, these small states seem to be a 'geopolitical left-over' of the
Bronze Age, protected to some extent by their geographical setting and
LEHMANN Phoenicians in Western Galilee 67
promoted by a lack of imperialist activities by Mesopotamian and
Egyptian empires during the beginning of the Iron Age (Stieglitz 1990).
U ntil recently, Phoenicians in northern Israel were a phenomenon
studied only on the basis of excavations. Sites such as Dor, Tell Abu
Hawam, Akko, Tell Keisan, Rosh Zayit or Achziv are examples for this
approach (Stern 1990, 1991, 1994: 101; Herrera Gonzalez 1990; Briend
and Humbert 1980; Gal 1992: 47-53). In this paper I would like to
complement these researches with a spatial analysis of survey results in
the hinterland of Akko. In particular, I would like to address the
question of whether it is possible to identify the Phoenicians as agents
in the transformation processes of the settlement patterns and the land-
scape of the hinterland of Akko.
The Akko Plain
Since the mediaeval period European travellers and pilgrims have
visited Akko and its hinterland. Scientific literature on the region, its
history and its geography is abundant. It was thus surprising that no
archaeological survey had been conducted in Akko's immediate hinter-
land. When the writer, then acting director of the German Protestant
Institute of Archaeology in Jerusalem, started such an investigation
together with Martin Peilstocker, Israel Antiquities Authority, as part of
the Archaeological Survey of Israel we had no great hopes of finding a
lot of still undetected evidence.
To our surprise, as a result of our research the number of ancient
settlements were more than doubled. This is also due to new methods of
prospecting. The Akko Survey was designed to search not just for
settlements but to include a study of ancient landscape elements. While
there were 17 ancient settlements registered when we started fieldwork
there are now in the final stages of our research some 50 settlements on
the map (see Fig. 3.1 and the list in Appendix 3A; Lehmann 1994b). In
addition, we registered hundreds of ancient terraces, agricultural
installations, cisterns and wells in the area (for approaches of landscape
archaeology see for example Gibson 1995; Wilkinson and Tucker
1995).
In an attempt to study all remains of past human activities in the area,
we took into consideration all cultural activities from the Paleolithic
until the year 1948. This paper will present some first results of this
survey, dealing only with a structural analysis of the Late Bronze and
Iron Age settlement history. To complement our results I will also
include the results of surveys in the neighbouring areas of the Akko
plain conducted by other archaeologists (Fig. 3.2).
Fig. 3.1. Sites of the Akko-Survey (Lehmann and Peilstocker, 1993-96)
The Akko plain extends from Ras an-Naqura (Hebrew Rosh ha-
Niqra), the Tyrian Ladder' in antiquity, in the north to the Karmel in
the south. To the west the Mediterranean forms a natural border while
in the east the plain passes into a hill country which soon rises into the
Galilean mountains. In the north-east these mountains form U pper Gali-
lee with summits at a height of 500 m to more than 1000 m; in the
south-east, Lower Galilee, mountains rise up to approximately 300 m.
Deep alluvial soils characterize the Akko plain. The soil was washed
down from the limestone mountains east of the plain. All along the
coast there are dunes between Haifa and the area north of Achziv. The
soils in the hill country consist of brown Mediterranean forest soils. In
the mountains there are predominantly terra-rossa soils. Sufficient rain-
fall makes dry-farming possible all over the area; in addition there are
several springs.
Fig. 3.2. Archaeological sites in the Akko plain
(Late Bronze Age, Iron Age and Persian period)
In the flat, gently sloping plain we find a number of large tells. At a
height of 40 m the first limestone rocks come out of the alluvial soils.
Here the plain passes into the hill country. After only a few kilometers
the area becomes mountainous with elevations of 200-400 m. Above
elevations of 40 m there are no more tells. The typical form of ruin in
the hill and mountain areas is the khirbe, with stone as the predominant
building material, which is still visible on the surface. However, since
antiquity, stones of these ruins were robbed and reused in nearby vil-
lages, causing continual damage to the ancient settlement remains.
Thus, the Akko plain is a typical Mediterranean plain. It was Femand
Braudel who pointed out the historical and geographical importance of
these plains for the development of the Mediterranean culture (Braudel
1972: 60-84). The coastal plains have fertile soils and favourable cond-
itions for transport and trafficif one manages to drain the plain.
U nder natural conditions there are frequently swamps and marshland at
the foot of the hills in the very flat alluvium. In addition there are the
dunes along the coast of the Akko plain which hold back the water. The
result is stagnant water and malaria. Draining and maintaining the
eventually gained agricultural areas demands investments and political
administration.
As a result most premodern settlements in the plain were situated at
the transition between the alluvium and the hills on the first rock forma-
tions rising from the plain. Even those sites which were in the alluvial
area are in most cases on elevations and small rock formations. Only a
very few sites, generally very small, are founded immediately on the
alluvial soils. These observations are important for the question as to
how many archaeological sites in the plain may have been covered by
alluvium, therefore invisible to the surveyor. The survey results should
be checked against the settlement pattern of the nineteenth and the early
twentieth century. On the maps of the Survey of Western Palestine there
are two sites occupied on alluvial soils. These small settlements,
characterized as 'huts', are the sites al-Wastani and no. 32 on Fig. 3.1.
Although these sites existed only about 100 years ago, nothing is
visible of their huts today. During the British Mandate conditions were
most favourable for traditional agriculture in the plain. The alluvium
was drained but still the settlements remained on the heights and hills.
V illages such as Damun, Ruways or Tamra maintained their grain and
vegetable fields in the plain from their elevated positions. In the dry
month the farmers came down to their fields and erected small huts
there. The large tells such as Tell al-Fukhkhar (Akko), Tell Keisan or
Tell Kurdana (Tel Aphek) are all situated on natural hills. These large
tells were occupied until the Hellenistic period. During the third century
BCE most tells were abandoned.
The traditional settlement patterns in this Mediterranean coastal plain
existed until about 1948. U sually the political power was centralized in
the plain, often in one of the harbour cities, in this case in Akko. To
what extent the hill and mountain areas were integrated in this
settlement pattern and administrative system depends on the centre's
political and economic capacity to act. In times when integration was
lacking the mountain areas quickly gained an increasing political
independence and it was difficult to re-establish political control from
the coast. Two hundred years ago, in the eighteenth century CE, one
example of this process was the rise and fall of Sheikh Dhahir al-
'U mar. This local Galilean ruler established a small territorial state in
the centre of Galilee and eventually succeeded in gaining control over
the coastal plain. He moved his capital to Akko and was finally
liquidated by an Ottoman expedition led by Ahmad al-Jazzar, who
conquered Akko and defeated Sheikh Dhahir. These very well-recorded
events are an extraordinary source of information for the scale of
political and social operations, and the accessibility and geopolitical
conditions in premodern Galilee (see now Niemann 1997: 265-67).
Economically the plain and the highlands are dependent on each
other. Timber and other raw materials and products of the mountains
are an important part of the Mediterranean exchange system. Milk and
meat products as well as wine and olives from the highlands are con-
sumed in the plains. Grain and vegetables grown in the lowlands as
well as manufactured craft products from the urban centres in the plain
are needed in the highlands.
Surveys and Excavations
In this analysis, I will use mainly the archaeological record in addition
to the few historical sources of the Late Bronze and Iron Age in order to
reconstruct the historical geography of the Akko plain during these
periods. Among the excavations are Achziv (Fig. 3.1: site 4), Khirbat
'Abda (18), as-Sumayriya (Tell ar-Ras, Giv'at Y asif) (28), Tel Kabri
(35), Tell Mimas (Beth ha-'Emeq) (37), Akko (Tell al-Fukhkhar) (62),
Tell Keisan (68), Khirbat 'Ayyadiya (Horvat 'U tza) (69), Tell Bir al-
Gharbi (Tel Bira) (70), Ras az-Zaytun (Rosh Zayyit) (81), Tell Abu
Hawam (88), Tell al-Harbaj (92), Tell al-Far (96), Khirbat Abu
Mudawwar (107) and Tell al-'Amr (108).
1
Although this is an impressive number of excavations the history of
settlement in the hinterland of Akko becomes apparent only with the
help of the archaeological surveys conducted there (see for example the
1. For Tell Abu Hawam, Achziv, Akko (Tell al-Fukhkhar), Tel Kabri, Beth ha-
'Emeq (Tell Mimas), Tel Bira (Tell Bir al-Gharbi), Tell Keisan, Tel Ma'amer (Tell
al-'Amr), Tel Regev (Tell al-Harbaj), Rosh Zayyit (Ras az-Zaytun) see the articles
and bibliography in NEAEHL. See also Khirbat 'Abda (Prausnitz 1973: 219-23),
Khirbat 'Ayyadiya (Horvat 'U tza) (Ben-Tor 1966; Getzov 1993), Tell al-Far
(personal communication from Dr Zvi Gal), Khirbat Abu Mudawwar (Tel Mador)
(Gal 1992: 36-43), as-Sumayriya (Tell ar-Ras, Giv'at Y asif) (Messika 1996).
study of the Persian period by Briend 1990 using only excavations).
The northern part of the plain was surveyed by Rafael Frankel in his
Survey of Western Galilee (Frankel 1986, 1994; Frankel and Getzov
1997). The centre of the plain, the immediate hinterland of Akko, was
investigated by the writer and Martin Peilstocker in their Akko-Survey
(Fig. 3.1; see Lehmann 1994b, 1995). The south-western part was
studied by Avraham Ronen and Y aacov Olami (Kloner and Olami
1980; Ronen and Olami 1983; Olami 1974 and more unpublished
reports in the archives of the Israel Antiquities Authorities). The
southern hill and mountain areas were surveyed by Avner Raban (1982)
and Zvi Gal (1992). The survey by Zvi Gal in the south-eastern part is
still not completed. Thus, final reports are still missing and problems
arise as to the exact date and size of some sites.
The modern survey techniques applied in the above-mentioned
projects enable us to cautiously estimate the settlement sizes of each
site in its respective periods of occupation. Several techniques were
used during the Akko-Survey to collect this information: one of them
was the time and cost intensive so-called 'Portugali-Method' outlined
by Tel Aviv geographer Y uval Portugali (1982). This method included
the opening (i.e. digging) of the top soil and the total retrieval of all
diagnostic pottery in the sample areas. This paper will be limited to the
Late Bronze Age (c. 1550-1200 BCE), the Iron Age I (c. 1200-1000
BCE), Iron Age II (c. 1000-586 BCE) and the Babylonian and Persian
periods (586-332 BCE). Since there is a renewed discussion on the
dates of Iron Age I, especially the 'Philistine' pottery, and the tenth-
century BCE chronology (cf. Finkelstein 1995 and 1996), we may have
to expect some future changes in the pottery dating. However, for this
preliminary presentation I will use the traditional dates.
For the spatial analysis I will use five categories of settlement sizes,
using the Palestinian 'dunam' unit (10 dunam = 1 hectare): sites of less
than 20 dunam size are considered 'small settlements' including ham-
lets and small villages. Settlements of between 21 and 30 dunam are
'medium-sized settlements' and settlements between 31 and 50 dunam
are 'large settlements'. Any site between 50 and 100 dunam is called a
'very large settlement' and sites of more than 100 dunam are consid-
ered 'urban centres'.
Another criterion was the topographical position and especially the
elevation of each site. As already mentioned, limestone rock formations
emerge from the alluvium at a height of approximately 40 m above sea
level. The survey area below 40 m above sea level is thus called 'plain',
the area between a height of 40 and 200 m above sea level is considered
to be hill country and any areas above 200 m sea level will be referred
to as mountainous.
About 100 settlements existed in the plain at some point during the
Late Bronze Age, the Iron Age and the Persian period. These settle-
ments consist of urban centres, villages, hamlets and fortified sites. The
spatial analysis presented in this paper required several data: the names
and coordinates of each site, the period of settlement, the size of each
site in its respective period and its topographical setting.
For most of the sites there is sufficient and reliable data as to when
they were settled. However, as already pointed out, for a number of
sites in the northern and southern parts of the plain there are still some
problems of dating and estimating the settlement sizes. Fifteen sites,
more than 10 per cent of all sites, are so far dated only to the Iron Age
without any further information as to whether they were settled in the
Iron Age I or II. Most of these sites are situated in the hill and mountain
area. They are all smaller than 20 dunamwith the exception of
Khirbat Ga'atun (25 dunam), and 10 out of these 15 sites were occupied
only during the Iron Age. This group thus forms a significant part of
our data, with considerable impact on the results of the analysis. To
include this information I had to work with 'minimal' and 'maximal'
values in this analysis. As 'minimum' I understand all data without the
15 sites, whereas the 'maximum' includes all 15 sites in both phases,
Iron Age I and II. The real historical values will be somewhere in
between these two extremes.
Only future fieldwork and final publications will provide the exact
data for these 15 Iron Age sites. However, the settlement pattern which
became apparent from surveys in other areas of the hinterland of Akko
such as the Akko-Survey and the survey conducted by Avner Raban
(1982) lead to the assumption that the minimum value might be close to
the reality of Iron Age I and the maximum value applicable to Iron Age
II. Israel Finkelstein comes to similar results, estimating some 878
dunam overall settlement size in the Iron Age II Akko plain (Finkel-
stein 1993). This is approximately my maximum value for Iron Age II,
a period in which settlement flourished in the plain.
Another problem arises from surveys conducted before the Second
World War, especially the researches of Aapeli Saarisalo (1929). In
both the Akko-Survey and the Survey of Western Galilee some of the
results differ from those of Saarisalo. In particular, Saarisalo's Late
Bronze Age dates were not confirmed by the modern surveys. In the
area of the Akko-Survey Saarisalo noted Late Bronze Age pottery at
sites such as Tell Da'uk, Khirbat 'Ayytawiya und Khirbat Tirat Tamra
(Saarisalo 1929: 38-39). During our intensive investigations at these
sites we did not find any Late Bronze Age pottery. U nfortunately,
Saarisalo did not publish his pottery or his dating criteria and I don't
know on what evidence his conclusions are based. As a result of our
fieldwork I decided not to use Saarisalo's Late Bronze Age dates where
they contradict my or Frankel's evidence. On other sites I will add a
question mark to these dates.
The Size of Settlement Area
The spatial analysis of the overall settlement size in the hinterland of
Akko demonstrates that between the Late Bronze Age and the Persian
period (c. 1550-330 BCE) the majority of the population was living in
the plain (Table 3.1). In Table 3.1,1 included both the above-mentioned
'minimum' and 'maximum' numbers for the Iron Age. Both figures
demonstrate that the plain's share of the overall settlement size was
almost always about 50 per cent or more. The only exception was Iron
Age I, which is very different from the Late Bronze Age. Most
significantly, the settlement in the hill country and the mountains is
clearly increasing during the Iron Age. In the Persian period the settle-
ment areas in the mountains are shrinking. Thus, the figures indicate a
clear break in the settlement pattern between the Late Bronze Age and
Iron Age I. The settlement size was then significantly enlarged during
Iron Age II, while continuity characterizes the transition between Iron
Age II and the Persian period.
Table 3.1. Settlement size
Plain
Late Bronze Age
Iron Age I
Iron Age II
Persian Period
Dunam
478
246
(284)
503
(541)
560
%
70.3
45.9
(43.1)
53.3
(50.8)
55.4
Hill country
Dunam
181
214
(253)
335
(374)
366
%
26.6
40.0
(38.4)
35.5
(35.0)
36.3
Mountains
Dunam
21
76
(122)
105
(151)
84
%
3.1
14.2
(18.5)
11.2
(14.2)
8.3
Total
Dunam
680
536
(659)
943
(1066)
1010
Note: Without parentheses, 'minimum'; with parentheses, 'maximum'.
The Impact of Topography
Clear trends of development in the settlement system emerge also in an
analysis of the number and size of the sites in relation to their topo-
graphical setting, that is. whether they are situated in the plain, the hill
country or in the mountains (Table 3.2). U nfortunately, again we have
to work with the minimum and maximum numbers for Iron Age sites.
During the Late Bronze Age the population in the study area clearly
preferred settlements and agriculture in the plain. There are almost no
villages in the mountains. Recent and still unpublished surveys in
Upper Galilee by Avi'am, Getzov and Frankel as well as by Lehmann
and Niemann confirm this observation (see also Thompson 1979).
Large settlements with an area of 31-100 dunam were situated exclu-
sively in the plain. Only a few small villages were inhabited in the hill
country. These villages were all smaller than 14 dunamamong the
few exceptions is Tell Mimas (Bet ha-'Emeq). This site probably had
an area of 40 dunam. Even beyond the Akko plain there were only very
few small villages further east in U pper Galilee during the Late Bronze
Age (Thompson 1979; Gal 1988).
This pattern is in sharp contrast to that of the Iron Age I. Most small
villages with a size of less than 30 dunam were now in the hill country,
with a few larger villages of up to 50 dunam. The mountains are now
increasingly more important for settlement and agriculture. However,
the sites are all very small: none of them is larger than 30 dunam. Sites
with an area of more than 50 dunam are situated almost exclusively in
the plain.
The distribution pattern of settlements during Iron Age II is similar to
that of Iron Age I. Most small villages are again in the hill country or in
the mountains. The importance of the mountain area is further increa-
sing. Again all sites of more than 50 dunam are situated in the plain,
with the possible exception of Tell Mimas (Bet ha-'Emeq). This site
may have been as large as 50 dunam and was probably a regional centre
on the junction between the plain and the hill country. Apparently, the
hinterland of Akko was densely settled during Iron Age II. This would
be in accord with the settlement patterns in most areas of Palestine
during this period. Iron Age II was a first climax in the settlement his-
tory of the country after what seems to be centuries of decline during
the Late Bronze Age.
Table 3.2. Distribution of settlements according to size and topographical situation
Size (dunam)
Late Bronze Age
Plain
Hill country
Mountains
Total sites
120 21 30 31 50 51 10 100 +toyl
16 2 4
12 1 1
4
100+ Total
1 23
14
4
41
Iron Age (without further details)
Plain
Hill country
Mountains
Total sites
Iron Age I
Plain
Hill country
Mountains
Total sites
Iron Age II
Plain
Hill country
Mountains
Total sites
Persian Period
Plain
Hill country
Mountains
Total sites
3
5
6 1
7 3 3
9 3 1
12
10 3 4 1
19 2 1
12 1
18 3 4
29 1 1
14
3
5
7
15
13
13
12
38
1 19
22
13
54
1 26
31
14
71
The development of the hill country and the mountains for settlement
and agriculture is the most important trend in the hinterland of Akko
during the Iron Age. As already stated, most villages were situated here
above the 100 m elevation line. Thus, apparently a significant part of
the population in the hinterland of Akko specialized in growing wine
and olives in the hill country and the mountains. They were also herd-
ing sheep and goats. In contrast, grain was the typical crop of the plain.
This pattern points to an early agricultural specialization and an
economic use of manpower in cultivating the plain during Iron Age II.
The wine and the olive products especially were most probably grown
for export. All these developments would require an efficient adminis-
tration in Iron Age II.
During the Persian period the overall number of settlements and the
area of occupation is slightly increasing. The settlement pattern is still
very similar to that of Iron Age II. Still the hill country and the moun-
tains are densely occupied. There are two distinct categories of villages
in the hinterland of Akko: small ones up to 30 dunam and larger ones of
up to 50 dunam. Again Tell Mimas (Bet ha-'Emeq) seems to have been
an important regional centre, being the only site in the hill country of
more than 50 dunam. The only urban centre of this period was Akko
with its important harbour.
Rank-Size Analysis
The size of the Late Bronze Age sites was more differentiated than
during Iron Age I. During the Late Bronze Age there were three distinct
categories:
villages up to 30 dunam;
sub-centres between 30 and 50 dunam; and
Akko as an urban centre with more than 100 dunam.
In contrast to this pattern, the Iron Age I is less differentiated and
characterized by mostly small villages with an area between 10 or 20
dunam (Fig. 3.3). There are only five settlements larger than 30 dunam,
Akko (the overall size of the site is 117 dunam, but it remains unclear
how much of this was occupied during Iron Age I), Achziv (31 dunam),
Tell Abu Hawam (31 dunam), Tell Keisan (38 dunam) and Tell Mimas
(Bet ha-'Emeq) (40 dunam). These five villages were apparently the
modest centres of the area during Iron Age I.
The number of larger settlements increased in Iron Age II. Three sites
have an area of more than 50 dunam: Akko (117 dunam), Bir al-Gharbi
(70 dunam) and Tell Mimas (Bet ha-'Emeq) (68 dunam). Most settle-
ments, however, have an area of 10-40 dunam. The patterns of the
Persian period are similar to that of Iron Age II, but note the increase of
small villages with an area of 10-20 dunam (Fig. 3.3). The settlement
pattern of the Persian period is thus slightly more differentiated than in
the preceeding Iron Age II.
In Near Eastern archaeology rank-size analyses have been used
already in several cases to study early settlement systems. In rank-size
graphs contemporary settlements within a region are arranged in desc-
ending order of site size. The sites are plotted on double logarithmic
paper and may form a concave or convex curve; linear results are rather
rare. The interpretation of these curves continues to be debated
(J ohnson 1981). Usually a linear result is supposed to represent a
hierarchical, well-integrated settlement system with one major centre.
Convex curves result when the medium-sized settlements in the system
are still larger than the linear rank-size values predict. The settlement
system is less well integrated. Medium-sized sites compete with each
other and challenge the centre. Concave curves indicate the existence of
a prime centre that overshadows all other in size (Wilkinson and Tucker
1995: 79-80). In Israel/Palestine rank-size analyses have been used in
Bunimovitz' study of the Late Bronze Age (1989) and Ofer's spatial
analysis of the J udaean mountains (1993a, b, 1994).
Fig. 3.3. Settlement size classification
The rank-size curves in this paper are all convex (Fig. 3.4). Figure
3.4a illustrates the settlement system of the Late Bronze Age. The curve
is close to the linear log-normal curve. This indicates a well integrated
settlement system with Akko as its centre: a clear representation of a
Late Bronze Age city-state with its hierarchical structures. The arching
convex curve of the Iron Age I demonstrates a different pattern (Fig.
3.4b). In this system there is almost no integration. Several medium-
sized sites compete with each other. There is no indication of a hier-
archical, centralized system in the area. In fact, the curve illustrates a
complete break with the preceding Late Bronze Age system.
Fig. 3.4. Rank-size graphs: (a) Late Bronze Age; (b) Iron Age I;
(c) Iron Age II; (d) Persian period
Again a fundamental change took place in the transition between Iron
Age I and II. In Iron Age II (Fig. 3.4c) and during the Persian period
(Fig. 3.4d) the settlement system returned to the pattern of the Late
Bronze Age. The area is well integrated under one city centre, Akko.
The hinterland of Akko appears to be well organized into a centralized,
hierarchical structure. The curves of the Iron Age II and of the Persian
period are almost identical, indicating a continuity in the settlement
system between the two periods.
Continuity and Disruptions in the Settlement History
An analysis of the continuities and breaks in the settlement traditions in
the hinterland of Akko reveals distinct developments and trends (Table
3.3). In this analysis I used all available reliable data without maximum
Table 3.3a. Settlement continuity
Plain
Small
Medium
Large
V ery large
Centre
Total
Hill country
Small
Medium
Large
V ery large
Centre
Total
Mountains
Small
Medium
Large
V ery large
Centre
Total
Total
1
Cont.
LB/IA I
6
1
4
1
12
1
1
1
3
3
3
18
2 3
Discont. Begin
LB/IA I IA I
10
1 1
11 1
11 9
1
11 10
1 9
1 9
23 20
4 5 6
Cont. IA I/ Discont. Begin
IA II IA I/IA II
IA n
5 2 6
3 1
3 1
1 1 2 8
2 7 17
2 1
1
5 8 17
5 7 7
1
5 7 8
21 17 33
7
Cont. IA II/
Persian
10
3
3
1
18
14
1
15
7
7
40
8
Discont. IA II/
Persian
1
1
5
2
7
5
1
6
14
9
Begin
Persian
10
1
11
13
1
14
6
6
31
Table 3.3b. Settlement continuity of 15 sites which are dated only 'Iron Age'
without further differentiation into sub-phases
Cont. LB/'IA' Begin in 'IA' Cont. 'lA'/Persian
Small settlements 3 9 2
Medium settlements 1
Large settlements
V ery large settlements
Centres
Total 3 10 2
Notes:
Settlement size:
Small = 1-20 dunam
Medium =21-30 dunam
Large = 31-50 dunam
V ery large = 51-100 dunam
Centre = 100 dunam and more
The combination LB/'Iron Age' is considered to be continuity.
The combination Iron Age I/'Iron Age' or 'Iron Age'/Iron Age II is ignored.
The combination 'Iron Age'/Persian Period is considered to be continuity.
and minimum numbers. The analysis demonstrates that the most drama-
tic changes concerned the small and medium-sized villages. In the large
settlementsmostly the tells of the plainoccupation usually contin-
ued, even if on a smaller scale. Only very few of these large sites were
abandoned between the Late Bronze Age and the Persian period. Since
excavations were conducted usually on the large sites, these excava-
tions failed to demonstrate the developments in the settlement system of
the hinterland of Akko. The excavation data suggested predominantly
continuous developments. Only the modern archaeological surveys
demonstrated the real continuities and breaks in this settlement system.
The Plain
Continuity is most distinct in the plain. More than 50 per cent of the
settlements were never abandoned. However the transition from the
Late Bronze Age to Iron Age I is marked by a considerable rupture.
Almost half of the settlements were abandoned, most of them small
villages. Only one new village was founded in the plain (Tell al-'Idham
1577.2458). Most of the Iron Age I settlements in the plain were
already occupied during the Late Bronze Age. Thus, the settlement sys-
tern shrank. Eighty-five per cent of the Iron Age I settlements continue
in Iron Age II, only 15.4 per cent were abandoned, and eight villages
were newly founded (i.e. 42 per cent of all Iron Age II settlements). The
settlement system thus developed with few disruptions. In the plain
almost all Iron Age II settlements continue into the Persian period.
The Hill Country
The developments in the hill country are in sharp contrast to the devel-
opments in the plain. Most of the settlements, 78.6 per cent, were aban-
doned in the transition between Late Bronze Age-Iron Age I. Just 21.4
per cent continued to be occupied. This disruption is even further
emphasized by the fact that 76.9 per cent of all Iron Age I sites in the
hill country were newly founded. The transition from Iron Age I to Iron
Age II is again marked by a disruption. Some 61.5 per cent of the
settlements were abandoned, only 38.5 per cent continued and 77.3 per
cent of all Iron Age II sites were new foundations. Finally, the transi-
tion between Iron Age II and the Persian period is characterized by
continuation: 68.2 per cent of the settlements continued, 31.8 per cent
were abandoned and 48.3 per cent of the settlements of the Persian
period in the hill country were new founded. While the settlement
system continued to be relatively stable from Iron Age II to the Persian
period, in comparison to the plain there is markedly less continuity in
the hill country.
The Mountains
The settlement history in the mountains is generally similar to the
processes in the hill country. However, most sites were not abandoned
in the transition from Late Bronze Age to Iron Age I. Three settlements
continued and only one was abandoned. Nine new villages in the moun-
tains in Iron Age I indicate a growth of the population here as in the hill
country. Again there is also a disruption between Iron Age I and Iron
Age II. In only five of the twelve settlements of Iron Age I did occupa-
tion continue. The seven remaining settlements were abandoned. We
find continuity only in the transition from Iron Age II to the Persian
period. Seven of the Iron Age II sites continued, six were abandoned,
but there were also six new foundations. This development corresponds
in detail to that in the hill country.
As already pointed out, there are 15 sites which were dated only 'Iron
Age' without further differentiation as to whether they were inhabited
in either Iron Age I or II or both. Almost all of these sites are situated in
the hill country and in the mountains. Twelve of the 15 sites were foun-
ded at some point in Iron Age I or II, only three were already occupied
during the Late Bronze Age and none of them continued into the
Persian period (Table 3.3b). Without further, more detailed, dating
these sites are of no use for an analysis of the settlement continuity in
the hinterland of Akko.
Reconstructing the Settlement History
Against the background of modern settlement archaeology, that is,
archaeological surveys and spatial analysis, we are able to write a new
kind of regional history of the Akko plain. This kind of history is not
supposed to be a history of events. With the few available written
historical sources this would anyway be a short, eclectic and random
list of names and dates. In fact one wonders to what extent correct
identifications of Bronze and Iron Age place-names would actually add
significant data to our analysis. The history emerging from modern
settlement archaeology reflects the tongue duree of Fernand Braudel, it
is mainly his histoire conjoncturelle in combination with some
elements of his histoire structural (Braudel 1972; cf. Burke 1992: 151-
52); in other words, an attempt to reconstruct the economic and political
systems of the societies living in the Akko plain in the context of their
environment.
There are only a few additional historical data and this paper is not
the place to discuss them in detail (for some discussions see Kuschke
1971; Kallai 1986; Na'aman 1986; Thompson et al. 1988; Briend 1990;
Lemaire 1991; Lipinski 1991). I will deal with these questions in a
forthcoming study.
The city state of Akko dominates in the settlement pattern of the Late
Bronze Age (see Fig. 3.5). This political entity appeared in Late Bronze
Age texts (cf. Amarna texts: Moran 1992: index; papyrus Anastasi I:
Fischer-Elfert 1986: 176). During the fifteenth and the fourteenth
century BCE the Eygptian hegemony over Palestine had caused some
consolidation in the politics of Palestine (Bunimovitz 1989: 6*).
Following Renfrew, Bunimovitz explains the Late Bronze Age system
of city states with the help of the so-called Early State Module
(Bunimovitz 1989: 7*; Renfrew and Barm 1991: 334-35). The city state
of Akko encompassed an urban centre, Akko, then still Tell al-
Fukhkhar, and a territory of some 15 km radius around it. This hinter-
land did not extend beyond much more than a day's journey to its peri-
phery and back to the centre (Bunimovitz 1989: 8* ).
Fig. 3.5. Sites of the Late Bronze Age
Sub-centres were Tell Kurdana (Tel Aphek, Fig. 3.2: no. 63), Tell
Keisan (no. 68), Tell Mimas (Beth ha-'Emeq, no. 37) and Tel Achziv
(no. 4). In the north the Late Bronze Age city state of Akko bordered on
Ras an-Naqura (Rosh ha-Niqra); in the east there were only very few
villages in the mountains. The territory of Akko most probably did not
extend much beyond the 200 m elevation line. To the south the borders
are less clear. Here was the harbour of Tell Abu Hawam, today within
modern Haifa. A second port within the city state's territory, even
remote on its very periphery does not seem to be very probable. Hence,
Bunimovitz draws the border of the Akko city state in the Late Bronze
Age immediately south of Tell Kurdana (Tel Aphek). According to
locational analysis this seems to be the best solution. It is in accord with
the Early State Module, and fits with its dimensions and its central
place structure.
Late Bronze Age texts mention the independent city of Achshaph
(Akshapa) in the vicinity of Akko (cf. Amarna texts: Moran 1992:
366,23; 367,1; papyrus Anastasi I: Fischer-Elfert 1986: 177). This city
is also mentioned in the Bible and is situated within the area of the tribe
of Asher.
2
According to the papyrus Anastasi I, Achshaph seems to
have been immediately south of Akko. Since both Tell Keisan and Tell
Kurdana (Aphek) were apparently part of the city-state of Akko it is
difficult to identify them with Achshaph. Benjamin Mazar and Y ohanan
Aharoni located Achshaph at Tell Harbaj (no. 92) (Mazar 1950;
Aharoni 1979). Lipinski looks for this site in the immediate hinterland
of Tell Abu Hawam, at Tell an-Nakhl (no. 89) or in its vicinity
(Lipinski 1991: 158-59, cf. this article also for references on
Achshaph). Both Tell Harbaj (25 dunam) and Tell an-Nakhl (14
dunam) seem to be rather small even for a tiny Late Bronze Age city-
state, but there are no other larger tells in the southern Akko plain.
However, if one assumes with Mazar, Aharoni, Bunimovitz and
Lipinski that Achshaph was at the southern edge of the Akko plain,
then this state encompassed only a very small territory (for an attempt
to map this territory see Bunimovitz 1989: 139, map 10).
Plotting only the southern sites of the Akko plain in rank-size graph,
the settlement system seems to be less well integrated than the northern
sites, which form a coherent system around Akko. However, if one
assumes that the centre of the southern sites is outside the plain, one
2. For Achshaph see Na'aman 1986: 123 (= Tell Keisan) and 126 (on the
borders of Galilee, Josh. 11.10), see also 141; Briend 1972: 239-46; Bordreuil
1977: 180; Kallai 1986: 181, 207, 429-31; Lipinski 1991: 158 n. 14 (= Tell an-
Nakhl); for references in Egyptian texts Ahituv 1984: 49.
suddenly finds a better integrated curve (dotted line in Fig. 3.6 with a
predicted centre of c. 50-60 dunam). This could be an indication that
Achshaph is in fact outside the Akko plain and not to be identified with
any of the above mentioned modern sites.
Fig. 3.6. Rank-size diagram: Late Bronze Agesouthern Akko plain
Apparently, there were two harbours at both edges of the Akko bay,
Akko and Tell Abu Hawam. These harbours are specialized sites in the
settlement hierarchy of the Akko plain (Soffer and Stern 1986). Since
Tell Abu Hawam is situated at the extreme southern edge of the plain, it
was probably already outside of the territory of Akko and may have
been the harbour of the city state of Achshaph. The harbour may have
served especially to supply Megiddo and other sites in the Jezreel
valley. This must have had some implications for the role of Achshaph
in the area. The special problem of two harbours in one bay recurred
also during the Iron Age and the Persian period. Only during the
seventh century BCE was there no harbour at Tell Abu Hawam. Appa-
rently, the site was not occupied during most of the Assyrian period. It
seems that Akko was the only important harbour during the Assyrian
period in the bay. This is surprising since it was assumed that Megiddo
was the capital of the Assyrian province of Western Galilee. Tell Abu
Hawam would have been the closest and most convenient harbour for
Megiddo.
Recent research in the settlement archaeology of Upper Galilee has
demonstrated that during the Late Bronze Age the mountain areas were
almost empty, and there were only very few settlements during this
period (Gal 1988; Frankel 1994; Frankel and Getzov 1997; during 1996
the author together with H.M. Niemann surveyed U pper Galilee for pre-
Hellenistic sites, confirming the conclusions of Frankel and Gal; the
results of this survey will be published soon).
The Iron Age I settlement pattern was quite different from the Late
Bronze Age. According to the excavations at Tell al-Fukhkhar, Akko
was still a regional centre during the twelfth century BCE. During Iron
Age I, according to the excavator in the eleventh century, the city's
importance declined (Dothan 1993). Figure 3.7 with Iron Age I sites
illustrates this situation. The settlements in the area of the former city
state of Akko are concentrated in Iron Age I on the slopes of the hill
country and the mountains. Most of the sites are in the northern part of
the research area, in the hinterland of Tell Mimas; there are almost no
sites in the southern part of the hill country and only a few in the plain.
Our short and preliminary analysis demonstrates a major break in
settlement patterns at the transition from the Late Bronze Age to Iron
Age I. The size of the occupied areas, the distribution of the sites, their
rank-size and the settlement continuity indicate this development. The
old Bronze Age settlements with a size of more than 20 dunam continue
to be occupied, but during Iron Age I they were shrinking and unable to
develop a hinterland around them. It is questionable to what extent
these old Bronze Age cities still had an urban character in Iron Age I.
The majority of their citizens were apparently farmers.
In the hill country and on the mountains there are new, small settle-
ments during Iron Age I. Many of them were abandoned at the end of
the period. The settlement systems of the plain and in the hill country/
mountains seem to have been independent of each other. Figure 3.6
with the Iron Age I settlements seems to indicate a somewhat neutral
zone without sites, a strip running across the middle of the hinterland of
Akko between the plain and the hill country. Furthermore, the small
villages in the hill country and mountains are situated exactly in the
area which one would expect to be the territory of the biblical tribe of
Asher (Kallai 1986: 204-24).
Studies in the Archaeology of the Iron Age
Fig. 3.7. Iron Age I sites
However, the identification of these villages with the territory of
Asher is far from simple. The historical sources and traditions,
especially the Bible, have to be evaluated carefully. Correlating the
biblical traditions on early Israel with the archaeological evidence is
still one of the major problems of the archaeology in Israel/Palestine.
So far one can conclude with Edelman that Egyptian references seem to
88
mention the tribe of Asher in the thirteenth century in Western Galilee
(Edelman 1992).
Similarly, the population in the Akko plain in Iron Age I has been
seen in the context of the Sea-People phenomenon. It was suggested
that they should be identified with the Sherdani (Lemaire 1991: 145;
Singer 1994: 297-98) and to attribute to them the monochrome 'Sea-
People' pottery mentioned by Singer (1994). Evidence from Akko was
repeatedly mentioned by several authors but never published. Both
monochrome and bichrome pottery in the area have been recently
discussed by Raban (1991). Monochrome pottery was found also in Tel
Kabri and in Dor (Lehmann 2001; Stern 1994: 96, Fig. 47). However,
the same pottery is once used to identify 'Sikils' and on another
occasion 'Sherdani'a typical case of the 'pots and people' problem.
Raban sees both groups mentioned by Ramses III in papyrus Harris I as
settled in northern Palestine (Raban 1991: 24-25). He further suggests
identifying the activities of Sidon as the leading Phoenician city of the
twelfth and early eleventh century with the distribution of the Tyrian
storage jars' (Finkelstein 1988: 102; Frankel 1994: 27; Stern 1994: 91,
Fig. 41 Dor Str. XII). Whether Sikils or Sherdani are involved, we are
on safe ground if we assume that all this pottery is connected to a 'Sea-
People' phenomenon, that is, the continuing Iron Age I connection of
the Palestinian littoral with the Mediterranean.
As for the ethnic situation, Raban suggests that Canaanites, Sea-
People and Israelites were living in some kind of symbiosis (Raban
1991: 25). I would generally agree with this view. However, I see the
early 'Israelites' (or Proto-Israelites) in Galilee emerging from the
'Canaanites' in the plains. Recent research has demonstrated that the
new settlements in the central hill country and mountains of Palestine/
Israel was to some extent the result of a rural population fleeing the
increasing burdens imposed by the city-states' elites (Bunimovitz
1994). Such defections during the fourteenth-thirteenth century are
illustrated by a number of U garitic texts (Heltzer 1976: 60-62). And in
a treaty with Duppi-Teshup of Amurru Murshili II demands that the
'fugitives should not go into the mountains' (Klengel 1992: 168). It is
tempting to connect these processes with the Khabiru in the Amarna
texts and other sources in second millennium Syria and Palestine. The
particular variants of storage vessels in upper and western Galilee,
'Galilean' and Tyrian' jars as opposed to the 'collared-rim' jars in the
central hill country, point to an autonomous development of these early
Iron Age settlers in the Galilean mountains (Finkelstein 1988: 102;
Raban 1991: 25 n. 3; Frankel 1994: 27; Stern 1994: 91, Fig. 41). It is in
fact an open question when these Galilean tribes were finally consid-
ered to be Israelites. I could imagine that this process took place only
later in Iron Age II when the Northern Kingdom stabilized its political
control over parts of Galilee.
Whoever the people were who were settling in the hill country and in
the mountains, Figure 3.7 demonstrates that there was a concentration
of settlements, manpower and agriculture in newly founded small vil-
lages in these areas north of Akko. It seems as if the hill country north
and east of Akko was the main political unit during Iron Age I. Achziv,
Akko and Tell Keisan may have formed very small territories. Each of
these sites keep some distance from each other. In the south the situa-
tion is different. Tell Abu Hawam, Tell al-Harbaj and Tell al-Idham are
relatively close to each other, forming a somewhat larger territory. How
this territory was connected to the Jezreel valley is still unclear. It may
have been the area of Achshaph.
The transition from Iron Age I to Iron Age II witnessed again a
fundamental transformation of the settlement pattern (for another such
transformation in contemporary Lower Galilee cf. Gal 1992: 94).
During Iron Age II Akko is again the largest city and the regional
centre of the area, surrounded by sub-centres and small villages (Fig.
3.8). Many of the small villages in the hill country and the mountains
which were founded at the beginning of Iron Age I are now abandoned
in Iron Age II. Instead, new villages of the same size were founded not
far from those Iron Age I sites but on new terrain. The Iron Age II
settlement pattern is characterized by one centralized system which
dominated both the hill country and the mountain sites from its centres
in the plain. However, one has to take into consideration that the Iron
Age II period encompassed some 400 years of development and it is
difficult to date the archaeological settlement data within this period.
Thus, I cannot demonstrate the fluctuations of settlement density in the
hinterland of Akko within Iron Age II. Research by Zvi Gal in Lower
Galilee indicates that such fluctuations indeed occurred during Iron Age
II (Gal 1992: 107). Data available today suggest that the peak of
settlement in the hinterland of Akko was reached in the eighth century.
As far as ethnical identifications in this context are concerned, I am
less interested in simple statements of Phoenician or Israelite presence.
More interesting are the political and economic connections and impli-
LEHMANN Phoenicians in Western Galilee
91
cations (Rappaport 1992). Stern is suggesting an early Phoenician ex-
pansion into Northern Palestine during the second half of the eleventh
century, c. 1050-1000 BCE (Stern 1994: 103-104). He bases these
assumptions mainly on the occurrence of Phoenician pottery and
imports from Cyprus in Dor Str. IX and X-XI (Stern 1990, 1991). This
expansion would be reflected with the beginning of Tell Abu Hawam
Str. IV and Tell Keisan Niv. 9b (Herrera Gonzalez 1990 and Humbert
1993: 866).
Fig. 3.8. Iron Age II sites
The Akko excavations have not been published yet. Dothan mentions
a decline in the city's development during the eleventh and tenth
centuries (e.g. in Dothan 1993: 21). He also explicitly mentions Phoen-
ician pottery in these levels. In his opinion, Akko again became impor-
tant only during the ninth century. Since his conclusions are based on
unpublished evidence it is difficult to evaluate these statements. They
would imply that Akko was not the centre of the plain during the begin-
ning of Iron Age II, the tenth century. The Iron Age II settlement
pattern which is presented here in Figure 3.8 would have existed only
since Iron Age IIB, after c. 900 BCE. If the identification of Phoenician
'pots' after c. 1050 BCE equals the presence of Phoenician 'people' and
their settlement activities in the plain, then the transformation of the
Iron Age I settlement system into that of Iron Age II would have lasted
for some 150 years. All depends again on the identification of pots and
peoples (Stern 1990, 1991).
Zvi Gal identifies the modern site Rosh Zayit (Ras az-Zaytun, Fig.
3.2, no. 58) with biblical Kabul (Gal 1992). In the biblical tradition
(1 Kgs 9.11) the area around Kabul, the 'Land of Kabul' was handed
over by Solomon to Hiram of Tyre. This text is not contemporary with
Hiram or Solomon. We don't even know if the essence of the tradition
is authentic. The tradition of the cession of the Land of Kabul was
worked over and considerably edited in a later post-Solomonic period.
The story in its outline may quite probably reflect a historical event (for
a detailed analysis see Donner 1982). However, this depends on the
conclusion that the end of verse 1 Kgs 9.11 ('King Solomon then gave
Hiramtwenty cities in the land of Galilee') is in fact pre-Deuteronomic
(Wiirthwein 1985: 106). If this is correct, in the core of the matter the
tradition would have recognized the supremacy of Tyre in Western
Galilee. Furthermore, the tradition expressed dependence of Solomon
on the Phoenicians of Tyre (Donner 1982; Na'aman 1986: 61-62,
Knauf 1991). It was also suggested that the intention of this passage is
to express that with Solomon's renunciation the territory of the tribe of
Asher was extinguished (Lemaire 1991: 152; Briquel-Chatonnet 1992:
49; Kallai 1986: 77-78).
However, the Bible suggests that the Akko plain was part of David's
possessions. The tribe of Asher is situated here and is counted among
the twelve tribes, being part of the U nited Monarchy. The Bible further
states that during the reign of Solomon the Land of Kabul was handed
over to Tyre. Since the plain with its major sites was never part of
Asher's territory and already in the hands of the Phoenicians (Kallai
1986: 77-78) traditionally the Land of Kabul is identified with the hill
country and the mountains in the hinterland of Akko (for the Land of
Kabul and the scientific discussion of Solomon's cession see Katzen-
stein 1997: 103-105).
What really happened is probably impossible to reconstruct. The
historicity of the few biblical references to the Akko plain is disputed.
With Niemann I tend to believe that if David and Solomon were hist-
orical and not only biblical, literary figures, their influence did not reach
deep into Lower Galilee, probably not beyond the Jezreel valley, and
that Tyre was the actual power in northern Israel (cf. Donner 1982).
Finally, Solomon's cession of the Land of Kabul (1 Kgs 9.11-13) may
have simply acknowledged the political facts, recognizing the Tyrian
supremacy over Western Galilee (cf. Niemann 1997), the cession being
an agreement of spheres of influence between Solomon and Hiram, the
latter being in the stronger position (Donner 1982). Analysing the
political and economic relations between Hiram and Solomon, E.A.
Knauf emphasized the dependence of Solomon even further (Knauf
1991: 168-69). He considers 1 Kgs 9.10-14 as postexilic. Similarly,
Lipinski assumes that Solomon 'ceded' an area to Hiram, which
belonged already to Tyre anyway (Lipinski 1991).
According to A. Alt, the Akko plain was already part of the city state
of Tyre in the tenth century BCE (Alt 1953a: 144). Assyrian texts of the
late eighth century BCE may confirm this assumption. The annals of
Senacherib list places in the Akko plain as part of the Tyrian territory
(Luckenbill 1989: II, 239). Thus, at the beginning of Iron Age II the
settlement system in the hinterland of Akko would have been trans-
formed by the then leading economic power in the Levant, the city state
of Tyre. The early expansion of Tyre during the eleventh and tenth
centuries BCE did not direct the Tyrians westward into the Mediter-
ranean, but rather into the nearby territories of western Galilee and
southern Cyprus (cf. Aubet 1993).
Independently from the historical sources, the archaeological evid-
ence demonstrates that there was a densely settled area in the hill
country north and east of Akko during Iron Age I (maybe this was the
Land of Kabul, Fig. 3.7). I have already suggested the possiblity that
this area was politically independent during Iron Age I. The transfor-
mation of the settlement pattern during Iron Age II has eliminated this
political entity, re-integrating the hill and mountain country into the
settlement system of the urban centre of Akko.
In this interpretation, the development and transformation of the
settlement patterns in the hinterland of Akko was caused by Tyre, the
rising city-state under Hiram I which soon became the leading econo-
mic power in the Levant. The early expansion of Tyre during the elev-
enth and tenth century did not lead to colonies in the Western Mediter-
ranean, but to acquisitions in Cyprus and Western Galilee (Aubet
1993). As a reason for this transformation of the settlement patterns in
the hinterland of Akko I assume the development of additional agricul-
tural areas for profitable products cultivated for export and the safe
investment of profits made in risky sea trade (Aubet 1993: 51-59).
The ability of Tyre's economy to develop what I call 'investment
capacities' seems to explain best the changes in the Akko plain during
Iron Age II. 'Capital' in the modern sense did exist but only in a
rudimentary form in the Iron Age, but it was already possible to 'invest'
and secure profits made in the high-risk sea trade in business, which
was less risky. One could employ numbers of workers in workshops
producing textiles, jewellery or glass. The few less valuable raw mat-
erials available to Tyre such as the sand in the bay of Akko was turned
into value-added products such as glass. The Tyrian economy was able
to 'invest' and to employ experts well versed in the necessary technol-
ogies. Tyre was also able to invest in its fleet and to man it with trained
sailors. The wood required for building the ships was cut in the moun-
tains of south Lebanon and western Galilee. The sea trade made access-
ible additional raw materials which were not available in the hinterland
of Tyre. These materials formed an integral part of Tyrian industry.
In agriculture the Tyrian wealth permitted the production of cash
crops like wine and oil, and the maintenance of the necessary man-
power. Again value-added production and expertise are part of the
business. Still the Phoenician economy was not 'capitalism'. There was
no dynamic investment in the modern sense and the 'financial' system
was rather primitive (cf. Finley 1985: especially ch. 5). But the
Phoenician trade and landownership certainly aimed at profits (cf.
Finley 1985: 188-91).
Tyre was thus able to produce in large quantities and to employ both
experts and considerable numbers of less trained workers. As a result,
production was also of good quality and profitable. Most significant,
however, was that Tyre integrated trade, manufacture and agriculture
into one economic system. It is still not clear which role private initia-
tive played in this system and to what extent the state controlled econo-
mic activities. In the predominately private economy of Carthage
during the Hellenistic period merchants and landowners formed the
upper class of the state. Whether these structures developed only late in
a Punic context or whether they were already of importance for Iron
Age Tyre is not clear. Only further research may answer this question.
U nlike Israel and J udah only the Tyrian economy was thus able to
transform the Akko plain politically and economically in the way the
archaeological evidence indicates. It is remarkable how the Tyrian
'investment capacity' functioned in the less economically developed
areas of Western Galilee, in particular in the hill country and the
mountain areas. Tyre profited especially from the exploitation of such
'underdeveloped' areas with rich potential, even more since they were
very easily accessible, bordering immediately on the territory of the
early city state. Developed technology and 'investment capacity' went
together with cheap labour, raw materials and rich agricultural land.
This dynamic characterizes the Phoenician interest in the Akko plain.
At the end of the eighth century the successful Assyrian expansion
under Tiglat-Pileser III led to the establishment of provinces in Syria
and Palestine. Even if Phoenicia was granted a special role in this sys-
tem with some kind of autonomy it was subject to Assyrian rule. Appa-
rently, this led to conflicts, which are recorded in Assyrian texts
(Klengel 1992, Lamprichs 1995). In his reconstruction of Esarhaddon's
treaty with Baal of Tyre, Na'aman concludes that Akko was already not
part of Baal's territory (Na'aman 1994: 6). He further suggested (contra
Alt) that Akko became the seat of an Assyrian governor. The fact that
during the seventh century BCE Akko was the only important port in the
bay, Tell Abu Hawam, the traditional harbour of Megiddo, being aban-
doned, seems to support this hypothesis. In contrast to this Alt included
Akko in the Assyrian province of Megiddo (Alt 1953b: 377-78).
In the excavations at Dor, Tell Keisan and Tel Kabri Assyrianizing
pottery was found. Assyrianizing pottery in Palestine was already of
considerable interest for a number of scholars (to mention only some:
Amiran 1969: 291; Chambon in: Briend and Humbert 1980: 165-66;
Mattingly 1980; Hunt 1987: 203; Weippert 1988: 647-48; Pakman
1992; Gilboa 1996; V an Beek et al. 2001). Chemical and petrographic
analyses of Assyrianizing pottery at Tell Jemmeh have shown that this
pottery was produced with local clay (V an Beek et al. 2001). From a
macroscopic point of view, this may also be the case for the more
coarse Assyrianizing vessels in Kabri.
However, the most intriguing question is, what function this class of
pottery served and why people started to copy Mesopotamian shapes.
An analysis of Syrian and Lebanese pottery shows that Mesopotamian
shapes went out of use after the destruction of the Assyrian empire
(Lehmann 1996: 93-94). The vessels were prestigious fine tableware
(bowls or cups, jugs and krater). They seem to be mainly vessels for the
consumption of liquids, probably wine (Stronach 1996). Thus, here at
the periphery of the Assyrian empire this pottery apparently served as
an object of prestige, copying the life-style of the centre in Assyria.
According to this evidence, Assyrian presence in the Akko plain
seems likely. The plain was apparently not in Phoenician, that is,
Tyrian, hands during large parts of the seventh century BCE. The
territorial transformation of the Akko plain into an Assyrian province
began maybe in 701 BCE under Sennacherib (Na'aman 1994: 6).
Despite the treaty, conflicts soon arose between Esarhaddon and Baal,
and only a few years after their agreement the Assyrian army laid siege
to Tyre in 671 BCE.
The Assyrians recognized the strategic importance of the Akko plain.
Their presence was intended to control opposition forces at the peri-
phery of their empire to prevent them from forming coalitions against
the centre, with Egypt for example. Eventually, such coalitions proved
to be a deadly threat to the Assyrian empire at the end of the seventh
century BCE (Lamprichs 1995).
The relations between Tyre and Assyria remained tense and conflicts
arose over the territory of the Akko plain. In his third campaign Ashur-
banipal marched against Tyre in the late 660s BCE (Lamprichs 1995:
173 and Katzenstein 1997: 289, both with more references). Eventually,
in one of his last campaigns Ashurbanipal recorded the destruction of
Akko, c. 644/643 BCE (Klengel 1992: 230). After the collapse of the
Assyrian empire, Tyre seems to have attempted to re-establish its influ-
ence over its former territoriesonly to clash again with the major
continental power, the Neo-BabyIonian empire (Klengel 1992: 232-34).
There are a series of destructions, apparently around 604 BCE in north-
ern Palestine, that is, Tel Kabri, Tell Keisan, Tell Achziv, Tell Dan,
Shiqmona and several sites in the Akko Survey such as Tell Da'uq.
3
3. For references seeNEAEHL. For Kabri see Lehmann 2001.
The settlement pattern of the Persian period is very similar to that of
Iron Age II (see Fig. 3.9). This is particularly important against the
background of the fundamental transformation of the settlement
patterns in Lower Galilee as a result of the Assyrians campaigns of
Tiglat-Pileser III. These campaigns depopulated Lower Galilee to a
large extent, the region being resettled only in the sixth century (Gal
1992: 108). In contrast to these developments in Lower Galilee, the
analysis of the settlement in the Akko plain demonstrated continuity
and a high degree of integration under a central administration. The
number of settlements and of the overall occupation area increased a
little in the Persian period. Akko still is the regional centre in the area.
Larger sub-centres are situated in a circle of some 5-10 km distance
around Akko. The small villages of the hill country and the mountains
are subordinate to this system.
It is generally assumed, however without clear evidence, that the
Akko plain was again part of the Tyrian territory during the Persian
period (cf. Stern 1982: 241). The harbour list of Pseudo-Skylax, written
probably in the fourth century BCE leaves this question open (cf.
discussion in Galling 1938: 79). Lipinski suggested interpreting the list
in Josh. 19.25-30 describing the tribal area of Asher as a document of
the Persian period, reflecting the settlement situation of the fourth
century BCE (Lipinski 1991; cf. Briend 1990; Galling 1938). The Akko
plain was of particular strategic importance for the Persian military
buildup against Egypt and Phoenicia (Strabo XV I 758, Diodor XV 41,
cf. Stern 1982: 241 and Briend 1990: 113). The Achaemenids had simi-
lar strategic problems to the Assyrians earlier in the face of possible
coalitions at the periphery against the center. Again, eventually these
coalitions contributed to the collapse of their empire.
To sum up, a first and preliminary spatial analysis using the data of
recent regional surveys was able to demonstrate the transformation of
the settlement pattern in the Akko plain between the Late Bronze Age
and the Iron Age I. Further research will show whether this transforma-
tion may be interpreted as activities of agents such as the tribe of Asher
and/or the Sherdani. Another break in the settlement system took place
during the transition from Iron Age I to Iron Age II. It seems to be the
work of Phoenicians, the city state of Tyre, who expanded into the
Akko plain and created a new economic and political system there.
Fig. 3.9. Sites of the Persian period
Appendix 3A: Ancient settlements and selected special
sites of the Akko-Survey, 1993-96 conducted by
Gunnar Lehmann and Martin Peilstocker (Fig. 3.1)
1. Tell Keisan (1645.2531) is the only major site in the survey area which has
been excavated and published. A British expedition worked on the tell
between 1935-1936, and between 1971 and 1980 a French team excavated.
The last field director was J.-B. Humbert from the Ecole Biblique in
Jerusalem. Periods: Neolithic, Early Bronze Age, Middle Bronze Age, Late
Bronze Age, Iron Age I-II, Persian period, Hellenistic, Byzantine, Mediaeval.
2. and 3. Horvat 'U sa I and II (16485.25760): a large Bronze Age site along the
road and a small tell. There were excavations by Amnon Ben Tor 1963 and
Nimrod Getzov 1991. Periods: Early Bronze Age, Middle Bronze Age, Late
Bronze Age, Persian period, Byzantine, Mediaeval.
4. Tell Da'uq (1618.2530): tell with mediaeval buildings. Periods: Late Bronze
Age, Iron Age, Persian period, Mediaeval.
5. Tell al-Kurdane (Tel Afek, 1605.2500): large tell with springs. Periods: Early
Bronze Age, Middle Bronze Age II, Late Bronze Age, Persian period, Roman,
Byzantine, Mediaeval, Modern.
6. Tell Bir al-Gharbi (Tel Bira, 1661.2562): large tell excavated by Moshe
Prausnitz between 1957 and 1980, Shmuel Y eivin 1959, Y ehuda Ben Y osef
1970 and 1979 and Edna Stern 1993. Periods: Middle Bronze Age I, Middle
Bronze Age II, Late Bronze Age, Iron Age I-II, Persian period, Hellenistic.
7. Khirbat Tira Tamra (1662.2509): excavations by Alexander On 1988.
Periods: Late Bronze Age (? only Saarisalo), Roman, Mediaeval, Modern.
8. Khirbat Kinniya (1659.2528): Periods: Hellenistic.
9. Khirbat et-Tantur (1631.2581): survey by Rafael Frankel. Iron Age, Persian
period, Byzantine?, Mediaeval.
10. al-Makr (1633.2597): excavations by Y a'kov Uri 1949, Zvi Safir and Moshe
Dothan 1950, Pirhiya Beck 1958, Y ehuda Ben Y osef 1964, V assilius Tzaferis
1977 and Mordekhai Avi'am 1991, survey by Rafael Frankel. Periods: Middle
Bronze Age I, Roman, Byzantine, Mediaeval, Modern.
11. Khirbat al-'Aitawiya (1641.2518): small tell. Periods: Late Bronze Age (?
only Saarisalo), Persian period, Mediaeval, Modern.
12. Dabbat al-Khan (16545.25085): remains of a structures on the ancient Roman
road, may be a road station.
13. al-Judayda (1650.2592): Periods: Early Bronze Age, Byzantine, Mediaeval,
Modern.
14. al-Birwa (1671.2567): Periods: Mediaeval, Modern.
15. Khirbat Bir Tirat Tamra (1660.2515): excavations by Alexander On 1988.
Ottoman well building. Periods: Byzantine (?), Mediaeval, Modern.
16. Ard ad-Durma (1688.2586): studied by Mordekhai Avi'am. Period:
Hellenistic.
17. ad-Damun (1675.2536): Periods: Late Bronze Age, Byzantine, Mediaeval,
Modern.
18. Khirbat al-Waziya (1687.2596): excavations by Mordekhai Avi'am 1989,
1991. Periods: Iron Age I, Hellenistic, Byzantine.
19. Tamra (1695.2506): surveyed by Idan Shaqet. Periods: Early Bronze Age II,
Iron Age, Persian period, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Mediaeval, Modern.
20. Qabr al-Badawiya (1696.2579): Periods: Iron Age II.
21. ar-Ruways (1694.2521): Periods: Roman, Byzantine, Mediaeval, Modern.
22. Ard as-Samarra (16658.25560): also surveyed by Eliezer Stern. Period: Early
Bronze Age.
23. Maghar 16816.2562: Mediaeval village.
24. Palestine Grid 16868.25685: rock installations and cisterns.
25. The Survey of Western Palestine, map 5, marked here some installations
which were not found during the survey.
26. British railway tracks for developing the Government Land in the plain partly
built with soil from Tell al-Fukhkhar (Tel Akko).
27. at-Tayyun (16165.2543): dense stray finds, probably soil from Tell al-
Fukhkhar (Tel Akko). Periods: Iron Age, Persian period, Byzantine, Modern.
28. Roman milestones (1658.2505).
29. ar-Rujm (1652.2539): remains of a Byzantine building.
30. Bir al-Mughayr (16736.25578): Ottoman well building with settlement
remains arround it.
31. Bir Wa'r Mafhara (16808.25627): well of site 23 with dense Mediaeval and
Modern stray finds.
32. Palestine Grid 160.255: small Ottoman settlement, marked on map of the
Survey of Western Palestine.
33. Palestine Grid 162.258: small Byzantine settlement found by Mordekhai
Avi'am and Eliezer Stern.
34. Palestine Grid (16923.25575): flint scatter.
35. al-Hariqa (1629.2518): remains of small Ottoman settlement.
36. Ras 'Arus (1696.2570): Farm of the Byzantine and Mamluke period.
37. Khirbat J a'ad (1682.2597), remains of a Byzantine building.
38. Palestine Grid 1692.2586, heaps of stones with Byzantine pottery.
39. Ard al-'U yun (1685.2586), Iron Age and Hellenistic settlement.
40. Bir Asfa (Bir Safa) (1693.2547), Ottoman well building.
41. Ard al-'U shr (1665.2526), settlement with pottery of the Wadi Rabba culture,
nearby rock installations.
42. Kabul (1700.2525), Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Mediaeval and Modern
remains.
43. Ard al-'Aymawiya (1656.2513), remains of a small Ottoman hamlet.
44. al-Kurum (16865.2527), Persian period, Byzantine, Mediaeval and Modern
pottery.
45. ar-Raba'in (1671.2532), remains of Byzantine buildings, rock installations
and tombs.
46. Palestine Grid 16865.25915, remains of a Byzantine building.
47. Palestine Grid 1683.2594, Byzantine settlement with rock installations and
tombs.
48. Palestine Grid 1629.2585, discolouration of the soils in the fields with flints
finds.
49. U mm as-Surud (1661.2573), Roman and Byzantine installations and settle-
ment remains.
Appendix 3B: List of sites analysed in this paper (Fig. 3.2)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
Name
Nahariya (North)
Nemal Akhziv South
Nemal Akhziv North
Achziv (az-Zib)
al-Mushayrifa
No name
Gesher ha-Ziw (ar-Ras)
Tell at-Taba'iq (Khirbat
al Mushayrifa, Tel Rosh
ha-Niqra)
No name
Tell Shuqaf (Tel Shaqof)
al-Amariya, Kh. (Horvat
Kenesiya)
Abu adh-Dhahab
Khirbat Humsin (Giv'at
ha-Mudot)
'Abbassiya, Kh.
('Ovesh)
Ma' sub, Kh.
No name
No name
Khirbat 'Abda (Tel
'Avdon)
Tell Marad (Mitzpa
Hanita)
Mugharrat al-'Arus
(Me'arrot Eder)
'Ayn Hur
No name
Mugharrat Mankhir
Samah, Kh.
X
1593
1595
1596
1599
1604
1605
1607
1612
1622
1625
1633
1640
1641
1644
1650
1652
1654
1655
1668
1673
1674
1679
1682
1688
y
2707
2714
2718
2725
2765
2753
2722
2765
2728
2715
2744
2718
2726
2751
2762
2723
2722
2725
2774
2759
2765
2772
2756
2746
Periods
Persian period
Persian period
Persian period
Late Bronze Age-Iron Age
Iron Age II-Persian period
Persian period
Persian period
Persian period (cemetery)
Persian period
Iron Age II
Iron Age II
Persian period
Persian period
Persian period
Iron Age II
I-
II-
II?
Iron Age I-Iron Age II-Persian
period
Late Bronze Age
Iron Age II
Iron Age I
Iron Age I-Iron Age II
Iron Age I-Persian period
Iron Age I
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
Idmit, Kh.
al-Ghayyada, Tell
Khirbat al-Ju'ayla
(Horvat 'Edron)
as-Sumayriya (Tell ar-
Ras, Giv'at Y asif)
Shave Zion
Nahariya
No name
No name
Tel Nahali'el
Zahr at-Tell
Kabri: at-Tell
Khirbat Kafr Buda
Tell Mimas (Beit ha-
'Emeq)
al-Naqar
at-Tina
Bethha-'Emeq
al-Murkhan
' Amqa Tomb
Khirbat ash-Shubayk
Tell al-Waqiya (Giv'at
ha-Meshurim)
No name
No name
Khirbat Ga'atun
(Khirbat J a'thun)
No name
No name
No name
No name
No name
No name
Mugharrat U mm
Muhammad
Y irka
Khirbat Zawinita
(Horvat Beit Zeneta)
Ras Kalban
1691
1693
1699
1580
1580
1580
1581
1581
1586
1633
1634
1643
1646
1653
1654
1657
1657
1657
1664
1670
1674
1682
1685
1686
1687
1688
1691
1693
1696
1699
1702
1708
1709
2761
2709
2732
2630
2657
2670
2661
2662
2680
2683
2680
2661
2634
2663
2666
2630
2639
2657
2690
2695
2620
2607
2688
2611
2637
2603
2635
2663
2652
2638
2622
2698
2634
Persian period
Late Bronze Age-Iron Age I
Persian period
Late Bronze Age-Persian
period
Late Bronze Age
see Kabri: at-Tell
Late Bronze Age?-Iron Age II-
Persian period
Persian period
Late Bronze Age-Iron Age I-
Persian period
Iron Age
Persian period
Persian period
Iron Age II
Iron Age II
Iron Age
Iron Age I
Iron Age I
Iron Age
Iron Age I
Iron Age I
Iron Age I
Iron Age I
Iron Age
Iron Age I
Iron Age
Iron Age I-Persian period
Iron Age I-Iron Age II-Persiar
58 Ma'arrat Netifim
period
1717 2639 Persian period
59 Jatt 1723 2643 Late Bronze Age-Iron Age I-
Iron Age II
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
No name
Khirbat al-Knissa
Ruwayssat (Horvat
Knissa)
Akko (Tell al-Fukhkhar)
Tell Kurdana (Tel
Aphek)
at-Tayyun
Tell Da'uk
Khirbat at-Tantur
(Horvat Turit)
Khirbat 'Ayytawiya
Tell Keisan
Khirbat 'Ayyadiya
(Horvat 'Utza)
Bir al-Gharbi (Tel Bira)
Khirbat Tirat Tamra
ad-Damun
Ard al-'U yun
al-Kurum
Khirbat al-Waziya
Tamra
Qabr Badawiya
Kabul
Qarn Hannawi (Har
Gamal)
Khirbat Y a'nin (Horvat
Ne'iel)
Ros Zayyit (Ras az-
Zaytun)
Sha'ab (Shaav)
al-Mi'ar
Tell as-Samak (Tel
Shiqmona)
Khirbat al-'Ayn (Horvat
Qedem, Khirbat Is' ad al-
Y usuf)
1724
1725
1580
1605
1616
1618
1631
1641
1644
1648
1661
1662
1675
1685
1686
1687
1695
1696
1703
1707
1711
1713
1731
1735
1461
1500
2629
2673
2580
2500
2543
2530
2581
2518
2531
2576
2562
2509
2536
2586
2527
2596
2506
2579
2524
2583
2553
2538
2549
2534
2478
2406
Iron Age
Iron Age
Iron Age-Persian period
Late Bronze Age?-Iron Age II-
Persian period
Late Bronze Age?-Persian
period
Late Bronze Age-Persian
period
Late Bronze Age?
Late Bronze Age?
Iron Age II
Persian period
Iron Age I
Iron Age
Iron Age II
Persian period
Iron Age I
Iron Age I-Iron Age II-Persian
period
Iron Age
87
Khirbat Rushmiya
(Horvat Rosh Mayim,
Kh. 'Ataysi)
'Iraq az-Zighan
Tell Abu Hawam
89 Tell an-Nakhl (Tel
Nahal)
90 Tell al-'Idham
91 Tell as-Subat (Tell al-
Khiyar, Tel Zavat)
92 Tell al-Harbaj (Tel
Regev)
93 Khirbat Jidru (Horvat
Gedora)
94 Tell az-Zibda (Tel
Zivda)
95 Tell ash-Shumra
96 Tell al-Far (Tel Par)
97 Khirbat ash-Sharta
(Horvat Sirta)
98 Khirbat ash-Shurati
99 Khirbat al-Rujm
(Gil'am)
100 Khirbat J ibyata (Horvat
Govit)
101 Khirbat al-Kasabir (Tel
Hali ha-Ma'aravi)
102 Khirbat al-Jahush
(Horvat Gahosh)
103 Khirbat Ras'Ali (Tel
'Alii, Tel Hali ha-
Mizrahi)
104 Khirbat Ras al-'Ayn
105 Khirbat at-Tayyiba
(Horvat 'Ofrat)
106 Baba al-Hawa
107 Khirbat Abu Mudawwar
(Tel Mador)
108 Tell al-'Amr (Tel Geva'
Shemen, Tel Ma'amer)
109 Khirbat 'Ajajala (Jabal
al-Khirba, Kefar ha-
1502 2439 Late Bronze Age-Iron Age I-
1577 2458 Iron Age I-Iron Age II-Persian
period
1584 2466 Late Bronze Age-Iron Age II-
Persian period
1589 2475 Iron Age II-Persian period
Persian period
1600 2480 Iron Age
1622 2461 Late Bronze Age-Iron Age
1623 2454 Iron Age-Persian period
1645 2494 Late Bronze Age
Persian period
1701 2470 Iron Age II-Iron Age II-
Persian period
Persian period
1601 2387 Persian period?
86
88
No'ar ha-Datti)
110 Khirbat al-Harithiya
(Sha'ar ha-'Amaqim)
111 Khirbat Busayma
(Horvat Butzin)
112 Tell Tab'un (Khirbat al-
Bir)
113 Khirbat U mm Rashid
114 Khirbat Qasta (Horvat
Qoshet)
115 Khirbat Bir al-Baydar
(Horvat Hazin)
116 U mm al-'Amad (Wald-
heim, Allonei Abba)
117 Khirbat Shabana
118 'Ayn al-Hawwara ('Bin
Hevraya)
119 Tell al-Khudayra
120 Khirbat al-Mushayrifa
(Mitzpa Zevulun)
121 Sur al-Mushayrifa
Persian period
1637 2391 Iron Age II
Persian period
Aharoni, Y .
1979
Ahituv, S.
1984
Alonso, A.M.
1994
Alt, A.
1929
1953a
1953b
Amiran, R.
1969
Anderson, B
1991
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4
AGRICU LTU RAL TERRACES AND SETTLEMENT EXPANSION IN THE
HIGHLANDS OF EARLY IRON AGE PALESTINE: is THERE ANY
CORRELATION BETWEEN THE Two?
Shimon Gibson
In a recently published book Mediterranean Peoples in Transition in
honour of Professor Trude Dothan (Gitin et al. 1998), William G.
Dever presents a detailed critique of Finkelstein's views concerning
'pastoral-nomadic' origins for the Israelites. Among his numerous argu-
ments Dever steadfastedly repeats the often made assertion that agricul-
tural terracing was intimately connected with the sudden expansion of
settlements in the highlands in the Iron Age I and that the evidence for
widespread terracing prior to this period is 'extremely weak' (Dever
1998: 227). In this paper I shall be challenging this assumption. Small-
scale terracing, as I hope to demonstrate, was evidently a major feature
of sedentary agriculture in the highlands of Palestine from protohistoric
times and as late as the period of the Israelite monarchy. Widespread
terracing, however, only existed in the highlands from the time of the
divided monarchy, from the eighth century BCE, and not before. This,
of course, has enormous implications for those wishing to reconstruct
the character and mechanisms of settlement patterns and agricultural
territories in this region during the Iron Age I and II.
Agricultural Terraces and Landscape Archaeology
Agricultural terracing is one of the most striking man-made features
dominating the highland landscapes of Palestine. An agricultural terrace
may be defined as an artificially flattened or built-up surface which is
much more horizontal than the land surface which preceded it. The
terrace is constructed to provide additional ground space for the culti-
vation of fruit trees and other crops. Naturally flowing water, whether
from rainwater or by irrigation, spreads across the levelled surface and
provides ground water for the crop or tree growth. The capacity of the
terrace to absorb and conserve moisture depends on the depth of the
terrace fills. Terraces are located on the slopes of hills (known as
'lateral' or 'contour' terraces), on sloping plateau areas (known as 'enc-
losure' terraces) and across gullies and in valleys (known as 'cross-
channel' terraces or 'check dams').
Terraces on hillslopes in the central highlands were artificially built
over exposed bedrock, or, where possible, over pre-existing pockets or
layers of soil (for the technology of terrace construction, see Gibson
1995) (Fig. 4.1).
Fig. 4.1. Schematic section of terrace showing internal fills (drawing S. Gibson)
Considerable amounts of soil and stone were shifted and redeposited
from the near vicinity or from a distance and used in terraces.
Artificially filled terraces of this kind required an enormous investment
of human energy. It has been estimated, for instance, that 1500 donkey-
loads of material would be required to fill a terrace which is 10 m long
and about 5 m high (Rozenson et al. 1994: 71). The time it would take
to build a terrace depended also on environmental and human factors.
The practice of transporting fills over distances is also attested to in
other parts of the world (Spencer and Hale 1961: 20). The deliberate
filling of terraces with soil in Palestine during the Roman period was
clearly referred to in the Mishna (Sheb. 3.8). Where pre-existing soils
GIBSON Agricultural Terraces and Settlement Expansion 115
were to be found, these were incorporated into the terrace fills or
cleared and reused as terrace fills elsewhere. The aim was to obtain a
sufficient depth of terrace soil which would then absorb and conserve
moisture. The topsoil of terraces is usually high in organic matter
owing to sedimentation, to manuring practices and to the decom-
position of plant debris. While water conservation was important, the
quick drainage of excess water was clearly imperative for the stability
of the terrace structure and to prevent the lower fills from becoming
waterlogged. Therefore, many terraces contained a series of fills of
stone. These were laid behind the terrace walls (cf. Spencer and Hale
1961: 16; Gibson and Edelstein 1985: 143-44) and over bedrock, and
served to facilitate the efficient drainage of surplus rainwater absorbed
by the terrace soils.
Terraces were normally retained by stone walls of dry-built construc-
tion founded on bedrock. Mortar appears never to have been used to
bind stones together in terracing. The height of terrace walls depended
on a number of factors: the angle of the slope, the breadth of the terrace,
the availability of stones for the terrace walls, the availability of
appropriate soil and stones for the terrace fills, and the skill of the
builder. Terrace walls were never vertical but always had an external
batter or rearward slope. The general rule is that the higher the wall, the
greater the external batter. Stones for the walls came from a variety of
sources: fieldstones scattered on the natural slopes, stones from quarries
and stones from ruined ancient settlements. Strangely, Ron (1966: 34)
has suggested that the terrace wall served as 'a depository for the stones
cleared from the terrace surface'. This would only be true if the terrace
walls had been erected solely to retain pre-existing soils. However, this
was clearly not the case for much of the hills of Judaea and Samaria.
Indeed, during periods of extensive terracing, stones sometimes had to
be brought from great distances (see the reference to this in m. Sheb.
3.9). All terrace construction requires some form of digging, piling and
the carrying of earth and stone fills. However, the details of the con-
struction methods of terraces can vary from one sub-region of the
highlands of Palestine to another. In some areas where the slopes had a
sufficient cover of soil, notably in the Galilee and in the Lebanon
(Spencer and Hale 1961: 8-9; cf. Wagstaff 1992), terraces were con-
structed by backslope digging and foreslope filling. Therefore, care
must be taken not to assume that the technology of one set of terraces
will necessarily be repeated in other areas, nor that some terraces are
superior to others. For example, Golomb and Kedar (1971: 138) have
suggested, wrongly we believe, that terracing in the Galilee was
'inferior' to the kind prevalent in the J udaean Hills (see also the
comments by Gal 1991b: 108-109 on the terraces of the Galilee). V aria-
tions in the construction of terraces can occur even within one system
of terraces on the same hillslope, especially where there is evidence
indicating continuous use over different periods.
The best method available for the study of terraces is that of land-
scape archaeology (see the detailed discussion of this method in Gibson
1995). This method is particularly useful for the overall study of agric-
ultural systems and is partly based on existing methods of conventional
field surveys, regional surveys and site catchment (or site territory)
analysis (see further details in Gibson 1995). Landscape archaeology,
however, marks a shift away from the total focus on settlements and
their patterns. Each element of a landscape possessing evidence of
human activities is sampled and thus is finally given a chance of reveal-
ing its archaeology. In this method, the entire landscape is in effect the
'site' and the settlements there are regarded as features contained there-
in, albeit important features since they represent foci of human habita-
tion activities. Basically, a project of landscape archaeology is carried
out by the deconstruction of a cultural landscape into isolated and well-
defined categories of apodictic evidence which are recorded as features
(e.g. villages, farms, roads, cisterns, tombs, terraces, fields, stone quar-
ries and so forth). Later, the evidence is assembled as reconstructions of
specific components of the landscape (clusters of features) within a
structured and spatial framework.
Terracing and Israelite Origins: A Review of the Literature
The lining of the slopes of hills with great numbers of terraced fields
was a feat that amazed early travellers and pilgrims visiting Palestine
prior to the nineteenth century and their construction was generally
attributed to ancient peoples and particularly to the Hebrews. This link
between Israelites and terracing was also proposed by a number of
scholars in the nineteenth century, especially by those studying the
geography of the country. C. Ritter, for example, the great compiler of
information about the geography of Palestine, wrote of 'Hebrew
terrace-culture' (Ritter 1866: II, 21). Warburton commenting on the
appearance of terraces near Jerusalem wrote that 'on these steep
acclivities, the strenuous labour of the Israelite had formerly grown
corn, and wine and oil' (Warburton 1843: 230). Geographers, however,
have always suffered from a lack of hard evidence with which they
could date terraces. As a result, a certain reticence is displayed by
present-day geographers when expressing opinions about the origins of
terracing in Palestine. Zvi Ron, who made a major study of terraces in
the 1960s, suggested that because there were substantially fewer Bronze
Age settlements in the highlands in comparision to those of the
subsequent Iron Age (basing himself on archaeological surveys pub-
lished in Kochavi 1972), 'there can be no doubt that the culture of
agricultural terraces developed during the First Temple period and
spread considerably thereafter' (Ron 1977: 226). At the same time, Ron
expressed caution and conceded that some terracing may even have
existed before the Iron Age. Another geographer, Menashe Harel, has
made a much more forceful argument for the exclusive invention of
terracing by the Israelites. In his booklet, entitled Dwellers of the
Mountain: The Geography of Jewish Habitation of Ancient Judea
(1977), he described terracing as one of the pioneering enterprises
unique to the Israelites. Harel wrote that 'with regard to land cultiva-
tion, terrace agriculture, unknown to earlier peoples, was the supreme
achievement of the Israelites'.
While geographers (excluding Harel) have generally expressed
uncertainty over the origins of terracing and are much more circum-
spect regarding the possible dating of terraces, biblical historians and
archaeologists have been much more willing to express an opinion on
the subject. As far back as 1942, Nelson Glueck was suggesting, on the
basis of his surveys in Jordan, that agricultural terraces were of a much
greater antiquity than had previously been thought, with terraces being
employed from as early as the Early Bronze Age (1942: 17-18).
However, Glueck's views on the early dating of terracing were not
accepted at that time by his fellow scholars.
In an important article on terracing, de Geus claimed that during the
Iron Age 'large scale terracing of mountain slopes began, followed by
new settlements' (de Geus 1975: 69-70; cf. Gottwald 1979: 659-60).
While de Geus did not discount the existence of older terraces, 'because
every system has its forerunners', he thought it highly unlikely that
anything substantial existed prior to the Iron Age (1975: 69). He further
questioned whether it was even possible to remove the original
vegetation on the hillsides and the preparation of the slopes for agri-
culture, without the use of iron implements. This led de Geus to
suggest, first, that older terraces were initially built in the dry riverbeds
because, as he claimed, 'this could be done without the help of iron
tools' and, secondly, that primary terracing in the highlands was a
significant feature facilitating the subsequent expansion of Iron Age/
Israelite settlement. According to de Geus, the existence of terracing
with valuable crops at a distance from the Iron Age settlements,
'presupposes political units of some significance, if not the territorial
state of the Iron Age' (de Geus 1975: 69). One should point out that
there is no archaeological evidence to support the contention that ter-
races were being cultivated at great distances from Iron Age settle-
ments, at least not until the time of the divided monarchy (Iron Age II)
(see below). Contrary to de Geus's views regarding the significance of
iron for deforestation practices, it would appear that the type of bloom-
ery iron (as opposed to steeled iron) in use during the Early Iron Age, at
least until the tenth century BCE, was a 'poor substitute for bronze'
(according to Maddin, Muhly and Wheeler 1977: 124; cf. Waldbaum
1978). In fact, deforestation in the highlands was probably first
undertaken with the use of hafted flint axes in the Early Bronze I and
then later with the use of copper axes.
In 1975, Lawrence E. Stager submitted to Harvard U niversity a PhD
thesis on Iron Age agriculture in the Buqe'ah V alley in the Judaean
Desert. Stager took a major step forward by recognizing the inherent
possibilities of undertaking archaeological work on the remains of agri-
cultural terraces, not only in semi-arid regions but also in the central
highlands. Basing himself on published surveys previously carried out
in the highlands between 1967-68 (cf. Kochavi 1972), Stager hypothe-
sized that the increased number of settlements during Iron Age I (by 82
per cent in comparision to the previous Late Bronze Age) were directly
responsible for the decimation of forested and soil-covered hillsides,
followed by the transformation of these slopes into terraces, c. 1200
BCE, which were then dry-farmed (1975: 236). Like Aharoni (1979:
239), Stager also interpreted Josh. 17.14-18 as evidence for significant
deforestation activities during the Iron Age I in the highlands, but he
was also of the opinion that terracing originated before the Iron Age I.
In a subsequent publication, Stager showed quite convincingly that the
word sdmt, which appears in horticultural contexts in Late Bronze Age
mythological texts from U garit (CTA 23.8-11; CTA 2.1.43; cf. Stager
1982) as well as in a number of biblical verses (Deut. 32.32; Isa. 16.8;
Hab. 3.17), could be translated as 'terrace'. Stager wrote: 'If my
understanding of the U garitic evidence is correct, then already by the
Late Bronze Age terraced vineyards were a common enough sight in
the hills behind U garit that bards could evoke their imagery in sustained
metaphor without fear of being misunderstood.' (Stager 1982: 116 n.
20). According to Stager, the technology of terracing, which had been
in use at least since the Late Bronze Age, was adopted during the Iron
Age I and 'dramatically altered the attractiveness of the hill country to
the incoming agriculturalists and increased its carrying capacity as
never before' (1985:5).
After conducting a study of settlement patterns in Palestine during
the Bronze Age, Thompson reached the conclusion that 'the apparent
absence of significant Bronze Age (and especially the LB Age)
settlement in the hill country proper, outside of the few scattered agric-
ulturally fertile basins...is in sharp contrast to the extensive settlement
of this region during the Iron Age' (1979: 66). This led him to suggest
that the failure of the LB occupation in Palestine to renew/expand on
the earlier Middle Bronze Age II settlement in the highlands, indicated
that there was political instability at that time which made it difficult to
settle in the agriculturally marginal highlands. Thompson suggested
that Iron Age settlement was facilitated by two essential advances in
agricultural technology, namely the storage of water through the use of
plaster-lined cisterns and the control of erosion resulting in deforesta-
tion through the development of terracing (1979: 66; cf. Albright 1961:
113). There is no supporting archaeological evidence, however, for
either one of these so-called 'advances': plaster-lined cisterns existed
already in the Middle Bronze Age but only really became frequent in
the Iron Age II (see comments and bibliography in Gibson and
Jacobson 1996: 225; Tsuk 1998: 25) and terraces were never built with
the sole intention of controlling erosion.
Marfoe (1979: 33) described highland terrace farming in Palestine
during the Iron Age I as a significant 'unifying ecological feature'
among the settling Israelites. The apparent widescale appearance of
terracing during this period led Marfoe to infer that 'deforestation had
still not progressed very far upslope in Late Bronze II, but by Iron I the
gradual degradation of the woodland areas may have reduced many of
the arable slopes to a shrubby vegetation' (1979: 32). Interestingly,
Marfoe pointed out that terrace agriculture first appeared in the Biqa'
V alley in the Lebanon only during the third or second century BCE and
apparently not before (1979: 32), results which are now being mirrored
in the Modi'in hills of the northern Shephela with the earliest terraces
there dating to the Hellenistic period (Gibson and Lass 2001). Marfoe
regarded the emergence of the Israelites in the highlands of Palestine as
reflecting a withdrawal of peasant groups from the lowlands. He prefer-
red not to regard this as the result of a 'rebellion' but more as 'a basic,
alternate strategy in adaptationone aspect of a constant demographic
fluidity' (1979: 33).
During his excavations of the Iron Age I village at 'Ai, Callaway
noted similarities between terrace retaining walls and 'barriers built in
valleys or wadi beds to slow the flow of water and entrap eroded soil'.
He believed that because of the similarity of the terraces and barriers in
valleys, 'one may conjecture an origin for the villagers in the lowland
region west of the hill country' (1976: 29-30; 1980: 250). These views
are reminiscent of de Geus's contention (1975: 69) that the older ter-
races were first built in the dry wadi beds (see above).
In April 1984, an International Congress on Biblical Archaeology
was held in Jerusalem, one of its central themes being the Israelite
settlement in Canaan (Amitai 1985: 29). Terracing and the supposed
link with the Israelites were mentioned in a number of lectures. For
example, in dealing with the basic factors of Israelite settlement,
S. Herrmann questioned the significance of the innovation of agricul-
tural terraces as a convincing element for assuming a new development
introduced by new ethnic groups during the early Iron Age (1985: 51).
Callaway, one of the respondents at the Congress, mentioned that at the
Iron Age I settlements of 'Ai and Raddana, 'steep hillsides which had
never before been cultivated were cleared of underbrush and terraced to
conserve water from rainfall needed for grain crops and gardens'.
Callaway described this terracing as 'an innovative, even revolutionary,
new way of wresting a living from the arid, inhospitable hills of central
Canaan' (1985a: 73). However, while Callaway regarded terracing as
an 'innovation' in the highlands, he did not claim that terracing was
invented there. Knowledge of terracing, according to Callaway, was
brought to the highlands by farmers fleeing 'from conflict in the low-
lands and coastal plain areas to escape more warlike newcomers to
those regions' (1985a: 75-76; 1985b: 33, 44). This population move-
ment could be paralleled, or so Callaway believed, by a similar and
earlier Late Bronze Age movement of farmers from the coastal region
of U garit into the mountains of Lebanon where terracing was then
subsequently practised (cf. the terracing alluded to in certain Ugaritic
texts: Stager 1982). This knowledge of terracing was then passed on by
merchants to Canaanite farmers further south in Palestine. Callaway
reached the conclusion that in Palestine 'terracing technology would
have been known by people in the lowlands and coastal areas before the
settlement of the highlands in Iron Age F. While Callaway's theories
are attractive, they do not explain how and why terracing first devel-
oped in the mountains above U garit during the Late Bronze Age. In any
case, our knowledge of the settlement patterns in Lebanon during these
periods is still limited (cf. Marfoe's study of the Biqa V alley where
terracing could only be dated back to as early as the Hellenistic period:
1979: 32). Nor does it explain why Canaanite merchants should have
bothered to transmit knowledge of Lebanese terracing technology to
their Canaanite brethren farming in the lowlands of Palestine.
In an article entitled 'Where did the Israelites live?', Ahlstrom
expressed the view that the Iron Age I newcomers in the highlands were
an 'indigenous' rather than an 'intrusive' population group (1982: 133-
34). He suggested that these indigenous people were responsible for
introducing the principle of terrace agriculture into the hill country.
According to Ahlstrom, terracing 'reflects an agricultural background
and a level of technology which indicates that they were not "semi-
nomads".' In a later publication, Ahlstrom (1986: 19) described terra-
cing as a land-improvement device designed to increase total agricul-
tural yield in the highlands and that it was the result of the new Iron
Age I growth in population. The new settlers, or 'pioneers' as Ahlstrom
calls them, were mainly Canaanites from lowland and coastal areas,
fleeing from conflict, harsh taxes and other such problems.
Finkelstein's views on the settlement process are extremely different
from those held by Callaway and Ahlstrom. According to Finkelstein
(1985: 81), the Israelite settlers were sedentarized pastoralists who first
moved into the northern part of the central highlands, from east to west,
and then, eventually, by clearing dense scrub forest and adapting to
difficult terrain, practised orchard agriculture. Finkelstein does not
believe that terraces were invented by the Israelites or that terracing
facilitated the Iron Age I settlement process (1988: 21, 202). Such
theories he considers 'bizarre' (1988: 309). The results of his survey in
the 'Ephraim' area of the highlands, with a pattern of MBII sites
followed by another similar pattern of Iron Age I sites, he claims,
completely invalidates the views expressed by Callaway and others.
Finkelstein wrote:
In the western slopes, at least, settlement was obviously impossible
without constructing terracing. So it follows that terraces must have been
built already during the Middle Bronze period, if not earlier. Further-
more, Israelite settlement initially took place in those sectors where
cultivation was possible without building terraces, and at that time, there
was in fact, relatively little activity in the typical region of terraces
(1988: 202).
While Finkelstein's claim (1988: 309) that terracing in the highlands
was 'a function of topography and population growth' of greater
antiquity than the Iron Age seems entirely reasonable, not all of his
other views are sustainable in the same way. First of all, theoretically,
agriculture could have been practised without terracing in any one of
the sub-regions of the highlands, including the semi-arid, eastern slopes
of the highlands. However, such a mismanagement of the soil resources
would have led to a rapid and devastating erosion of soils and so
undoubtedly some form of terracing, even of an incipient form, would
have become necessary from very early on. Secondly, the statement that
there was very little settlement 'activity' in the heavily terraced zones
of the highlands, appears to be wrong. It is this writer's view that many
Iron Age I settlements, which were extremely small, have 'disappeared'
under the very extensive terrace systems of later date (similarly,
Chalcolithic, EB IV , and MB IIB settlements disappeared beneath later
Iron Age to Byzantine-period terraces at Sataf, Masua' in the Rephaim
V alley, and at Tel el-Ful). Finally, one must point out that Finkelstein's
views on irrigation practices in the highlands appear to be invalid. He
claims, without any supporting evidence, that springs and irrigation
agriculture were not important for the early Iron Age settlement
processes in the central highlands. He states emphatically that 'the
practice of irrigation agriculture was, in fact, utterly negligible in the
region, and even today has been attempted in only a few villages'
(1988: 309). While the percentage of present-day traditional irrigated
terraced areas in the highlands is quite small in comparison to the extent
of the terraced zones used for dry-farming (Gibson 1995: 86), this
picture does not necessarily reflect the situation as it existed during the
Iron Age I. There are hundreds of springs in the central highlands and
one may assume that Iron Age I settlements existed in the close
proximity to each one of these. If this is true, then it would boost the
figures we have for Iron Age I settlements in the highlands. There are
two reasons, in my opinion, why many settlements next to springs have
not been detected hitherto: first, the growth of Roman/Byzantine and
Mediaeval to Ottoman terrace systems, including the construction of
large-scale water installations, have either destroyed or covered up
these settlements. Secondly, very few terrace systems next to springs
have been archaeologically investigated and fewer excavated (Sataf is
one exception, see below). While it is true that Zertal has shown that
Iron Age I settlements especially in the northern hill country tended to
be located at some distance from the springs (1987; 1998: 242), this
conclusion is surely biased by the factor of archaeological visibility,
with the earlier remains at the spring sites probably obscured from the
eyes of archaeological surveyors by the later build up of terraces and
water systems. This was the case at Sataf where settlement remains of
earlier periods were discovered during excavations near springs
entombed beneath later terracing (Gibson et al. 1991).
In his book Agriculture in Iron Age Israel (1987), Borowski, who
clearly adheres to the Israelite conquest theory, described the Israelites
as having settled in previously uninhabited areas of the highlands which
were heavily forested and lacking in suitable agricultural land. Accor-
ding to Borowski (1987: 6), 'for the creation of agricultural land, the
Israelites employed terraces, a method heretofore not widely used in
Canaan... Near these terraced fields small villages were established and
occupied by the clans and families owning and cultivating the land.'
Borowski accepted Stager's reading of U garitic sdmt as 'terrace', and
suggested that terracing 'infiltrated Canaan from the north in the Late
Bronze Age and was adopted as an agricultural method together with its
linguistic label' (Borowski 1988: 10). The Late Bronze Age Jebusite
inhabitants of Jerusalem, according to Borowski, were already utilizing
agricultural terraces. He believed that Israelite terracing was used not
only to facilitate settlement processes in the highlands but also as an
economic/military 'power base from which the rest of the country could
be overtaken' (Borowski 1988: 9). Runoff farming in the Negev Desert
is described by Borowski as 'an offshoot of terracing in the hill-
country', dating to the late tenth to early ninth centuries BCE (1987:
18). However, the present evidence would suggest that the use of
agricultural terraces in the arid and desert regions of Palestine was
preceded by developments in the highlands of the Mediterranean zone
and not the other way around (Gibson 1995: 29).
In 1985, D.C. Hopkins published his thesis dealing with agriculture
in the Iron Age, entitled The Highlands of Canaan. Drawing heavily on
ethnographic and anthropological literature, Hopkins was able to pro-
vide scholars with a fresh look at old questions. Hopkins very clearly
expressed his doubts as to whether any of the so-called 'innovative'
technologies, which included terracing, exercised a determining influ-
ence on the emergence of Israel during the early Iron Age (1985: 23).
Hopkins argued that since early Iron Age sites were located at distances
of between 2 and 5 kmfrom each other, there was no real need for
highland farmers to make 'great intensifying investments in their lands
in order to maintain themselves agriculturally' (1985: 167-68). He
suggested, contrary to Stager (see above), that since there was no
apparent pressure on the land at this point in time, terracing need no
longer be regarded as a technology which supported the establishment
of early Iron Age settlements, but that it was instead an evolving agri-
cultural technique connected with the gradual growth of subsequent
Iron Age settlement in the highlands. Hopkins does not accept that
terracing is the minimum threshold of intensity at which agricultural
systems in the highlands must operate, a view which he describes as
lacking 'solid foundation' (1985: 180). Rather, he argued that crops
could well have been cultivated on slopes without terracing: 'The risks
of soil erosion may be perfectly obvious to modern commentators, but
examples of short-sightedness among pre-industrial cultivators are
numerous' (1985: 180). He claims that 'methods of approximating the
time of the origin of terracing either in the highlands themselves or in
general have been attempted without reliable results' (1985: 183). In
discussing Stager's views regarding the references to terraces in Late
Bronze Age U garitic poetry (see above), Hopkins wrote:
It remains to be explained how the occurrences of terraces around the
populous city of U garit on the Syrian coast can be taken as evidence for
their appearance in the highlands centuries later. For this to be true one
would be forced to adopt the mistaken view that the art of terracing
spread by diffusion because it constituted a 'pull' towards its use in an
intensive agricultural system (1985: 184).
While admitting that the date for the introduction of terracing into the
highlands remains inconclusive, Hopkins preferred to regard terrace
systems 'as the response of a long-tenured, yet developing community
to demands for a more stable and dependable productive regime,
whatever the form which those demands might have taken' (1985: 186).
In contrast to Hopkins's views, Borowski believes that terracing was
an integral part of early Iron Age settlement processes in the highlands,
implying that terracing served as a minimum threshold of intensity at
which agricultural systems in the highlands operated. His criticisms of
Hopkins's views were set forward at a symposium devoted to discus-
sions of Hopkins's book The Highlands of Canaan, held in November
1986 at Atlanta, in the U nited States (LaBianca and Hopkins 1988).
Borowski wrote that he found it
hard to imagine the Israelites constantly moving from site to site in the
hill country as soon as their soil resources were depleted. The rocky
nature of the terrain would not have permitted it, and it would have been
more economical to invest what it takes to build terraces than to have to
clear new tracts and build new settlements. Besides, if they were
constantly on the move in search of fertile land they could not have
achieved the takeover of Canaan (1988: 10-11).
Hopkins's reply to Borowski was that the knowledge of terracing
technology cannot have been diffused from an external source; he was
willing only to see it as a technology which developed locally. How-
ever, while accepting that sporadic terracing in the highlands could go
back to as early as the Middle Bronze Age, he did not believe that
terracing was adopted on a wide scale before or even during the early
Iron Age. According to Hopkins, 'terracing was the key to long-term
stability, a key that was turned in the context of a developing commu-
nity. Terracing must not be depicted as mounting the historical stage as
a theatrical god, resolving the subsistence challenges for the resourceful
settlers' (LaBianca and Hopkins 1988: 14).
In his book dealing with a suggested theoretical approach to the
formation of the state in ancient Israel, Frick wrote that terracing
technology was a significant Iron Age I development which 'enabled
the intensification of settlement in an area in which the obstacles to
productive agriculture were many' (Frick 1985: 130). The risk factors
that Frick mentioned include various environmental constraints such as
substantial deviations in annual rainfall, devastating soil erosion on
steep slopes, the rockiness of highland soils, and problems associated
with the maintenance of soil fertility.
Coote and Whitelam (1987) maintained that as a result of a dramatic
decline in east Mediterranean trade towards the end of the Late Bronze
Age, there was a substantial shift of settlement from the lowlands to the
highlands as a scheme of short-term risk reduction. They suggested that
lowland Canaanite peasants may originally have managed seasonal
settlements in the highlands and that these were also places of refuge at
times of instability. Coote and Whitelam suggested that these
seasonal settlements as part of a general pattern of transhumance could
become established agricultural settlements when conditions deteriorated
sufficiently to encourage such a shift. Approached from this perspective
then, Israel emerged in the Palestinian highlands as a result of a dramatic
change in settlement and land use mainly in response to the reduction in
east Mediterranean trade which had a seismic effect upon the material
prosperity of Palestine (Coote and Whitelam 1987: 129).
Hence, a switch took place from lowland agriculture undertaken under
city protection during the thirteenth century BCE, to the expansion of
independent highland agriculture in the early Iron Age which was
secured with the use of extensive terracing. One could take Coote and
Whitelam's extremely hypothetical thesis one step further by sugges-
ting that terracing must originally have been practised in these seasonal
agricultural settlements maintained by the Canaanite peasants from the
lowlands.
While there are immense problems in identifying the emergence of
Israel in the archaeological record of the early Iron Age (see more
recently Thompson 1992; Frendo 1992; Kempinsky 1992), all agree
that there was a substantial change in the settlement pattern during the
Iron Age I in comparsion to the Late Bronze Age, with a proliferation
of small settlements established in parts of the highlands which had not
been previously settled. However, the ethnic identity of these new high-
landers and their place of origin is still debated. It is plausible that some
of them were Israelites or, at least, some later became Israelites. The
new settlements were unfortified, with permanent dwellings in a scat-
tered or grouped layout, and with well-planned storage facilities (silos,
cisterns and very large pithoi which could also have been used for water
storage). This would suggest that the inhabitants came from an
agricultural rather than a nomadic background, but this is not conclu-
sive. The suggestion that the settlements were inhabited by farmers who
withdrew from less marginal agricultural lands in the lowlands, to the
west or from the inland valleys, seems reasonable but does not answer
all the questions. In support of the theory of indigenous development,
there is evidence for some general continuity in the material culture
from the Late Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age. The suggestion that
the settlements were inhabited by people of a nomadic background who
rapidly became sedentarized by adopting a new agricultural lifestyle, is
another possibility but one which is more difficult to prove.
The alternative solution is that there was a much more complex sym-
biosis of early Iron Age peoples in the highlands, more so than scholars
have previously been willing to suppose. These peoples may have come
from diverse backgrounds, both agricultural and nomadic, from great
distances or from regions in Palestine close by. The gelling together of
these diverse peoples within rather harsh and restrictive highland envi-
ronments may have forced the rapid abandonment of earlier lifestyles
and the adoption of a fairly simple way of life based on subsistence
agriculture. Such a scenario is admittedly very difficult to prove arch-
aeologically, but it is a reasonable assumption that the Palestinian high-
land cultures of the early Iron Age were very much more variegated
than their material artefacts would suggest them to be.
Gottwald pointed out that 'origins do not tell us everything, but I
believe that in seeking them, we will know more' (1985: 93). As we
have seen from our review of scholarly opinion, few believe that agri-
cultural terracing was effectively practised in the highlands of Palestine
prior to the Iron Age I. There are those who suggest that terracing might
have existed in the Late Bronze Age, but only on a very small scale.
Others have suggested that terracing was invented elsewhere (the hills
above U garit in Lebanon are one proposed location) and then imported
via the Canaanite lowlands to the Palestine hills as an innovation during
the Iron Age I. This idea of diffusion is rejected by those who believe
that sporadic terracing activities in the highlands existed from as early
as the Middle Bronze Age. However, the general view held by scholars
is that terracing was introduced during the Iron Age I by the Canaanites
or Israelites, as an adaptation or innovation but not as an invention.
Many adhere to the view that terracing played an important role during
the Iron Age I either as a technology which facilitated the increase of
settlements or as a technology resulting from the successful spread of
settlements. Some scholars suggest that terracing was one of a number
of local features adopted by the incoming Israelites (Finkelstein 1985).
A more radical opinion is that terracing was not a particularly
significant technology at all in the highlands of Palestine, at least not
until much later during the Iron Age II (Hopkins 1985).
One thing is certain: many of the opinions which have hitherto been
proposed are based on very shaky evidence. Indeed, the existing evi-
dence paints a picture of terracing as a constant and integral part of
agricultural systems operating in the highlands from the very beginning
of permanent agricultural settlement there, from the Early Bronze Age
if not from before. This is in total contradiction to the majority of
scholars who believe that terracing was an innovation of the Iron Age I.
However, while terracing characterized the highlands of Palestine from
the protohistoric periods onwards, there can be no doubt that the scale
of these terracing activities was relatively small and in direct proportion
to the density of settlements. Archaeology can also show that the
phenomenon of widespread agricultural terracing in the highlands took
place only from the Iron Age II (eighth-sixth centuries BCE) and not
before. It thus has to be admitted that the question of the emergence of
the nation of Israel and the question bearing on the origins of terracing
in the highlands of Palestine, are totally distinct subjects which have no
bearing one on the other.
The Archaeological Evidence for Early Terracing
V ery little is known about the earliest forms of agricultural terracing in
the highlands of Palestine. It seems reasonable to assume that the tech-
nology of creating flat areas on hillsides by building walls and levelling
fills was invented by various rural groups acting in cooperation at a
local level, in different parts of the Levant and at different times.
Hence, various centres of origin for terrace construction may have
existed, with Palestine being one of them. Incipient forms of terracing,
such as soil held in place by logs of wood, by rows of wooden stakes,
or piled rocks, would be very difficult to detect in the archaeological
record (cf. Spencer and Hale 1961: 3, 15 n. 16), especially when one
considers that archaeologists make so very few attempts to excavate
terraces. It was probably recognized early on that obstructions placed
across a stream channel would eventually help towards stopping the
movement of eroded soils and would induce a process of alluviation.
Early slope terracing may have taken place initially in the lower parts of
hills with newer terraces later being built further up the slopes. Another
suggestion which has been made is that the natural step-like appearance
of many of the slopes in the highlands, with thin layers of chalky marl
interposed between limestone or dolomite strata, may have prompted
the first attempts at terracing (Wilson 1906: 200; Dalman 1932: 23;
Meshel 1987; Orni and Efrat 1980: 55). However, no evidence supports
the assumption made by Spencer and Hale (1961: 180; cf. Ron 1977:
222) that the earliest terraces with stone walls must have been crudely
executed, low in height and built on relatively slight slopes. Indeed, one
of the terraces unearthed at Sataf, which is believed to be of EB date,
was relatively well constructed and was built on a very steep slope (see
below). Spencer and Hale (1961: 7 and 14) also suggest that the origins
of terracing should be sought in the marginal semi-arid regions of the
Near East. They suggest that their 'channel-bottom, weir terrace' type
was possibly the earliest form of terrace. However, terracing in semi-
arid and desert regions cannot be shown to be older than the Iron Age II
(seventh century BCE), particularly in the J udaean Desert, even though
the practice of flood-farming itself already existed in the Negev from as
early as the Early Bronze Age (Rosen, n.d.). It is interesting to note that
Donkin in his study of New World terracing (1979: 131), also reached
the conclusion that the earliest terraced sites must have been in the less
arid areas first.
Another important point which needs to be taken into account is that
the idea of creating levelled areas on hillslopes for agricultural purposes
is not dissimilar from the basic technology of architectural terracing or
slope stabilization (a subject ignored by Spencer and Hale 1961: 3, but
mentioned briefly by Donkin 1979: 131). At settlement sites in
Palestine, architectural terracing can be traced back to as early as pre-
historic times. A system of four architectural terraces supporting 13 hut
dwellings, are known from the Natufian site of Nahal Oren (Stekelis
and Y izraeli 1963: 1-12, Fig. 3). These terraces were 24 m in length and
2-5 m in breadth, and their retaining walls were built of field stones. At
many Early Bronze Age sites, architectural terraces were built to
support houses and other structures on the slopes of hills (contrary to
the remarks by Stager 1982: 116 n. 21). Examples of massive EB
architectural terraces are known from Tel Y armut (Miroschedji 1992:
269), Tell el-'U meiri (Herr 1992: 232) and at sites in the Wadi el-Hasa
(Macdonald et al. 1983: 318). Architectural terracing has also recently
been detected in the Middle Bronze II settlement on the lower eastern
slope of Tel el-Ful (unpublished excavations by the author in
collaboration with Z. Greenhut). Architectural terracing continued to be
used throughout the rest of the Bronze Age. At Jerusalem, a remarkable
series of architectural terraces were unearthed by Kenyon on the east
slope of the City of David, probably dating from the very beginning of
the Iron Age or earlier (Steiner 1993). Since the technology of architec-
tural terracing in Palestine can be traced back to late prehistoric times,
it is possible to assume that terracing for agricultural purposes likewise
had a similar antiquity in the hilly areas of the country. It would be
presumptious for anyone to accept the existence of architectural terra-
cing in earlier periods but not to presuppose the same technological
knowledge for agricultural purposes. While it is true that archaeological
evidences for very early agricultural terraces are few and far between,
the lack of hard evidence is a direct result of the general archaeological
disinterest in off-site data. Clearly, until landscape archaeology
becomes part of normal archaeological survey and excavation strategies
it is unlikely that much more evidence for earlier terracing will become
available, especially in the present climate where large tracts of the
country with traditional agricultural systems which abound in terrace
systems, are being bulldozed into oblivion with scarcely any
archaeological attention being given to them .
The earliest agricultural terrace found in Palestine dates from the
Early Bronze Age and was unearthed during excavations at Sataf (in
Area B) on a hill overlooking the Soreq V alley, west of Jerusalem (for
preliminary observations on this terrace, see Gibson et al. 1991). It was
built across a natural drainage gully high up on the steep slope of the
hill above the spring of 'Ein Bikura (Fig. 4.2). Buried beneath this
terrace were the earlier remains of a structure, probably used for
agricultural storage, dating from the Early Bronze I (Fig. 4.3). The
external upper parts of this structure had collapsed down the slope
immediately after it had been abandoned. It became clear that the
reason the entire structure had not been washed away down the very
sheer slope in the drainage gully was because the lower remnants of the
structure were subsequently buried and protected from erosion beneath
a terrace. Hence, we believe this terrace cannot have been built very
long after the actual abandonment of the structure. Moreover,
associated with this wall was a fill of brown soil typical of terraces,
containing sherds dating exclusively from the Early Bronze Age. The
terrace wall consisted of a line of large stones and was preserved to a
length of 4 m. The wall had a height of one course, partly resting on
bedrock and on earlier buried fills. The terrace appears to have survived
for a very long time. The western extension of this terrace was restored
in the Early Roman period, following periods of gullying and erosion,
and it continued to serve an agricultural function. During the Byzantine
period, these earlier terraces were completely buried beneath a new
terrace built with a completely different orientation.
Fig. 4.2. Map of Sataf (drawing: S. Gibson)
Fig. 4.3. Plan of Early Bronze Age terrace in the gully of Area B at Sataf.
A: EB I structural remains; B: EB terrace; C-D: later terracing activities
In addition to this strong evidence of an EB terrace wall from Sataf,
there is also indirect evidence from the site indicating that its very steep
slopes must have been terraced at this early period. Excavations reveal-
ed the remains of Early Bronze I dwellings scattered up to a distance of
340 mfrom each other in different parts of the Sataf landscape (in T9,
T16, TV , T18 in Area A and T12 and T17 in Area B, see Fig. 4.2).
Since there is no evidence to suggest that the entire slope was densely
built up during this period, it would appear that the areas between the
dwellings were used for cultivation purposes and perhaps also for
animal pens. This would imply substantial woodland clearance in the
entire area between the structures and the two springs of water at the
site. Because of the extreme steepness of the slope, terrace construction
must be assumed for the cultivated areas, otherwise the unprotected
soils would have been rapidly washed away. We would suggest that the
terraces were not necessarily built in a system of serried rows but were
probably built as isolated, single fields scattered on the slope between
the EB houses (perhaps similar to those described by Spencer and Hale
1961: 9). Some of these terraces may have been hand-irrigated from the
nearby springs of water. Woodland clearance and terracing involve a
large investment of time and labour, and they are not activities which
are usually undertaken by transient semi-pastoralists. This suggests,
therefore, a degree of social stability existing at the site during the Early
Bronze Age and evidence of a more long-term commitment to the land.
One may speculate that such conditions could have led to the onset of
territorial demarcations in the landscape. There was clearly an improve-
ment and diversification of agricultural practices during this period
(Finkelstein and Gophna 1993).
It is unlikely that the EB terracing activities at Sataf were an isolated
phenomenon. Activities of this sort were probably being undertaken in
the highlands throughout the Early Bronze Age, as Finkelstein and
Gophna (1993: 6) have suggested, and during the Middle Bronze Age
as well (Finkelstein 1988: 202; 1993: 64-65). However, much more
direct archaeological evidence is needed. An interesting EB site sur-
rounded by terraces was investigated by U . Dinur at Khirbet 'Ein Farah,
to the north-east of Jerusalem (Kochavi 1972: 185, Site No. 137; Dinur
and Feig 1993: 414-15, Site No. 541). Because of the isolated situation
of this one-period site on top of a rocky knoll, it seems fairly reasonable
to assume that the terraces must also be of EB date. These terraces
should be checked by excavation.
Extensive surveys and excavations to the south-west of Jerusalem
have brought to light the remains of numerous agriculturally based
Early Bronze IV (Intermediate Bronze Age) and Middle Bronze IIB
settlements spread along the length of the Rephaim V alley (Wadi el-
Werd, the 'V alley of Roses') on the terraces above 'Ein el-Haniyeh
(Gibson and Edelstein 1985: 153), on the slopes of Masu'a (Eisenberg
1993a: 1279-80; 1993b), at Khirbet er-Ras and at Manahat (Edelstein
1993a: 1281-82). Excavations revealed that the wall foundations of the
houses of these EB IV /MB IIB settlements had been built directly onto
bedrock with only very 'thin' pockets of buried soil preserved here and
there. There are indications that the water table during these periods
was higher than it is today and a study of phytoliths by A. Rosen
(referred to in Edelstein 1993: 1281) from Manahat shows that the
immediate vicinity of the site was fairly marshy. It is possible that there
were springs there which have now dried up. Edelstein and Milevsky
(1994: 20) have suggested that only the soils of the valley bed were
cultivated during these periods and that slope terracing was first
introduced into this area during the Iron Age I but not before. However,
a geomorphological study has not yet been undertaken on the buried
soils of the valley bed itself and thus we really do not know how
extensive the cultivation surfaces of the valley bed was during these
early periods. Clearly substantial deforestation had taken place on the
slopes before the settlements were built. However, what is not clear is
whether these woodland clearances were restricted solely to the
immediate area of the settlements, or whether additional clearances
were not also made on nearby slopes for cultivation purposes. Had such
areas been cleared for cultivation, then it is likely that they would have
been terraced. It is interesting to note that Rosen (1986a: 55) has
recorded evidence for large scale flooding episodes during the EB IV
with soil stripped from the hillslopes, during her work in Nahal Lachish
in the western foothill zone. This is probably indicative of widespread
deforestation activities further up in the highlands. Rosen has also
pointed out that the gap spanning the MB II to LB was marked by
evidence for erosion and wadi incision. This may reflect the
abandonment of slope terracing in the highlands further east.
Terraces dating from the Early Iron Age have been excavated at one
site and surveyed at a number of others. An Iron Age I terrace was
excavated by Callaway (1969: 15-16, Fig. 9) at 'Ai (et-Tell) (Fig. 4.4).
Fig. 4.4. Iron Age I terrace at the site 'Ai (after Callaway 1969)
Terraces which may also date from the Early Iron Age were investi-
gated on the steep slopes of Khirbet Raddana (Callaway and Cooley
1971: 14; Stager 1985: Figs. 4-6). On the western slope of this site, a
terrace had a wall consisting of one course of large stones built on bed-
rock and retaining a stony fill of terra rossa soil. A second terrace with
a wall built of quarried stones was investigated on the southern slope.
Scattered on these terrace surfaces was Iron Age I pottery. According to
Stager (personal communication, 20 December 1985):
I was unable to find enough well preserved terrace walls to indicate
whether they were part of larger units defined by enclosure walls. Nor
did I discover any buildings that could be considered outliers, 'farm
houses', or watchtowers. But all of the terrace remnants that I found
were on the slopes just below the villages, presumably where the farmers
were living.
The suggestion that only cereals were grown on these terraces, based on
the discovery of only sickleblades and grinding stones within the Iron I
village at Raddana (Stager 1975: 259 n. 3), must be viewed with a
certain amount of caution. Another system of Iron Age I terraces was
investigated in 1980 by O. Avisar (personal communication) at Mizpeh
Har Nof (map ref. 16680 - 13235), in the vicinity of Kefar Shaul, west
of J erusalem (cf. Finkelstein 1988: 51, who claims that Iron Age I sites
are not known west of Jerusalem). During a visit that I made to the site
with Avisar in 1980, a system of terraces was examined near the
summit of the hill, at elevation 808. Scattered on the surfaces of these
terraces were sherds dating from the Iron Age I, including fragments of
typical 'collar rim' pithoi (cf. Mazar 1990: 134). The site was greatly
disturbed by later quarrying and by modern military trenching. Another
Iron Age I terrace was sectioned at Khirbet U mm et-Tala, south of
Jerusalem (Ofer 1984: 104). According to Gal (1991b: 108-109), terra-
cing in the Lower Galilee during this period was restricted to the wadis.
The archaeological evidence which is available suggests that
throughout the 2000 years, extending from the Early Bronze Age and
until the Iron Age II, all the agricultural terracing activities in the
highlands of Palestine were carried out on a fairly limited scale only
and that these were focused almost entirely on the immediate vicinity of
rural settlements. There is no evidence whatsoever for widespread
terracing in Palestine at any time preceding the period of the divided
monarchy in the Iron Age II. However, this does not mean that such
small-scale terracing was 'unsystematic' in any way, as Dever claims in
response to the discoveries made at Sataf (Dever 1992: 79). The picture
of small-scale terracing from the EB to the early Iron Age reflects a
constant strategy of local adaptation which was very specific to the kind
of rural settlements that had independent subsistence economies. The
typical crops grown on these terraces were the Mediterranean triad:
cereals, olives and grapes. Throughout this period gradual deforestation
was undertaken in Palestine and throughout the Levant (Rowton 1967:
277; Eckholm 1975: 764-70). The open woodlands in these hills were
mainly characterized by the evergreen oak (Quercus calliprinos) and, to
a lesser extent, by the Atlantic terebinth (Pistachia atlantica). Much of
the deforestation was undertaken to provide timber and charcoal, but
also to open up areas for grazing and expand on existing terraced areas.
Archaeological surveys in the hills of Judaea and Samaria have
shown that it was only during the Iron Age II, at a time of stronger
organizational authority and economic stability (probably from the late
eighth century BCE at the earliest), that widespread terracing activities
were first undertaken in the highlands (Dar 1986a: 6; Gibson and
Edelstein 1985: 154), with terracing spreading into the climatically
marginal lands of the J udaean Desert and the Negev in the seventh
century BCE (Finkelstein 1993: 64). These widespread terracing
activities in the highlands were matched by a substantial rise in the
number of newly founded rural villages/hamlets, towers and farmsteads
(cf. Kochavi 1972; Broshi 1993: 15), reflecting a degree of agricultural
specialization and organization at this time, perhaps even with an early
form of 'plantation production', which went far beyond that of the
normal subsistence level of the previous periods (Finkelstein 1993: 62-
63). The extensive terracing of this period was the clear outcome of
population pressure on the available land and this situation may have
been exacerbated by a surplus of labour resulting from an influx of
refugees into J udah following the fall of the Northern Kingdom of
Israel into the hands of the Assyrians at the end of the eighth century
BCE (Broshi 1993: 16-17). The rapid expansion of agricultural areas in
the highlands during the course of the Iron Age II may have led to
conflicts over land rights and boundaries. Apprehensions which some
local farmers may have had over the concentration of agricultural
wealth within the hands of an elite, perhaps with the establishing of
large estates, appears to be reflected in Isa. 5.8 and Mic. 2.12.
For the first time, there is evidence in the Iron Age II for terrace
systems which had been built as predetermined units on the slopes of
hills with their boundaries defined by stone-built enclosure walls. An
excellent example of a small terraced unit of this kind which dates from
the Iron Age II (eighth-sixth centuries BCE), with a number of
structures at its centre, at least one of the four-room type, was
investigated at Khirbet er-Ras in the Rephaim V alley, to the south-west
of Jerusalem (Gibson and Edelstein 1985; see also the comments by
Feig 1996: 3, who assumes, incorrectly I believe, that the terracing at
the site is entirely post-Iron Age in date) (Figs. 4.5-4.6).
Fig. 4.5. Khirbet er-Ras: overall plan of site which was in use
from the Iron Age through to the Ottoman period
Another area of terraces with two structures, one of them of the four-
room type, was investigated at the site of Nahal Zimri, to the north-east
of Jerusalem (Gibson and Edelstein 1985: 144-45; Meitlis 1992: 9).
Additional Iron Age terraces have been investigated at the following
sites: Nahal Beit 'Arif, Khirbet J ema'in and at other sites in Samaria
(Dar 1986a: 5-6, 37); Jerusalem (Tushingham 1985: 15; Gibson 1987:
87); Ramat Rahel (Aharoni 1965: 15); and Mas'ua (Eisenberg 1993a:
1280). Erosion fills which apparently originated from collapsed Iron
Age terraces were investigated by A. Rosen (1986b: 66) in the area of
Nahal Lachish in the western foothill zone. An Iron Age terrace has
also been investigated at Tell Hesban in Jordan (La Bianca 1990: 151,
Wall C.2:49). A system of agricultural terraces associated with a
Persian-period farm was surveyed by Zertal (1992: 500, Fig. 468) at El-
Quleh on Mount Ebal (for the archaeological evidence relating to the
later terracing activities in Palestine, see Gibson 1995: 175-82).
Fig. 4.6. Reconstruction of the 'four-room' structure unearthed at Khirbet er-Ras
Conclusions
The available archaeological evidence, as we have seen, indicates that
terracing was introduced into the highlands of Palestine at the
beginning of the Early Bronze Age. It is not suprising that the earliest
known use of terracing in the highlands should coincide with the intro-
duction of plough agriculture in that area (cf. Sherratt 1981). However,
terracing was clearly only practised on a limited scale during the Early
Bronze Age and this situation was characteristic of the highlands with
very little change until the eighth century BCE. No evidence supports
the theory that the early Israelites (or Proto-Israelites) were responsible
for inventing or introducing terracing into the highlands c. 1200 BCE.
They simply made use of an existing technology without any special
adaptations or innovations. This refutes the suggestion made by Dever
(1992: 79), without any supporting evidence, that terracing, if it existed
prior to the early Iron Age, had to have been 'unsystematic'. Hitherto, it
has generally been assumed by archaeologists that the investigation of
terraces would yield very little archaeological data. This view can now
be shown to be totally incorrect. Moreover, landscape archaeology is a
method which may facilitate such research.
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Part II
TEMPLES, CULT AND ICONOGRAPHY
5
THE HIGH PLACES OF BIBLICAL DAN
Avraham Biran
The subject of this volume, the archaeology of Israel in the time of the
monarchy, is a challenging one in that it links two different disciplines
the Bible and archaeology. Practically all the information about the
Israelite monarchy comes from the Bible, while archaeology reveals the
physical remains of the period. However, the study of the Bible is gov-
erned by its own discipline, and archaeological research is dependent
on entirely different principles. A comprehensive picture can only be
drawn by developing a dialogue between the two. Thus biblical texts
can help interpret archaeological remains and these in turn can serve to
illustrate biblical passages.
From 1 Kgs 12.26-29 we learn that a high place existed at Dan in the
time of the Monarchy. Jeroboam, for political reasons, sets a golden
calf at Dan in the second half of the tenth century BCE. He also 'makes
abeit bamoth, a house or shrine of high places and appoints priests who
are not of the sons of Levi. No further information is available about
the cult at Dan. However, the reference to sacrifices and to 'priests of
high places' at Beit El where a golden calf was also set, suggests the
same for Dan. This possibility is supported by the mention of Dan in
v. 30, 'for the people went before the one unto Dan' which appears to
emphasize the centrality of Dan in the cult of northern Israel.
The identification of biblical Dan with Tel Dan, formerly Tel el Qadi,
at the source of the river J ordan, was confirmed by a bilingual inscrip-
tion To the God who is in Dan' discovered in the course of the excava-
tions (Biran 1981). The inscription, dated to the Hellenistic period,
came to light at the northern end of the site where an elaborate complex
of Iron Age structures was found. These include a raised platform, a
square enclosure with steps and an altar, a room with an altar, iron
BIRAN The High Places of Biblical Dan 149
shovels and jars containing ashes, two other altars and various other
installations. Many objects associated with cult were foundincense
stands, seven-wick oil lamps, pithoi with snake decoration, a figurine of
a woman, a royal sceptre (Biran 1994: 159-83, 1996: 32-34).
The archaeological discoveries supplement the meagre information in
1 Kings 12 and point to the existence of a major cult centre at Dan in
the time of the monarchy in the tenth-eighth centuries BCE. These dis-
coveries serve not only to illustrate the activities taking place at Dan but
also their development. These reached their zenith during the reign of
Jeroboam II who considerably extended the borders of his kingdom to
the north and east. The centrality of the cult at the high place of Dan in
the eighth century BCE may have led the prophet Amoswho
prophesied in the days of Jeroboam IIto castigate the people for
saying Thy God, O Dan, liveth' (Amos 8.14).
Important and central as was the high place near the spring, it was not
the only one at Dan. Early in the excavation of the Israelite gate
complex at the foot of the rampart on the south side of the tel, two
structures were uncovered (Biran 1994: 239-41). The row of stones
along the east face of the northern gate tower was identified as a bench
where the city elders sat, while the decorated bases probably point to a
canopied structure for a king or a statue of a deity. The massebah, the
basalt standing stone at the structure's south-western corner (Fig. 5.1)
further suggests the existence of cult. If so, this structure may well
represent a high place at the gate such as the one mentioned in 2 Kgs
23.8 (Emerton 1994). The discovery in the following seasons of a
60 cm high well-worked ashlar in front of the outer gate seemed to
support this view (Biran 1994: 244-45, 1996: 13).
The renewed excavations in the gate area 20 years later brought to
light additional architectural elements which represent installations
connected with cult or a high place at the gate. The most significant
discovery, after removing the accumulated debris of the Assyrian des-
truction, were five masseboth at the foot of the city wall and a large
number of votive vessels (Biran 1994: 244-45). These included incense
bowls, seven-wick oil lamps, plates and bowls. Some of these vessels
were in a niche next to the masseboth. Bones of sheep and goats were
also found. The placement of both this niche and the canopied dais in
the paved courtyard between the gates is striking (Biran and Naveh
1993: 83).
Fig. 5.1. Massebah at the canopied structure of the main gate
Among the remains in the Assyrian destruction level was an espe-
cially significant limestone ashlar slab 0.14-16 m thick (Fig. 5.2). Its
upper surface measures 0.72 x 0.52 m. A round, flat-bottomed depres-
sion is carved into the face, just a few centimeters from one long edge
and slightly off-centre between the two short edges of the block. The
depression is approximately 0.29 m in diameter, 2-2.25 cm deep
around the edge and reaches a depth of 3.5 cm at the centre. Parallel to
the long edge, a channel extends from either side of the depression to
reach a short edge of the block. The channels are approximately 0.10 m
wide. It is possible that this slab was used in some libation ceremony.
Perhaps a parallel can be found in the carved limestone ashlar found
near the upper gate.
Early in the eighth century BCE an upper gate, with an outer gate and
a paved courtyard between them were built. No doubt the purpose of
the new construction was to strengthen the defences of the city when
the fortifications at the foot of the mound were no longer considered
sufficient (Biran 1994: 249-53). However, the builders did not neglect
ritual needs. To the right of the entrance to the upper gate were four
standing stones and a fifth, fallen, one (Fig. 5.3). The similarity to the
five masseboth of the outer gate mentioned above led us to conclude
that also here, by the upper gate, were five masseboth. These, together
Fig. 5.2. Limestone ashlar slab found near the outer gate
Fig. 5.3. Masseboth at the entrance to the upper gate
with the structures at the western edge of the new paved courtyard,
appear to constitute another high place at the gate.
Directly opposite the eastern entrance to the courtyard, at its western
edge, is a niche 5.00 x 2.50 mwith a raised plastered floor and border
of small ashlars (Biran 1996: 26). Set into the left corner of the niche is
a poorly preserved dais measuring 1.25 m wide and c. 1.60 mfrom
front to back. Its front edge is a single 1.25 x 0.52 x 0.18 m ashlar laid
crosswise. A second ashlar extends 0.80 m forward from the back wall
forming part of the right edge of the dais and stands 0.45 m higher than
the front ashlar (Fig. 5.4). Although there is no direct evidence, it is
possible that gaps in the structure may provide space for canopy posts
not unlike those at the entrance to the main gate.
Fig. 5.4. Niche and dias at the upper gate
Roughly in the centre of the niche area was a limestone ashlar 0.29 m
thick, found broken in two and lying upside-down on the floor. Righted
and put together, its face measured 0.82 x 0.50 m, while its base was
approximately 0.80 x 0.48 m (Fig. 5.5). A rectangular 0.48 x 0.25 m
depression is carved into the face 6 cm from one long edge and 0.20 m
slightly off-centrefrom one short edge. A 4 cm wide groove, also
slightly off-centre, leads from the depression to the second long edge of
the stone. The depression and groove are very well-carved: the floor of
the depression and the groove slope in an almost clean line, beginning
at a depth of 4 cm at the back of the depression and reaching 6.5 cm at
the front of the depression and 9 cm at the long front edge of the stone.
This configuration strongly suggests the presence of a liquid in
conjunction with the use of this stone. A smallc. 5x 6 cm'cup'
may have been carved into the widest corner of the 'frame' around the
depression, near the midpoint of the diagonal between the corner of the
stone and the depression. The function of the stone is not clear but
perhaps it was a receptacle for offerings or for a libation ceremony
connected with the ritual of the high place.
Fig. 5.5. Limestone ashlar at the upper gate
If our interpretation of the archaeological remains is correct it would
appear that we have at Dan, in addition to the main shrine at the spring,
a high place dated to the ninth century BCE between the lower gates,
and a high place at the upper gate dated to the eighth century BCE (Fig.
5.6).
More evidence for cultic activities outside the entrance to the city
came to light. The flagstone courtyard outside the gates was traced
42 m eastward from the outer gate. Here, at the foot of the city wall at
the very eastern end of the excavation, five more masseboth were
discovered (Biran and Naveh 1995: 6). Indeed, it is evident from yet
another discovery that the practice of cult found at the entrance to the
city was entrenched in the memory and custom of the people .
On the accumulated debris of the Assyrian conquest a 4.50 x 2.50 m
construction surrounding three, possibly four, basalt standing monoliths
was found. In front of the largest monolith was a basalt bowl on a
carved stone set on a flat base (Biran and Naveh 1995: 2-3). The whole
construction is the best example of a masseboth shrine or high place
discovered at Dan. Dated to the seventh century BCE by the pottery and
confirmed by the analysis of the ashes in and near the bowl (Segal and
Carmi 1996: 82) it appears that the inhabitants of Dan continued the
hallowed practices of their ancestors. In the seventh century BCE, fol-
lowing the Assyrian conquest, the city enjoyed a period of prosperity
and its buildings extended to the very edge of the crest of the site. The
Fig. 5.6. The high places at the upper and lower gates
major sanctuary and high place near the spring continued to function,
and another one was built at the foot of the mound, near the approach to
the city. Whether this masseboth shrine or high place was intended for
the inhabitants or for the visitors coming to the city cannot be deter-
mined, but that the cult at the entrance to the city continued even after
the Assyrian conquest seems evident from the archaeological dis-
coveries.
Dan could not possibly be the only site with cult remains at the gates.
As more excavations of gates of antiquity continue, other similar
elements will probably come to light. The Bible, for reasons of its own,
is silent about their existence.
The discussion of the high places at Dan cannot be concluded
without calling attention to the Aramaic victory stele which mentions a
king of Israel and a king of the House of David (Biran and Naveh 1993,
1995). The smashed fragments of the stele were found on the pavement
outside the lower gate and below the post-Assyrian conquest shrine. It
is a fair assumption that the original setting of the stele was near where
the fragments were found, that is, at the entrance to the city. This would
be the natural place for a victorious king to set his stele. The choice of
Dan may well have been prompted, in addition to its being the largest
city in the region, because of its high places at the gate.
Bibliography
Biran, A.
1981 'To the God who Is in Dan', Temples and High Places in Biblical Times
(J erusalem: Nelson Glueck School of Biblical Archaeology, Hebrew
U nion College-J ewish Institute of Religion.
1994 Biblical Dan (J erusalem: Israel Exploration Society and Hebrew U nion
College-Jewish Institute of Religion.
1996 DAN I: A Chronicle of the Excavations, the Pottery Neolithic, the Early
Bronze Age and the Middle Bronze Age Tombs (J erusalem, Nelson
Glueck School of Biblical Archaeology, Hebrew U nion College-J ewish
Institute of Religion.
Biran, A., and J . Naveh
1993 'An Aramaic Stele Fragment fromTel Dan', IEJ43: 81-98.
1995 The Tel Dan Inscription: A New Fragment', IEJ 45: 1-18.
Emerton, J .A.
1994 The High Places of the Gates in 2 Kings XXIII 8', VT 44.4: 455-67.
Segal, D., and I. Carmi
1996 'Rehovot Radiocarbon Date List V\Atiqot 29: 82.
6
THE DATE OF THE TEMPLE AT ARAD:
REASSESSMENT OF THE STRATIGRAPHY AND THE
IMPLICATIONS FOR THE HISTORY OF RELIGION IN JU DAH
Ze'ev Herzog
The temple uncovered at Arad is, as yet, the only such Iron Age
structure exposed in Israel. Its excavation over 30 years ago, under the
directorship of Y . Aharoni, evoked great interest among archaeologists,
historians and Bible scholars. The presence of a temple within a royal
fortress in southern J udah bears considerable consequences for the
study of the administration of religion in the monarchical period. It
allows us to investigate the complex and continuously changing
relationship between the archaeological and the biblical records.
U nfortunately Aharoni did not publish the full account of the
excavations,before his untimely death in 1976. He was only able to
provide a short description of the temple (Y . Aharoni 1968), while
more detailed accounts, based on his preliminary observations, were
offered by his team members (M. Aharoni 1981; Herzog et al. 1984).
These accounts were challenged by several scholars who suggested
various interpretations of different aspects of the material: of the date of
the casemate fortress (Y adin 1965; Nylander 1967); of the date of
bowls bearing inscriptions (Cross 1979); and of the basic stratigraphy
and dating of the Iron Age Strata (Zimhoni 1985; Mazar and Netzer
1986; U ssishkin 1988).
The conclusions presented here are based on a meticulous re-
examination of the complete stratigraphical information conducted by
myself and my team in 1995-96.
l
The analysis of every basket, every
1. The research was supported by a grant from Tel Aviv U niversity, Basic
Research Foundation. Participants in the team included Linda Meiberg and Rachel
HERZOG The Date of the Temple at Arad 157
wall segment and every level in the excavation record, never conducted
before, has led us to a new and more reliable set of conclusions about
the history of the site. It has also provided us with the ability to deal
with the criticisms made by different commentators.
2
Tel Arad is located on the south-eastern edge of the Hebron hills,
facing the wilderness of Judah to the east and the Beersheba valley to
the south. The site was first occupied in the Chalcolithic period and
developed into a large fortified city in the Early Bronze Age (Amiran et
al. 1978; Amiran and Ilan 1992). After a gap of 1500 years, a gap
typical to this marginal zone (Herzog 1994), a small settlement was
erected on the eastern hillock of the site during the eleventh century
BCE (Stratum 12).
3
A fortress in the Iron Age II soon replaced the
settlement, with no sign of violent destruction. The 50 x 50 m large
stronghold was destroyed and rebuilt five times throughout this period
(Strata 11-6). The site was also utilized sporadically during the Persian,
Hellenistic, Roman and early Arab periods.
The most significant findings at Tel Arad are the large assemblages of
pottery unearthed in each of the fortress's destruction layers, as well as
the large collection of Hebrew (and Aramaic) inscriptions, fully pub-
lished by Y . Aharoni (1981), and the unique temple which is the focus
of this article.
The Stratigraphy of the Temple
The temple consists of a main broad-room hall, with an open niche in
the centre of its western long side (analogous to the debir in the OT
description of the Solomonic temple in Jerusalem). In front of the main
hall was a spacious courtyard in which stood a large sacrificial altar.
Auxiliary rooms were located on the northern side of the courtyard and
apparently on its southern side as well. Once the presence of the temple
was recognized at the end of the second season, the temple area was
expansively exposed. The early phase of the temple was attributed to
Stratum11 and its second stage to Strata 10 to 8 (or even 7 in the early
preliminary reports).
Nahumi (registration and stratigraphy analysis); Lily Avitz-Singer (pottery
analysis); and Ora Paran (plans).
2. The full report will include the work of Miriam Aharoni on pottery of
selected loci. For an interim report (in Hebrew) of the Arad fortress mound, see
Herzog 1997.
3. The date of this settlement is discussed below.
Nonetheless, the information on the stratigraphy of the temple area
was limited due to several obstacles. For one, a considerable part of the
main hall was demolished when the inner wall of a late casemate
fortress was erected through the room. Secondly, the southern side of
the courtyard was destroyed when the bedrock layer underneath it
collapsed into the water system causing a large section of the temple,
by then in ruins, to fall into the depression. Thirdly, the foundations of
structures of the Hellenistic and Roman periods were erected on a low
level and caused the removal of many of the remains of Iron Age Strata
8-6. In addition, the attempt by the excavators to preserve the walls of
the temple prevented the excavations below them (Fig. 6.1). Finally, a
strong impact of the 'biblical archaeology' paradigm directed both
Yohanan Aharoni (1968, 1976) and his crew members (Herzog et al.
1984) to look for a simplistic correlation between the archaeological
data and biblical references. This method, now viewed as oversimpli-
fied, is considered a most disturbing and misleading approach.
Fig. 6.1. General view of the temple area: note the later casemate wall
on the left and the depression at the bottom of the picture
All the above factors combined with the discontinuity of the analysis
of the excavation material due to Aharoni's involvement in new pro-
jects at Lachish and Beersheba, contributed to the misinterpretation put
forward in the preliminary accounts. These shortcomings also paved the
way for a varied set of proposals of alternative reconstruction of the
temple's history and chronology.
My re-examination of the available data, and the new understanding
of the complex stratigraphy of the site, relates directly to the association
of the temple with the different strata at Arad. Accordingly, these
observations required a reassessment of the stratum of the temple's
construction, the duration of its use, and finally, the nature and date of
its abandonment. This fresh analysis also provided us with the ability to
consider the critical discussions and to evaluate their possible accep-
tance or rejection.
The Debate over the Stratigraphy and the Chronology
of the Temple at Arad
The main point of dispute among the critics of the date of the temple at
Arad was the assumed relationship between the dismantling of the
temple and the erection of the late casemate wall that cut through the
main hall of the temple: 'the casemate wall cut through the temple quite
deliberately' (Y . Aharoni 1968: 26). Aharoni and his team maintained
that the casemate wall dates to Stratum 6, which constitutes the last Iron
Age fortress (Aharoni and Amiran 1964; Herzog et al. 1984; Herzog
1987; M. Aharoni 1993). This opinion was widely attacked because
many dressed ashlar stones of the casemate wall bear the sign of a
toothed chisel, believed not to be used before the Persian period (Y adin
1965; Nylander 1967; Laperrousaz 1979; Mazar and Netzer 1986).
Renewed examination of the stratigraphical evidence revealed that part
of the casemate wall was constructed over the fills that accumulated in
the depression formed by the collapse of the bedrock roof of one of the
water reservoirs. The fill contained pottery sherds of the Hellenistic
period, thus dating the casemate walls to a later phase of this period.
Moreover, study of the distribution of stones bearing the combed
dressing showed that they were incorporated into walls in a confined
area. Ashlar stones were found only in the western and northern sides
of the mound. This led me to a conclusion that the casemate walls must
belong to the Hellenistic period, as was first claimed by Imanuel
Dunayevsky and Y . Y adin in the mid-sixties (Y adin 1965).
Another important new observation suggests that this casemate-
fortress had never been completed. Tracing its actual remains reveals
that only the western and northern wings were partially erected. At this
stage a change in the plan occurred. A solid tower was incorporated
into the constructed units and together they formed a rather modest fort.
The occasional association of the casemate wall with late Iron Age
pottery must have resulted from the construction method of the wall,
built into the earlier debris without a foundation trench, as suggested
previously by A. Mazar and E. Netzer (1986).
The course of the inner casemate wall through the main hall of the
temple is purely accidental. At the same time, however, this late date of
the casemate wall must not affect our understanding of history and the
phases of use of the temple itself. Now, when no relationship is
assumed between the casemate fortress and the temple, the date of the
temple must be considered ultimately on the ground of its own floor
levels and the finds recorded on them.
Additional critical stratigraphical observation made by U ssishkin led
him to a most radical conclusion concerning the chronology of the Arad
sanctuary (U ssishkin 1988). He noticed that the water channel that
conducted water to the underground system runs under the northern
wall of the main hall of the temple. He claims that since the wall of the
main hall was constructed over fill layers that covered the channel, the
temple must belong to a later period. In addition, he observed in the
published pictures of the excavated debir a line of destruction debris
that he dates to the very end of the fortress's history. He concludes that
the temple must have been in use only during the last phase of Arad's
fortress, namely during Strata 7 and 6.
Careful examination of all the available data related to this part of the
site brought to light entirely different observations. First, it is absolutely
clear that the temple was not destroyed by conflagration. The superb
state of the white limestone incense altars, as well as all the rest of the
temple's interior, show no signs of fire. The diagonal line of fire visible
in the pictures of the debir clearly cuts into the remains of the temple
from above, down into the area south of the debir. This diagonal debris
definitely resulted from the collapse and burning of the structure
located there.
When excavations at this spot were completed during the fourth and
fifth seasons, we realized that the burnt layers collapsed into a hollow
space. One of the volunteers almost fell down the cavity while digging
HERZOG The Date of the Temple at Amd 161
up the burnt debris. At the bottom of this spot was found the well-built
entrance into a secret passage ('postern') leading through the fortress's
solid wall. This seems to provide the explanation for the particular
stratigraphical situation at this location. The severe fire and the sloping
line of debris suggest that the supporting framework of the shaft and the
stairs leading down were made out of wood. The structure was set on
fire, apparently with the destruction of Stratum 6, and the burnt debris
fell into the demolished shaft. This conflagration destroyed the upper
part of the southern wall of the debir, and burnt the outer face of the
temple's main hall. The diagonal line of debris may not be of any use in
dating the period of use of the temple, since at the time of this event,
the temple had already been buried under a thick layer of fill for
decades (Fig. 6.2).
Fig. 6.2. The diagonal burnt layer cutting into the shaft from above.
The debir was not affected by the conflagration
Secondly, we should consider U ssishkin's critical claim about the
stratigraphical relationship between the temple and the water channel
that ran under it. He maintained that the temple must have been built in
a later period than the water channel. Since U ssishkin considers Strata
10-8 as three phases of a eighth century fortress, the temple, in his
view, must be assigned to Strata 7 and 6 dating to seventh-sixth
centuries BCE. In this case U ssishkin's basic assumption is erroneous.
The level of the bottom of the water channel is over 3 m below the
foundations of the temple's wall. Therefore, the narrow channel could
have been hewn through the hill's bedrock at such a depth, as a tunnel,
disregarding the period of the temple. The more crucial stratigraphical
and typological considerations relate to the absolute levels of the floors
of the temple in comparison to Strata 7-6. If U ssishkin had this
information at hand he would surely have hesitated to assign the temple
to Stratum 7 whose floor levels elsewhere in the fortress are about
2.5 m above the temple's floor level. Moreover, the pottery found on
the floors of the temple and its immediate neighbouring structures is
definitely earlier than Strata 7 or 6.
The final opposition regarding the chronology of the temple relates to
the date of two flat bowls bearing a peculiar inscription. The bowls
were found on the bench in front of the altar, attributed to Stratum 10.
Each of the bowls bore two incised letters. The first sign is clearly the
letter qop. The second sign was taken by Aharoni to be the symbol for
the Hebrew Qorban (Y . Aharoni 1981: 181). Cross (1979) suggested
that the second sign was the Phoenician shin of the seventh century
BCE. This view contributed to the chronological confusion regarding
the date of the temple (e.g. Dever 1982: n. 11) . But the debate is seem-
ingly solved by the reading by Rainey of the second letter as an archaic
kap\ thus both letters may stand for qodesh kohanim (Rainey in Herzog
etal 1984:32).
The Erection of the Temple
One of the most revolutionary observations relates to the attribution of
the first phase of the temple to Stratum 11. In this Stratum the first
fortress was erected at the site, protected by a casemate wall. The finds
in this stratum are attributed to the tenth century BCE and correlated to
the time of the Solomonic U nited Monarchy. The construction of the
temple contemporaneously with the Stratum11 fortress was taken for
granted (Y . Aharoni 1968: 18-19; Herzog etal. 1984: 6-8). However, a
fresh observation of the elements of the temple related to Stratum11
raised serious doubt as to the validity of this association. Floors and
pavements in the main temple and in the courtyard do not provide much
assistance since the same levels were considered to be in use in both
Strata 11 and 10. Our new observation suggests that the builders of the
first temple removed most, if not all, of the floors of Stratum 11.
The basic consideration in ascribing an early phase of the temple to
Stratum11 relied on the interpretation given to a low plastered bench
uncovered at the foot of the southern side of the sacrificial altar of
163
Stratum 10. The bench was assumed to be part of an earlier altar, used
in Stratum11 and dismantled almost completely when the temple was
rebuilt in Stratum 10. It was conjectured that a remnant of the supposed
altar was incorporated in the new installation, built slightly off the older
line and forming a step in front of the Stratum 10 altar. This interpre-
tation was disproved quite accidentally. During long years of neglect of
the site the southern side of the altar fell apart. Although regrettable,
this incident allowed us to look into the structure of the foundations of
the altar at this side. When the spot was cleaned of the collapsed debris
(prior to the reconstruction of the altar), we realized that the bench did
not continue under the altar but was initially constructed as a step in
front of the altar and concurrent with it (Fig. 6.3).
Fig. 6.3. Excavation under the sacrificial altar of Stratum 10
disproved the alleged presence of an earlier (Stratum 11) altar
Most of the walls of the main hall in the Arad sanctuary had a single
construction phase and were attributed to consecutive Strata. When the
walls dated only to Stratum 11 are singled out, a different picture
emerges. The wall reconstructed as the northern side of the main hall
did not turn to the south but continued westwards to meet the casemate
fortifications. Segments of a parallel wall were found to the south, con-
nected by a stone pavement. Another stone pavement was uncovered
under the 'debir' with a segment of a third wall further to the south.
These three architectural elements obliterate the basis for reconstruction
of the temple in Stratum11. When all the elements attributed only to
HERZOG The Date of the Temple at Arad
Stratum 11 are drawn the remains of several large structures built of
solid walls are portrayed (Fig. 6.4). The building on the north-western
side of the fortress of Stratum 11 may have served as a managerial unit,
but it was not a temple. The erection of the first temple must be attribu-
ted to Stratum 10.
Fig. 6.4. The north-western corner of the fortress (location of the
later temple) in Stratum 11 according to the new observations
Utilization of the Temple at Arad
The initial stage of the temple corresponds to the construction of a new
fortress at Arad, assigned as Stratum 10 (Fig. 6.5). In this stage a solid
wall surrounded the stronghold, partly reusing the old casemate
foundation by filling up its rooms with stone rubble. On the eastern side
of the fortress only the inner casemate was incorporated into the solid
wall and a new imposing city gate was erected in the centre of this side.
The construction of the underground water reservoirs (located partly
below the temple's courtyard) and the addition of the earthen glacis
(supported by a low retaining wall) around the fortress are also assigned
to this stratum.
The temple occupied the western quarter of the fortress. The outer
(average) dimensions of the building are 17.50 x 12.00 m with the
debir protruding an additional 1.80 m. The main hall of the sanctuary
measures 10.50 x 2.90 m internally, and the remains of benches made
of stone and mud were observed along its walls. Aharoni looked for
architectural similarity between the building at Arad and the Solomonic
temple in Jerusalem (Y . Aharoni 1968: 21-22). However, the basic
architectural concept of the two structures is different: the main hall in
the Solomonic temple is a long-room while the equivalent unit at Arad
is a typical broad-room. It appears that the Arad temple resembles the
shape of the common domestic unit of the period, that is, the 'four-
room-house' (Herzog 1981).
Fig. 6.5. The fortress of Stratum 10, including the first phase of the temple
The debir niche forms a compartment only 1.80 x 1.10m, paved with
large stone slabs and approached by a single step. A shallow depression
in the large stone slab on the right side of the entrance to the debir and a
recess in the brick wall of the main hall on the opposite (left) side evi-
dently indicate the presence of a wooden door that could close off this
small compartment (Fig. 6.6).
The courtyard in front of the sanctuary measures 12.00 x 7.50 m. On
the north side of the courtyard stood the sacrificial altar, 2.40 x 2.20 m
large and about 1.50 m high. It was built of unhewn fieldstones laid in
mud mortar. A large flint stone rested on top of the altar, girdled by
plastered shallow channels. Rainey suggested that a metal grill be laid
on top of this stone (Rainey 1994: 338). A stone step, or bench, was
constructed at the foot of the southern side of the altar. The step was
coated with white plaster that was also preserved over the lower part of
the eastern side of the altar. A small compartment was built adjacent to
the western side of the altar. Red-slipped clay incense-burner made of
two parts (a bowl and a stand), and a large oil lamp found inside the
room, suggests that this was a storeroom for ceremonial articles.
Fig. 6.6. The debir in Stratum 10. Note the recess in the brick wall on the left
The second phase of the temple's use corresponds to Stratum 9. In
this phase the western wall of the main hall, north of the debir, was
widened by an inner addition, constructed over an earlier bench. The
debir was rebuilt with a new stone wall on the northern side and a
raised platform made of roughly squared stone slabs was erected at its
north-western corner. An oblong stone stelae with rounded corners and
remnants of red paint on its short end was found lying to the south of
the platform. Two beautifully carved stone incense altars, or offering
tables according to alternative interpretation (Haran 1993), were
uncovered at the entrance into the debir. They had been laid on their
sides and were buried under a wall assigned by me to Stratum 8 (Fig.
6.7). The stelae and the incense altars found in the debir must have
been used in Stratum 9. We may presume that the same or similar
apparatus furnished the debir in the first stage of the temple in Stratum
10. Two flint stone slabs were found incorporated in the walls of the
debir. Their crude shape does not support Aharoni's speculation that
these were older stelae (Y. Aharoni 1968: 19). Rather, they seem to be
simply large construction stones. Consequently these stones may not
support a claim that two (or three) deities were simultaneously worship-
ped in the temple of Arad (Ahlstrom 1975: 82).
167
Fig. 6.7. The debir as found in the excavations
In the courtyard the floor level was raised about 1.20 m so that the
sacrificial altar projected only about 40 cm. A stone-lined basin was
constructed to the south of the altar; apparently used for ceremonial
libation (Fig. 6.8), which considerably diminished the open space
available for the worshippers.
Fig. 6.8. Stone-lined basin in the courtyard of Stratum 9 temple
Dismantling of the Temple
Aharoni divided the annihilation of the temple at Arad into two stages.
According to him, in the first stage the altar was put out of use and
totally covered, but the temple was still in use. In the second stage the
temple itself had been demolished, mainly by erecting the inner
casemate wall across its main hall. These stages seemed to elucidate the
two stages of the centralization of worship carried out by Hezekiah and
Josiah. Nonetheless, since the date of the casemate wall is proven by
our renewed investigations to date to the Hellenistic period, the
dismantling of the temple is thus not connected to the construction of
the casemate wall.
More significant is the question whether the temple indeed was
dismantled in two separate stages. Aharoni himself was puzzled by the
possibility that the last temple had no altar for burnt offerings, but
maintained the view that 'Arad seems to elucidate the two stages in the
centralization of worship carried out by Hezekiah and Josiah,
respectively. Its first stage, in the days of Hezekiah, was the prohibition
of sacrifice, while only in the second stage, in the days of Josiah,
brought about the complete abolition of worship outside Jerusalem' (Y .
Aharoni 1968: 26) .
According to my renewed analysis of the floor-levels within the
temple, dividing the abandonment of the temple into two stages is
unacceptable. The former two-phases assumption poses a functional
difficulty. Once the altar was destroyed it was totally covered by an
earthen fill. Since, according to the former assumption, the main hall
and the debir were used at its original level, its floor should have been
about 2 m lower than the floor of the courtyard. The absence of any
indication of any sort of a wall to retain such a fill, and the absence of
stairs which would have descended into the debir, disprove this
reconstruction. This demonstrates that the main hall and the debir could
not have been used while the courtyard was filled up to above the level
of the sacrificial altar. After all, the view of a pit-like temple looks
bizarre and unparalleled in ancient cult places. Consequently, only a
single stage of demolishment is evident at the temple of Arad. In
Stratum 8 a structure made of thin walls was constructed over the debir.
The later phases of the Iron Age remains (of Strata 7 and 6) in this
location were almost completely removed by the builders of the
Hellenistic and Roman periods.
HERZOG The Date of'the Temple at Arad 169
Chronology of the Temple
The current observations of the stratigraphy of the temple at Arad point
to a much shorter affiliation than previously conceived. Instead of four
or five strata the temple was utilized in only two of the strata, namely
Strata 10 and 9. If so, what is the possible date of these strata? This
question cannot be answered easily. The dilemma stems from the fact
that the pottery assemblages of three Strata, 10, 9 and 8, are quite
similar and resemble the typology group of Stratum III at Lachish. This
stratum is commonly identified as the city destroyed by Sennacherib in
701 BCE, and thus associated with the late eighth century BCE (Aharoni
and Aharoni 1976; Ussishkin 1976). The resemblance of the pottery in
Strata 10, 9 and 8 was observed already by Y . Aharoni. Historical
correlation led him and his followers to attribute the erection of Stratum
10 to the ninth century (Y . Aharoni 1981: 129; Herzog et al. 1984: 8-
12). However, M. Aharoni (1985) as well as some of the critics
(Zimhoni 1985; Mazar and Netzer 1986; U ssishkin 1988) advocated a
date in the eighth century.
The date of the erection of Stratum 10 must also be considered in
conjunction with the dates of Strata 12 and 11. Arad became a key site
for the discussions on the tenth century since it is mentioned among the
cities conquered by pharaoh Shishak. Two strata were suggested as
representing the settlement destroyed by Shishak: the fortress of
Stratum 11 (Y . Aharoni 1968: 9; Herzog et al. 1984: 8) and the
settlement of Stratum 12 (Zimhoni 1985: 87; Mazar and Netzer 1986:
89). Finkelstein (1996: 181) also assigned Stratum 12 to the tenth
century, but otherwise dated similar assemblages to the ninth century
(Mazar 1997: 158). The pottery of Stratum 12 is characterized by the
common use of red-slipped and hand-burnished treatment of the face of
the vessels. This ware is customary dated to the tenth century, but its
earliest appearance is not clarified. A. Mazar indicated the early
appearance of this pottery type in Tell Qasile Stratum X (1998), but
actually red-slipped and hand-burnished ware is common already in
Stratum XI,
4
dated by him to the early eleventh century BCE. Since
4. A careful examination of the captions of the figures in the material from the
site in Stratum XI indicates the presence of 18 red-slipped and burnished vessels
(Mazar 1985: Figs. 18: 17, 21, 24; 22: 2, 5, 6, 15, 20, 29; 24: 7; 26: 5-6; 27: 3; 28:
9; 29: 1, 9). The burnish is often not marked on the drawings. This is apparently the
several occupational sub-phases are observed in Stratum 12, I see no
difficulty in dating the erection of this settlement during the eleventh
century BCE.
This conclusion does not exclude, however, the possibility that
Stratum 12 terminated in conjunction with the Shishak invasion, in 926
BCE. Interestingly, the last phase of Stratum 12 was not terminated with
an overall conflagration. Such a presumption would necessitate inter-
preting hgr in Shishak's list as an enclosed settlement rather than a
fortress, and the understanding that not all the settlements mentioned in
the list were violently destroyed.
If Stratum 11 is lowered to the ninth century, then the erection of the
Stratum 10 fortress, and the first construction of the temple may be
dated to the eighth century BCE. Nevertheless, Strata 10, 9 and 8 at
Arad are clearly defined as separate architectural phases, and the temple
existed only in the first two.
The construction of the temple within the strong fortress of Stratum
10 may reflect the need for popular ceremonial centres throughout the
Kingdom of Judah in the eighth century BCE. The presence of several
cultic places in the Northern Kingdom is suggested by the biblical
records and so far supported by archaeological evidence at Tel Dan
(Biran 1994).
The temple at Arad was not destroyed by conflagration. No signs of
fire were noticed in the debir or in any other part of the temple. The
dismantling of the temple and the complete burial of its holiest parts
(the stelae, incense altars and the sacrificial altar) must be considered as
an act of religious reform. The dating of the pottery assemblage from
Stratum 8 to late eighth century BCE leaves little doubt that this reform
should therefore be attributed to King Hezekiah and provides us with
one of the neatest correlations between the biblical account and the
archaeological record (Rainey 1994; Borowski 1995; contra Na'aman
1995).
source for the mistaken figure in Table 7 of only 4 open vessels attributed to
Stratum XI. Indeed, the percentage of the total counted sherds (Table 6a) shows
that the red-slipped and burnished sherds were similarly common in Strata XI and
X: only 0.8% were observed on the sherds in Stratum XII, but 8.0% in StratumXI
and 8.2% in StratumX. This data further proves that the red-slipped and burnished
vessels became popular in Stratum XI of Tell Qasile, which Mazar dates to the first
half of the eleventh century BCE.
171
Stratum 12's Alleged 'High Place'
The interpretation of the remains exposed in Stratum 12 at Tel Arad
given by the expedition's team vigorously illustrates the drawbacks of
the traditional biblical-archaeology approach. Even before the exposure
of the earliest phases of Iron Age occupation, speculation of their ethnic
identification and cultic affiliation were offered. Following the exposure
of the temple, B. Mazar suggested connecting its construction in the
monarchical period by the biblical references, thus relating Arad to the
Kenites. Specifically instrumental was the verse in J udg. 1.16 that men-
tions the settlement of 'the descendants of [LXX adds: Hobab] the
Kenite, Moses' father-in-law' in the Negeb of Arad. Mazar concluded
from the biblical references that Hobab the Kenite was an eponym of a
Kenite tribe, which practised priest-craft and ritual. He speculated that
in the middle of their territory, they erected a holy site with an altar and
masseboth serving the inhabitants of the eastern Negeb for cultic
functions.
And when one of the early Israelite kings constructed a fortress on the
site of the earlier unprotected settlement, there was also built, within the
holy precinct, a house of God, according to a plan normal for the period
in Palestine, including an altar and standing masseboth, and the sons of
Hobab continued to function within it as priests (Mazar 1965: 303).
Aharoni further developed this theme and claimed that: 'It therefore
becomes most likely that this Kenite family, related to Moses through
Hobab, occupied important functions in the early Israelite priesthood
and worship' (Y . Aharoni 1968: 27). When the domestic remains of the
earliest settlement at Arad (Stratum 12) were uncovered below the first
fortress, they were immediately interpreted along this line of thinking:
The early open village of Arad, with its central high-place, apparently
represents this famous Kenite establishment. The ancient editors and
readers were doubtless well acquainted with the temple of Arad and its
tradition. For us, the passage in J udges 1:16 was rather meaningless until
the discoveries of the archaeological excavations (Y . Aharoni 1968: 27).
In a later report prepared by Aharoni's team members, we were even
more specific, asserting that: 'The round platform and altar base that
stood in the centre of the village may reflect in some way the priestly
background of this ancient clan' (Herzog et al. 1984: 6). We illustrated
this opinion by an isometric reconstruction of a cultic 'temenos' with an
altar and a round 'high-place' (Fig. 6.9).
Fig. 6.9. Former reconstruction of Stratum 12 'High Place'
When I became more aware of the shortcomings of the direct arch-
aeological-biblical analogy I looked at the evidence through different
eyes. Freed from the impact of biblical correlation, the remains of the
Stratum 12 settlement were explained as resembling the type of 'enclo-
sed settlement' occupations observed in several sites across the Beer-
sheba valley in the eleventh century BCE (Herzog 1983). The domestic
units uncovered west of the later fortress, and under its glacis, were
erected over the abandoned ruins of the Early Bronze II city. The
settlers of the Iron Age must have found the ruined EB II broad-houses
suitable for reuse. They simply rebuilt the fallen walls, attached pillared
walls to them and added storage bins in the open space, thus adapting
the old remains to their needs. By combining the houses into a peri-
pheral belt they provided the settlement with the desired closure. The
EB builders constructed a stone fence on the west, near a steep rock
cliff, resulting, apparently from a stone quarry used. This fence was
erroneously interpreted as a fairly thick fortification wall (Zimhoni
1985).
The remains inside the central open courtyard of the settlement in the
vicinity of the later temple were misinterpreted as an altar and a 'high-
place'. A more unbiased view of these remains suggests a more con-
ventional explanation. The stones of the alleged 'altar' actually belong
to a wall segment of Stratum11 (the stones were reused in Stratum 10
as an edge for a stone pavement in the temple's courtyard). The recon-
structed 'high place' was nothing more than an ordinary circular stone
173
granary built in the central courtyard of the 'enclosed settlement' (Fig.
6.10). This type of settlement corresponds to several similar occupa-
tions that were typical to the region in the late eleventh century BCE
(Herzog 1994).
Fig. 6.10. Reconstruction of Stratum 12 remains as an 'enclosed settlement'
The reconstruction of the early history of the region based on the
renewed archaeological observation calls for fresh conclusions. Elimin-
ating the temple from Stratum11 and the redating of its first phase to
Stratum 10 further disconnects the temple from any pre-monarchical
tradition. The attempt to identify the settlement of Stratum 12 at Arad
strictly as occupation by the Kenites is also refuted in light of recent
understanding of the subject of ethnic identity. The traditional view that
considered ethnic groups as collectives pertaining to stable race distinc-
tion, such as shared biological ties, common language and territorial
continuity, is challenged in the anthropological study (Earth 1969). The
alternative opinion views ethnicity along the lines of a constantly chan-
ging and variable social phenomenon. Consequently, the settlers of the
Beersheba valley may not be identified exclusively as belonging to a
positively identified group, such as the Kenites, the Amalekites or the
Israelites. I would argue that the new settlements, in a region totally un-
occupied for centuries, belong to diverse social groups that were attrac-
ted by the prosperous conditions (Herzog 1994: 146-49). Their identity
as Judahites was established only a century later, with the founding of
the Kingdom of Judah.
Summary
The new stratigraphical and chronological conclusions presented here
have drastically modified our understanding of the significance of the
Arad temple to the history of religion in J udah. The actual duration of
the temple's use was significantly shorter than previously assumed. No
evident cult place exited during the first occupational phase of the site
in Stratum 12 (eleventh century BCE). Nor was a temple erected within
the first fortress of Stratum 11, which was constructed on the site during
the tenth century (according to the commonly accepted chronology, see
above). Finally, no temple could have been utilized in Stratum 8, which
is dated to the late eighth century. This leaves us with only two Strata,
namely 10 and 9, during which the temple was operating. In terms of
absolute chronology the duration of the temple's use period is less deci-
sive, due to our doubt regarding the date of the construction of Stratum
10. If indeed this fortress was constructed shortly after the destruction
of Stratum 11, the erection of the temple may be dated to about 900
BCE. But, if the second option of an occupational gap were favoured,
then the temple would have been built only around 800 BCE. This date
would also fit the alternative chronology suggested by Finkelstein
(1996). The abandonment of the temple seems to corroborate the bibli-
cal account on Hezekiah's cultic reform, and thus should be dated to
715 BCE. Accordingly, the temple would have been utilized for about
185 years in the first option, or only about 85 years according to the
second option.
The erection of the temple at Arad must be assigned to the period of
the kingdom of Judah, during the ninth or early eighth century BCE. It
seems significant to note that following the exposure of the Arad tem-
ple, during the last 33 years, an indication of the presence of another
temple in J udah was found only in neighbouring Beersheba (Y . Aharoni
1974). Were temples not built in other cities or were they more thor-
oughly destroyed? The beautifully shaped altar blocks found embedded
into a later wall and the absence of any concrete remains of the temple
at Beersheba (Herzog, Rainey and Moshkovitz 1977), point to the latter
option. It is possible that at other sites the order to uproot the temples
and demolish the altars was carried out in a more veritable manner.
The changes in the temple's plan, following the destruction of the
Stratum 10 fortress, mainly affected the courtyard. The construction of
the large basin to the south of the sacrificial altar and the enclosure of a
small room on the eastern side considerably diminished the open space
in the courtyard. It seems that the entrance to the temple was more lim-
ited at this phase than during the initial one. The raising of the floor
level also alleviated the approach to the sacrificial platform on top of
the altar.
The demolition of the temple in preparation of the construction of the
Stratum 8 phase of the Arad fortress seems to present the only direct
link with the biblical account. The archaeological material found in the
destruction layers of the Stratum 8 fortress is almost identical to the
pottery of Lachish Stratum III, and both are considered to be cities des-
troyed by Sennacherib in 701 (Aharoni and Aharoni 1976). Attributing
the abandonment of the temple to Hezekiah would seem quite secure.
A. Rainey understood this reform as an outcome of the fall of the
Northern Kingdom and the attempt by Hezekiah to unite the northern
Israelites around his capital in Jerusalem. This might have generated his
decision to destroy cult places in Judah, just as the northerners had to
give up their shrines (Rainey in Herzog et al. 1984) .
The present reassessment of the history of the temple in Arad negates
most of the correlations with the biblical account suggested in previous
treatments of the site. Arad is not the location of a Canaanite city whose
king prevented the early attempt of the Israelite tribes to invade Canaan
from the south (Y . Aharoni 1976); no Kenite sanctuary existed in pre-
monarchical Arad; the temple of Arad is not similar to the Solomonic
temple in Jerusalem; the temple at Arad was not rebuilt six times, with
every rebuilding of the fortress; and finally the temple was not demol-
ished in two consecutive phases, illustrating the two reforms by Heze-
kiah and Josiah. The only correlation that appears to remain valid is the
intended dismantling of the temple by King Hezekiah.
The previous views undoubtedly were biased by our 'biblical-arch-
aeology' conception. I hope that the present discussion will contribute
toward the liberation of the archaeology of Israel from that obstruction.
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7
BETWEEN ARCHAEOLOGY AND THEOLOGY :
THE PILLAR FIGURINES FROM J U DAH AND THE ASHERAH
Raz Kletter
Introduction
The 'pillar figurines' have been discussed many times since their
discovery in the nineteenth century CE. Recent discoveries at Kuntillet
'Ajrud and Kh. el Kom, together with a growing interest in the religion
of ancient Israel and its material expressions, have led to an
overwhelming number of publications that discuss these figurines, from
scientific papers and monographs to all kinds of secondary and popular
literature. Nowadays, the pillar figurines are usually explained as
representations of the biblical Asherah. I will discuss this identification
later, but first I wish to deal with archaeological aspects, which have
been overlooked in the past (e.g., context, manufacturing and breakage
patterns, and the connection between the figurines and the borders of
Judah).
1
A Short History of Research
The fascinating history of research of the pillar figurines (PFs for short,
and JPFs for Judaean pillar figurines) can be divided into four distinct
phases. U ntil the first world war, very few figurines were known, but
various interpretations were already suggested, especially that these are
1. This paper is a summary of a lecture given at the conference. A monograph
on the J udaean pillar figurines has appeared in the meantime (Kletter 1996). I wish
to thank Professor N. Na'aman and P. Beck from Tel Aviv U niversity; Professor
P.R.S. Moorey and H.G.M. Williamson from Oxford U niversity; The British
Council; Professor A. Mazar, Professor M. Geller and all the friends and colleagues
who participated in this fruitful and enjoyable conference.
the 'Astartes' of the OT (Clermont-Ganneau 1896: 6-7, 242) and that
they were deliberately broken in rituals (Macalister 1905: 270-71). The
figurines were often seen as idols of gods (Macalister 1912: 411), but
also as a phenomenon of magic (Mackenzie 1912: 76-77). During the
second phase, between the two world wars, the numbers of excavations
and figurines grew significantly (Tel Beit Mirsim, Lachish, Tel en-
Nasbeh, and so on). Pilz (1924) offered the first comprehensive study
on figurines from Israel. However, Albright's ideas were more
prominent (Albright 1939: 117-20; 1943: 69, 142). I call this phase 'the
Astarte phase', as this was the most common explanation for the PFs at
that time. Many scholars associated the PFs with magic as well, or even
with toys. Kelso and Thorley (1943: 138-41) offered a technical study
of manufacture and use. Excavations outside Judah (e.g., at Megiddo,
May 1935) started to show regional differences from the assemblage in
J udah. The monograph of Pritchard (1943) is a good example for the
state of research at the end of this phase. He collected 52 PFs (of which
I define today only 12 as JPFs).
The third phase, from World War II until 1975, was long and fruitful.
Important assemblages were published from Lachish (Tufnell 1953:
374-78), Jerusalem (Kenyon 1967: 101; Franken and Steiner 1990),
Gibeon (Pritchard 1961) and Ramat Rahel (Aharoni 1962, 1964). Major
contributions were made, for example, about the OT Asherah (Reed
1949), the borders of J udah (Gophna 1970) and the definition of small
fragments (Ciasca 1964). In a popular book, Patai (1967) argued that
Asherah was a Hebrew goddess and a consort of Y ahweh. He identified
her in various naked female figurines, but unfortunately he did not pay
attention to basic archaeological aspects and limitation. U cko offered an
important and thorough study of figurines, but not JPFs (1968). The
unpublished dissertation of Holland (1975, cf. 1977) marks the end of
the third phase. It is a very thorough work in regard to collecting the
material and arranging it typologically, without imposing on it external
'theologies'. Its main drawbacks are the lack of analysis, the cumber-
some structure and the problematic separation of regional types.
Despite these drawbacks, it remains a basic study.
After 1975, the quantity of studies became overwhelming. Typical of
many studies is the mixing of data (more correctly, theories) taken from
the OT with archaeological aspects. Thus, Engle identified the JPFs
with Asherah, but with little discussion (1979: 5-28) and without an
understanding of the archaeological factors. The main problem, that
KLETTER Between Archaeology and Theology 181
occurs again and again, is: what is the basis for identifying the JPFs
with Asherah? Engle did contribute to the clear definition of a Judaean
type of PF. In a long series of publications, Dever (1982: 38-39; 1984:
28ff; 1990: ch. 4; 1991: 110-12; 1994: 121, etc.) presented time and
again his conceptions regarding Israelite religion and the JPFs, but did
not prove the assumed identification with Asherah. An interesting
school of thought can be termed 'iconographic' (Winter 1983: 106-109;
Schroer 1987: 45, 343, 387; Keel and U ehlinger 1992: 369-90). Its
basis is rather problematic: the claim that iconography is a more 'direct'
source than historical documents is mistaken, as is the treatment of the
whole ancient Near East as one cultural unit, regardless of time and
space (cf. Lipinski 1986; V an der Toorn 1986; Weippert 1994).
In recent years, almost every archaeologist who has dealt with Iron
Age Judah (whether 'new' or 'biblical') had something to say about the
JPFs, and theories range from gender studies (Teubal 1984; Gadon
1989; Meyers 1988) to popular religion (Ackerman 1992; cf. Rose
1975: 183-86; in general see V orlander 1986; V rijhof and Waardenberg
1979). Other studies were offered by Hubner (1989); Wenning (1991)
and Franken (1995). The work of V oigt (1983) is most important as a
theoretical study, though she did not discuss the JPFs.
The Typology
I have defined 854 JPFs, excluding at least 100 more figurines of un-
known origin. Circa 500 of these JPFs were not included in Holland's
work (1975), and many are not yet published. Holland defined 573 PFs,
but only 359 are JPFs (following my definitions).
There are clear differences between the JPFs and other PFs from
neighbouring areas. The JPFs have solid, hand-made bodies, without
legs (Fig. 7.1[l]-[2]). The base of the body is widened and is usually
concave. There are two main types of heads. The first is a simple, solid,
hand-made head, pinched to form crude eye depressions and protruding
nose. There are no incisions and no indication of pupils, but often there
are applied hats, 'turbans' or side-locks (Fig. 7.1[1], [3]). The second
type of head has a mould-made face, with a hairdress of ridges above
the forehead, usually with curls (Fig. 7.1 [2], [4]). It has short side-
locks, and the ears are never indicated. This type of head always ends in
a peg, which is inserted into a cavity in the hand-made body (Fig.
7.1 [4]). The body is a stereotype, featuring a standing woman suppor-
ting the breasts (the hands are often found a little below, and not in real
support, of the breasts). The breasts and hands are applied to the body.
There is no indication of fingers, but often bracelets or necklaces are
depicted by red or yellow paint.
Fig. 7.1. Judaean pillar figurines (the numbers refer to Kletter 1996: Appendix 2)
This description clearly defines the dominant type of human figurine
in Iron Age J udah. V ariant female PFs exist in Judah, but they are few;
for example, figurines holding drums (Pritchard 1961: 16, fig. 41, 557;
Aharoni 1962: pi. 5; Holland 1975: A.I.G.l); having a hollow, wheel-
made base (Tufnell 1953: pi. 28, 10); 'lamp' figurines (Isserlin 1976;
cf. Gubel 1991: 134; Beck 1991: 91, nn. 24-26), and even one woman
with a child (Albright 1943: pis. 32:1, 54b:4; Holland 1975: A.I.H.2).
There are other J udaean types of figurines, such as male figurines (rare),
birds with pillar bases, horse and riders and of course hundreds of
animal figurines. The identification of a JPF is often possible, even
from a small fragment (Ciasca 1964, versus Engle 1979). True,
identification is not always easy, for example, the separation of JPF
bases from bird figurines with similar pillar bases, or of JPF hand-made
heads from riders' heads.
I have checked the other human figurines of the Iron Age from Israel
and Transjordan, altogether some 900 artifacts (there are surely more
unpublished examples). It is evident that although female PFs are wide-
spread, the JPFs are distinctive. It is possible to define coastal (Phili-
stine) types, Phoenician types, and Transjordanian types of PFs.
Contrary to the JPF, these figurines are usually more realistic in design
and elaborately decorated. The coastal types have mould-made heads
with exaggerated ears, applied necklaces (often with rosette pendants),
and long locks reaching to the shoulders (Fig. 7.2[1]). Coastal hand-
made heads are also common, but these have applied disc eyes and
incised details (Fig. 7.2[2]). The coastal figurines are often hollow, and
the pillar is wheel-made. In Transjordan, the use of black paint is
common (Fig. 7.2[3], cf. Amr 1980; Dornemann 1983: 129-37; Gubel
1991: 137; for Edom cf. Beck 1995: 180, 182, 185-87). Phoenician
types are also distinctive, for example, pregnant, sitting woman (Fig.
7.2[4]), musicians (Fig. 7.2[5]) and daily life scenes (Fig. 7.2[6]; cf.
Culican 1969; 1975-76; Gubel 1991; Meyers 1991).
The Date
Many scholars claimed that pillar-figurines appeared already in the
tenth century BCE (Pilz 1924: 140, 161; Pritchard 1943: 57; Albright
1943: 69; Grant and Wright 1939: 155 n. 28; Engle 1979: 20-21;
Winter 1983: 107; Aharoni 1975: 16; Bloch-Smith 1992: 219 n. 17). In
many cases, these were not JPFs (according to my definition), or the
dating was doubtful on archaeological grounds. I have found only few
fragments of JPFs, that can be dated to the tenth or ninth centuries BCE,
but actually, we cannot define this period well in J udah. There is a
growing tendency to lower dates of strata, that were once dated to the
tenth century BCE (Jericke 1992: 219 n. 17; Na'aman 1992: 83;
Finkelstein 1996, with references). In any case, 'early' dated JPFs are
few and their importance is negligible. As a significant phenomenon,
the JPFs are evident from the eighth century BCE and later.
Fig. 7.2. Other types of pillar figurines
(the numbers refer to Kletter 1996: Appendixes 4-5)
Two heads have been dated to the Persian period, but they are excep-
tional in many ways, and perhaps not JPFs at all. Continuation in the
use of a few JPFs after 586 BCE is possible, since the Babylonian
conquests of 586 BCE did not affect each and every artifact in J udah,
while the following period (sixth century BCE) is almost aterra incog-
nita. A totally different picture emerges during the Persian period: new
forms (many of which show Aegean or Persian motifs); a new
technique (double-moulding of hollow figurines); different distribution
patterns (mainly pits orfavissae along the coast, Stern 1989; 1992: 159-
74). It would be safe to conclude that the JPFs went out of use before
the Persian period, most likely around 586 BCE.
Thus, the JPFs belong to the eighth-early sixth centuries BCE. PFs of
neighbouring areas (Phoenicia, Transjordan and Philistia) also belong
mostly to the same period. Eighty-four JPFs can be dated to this period
tentatively, but the date of other 143 JPFs is secure. Can we separate
the eighth and the seventh centuries BCE? It is not an easy task, since
only 90 JPFs can be clearly dated to one specific century, mostly to the
eighth century BCE. It is clear that the JPFs were very popular by then,
unlike the inscribed weights (Kletter 1991). Only 20 JPFs were dated to
the seventh century BCE. We can use the evidence of one period sites,
that were not settled on a significant scale during the seventh century
BCE (e.g., Tel Beit Mirsim, Beth Shemesh, Tel Halif and Tel Beer
Sheba), or the eighth century BCE (e.g., Malhata and Tel Masos), but it
only helps a little. The small number of well-dated JPFs from the
seventh century BCE should not be taken as evidence for a substantial
change, nor related in a naive way with biblical 'cult reforms'.
Distribution and Relation with the Borders ofJudah
Political borders were a necessity in the ancient Near East, and were
defined and maintained for a wide variety of needs (Liverani 1990).
Therefore, their study is not a theoretical question.
2
For our specific
case, in order to study the relation of the JPFs with the borders of
J udah, one must first define these borders independently, with the help
of historical sources. These sources are open to various reconstructions,
so I had to choose the most likely one (Na'aman 1989). I have also used
a conception of 'the heartland of J udah'. This is a minimal definition of
J udah, accepted by all scholars, of the area governed by Judah and
settled by a J udaean majority. Roughly, it includes the J udaean
Mountains and desert, Benjamin, the Negev and the eastern part of the
Shephelah (marked by the cities of Beth-ShemehLachishAzeka in
the west).
The definition of the JPF as J udaean relies mainly on their distribu-
tion pattern (Fig. 7.3). Of 854 JPFs, 822 (c. 96 per cent) were found in
the area defined (above) as the heartland of J udah. Of these, about
2. Recent archaeological studies focused on prehistory and ethnicity, while
political borders are not much discussed. On this, and on the borders of J udah in the
late Iron Age according to the historical sources, see Kletter 1999a.
Fig. 7.3. The Judaean pillar figurinesdistribution map
- - - J udah's border, following Na'aman 1989. The numbers
indicate the number of JPFs found at each site (when only one JPF
was found the number is omitted). Arrows point in the direction of
sites outside the map's limits.
75 per cent (628) were found in the northern J udaean mountains and
Benjamin, 15 per cent (126) in the Shephelah and about 10 per cent
(89) in the Negev. Only 32 JPFs (3.7 per cent) were found outside the
heartland of J udah, but many of these are badly fragmented, and their
definition as JPFs is not clear. Four of these 32 figurines are from the
coastal plain and seven from northern Israel, that is, very few JPFs that
demand no special explanation. Moreover, they are found there as
isolated objects among rich assemblages of a local nature. In Ashdod,
for example, there is one JPF fragment among about 60 anthropomor-
phic fragments. The case of Ekron, Gezer and Tell Erani, in the western
Shephelah, is somewhat different. In this area, outside 'the heartland of
J udah', were found little groups of JPFs: seven in Gezer and eight in
Tell Erani (the Ekron finds are not yet fully published). Tell Erani may
have belonged to J udah (by the nature of its finds as a wholesuch a
conclusion cannot be based on the few JPFs found there). The appear-
ance of the JPFs at Gezer and Ekron may be related to a situation before
701 BCE (direct or indirect control of J udah over this area during
Hezekiah's revolt, Mittmann 1990). Trade is a possible explanation in
regard to the distribution pattern, but is unlikely in view of the religious
nature of the JPFs and their crudity. If these figurines were traded, one
would have expected a move in the opposite direction, since the coastal
figurines are finer than the JPFs, both in manufacture and design.
3
On
the whole, the number of JPFs in Ekron or Gezer is not great, and does
not in itself prove J udaean political or military control.
Two sites present special problems, Kadesh Barnea and Mesad
Hashavyahu (Naveh 1962; Cohen 1983; Reich 1989; Wenning 1989).
The material culture of these sites is mixed, but partly Judaean
(inscribed weights, JPFs, Hebrew inscriptions and pottery forms).
V arious explanations can be made for the appearance of J udaean
material objects there (Na'aman 1989). But in order to define a border,
a group of sites, a 'line', is needed, while Kadesh Barnea and Mesad
Hashavyahu are isolated. Thus, they do not imply political control of
J udah over their surrounding area (cf. commercial colonies that exhibit
foreign material culture within a local assemblage, but do not imply the
political control of the foreign culture over the local one. Of course, I
bring this as an example only).
3. That the JPFs were not traded does not mean the same for other types of
figurines, e.g. the international trade of figurines during later periods in Israel
(U nder 1986).
Political borders can block the movement of artifacts to a large
extent. The alternating fate of Lachish and Ekron, two cities near each
other and in similar environmental conditions, can serve as an example
(Kletter, 1999a: 43). The quantity of JPFs is related to other factors as
well, for example, the wealth and size of ancient sites, and the nature,
extent and publication method of each excavation. The JPFs contribute
to the study of site hierarchy in Judah, but I will not discuss these
subjects further (see Kletter 1996: ch. 5).
Patterns of Manufacture and Use
Mould-made JPFs are larger than the hand-made ones, both in body and
in head size. Hand-made heads vary from between 14-40 mm, exclu-
ding a few exceptions; moulded faces vary from between 19-41 mm
(excluding hand-made parts of the heads). The measurements are imp-
ortant for the study of the moulds (below) and for the classification of
fragments. For example, they can help to separate JPFs' hand-made
heads from the smaller horse-and-rider's heads (18 mm in average).
Early scholars believed that the material culture of Israel was impov-
erished, therefore attributing high-quality artifacts with foreign coun-
tries. It was suggested that the moulded JPFs' heads were made in a
foreign centre (Albright 1943: 69, 83; Kelso and Thorley 1943: 139-40;
Patai 1967: 60 n. 41; Winter 1983: 127; cf. Tufnell 1953: 375).
Petrography may help, but very few JPFs were checked. It seems that
there was local, regional manufacture, since JPFs from Jerusalem were
made from local terra-rossa clay, while JPFs from Tel Ira in the Negev
were made from local loess clay (Kletter 1999b: nos. 1,3; Kletter 1996:
Appendix 2, nos. 245, 249; petrography by Y . Goren).
Moorey and Fleming (1984: 77, cf. Spycket 1992: 227 n. 395)
suggested that hand-made figurines were made in domestic areas by
women. The excavators of Tel en-Nasbeh thought similarly, because of
the cheap materials and crude workmanship of the figurines (McCown
1947: 273). This view was adopted carelessly by scholars from the
feminist school (Teubal 1990: 43; Meyers 1988: 161-63; Gadon 1989:
177-80, 186), who rely on a pre-conception that female figurines belong
to female religion or to female 'house cult'. As far as the JPFs are
concerned, there is no archaeological evidence whatsoever for this
view. Crude design does not indicate production by women. The fig-
urines did not have to withstand pressures (unlike daily pottery vessels),
and this can explain their bad quality. It is unlikely that the JPFs were
made by each woman at her own household, because they are very
homogeneous in shape and the use of moulds indicates mass
manufacture at a rather high technical level.
There are 199 JPFs which show remains of white-wash (probably
many more in origin). The white-wash was analysed as CaCOia
deliberate lime wash. It was probably done in order to give the figurines
a smooth finish, stressing the painted decoration. Many JPFs were
painted above the white-wash, usually in red (52 figurines). Y ellow,
brown and black were also used, as well as combinations of red and
yellow or red and black. The painting is almost always composed of
simple patterns on the face and upper body. In some cases, it is limited
to the front, and does not continue to the back (Albright 1943: 138;
Pritchard: 1961: 15). This implies that the figurines were supposed to
be seen from the front. Further proof for this is found in moulded heads,
where the back side is often left crude (Albright 1943: 140; Keel and
Uehlinger 1992: 380).
A fascinating aspect is the moulding of the JPFs' heads. V ery few
moulds of anthropomorphic figurines are known from Iron Age Israel,
mostly of plaque figurines (Holland 1975: 314-17 [17 moulds]; Kletter
1996: Appendix 5.V III [28 moulds]). Only three moulds bear some
resemblance to the JPFs (ibid., App. 5.V III, nos. 1, 2, 14). The lack of
moulds forces us to study the moulded heads. This was rarely done
(Kelso and Thorley 1943: 138-41). More often, scholars just mentioned
the difficulties in this field (e.g., Hubner 1989: 50). With this back-
ground in mind, Nicholls's study (1952) on moulded Greek figurines is
highly important (cf. also Ammerman 1985). However, it is extremely
hard to use Nicholls's work for the JPFs. Not only basic details are
missing in reports, but Nicholls had direct access to large assemblages
of figurines. This is difficult in our case, since the JPFs are scattered all
over the world. At least the questions should be asked: how many
moulds were used? How many 'mould-series' came from one mould?
Are there regional or temporal variations between the heads, and what
does it imply on production, distribution and inter-sites relations? In
total, I have studied 183 moulded JPFs' heads, but only 129 are well
classified. The minimal number of moulds is 24, being the number of
all the sub-types. Taking into consideration differences in heads that
belong to the same sub-type and other factors, a cautious estimation of
a few dozen moulds for all the JPFs seems likely. This means that we
are dealing with a mass-production, of which only a small part has been
found.
Scholars agree that the technique of moulding heads, while the
bodies are handmade or wheel-made, originated in the Levant. During
the eighth century BCE, or even later, it spread to Cyprus, the Aegean
world, then to the western Mediterranean (Caubet 1991: 136;
V andenabeele 1986: 352-53, 355; 1989: 266). So far, the exact origin
and date of this 'invention' in the Levant are not clear.
The Breaking of the Figurines
Many scholars assumed that the JPFs were deliberately broken
(McCown 1947: 145; Franken and Steiner 1990: 128; Hubner 1989: 53;
Dothan 1971: 132; V incent 1907: 163; Holland 1975: 137; Macalister
1905; Barkay 1990: 191). Some scholars even connected the broken
JPFs specifically with biblical 'reforms'. They believed that the JPFs
represented a foreign, un-Y ahwehistic cult, that the reformers took
special pains to destroy (Mazar 1979: 152; Nadelman 1989: 123; cf.
Dever 1990: 159). These theories are based on the fact that the
overwhelming majority of the JPFs were found broken, assuming that
such a high percentage of damage cannot be accidental. Y et, there is no
decisive archaeological evidence for deliberate mutilation of the JPFs,
nor biblical evidence about mutilation of small clay figurines.
I have personally checked about 300 figurines, but found no clear
sign of deliberate mutilation. The problem is that almost any point in
the JPFs is a weak point, thus it is extremely hard to decide if any part
was broken accidentally or on purpose. Ancient figurines were
sometimes mutilated, for example, the execration figurines from Egypt,
but this is known thanks to their inscriptions (Ritner 1993: 148-55).
Another case relates to a stone figurine, where the marks of mutilation
are clear (Peltenburg 1988: 292; loannides 1992). One possible solution
is to find indicative breakage patterns, that is, evidence for a high
percentage of broken points, which are not natural weak points. At the
moment, such evidence does not exist for the JPFs.
There are many possible ways of deliberately breaking a clay
figurine: throwing it forcefully towards a wall or a floor, cutting it with
sharp tools, smashing it and so on. On the other hand, only one form is
possible for accidental breakagean accidental fall of the figurines.
Possibly, figurines can suffer also from violent destruction of sites, and
from secondary damage, for example, when dumped in debris during
later building activities. However, if the JPFs were broken accidentally,
most of them would have been broken by accidentally falling. This
would have occurred from heights of 1.5 m or so (the height of ancient
four-room houses). Furthermore, most of the figurines would fall on
earth floors (the usual Iron Age floors). By using modern figurines of
roughly the same shape and size, results of similar accidental falls can
be studied. Some 40 figurines were manufactured fromterra rossa clay,
selected in the vicinity of northern Jerusalem (Fig. 7.4). The figurines
were hand-made and fired in low temperatures, c. 600-700C.
4
These
modern figurines do not necessarily resemble the ancient ones in
strength or elasticity, but this was not the aim at all. The modern figu-
rines were dropped from heights of 1.5-2 m onto a hard earth surface,
and different initial positions were tested. The fragments were then
collected and the breaking points registered.
It appears that the position of the figurine at the end of the fall is
important. Figurines that hit the base or the head were less damaged.
The modern figurines are probably stronger than the ancient ones, being
fired in a modern kiln with temperature control (and having good,
homogeneous clay). Almost a half remained whole. A comparison
group, dropped from 3 m height onto cement floor, shows that the
weakest points are first the arms, then the neck, and then the body and
the nose. The arms are very vulnerable since they are thin and
protruding from the body. The modern figurines sustained fewer neck
fractions, but all of them have hand-made heads, which are probably
stronger than the ancient moulded necks (because the latter have pegs).
Furthermore, the modern figurines have very solid and thick bodies,
probably exaggerated in comparison with the JPFs. All the breaks in the
modern figurines appear 'new' and are sharp. The JPFs are perhaps
worn, maybe because of gradual wear through the years, or due to
differences in material and firing.
We cannot apply directly the results of the modern tests to the ancient
JPFs, partly because the quantity of the experiments is really too small.
I am afraid, though, that my neighbours got the wrong impression about
the scientific value of these experiments, as they were conducted in an
open-air laboratory (or, to be more exact, backyard).
4. The clay was selected with the help of Y . Goren and the figurines were
manufactured by E. Kamaiski. Some technical aspects of their manufacture are
described in Goren, Kamaiski and Kletter 1996.
Fig. 7.4. A modern replica of a Judaean pillar figurine
The assumption about deliberate mutilation was common in regard to
many other types of figurines, for example, from Susa (Spycket 1992:
235). Spycket did not explain how it fits with the evidence that some
figurines were mended by bitumen (1992: 235; cf. U cko 1968: 419).
About 5 per cent of the JPFs remained whole, mostly from tombs,
where they were not deliberately mutilated. Is a rate of 5 per cent for
whole figurines unusual, indicating deliberate mutilation? Comparison
to far away sites, from Ashdod to Susa, provides a clear conclusion:
low percentage of whole figurines is not an exception, but rather a norm
for small clay figurines. The types matter, for example, a larger per-
centage of plaque figurines survived whole, probably because of their
less vulnerable, 'lump' like form. What really counts is the context.
Many whole figurines are found in burialsthey are put there
cautiously and not disturbed violently (unless by later burials or tomb-
robbers). On the other hand, whole figurines are very rare in fills and
refuse debris. It is very unlikely that the JPFs were deliberately mutila-
ted during a 'biblical reform', since similar breaking patterns appear
elsewhere, in sites that could not have suffered from the hands of
'biblical reformers'.
The JPFs represent favourable figures (the smile, the full face, the
breasts which may be portrayed as being offered). If they functioned as
'good' figures, it is hard to assume deliberate mutilation in ritual acts.
Mutilation of 'magical' figurines is likely to occur in 'black magic',
where the figurines represent enemies or bad spirits. It is also possible
in burial contexts, where good figures may be broken as signs of grief.
But surely this is not our case (most of the JPFs were found in domestic
contexts). Of course, the external form and its appeal to our eyes is not
necessarily indicative of the function and meaning in antiquity. I am
only saying that one must choose: if the JPFs represented Asherah, who
was held to be a good entity by her followers, then it is not logical to
suggest that they were mutilated in 'magical' rites (and as for 'biblical
reforms', see above).
Another argument against deliberate mutilation is the fact that the
faces of many JPFs are well preserved and intact. We know that it was
customary to mutilate faces of anthropomorphic figures in many
periods and cultures, since they allegedly possessed the powers of those
represented. Mutilation of these figures symbolized their 'killing', it
denied them the ability to act in the real world. Within this context, the
head is especially important, as it enables a person to see, talk, smell,
and hear. This is the reason for mutilation of many artifacts in Mesopo-
tamia (Brandes 1980; Nylander 1980), Egypt (Ritner 1993) and else-
where (Kelley 1994). Such a phenomenon does not appear on JPFs.
One can argue that the analogy to the large objects is misleading, and
that small clay figurines were considered too trivial for special destruc-
tion, but we do have evidence for mutilation of small figurines (Ritner
1993: nn. 671-75). One would rather expect to find at least some muti-
lated faces if the JPFs were really smashed in the course of 'zealous
biblical reforms'.
To sum up, the study of breakage pattern indicates that the JPFs are
not fundamentally different from any other assemblage of clay figurines
in regard to damage patterns, and there is no real evidence that they
were deliberately mutilated. On the contrary, it seems that accidental
breakage is a better explanation.
The Context
I have made a thorough survey on the context of the JPF, but this is
hardly the place to present detailed statistics. This subject was much
neglected, and the only former study worthy of mention is Holladay
(1987, but a very limited one). It is important to establish a few guide-
lines. One must separate whole figurines from fragments, since frag-
ments are small and more likely to be found out of context. Moreover,
broken parts indicate usually the place of disposal, rather than the place
of use. Even in regard to whole figurines, every case must be studied
carefully.
There are 27 whole JPFs, 20 of which come from known contexts. 12
were found in tombs, the rest in various other contexts (water cisterns,
pits and a domestic room). The tomb figurines were probably placed
carefully, not as special 'grave goods', and they do not prove any
religious or 'magic' function of the JPFs.
The many hundreds of fragments were found in a large variety of
contexts: cisterns (14), water pools (27), pits (14), caves (16), tombs
(8), rooms of houses (49), courts (10), gates (1 or 2), storehouses (7),
streets and alleys (8), open areas (9), areas out of the walled cities (12),
and so on. Domestic context are by far the most prominent (70 cases,
with another 42 in doubt), but JPFs were also found in public places (9,
with another 11 in doubt) and burials (20, with another 17 in doubt).
V ery few fragments are related to religious sites (5 at most), that is, the
Arad temple and a room defined as a house shrine at Tel Lahav (Jacobs
1992; Borowski 1995). Part of the problem is how to define a religious
site. For example, there is a common view that Jerusalem cave I is a
cultic centre (Kenyon 1967; 1974; Franken 1995; Franken and Steiner
1990: 49, 125; for the date cf. Eshel and Prag 1995). This small cave, so
full of objects, could hardly function as a centre of rituals. All the JPFs
from this cave were broken (the fragments do not join each other), and
were depositedbut less likely usedwithin the cave. Of around 1300
finds from the cave, only three can be termed cultic (two small stone
altars and one broken pottery stand, Holland 1977: Fig. 9: 20-23;
Franken and Steiner 1990: 44, C270). It seems that the cultic explana-
tion of cave I relies on the pre-conception that the JPFs are related to
cultbut this must be proven first. In any case, the JPFs are found in
all areas of life, from tombs to domestic loci and public places.
A study of contexts can indicate the existence of groups of figurines.
By groups I mean more than one figurine at the same time and place,
indicating the use of some JPFs together. It is not a simple task, as this
question has never been tested thoroughly. At first glance, many groups
of 2-4 JPFs were found together in tombs, pits, cisterns, streets, etc.
However, a closer look shows that these are 'mass' lociplaces that do
not indicate a real relation between the figurines, for example, very long
streets, or cisterns into which material was dumped during a long
period of time. The same is true for J udaean graves, because these are
family graves with multiple burials in each. Thus, 2-4 JPFs from one
grave do not form a real group at all. Furthermore, in most cases what
we have are fragments of figurines, related to places of disposal rather
than places of use. Removal of the doubtful cases leaves so few poss-
ible groups, that it is safe to conclude that the JPFs were used singly
and not in groups. This may indicate that they represented the same
figure and not many individual figures (thus there was no need to group
the same figure together, as opposed to figurines of dancers, for
example, that appear in groups).
I have also checked the relationship between the JPFs and other finds,
such as animal figurines, bird figurines, male figurines, miniature
models of furniture, and so on. The data is still very limited, so the
resultsinteresting as they may seemshould be judged cautiously.
Meaning and Function
Four basic attitudes concerning the meaning of the JPFs have been
formulated during more than a hundred years of study: (1) toys, used by
children; (2) mortal women; (3) goddesses (whether general, e.g.,
'mother goddess' or 'fertility goddess', or specific, e.g., Astarte or
Asherah); (4) magical figures. Other possible explanations, such as
mortuary-figurines (cf. V oigt 1983) were not suggested for the JPFs,
but are unlikely and need not be viewed here.
Toys
This explanation was made in the early phases of research, but was
never popular. It was often restricted to a few figurines (Albright 1943:
142) or to zoomorphic figurines (e.g., Tufnell 1953: 374; Kenyon 1967:
101; 1974: 142; Burrows 1941: 221). Only a few scholars thought that
all the figurines were toys (De V aux 1958: 82). Fowler (1985: 341-42)
mentioned this explanation, but without proving it (cf. Ucko 1968: 422-
23). These days, only Hubner (1993: 92-93, Fig. 46) believes in this
explanation, but without any new grounds. There are a few reasons why
the JPFs are not toys: (1) JPFs were found in public buildings, where
we would not expect to find toys (storehouses in Tel Beer Sheba and
Tel Ira, the temple area in Arad, the public buildings of Ramat Rahel).
(2) The JPFs are very uniform in shape, whereas toys usually exhibit an
individual character, either by manufacture, decoration, or through use
by children. (3) The crude manufacture and lack of decorations on the
back of the JPFs indicate that they were meant to be seen from the
front, that is, to stand in a rather static position. This does not fit toys,
which are used for playing. (4) The JPFs are very vulnerable, while toys
should stand the wear and tear of playing. (5) At present there is no
archaeological evidence to connect the JPFs with children, or with
children's burials.
5
(6) There is a growing tendency to reject this expla-
nation in regard to other ancient Near Eastern figurines (e.g. Tooley
1991; Gates 1992: 169).
Representations of Mortal Women
This possibility has been almost completely ignored. Pritchard (1943:
86) raised it tentatively. Hachlili suggested that the many variations of
shape of figurines from Ashdod imply different women (Dothan 1971:
132). JPFs from J erusalem cave I were explained as representations of
women, who came to the cave to seek help in birth or disease (Franken
and Steiner 1990: 128). There are some doubts regarding this expla-
nation: (1) The great physical and technical uniformity (clay, white
wash, decoration, position of hands, schematic lower body) seem to
imply the lack of any effort in representing individual women. Even the
heads are very uniform. (2) The JPFs were probably used separately.
This hints that they symbolized the same figure, and not many indivi-
dual women. (3) The JPFs do not show distinct aspects of 'fertility',
such as pregnancy, children and rendering of the pubic area. (4)
U nderstanding the JPFs as mortal women does not solve the problem,
for who exactly were these women? Why were they represented in large
quantities? How do we explain their wide distribution in various
contexts?
It is possible that mortal figures were made without any deep mean-
ing, but for aesthetic reasons only. This explanation was never sugges-
ted, perhaps because it is so simple. From an archaeological point of
view, it is extremely hard to test such a theory. However, it hardly fits
what we know about ancient art, which was a rigid way of expressing
(mainly) royal and religious messages. If the JPFs had some symbolic
meaning, they had to 'act an action', and this makes them very similar
to the so-called magical figures (see below). Seeing the JPFs as mortal
5. When speaking of toys, we mean children's toys by definition. Adults also
have 'toys'only we call these gods or magical figures. Therefore, though the
separation of children's toys from adults' toys may not be absolute, it can be used
in archaeology and is not artificial.
women is not a full explanation, since it does not clarify what the
meaning of such figurines was.
Goddesses
General: Mother Goddess, Fertility Goddess, Nurturing Goddess,
Naked Goddess. Many scholars suggested that the JPFs represented
female goddesses, but did not identify them with specific goddesses
(Hubner 1989: 53; Miller 1986: 245; Barkay 1990: 191). The term
'mother goddess' was most widely used, and often related to fertility
(Duncan 1924: 180; May 1935: 27; Burrows 1941: 221; Kenyon 1967:
101; Heaton 1974: 232; Dever 1982: 38; 1990: 137; Keel and U ehlinger
1992: 381; for animal figurines see also Albright 1943: 82; Mazar 1990:
501; McCown 1947: 247; Franken and Steiner 1990: 128). The terms
'nurturing goddess' or 'suckling goddess' were also widely used
(McCown 1947: 245; Macalister 1912: 417; Supinska-L0vset 1978: 21-
22; Holladay 1987: 278; Wenning 1991: 91; Keel and U ehlinger 1992:
380-81). The term 'naked goddess' was less popular (Watzinger 1933:
117; Tufnell 1953: 374), and adopted mainly within the iconographic
school of thought, which also coined the term 'the Syrian goddess'
(Winter 1983: 129-31, 192-99; Briend 1992: 27). It seems to me that all
these terms are vague and contribute nothing to the understanding of
the JPFs.
The notion of a prehistoric 'mother or fertility goddess' was wide-
spread at the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of this
century. It was believed that prehistoric figurines represented a goddess,
but without written sources this goddess could not be named (U cko
1968: 409-16). Complex theories were built on the idea of a general
'mother goddess', especially for Europe and the Mediterranean areas.
Scholars even reconstructed matriarchal societies ruled by women on
the basis of female 'mother goddess' figurines. How absurd this is can
be seen from the JPFs; they are all female, but the OT shows that
J udaean society was dominated by men. Many scholars criticized
sharply such 'mother goddess' theories (Ucko 1968: 417-19; Wiggins
1991: 392; P.L. Day 1992: 181, 185; Walls 1992: 15; Bailey 1994;
Lemche 1992: 253 nn. 26-27). Every one of the major known
goddesses in the ancient Near East was a 'mother goddess' in that she
mixed motherly and divine characteristics, much as every male god is,
by definition, a 'father god'. It is a basic idiom in almost any human
society. As far as the JPFs are concerned, there is hardly an indication
of motherhood (except one unique figurine, Kletter 1996: Appendix 2,
232). A scholar who explains the JPFs as a goddess must try to identify
this goddess, but if it cannot be done, then adding 'mother' or 'fertility'
to the definition 'goddess' contributes nothing.
Furthermore, during the Iron Age II period, several goddesses are
known from J udah and its neighbours (e.g. Astarte, Asherah). Never do
we hear about a 'general mother goddess', worshipped by everyone. Is
it possible that such major goddess existed in Iron Age II Judah,
without being mentioned in any written source? And that the only fea-
ture of such a goddess is that she is 'a mother goddess', in other words,
without any individuality (but just like any other goddess)? The same is
true also for the term fertility: it is a vague term that can be glued to
every goddess.
6
Handy (1993: 158) went even further, writing that the
mother-goddess is 'a topic, overused since the nineteenth century,
which is "in" now, but it is a lazy way to deal with the variety of female
deities known from the ancient world'.
The term 'Syrian goddess' is even worse, even if we ignore the
mixing of distance sources, periods and places by the iconographic
school of thought. What is Syrian in the JPFs? They have no relation
with Syria, and this misleading term must be discarded forthwith. The
situation is similar for terms such as 'naked goddess' (the JPFs are only
partially naked, they have very schematic lower bodies). It is a des-
cription, not a real explanation. Behind all these terms lies the assump-
tion that there existed a certain great cosmic goddess or 'general
goddess', worshipped by a large number of societies, mainly during
prehistoric periods. In my view, this theory cannot be accepted for Iron
Age II Judah. There may have been syncretism and influences between
different goddesses at different places, or a common origin in some
distant past. But, once a population adopts a goddess at a certain time
and place, it cannot be a 'general goddess'; it is adopted for specific
needs and circumstances of that population, thus becoming unique (at
least in some details). The main question, then, is do the JPFs represent
a goddess? If not, all these terms are groundless. If they do, one must
try to identify a specific goddess. Therefore, all these vague terms are
superfluous and we would do much better without them.
6. For example, the Greek goddesses: 'almost every single Greek goddess has
a fertility aspect of one kind or another' (Hadzisteliou-Price 1978: 3; for fertility
cult cf. Bonano 1986).
Specific Goddesses: Astarte, Anat, 'Astarte-Anat-Asherah'. Many scho-
lars identified the JPFs with Astarte (V incent 1907: 161; Macalister
1912: 412; Driver 1922: 56-59; Pilz 1924: 161, 166). Some scholars
used the name Astarte only for convenience sake, without really claim-
ing that they represented Astarte (Barkay 1990: 191; McCown 1947:
245, 273; Albright 1943: 138; Holland 1975: 42, 62, 97; Aharoni 1978:
photo 37; Briend and Humbert 1980: 350; J eremias 1993: 44). Other
scholars called the JPFs Astarte on one hand, but explained them as
Asherah on the other hand (Ahlstrom 1963: 53-54; 1984: 138). During
the last decades, the Anat/Astarte explanation lost its popularity. These
two goddesses are related more with Cana'an, Phoenicia and northern
Israel, and not Judah. Anat seems too remote, and is hardly mentioned
as a likely candidate for identification with the JPFs today.
7
Certain scholars combined Astarte-Anat-Asherah into one 'basic'
goddess, especially Dever (1982: 39; 1984: 28; 1990: 159-60; 1994:
121-22). This seems doubtful (cf. Reed 1949): the ancient written
sources distinguished explicitly between these three goddesses. It is
hard to believe that all three could be venerated as one goddess during
the later Iron Age period (while the JPFs are so uniform, that they can
hardly represent three different goddesseshow would the users know
which is which?).
Asherah. This is the most popular explanation today, with variations
dependent on the different understandings of the biblical Asherah: a
phenomenon of official religion, a forbidden or non-conformist cult, a
house-cult or part of popular religion (Patai 1967: 35, 43, 60; Engle
1979: 27-30, 50-52, 80; Dever 1982: 37; Ahlstrom 1982; 1984: 136;
Teubal 1984: 91; Holladay 1987: 278; Gadon 1989: 96, photo, 171;
Dever 1990: 158-59; Wenning 1991: 90; Bloch-Smith 1992: 218-19 n.
16; Dever 1994: 120-22). The logic behind the identification with
Asherah is that if the JPFs represented a goddess, it must have been
Asherah. She is the only likely candidate in later Iron Age Judah, in the
light of her dominant position in the Old Testament and her appearance
beside Y ahweh in the inscriptions from Kh. el-Kom and Kuntillet
7. For Anat see Deem 1978; Smith 1990: 61-64; Walls 1992; P.L. Day 1992;
for Astarte see Leclant 1960; Fantar 1973; Delcor 1974; Ammerman 1991: 219-22;
P.L. Day 1992; J. Day 1992; Gorg 1993; J. Day 1994: 187; Smith 1994: 205;
Lemaire 1994: 129-32.1 amusing the common English spelling, but when speaking
about J udah, the OT term 'Ashtoret' is more appropriate.
'Ajrud (Beck 1982; Lemaire 1994: 134; P.L. Day 1992; Wiggins 1991).
In the OT, Asherah is often mentioned as a cultic object made of wood
(Exod. 34.13; Deut. 7.5; 12.13). In J udges 6, Asherah may have been an
actual tree standing above or near the altar. In a few verses, it seems
that Asherah is a goddess or a cult statue of that goddess (Deut. 16.21,
1 Kgs 21.7; 23.6). Asherah was certainly part of the official cult of
J udahshe was introduced into the Jerusalem temple by J udaean kings
(1 Kgs 15.13, 33; 21.7). It seems that it was not a forbidden cult, nor a
foreign one. 2 Kgs 18.19 relates Asherah with Ba'al, but this seems to
be a secondary interpolation (while the 'Asherim' of the Chronicler is a
late, a-historic form). Whether Asherah was considered as a paredos of
Y ahweh, at least in some circles, is not clear. The amount of recent
literature on the Asherah is bewildering (for a basic study see Reed
1949; for the most recent, thorough work see Frevel 1995).
8
For our
purpose, the central question is whether indeed the JPFs represent
Asherah? This is possible regarding date and distribution. There is no
clear evidence for cult in relation to the JPFs, but neither is there for the
exact form of veneration of the Asherah (there is also the problem of
defining cult and finding it in the archaeological record). The depositing
of JPFs as domestic waste into streets and pits may pose a problem if
Asherah was a high, venerated goddess. But the status of Asherah is not
clear, and there is a great difference between disposal patterns and use-
patterns.
Many scholars assumed that the pillar bodies of the JPFs represented
a tree-trunk, the assumed form of the OT Asherah, but this has no
factual basis. The OT does not provide a specific description of the
Asherah. That she was made of wood is common to cult statues (and
other objects) in the ancient Near East. Living trees may have been her
symbol, or wooden cult objects. However, there is no definite proof that
she had a pillar-shaped body. On the other hand, the J PF's body does
not seem to represent a tree. Pillar bodies are a widespread solution for
8. A partial bibliography includes Lemaire 1977; Emerton 1982; Winter 1983;
Dever 1984; Pettey 1985; Betlyon 1985; Olyan 1985: chs. 2-3; Hadley 1987;
Hestrin 1987; Schroer 1987: 21-45; Tigay 1987: 172-73; Koch 1988; North 1989;
Dever 1990, ch. 4; Smith 1990: 80-124; Hestrin 1991; Wiggins 1991; J. Day 1992;
Dearman 1992: 79; Dietrich and Loretz 1992; Hubner 1992; Whitt 1992; Ikeda
1993; Wiggins 1993; Dever 1994; Dietrich and Klopfenstein 1994; Hadley 1994;
Lemaire 1994: 148-49; Smith 1994: 198-206. On the new inscription from Ekron
see Gitin 1993: 250-52; 1995: 72.
KLETTER Between A rchaeology and Theology 201
standing figurines in the Near East. The widened base is necessary for a
safe standing. Once a round body with a widening base is used, it is
difficult to represent separate legs, except, perhaps, by incisions or
stamping on the front part of the round body (this is found very rarely,
and looks very awkward, Kletter 1996: Appendix 5.IV .7.19). Legs do
'return' later, in double-moulded figurines, where the whole body is
made in a mould. Moreover, some riders of the horse-and-rider figur-
ines have pillar bodies, but they stand on horses and cannot be connec-
ted with trees or poles.
Magical Figures
U nderstanding the JPFs as magical figurines was widespread during
early stages of research, when magic was understood as the complete
opposite of religion (and gods). U sually, the magic was termed 'sympa-
thetic' or 'apotropaic', and the figurines were regarded as amulets for
domestic use, or as 'good luck charms' (McCown 1947: 245, 248;
Burrows 1941: 220; Wright 1957: 118; Dothan 1971: 133; Heaton
1974: 232; Franken and Steiner 1990: 128; for an anthropologic discus-
sion of magic see Morris 1987). The date and the distribution may fit a
magical explanation of the JPFs. The context is also fitting, as are the
(probable) private ownership and cheap material. The disposal as dom-
estic waste (in streets/pits) is possible, or at least less problematic than
if the JPFs represented a major goddess. If the JPFs relate to magic, it is
probably 'good (white) magic'. They have 'good' outward shape (smile
full face, 'offering' the breasts). They were probably not mutilated
deliberately, and were very popular in J udah. The lack of overt sexual
features suggests that they symbolized 'plenty' rather then 'fertility'
(cf. Wenning 1991:91).
Even so, seeing the JPFs as magical figures is far from simple. There
is no archaeological proof that the JPFs are related to any magic rituals.
True, one need not suppose complex rituals, of the kind documented
from Mesopotamia and Egypt (below), and large parts of such rituals
will not be found in the archaeological record. The problem is, how-
ever, much more difficult. It relates not only to the question of what is
magic (below), but to the fact that defining the JPFs as magical fig-
urines is no real solution. This definition gives a function, but not a
meaning: who is this 'magical' figure? Why wasn't it mentioned in the
OT, despite its popularity in J udah?
Conclusions: The Figurines and the Asherah
9
I believe that all the JPFs represented the same figure, and not many,
different figures. This is based on the schematic rendering, without any
effort to individualize the figurines. The lack of groups of JPFs from the
same loci also strengthens this view, as each JPF was meant to be used
separately. Following this reasoning, I believe that the JPFs had one
meaning only, and represented one figure. Theoretically, the same type
of figurine can have more than one meaning, but this is also an easy
way of escaping the problem. If the JPFs portrayed the same figure, it is
likely that they had one basic function (whatever that may be). Again,
one figure may be used for more than one function, but if one considers
the majority of the JPFs, I believe that it had one function. It is possible
that a few JPFs were used for various other functions, but the burden of
proof falls on those who support this possibility.
Two explanations for the JPFs remain probable: magical figure and
Asherah. These two explanations are not contradictory, but comple-
mentary. Former studies of the JPFs used, to a large extent, a concept of
magic based on the work of Frazer (1890), who put magic as the very
antithesis of religion. It supposedly deals with natural forces, at the
most demons and monsters, coercing them for immediate personal help
(while religion deals with supernatural gods, morality and theology).
Magic includes rituals, performed by witches or sorcerers (while
religion involves cult, prayers and official priests). Magic has no logic
(as opposed to science) and is 'primitive', if not totally negative.
As anthropologists and sociologists continued to search for a
definition of magic, it seems that the picture became more and more
problematic. Weber (1922, ET 1965: 28) defined magic in a similar way
to Frazer, but knew that the separation between religion and magic is
not absolute: 'the cults we have just called 'religious' practically
everywhere contain numerous magical components'. Actually, magic is
defined only from an outside point of view. Malinowski (1925: 88)
followed Frazer, and saw magic as 'a practical art consisting of acts
which are only means to a definite end expected to follow later on';
while religion is 'a body of self-contained acts being themselves the
9. I will not discuss here the problems of 'house cult'; the relations between
the JPFs and other types of figurines; and the scarcity of male figurines (Kletter
1996: ch. X).
fulfillment of their purpose'. To make it more simple, 'the belief in
magic...is extremely simple. It is always the affirmation of men's
power to cause certain definite effects by a definite spell and rite. In
religion, on the other hand, we have a whole supernatural world of
faith' (Malinowski 1925: 88). Mauss (1950: 18) suggested a social
definition of magic (1950: 24), 'A magical rite is any rite which does
not play a part in organized cultsit is private, secret, mysterious and
approaching the limit of a prohibited rite...we do not define magic in
terms of the structure of its rites, but by the circumstances in which
these rites occur'. However, Mauss returned later to a conception more
in line with Frazer's: 'while religion, because of its intellectual
character, has a tendency towards metaphysics, magicwhich we have
shown to be more concerned with the concreteis concerned with
understanding nature'. Skorupski was aware that 'the "opposition"
between the two "institutions" of magic and religion does not exist as a
general fact' (1976: 127). The problem of demarcating magic from
religion is acute: 'we must not expect a neatly exhaustive distinction...
between the religious and the magical' (1976: 155). Skorupski con-
cluded, though, like Weber: 'what is for us in the end most striking
about magical practices is that they require assumptions which in one
way or another run counter to the categorical framework within which
we (at least officially) interpret the world' (Skorupski 1976: 159).
Magic cannot be separated exactly from religion. Magic is not
defined by values, but sociologically: what 'we' do is religion, what
'they' do is magic. Ritner defined magic as 'the religious practices of
one group viewed with disdain by another'. In other words, 'Y our
religion is my Magic' (Ritner 1992: 190; cf. V ersnel 1991; V oigt 1983).
In ancient Egypt, magic was legal and could be desirable; it was
practised in official temples by high-ranking priests, and had no
connotation of immorality. Much the same is true for Mesopotamia
(Ritner 1992; 1993; Wiggermann 1992).
10
Therefore, the JPFs can
represent Asherah, without negating magical aspects or the relation to
magical rituals (I follow Ritner's definition of magic here, of course).
On the other hand, explaining the JPFs as purely magical figures is not
satisfactory, since it relates only to their function, not to their meaning.
In order to keep a purely magical explanation, one would have to
10. I had the pleasure of hearing a lecture on early Mesopotamian incantations
by M. Cunningham of Cambridge U niversity, England, who has reached (indepen-
dently) similar conclusions about magic.
assume that there was a very common magical figure in J udah (the large
quantity of JPFs), that was not mentioned in the OT, and is not one of
the known goddesses. This is possible, but quite perplexing.
It seems therefore that the JPFs are indeed a representation of the OT
Asherah: this is the most logical explanation. On the other hand, the
JPFs are not exactly identical with the Asherah. This was the belief of
many scholars, who treated the two as equal. The relations between
gods and their cult statues have been discussed extensively (Hallo
1983; Jacobsen 1987; for Greece cf. Gladigow 1985-86; Romano 1988;
for Mesopotamia see Dietrich and Loretz 1992: 7-38; Matsushima
1993; for Egypt, Ockinga 1984). Most of the large cult statues have
disappeared, since they were made of wood and of precious metals (for
the burial of statues cf. Hallo 1983: 15-16; Matsushima 1993: 210).
Large sculptures are not found in J udah, unlike Ammon (stone
sculptures), Cyprus (clay statues, possibly of prayers, Connelly 1989);
Phoenicia (Eshmun temple at Sidon: Ganzman et al. 1987) and Edom
(Qitmit and En-Hazevah: Beck 1995; Cohen and Y israel 1995). This
may strengthen the claim that the OT 'ban of idols' is indeed ancient
(Curtis 1984). The relation between small figurines and large cult
statues is not always simple. Alroth showed that the two are not
necessarily identical in shape, even when depicting the same figure
(based on material from Greek temples, Alroth 1989; but the context of
the JPFs is mainly domestic). A source from the reign of Nabu-Apla-
Iddina (the ninth century BCE) is enlightening. It tells how a model of
baked clay of Samas was used to reproduce a cult statue (after the
former cult statue was taken by the Sutu). The exact nature of this
model is not clear, though: is it a figurine, a tablet of clay, or even a
cylinder seal? (Lee 1993; cf. the later story about Herostratos,
Atheneaus 16, 675, Ammermann 1991: 223).
The JPFs are small figurines, without special, sacred status and
probably not connected with public temples. The sacredness of an
object stands in relation to its function (that is, status), its value
('price'), and its form (size). The large cult statue of the Asherah was
sacred because it was probably decorated in expensive materials,
situated in a public temple and represented the goddess in front of all
the populationbut especially the higher classes (priests and kings).
On the other hand, the JPFs were cheap, everyday objects, representing
the goddess in private houses, in front of ordinary people (chiefly,
though not only). The JPFs are not evidence of 'popular religion', if by
this we mean the opposite to an 'official Y ahwistic religion'. The
Asherah was part of the Y ahwistic religion, though she was probably
not as important as he was. The function of the Asherah figurines was
possibly as a protecting figure in domestic houses, more likely a figure
which bestowed 'plenty', especially in the domain of female lives (but
not necessarily used by women only). These figurines have nothing to
do with 'black magic' and were not a forbidden cult, at least for most of
the time and for most of the population. It seems that they were not
broken deliberately. Other than being a symbol for the goddess and
what she can bestow, I doubt if the figurines were an object of cult
practices. At the most, one can imagine that they were addressed in
prayers or wishes, perhaps during times of pressure and need.
It is important to stress that the identification of the JPFs with
Asherah seems very probable, but is not proven and should not be taken
for granted. This identification is based on the OT sources (together
with the Kh. el-Kom and Kuntillet 'Ajrud inscriptions) or, to be more
correct, on a certain interpretation of these sources (e.g. in rejecting the
'Asherim' of the Chronicler). It would be unwise to turn the wheel the
full way round, and simplistically draw conclusions from the JPFs
about the OT Asherah. If this is the case for 854 figurines, the identifi-
cation of other objects, much more limited in numbers, is hazardous.
V aried artifacts were called 'Asherah' in studies (e.g. Pettey 1985), but
without any factual basis for their identification with her (cf. already
Reed 1949).
Archaeology can, indeed, help us to understand the religion of
ancient Israel and J udah, but it is not a totally independent, nor a
'direct' source. Cautious archaeological attitude should be the basis of
continuing research, rather than further speculations about meaning and
function.
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8
FIGU RINES, FIGURES AND CONTEXTS IN J ERU SALEM AND REGIONS
TO THE EAST IN THE SEV ENTH AND SIXTH CENTU RIES BCE
Kay Prag
As part of the process of preparing the material from Kenyon's
excavations in Jerusalem for publication, the small finds register has
been put on database. U sing this tool, the statistical bases for some of
Kenyon's conclusions affecting the Iron Age occupation of Jerusalem
are examined. The distribution of Iron Age II figurines, jar stamps and
potters' marks from the excavations is reviewed, and levels of occur-
rence discussed. In general the figures provide support for her conclu-
sions based on primary excavation evidence, but also raise questions
concerning intra-site variation. The contexts of the distribution and use
of figurines are also briefly discussed, with reference to the south
Jordan V alley and central and southern Transjordan.
Kathleen Kenyon's excavations in Jerusalem from 1961 to 1967
produced many notable discoveries, including the first precise evidence
for the location and date of the defensive walls of Jerusalem during the
Bronze and Iron Ages. The excavations, however, were not conducted
to prove or disprove hypotheses concerning Jerusalem, but to achieve
as fully as possible, an objective scientific record of the archaeology of
the city. Her views on the size and location of the city and its walls
were based entirely on the evidence derived from her own work and
that of her predecessors. It was unexpected, therefore, to hear recently
an archaeologist express his surprise at the immediate willingness of
Kenyon to accept the evidence which was excavated later, for a city
wall on the western hill in the late eighth or seventh century BCE, as
this ran counter to her 'minimalist' position. On the contrary, the
emergence of clear evidence would have been a stimulus to her; the
surprise was based on the difference in conceptual approaches.
The Kenyon excavations also produced great quantities of much less
striking material, all of which was excavated and recorded uniformly
for all levels from the surface to bedrock, showing no discrimination or
selectivity between periods, whether Ottoman or Bronze Age. No
mechanical earth-moving equipment was employed (cf. Ariel 1990: 21,
who notes the use of earth-moving equipment in some areas of Shiloh's
excavations, which may have affected the recovery and therefore the
recorded distribution of amphora stamps). Hence the Kenyon data,
gathered by uniform sampling and recording procedures, provides a
corpus which is potentially a statistically reliable random sample taken
in a number of different locations in the ancient and mediaeval city.
Most of the sample, however, comes from wash or tip levels, very
rarely from primary contexts.
The Ancient Jerusalem Project of the British School of Archaeology
in Jerusalem (now the Council for British Research in the Levant) plans
to bring the remaining unallocated material to publication, supported by
a generous grant from the Leverhulme Trust. As part of the project, the
records, including the small finds register, have been placed on com-
puter which permits quicker and more reliable sorting of the great
quantities of data than using the card indexes compiled during the
excavation. This conference seemed a suitable occasion not just to
explore some of the potential uses of the material, but also to assess
some data on which Kenyon's preliminary conclusions concerning the
occupation of ancient Jerusalem were based. Following the publication
of the fourth volume of reports (Eshel and Prag 1995), with Eshel's
analysis of the Iron Age material from Caves I and II, and with the
republication of Holland's analysis of the figurines from Cave I, we can
consider briefly the evidence derived from the figurines and some
contemporary material.
Observations on Finds from Jerusalem in the I A II period
Figurines (Fig. 8.1)
The Iron Age figurines of Palestine were studied in Holland's unpub-
lished doctoral dissertation (1975) which included 2711 examples from
Palestine, classified into 16 types. A summary typology and distribution
charts for the Palestinian material accompanied his full publication of
the figurines from Jerusalem Cave I in 1977. In his study, he suggested
that the figurines dated predominantly from the early seventh century
PRAG Figurines, Figures and Contexts
Fig. 8.1. Distribution of Iron Age II figurines
(though it is noted here that Kletter in his study of 'Judaean Pillar
Figurines' prefers an eighth-century date, with the popularity of the
figurines declining through the seventh and sixth centuries [1996: 40-
42]). In Holland's study, animal figurines outnumbered human figurines
by 3:2. The human figurines are mainly female; those modelling ani-
mals are mainly quadrupeds of which a high proportion are identified as
horses with or without male riders. The corpus includes birds (like the
female figurines, often identified with Asherah/Astarte). In addition
there are rattles, furniture, vessels and objects referred to as cult boxes
or stands. Many of these objects were originally painted, mainly with a
219
white wash or quite a thick lime paste, but red, ochre, yellow and black
painted lines are occasionally noted (cf. Kletter 1996: 50). Current
statistics from Kenyon's excavations in Jerusalem, where 672
fragmentary figurines of IA II date were entered in the registers,
indicate that at least 187 figurines (or 27.86 per cent) had traces of paint
(this figure is undoubtedly too lowthe early entries in the register do
not mention traces of paint), of which 104 had white paint, 26 had red
and white paint, and the remainder unspecified traces of paint or various
combinations of two to four colours. It has often been noted that all
these figurines are broken, and it has been suggested that this is due to
ritual destruction in fulfilment of a votive or magical purpose; this does
not, however, explain the very worn condition of the paint, of which it
is rare to find more than slight traces surviving. Ritual breakage does
not necessarily result in destruction of the paint layer. The latter must
be due to the intensive use of objects decorated with paint of poor
cohesive quality (as with toys); or the post-use history (destruction of
contexts, use in tip levels, pot washing) has caused the damage. The
latter processes would account for both breakage and paint loss; but the
evidence for loss of paint on what must originally have been quite
brightly painted objects, deserves more study.
Of the 672 figurines noted in the Jerusalem registers (cf. 559 counted
by Holland), the great majority came from Site A (477), with 88 from
Site L, 78 from Site C, and insignificant numbers from five other sites:
F(12), H(3), K(8), M(3) and S(3) (see Fig. 8.1).
The figurines are usually thought to represent popular cult or super-
stitious beliefs, but their distribution as a normal part of the IA II
repertoire is paralleled by two other items, jar stamps and potter's
marks. The range of suggested function for the three kinds of objects is
varied, but their date in general is grouped between the eighth and sixth
centuries, and one might assume that high density distribution is likely
to coincide with contemporary settlement. Another common denomina-
tor is that all these materials derive from settlement, not burial contexts.
Jar Stamps (Fig. 8.2)
Jar stamps are normally assumed to have a public function connected to
the administration, but include a small number of private seals. The
latter may belong in the sphere of individual or private activities,
although they are usually interpreted as the seals of officials, and as
such should probably also be classed in the public domain. A total of
PRAG Figurines, Figures and Contexts 221
146 examples, mainly of the two-winged scroll type (91 examples, 15
of which are associated with concentric circles), concentric circles
without accompanying stamp (20 examples), four-winged scroll type (2
examples) and a small range of other types including private seals,
rosette/stars and illegible seals, come mainly from Site A (107
examples), with 27 from Site L, 10 from Site C, and one from each of
Sites N and S. (There are in addition three private seals from Site A,
which have not been counted with the jar stamps).
Fig. 8.2. Distribution of Iron Age II jar stamps
Potter's Marks (Fig. 8.3)
A group of sherds of IA II date have incisions which are described as
potter's marks. Potter's marks could be interpreted as indicators of
commerce, vessel function, or of public or private activities. The great
majority consist of a single cross incised on one handle of a cooking
pot, but a limited number of other marks include a double cross or
trident, and rarely lines, dots or circles (Prag, in Eshel and Prag 1995,
214-15); these marks are occasionally found on other vessels, twice on
the base of bowls, and once inside a lamp. There are 154 examples of
these marks, of which 108 come from Site A, 24 from Site L, 16 from
Site C, four from site F, and one from each of Sites K and X.
Fig. 8.3. Distribution of Iron Age II potter's marks
Distribution (Fig. 8.4)
It is not surprising that the distribution of all three classes of objects is
dominated by the occurrences in Site A, as this was the sole area
excavated by Kenyon with clear evidence for stratified Iron Age
building remains; there are fewer occurrences in Sites L and C where
no significant building remains were uncovered, but contemporary use
of the areas was indicated by quarrying activities, and a series of tips/
fills/middens which were uncovered by Kenyon, by Tushingham (his
reasoned conclusions are given in 1985: 15-16) and by Lux at the
Lutheran Church site adjacent to Site C (V riezen 1994; see also
Magness 1995: 88). In other areas the statistical significance is low.
Fig. 8.4. Comparative distribution of Iron Age II objects by area
It is notable that on Sites A, L and C the proportional recovery
between these three classes of objects is very roughly similar (which at
least indicates some sort of statistical uniformity):
Site A:
Site L:
Site C:
Figurines
4.7 :
4.4 :
7.8 :
J ar stamps
1 :
1.2 :
1.6 :
Potters' marks
1
1.3
1
Soil volume (Fig. 8.5)
Quantification of these items in view of their very rare occurrence in
primary contexts is of only general value; and may indeed be governed
simply by the soil volume excavated in each area. An accurate
assessment of area is readily obtainable, but measurement of volume is
less precise. Although the depth of excavation in each trench is
measurable from the section drawings, not all areas within the trenches
were excavated, and generally a low average measurement of depth has
been taken for each trench. The measurement, recorded in units of 10
cubic metres on the chart, is relatively accurate, with currently (2001) a
slightly lower degree of reliability for Site F. In all, the Kenyon
expedition excavated about 4771.1 sq. m in Jerusalem and moved about
26,367.54 cu. m of debris. The chart shows the relationship of total
volume per site for all periods in comparison with finds of the three
categories discussed above.
Fig. 8.5. Distribution of objects and soil volume by area
Percentage of total finds in three categories from all sites against total volume
excavated = 3.6% (1 per 27.12 cu. m)
For Site A percentage of total finds in the three categories against volume
For Site L percentage of total finds in the three categories against volume excavated
= 2.72%(1 per 36.6 cu. m)
For Site C percentage of total finds in the three categories against volume
excavated = 21% (1 per 4.76 cu. m)
For Site F percentage of total finds in the three categories against volume excavated
= 2.06%(1 per 48.5 cu. m)
For Site K percentage of total finds in the three categories against volume
excavated = 0.78 (1 per 127.33 cu. m)
For Site S percentage of total finds in the three categories against volume excavated
= 0.15(1 per 652 cu. m)
For Site M percentage of total finds in the three categories against volume
If the archaeological evidence for Site A in IA II can be taken to
represent a general standard for the occurrence of these three classes of
objects (8.85 per cent), it can be seen that Site L at 2.72 per cent
represents a marked fall (lower than the 'average' 3.6 per cent), which
could be statistically relative to the quarry/midden status of the area as
proposed by Tushingham. Only 8 to 12 examples actually come from
contemporary IA II deposits in Site L, the majority come from the
overlying later deposits. Similarly, many figurines were noted in the fill
of the Herodian palace platform to the north of Site L (Bahat and
Broshi 1972: 172). Other sites show a yet lower ratio: Site F at 2.06 per
cent is perhaps more representative of the background noise to be
expected in a low-lying area used primarily for water storage, irrigation,
cultivation and burial; both rubbish disposal and field manuring could
account for the levels of occurrence in Site F. The unexpected statistic,
and largest intra-site variation which emerges, however, is for Site C,
which has by far the highest ratio of finds to soil volume at 1 per 4.76
cu. m (or 21 per cent). However, none of the Site C material comes
from the period of seventh-century quarrying and contemporary IA II
deposits; it derives entirely from the many metres of mixed IA II and
first century CE material, apparently imported as fill during the con-
struction of Aelia Capitolina in the second century CE (e.g. 32 figurines
were found in the lower fill, 39 in the upper fill, and 6 came from later
or unstratified contexts [checked against the phasing lists in Franken,
1992]). The concentration of these three categories of objects in the fill
is remarkable. The source of the fill is not known. If the fill material
was taken from the adjacent areas of IA II occupation on the western
hill (as seems most likely), it would be interesting to see comparable
distribution figures from the excavation of surviving stratigraphic
deposits in the J ewish quarter. It is notable that the proportions of
identifiable figurine types making up the total in Site C is 11 human, 61
quadrupeds, possibly 2 birds and 4 unidentifiable fragments. The
proportion of animal to human figurines is thus nearly 6:1, much higher
than the proportions (3:2) noted by Holland.
It was on the lack of such material in many other areas that Kenyon
based her 'minimalist view' of the occupation of the city in the Iron
Age. This negative data should still require an explanation when
hypotheses advocating much greater settlement patterns are proposed.
These explanations may yet be forthcomingthe reasons may be
simply the intensity of quarrying in the Roman and Byzantine periods
in some areas; but currently some of the evidence remains inconclusive.
Shiloh (1989: 98) on the basis of evidence from his Sites E and G in
Jerusalem, and his reading of the biblical texts, calculated that the
fortified area of the city by the end of the eighth century was 600
dunams. If primary consideration is given to the objectively assessed
archaeological evidence, this has still to be proved.
Comparative Data
It has been suggested that during the seventh century J erusalem became
increasingly isolated from the neighbouring kingdoms (Shiloh 1985:
145, 185), though contrary evidence for architectural and other evid-
ence for contact between Judah and the Iron Age kingdoms in Syria,
Transjordan and south Arabia has also been noted (Prag 1987: 127).
While many aspects of the archaeological assemblages observed in
Jerusalem do have a regional aspect, they should nonetheless be under-
stood and assessed in the wider context of contemporary practices.
The popularity of figurines at this time is shown in their wide
distribution. To the east, the figurines from contemporary Ammon and
Moab are receiving more attention nowadays (e.g. Worschech 1995).
The Transjordan distribution also includes Edom, as shown by the
recently published group from Tawilan near Petra, with a range of IA II
figurines generically comparable to those from Jerusalem (Bennett and
Bienkowski 1995: 80, Fig. 9.3; see also the material from Busayra,
Bienkowski and Sedman, this volume). Two of the best-known and
best-preserved Ammonite figurines of horse and rider were found in the
Maqabalain tomb near Amman (Harding 1950: 46-47, pi. XIII, nos. 37
and 38). Here the front of the horse's mane appears to be painted with
an item of harness decoration, rather than a sun disk or other cult
image; and the riders appear to hold a whip. Karageorghis's volumes on
the coroplastic art of Cyprus provide graphic evidence of the popularity
of the type in the regions to the west also. Karageorghis illustrates
numerous examples of horse and rider figures which appear early in
Cyprus (Cypro-Geometric 1), but become frequent by the eighth
century and are found through the seventh and sixth centuries; they are
particularly popular as votives in the late seventh century at the
sanctuary of Apollo Hylates at Kourion; Karageorghis notes both
Aegean and Assyrian influences on this figurine tradition in Cyprus. He
suggests that the horse itself was a status symbol, and many of the
Cypriot riders are depicted as armed warriors; the Cypriot contexts of
the figures are both funerary and votive; like many of the Palestinian
figurines, they have linear painted decoration, usually in red and black
paint (Karageorghis 1995: esp. 61-63 and pi. XLIV ). In the Jerusalem
context, however, they are often associated with the biblical references
to the horses of the sun, though whether a sun disk or a forelock or
horse harness decoration is depicted on the head is still debated. There
is less to connect the plentiful horse- and rider-figurines from Jerusalem
with a biblical description of a cult of the horses of the sun, than there
is to connect them with archaeologically attested patterns of use of very
similar objects in Cyprus and Transjordan.
As well as the popularity of figurines, and the shared architectural
and artistic motifs described previously (Prag 1987), some of the less
attractive finds indicate contact between Judah and the eastern regions.
David Reese notes many Red Sea shells coming to Jerusalem in the
Iron Age and the Roman period. There are 32 Red Sea Shells from Sites
A, C and L from the Kenyon excavations in Jerusalem and another 45
from the Shiloh excavationsthe source is 270 km from Jerusalem.
Their very presence suggests an active trade route or exchange system
between Jerusalem and the regions south and east. There are indications
of the same patterns of exploitation (of tridacna, lambis and turbo
shells in particular) at Tawilan, Busayra, Umm al-Biyara and Jerusalem
in the Iron Age, which suggest that the eastern land route was in regular
use. Almost all types of Red Sea shells at IA II Tawilan have parallels
in IA II Jerusalem (Reese 1995a: 93-96; 1995b: 265).
On a less material note, Keel (1994: 222) notes that seals relating to
the moon-cult of Harran were popular in Judah in the seventh century
BCE as indeed they were in the kingdoms to the east (e.g. from Ammon,
the seal from Maqabalain, Harding 1950: 46, pi. XIII: 2, XV : 9).
Glazier-McDonald's textual study (1995: 27-28, 31) suggests a
friendly trading relationship, if not partnership, between Judah and
Edom in the seventh century, a view which may well be supported by
this archaeological material.
Close analysis of material from Jerusalem cannot be pursued just in
the local and the biblical contexts. The Bible refers to plural societies
and external influences mostly in pejorative terms; this in itself is an
important and much studied subject, but should not govern the primary
analysis of archaeological material.
Decorative Relief Stamps on Pottery
Another variety of figural depiction appears to have a regional
distribution which extends beyond the borders of contemporary
kingdoms or provinces. A pottery fragment from En-gedi (on the
central west shore of the Dead Sea) was published over 30 years ago by
B. Mazar (Mazar and Dunayevsky 1967: 137 and pi. 31: 5; more
recently, Mazar 1993: 402). This was a krater fragment, showing some
wheel-burnishing, with stamped relief motifs. The fragment appears to
show two techniques; in one the wall of the vessel appears to have a
stamp impressed directly; in the other, soft clay was applied to the
surface of the unfired vessel (or perhaps to the stamp), and then
stamped onto the vessel. Three motifs were preserved on the En-gedi
fragment, only one of which was complete. They showed: to the left, a
bearded man, perhaps naked, seated, with right hand on knee, with a
plant/palmette motif in front of the figure: the plant/palmette was
identified by the authors as part of a booth or hut; in the centre, an
animal identified as a ram with projecting horns; and to the right, a
small fragment of a third stamp, suggested as depicting a mask, or a
lion's head, but not clearly identifiable. Stratigraphically, this En-gedi
fragment could date to Stratum V at the end of the Judaean monarchy,
or from the Persian period. Since it was found on bedrock, and had
some burnishing, the earlier date (c. 600 BCE) was preferred by Mazar,
who noted the unique character of the fragment. Holland (1977: 131 n.
6) referred to this piece and quoted T. Dothan who saw analogies to
Phrygian art, and suggested that the type was not indigenous to
Palestine. The fragment was republished with excellent photographs
and detailed comparative discussion by Stern (1978), who proposed
that the artistic derivation was Phoenician; he noted a number of
parallels in stamped, painted or incised Iron Age objects, such as the
painted sherd depicting a seated man from Ramat Rahel, and in
particular the parallels for the stamped technique on pottery from
Busayra.
The two sherds found at Busayra in Edom (Bennett 1975: 15, Fig. 8:9
and 10) show a suckling calf and cow on one stamp, and a standing stag
on the other; motifs stylistically clearly reflected in Assyrian art. The
Busayra sherds are from local fine wares, no. 9 is a bowl rim sherd in
very fine ware, with red and black lines painted on the exterior, with an
impressed stamp of a stag on the interior; no. 10 is part of a bowl, in
very fine ware, with red and black paint on the exterior with a buff
reserve panel on which the stamp with a cow and calf, and another with
a stag, is impressed. There is no additional applied clay for these
stampsthey are impressed directly onto the body of the vessel.
A very fine complete example of the same type of stamped decora-
tion has more recently been found at Nimrin (on the south bank of the
Wadi Shu'aib/Nimrin on the northern edge of the 'fields of Moab' in
Transjordan) and is published by Dornemann (1995). This krater, stan-
ding 33 cm high and 34 cm in diameter, has a frieze of similar motifs 8
cm high running right round the body; in this frieze, several stamps are
repeated to make 20 scenes. The ware is similar to the fragment from
En-gedi, and the krater is also wheel-burnished. The scenes consist of
stags, lions, Bes figures, naked men on either side of an incense altar,
and four ithyphallic men carrying boars on their shoulders; the groups
are separated by a stamped palm tree. Comparing the animals on the
Nimrin vessel to those from En-gedi, it is quite clear that the En-gedi
animal in the central stamp is not a ram, but a stag, as already noted by
Stern; the stamp could possibly be the same one in both cases, as could
that of the lion, which is complete on the Nimrin vessel. The technique,
with applied clay, occasionally means that part of the stamp relief is
missing, or has become detached from the vessel. The similarities
between the two vessels are very close, to an extent that they could well
be the product of the same workshop. The seated male figure on the En-
gedi fragment is, however, different from the Nimrin standing figures,
but like them, also appears to be naked. At both Nimrin and En-gedi a
naked man is associated with a plant/palmette, or as noted by
Dornemann, possibly 'a decorative space filler...or...some kind of a
tree, like a pine', rather than part of a booth, as suggested by Mazar.
U nfortunately Dornemann did not know of the En-gedi fragment, and
like Mazar, has treated the style as unique. There is also a parallel
between the Nimrin krater and the Ramat Rahel painted sherd: the latter
has what are presumably the muscles/veins of the arm shown, as in the
legs of the Nimrin lions (cf. Stern 1978: pi. II: B; and Dornemann 1995:
Fig. 6). The context of the Nimrin krater is eighth-sixth century, and
the very eclectic and ancient history of the motifs are explored in
detailed, though preliminary, study by Dornemann.
Another such sherd was found during the 1987 season of excavations
at Tell Iktanu on the Wadi Hisban, which lies 10 km south-east of
Nimrin, on the eastern fringe of the 'fields of Moab'. During the
sounding of the later Iron Age and Persian occupation of the tell, the
remains of a small fortress were recorded (Prag 1989: 40-44, Fig. 6, 8).
In Area D3, on the top of the main tell, a small trench was excavated
through the upper levels. The fortress was in use for several phases,
from at least the Iron Age II into the Persian period, and showed
evidence for complex functionsstrategic, storage and industrial. The
fragment (Fig. 8.6), of light pink hard ware with cream-pink surface,
wheel made, showed a small section of a stamped scene with palmette/
herring-bone motif, and otherwise unidentifiable motifs; there is strong
indentation on the interior from finger pressure when the stamp was
applied to the exterior (similar to that shown on the Nimrim krater,
Dornemann 1995: 621, Fig. 3); a relief groove has indications of per-
haps a loose clay pellet or traces of a second stamp. Not enough of the
stamp is preserved for identification of the motifs, and as only part of
the relief panel is preserved, it is not known whether the vessel was
burnished; the closest parallel to the Nimrin and En-gedi stamps is the
'palmette', but assuming that the wiping on the surface of the vessel is
also horizontal, the 'palmette' appears to lie horizontally, rather than
vertically as on the En-gedi and Nimrin examples, and is linked by
impressed lines to a different grouping of impressions. The sherd is
tantalizingly fragmentary.
There is evidence for at least two related traditions here: the En-gedi
and Nimrin stamps on clay pellets are found on burnished kraters, the
Busayra stamps are directly impressed on fine ware painted bowls; the
Iktanu stamp, almost certainly of the Persian period, possibly from a
krater, is closest to the first group. They share common motifs, and
common techniques.
The technique of stamping the wall of a vessel, with a wooden, bone
or clay mould (cf. Dornemann 1983: 132-42, Fig. 88), sometimes on a
pellet of soft clay added to the surface of the pot, the 'palmette' and
stag motifs, suggest that these items all form a coherent group. The
Fig. 8.6. Stamped sherd from Tell Iktanu, Jordan
context of the En-gedi piece was stratigraphically the very end of the
Iron Age II or the Persian period, but was attributed to the end of the
Iron Age largely on the basis of the presence of burnishing. Stern
(1982: 93, 133, Fig. 216, 218), however, notes that the use of
burnishing continued into the first phase of the Persian period, and
notes also the presence of pottery stamped with decorative motifs at this
period, the most distinctive of which is also from En-gedi. Dornemann
notes that the dating of the Nimrin pottery is still at a preliminary stage,
and the Nimrin assemblage overall dates from the tenth to the fourth
centuries (Dornemann 1995: 624). The current distribution of the style,
on the western shore of the Dead Sea, in the south-east Jordan V alley,
and the southern Transjordan plateau, is also coherent and appears to
testify not just to local ceramics, but to a very localized set of eclectic
art forms which are likely to reflect the stories and cultural milieu of the
contemporary population, where perhaps the influences are Syrian/
Assyrian as much as Phoenician. Dornemann (1995: 627), while noting
numerous parallels with Assyrian art, considers the Greek preference
for depicting the naked body, and other themes found in Greek
orientalizing art, which recall T. Dothan's comment about Phrygian
parallels noted above. Terracotta plaques stamped from moulds, and
bronze shield bands from the Greek world, have features in common
(see, e.g., Prag 1985: pi. 1 from Gortyn, dated c. 630-610 BCE; pi. 2a
from Olympia, dated to the second quarter of the sixth century BCE).
Attic black-glazed pottery of the fifth century was imported to Tell
Iktanu. However, palm trees, lions, stags, cattle are all attested in the
region at this period, and wild-boar hunting continues into modern
times along the Jordan river. There seems no reason to look further
afield for the origin of this style than in tracing the broader aspects of a
very eclectic art historywhether Assyrian, Phoenician, Egyptian,
Phrygian or Greek, and to note the reinforcement of these cultural
affiliations across the contemporary political boundaries.
Acknowledgments
I am grateful to Leonie Sedman and Piotr Bienkowski for illustrations
of the Busayra stamp impressions and the Maqabalain figurines; and to
Amihai Mazar and E. Stern for the reference to Stern's article on the
En-gedi sherd.
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Ariel, D.T.
1990 Excavations at the City of David 1978-1985. II. Imported Stamped
Amphora Handles, Coins, Worked Bone and Ivory, Glass (Qedem, 30:
Jerusalem: Hebrew U niversity).
Bahat, D., and M. Broshi
1972 'J erusalem, Old City, the Armenian Garden' ,IEJ22: 171 -72.
Bennett, C.-M.
1975 'Excavations at Buseirah, Southern J ordan, 1973: Third Preliminary
Report', Levant V II: 1-19.
Bennett, C.-M., and P. Bienkowski
1995 Excavations at Tawilan in Southern Jordan. With contributions by
Khaireh 'Amr, Stephanie Dalley, Stephen Hart, Use Kohler-Rollefson,
Jack Ogden, Dani Petocz and David S. Reese (British Academy Mono-
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1983 The Archaeology of the Transjordan in the Bronze and Iron Ages
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1995 'Preliminary Thoughts on the Tall Nimrin Krater', Studies in the History
and Archaeology of Jordan V : 621-28.
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Cave Deposits on the South-east Hill and Isolated Burials and Cemeteries
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Freiburg: U niversitatsverlag; Gottingen: V andenhoeck & Ruprecht.
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Prag, A.J .N.W.
1985
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1987
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1995a
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9
ISTAR AS DEPICTED ON FINDS FROM ISRAEL*
Tallay Oman
Figures and symbols that appear on seals may serve as criteria for
chronology and as a means for offering some insight into the beliefs of
their ancient owners. One group of seals found in Israel, dated to the
eighth-seventh centuries BCE, the period of the Assyrian conquest of
Israel, consists of seals considered to reflect Assyrian iconography. Of
these, some depict a goddess within a circle, who is known in first-
millennium Assyrian imagery, mainly in glyptic art, and is identified as
Istar. My aim here is to focus on the depictions of this goddess dated to
the period of the Assyrian conquest found in Israel. Some of these
representations reveal a blend of Assyrian and local traits and thus
imply local manufacture inspired by Assyrian imagery. This Assyrian
inspiration may add iconographical considerations to the debate with
regard to the identification of the biblical Queen of Heaven.
The goddess shown within a circle is found on six seals found in
Israel: two cylinder seals (Figs. 9.1 and 9.2),
1
three stamp seals (Figs.
The text of this paper is an enlarged version of the one presented at the
Institute of J ewish Studies, U niversity College, London, 1996. I amgrateful to M.
Geller and A. Mazar for inviting me to take part in that conference. I wish to thank
Amnon Ben-Tor and Gary Beckman for reading the manuscript and for their useful
suggestions and remarks.
1. Fig. 9.1 is a drawing of a cylinder seal from Shechem, found in 1928 in the
debris above the north-west temple. It is made of hard black stone speckled with
white spots, h. 2.5 cm, d. 1 cm, Israel Antiquity Authority (IAA) 1.744. (Parker
1949: 7, no. 6; Keel and Uehlinger 1992: 334, Fig. 287). Fig. 9.2 is a drawing of an
unpublished carnelian cylinder seal kept in the Israel Museum 70.32.20, acquired in
the vicinity of Shechem.
9.S-9.5),
2
and one barrel-shaped seal (Fig. 9.6).
3
Two of these seals
were discovered in controlled excavations at Shechem and at Tel Dor
(Figs. 9.1 and 9.6); two were surface finds, from Nahal Issachar in the
lower Galilee and from the vicinity of Beth-She'an (Figs. 9.3 and 9.4).
The other two seals were bought in the antiquities market and their
attribution to Israel is thus somewhat conjectural (Figs. 9.2 and 9.5). To
this group one should add a silver pendant that was discovered in Tel
Miqne-Ekron, on which a portrayal of the same goddess in a more
detailed presentation is depicted (Fig. 9.7).
4
Fig. 9.1. Cylinder seal from Shechem (Keel and Uehlinger 1992: Fig. 287)
2. Fig. 9.3 is a drawing of a scaraboid seal made of green stone, h. 0.8 cm, w.
1.8, 1. 2.5, IAA 80-5. It was found on the surface of Nahal Issachar and could
perhaps be connected to finds from Tel Rechesh, north of Nahal Issachar, which
include an Assyrionized pottery bowl (Hestrin and Stern 1973). Fig. 9.4 is a draw-
ing of a conoid stamp seal, made of limestone, which was found in the vicinity of
Beth She'an, kept in a private collection (Keel and U ehlinger 1992: 334, Fig.
288b). Fig. 9.5 is a drawing of a stamp seal formerly belonging to the collection of
H.E. Clark, vice-consul of the U nited States in Jerusalem in 1912. Its present
whereabouts is unknown (Keel and U ehlinger 1992: 331, Fig. 288a).
3. Fig. 9.6 is a drawing of a somewhat flattened barrel-shaped seal, made of
reddish-brown hard stone, h. 3 cm, w. 1.8 cm. It was found in area B2 on the
eastern part of Tel Dor, below a Roman pavement together with finds dated from
the Persian to the Roman periods. I wish to thank E. Stern for providing me with
these details (Stern 1994a: 140-42, Fig. 80). In contrast to Stern's opinion,
however, the worshipper cannot represent an Assyrian king as he lacks the typical
Assyrian headgear and the deity is not to be identified with the god Assur as
apparently he is not known to be depicted in Assyrian art surrounded by a circle.
4. Gitin 1997:93, Fig. 21.
ORNAN Istar as Depicted on Finds from Israel 237
Fig. 9.2. Unprovenanced cylinder seal, Israel Museum 70.32.20
(drawing by Noga Z'evi)
Fig. 9.3. Stamp seal from Nahal
Issachar, surface find, Israel Antiquities
Authority 80-5 (drawing by Noga Z'evi)
Fig. 9.4. Stamp seal from the
vicinity of Beth Sh'ean (Keel and
Uehlinger 1992: Fig. 288b)
Fig. 9.5. Unprovenanced stamp seal
(Keel and Uehlinger 1992: Fig. 288a)
Fig. 9.6. Barrel-shaped seal from
Tel Dor (Keel and Uehlinger 1992:
Fig. 288c)
Fig. 9.7. Silver pendant from Tel Miqne
(drawing by Noga Z'evi after BARev 19.1 (1993): 34)
Identification of Encircled Istar
Depictions of Istar on Near Eastern first-millennium monumental works
of art are rather uncommon. She is portrayed on the stele of Samas-res-
usur dated to the first third of the eighth century, found in Babylon
where it was taken as war booty from Suhu on the middle Euphrates.
Istar is shown on the far left on Fig. 9.8, behind the image of Adad,
who is facing Samas-res-usur. Part of a figure of a third deity is shown
behind Samas-res-usur.
The identification of Istar on this stele is confirmed by a small label
seen next to her and by the star she holds above her bow.
5
On Senna-
cherib's rock relief from Maltai, Istar is depicted twice mounted on her
sacred beast, the lion: the second seated figure identified with Ninlil,
who is Istar of Nineveh, and the last figure, identified with Istar of
Arbela.
6
She is probably also represented on a fragment from U ruk,
dated to the ninth-seventh centuries BCE.
7
5. Cavigneaux and Ismail 1990: 324, 401, Fig. 3. For the identification of the
star see n. 9 below (the two other deities are also identified by small labels).
6. Borker-Klahn 1982: 210-11, no. 210-207 (and bibliography there). For the
identification of Ninlil (Mullissu) with Istar of Nineveh see Menzel 1981: 64 and
Livingstone 1989: 18-19.
7. Becker 1993: 61, pi. 50: 795. The authenticity of the relief, allegedly from
Babylon, mentioned by Dates (1986: 125, Fig. 84) is dubious (Borker-Klahn 1982:
232, no. 270).
ORNAN Is tar as Depicted on Finds from Israel 239
Fig. 9.8. Stele of Samas-res-usur (after Cavigneaux and Ismail 1990: 401, Fig. 3)
Mesopotamian literature refers to the multifaceted Istar with different
epithets, most of which relate to her various cult centres, as for example
Istar of Nineveh, or Istar of Assur. Her various epithets indicate that,
alongside features commonly shared by the different representations of
the goddessher warlike character, for exampleeach figure had its
own peculiarities. Nevertheless, it is usually hard to determine which of
her various textual manifestations are represented in her visual depic-
tions. Thus, for example, some scholars believe that Istar of Nineveh
was shown naked (Wiggermann 1994: 232), whereas others suggest
that she was shown fully dressed, as can be seen in her appearance on
the Maltai rock relief. As a rule the records concerning the exact quali-
ties that characterize each figure and the visual details that may identify
the various manifestations of Istar are insufficient for our purposes.
As the known anthropomorphic representations of Istar found in
Israel depict her only within a circle,
8
I wish to elaborate on the diffi-
culties in identifying this specific visual portrayal of the goddess.
Encircled Istar appears on a wall relief from the North Palace of
Assurbanipal where she decorates a chariot pole (Fig. 9.9). U sually,
however, Istar is mainly depicted on minor works of art, usually seals
and jewels, in the ninth-seventh centuries and not in Assyrian
monumental art. The identification of the encircled goddess with Istar is
8. The figure depicted on a stamp seal from Shechem(Keel and Uehlinger
1992: Fig. 286) cannot with certainty be identified with Istar, as it lacks specific
attributes that may confirm such identification.
based on representations in which stars, regarded as her emblems,
9
are
depicted together with the circle (e.g. Figs. 9.5, 9.15 and 9.18), and on
the features of light and radiance that are attributed to the goddess in
written sources.
10
Those cases in which the goddess is surrounded by a
circle of stars may imply that she can also be identified with Istar when
she is surrounded by a circle without stars (Figs. 9.1-9.4, 9.6, 9.7, 9.9,
9.13, 9.14 and 9.17). The same identification may even be applied to
those examples in which the circle does not surround her completely,
and is seen mainly on the goddess's back (Figs. 9.7 and 9.14).
Fig. 9.9. Decoration on a chariot pole, wall relief from the North Palace of
Assurbanipal, Nineveh (drawing by Noga Z'evi after Reade 1977: pi. 3:b)
Encircled Istar is identified sometimes with Istar of Arbela (Wilcke
1976-80: 82; Seidl 1976-80: 88; Herbordt 1992: 110 n. 331). This
identification was first suggested by the excavators of Til Barsib with
regard to the depiction of Istar on a stele, found out of context and
dated to the first half of the eighth century (Fig. 9.10). It was based on
an interpretation of the 'half circle' seen on the back of the goddess as a
circle of fire, envisioned in a dream of a priest, in a seventh-century text
(Thureau-Dangin and Dunand 1936: 156-57). As the stele from Til
9. The star is an age-old symbol that became common as an independent
emblem already at the end of the fourth millennium BCE. It can be identified as the
emblemof Istar on the Samas-res-usur stele and on the Til Barsib stele where it is
depicted above the goddess's headdress (Figs. 9.8 and 9.10). The labels accom-
panying these two portrayals confirmthe identification with Istar in both cases. See
also the stelea of Bel-Haran-bel-usur, of Sargon from Larnaka, of Sennacherib from
Bavian and the Sippar tablet (Seidl 1989: 100 n. 12; van Buren 1945: 85-82).
10. Porada 1948: 84; Winter 1994: 123 (and bibliography there).
Barsib was accompanied by a dedication inscription of Assur-dur-
pania, the governor of Kar-Shalmaneser (Til Barsib) to Istar of Arbela,
it was deduced that the encircled Istar is to be identified with the
goddess who dwelt in Arbela. However, the curving-out curling line
seen on the back of the goddess seems to depict the upper part of a
composite bow (Y adin 1963: 7-8, 295), that she carries on her back,
and is neither part of a melammu, an awe-inspiring aura, nor a circle of
fire surrounding her. The short lines radiating from the bow may
represent the bright sparkling that accompanies the divine weapon, as is
seen also on weapons held by other deities.
11
Fig. 9.10. Stele from Til Barsib (after Parrot, A. 7967,
Nineveh and Babylon, London: Thames and Hudson, Fig. 85)
As suggested by Barrelet (1955: 259), through a probable misinter-
pretation in antiquity, the bow on Istar's back on the Til Barsib stele
was perhaps associated with the circle in Istar's other portrayals. None-
theless, even if this explanation is accepted, one cannot ultimately
identify the encircled Istar with the goddess from Arbela. Additional
details concerning the visual appearance of Istar of Arbela cannot even
be deduced from a bronze statuette inscribed with a dedication to Istar
11. See, for example, the stars on the bow of the god (Ninurta?) shooting at a
lion-griffin (Porada 1948: no. 689) and compare the stars that are seen at the ends
of Istar's quivers and the row of dots that adorn her sickle sword (Fig. 9.12).
of Arbela, as it portrays the figure of the worshipper who dedicated it,
and not that of the goddess.
12
Thus relating the representations in which
Istar is shown within a circle specifically to Istar of Arbela is rather
difficult. The only conclusion one may draw from the juxtaposition of
legend and picture on the stele of Til Barsib with regard to the imagery
of Istar from Arbela concerns her warrior aspects which are highly
emphasized in written sources (Pongratz-Leisten 1994: 81). One is
tempted to distinguish between the warrior Istar from Arbela depicted
in the Til Barsib stele mounted on her lion, and the encircled goddess,
who probably represents Istar in her role as an astral deity, as suggested
by Teissier (1984: 37). However, such a suggestion is disproved by
pictorial depictions in which the goddess within the circle also wears a
long sword and is sometimes mounted on a lion (e.g. Figs. 9.7 and
9.15).
A figure of a goddess, who is depicted with 'half circles' hanging
from her back in a manner similar to the depiction on the Til Barsib
stele, is seen on an unprovenanced eighth-sixth century bronze axe,
which is regarded as a Phoenician product (Fig. 9. I I ).
13
Other figures,
depicting divine (?) male warriors, carrying similar elements on their
backs, can be seen on the Aramaic inscribed seal of Suri, and on a
bronze bowl from Nimrud, both reflecting Phoenician imagery.
14
These
examples imply that the depiction of Istar on the Til Barsib stele could
have been inspired by visual traditions prevailing in North Syria and
probably in the Phoenician coast, which were intertwined with those of
Assyria and Babylonia. The find spot of the stele of Til Barsib in
Northern Syria may in itself strengthen the suggestion that the hanging
bow on the goddess's back was in fact a trait native to Syria. Depen-
dence on Syrian iconography may be traced also in the mounting of the
goddess on a lion on the stele from Til Barsib. Although deities
mounted on animals are known already on Assyrian cylinder seals from
the end of the ninth century,
15
in Neo-Assyrian monumental art they
appear a result of Syrian inspiration only on monuments dating from
the reign of Sennacherib, as shown by Winter (1982: 6). It seems there-
12. Thureau-Dangin 1907: 133-34 (photo in Reallexikon der Assyriologie, I, pi.
8).
13. Barnett 1969: 7, pi. 8 A-B; Seeden 1980: 145, pi. 131:11.
14. Avigad and Sass 1997: 314, no. 840; Barnett 1969: Fig. 1.
15. Herbordt 1992: 193, 196 nos. 88, 97, pis. 1:1, 21:6. Mounting deity on a
lion is already attested to in late Middle Assyrian glyptic (Moortgat 1942: Fig. 36).
fore, that mounting the goddess on her sacred beast on the earlier stele
of Til Barsib can be regarded as a continuation of second millennium
Syrian traditions that were inspired by Hittite and, perhaps, Human
traditions.
16
Fig. 9.11. Goddess depicted on a Phoenician bronze axe (Winter 1983: Fig. 21J)
Encircled Istar on Seals from Israel
As a sole element on the seal, encircled Istar appears only on stamp
seals (Figs. 9.3-9.5), that can be dated by comparisons to seals and
sealings from Nimrud and Tell Halaf, to the last quarter of the eighth
and the seventh centuries BCE.
17
Encircled Istar is shown together with
a worshipper and a high cultic stand on the cylinder seal from Shechem,
on the cylinder seal attributed to the Shechemvicinity, and on the pend-
16. Menzel 1981: 6 (and bibliography there).
17. Herbordt 1992: pi. 15: 9, 11. The fish, seen on the back of the Nahal
Issachar seal (Fig. 9.3b) can be regarded, because of its proximity here to Istar, as a
benevolent emblem. However, in contrast to the divine figure, here it does not
necessarily reflect Assyrian influence, as it is depicted on contemporary Hebrew
seals (Sass 1993: 218). Compare Buchanan and Moorey 1988: no. 362 and see
Hrouda 1990: 111-13.
ant from Tel Miqne where the circle, though, is hardly visible (see
below and Figs. 9.1, 9.2 and 9.7). On the barrel-shaped seal from Dor
the goddess is seen together with a worshipper but with no cultic stand
(Fig. 9.6).
In spite of the fact that the cylinder seals from Shechem and its
vicinity were made of hard stones, they were engraved mainly through
linear incisions and not, as was usual in Mesopotamian glyptic of hard
stones, by drilling. The application of linear techniques on hard stones
implies that these two cylinder seals represent local variants inspired by
two different Assyrian prototypes depicting encircled Istar. The first
Assyrian prototype was composed of drilled style seals made of hard
stones, which omit a stand between the deity and the worshipper. The
second group is constituted by seals made of softer material (e.g. sin-
tered quartz or limestone) that were worked in chip carving technique
(kerbschnitt), on which a stand is to be seen between the goddess and
the worshipper. Based on these Assyrian prototypes, we may date the
two cylinder seals from Israel to the end of the ninth century and the
eighth century BCE.
18
However, a cultic stand above which there are
traces of flames, depicted on a wall-relief of Sennacherib, may allow us
to narrow the date of these seals to the end of the eighth century
(Russell 1991:207, Fig. 113).
The third seal from Israel, which depicts a worshipper standing in
front of encircled Istar, is the one from Tel Dor (Fig. 9.6). This seal is
unique in its barrel shape as well as in its depiction, which shows a
female worshipper standing in front of the goddess. Female worship-
pers are not very common in Neo-Assyrian art. Nevertheless, they are
shown gesturing in front of Istar on an elaborate eighth-century cylin-
der seal, kept in the British Museum (Fig. 9.12) and on a Babylonian
cylinder seal inscribed with a South-Semitic legend (Collon 1987: no.
773; Sass 1991: 51-53). A female worshipper, probably Sennacherib's
spouse, is seen together with the king in front of encircled Istar
mounted on a lion, on seal impressions from Assur and Nineveh (Fig.
9.13).
19
A female worshipper is shown on a silver pendant from Zinjirli
(Fig. 9.14), and women worshippers are represented on U rartian metal
medallions (von Luschan 1943: pi. 46a; Merhav 1991: 175, Fig. 1).
18. Herbordt 1992: 74. Teissier 1984: nos. 210-14 compare Porada 1948: nos.
679-82 and Moortgat 1940: nos. 598-99.
19. Reade 1987; Herbordt 1992: 112, 137; Klengel-Brandt 1994.
Fig. 9.12. Neo-Assyrian cylinder seal (Winter 1983: Fig. 504)
Fig. 9.13. Seal impression of Sennacherib
(Klengel-Brandt 1994: Fig. 1)
Fig. 9.14. Silver pendant from
Zinjirli (Winter 1983: Fig. 503)
Fig. 9.15. Neo-Assyrian cylinder seal (Black and Green 1992: Fig. 87 bottom
(= Moortgat 1940: no. 598)
These Neo-Assyrian portrayals indicate that the depictions of female
worshippers should not be seen as an exclusive trait of Middle Assyrian
glyptic, as was suggested by Porada (1978: 77 and n. 4), but rather as
an element of continuity between the two periods. The fact that the
women on these Neo-Assyrian examples and on the seal from Tel Dor
are shown together with Istar may corroborate the goddess's special
role with regard to the cult carried out by women, as is suggested by
both Mesopotamian literature and the Bible with regard to the worship
of the Queen of Heaven (Ackerman 1989: 116). As the seal from Dor
was found in a late post-Assyrian phase, it can be dated only by
typological comparisons. Its modelled style and the appearance of the
female worshipper, which finds a securely dated parallel only in Senna-
cherib's bullae, suggest dating it to the end of the eighth-seventh
centuries. Another unique element of the Dor seal is the object held by
the worshipper, which may be interpreted as a bowl.
20
Neo-Assyrian
worshippers are not, as a rule, depicted carrying bowls, except the king
when represented as a priest or in banquet scenes.
21
Thus the appear-
ance of the bowl may suggest a non-Assyrian production of the seal
from Dor. A woman holding a bowl portrayed on a decorated scapula
found at Dor, which presumably depicts a cultic scene (Stern 1994b:
11, Figs. 8 and 12), may strengthen our suggestion and imply a local
production of the seal from Dor.
The Pendant from Tel Miqne
The only depiction of Istar from Israel known thus far, other than on
seals, is her portrayal on the silver pendant found at Tel Miqne (Fig.
9.7).
22
This representation of the deity, although somewhat worn, is the
most complete one among her manifestations from Israel. She is
standing on a lion, holding its leash with her left arm, while raising her
20. Stern 1994a: 140. See also the above-mentioned inscribed South Semitic
seal, in which the female worshipper carries a goblet and a stand (Sass 1991, idem).
21. Magen 1986: 67-68; Moortgat 1940: nos. 665, 668, 670; Porada 1948: 664-
672. See also Winter 1986.
22. Gitin 1995: 93, Fig. 21. It was discovered as part of a silver hoard that con-
tained other silver fragments, in Stratum Bl, in the upper city, which was presu-
mably destroyed during the Babylonian conquest in 603. In its upper end the
pendant has a loop, in which traces of different material, perhaps unglazed sintered
quartz, were found. Two of the Sebettu 'circles' are hidden by the loop and imply
that it was folded after the pattern was completed.
right arm in a blessing gesture. The long, somewhat slanting line seen
above the goddess's left arm, and ending behind her body, stands for
the long sword she is carrying. Behind the goddess's back are three
triangles terminating in small circles. Another one can be observed in
front of her, below the lion's leash. By comparisons with other portray-
als of Istar these triangles can be understood as part of an incomplete
circle surrounding her (compare Fig. 9.14). In front of the goddess is a
worshipper, extending both his arms toward the deity in a gesture of
prayer or entreaty. Between the worshipper and the lion there is a cultic
stand decorated with horizontal lines, probably imitating similar painted
vessels discovered in Tel Miqne (Gitin 1997: Fig. 12:20). The lion
holds his mouth open as if roaring, and its tail, terminating in a bulb, is
erect. Above and between the goddess and the devotee there are seven
small circles, which represent the Sebettu, the Pleiades, and a winged
disc above a crescent.
As was indicated by Gitin, the nearest parallels to the pendant are
silver pendants from Zinjirli in Northern Syria (Fig. 9.14).
23
However,
the pendants from Zinjirli differ from the Tel Miqne piece in details,
style and workmanship. The winged disc is not depicted on the pen-
dants from Zinjirli, on which only the crescent and the Pleiades are
shown. The cultic stand is shown only on the Tel Miqne pendant. The
divine headdresses of the Zinjirli pendants are depicted like the
Assyrian ones, while the crown of the goddess from Tel Miqne, consis-
ting of five vertical lines and two horizontals, may imitate the Babylo-
nian feather crown, seen also on the seal from Nahal Issachar and on
the stele from Til Barsib (Figs. 9.3a, 9.10). The encounter between the
mortal and the deity on the Zinjirli examples takes place above a scale
pattern, which symbolizes mountains in Mesopotamian iconography,
while on the Tel Miqne pendant, the meeting is shown above a net-like
pattern, known on Phoenician seals.
24
On the pendant from Tel Miqne
the supplicant raises both hands with his palms open toward the god-
dess, similar to a praying gesture common in Phoenician iconography,
which is different from both Assyrian and Babylonian gestures.
25
The
23. Gitin 1997: 93 n. 58 (von Luschan 1943: pi. 46:a-d).
24. Wiggermann 1994: 236, 242; Avigad and Sass 1997: nos. 725, 728, 745;
Keel and U ehlinger 1992: Figs. 36I b, 363a, 363d, 364-66 (though some of these
last examples are later than the pendant from Miqne).
25. Compare the Babylonian gesture depicted in Fig. 9.14 and the Assyrian one
depicted in Figs. 9.12 and 9.15.
components of the Zinjirli compositions are well organized and bal-
anced, and their proportions are harmonious, whereas those of the Tel
Miqne pendant are distorted. The arm of the goddess is much too thin
compared with her palm, and the heads of both figures and that of the
lion are too big in relation to their bodies. In addition, the deity's chin
and nose are too heavy and protruding when compared with the depic-
tions from Zinjirli. The negligent workmanship of the design is evident
by a contrast between deeply incised lines and very thin ones, hardly
visible, that often extend from the contour lines of the various elements.
It is manifested also by the uncompleted circles of the Pleiades, by the
rendition of the winged disc with two wings combined with an unclear
element, by the rendering of the divine headdress, and by depicting the
worshipper 'hovering' above the ground line as opposed to the lion,
which stands on it.
The rendering of Istar mounted on a lion on the Til Barsib stele, on
the cylinder seal of the eunuch Nabu-usalla, dated to the reign of
Sargon (Fig. 9.16) and on the impressions from the reign of Senna-
cherib (Fig. 9.13), may imply an eighth-century dating for the pendant.
However, the attribution of the Zinjirli pendants to Stratum IV , which
probably was destroyed shortly before 670-671 BCE (Lehmann 1994:
117-18) confirms a seventh-century or perhaps late eighth-century date
for the pendant from Tel Miqne.
Fig. 9.16. Seal of Nabu-usalla (Watanabe 1992: Fig. 1)
The degenerate style and workmanship, the careless imitation of
Assyro-Babylonian motifs, and the addition of local features (e.g. hand
gestures, net-like patterns and hatched clothing
26
) imply that it was
26. For the clothing see Keel and U ehlinger 1992: Figs. 299a-304, 346.
made locally with a clear dependence on Assyrian iconography. The
resemblance to the Zinjirli pendants may hint that the Assyrian theme
conveyed on the pendant was transferred to Israel via the Assyrian
provinces of Syria.
The Goddess on the Lachish Seal
Having established the role of encircled Istar in local finds from Israel, I
wish to focus now on a depiction seen on a stamp seal found on the
surface at Lachish (Fig. 9.17; Tufnell 1953: 365, pi. 44:124; Keel and
Uehlinger 1992: 377, Fig. 323). The divine identification of the central
figure on this seal is established, as indicated by U ehlinger, by the ges-
turing worshipper who accompanies the goddess, and by the crown on
her head (Keel and U ehlinger 1992: 377). Her association with abun-
dance and fertility can be assumed from the positioning of her hands on
her breasts.
Fig. 9.17. Stamp seal from Lachish (Keel and Uehlinger 1992: Fig. 323)
Although the representation of this seal differs from the Assyrian
depictions in which Istar is shown, some of its details disclose Assyrian
inspiration, mixed with local features. The most conspicuous among
these is the worshipper's pose, revealing one foot, which is close to
Neo-Assyrian prototypes. His position on a small podium, although not
common, is also known in Neo-Assyrian art (Borker-Klahn 1982: Fig.
237). However, it is the branch seen behind the deity, which appears
both in Assyrian and in local finds, that may attest to the connections
between the two visual traditions. The branch is a very common ele-
ment in local representations, in which it sometimes appears alongside
a worshipper or with a star.
27
A branch behind a worshipper is seen on
the back of a seal from the city of Assur (Fig. 9.18b). On the other side
of that seal is a depiction of encircled Istar (Fig. 9.18a), and therefore
the worshipper is probably gesturing towards her. The use of the branch
on the seal from Lachish and on the one from Assur hints that the
figures on both seals may represent the same deity, or else two deities
who share common characteristics.
Fig. 9.18. Stamp seal from the city of Assur, Jakob-Rost 1975: no. 199
(drawing by Noga Z'evi)
Although many of the portrayals of Istar depict her as a war-like
goddess, a portrayal which does not fit her proposed identification on
the Lachish seal, there are other renderings in which she appears with
no weapons, and thus other characteristics, such as fertility, could be
assigned to her. Such iconography may be implied from her appearance
on the impressions from the reign of Sennacherib (Fig. 9.13), in whic
the goddess has no weapon. Moreover, the scorpion seen between the
goddess and the worshippers on these impressions may confirm her fer-
tility aspects, as it stands for the goddess Ishara, who is sometimes
identified with Istar/Innana in her non-warrior manifestation (Seidl
1989: 157; Black and Green: 1992, 160). Corroborate for the
abundance or fertility aspects of Istar can also be found in prophetic
documents dating to the reign of Assurbanipal, in which she is
described as the goddess with four breasts, who is the good wet nurse
27. Reisner et al 1924: 377, All no.l 1, pi. 57a:2 (Samaria); Keel and U ehlinge
1992: Fig. 312a, (Acco); and on inscribed seals: Avigad and Sass 1997: nos. 99
1079. On the relationship between a branch (or a tree) and a female deity on local
second-millennium iconography see Keel and U ehlinger 1992: 378.
of the king (Livingstone 1989: 34). The selection of the frontal position
and emphasis on the breasts on the seal from Lachish, fit the local
J udahite tradition of portraying abundance and fertility by means of
female figures, as attested by the pillar-shaped figurines (Kletter 1996).
The varying motifs depicted on the Lachish seal thus represent a
mixture of local and Assyrian traits, which imply Assyrian inspiration
on the local J udahite iconography.
Conclusions
The portrayal of Istar on the pendant from Tel Miqne and on the
cylinder and stamp seals discussed here constitutes the most common
depiction of a human-shaped Assyrian deity on local finds from Israel
dating to the period of the Assyrian conquest. The popularity of this
Assyrian goddess during the period of the Mesopotamian rule on Israel
can be corroborated by other manifestations of Istar in which she is
represented only by her symbol, the star, on contemporary stamp seals
found in Israel.
28
The locally made products that depict Istar, and the
use of Assyrian traits exemplified here by the seal from Lachish,
suggest adaptation of Assyrian imagery by local artisans and imply
penetration of the worship of Istar into local cult.
This conclusion with regard to Assyrian penetration into local icono-
graphy and the prominent role of the goddess Istar as reflected on finds
from Israel, may have some bearing on the identification of the biblical
Queen of Heaven. The epithet, mentioned with regard to a cult carried
out both in J udah and in Egypt, among Judahite exiles (Jer. 7.18; 44.17-
19, 25), can be associated with several principal goddesses known in
ancient Near Eastern literature.
29
Among these goddesses Astarte and
Istar are probably the two most plausible candidates for identification
with the biblical Queen of Heaven (Olyan 1987: 174; Ackerman 1989:
110-16). Hadley (1997: 117-78) has suggested that the epithet replaced
the name of the specific goddess whose cult is described, but was
forgotten at the period of the compiling of the book of Jeremiah. Even
if one accepts this suggestion, the use of the kawwanim, cognate to the
28. Keel 1997: 694, no. 140 (Ashkalon), 520, no. 1232 (Ajjul); Reisner et al.
1924: 377, pi. 57a:d (Samaria); Lamon and Shipton 1939: pis. 67, 68, no. 9
(Megiddo); Petrie 1928: 11, pi. 20:17 (Tell Jemmeh) and see above, n. 9.
29. ABD 6: 586-88; van der Toorn, Becking and van der Horst 1995: 1279 and
bibliography there.
Assyrian kamanu, which appears in association with the Queen of
Heaven and is as yet known only with regard to Istar, emphasizes the
similarity of the worship of Queen of Heaven to that of Istar.
30
The
manifestations of Istar on locally made finds from Israel strengthen the
notion of the Assyrian inspiration on the image of the Queen of Heaven
and the resemblance of her cult to that of Istar.
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1994 'Mischwesen A', Reallexikon der Assyriologie 8: 222-44.
Weinfeld, M.
1972 'The Worship of Molech and of the Queen of Heaven', UF 4: 133-54.
Wilcke, C.
1976-80 Tnanna/Ishtar (Mesopotamien) A. Philologisch', Reallexikon der
Assyriologie 5: 74-87.
s
Winter, I.J.
1982
1986
1994
Winter, U .
1983
Y adin, Y .
1963
'Art as Evidence for Interaction: Relations between the Assyrian Empire
and North Syria', in H.-J. Nissen and J . Renger, (eds.), Mesopotamien
und seine Nachbarn, Politische und kulturelle Wechselbeziehungen im
Alten Vorderasien vom 4. bis 1. Jahrtausend v. Chr. (Berlin: Dietrich
Reimer): 355-82.
'The King and the Cup: Iconography of the Royal Presentation Scene on
Ur III Seals', in M. Kelly-Buccellati et al. (eds.), Insight Through Images,
Studies in Honor of Edith Porada (Bibliotheca Mesopotamica, 21;
Malibu: U denda Publications): 253-68.
'Radiance as an Aesthetic V alue in the Art of Mesopotamia (with some
Indian Parallels)', in B.N. Saraswati, S.C. Malik and M. Khanna (eds.),
ArtThe Integral Vision: A Volume of Essays in Felicitation of Kapila
Vatsyayan (New Delhi: O.K. Printworld): 123-32.
Frau und Gb'ttin (OBO, 53; Freibourg: U niversitatsverlag; Gottingen:
V andenhoeck & Ruprecht).
The Art of Warfare in Biblical Lands in the Light of Archaeological Study
(J erusalem: International Publishing).
10
A ROOM WITH A V IEW: IMAGES FROM ROOM V AT KHORSABAD,
SAMARIA, NU BIANS, THE BROOK OF EGY PT AND ASHDOD*
Norma Franklin
The Historical Setting
Samaria and the Samarians
The last king of Israel, Hosea, rebelled in c. 724 BCE, and Samaria was
subdued once, twice, perhaps even four times (Tadmor 1958; Na'aman
1990; Hayes and Kuan 1991; Becking 1992). However, upon
Shalmaneser's demise, Samaria rebelled at least once more (Na'aman
1990: 213). The final conquest and deportations were major events, to
judge by the central place they occupy in Sargon's annals (1990: 208).
In an attempt to further extol Sargon's name, the annals glorify the final
defeat of Samaria which took place soon after Sargon's accession to the
throne in 720 BCE (Tadmor 1958: 31).
The inscriptions state that 27,290 inhabitants of Samaria were
deported by Sargon, among them a unit of 50 charioteers (Luckenbill
1927: 4, 55), including top equestrian officers who subsequently served
as an elite charioteer force in the Assyrian army, retaining its own
name. Hence, it can be proven that Samaria had deployed charioteers
(Dalley 1985: 32, 38). Further, according to the texts, the best chariot
horses were of the 'Kush' breed from Nubia, and there is evidence for a
particular 'Kushite' way of harnessing them (1985: 43, 44). They were
apparently traded from Nubia to Samaria, via Nubians who may have
been resident in Samaria (Anderson 1996: 64-65).
This paper is a revised and updated version of N. Franklin, The Room V
Reliefs at Dur-Sharrukin and Sargon II's Western Campaigns', Tel Aviv 21 (1994):
255-75. All the illustrations are after Botta and Flandin 1849.
According to 2 Kgs 17.4 Hosea formed an alliance with So', king of
Egypt. The identity of King So' has intrigued many scholars (Y eivin
1952; Baer 1973; Spalinger 1973; Kitchen 1983; Christensen 1989;
Na'aman 1990; Green 1993). The riddle has finally been solved by
Na'aman (1990) and Green (1993). They identify King So' with
Pihanky, the brother of Shabako, the Nubian founder of the Egyptian
25th Dynasty. In fact the Nubians tended to mimic the Egyptians and
often a noted Egyptian presence is in reality Nubian or Cushite
(Anderson 1996: 68). Hosea depended on King So' (Pihanky King of
Nubia) as an ally, perhaps because of their existing trade relationship.
Deportations
The ninth century BCE witnessed the beginning of 'enforced urbaniza-
tion' in Assyria, relocated deportees being routinely used as building
labourers by Ashurbanipal II and Shalmaneser III, setting the pattern
for larger scale deportations under Tiglath-Pileser III and Sargon II
(Tadmor 1975: 40). Sargon deported thousands of local inhabitants
between the years 720-708 BCE from the regions of Samaria and the
Philistine coast (Na'aman 1993: 111). The main movement of deportees
was to Assyria proper, the principal cities of Ashur, Calah, Nineveh and
Dur-Sharrukin receiving 85 per cent of all recorded deportees during
the period of the empire (Oded 1979: 28). Men were deported with their
families, not only reducing their chance of escaping, but improving
their prospects of settling down in their new environment. Furthermore,
families were not separated from the members of their communities,
and homogeneous groups were settled together (Oded 1979: 24-25).'
It is related in 2 Kgs 17.6 and 18.12 that 'Israel was carried into
Ashur and resettled in Halah, Habor, and the River of Gozan'. The
Nimrud Prism confirms that Samarians were deported to Halah in
central Assyria. The deportations occurred in 715 BCE, five years after
the final conquest of Samaria (Na'aman 1993: 107-109), and two years
after the foundations of Dur-Sharrukin were laid in Halah.
1. See RoomV , Reliefs 8-L and 9-L, where men, women, and children travel
calmly with their possessions. These captives were ostensibly the property of the
king (Oded 1979: 40). To emphasize this, they are shown filing past the king
immediately after the conquest of their city on Relief 2-L(O).
FRANKLIN A Room with a View 259
King Hanunu of Gaza, the Brook of Egypt and Raphia
In 722/721 BCE, Hanunu of Gaza allied himself with the Syro-
Palestinian coalition headed by Y aubi'idi, King of Hamath (Tadmor
1966: 91), which included the Kings of Hamath, Arpad, Hatrika,
Simirra, Damascus and Samaria. Sargon defeated this coalition at
Qarqar, then continued south in pursuit of Hanunu, who had fled to
Raphia, situated south of Nahal Besor. Na'aman (1979: 74, 77) has
identified Nahal Besor with the Brook of Egypt. According to his
annals, Sargon destroyed Raphia in 720 BCE (Tadmor 1966: 92), taking
Hanunu to Ashur in chains together with 9033 people and their posses-
sions (Luckenbill 1927: 5). The defeat of Raphia is also mentioned in
the Pavement Inscription (Type 4) (Luckenbill 1927: 99).
2
Gibbethon
Gibbethon is referred to in 1 Kgs 16.15 as a Philistine border settle-
ment. It was identified with Tel Melat by von Rad (1933: 38-39), whose
equation is acknowledged by Aharoni (1979), but recently questioned
by von Schmitt (1989). Tel Melat has been only partially excavated
(Shavit 1993: 45), and the identification is still inconclusive.
3
Philistia
Philistia was especially important to Assyria, as the Assyrians did not
want to upset the precarious trade relations that they had with Egypt by
way of Philistia. Therefore the Assyrians were cautious not to disrupt
the delicate social fabric by deportations (Epha'al 1979: 286, 287).
Tiglath-Pileser Ill's first campaign to Philistia is recorded in Inscription
ND 400, after which the Assyrians effectively ruled Philistia until 630
BCE (Tadmor 1966: 86; Mattingly 1979: 55). However, in 720, 716,
713 and 712 BCE Sargon undertook four campaigns to Philistia
(Na'aman 1979: 85) to subdue the area and promote trade. Among the
facilitators of trade in northern Sinai were the Nubians or Cushites (Elat
1983: 11-12). The campaign of 716 BCE was of an exceptionally
commercial character (Mattingly 1981: 47). Many key sites were
devastated including Arad, Tel Malhata, Tel Beersheba, and Tel Sera,
while others were created as mercantile centres, for example, Tel
2. Hanunu appears on Reliefs \-^ in Room V III (Wafler 1975).
3. Gibbethon is depicted and named on Relief 5-L in RoomV (Fig. 10.5).
Jemma (Arza), Tel Abu-Seleimeh (Anthedon) and Tel Sera (Na'aman
1979: 82-S5).
4
Ashdod
There may have been a minor campaign to Ashdod in 713 BCE when
Azuri of Ashdod withheld his tribute, and whom the Assyrians then
replaced with his brother Ahimitu. However, the locals rebelled and
chose Y amani, a Philistine, as their leader. The main campaign which
followed was led by Sargon's Turtanu in 712 BCE (Isa. 20.1-6). Sargon
did not lead the campaign personally, perhaps due to his attention being
required by the construction of Dur-Sharrukin (Tadmor 1958: 79 n.
208). In Prism Fragment S 2022 this campaign is known as the ninth,
and in the annals as the tenth (Tadmor 1958: 79). The 'Pavement
Inscriptions' (Type 4) mention that Sargon carried off the spoils from
Ashdod (Luckenbill 1927: 99), and a further reference is contained in
the 'Summary Inscription'.
The peoples of Ashdod, Gath and Ashdod-Y am were taken captive
together with their belongings (Luckenbill 1927: 62). Y amani, the
locally elected king, escaped, fleeing over the border into Egypt (1927:
79) and was then, perhaps surprisingly, handed over to Assyria by the
King of Kush (1927: 63). However, if Shabako, the founder of the 25th
Egyptian Dynasty, was the king of Kush (Spalinger 1973: 95), Y amani,
who as the protege of Bakenranef of the 24th Dynasty (Kapera 1981-
84: 291), was no friend of Shabako. As a reward, the Nubians were
granted lower Egypt by the Assyrians (Hallo 1960), which, along with
the death of Bakenranef, coincided with the establishment of the 25th
Dynasty, dated by Spalinger (1973: 99) to 712 BCE.
The earliest account of Sargon's campaign against Ashdod is
contained in Prism A from Nineveh, composed in 710 BCE (Kapera
1987: 29-39). Three fragments of a basalt stele, excavated in Ashdod in
1963, relate to Sargon's annexation of Ashdod (Dothan 1964: 87). The
stele had been broken in antiquity, possibly as early as 705 BCE, when a
new anti-Assyrian coalition was organized by Hezekiah of J udah
(Kapera 1976: 89, 92).
5
4. Philistines are shown on Reliefs 7-10 of RoomIV (Wafler 1975).
5. The fate of Y amani of Ashdod appears on Reliefs 5-8 in Room V III (Wafler
1975).
F RANKLIN A Room with a View 261
Ekron
Ekron is identified with Khirbet Muqqanna (Naveh 1958; Aharoni
1979). It was transformed into a vassal state by Sargon. Later, during
the rebellions that broke out upon the accession of Sennacherib, Padi,
the vassal king of Ekron, was deposed and handed over to Hezekiah of
Judah, who also looked to the then king of Kush for assistance
(Luckenbill 1927: 311). Sennacherib is also known to have fought
Nubian forces nearby. Haak (1996: 250-51) has recently proposed that
'Cushites' had migrated to areas bordering on southern J udah. The
Nubian presence which is now known to have existed from the time of
Sargon onwards supports this theory.
6
Khorsabad: Dur-Sharmkin
Dur-Sharrukin, the 'Palace of the True King', Sargon II, was a massive
corpus of personal propaganda (Reade 1979b: 331). To build his new
capital, Sargon purchased the town of Magganubba, situated in central
Assyria, the region of Halah at the foot of Mount Musri (Luckenbill
1927: 119). The foundations were laid in 717 BCE, the gods entered
their temples in 707 BCE, and the city was inaugurated on the sixth of
lyyar, 706 BCE (Tadmor 1958). According to the texts, a great festival
was attended by 'kings from (foreign) lands; the governors of my land;
the overseers, commanders, nobles, high officials, and elders of
Assyria' (Luckenbill 1927: 74). Among the foreign kings were 'princes
of the four quarters (of the world), who had submitted to the yoke of
my rule, whose lives I had spared' (Luckenbill 1927: 98).
Wall Reliefs
The reliefs decorating the walls of Dur-Sharrukin were carved on slabs
of Mosul marble, 2-3 m high. The carving was carried out once the
slabs were placed in position (Reade 1979a: 17). Scenes are consecu-
tive, suggesting a cartoon effect (Reade 1980: 85). Since few people
were literate the reliefs had to be self-explanatory, the participants and
location easily recognizable. The visual narrative is independent of the
annals (Reade 1976: 97), yet also served as propaganda.
However, instead of paralleling one another, the texts and images are
often complementary (Marcus 1987: 98). Text and visual image would
have shared some common sources, but other factors, such as the
6. Ekron is depicted and named on Relief 10-L in RoomV (Fig. 10.8).
anticipated audience, governed the selection of material (Russell 1991:
30). Scenes of warfare are depicted in areas of the palace frequented by
visiting dignitaries, such as Room V , while others depict court scenes
or religious themes (Saggs 1955: 149).
The slabs from Room V were removed so that they could be
displayed in European museums, but unfortunately, the ship carrying
them sunk in the Chatt-el-Arab waterway in 1855. The only record of
their content is preserved in the on-site sketches by M. Flandin and the
notes compiled by P.E. Botta.
The Ekallu and its Inscriptions
The main feature of the suite or Ekallu that incorporated Room V (Fig.
10.1) is the three parallel communicating rooms that project from the
main body of the palace onto a level terrace. This style of Ekallu was
catalogued as a Type F suite by Turner (1970). Designed for cere-
monies involving visiting dignitaries (Reade 1979b: 338), it is the only
part of the palace with reliefs on the external, as well as internal, walls
(Loudetal. 1936:72).
The Ekallu is accessed from the main palace through connecting
Corridor X. The main room is Room V III, the throne room, which
contains single-register reliefs depicting rebels. Room V is a centrally
placed antechamber, which contains two-register reliefs displaying the
western campaigns. The third long reception room, Room II, displays
two-register reliefs of the eastern campaigns and feasting scenes. Room
I, a small entrance room, also displays reliefs from the eastern cam-
paigns. From Room I access is gained to Room III, a similarly decora-
ted bathroom. Room IV is a reception or banquet room with single-
register reliefs, in which the punishment meted out to the rebels whose
uprisings brought about the campaigns depicted in Rooms I, II, III and
V is shown. Room IV grants access to Room V II, a small banquet
room, containing hunting and banqueting scenes.
Rooms IV , V II, V III and Corridor X are inscribed with the
'Summary Inscription', which followed a clear geographical or associa-
tive, rather than chronological, sequence (Tadmor 1958: 36; Na'aman
1979: 68 n. 2). Rooms II, V , XIII and XIV are inscribed with the
'Annals', a militaristic narrative which also serves as a band dividing
the two registers.
Twenty-nine 'Pavement Inscriptions' of five different types are ins-
cribed on thresholds within the Ekallu, 21 of which have been pub-
lished (Russell 1991: 17). 'Pavement Inscriptions' Types 3, 4, 5 relate
that, 'with the (labour) of the enemy peoples my hands had captured, I
built a city...and called its name Dur-Sharrukin' (Luckenbill 1927: 98,
99, 102). Dur-Sharrukin was not unique in being built by captive exiles.
Calah, the previous capital, had been built thus in the ninth century
BCE. Sennacherib later employed 200,000 Chaldaeans and J udaeans in
his work force (Tadmor 1975: 40-41), a fact confirmed by Russell
(1991: 167) in his analysis of captive foreign labour. All the inscrip-
tions inscribed in the Ekallu and its adjacent ancillary rooms date to
707 BCE, the fifteenth year of Sargon's reign, although the last
preserved date is 709 BCE (Tadmor 1958: 36).
Fig. 10.1. The Ekallu containing Room V
A Geographic Sequence
The 'Summary Inscriptions' are organized according to geographical
locale (Marcus 1987: 81). Likewise, the reliefs, regardless of whether
they portray battles from a single campaign or a series of related cam-
paigns, often follow a geographical sequence (Gunter 1982: 104).
Reade (1976: 95) also noted that when displayed in their true sequence,
as if in a cartoon strip, the reliefs can reveal geographical or historical
information. In addition (Reade 1980: 85) military narratives are res-
tricted to one geographical region per room. In fact, art functioned as a
visual validation for the acquisition of territory. For example, Assurna-
sirpal IFs throne room is divided into two distinct geographical areas;
the south-west, west and north compose one area, and the south-east,
east and south another. A geographical sequence is also employed on
Shalmaneser III (Marcus 1987: 84) and Sargon IPs throne bases
(Winter 1983: 24-27) and the principal source for Sargon's annals is the
Nimrud Prism that also follows a geographical order (Tadmor 1958:
36).
The Arrangement of the Room V Reliefs
Botta numbered the slabs in Room V from 1 to 25 (Fig. 10.2), in accord
with the annals serving to divide the upper and lower registers. The
reliefs will be henceforth referred to as 1-U and 1-L, and so on, for the
upper and lower registers, respectively. Entranceway O was never
Fig. 10.2. Room V, the doorways and the numbered slabs
closed by a fixed doorthere are no pivot socketsso the entranceway
reliefs form an integral part of Room V . Therefore its upper and lower
registers will be referred to as l-U (O) and l-L(O).
The numbering system begins at Door E, on the 'main axis-way'.
This axis-way starts at Door M near Court III, then leads by way of
Doors U , E and F to Monument X. The route continues through throne
Room V III (rebels), Room V (western war) and Room II (eastern war
and feasting), ending at the steps of Monument X. If viewed from the
south, the numbering system runs in an anti-clockwise direction. The
annals, which divide the slabs into two registers, begin on slab 25, and
must be read in a clockwise direction, finishing on slab 1. Entranceway
O, situated between slabs 9 and 10, disrupts Botta's numbering system.
The Campaigns Depicted in Room V
The Room V reliefs were attributed by El-Amin to a single campaign,
that of 720 BCE (1953: 35-40), but Tadmor dated the scenes to 712 BCE
(1958: 83 n. 243). Guterbock (1957: 68) disagreed with the supposition
that only one campaign is depicted in each room. Reade (1976),
although not concurring with all of El-Amin's arguments, attempted to
impose a chronological order on the reliefs, which he believed belonged
to 720 BCE. However, the campaigns against the east, depicted in Room
II, are variously ascribed to 715 BCE and 714 BCE (Albenda 1986).
Therefore, it is reasonable to presume that the Room V reliefs, when
contemplated jointly with their diverse inscriptions and the mix of
campaigns in Room II, also encapsulate a series of events that took
place between Sargon IPs first western campaign in 720 BCE and Dur-
Sharrukin's completion in 707 BCE, or more correctly, 709 BCE, the
date proposed for the compilation of the various inscriptions.
The Upper Registers
Ten of the 27 reliefs were discovered completely ruined, and the
remainder were badly damaged. None have previously been dealt with
in depth, though Reade (1976: 99) did ascertain that they represent the
battles of 720 BCE against the Hamath coalition. The reliefs in the
upper register appear to consist of one long battle beginning on Relief
25-U, which is situated on the north side of Door E, the main axis door,
and runs in a clockwise direction, as do the annals. There is no apparent
break in the narrative flow. Reliefs 25-U , 24-U , 22-U and 21-U portray
Assyrian war chariots chasing and trampling a foe armed with easily
distinguishable elliptical shields.
Reliefs 20-U to 14-U on the north side of Door S were very poorly
preserved. Botta (Botta and Flandin 1849: 145) observed that in 16-U
there appears to be a. fortress, the siege of which is depicted in 17-U.
However, no sketch was made because of its fragmentary condition.
Following 17-U, the direction of battle remains constant, and the narra-
tive apparently continued. The unrecorded reliefs are situated midway
along the long wall of Room V , upon which it is conceivable that
another siege scene, or even two, might have existed.
Reliefs 13-U to 9-U (Figs. 10.7-10.8) contain additional Assyrian
charioteers and cavalrymen pursuing the same foe depicted in Reliefs
20-U to 14-U, but armed with spears and curved swords as well as the
elliptical shield. There is no break in the narrative at Entranceway O.
The chase continues on l-U (O) and 2-U (O), ending on Relief 8-U (Fig.
10.7), where two defenders are hemmed against a tower, apparently
part of a city wall. The city in its entirety is missing, as Slab 7 is not
preserved in its upper register. However, another tower, situated on the
far side of the missing city, is discernible on Relief 6-U (Fig. 10.6). The
missing city of Relief 7-U was strategically placed facing Door S,
which led from Room V III, and the immediate area of the throne base.
Important city scenes or royal figures are often situated opposite
entranceways (Guralnick 1976: 7). Therefore, this large city, its depic-
tion extending over more than one slab, must have been a significant
site. Next to the tower in Relief 6-U, a captive is dispatched by an
Assyrian. Reliefs 5-U to 2-U (Figs. 10.3-10.5) show a review of the
spoils brought before Sargon by the Assyrian troops. The stationary
chariot just perceptible in Relief 2-U is the royal chariot (Fig. 10.3).
Slab 1 was not preserved, but it would have been out of sight behind the
door of Doorway E, and therefore it is improbable that it contained
significant data. This epic saga is then concluded.
In the upper registers (unlike the scenes in the lower registers)
chariots are portrayed. Chariots were deployed against chariots, and
would have been unnecessary in a stationary siege. According to the
texts, Samaria in particular had a remarkable chariot force (Dalley
1985). The curved swords used by the defenders are quite unique, par-
alleled only by the curved swords taken from Judaean Lachish as booty
by Sennacherib in 701 BCE (U ssishkin 1982: 84-85, pi. 69, 105-109). It
is thus conceivable that the significant city once portrayed on Relief 7-
U was Samaria. Further, the booty carried off by the Assyrians (Fig.
10.4) is seemingly the Samarian booty, not detailed in the inscriptions.
F RANKLIN A Room with a View 267
Fig. 10.3. Slab 2. Upper register (2-U): Sargon's stationary chariot; lower
register (2-L): Raphia, defended by the Nubian soldiers of King So'/Pihanky
The Lower Registers
Four slabs from the lower registers were destroyed, while 22 Reliefs
survived to be published. They contain a number of independent 'narra-
tives'.
1) An uninterrupted narrative runs from Slab 1 to the centre of
Relief 5-L. As mentioned above, Slab 1 was situated next to Door E,
which when open would have hidden the reliefs, indicating that Slab 1
would have been of little consequence.
The enemy shown on Reliefs 2-L to 5-L (Figs. 10.3-10.5) consists of
ambidextrous Nubians, each warrior being armed with two long spears.
Botta and Flandin (1849: 137) first noted the African countenance of
the enemy. Now, with the decipherment of the texts and an improved
understanding of the politics of the period, we can positively confirm
their identity. They are the warriors of King So'/Pihanky of the 25th
Nubian-Egyptian Dynasty. The city which they defend is situated on a
rocky hill (Fig. 10.3) and is portrayed quite differently from western
Syro-Palestinian cities. For example, there are neither crenellations
along the top of the walls nor towers, but rather features which are
characteristic of Egyptian cities depicted elsewhere (Albenda 1982: 13-
14), and which distinguish it from other cities portrayed in Room V .
Fig. 10.4. Slab 4. Upper register (4-U): Assyrian soldiers carrying the booty from
Samaria; lower register (4-L): the Brook of Egypt, Nahal Besor, and the continuing
battle between the Nubian soldiers of King So'/Pihanky and the Assyrians
The city in Relief 5-L (Fig. 10.5), is named Gabbtunu, identified by
El-Amin (1953) as Philistine Gibbethon. The defenders of Gibbethon
are also ambidextrous African spearmen, that is Nubians, who also
engage the Assyrians in Relief 4-L (Fig. 10.4). The city, situated on a
small hill, has the typical Syro-Palestinian crenellated towers and walls
and is separated from the city referred to in the previous paragraph by a
river denoted by its spirals. Sea water is shown by wavy lines while
river and marsh scenes are portrayed by wavy lines concluding in
spirals (Linder 1986: 280). The only reasonable candidate for the river,
which was important to the narrative as it was expressly shown
separating the two cities, is Nahal Besor, the Brook of Egypt. This
identification, together with the presence of Nubians, also raises the
question regarding the identification of 'from beyond the river of Cush'
in Zeph. 3.10. Haak (1996: 244-46) has recently proposed the eastern
irrigation canal of the Nile delta. El-Amin (1953) identified these
targets of the 720 BCE campaign as Raphia and Gibbethon,
respectively. He mistakenly identified Raphia due to its proximity to the
'sea', because of his misinterpretation of the Assyrian iconography for
a river. Only now can the city be identified securely with Raphia. We
also know that Raphia was ruled by the Nubian-Egyptian King
Pihanky, and the defending warriors are Nubians. The city's appearance
is not Syro-Palestinian, but rather resembles the cities portrayed in the
reliefs of Ashurbanipal's Egyptian campaigns.
Fig. 10.5. Slab 5. Upper register (5-U): the closing scene of the battle for Samaria
and the beginning of the removal of the booty from Samaria; lower register (5-L):
Gibbethon defended by the Nubian soldiers of King So'/Pihanky
The prevailing action is from south to north. Perhaps, based on
strategic considerations, Sargon first attacked Raphia, defeating the
Nubians and taking Hanunu of Gaza prisoner, thus effectively cutting
off the Nubian forces deployed to the north. Alternatively, after depic-
ting the southernmost city reached in Sargon's western campaigns,
Raphia, the Dur-Sharrukin artist merely reversed the flow of the
narrative. The geographical sequence in the upper registers runs from
north to south, and that in the lower registers from south to north.
2) The second narrative runs from midway in Relief 5-L through
Relief 9-L (Figs. 10.5-10.7) and ends on Relief 2-L(O). Troops attack a
city from two sides; it has a lower city wall, one side of which is being
demolished by two battering rams (Fig. 10.6).
Fig. 10.6. Slab 6. Upper register (6-U): one of the towers of Samaria and an
Assyrian soldier killing a defeated Samarian; lower register (6-L): Ashdod
defended by hooded bowman. The acropolis and lower city are clearly shown
A separate fortified acropolis and a small tower are shown, separated by
a non-fruit bearing palm tree, possibly to emphasize these features
(Bleibtreu 1980: 99). The crenellated towers and walls are defended by
hooded bowmen. The scene changes as the story continues from Relief
7-L to Reliefs 8-L, 9-L and Relief 2-L(O), in which the same men,
accompanied by their wives and children, are taken captive, and to
conclude the narrative, paraded before Sargon II (Fig. 10.7).
Fig. 10.7. Slabs 8 and 9. Upper register (8-U and 9-U): another tower of Samaria,
defended by Samarian warriors with curved swords; lower register (8-L and 9-L):
hooded Ashdodites, deported in family groups
Though the city was identified by El-Amin (1953) as Gaza, a sea is
nowhere depicted, and it cannot be identified with Arza/Tell Jemma, as
no river is represented. It is, however, listed in the inscriptions as a city
from which deportees were taken for resettlement. There are also archi-
tectural similarities between this city and the other Syro-Palestinian
cities depicted on the Room V reliefs. The depiction of a city with a
separate acropolis corresponds with the excavated remains of Ashdod,
where Dothan (1993: 98-100) excavated sections of the lower city, inc-
luding a massive wall and a six-chambered gate, as well as a fortified
acropolis. The Assyrian inscriptions record that Y amani reinforced
Ashdod with a siege wall and a moat. This similarity, together with the
prominence given to the deportees, points to the identification of this
city with Philistine Ashdod, and the campaign as that of 712 BCE.
3) The third narrative begins on Relief l-L(O) and continues into
Room V proper, where it runs through Reliefs 10-L to 13-L. A city
named Amqarruna in the reliefs was identified as Ekron by El-Amin
(1953). It is shown attacked on both sides by Assyrians and defended
by bonneted bowmen (Fig. 10.8). The city stands on a podium, has
crenellated towers and walls and shows clear architectural similarities
with the previously mentioned cities of Gibbethon and Ashdod. The
captured defenders, males only and therefore prisoners, not deportees,
are brought before Sargon II, thus concluding the narrative.
Fig. 10.8. Slabs 10 and 11. Upper register (10-U and 11-U): part of the chariot
battle against the Hamath coalition; lower register (10-L and 11-L): Ekron
defended by bonneted bowmen
4) A new narrative begins on Reliefs 14-L and 15-L. Assyrian
archers, assisted by a team with a battering ram, are besieging a double-
walled city named Bailgazara, identified by El-Amin (1953) as a
Phoenician city. The city is defended by bowmen and it is depicted, like
the other Syro-Palestinian cities, with crenellated towers. Relief 17-L,
poorly preserved, is probably part of the same narrative and depicts a
city named Sinnu, also identified by El-Amin (1953) as a Phoenician
city, probably the Siannu near U garit mentioned in the annals of
Tiglath-Pileser III, and which he defeated in 734 BCE. It is possible that
this narrative continues on the wall north of Door U , since a remnant of
a city is visible on Relief 18-L, and there is no clear conclusion to the
narrative.
5) On the short northern wall there are two reliefs, 21-L and 22-L,
with faintly visible remains. In a siege scene, Assyrian bowmen and
spearmen are depicted scaling a city on a hill. The actual city and its
defenders are not discernible. The narrative may continue into the next
group of reliefs, 24-L and 25-L, which shows Assyrian bowmen and
spearmen besieging and scaling a city, perched on a hill, with crenel-
lated walls and towers and defended by bonneted bowmen. The two
cities have much in common with the other cities depicted on the lower
registers and presumably portray Phoenician cities.
Conclusion
The Room V reliefs, as previous scholars have recognized, deal exclu-
sively with Sargon II's western campaigns. The emphasis here is on the
plural. There is no need to try to identify a single campaign. The
depictions in both the upper or lower registers are arranged according to
their geographical location. These reliefs show, in step with the Annals,
Summary Inscriptions, and the Pavement Inscriptions, a synopsis of all
Sargon's western campaigns, c. 722-709 BCE.
The upper register deals with the inland-highland sites belonging to
the Hamath coalition. The chariot battles, typical of these cities, pro-
gress from north to south. The last depicted city, partially preserved, is
therefore the most southerly of this coalitionSamaria. Furthermore,
the booty carried off from this last depicted city by the Assyrians, when
considered together with the distinctive curved swords wielded by the
defenders (similar to those used 20 years later at Judaean Lachish),
strengthens this identification. Samaria occupies a prime place among
the reliefs of Room V . The prominent position given to the Samarian
reliefs was an explicit message to those early inhabitants of Dur-
Sharrukin in Halah who were deportees from Samaria. They would
have been continually confronted with a graphic and powerful reminder
of the defeat of their city. The use of wall reliefs to convey such mes-
sages are used elsewhere in Sargon's palace (Russell 1991: 226).
The lower register deals with the coastal-lowland sites of the western
campaignsthe allies of Hosea, the Nubian warriors of King So'/
Pihanky, fight the Assyrians on both sides of the Egyptian border.
The scenes progress northwards, depicting the defeat of Ashdod
7
and
the deportation of its population in 712 BCE. The siege of Ekron is
difficult to date, possibly relating either to the campaign of 720 BCE or
to that of 712 BCE. Ekron is situated to the north of Ashdod, which is to
be expected in any geographical sequence. The final cities are Phoeni-
cian sites.
Thus aided by the geographic sequence and a deeper understanding
of the historical background, Samaria, Nubians, the Brook of Egypt and
Ashdod, become newly revealed images from the past.
Bibliography
Aharoni, A.
1979 The Land of the Bible (2nd edn; Philadelphia: Westminster Press).
Albenda, P.
1982 'Observations on Egyptians in Assyrian Reliefs', Bulletin of the Egyptolo-
gical Seminar 4: 5-23.
1983 'A Mediterranean Seascape from Khorsabad', Assur 3.3: 1-34.
1986 The Palace of Sargon King of Assyria (Synthesis, 22; Paris: Editions
Recherche sur les Civilisations).
Anderson, R.W. J r.
1996 'Zephania ben Cushi and Cushi of Benjamin: Traces of Cushite Presence
in Syria-Palestine', in Holloway and Handy (eds.) 1996: 45-70.
Baer, K.
1973 'The Libyan and Nubian Kings of Egypt: Notes on the Chronology of
Dynasties XXII-XXV F, J NES 32: 4-25.
7. If Tel Melat is Gibbethon (an identification which has been challenged by
von Schmitt 1989), then it is slightly too far to the north of Ashdod to maintain a
true north-south geographic order. The map coordinates for Ashdod are 117 129,
and for Tel Melat 137 140 (Aharoni 1979: 431, 435). Y et if Gibbethon was situated
011 minutes to the north of Ashdod, it is unlikely that this detail would have been
noticed by the Assyrians, especially as it was also situated 020 minutes to the east.
Becking, B.
1992 The Fall of Samaria: An Historical and Archaeological Study (Leiden:
E.J. Brill).
Bleibtreu, E.
1980 Die Flora der neuassyrischen Reliefs (V ienna: V erlag des Institutes fiir
Orientalistik der U niversitat Wien).
Botta, P.E., and M.E. Flandin
1849 Monument de Ninive (Paris: Imprimerie nationale).
Christensen, D.L.
1989 The Identity of "King So" in Egypt (2 Kings ii)', VT 39: 140-53.
Dalley, S.
1985 'Foreign Chariotry and Cavalry in the Armies of Tiglath-Pileser III and
S argon IF ,/rag 47: 31-48.
Dothan, M.
1964 'Ashdod: Preliminary Report on the Excavations in Seasons 1962-1963',
IEJ 14: 79-95.
1993 'Ashdod', New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations I: 93-102.
El-Amin, M.
1953 'Die Reliefsmit Beischriften von Sargon II in Dur-Sharrukin', Sumer 9:
35-59,214-28.
Elat, M.
1983 'Assyrian Imperialismand International Trade', a paper presented at the
30th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, Leiden, 4-8 J uly 1983.
Epha'al, I.
1979 'The Assyrian Domination of Palestine', in A. Malamat (ed.), The Age of
the Monarchies: Political History (The World History of the J ewish
People; J erusalem: Massada): 276-89.
Green, A.R.W.
1993 'The Identity of King So of Egypt: An Alternative Interpretation', JNES
52.2: 99-108.
Gunter, A.
1982 'Representation of U rartian and Western Iranian Fortress Architecture in
the Assyrian Reliefs', Iran 20: 103-12.
Guralnick, E.
1976 'Composition of Some Narrative Reliefs from Khorsabad', Assur 1.5: 1-
23.
Guterbock, H.G.
1957 'Narration in Anatolian, Syrian and Assyrian Art', AJA 61: 62-71.
Haak, R.D.
1996 ' "Cush" in Zephania', in Holloway and Handy (eds.) 1996: 238-51.
Hallo, W.W.
1960 'From Qarqarto Carchemish: Assyria and Israel in the Light of New
Discoveries', BA 23: 34-61.
Hayes, J.H., and J.K. Kuan
1991 The Final Y ears of Samaria (730-720 BC)', Biblica 72: 153-81.
Holloway, S.W., and L.K. Handy (eds.)
1996 The Pitcher Is Broken. Memorial Essays for Gosta W. Ahlstrdm
(JSOTSup, 190; Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press).
Kapera, Z.J.
1976
1981-84
1987
Kitchen, K.A.
1983
Linder, E.
1986
The Ashdod Stele of Sargon II', Folia Orientalia 17: 87-99.
'Biblical Reflections of the Struggle for Philistia at the End of the Eighth
Century BC: Analysis of Chapter XX of the Book of Isaiah. J udgement on
the Neighbouring Countries (Zechariah 9, 1-8)', Folia Orientalia 22: II,
277-93; III, 295-307.
The Oldest Account of Sargon II's Campaign against Ashdod', Folia
Orientalia 24: 29-39.
'Egypt, Levant and Assyria in 701 BC', in M. Gorg (ed.), Fontes Atque
Pontes: Eine Festgabe fur Hellmut Bruner (Agypten und Altes Testa-
ment, 5; Wiesbaden: In Kommission Bei O. Harrassowitz).
The Khorsabad Wall Relief: A Mediterranean Seascape or River
Transport of Timbers?', JAOS 106: 273-81.
Loud, G., H. Frankfort and T. Jacobsen
1936 Khorsabad I (Oriental Institute Publication, 38; Chicago: U niversity of
Chicago Press).
Loud, G., and C.B. Altman
1938 Khorsabad II (Oriental Institute Publication, 40; Chicago: U niversity of
Chicago Press).
Luckenbill, D.D.
1927
Marcus, M.I.
1987
Mattingly, G.L.
1979
1981
Na'aman, N.
1979
1990
1991
1993
Naveh, J .
1958
Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylon. II. Historical Records of Assyria
from Sargon to the End (Chicago: Chicago U niversity Press).
'Geography as an Organising Principle in the Imperial Art of
Shalmaneser III', Iraq 49: 77-90.
The Role of Philistine Autonomy in Neo-Assyrian Foreign Policy', Near
Eastern Archaeological Society Bulletin 14: 49-57.
'An Archaeological Analysis of Sargon's 712 Campaign Against
Ashdod', Near Eastern Archaeological Society Bulletin 17: 47-64.
The Brook of Egypt and Assyrian Policy on the Border of Egypt', Tel
Aviv 6: 68-90.
The Historical Background of the Conquest of Samaria (720 BC)',
Biblica 71: 207-25.
'Forced Participation in Alliances in the Course of the Assyrian
Campaigns to the West', in M. Cogan and I. Eph'al (eds.), Ah, Assyria...
Studies in Assyrian History and Ancient Near Eastern Historiography
Presented to Hayim Tadmor (Scripta Hierosolymitana, 33; J erusalem:
Magnes Press, Hebrew U niversity): 80-89.
'Population Changes in Palestine Following Assyrian Deportations',Tel
Aviv 20: 104-24.
'Khirbet al-MuqannaEkron: An Archaeological Survey', IEJ 8: 87-100,
165-70.
Oded, B.
1979
Rad, G. von
1933
Reade, J.E.
1976
1979a
1979b
1980
Russell, J .M.
1991
Saggs, H.W.F.
1955
Schmitt, G. von
1989
Shavit, A.
1993
Spalinger, A.
1973
Tadmor, H.
1958
1966
1975
Turner, G.
1970
U ssishkin, D.
1982
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1975
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1983
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1952
Mass Deportation and Deportees in the Neo-Assyrian Empire (Wies-
baden: L. Reichert).
'Das Reich Israel und Die Philister', PJ 29: 30-42.
'Sargon's Campaigns of 720, 716, and 715 BC: Evidence from the
Sculptures', JNES 35: 95-104.
'Assyrian Architectural Decoration: Techniques and Subject Matter',
Baghdader Mitteilungen 10: 17-49.
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and Propaganda (Copenhagen: Akademisk forlag).
The Architectural Context of Assyrian Sculpture', Baghdader
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'Gabbutunu', ZDPV 105: 56-69.
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The Y ear 712 BC and its Implications for Egyptian History', Journal of
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'Philistia under Assyrian Rule', BA 29: 86-102.
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The Conquest of Lac his h by Sennacherib (Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv U niversity,
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'Who was So', the King of Egypt?', VT 2: 164-68.
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Part III
ASPECTS OF MATERIAL CULTURE
11
JERU SALEM IN THE TENTH AND SEV ENTH CENTURIES BCE:
FROM ADMINISTRATIV E TOWN TO COMMERCIAL CITY
Margreet Steiner
The position of Jerusalem in the time of the Monarchy has been the
subject of many books in the past. It has also been extensively treated in
some recent studies that have aroused great interest: the studies of
David Jamieson-Drake (1991) and Thomas Thompson (1992). Thomp-
son sketches a picture of Jerusalem through the ages, largely based on
the study of Jamieson-Drake, who uses archaeological data in what he
calls a socio-archaeological approach.
According to Thompson Jerusalem had throughout the Late Bronze
Age and Early Iron Age functioned as a politically dominant centre of
commerce and trade for the small agricultural settlements nearby.
During the tenth and ninth centuries BCE it still was a small provincial
town, a market centre for the immediate region only. It was only in the
eighth and seventh centuries that the site was transformed into the
capital of a regional state, with a stratified society, a dominant urban
elite, a state bureaucracy, and perhaps a temple supporting a state cult
(Thompson 1992: 333). This would also be the first period that we can
expect the formation of scribal schools. Thompson asserts that Samaria,
the capital of Israel, had a completely different background: this was
not an agriculturally based market town (as Jerusalem was before the
eighth century), but what he calls a capital city with dominant public
structures (1992: 408).
Both authors rightly complain about the lack of archaeological data
available because of the dearth of publication of excavations at Jeru-
salem. I am in the lucky position to have access to some of these data.
In Leiden a team consisting of Professor Franken and myself has been
working on the publication of a large part of Kathleen Kenyon's
excavations in Jerusalem, that took place in 1961-67. The main part of
STEINER Jerusalem in the Tenth and Seventh Centuries BCE 281
the material we are working on consists of the Bronze and Iron Age
finds from her site A, which was the large trench and surrounding
squares on the eastern slope of the south-eastern hill, also called the
City of David nowadays. In this area R.A.S. Macalister conducted
large-scale excavations in the 1920s (Macalister and Duncan 1926) and
the ill-fated expedition of Charles Parker took place there as well
(V incent 1911). From 1979 onwards the late Y igal Shiloh excavated in
the same area (Shiloh 1984; Ariel 1990; De Groot and Ariel 1992). This
means that material from several excavations over a large area is
available now for analysis. I have been able to use not only the
unpublished material from Kenyon's excavations, but also the
published material from the older and later excavations, as well as some
unpublished data from Professor Shiloh's dig, that have kindly been
made available to me by the excavator.
It is on the basis of an analysis of this archaeological material that it
is possible to correct and supplement the picture of Jerusalem painted
above. It seems that in the tenth/ninth century BCE Jerusalem was an
administrative centre of at least regional importance, and that in the
seventh century it became an urban centre of exceptional dimensions.
The dates used are based, as usual, on the excavated pottery. U nfortu-
nately tenth-century pottery is notoriously difficult to date (Finkelstein
1990; Wightman 1990). Finkelstein has recently argued that the con-
ventional dates of the buildings in Megiddo, Hazor and Gezer,
commonly assigned to the tenth century, should be lowered to the ninth
century BCE (Finkelstein 1996), and the same is proposed by Wood-
head (personal communication). The pottery found in Jerusalem cannot
be of help here. In Kenyon's excavation squares very little pottery from
this period was found, and most of it came from unstratified deposits.
This pottery was frequently irregularly burnished, but only one sherd
had a dark red slip, and most vessels were simply not slipped at all.
Because of the burnishing and because the forms were certainly earlier
than the late ninth century pottery already studied (Franken and Steiner
1990), this pottery was assigned to the tenth century, but a date in the
early ninth century is equally possible. Thus building constructions in
Jerusalem may have been built later than generally assumed.
Tenth/Ninth Century BCE
Several public structures from the tenth/ninth century BCE have been
found. Most conspicuous is what is commonly called the stepped stone
structure. Elements of it were already discovered by Macalister who
called it the Jebusite Ramp. Other parts have been found by Kenyon
and Shiloh. It consists of a mantle of stones and some adjoining terra-
ces, laid out over the pre-existing buildings and debris on the slope of
the hill. Originally it must have been at least 27 m high and 40 m wide
at the top, which makes it by far the largest and most impressive struc-
ture of this kind (Steiner 1993). It had a defensive function. Linked
with this structure is a casemate wall, of which a very small part has
been discovered on top of the hill. This wall probably ran north
(Kenyon 1974: 114-15, pi. 37).
Building elements normally used for public buildings were found by
Kenyon, such as a large number of fine ashlar blocks and a very large
proto-aeolic capital, found in destruction debris near the stepped stone
structure (Kenyon 1967: 59, pi. 20). The capital was dated by Shiloh to
the ninth century BCE (1979: 21). A fragment of a wall made of fine
ashlar masonry was found in Kenyon's site SII (Kenyon 1974: 115, pi.
38) and subsequently published by Mazar and Mazar (1989: 9-12,
photo 13). Some luxury items came from Shiloh's dig: a bronze fist,
that must have belonged to the statue of a god (Baal?), and part of a
large pottery stand portraying a bearded man (Shiloh 1984: 17, pi. 29).
These finds indicate the existence of defensive walls, fortifications
and public buildings, maybe even a temple (for Baal) in the settlement.
What is lacking in the archaeological record are houses. Compared to
the finds from the Middle Bronze Age and the seventh century BCE the
difference is striking. In those periods a city wall was built lower down
the slope of the hill to protect a residential quarter there (Steiner 1986,
1988; Franken and Steiner 1990: 50-56; Shiloh 1984: 26-29). Apparent-
ly the top of the hill did not offer enough space for the inhabitants of
the town and they had to use the slope. Not so, however, in the tenth
century. The slope was partly covered by the stepped stone structure,
but no town wall was discovered there, and no houses at all. It seems
the building area was restricted to the top of the hill. The town was
apparently fortified (if at all) by walls along this top. The above-
mentioned casemate wall may have functioned to connect this built-up
area with another quarter more to the north, of which no trace has been
discovered. Excavations on the Ophel hill by Benjamin and Eilat Mazar
have shown that the earliest buildings there date from the ninth century
BCE at the earliest (1989: 58-60).
Based on the archaeological evidence J erusalem of the tenth/ninth
century BCE can be described as a small town, occupied mainly by
public buildings. Its size will not have exceeded 12 hectares and it may
have housed up to 2000 inhabitants. What is more significant: this
centre was a new foundation. There had not been, in the centuries
before the tenth/ninth, a town there at all. In the second half of the
Middle Bronze Age and the whole of the Late Bronze Age no settle-
ment had existed in Jerusalem. No trace has ever been found of any city
that could have been the U rusalim of the Amarna letters. It is only in
the twelfth century that building began again. Then a fortification was
constructed on top of the hill, above the spring of Gihonthe large
earth-filled terraces that Kenyon and Shiloh have excavated belong to
that period (Steiner 1994). But more than a fortress it was not, and
certainly not a town.
1
This means that in the tenth or, more likely, the ninth century BCE a
new town was founded, a town with impressive public buildings, but
without large residential quarters, indicating that it functioned as a
regional administrative centre or as the capital of a small, newly
established state. As such its function will not have differed much from
that of Samaria. Surveys in the hill country of J udah have confirmed
this picture of J erusalem as the centre for the region in Iron IIA (Ofer
1994).
It seems, however, unlikely that this Jerusalem was the capital of a
large state, the capital of the U nited Monarchy of biblical history.
Compared to other towns of the tenth and ninth centuries, Jerusalem
was not very different. Megiddo, Razor, Gezer and Lachish were all
small towns showing the same characteristics: large fortifications,
ashlar masonry, public buildings and hardly any ordinary houses. Based
on the archaeological record alone, one could assume that these were
the seats of the governments of several small regional states that only
later fused into the historically attested states of Israel and J udah. We
simply cannot assume that the U nited Monarchy is a historical fact
(Gelinas 1995), and much more research has to be done on the political
and economic situation in the tenth and ninth centuries BCE.
1. So Thompson's centre for commerce and trade during the Late Bronze and
Early Iron Ages simply did not exist, at least not in J erusalem. Neither was
J erusalem the centre of a polymorphous chiefdorn during the Middle Bronze II
period and the Late Bronze Age (Finkelstein 1992), nor the centre of a city state in
the Late Bronze Age (Bunimovitz 1995).
Seventh Century BCE
In the seventh century the situation was completely different. In the
intervening period Jerusalem had slowly grown, but it was only after
the destruction of the country by the Assyrians that the city took its
central position. Jamieson-Drake has given an accurate, although
incomplete description of the city (1991). The destruction of the city by
the Babylonians in 597 BCE resulted in massive debris layers, yielding
an enormous amount of architecture and objects. This makes it possible
to reconstruct life in the city in the second half of the seventh century,
just before its tragic end. Jerusalem was then about 50 hectares in
extent, and was fortified by 5-7 m wide city walls, which had been built
at the end of the eighth century (Steiner 1986; Shiloh 1984: 28; Avigad
1983: 46). Water was being supplied by several technically sophisti-
cated undergound systems (Amiran 1976). The area inside the city
walls was taken up, at least on the southeast hill, by residential units
only. None of the many excavations here or in other parts of Jerusalem
has revealed the remains of public buildings that were constructed
during the seventh century.
What has been excavated are houses, belonging to what may be
called the elite of Jerusalem: artisans and traders, and wealthy ones at
that. A residential quarter was laid out on top of the stepped stone
structure, whose defensive function had been overtaken by the new city
wall. Streets, 2 m wide and at right angles with each other, gave access
to houses, one or two storeys high (Steiner 2001; Shiloh 1984: 28-29).
In one house, excavated by Kenyon, a bronze workshop was discov-
ered, with stone implements, pieces of bronze and iron, and many stone
weights (Scott 1985; Steiner 2001). The famous bullae house yielded
51 bullae, the remains of an archive. Shiloh interpreted this as a state
archive, but the bullae were found amid broken household pottery
(cooking pots) and other small objects indicating family life: an iron
knife, a bronze earring, a stone pestlethus an interpretation as a
private archive seems more plausible (Shiloh 1986). On one of the
streets more than 100 loom weights were excavated, attesting to
commercial weaving activities (Steiner 2001). Three complete ostraca
discovered by Kenyon under the floors of the bronze workshop are of
an administrative nature and mention jars of grain and olive oil, both
important export products (Lemaire 1978).
Imports were of luxury goods. Excavations in and around the city
have revealed the following imports: wooden furniture from North
Syria (Shiloh 1984: 19), ivory from Syria or Mesopotamia (Ariel 1990:
119-48), decorative shells from the Red Sea (Mienis 1992; Reese
1995), wine jars from Greece or Cyprus (Steiner 2001), fine pottery
bowls from Assyria from Shiloh's excavation (not yet published), and
scarabs from Egypt (Steiner 2001), while bronze must have come from
either Cyprus or Transjordan.
To put J erusalem's size in perspective it is necessary to compare it
with other towns.
2
In J udah itself in the seventh century there seem to
have been no other towns. Excavation reports of sites such as Beer-
sheba, Tell en Nasbeh, Tell Beit Mirsim and Beth Shemes show that
after the Assyrian attack many towns did not restore their demolished
city walls, while occupation on the tells was either absent or on a much
smaller scale. Lachish was given new fortifications after a while, but
occupation inside the walls was poor, and the administrative centre
seems not to have been used again. Although some old towns seem thus
to have been reoccupied, their urban functions were negligible. The
complex and differentiated settlement system of the eighth century,
with its many specialized towns, was never restored. New settlements
were built in the second half of the seventh century: agricultural and
industrial villages, fortresses, and palaces, but no towns have yet been
discovered. This left Jerusalem as the only centre, in terms of people,
and thus in terms of economy, politics and, probably, religion.
Not only in J udah, but also in the rest of Palestine, no comparable
city has been found. Ekron on the coastal plain was the second largest
city of the country, with its 20 ha against J erusalem's 50. The other
towns did not exceed 5-7 ha.
J erusalem had become what urban geographers call a primate city, a
city very much larger than other settlements, where all economic,
political and social power is centralizedone could say: an extreme
city (Carter 1983). It must have had complete economic control over
the countryside. An interesting question is: who exercised this control?
Was it the royal court, supported by a large bureaucracy, or was it
rather the urban elite of traders and artisans? The archaeological record
does not show many signs of a centralized administration, except for
the /ra/fc-seals, already out of use in the second half of the seventh
2. Information from NEAEHL.
century, and maybe the gauging of stone weights used by traders. The
large public works for defence and water supply had all been built in
the previous century.
Compared to the tenth century, however, the layout of the city shows
a definite change from a purely administrative centre with public
buildings only, to a city composed of residential quarters without large
official buildings. This could mean that the urban elite had gained much
more economic and probably political power than in earlier centuries.
The social implications of this relegation of power are still to be
analysed, as are the consequences of J erusalem's supreme position in
the religious notions of the inhabitants, as possibly expressed in the Old
Testament.
Amiran, R.
1976
Ariel, D.T.
1990
Avigad, N.
1983
Bunimovitz, S.
1995
Carter, H.
1983
Finkelstein, I.
1990
1992
1996
Franken H.L.,
1990
Gelinas, M.M.
1995
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12
BETH SHEAN DU RING THE IRON AGE II:
STRATIGRAPHY , CHRONOLOGY AND HEBREW OSTRACA
Amihai Mazar
The Hebrew U niversity excavations at Tel Beth Shean, conducted
between 1989-96 enabled us to clarify the Iron Age stratigraphic
sequence of the tel and investigate some features of the Iron Age town
plan.
1
The dates of the strata under discussion are framed by two chron-
ological boundaries: the upper one is the termination of Egyptian rule in
Canaan late in the twentieth dynasty, and the lower one is the conquest
of the northern part of the Kingdom of Israel by the Assyrians during
the reign of Tiglath Pileser III (732 BCE). In the first part of this paper I
present the main conclusions stemming from our excavation concerning
the Iron Age II, while the second part presents ostraca written on
storage jar sherds dating to the Iron Age II.
Beth Shean in the Iron Age II
The U niversity Museum of the U niversity of Pennsylvania conducted
excavations at Tel Beth Shean during the 1920s and unearthed various
remains of the Iron Age II (Strata V -IV ). However, the interpretation of
these excavations has remained difficult and disputable. The architec-
tural plans are schematic and abound with numerous incomprehensible
details. Despite W.F. J ames's meticulous efforts to publish these strata
1. The excavations at Tell Beth Shean between the years 1989-96 were
directed by the author on behalf of the Institute of Archaeology of the Hebrew
U niversity of J erusalemin the framework of the Beth Shean Archaeological
Expedition, which is sponsored by the Israel Antiquities Authority and the Beth
Shean Tourist Development Authority.
(James 1966), many questions have remained open and the reconstruc-
tion of the site's history during the Iron Age II remained problematic.
One of our main goals in the renewed excavations at Tel Beth Shean
was to attempt to clarify the situation pertaining to this important
period. However, we faced many objective obstacles: in the area exca-
vated by the University of Pennsylvania on the summit of the mound
the Iron Age II layers had been virtually removed. Only in Area S,
located on the south-eastern part of the summit (Fig. 12.1), were we
able to locate isolated remains of monumental structures which can be
dated to the tenth century BCE (Mazar 1993: 224-26). In order to
examine the stratigraphic sequence, however, as well as the scope and
nature of the Iron Age II occupation on the mound, we had to open new
excavation areas which had been untouched by our predecessors. The
two areas opened for this purpose were Area L, located in the centre of
the mound at the foot of the summit, and Area P, located to the west of
Area L, adjoining the western slope of the mound (Fig. 12.1).
To our surprise, we discovered that the occupation history of these
two areas differed from one another to a large extent, despite the short
distance of 45 m between them and their similar elevations. In Area L
thick occupation levels of the Early Islamic and the Byzantine periods
covered scattered remains of Middle Bronze Age burials and an
occupation level of the Early Bronze Age, while no Iron Age II remains
were found whatsoever. In contrast, Area P contained massive remains
dating to the Iron Age II covered by thick occupation layers dating to
the Hellenistic, Byzantine and Islamic periods.
These results lead to important conclusions as to the extent of the
occupation on the mound between the Middle Bronze and the Iron Age
II periods. It appears that during these periods the settlement was
limited to the summit of the mound. South of Area L, there is a steep
step in the topography of the mound, which is visible in aerial photos
taken prior to the excavations of 1921. This step traverses the mound
from east to west. While Area L was located outside the limits of this
area, Area P was located in the north-west corner of the perimeter of the
settled area. The steep step most probably indicates the edge of the
thick occupation debris of the second and first millennia BCE, excavated
to the south of this line. This indicates that during the Middle Bronze,
Late Bronze and Iron Ages the settlement on Beth Shean was only 1.4
hectares in area.
MAZAR Beth Shean during the Iron Age II 291
Fig. 12.1. Topographic map of Tel Beth Shean showing the
excavation areas of the Hebrew University expedition
This is a surprising conclusion in light of the strategic location of the
mound and the status of Beth Shean as an Egyptian administrative
centre during the New Kingdom. It now appears that this New King-
dom Egyptian administrative centre was a relatively small and unforti-
fied site, composed mainly of administrative buildings, a temple and a
dwelling quarter. The Canaanite settlement which preceded the
Egyptian administrative centre, as well as that which followed its
demise, and the Israelite town of the Period of the Monarchy, all
occupied only this limited area. Essentially, it appears that Bronze Age
and Iron Age Beth Shean had never been a major city of central
importance. Such a city in the Beth Shean V alley was Rehov (Tel
Rehov, Arabic Tel es-Sarem), located just 5 km south of Beth Shean.
Our recent excavations at this impressive site indicate that it covered an
area of c. 12 hectares during the Late Bronze and Iron Age I-IIA and c.
3-4 hectares during the Iron Age IIB. Rehov was probably the main
Canaanite city state in the Beth Shean valley during the second
millenniumBCE.
The combination of data from Area S at Tel Beth Shean, where our
excavations began at the level of the tenth-century BCE occupation
layer, and from Area P, where the tenth-century BCE level was reached
at the bottom of a small probe, enabled us to reconstruct the stratigra-
phic and chronological sequence of the Iron Age II at this site. The
following brief summary presents the main results of the excavations
concerning this period. Table 12.1 summarizes the stratigraphic
sequence in Areas S and P.
Table 12.1. Stratigraphic sequence in Areas S and P
Date U niversity
Museum
Area S AreaP
Late 8th century
BCE [?]
8th century until 732 'Stratum IV [?]
BCE
9th-early 8th
centuries BCE
9th century BCE
10th century BCE
l l th century BCE
12th century BCE
(20th dynasty)
Parts of Level V
(?)
Parts of 'Stratum
V
Parts of Level V
Temples of Level
V and structures
of Level V I
U pper
Level V I
U niversity of
Pennsylvania Strata
V -IV
U niversity of
Pennsylvania Strata
V -IV
U niversity of
Pennsylvania Strata
V -IV
S1: remains of 3
massive buildings;
destruction by fire
S2: occupation level
S3: Egyptian
garrison town
P6: poor remains
P7: large building;
destruction by heavy
fire
P8a-b: two phases of
occupation
P9: surface in small
probe
P10: surface in small
probe
-
-
-
Area S: Twelfth-Tenth Centuries BCE
The stratigraphic-chronological starting point in the extensively exca-
vated Area S is Stratum S3, which is equivalent to Level V I of the
U niversity of Pennsylvania (James 1966) and Stratum 4 of Y adin and
Geva (1986). This Egyptian garrison town was destroyed in a fierce
conflagration which can be related to the termination of the Egyptian
presence at Beth Shean during the late twentieth dynasty. Stratum S2,
found on top of S3, is equivalent to Stratum Late V I of the American
expedition. Some of the mudbrick walls of this stratum were in fact a
rebuilding of earlier mudbrick walls, stumps of which remained from
the previous stratum. It appears that the builders of the new town were
well aware of the remains left by their predecessors so that in parts of
the excavation area, architectural continuity is demonstrated by the
rehabilitation of destroyed buildings and the continued use of the street
system. At the same time, in other parts of the area, new structures were
erected which altered the previous town plan.
Since most of the construction in the area under discussion was of
mudbricks, it appears that only a short time elapsed between the two
strata, since a longer gap would have resulted in the collapse and
deterioration of the brick walls of the last Egyptian occupation. The
pottery assemblage also indicates the short time separating the two
strata: the S2 repertoire includes vessels in the Canaanite tradition, both
in shape and decoration, while the Egyptian forms which were so
ubiquitous in the previous stratum were virtually non-existent in S2
(Mazar 1993: 220: Fig. 14). The two factors detailed above contradict
Finkelstein's claim (1996b) that Stratum S2 at Beth Shean dates to the
tenth century BCE, and that a chronological gap of close to 100 years
separated S3 from S2. Since there is a close affinity in the material
culture of S2 and Stratum V IA at Megiddo, this would also rule out
Finkelstein's proposal that Megiddo V IA dates to the second half of the
tenth century BCE. Both Beth Shean S2 and Megiddo V IA should be
ascribed to the eleventh century BCE, in line with the traditional
chronology of the Iron Age I (see also Peleg-Zarzeki 1997).
In Stratum SI , a major change took place in both the town planning
and pottery production at Tel Beth Shean. Fragments of three large
structures which had been destroyed in a violent fire were uncovered in
Area S (Fig. 12.2). Two of these (Building A and Building B) must
have been parts of monumental public buildings. The three are built of
similar constructional techniques: wooden beams were laid on basalt
stone foundations, on top of which a brick superstructure was built.
Some of the stones in the basalt foundations of Buildings A and B are
exceptionally large. The fierce conflagration which ravaged the three
structures resulted in bricks of the preserved superstructure becoming
vitrified to the consistency of ceramic, fired to a reddish colour. In
many cases, the heat of the fire melted the brick superstructure above
the wooden beams to a powdery, white amorphous substance.
Building A is part of a massive structure located in the south-eastern
corner of the mound, in a lofty spot which commanded the view of the
valley below to the east and to the south. It appears that the fragmentary
remains found by us had been part of a citadel several stories high, as
indicated by the width of the walls which was up to 2.5 m. One room in
this building (the south-western room) had been excavated by the
U niversity of Pennsylvania (Room 1551 in Square S8 in their excava-
tion, see James 1966: Fig. 75). Three additional rooms in this building
were uncovered by our excavation. Building B had been damaged by
later pits; the foundations of a large rectangular hall were uncovered, its
inner dimensions are 10.3 x 4.2 m, its walls c. 1.2 m wide.
The walls of Building C are of more modest dimensions, and only
two small rooms remained in our excavation area. It is possible, how-
ever, that this structure was part of a well planned architectural complex
uncovered by the U niversity of Pennsylvania expedition, which they
attributed to Stratum V (James 1966: Fig. 75, the block of buildings
north of the 'Northern Temple'; our Building C is located at the western
edge of Square S7 in this plan).
In one of the rooms of Building A, a group of storage jars was found,
all belonging to the 'Hippo' type which was characteristic of the tenth-
ninth centuries BCE. Similar jars were found at other sites destroyed by
fire in the Beth Shean and Jezreel V alleys, such as Tell el-Hamma, Tel
Amal, Tel Rehov, Megiddo Stratum V A-IV B and Hurvat Rosh Zayit
(Alexandre 1995). Small amounts of other pottery types were found as
well; though they are for the most part fragmentary, they resemble the
pottery from the above-mentioned sites as well. The appearance of red
slip and irregular hand burnish in this stratum demonstrates a break
from the previous Canaanite tradition of painted pottery, which lasted
until the late eleventh century BCE. Carbon 14 dating of an olive tree
beam used in one of the buildings yielded a date range of 1018-920
BCE (100 per cent certainty). This date fits the dating of Stratum SI in
the tenth century BCE, however it should be taken with caution since
olive tree timber could survive for a long time. Short-lived botanical
samples were not available for radiometric dating (on the chronological
controversy concerning this period see Finkelstein 1996a; Mazar 1997;
Finkelstein 1998; Ben-Tor and Ben-Ami 1998).
Fig. 12.2. Schematic plan of Stratum SI structures in Area S (tenth century BCE)
The extremely violent destruction by fire of Stratum SI is similar to
that found in other sites in this region, cf. Tell el Hamma and Tel Amal.
It seems probable that these devastations were caused by the military
campaign of Shishak, the Egyptian Pharaoh of the twenty-second
dynasty, whose army passed through the Beth Shean valley between
930 to 925 BCE (for the latest discussion with full literature see
Na'aman 1998). It appears that sites in the western Jezreel V alley such
as Megiddo IV B-V A and Taanach IIB were probably also destroyed
during the same invasion (note, however, that Na'aman 1998 denies
wide-scale destructions as a result of this invasion).
Y et this conclusion (presented in the 1996 lecture on which this
paper is based) has to be revised now in light of the excavations at
Jezreel and at Tel Rehov. At Jezreel, the pottery assemblage found in
the destruction layer of the royal citadel of Ahab is very similar to that
found in the destruction layers of the sites mentioned above, and
traditionally dated to the tenth century BCE. At Tel Rehov, similar
pottery was found in three successive strata (VI-IV in the final strata
numbers, corresponding to Cla, Clb and C2 in the preliminary report).
While Finkelstein (1996) concluded on the basis of the finds from
Jezreel that the entire tenth-century assemblage should be moved to the
ninth century BCE, I prefer to claim that the same assemblage contined
to be in use throughout much of the tenth and ninth centuries, from c.
980 to c. 830 BCE (for detailed discussion and references see Mazar
1999: 37-42).
Area P: Ninth-Eighth Centuries BCE
The ninth-eighth century stratigraphic sequence at Tel Beth Shean was
determined in Area P, where the following occupation strata were
identified.
Stratum P10. This stratum is known from only one rather small probe.
An earth layer was found which contained sherds similar to those found
in Stratum SI in Area S. This determines a stratigraphic correlation
between these two excavation areas.
Stratum P9-8. These are two phases of one stratum which was exposed
in probes under the floors of a large dwelling belonging to the subse-
quent stratum. The finds include segments of brick walls, an oven,
various installations and beaten earth floors with accumulations of
pottery sherds. The ceramic-rich assemblage include red slipped bowls
of the 'Samarian' type as well as several vessel types which indicate a
date in the ninth or early eighth centuries BCE. Despite the proximity to
the slope of the mound, no evidence of fortifications was found.
Stratum P7: A large dwelling was erected in Area P in this stratum. The
location and orientation of its walls point to a major departure from the
previous stratum in the town plan. The walls of the building were built
of mudbricks without stone foundations; their average width was 1 m,
and their foundations reached c. 0.8 m beneath the floor level inside the
house. The basic plan of the building follows the 'four room house',
though the stone pillars or wooden columns so characteristic of Iron
Age II dwellings were lacking (Fig. 12.3).
Fig. 12.3. Isometric drawing of the dwelling house in Area P,
Stratum P7 (eighth century BCE).
The external dimensions of the building are 14 x 14 m, and it includes a
central rectangular space (internal dimensions 4 x 8.1 m), and six
square rooms: two on each of the three sides of a central rectangular
hall (eastern, western and southern). The entrance to the house was
from a street to its north, leading directly into the central hall, which
most likely was roofed. The thresholds were made of mudbricks, and
the walls, which were preserved in certain places to a height of over
1.5 m, were covered with a thick mud plaster. The two western rooms
of the house as well as the western inner room were constructed on the
line of the western slope of the mound, and they were almost entirely
destroyed as a result of erosion, as well as by the foundations of a
massive Byzantine wall which penetrated deep into the Iron Age levels.
The south-eastern room was located outside the border of the excava-
tion area, and only its entrance was exposed. The south-western room
was also located beyond the limits of the excavation area, but a narrow
probe excavated along the slope of the mound uncovered part of this
room and its southern wall. This is one of the most massive dwellings
of the Iron Age in the Land of Israel. Though its basic plan accords
with the tenets of domestic house plans of this period, it is difficult to
find an exact parallel to the particular layout of the rooms in this
building. It appears that this had been a particularly large and well-
planned residency of an affluent tenant.
The building was destroyed by a fierce fire which caused the collapse
of the ceiling and brick walls into the rooms. This violent destruction
was most probably caused by the Assyrian conquest of Beth Shean,
apparently in 732 BCE. The destruction layer contained many finds,
including more than 100 restorable pottery vessels and other objects
typical of the eighth century BCE (Fig. 12.4). Remains of a loom with
more than 120 clay loom-weights were found near one of the walls of
the central hall. Most of the pottery vessels were found along the walls
of the central hall and in the entrances to the southern rooms. The
southernmost of the two rooms to the east of the main hall yielded
numerous vessels which had been crushed by the thick destruction
debris. Among the objects found in situ was a pithos similar in shape to
the pithoi from Kuntillat 'Ajrud which bore Hebrew inscriptions and
paintings. The northernmost of the two rooms to the east of the central
hall served as a silo during the final occupation phase of the house. Its
entrance was found blocked and the room contained a large amount of
grain. This room had been especially badly burned and its brick walls
were fired to the consistency of ceramics. The rich and homogenous
assemblage of pottery vessels found on the floors of this building is
typical of the eighth century BCE. Considerable differences may be
discerned between the vessels of this stratum and those of the previous
stratum dating to the ninth or the beginning of the eighth century BCE.
To the north of the building was an open area which was probably a
wide street. To the east of the house were building fragments which can
be divided into two phases. On the eastern edge of the excavation area,
part of a paved street was found on a level considerably higher than that
of the floors inside the house. This is evidence that the town had been
built on a series of terraces which descended to the north-west, follow-
ing the natural slope of the tel. One of the reasons which prompted the
choice of this area for excavation was the quest for the Iron Age
fortifications. However, the location of the western rooms of this
dwelling on the slope of the mound does not leave any room for a
fortification system. The fact that the University Museum expedition
did not find any trace of Iron Age fortifications either, though they
excavated along the edge of the site in the south and east, leads to the
conclusion that the Iron Age II town remained unfortified. This is an
exceptional phenomenon during this period, when most of the towns in
the kingdoms of Judah and Israel were surrounded by walls.
Fig. 12.4. Pottery types found in the destruction of Stratum P7 (732 BCE)
Stratum P6: Several fragments of brick walls were found above the
ruins of the Stratum P7 dwelling, representing a short interlude follow-
ing the destruction. No floors were found and the finds from this
stratum are negligible.
Correlating the above stratigraphic sequence with that of the
U niversity of Pennsylvania is not an easy task since the data we possess
concerning the older excavation is wanting. It seems that the northern
block of buildings attributed to Lower Level V (using the terminology
of James 1966) can be dated to the tenth century BCE as James sugges-
ted, though perhaps the double temple complex ('the Northern Temple'
and the 'Southern Temple') should be separated from this block of
building (to which they don't have any direct connection) and should be
dated to the eleventh century BCE (Mazar 1993: 221-23). U pper Level
V , whose architectural components are not clear, may be contemporary
with our Stratum P9-P8 (ninth-early eighth centuries BCE). Level IV
included indeterminate remains of structures and pottery which is
partially similar to that of P7 in our excavation, though some forms date
to later. In a discussion of these strata, Geva (1979) attempted to deter-
mine that Level V was destroyed by the Assyrian conquest, while Level
IV post-dates this event. However, the pottery on which she based her
suggestion was mainly unstratified. Thus it is possible that most of the
Level IV structures belong to the period prior to the Assyrian conquest,
and only some are contemporary with our Stratum P6, which post-dates
the Assyrian conquest.
Ostracafrom Tel Beth Shean
During the first days of our second season at Tel Beth Shean (October
1990) we began to expand the excavation of Area S on the summit of
the tell. All remains of Iron Age II (Stratum IV and parts of Stratum V )
had been removed by the U niversity of Pennsylvania expedition, so that
we began our excavation at an occupation level of the eleventh century
BCE (Stratum S2); basalt stone wall foundations of the tenth century
BCE (Stratum Si) had been dug into this level. To our surprise, several
centimetres below topsoil, several sherds of a storage jar base were
found which bore Paleo-Hebrew ink inscriptions, apparently dating to
the eighth century BCE. The sherds were found in Locus 78801 in
Square Y -8, and were most likely lying at the bottom of an Iron Age II
pit which had penetrated into the earlier Iron Age I occupation levels.
The upper part of this pit was probably removed by the U niversity of
Pennsylvania expedition, and apparently we excavated the bottom of
it.
2
Four inscribed sherds (some composed of several joining sherds)
were found, all of which originally had been part of the same storage jar
or large jug. This is apparent from the identical fabric of the sherds:
brown clay with a grey core, numerous black inclusions and traces of
wet smoothing outside. It appears that the entire inscription had been
written on the base of the jar (possibly after it had been broken), with
the base held upwards; it thus appears that the inscription is unrelated to
the original use of the jar, and was probably written on the base of this
jar after it was broken. The fragmentary inscriptions on the sherds may
be understood as broken parts of one inscription, which may be defined
as an ostracon. The inscription was written in black ink, in large letters
(0.7-1.0 cm). It was read with the help of Dr Ada Y ardeni who also
prepared the drawing and transliteration. In the discussion and inter-
pretation of the inscription, I consulted Professor P.M. Cross.
The following is the reading of the four sherds.
Sherd No. 1 (Reg. No. 788033)
Fig. 12.5. Sherd No. 1
2. The inscriptions were found in Area S, supervised by Nava Panitz-Cohen.
For a preliminary report on the excavations in this area see Mazar 1993. I am
grateful to Mrs Ada Y ardeni who prepared the illustrations and transcription and
made important suggestions concerning the reading of the inscriptions, and to
Professor P.M. Cross who discussed the inscriptions with me in the Spring of 1991
and also made some valuable suggestions.
This is the largest fragment, measuring 9 x 10 cm and 1.5 cm thick (it is
actually composed of two joined sherds). The fragment is part of the
base of a storage jar, with the inscription written around the base while
it was held upside down. It appears that only part of the inscription
remained, and that the inscription was written on the entire circum-
ference of the bottom of a broken jar and thus was originally much
longer. Since the inscription had been written on a convex surface, the
lines are not straight; some of the words on the margins which were
poorly preserved were written almost perpendicular to the rest of the
inscription.
Line 1: . zm' . 1
Line 2: 'It . zm' t 11
Line 3: [z]m' I
Side letters:
]'b I
I I I
Translation:
Zema 5
Elath (or: Ela son of) Zema 2
Zema 1(?)
Side: J ab 1
3(?)
Comments. Line 1: The name Zma is followed by a separation dot and
the hieratic numeral 'five'.
Line 2: The combination 'It zm' is curious. It may be translated as
'goddess of Zema' but it could also be a combined private name with
the components 'It and zm' in construct state. An alternative is to read
the last letter in the first word as 'aleph; in that case, the first word will
be 7', which is the name Ela, known once in the Bible (1 Kgs 4.18). In
such a case, we have a composed name: 'Zema [son of] Ela'. Lines 1
and 3 can be reconstructed as also having names before the name Zema,
and thus the three lines may have contained three names of brothers (?),
sons of Zema (this was suggested to me by P.M. Cross). However, the
preferred reading of the last letter in the first word is taw, and thus the
first interpretation is preferred. The name is followed by two vertical
lines which could be the numeral 'two'; yet in other cases (line 1 in this
inscription and line 3 in inscription no. 2) there is a separation dot
between the name and the numeral, while here no such dot exists. After
a break, the letter let appears, perhaps a beginning of a new word or
name.
Line 3: The name zm' is reconstructed here on the basis of two letters
m'\ of the supposed zayin only a small line was preserved. The name is
followed by a vertical line before a break in the sherd; this line is
probably part of a numeral.
The name zm', which perhaps should be read Zema or Zoma, appears
three times in this inscription. It is unique in West Semitic inscriptions,
except on three arrowheads from Lebanon, probably of the eleventh
century BCE: hs yt' bn zm' (Cross 1992: 25* No. 10 and Cross 1996:
14* No. 9); hs spt bn zm' (Cross 1996: 15*; the latter, however, is
defined as 'spurious' by Cross); hz zm' bn 7s 7 (Deutsch and Heltzer
1994: 18-19, inscription no. 5). The appearance of the name zm' three
times is curious. It is very rare that the same name appears several times
in the same list.
At the right top edge of the inscription the combination 'b is followed
by a vertical line which is the numeral 'one', 'b is probably the ending
of a private name, like Eliab for example. Y et it should be noted that
the 'aleph is very pale; its transcription, suggested by Ada Y ardeni, is
not secure. The three broken lines at the right edge of the sherd stand
for the number 'three', though they could also be the upper part of a
broken shin. The diagonal line above the tet in the left upper part of the
inscription is probably meaningless.
Sherd No. 2. (Registration Number 788042/2)
A fragment composed of three sherds that fitted together, probably
belonging to the same jar as No. 1, since it is made of similar clay.
However, the sherd is much thinner (0.8 cm) and is angular; it probably
belonged to the shoulder of the jar. The size of the sherd is 6 x 6 cm,
but it is broken on all its sides unintentionally.
Reading:
Line 1:
Line 2:
Line 3:
Line 4:
Line 5:
i
]'f
]yr
]. '
] .
.ddt I I
. I l l
sd[
[
Comments. Line 1: only one foot of a long letter was preserved. It
might be nun, mem or kaf.
Line 2 is reconstructed from three sherds; a break which chipped the
surface of two of these sherds makes the reading of the second letter
difficult. It is also not very clear whether there is a separation dot after
the first 'aleph. If indeed the second letter is dalet (as transcribed) then
the reading might be 'ddt. Y et if there is a separation dot after the first
'aleph, then we should read '. ddt followed by the number 'two'.
Line 3: only the ending yr was preserved, followed by a separation
dot and the number 'three'. The name might be Y air or the like.
Line 4: After the letters 'sd one can see the top of a triangle.
Professor Cross suggested to me that this is part of another dalet, and
thus the reading: 'sdd 'Ashdod' or 'Ashdodite' occurs. Y et this is a
very insecure reading.
Sherd No. 3. (Registration No. 788042/1)
No. 3 is a fragment composed of three sherds that fitted together, size 4
x 7 cm, thickness 0.7 cm. The sherd is very chipped on all sides. The
sherd probably belongs to the same jar as Nos. 1 and 2, though the
colour of its surface is more gray than brown; inside the clay looks very
much like that of the other sherds.
Reading:
Line 1: ]b
:
[
Line 2: . b' . 'z'[
Line 3: y(?). hd[
Line 4: ] .'[
Comments. The very fragmentary state of preservation of this inscrip-
tion does not permit secure interpretation.
Line 1: the bet is clear, while the second letter is poorly preserved.
Perhaps it was a tet.
Line 2: the first letter is obscure, sade, waw and qof were suggested,
but in any case the form is exceptional and appear to be an error by the
scribe. If he intended to write asade, then the word can be read as sava
(army). The second word can be read 'z', though the 'ayin is somewhat
problematic: a faint line (seen in the photograph) may be a leg of a
letter like bet. If the reading 'Uza is accepted, then it is a well-known
private name, known from several biblical references (2 Sam. 6.6; 2
Kgs 21.26; 1 Chron. 8.7; 1 Chron. 13.7, 9-11; Ezra 2.49; Neh. 7.51). It
is a shortened form of the theophoric name 'U ziah. The form 'U za is
known also in one case on the Samaria Ostraca (No I, Gibson 1971: 8;
Renz 1995: I, 89); on several Hebrew, Ammonite and Aramaean seals
(Avigad and Zass 1997: 521) and on an Aramaean ostracon from
Nirnrud dated to the eighth century BCE (Albright 1958: 33; Ahituv
1971: 112-13). The two words may be in the construct state and thus be
translated as 'the army of 'U za'.
Line 3: the two letters hd[ can be reconstructed as part of the name
Hadad, or a composite name with the component Hadad.
Line 4: only one letter, 'aleph, was preserved in this line.
Sherd No. 4 (Registration No. 788042/4)
This is a small sherd (2.5 x 3 cm, thickness 0.8 cm). Though the clay is
more gritty than the other sherds, its colour and texture show that it
may belong to the same jar as Nos. 1-3.
Reading:
Line 1: b'ly[
Line 2: yh
Comments. Line 1: Following the first two clear letters bet and 'ayin,
there is very faint letter. The reading lamed, suggested by Mrs Y ardeni,
may show that this word was a theophoric name with the component
Baal. The last letter, probably belonging to the same name, is perhaps
yod or sade.
Line 2: the two letters yod and he can be part of a theophoric name
with the component Yah, yet this is very hypothetical. If correct, it
would be interesting to have this component in the Northern Kingdom
of Israel, where the more common ending is yo.
Paleographically, the letters in our inscriptions are very similar to
those of the bulk of the Samaria Ostraca (compare with the table in
Renz 1995: Band III Tf. 6). Most of these ostraca are dated to the first
half of the eighth century. This date fits our ostraca as well. The
numerals 1, 2, 3, 4 which appear in the inscriptions are in the hieratic
forms, as in Judaean weights and Hebrew ostraca, including the
Samaria Ostraca which are the closest to ours both spatially and
temporally. The use of dots as dividers between the words is also
common in the Samaria Ostraca.
Significance
As can be seen, the inscriptions are very fragmentary, and it is difficult
to read some of the letters. It appears that these inscriptions are a small
part of a longer list of names with numbers next to them, signifying
quantities of merchandise, payment or the like. Lists of this type are
well known among the ostraca of the Iron Age II in the Land of Israel,
such as at Arad (Aharoni 1981, Inscriptions Nos. 31, 36, 49, 72). These
are simple daily lists, written on cheap material like a bottom of a
broken jar. The private name Zema (or Zoma?) which appears several
times in the inscriptions deserves special attention. It is possible that the
list mentions several members of the same family. Another noteworthy
point is the element yah in sherd No. 4 which may have been part of the
J udaean theophoric component yahu, though this reading is not at all
certain.
These inscriptions from Beth Shean are the only ink ostraca found in
the Kingdom of Israel apart from the Samaria Ostraca (for a compre-
hensive catalog of inscriptions from the Iron Age II see Renz 1995) .
This may be a consequence of the chances of discovery, yet it serves to
emphasize the rarity of such inscriptions in the Northern Kingdom of
Israel. It can be assumed that these were inscriptions of routine daily
use, which were dumped into a refuse pit some time in the eighth
century BCE, most probably before the conquest of the region by
Tiglath Pileser III in 732 BCE.
Conclusions
The combination of the data from the excavation in Areas P and S
enables us to reconstruct the stratigraphic sequence of the Iron Age II at
Tel Beth Shean, as well as the extent of the town of this period. It
appears that during the Iron Age only the upper part of the mound had
been settled and the entire occupied area was no more than 1.4 hectares.
Based on the evidence from Area P, and the finds of the previous
excavations, it appears that the town remained unfortified. Three settle-
ment strata dating to the period between the tenth and eighth centuries
BCE were identified, two of which had sub-phases. Clear trends in the
development of the pottery between these strata may be discerned. It
appears that these three strata represent, respectively, the tenth, ninth
and eighth centuries BCE. The city was destroyed during the Assyrian
invasion in 732 BCE. Following this conquest, the site was only
sparsely settled for a short period of time, after which there was an
occupation gap until the Hellenistic period. The Hebrew inscriptions
from Beth Shean, dating to the eighth century BCE, belong to the type
of administrative-economic documents typical of the Iron Age. They
are the only inscriptions of their kind to be found in the Kingdom of
Israel aside from the Samaria Ostraca.
Bibliography
Aharoni, Y .
1981 Arad Inscriptions (Jerusalem: The Bialik Institute and the Israel
Ahituv, S.
1971 'z'. Encyclopaedia Biblica (Jerusalem: The Bialik Institute), V ol. V I (in
Hebrew).
Albright, W.F.
1958 'An Ostracon from Calah and the North-Israelite Diaspora', BASOR 149:
33-36.
Alexandre, Y .
1995 'The "Hippo" Jar and Other Storage Jars at Hurvat Rosh Zayit', Tel Aviv
22: 77-88.
Avigad, N., and B. Zass
1997 Corpus of West Semitic Stamp Seals (Jerusalem: The Israel Academy of
Sciences and Humanities, The Israel Exploration Society and the Institute
of Archaeology of the Hebrew U niversity).
Ben Tor, A., and D. Ben-Ami
1998 'Hazor and the Archaeology of the Tenth Century BCE', IEJ 48: 1-37.
Braemer, F.
1982 L'Architecture Domestique du Levant a L'Age du Per (Paris: Editions
Recherche sur les civilisations).
Chambon, A.
1984 Tell el Far'ah 1, L'Age du Fer (Paris: Editions Recherche sur les
civilisations).
Cross, P.M.
1992 'An Inscribed Arrowhead of the Eleventh Century BCE in the Bible
Lands Museum in Jerusalem', El 23: 21*-35*.
1996 'The Arrow of Suwar, Retainer of 'Abday', El 25: 9*-17*.
Deutsch, R., and M. Heltzer
1994 Forty New Ancient West Semitic Inscriptions (Tel Aviv: Archaeological
Center Publications).
Finkelstein, I.
1996a 'The Archaeology of the United Monarchy: An Alternative V iew', Levant
28: 177-87.
1996b 'The Stratigraphy and Chronology of Megiddo and Beth-Shean in the
12th-llth Centuries BCE', Tel Aviv 23: 170-84.
1998 'Bible Archaeology or Archaeology of Palestine in the Iron Age?', Levant
30: 167-73.
Geva, S.
1979 'A Reassessment of the Chronology of Beth Shean Strata V and IV , IEJ
29: 6-10.
Gibson, J.C.L.
1971 Textbook of Syrian Semitic Inscriptions. I. Hebrew and Moabite
Inscriptions (Oxford: Clarendon Press).
James, W.F.
1966
Mazar, A.
1993
1997
1999
Na'aman, N.
1998
The Iron Age at Beth Shean (Philadelphia: U niversity Museum).
'Beth Shean in the Iron Age: Preliminary Report and Conclusions of the
1990-1991 Excavations', IEJ43: 201-29.
'Iron Age Chronology: A Reply to I. F inkelstein', Levant 29: 157-67.
'The 1997-1998 Excavations at Tel Rehov: Preliminary Report', IEJ 49:
1-42.
'Shishak's Invasion of the Land of Israel in Light of the Egyptian
Inscriptions, the Biblical Sources and the Archaeological Finds', Zion 63:
247-76 (in Hebrew).
Peleg-Zarzeki, A.
1997 'Hazor, Jokneam and Megiddo in the Tenth Century BCE', Tel Aviv 24:
258-88.
Renz, J.
1995 Die Althebraischen Inschriften. Band I and Band 111 (Darmstadt:
Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft).
Y adin, Y ., and S. Geva
1986 Investigations at Beth Shean: The Early Iron Age Strata (Qedem, 23;
J erusalem: Hebrew U niversity).
13
BU SAY RA AND JU DAH:
STY LISTIC PARALLELS IN THE MATERIAL CU LTU RE
Piotr Bienkowski and Leonie Sedman
Introduction (Piotr Bienkowski)
The purpose of this paper is essentially to present some of the Iron Age
small finds from the excavations at Busayra in Jordan, and to compare
them with material from sites in J udah, particularly material from the
so-called 'Edomite' sites of Horvat Qitmit and 'En Haseva. The
discussion will attempt to sum up what the parallels signify, and in
particular will addressagainthe question of what is 'Edomite'.
The modern site of Busayra is located about 10 km south of Tafila
and 45 km north of Petra in Jordan (Bennett 1983). The ancient site, to
the north of the present-day town, is on a spur about 3200 sq. m in area.
It is surrounded on three sides by deep ravines and is connected to the
main land mass only to the south.
Busayra was first identified with biblical Bozrah by Ulrich Jasper
Seetzen following his trip to the southern end of the Dead Sea in 1806
(Seetzen 1854-59). There is no inscriptional evidence to confirm or
deny this equation. Bozrah as a city of Edom appears five times in the
Old Testament. Scholars sometimes refer to it as Edom's capital, but
nowhere is this explicitly statedthe closest is the reference in Amos
1.12, referring to the destruction of 'the palaces of Bozrah' which was
to be symbolic of the defeat of Edom.
Nelson Glueck was the first to survey Busayrait is interesting to
recall that originally he thought the site was small and mostly
Nabataean, and he preferred to identify Tawilan near Petra with biblical
Bozrah (Glueck 1934: 14). Later, though, he changed his mind and
BIENKOWSKI AND SEDMAN Bmayra and Judah 311
accepted the equation of Busayra with Bozrah, an identification that is
accepted today (Glueck 1935: 83).
Crystal Bennett excavated Busayra from 1971 to 1974 and in 1980
(Bennett 1983). She excavated four main areas; of particular interest
were Areas A and C with monumental buildings, probably to be
identified as a temple and palace, the one in Area C having a bathhouse.
The material dates to the Late Iron II/Persian period possibly extending
into the Early Hellenistic period (late eighth century BCE to c. 300/200
BCE) and there are some Nabataean/Roman remains. There has been a
debate about whether there is any pre eighth-century material, but that
is not relevant to the present paper (Bienkowski 1992b).
Bennett published preliminary reports on her excavations (Bennett
1973, 1974, 1975, 1977), but died in 1987 before starting work on a
final report. Stephen Hart published a report on Busayra Area D and its
pottery (Hart 1995), although that was taken more or less unchanged
from his doctoral dissertation (Hart 1989), and it does not quite
constitute a final report on that area. The final report on Bennett's
excavations is currently being prepared by the writer (PB).
One of the authors (LS) is preparing the small finds from Busayra for
publication in the final report (Sedman 2000). The Busayra material is
the largest corpus of small finds so far excavated in Edom. One of the
questions set when beginning her work was to see what, if anything,
might be characteristic of this material and might allow us to talk about
a recognizable 'Edomite' material culture. It has been particularly
useful that so much good comparative material has recently been
discovered and published from sites in Judah. The final report on
Horvat Qitmit in the Negev has been published (Beit-Arieh 1995a), and
material is beginning to be published on 'En Haseva, about 45 km to
the south-east of Qitmit (Cohen 1994; Cohen and Y israel 1995a, b).
Both have been labelled 'Edomite shrines' or 'cult places' by their
excavators. This makes it all the more worthwhile to startor even to
continueasking questions about what is characteristically Edomite,
and whether, in fact, 'Edomite' has any meaning in terms of material
culture.
Parallels from Busayra (Leonie Sedman)
The excavations at Busayra produced a number of female figurines.
They are without exception naked and pregnant, with both hands held
to the breasts. None of the examples from Busayra is holding a baby or
tambourine, and none has outstretched arms. At the time of writing, no
specific identity can be attributed with confidence to these figurines.
The preliminary impressions in this report are presented in the hope of
promoting discussion regarding the relationship between Transjordan
and Judah in Iron II.
The Busayra figurines are similar in form and size to many others
from Iron Age sites all over the southern Levant. However, apart from
those from Tawilan, which in some cases were nearly identical to the
Busayra examples, there were no exact parallels at the time of their
excavation. Although the figurines depicting a female, often pregnant,
with her hands over her breasts were probably intended to represent the
same subject, they do not appear to have come from the same artistic
'school'.
The publication of the finds from Horvat Qitmit has provided the first
really close parallels to the Busayra material. The Busayra figurines
already published in a preliminary report (Bennett 1973: pi. V illa) are
cited as parallels in the Qitmit report; but there are additional unpub-
lished objects from Busayra which provide interesting parallels to the
finds from both Qitmit and 'En Haseva.
Comparing Figure 13.1 (centre, bottom) with Beit-Arieh (1995a: Fig.
3.69a), the horizontal double-row necklace is not absolutely identical,
but seems to come from the same artistic 'genre'. A figurine head from
Busayra (Fig. 13.2) compares well with Beit-Arieh (1995a: Fig. 3.75,
114-16), especially in the way the wig or headdress comes forward to
frame the face, and the striking similarity of the representations. Al-
though the details of the three examples from Qitmit seem to vary
considerably, they are thought to have been possibly cast from the same
mould, then finished with different incised or applied decoration.
A male head from Busayra (Fig. 13.3) seems to have a family
resemblance to the 'kneeling man' from Qitmit (Beit-Arieh 1995a: 111,
Fig. 3.80, 119) in its general appearance and the applied knobs for eyes.
However, Pirhiya Beck (personal communication) noted that in fact the
'kneeling man' has a flattened appearance when viewed from the front
which is not obvious from the published illustration. This emphasizes
the pitfalls of attempting to compare objects known only from pub-
lished illustrations but not actually seen and handled.
1
1. See also the bearded man from Qitmit (Beit-Arieh 1995a: 72, Fig. 3.44a, b),
although this figure is hollow, unlike the Busayra example.
BIENKOWSKI AND SEDMAN Busayra and Judah 313
Fig. 13.1. Four figurine heads from Busayra
Fig. 13.2. Figurine head from Busayra
314 Studies in the A rchaeology of the Iron Age
Fig. 13,3. Bearded male figurine head from Busayra
Beck also suggested that another head from Busayra (Fig. 13.4) may
have broken away from the body in a particular way due to a method of
manufacture whereby the head was made separately and joined to the
body by a plug or dowel-like wedge at the neck. Examination of the
figurine, however, indicated that, as with the other female figurines
from Busayra, this example was manufactured in one piece in a deep
mould.
Fig. 13.4. Figurine head from Busayra
Some of the most beautiful objects from Busayra are the spouted
zoomorphic vessels
2
(Fig. 13.5), the examples illustrated here all with
applied trappings, paralleled by a less ornate example from Qitmit
(Beit-Arieh 1995a: Fig. 3.93). It is possible to see where the bridle
broke off, and it has a flat, fin-like mane, similar to one of the illustrated
Busayra examples. The Qitmit fragment is identified as bovine (Beit-
Arieh 1995a: 139), while some of the Busayra examples were originally
registered as camels. The present writer prefers to identify them as
horses, but of course horse and camel heads can appear very similar in
isolation. U nfortunately there are no complete examples from Busayra,
only heads without bodies and vice-versa, with none matching. None of
the existing bodies appears to have been intended as a camel.
Fig. 13.5. Two spouted zoomorphic vessels from Busayra
The finds from 'En Haseva have not been published in full, but
preliminary publications yield two strong parallels. A fragment of
decorated pottery from Busayra (Fig. 13.6) and a large cult vessel from
'En Haseva (Cohen and Y israel 1995a: 226; 1995b: 9) share the same
indentation across the top and the same applied knob decorating the
centre of the top. They both share a parallel from Megiddo (Schu-
macher 1908: pi. XXXIX) although that appears to be a decorative
handle rather than a purely decorative element in itself.
2 . These appear to be vessels, since the heads and mouths (which is all that
survives) are hollow.
Fig. 13.6. Fragment of decorated pottery from Busayra
The hollow male figurine head from Busayra (Fig. 13.7, first
published in Bennett 1973: pi. V III), although much smaller in size,
bears a close stylistic similarity to some of the large anthropomorphic
stands from 'En Haseva (Cohen and Y israel 1995a: 226; 1995b: 24,
33).
3
Both Qitmit and 'En Haseva produced decorative models of
pomegranates (Beit-Arieh 1995a: 158, Fig. 3.107:187; Cohen and
Y israel 1995a: 227). P. Beck suggested (personal communication) that
certain fragments from Busayra (Fig. 13.8) might possibly be pieces of
a pottery pomegranate, but sufficient fragments do not remain for a
positive identification. The largest Busayra fragment has bulbous
projections, pushed out from the inside, which bear some similarity to
pomegranate fragments (also pushed out from the inside) from Qitmit
(Beit-Arieh 1995a: 156-57). However, the Busayra example appears to
be more extreme in shape (leading to an initial identification as the
breasts of a broken female figure). This is another example of the
difficulties caused by not comparing objects directly, but relying solely
on illustrations. Kletter (1999: 376) has also compared this Busayra
example with a fragment from Tel 'Ira (Kletter 1999: Figs. 7.1:7,
7.2:6), although the Tel 'Ira fragment retains less of the surrounding
area than the Busayra example.
3. The Busayra head also has similarities to a fragment from Qitmit (Beit-
Arieh 1995a: 50-51, Fig. 3.24:25a), especially the large flat nose and the bulbous
eyes.
Fig. 13.7. Hollow male figurine head from Busayra
Fig. 13.8. Pottery fragments from Busayra: part of pomegranate?
There are parallels between the Qitmit and 'En Haseva cult vessels
and finds from other Iron II sites in Transjordan (e.g. Tell el-Kheleifeh,
Pratico 1993: 138, pi. 29:12), but these are not considered here. To
date, the finds from Horvat Qitmit and 'En Haseva have provided some
of the closest parallels yet for certain aspects of Busayra's material
culture.
Discussion (Piotr Bienkowski)
The material presented shows that there are some close parallels
between the finds from Busayra, a major centre in Edom, and Horvat
Qitmit in particular, but also 'En Haseva, both in Judah. The excavators
of Qitmit and 'En Haseva, Itzhaq Beit-Arieh (Qitmit) and Rudolph
Cohen and Y igal Y israel ('En Haseva), clearly think that this is
significant. They have characterized both sites as Edomite shrines (Beit-
Arieh 1995a: 306-10; Cohen and Y israel 1995a: 224-28).
There is no problem with the identification of Horvat Qitmit as a
shrine, which seems reasonable. It should be noted, however, that the
'cultic' material from 'En Haseva all came from a favissa, and the
excavators' reconstruction of the shrine is hypothetical. Furthermore,
thefavissa assemblage as a whole is clearly not Edomite: there are very
few parallels with material from Edom proper, and characteristic
material of Edomite assemblages is missing. It is more likely that the
favissa cultic assemblage is material characteristic of the Negev itself,
and there is no need to look for outside influences. A distinction must
be made between the assemblage from the favissa, which is not
Edomite, and seventh-century BCE material from other contexts at 'En
Haseva, some of which does have parallels in Edom.
Both Israel Finkelstein and the present writer have argued against the
unrigorous use of the label 'Edomite' (Finkelstein 1992; 1995: 139-44;
Bienkowski 1995a: 139). The reason for repeating these arguments is
that the identifications as 'Edomite' shrines are being widely accepted,
uncritically, and used as solid, unquestionable evidence for the
movement of Edomites across the Wadi Arabah in the seventh or sixth
centuries BCE, into the area which later became Idumaea (but see now
Bartlett 1999). Indeed, Beit-Arieh has specifically argued that the finds
at Qitmit indicate that Edom invaded and conquered parts of J udah
(1995a: 314-15).
Apart from the iconographic parallels, there are three elements at
Qitmit which have been labelled as 'Edomite': the pottery, the use of
the name 'Qos', and the script. Beit-Arieh claims that the script and the
occurrence of the name 'Qos' are 'strong culture-identifying elements',
and that therefore the link between the material culture and ethnicity
seems to be obvious (1995a: 316). Looked at rigorously, this link is not
beyond dispute.
The root of the problem is the use and meaning of the word 'Edom'.
It was variously used in antiquity to denote a geographical area, then a
political state, and an ethnic group (Edelman 1995). Qitmit had a
mixture of Palestinian Iron Age pottery and so-called 'Edomite'
pottery, although analysis showed that none of the latter came from
Edom proper but was probably locally made (Beit-Arieh 1995a: 285).
By 'Edomite' pottery is meant painted pottery characteristic of Busayra
and other sites in Edom, but it is also found at sites in the north-western
Negev. Interestingly, it is not found at all sites in Edom: the mountain-
top sites around Petra have little or no painted pottery (Zeitler 1992), so
it is misleading to call it characteristically Edomite. J ust because this
pottery has been labelled 'Edomite', does not mean that wherever we
find it, it was made and used by Edomites. There is nothing to indicate
that this pottery was of necessity confined to any ethnic group, rather
than being the standard Iron II/Persian painted pottery of an area
extending beyond Edom proper, indeed, not even extending over all of
Edom.
Beit-Arieh does not accept my labelling of this pottery as 'Busayra
Painted Ware' (Bienkowski 1992a: 7), on the grounds that 'the
diffusion of such pottery in the Negev does not support its definition as
a local phenomenon' (Beit-Arieh 1995a: 303 n. 1). He misunderstands
my purpose. I merely wish to avoid labelling this pottery with such a
misleading term as 'Edomite', a term which changes its meaning
depending on circumstances but which to most scholars implies a
causal link between a political entity and one aspect of material culture
that has not been adequately demonstrated. The label 'Busayra Painted
Ware' is not meant to imply a phenomenon local to Busayra, but that
this is the place where such pottery is most frequent and best known.
Analogies might be Jemdat Nasr pottery in Mesopotamia, named after
the site where it was discovered but a chronological indicator for the
latest U ruk period over a wide area; or the proposal to rename
'Midianite' potteryanother misleading termas 'Qurayyah Painted
Ware', although it is distributed a long way from the site of Qurayyah
itself (Parr 1988:74).
The theophoric name Qos has been found in two inscriptions at
Qitmit (Beit-Arieh 1995a: 259-60). However, the presence of the name
'Qos' is not by itself compelling evidence. We actually know very little
about Qos. The name is found in Edom, the Negev and later in the
Hejaz. Evidence for its use is still fairly sparse and uncertain, and we
cannot automatically conclude that its use indisputably indicates an
Edomite, nor that its mere presence at a shrine makes the shrine itself
'Edomite' (Bartlett 1989: 200-204; Dearman 1995).
The same argument holds for the 'Edomite' script, which is even less
well known (V anderhooft 1995). For all we know, its usage may be
geographical rather than ethnic, and it too cannot automatically be used
as an argument for the presence of Edomites. We may call it 'Edomite',
but there is no clear evidence that it is specifically, characteristically
and exclusively Edomite.
Beit-Arieh has stated that Edomite presence in the eastern Negev is
an 'objective fact' (1995b: 38). There are actually very few objective
facts in archaeology! What we have here is no more than conjecture and
interpretation. Horvat Qitmit was a shrine, but we cannot prove that it
was an Edomite shrine. 'En Haseva was not an Edomite shrine, but
material from elsewhere at the site shows evidence of use by different
groups. Beck's study of the iconographic material from Qitmit also
concludes that there was a mixture of Transjordanian, Phoenician and
general Levantine elements, and there is much that is not paralleled at
all at Busayra or anywhere else in Edom proper (Beck 1995: 189-90).
In addition, no shrine comparable to that at Horvat Qitmit has been
found in Edom properindeed, no Iron Age shrine of any kind has
been excavated in Edom, although the Area A building at Busayra
might be identified as a temple. At this stage of our knowledge, it is
simply misleading to use this material as indisputable proof for
Edomite movement across the Wadi Arabah, let alone invasion and
conquest (see Bartlett 1999).
During the discussion following this paper at the conference, I was
accused of destroying the 'Edomite invasion and conquest' model and
challenged to replace it with my own hypothesis. This I was not
prepared to do at that time: we really know very little for certain about
the Edomites, their chronology and their culture (Bienkowski 1995b:
61), and until we know more I felt strongly that we should eschew
hypotheses in favour of keeping an open mind about the possibilities.
As new evidence comes to light, we can then more easily ascertain
which of the various possibilities is the more likely (see now
Bienkowski 2000; Bienkowski and van der Steen 2001). There are
several alternative possibilities for interpreting the finds from Qitmit
and Haseva and their relationship with Edom, each with its own
problems, and all subject to change and challenge from new evidence:
1) Finkelstein has interpreted Qitmit as a wayside cult place used by
pastoral nomads. Among the deities worshipped was the Edomite god
Qos (1995: 149). Beit-Arieh has criticized this hypothesis on the basis
that the only 'foreign' pottery is Edomite and that he sees no
connection with nomads (1995a: 310 n. 9). As argued above, the
pottery is likely to have been locally produced, and I am unhappy about
automatically concluding that any occurrence of the name Qos always
denotes an Edomite connection. The little evidence we have does
indicate that the Edomites worshipped Qos, but there is certainly
insufficient evidence at present to make this conclusion absolute, that is,
that the Edomites worshipped only Qos or that only the Edomites
worshipped Qos.
2) The 'Edomite' elements at Qitmit and Haseva may not have
involved people from Edom at all, but were merely aspects of a
material culture shared between southern Transjordan and parts of the
Negev and southern Judah. Thefavissa at Haseva was originally judged
to be concurrent with the Stratum 4 fortress, which the excavators
suggested was constructed by J osiah in the second half of the seventh
century BCE (Cohen and Y israel 1995a: 223). The excavators
concluded that 'En Haseva was a high place dedicated to the worship of
one of the 'abominations' (1995a: 225). If they are correct,
4
and if this
shrine was associated with an official J udahite fortress and had
evidence of the worship of unsanctioned idols, then there is absolutely
no reason to conclude that ethnic Edomites were ever present there or,
consequently, at Qitmit. The implication is, surely, that it was Judahites
worshipping Qos here, who would have been one of the pagan, foreign
gods later suppressed. This option disassociates the material culture
from the question of ethnicity and leaves it to future evidence to
proveor disprovea direct link between this material and ethnic
Edomites. However, the excavators' current (unpublished) view is that
the seventh-century BCE materials from the 'fort' area at 'En Haseva all
came from later fills, and that there are no in situ deposits contemporary
with \hefavissa (Y . Y israel, personal communication).
3) Qitmit and Haseva might be evidence of the movement of
Edomites across the Wadi Arabah, but this would be a peaceful
infiltration, perhaps by independent (pastoralist?) tribal groups, rather
than a state-sponsored invasion and conquest. Everything we know
about Edom as a state suggests that centralized control was weak
(Knauf 1992: 52) and that its structure was tribal (LaBianca and
Y ounker 1995). Lily Singer-Avitz persuasively interprets the westward
distribution of 'Edomite' pottery as reflecting the route of the Arabian
trade running through Edom via 'En Haseva, Qitmit and Beersheba to
the Mediterranean coast (Singer-Avitz 1999). It is likely that such trade
was conducted by pastoralist tribal groups, who were partially settled
but continued to move and interacted with other similar groups from
Arabia, the Negev and the west (Bienkowski 2000; Bienkowski and van
derSteen2001).
4. Beit-Arieh (1995a: 310) speculates that the 'En Haseva Stratum 4 fortress
might be Edomite, thus fitting into his invasion-conquest model. However, one of
the excavators, Y igal Y israel (personal communication), now disassociates this
structure from the 'Edomite' pottery found within the fort area, and no longer dates
it to the seventh-century BCE, preferring a Roman-period date.
Bartlett, J.R.
1989
1999
Beck, P.
1995
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INDEX OF AUTHORS
Ahituv, S. 85, 305
Ackerman, S. 181, 246, 251
Aharoni, A. 259,261,274
Aharoni, M. 156-57, 159, 162, 169,
175
Aharoni, Y . 30,31,41,43,85,118,
138, 156-59, 162, 165-66, 168-69,
171, 175, 180, 182-83, 199,306
Ahlstrom, G.W. 121, 166, 199
Albenda, P. 265, 267
Albright, W.F. 30, 39, 119, 180, 182-
83, 188-89, 195, 197, 199,305
Alexandre, Y . 294
Alonso, A.M. 66
Alroth, B. 204
Alt, A. 29, 39, 40, 43, 93, 95
Amiran, R. 30, 31, 95, 157, 159, 284
Amit, D. 46
Amitai, J. 120
Ammerman, R.M. 189, 199, 204
Amr, A.J. 183
Anbar, M. 23
Anderson, B.R.O. 65
Anderson, R.W. Jr. 257-58
Ariel, D.T. 218,281,285
Aubet, M.E. 93-94
Auld, A.G. 27
Avi'am, M. 75, 99, 100
Avigad, N. 49, 242, 247, 250, 284, 305
Avisar, O. 136
Avi-Y onah, M. 30
Baer, K. 258
Bahat, D. 225
Bahn, P. 84
Bailey, D.W. 197
Banks, M. 66
Banning, E.B. 129
Barkay, G. 190,197,199
Barnett, R.D. 242
Barrelet, M.-Th. 241
Earth, F. 174
Bartlett, J .R. 319,320-21
Bashan, G. 114
Beck, P. 99, 182-83, 200, 204, 312,
314,316,320
Becker, A. 238
Becking, B. 251,257
Beit-Arieh, I. 58, 311-12, 315-16, 318-
21
Beltz, W. 27
Ben-Ami, D. 295
Bennett, C.-M. 226,228,310-12,316
Ben-Tor, A. 48, 71, 99, 157, 295
Ben Y osef, Y . 99
Berry, B.J .L. 22
Betlyon, J.W. 200
Bienkowski, P. 226,311,319,321-22
Biger, G. 20
Biran, A. 148-51,153,155,170
Black, J. 245, 250
Bleibtreu, E. 269
B loch-Smith, E.M. 183,199
Bonano, A. 198
Bordreuil, P. 85
Borker-Klahn, J. 238,241,249
Bornstein, A. 46
Borowski, O. 123, 125, 170, 194
Botta, P.E. 157,164,166-67
Brandes, M. 193
Braudel, F. 69, 83
Breamer, F. 49
Brett, M.G. 66
Briend, J. 67, 83, 85, 95, 97, 197, 199
Briquel-Chatonnet, F. 92
Broshi, M. 19,38,137,225
Brown, R. 157
Buchanan, B. 244
Bunimovitz, S. 24, 66, 78, 83-85, 89,
283
Burke, P. 83
Burrows, M. 195,197,201
Byrd, B.F. 129
Callaway, J .A. 120-22,134-36
Carmi, I. 153
Carter, H. 285
Caubet, A. 190
Cavigneaux, A. 238-39
Chambon, A. 40, 58, 95
Christensen, D.L. 258
Ciasca, A. 180,183
Clermont-Ganneau, C. 180
Cody, A. 38
Cohen, R. 187, 204, 311,315-16,318,
321
Collon, D. 244
Connelly, J .B. 204
Cooley, R.E. 136
Coote, R.B. 125
Cross, P.M. 156, 162, 300, 301, 303,
304
Culican,W. 183
Cunningham, M. 203
Curtis, E.M. 204
Dagan, Y . 27-29,31
Dalley, S. 257, 266
Dalman, G. 128
D'Annibale, C. 129
Dar, S. 46, 137-38
Davies, P.R. 27, 66
Davis, S. 48
Day, J . 199,200
Day, P.L. 197,199,200
deV aux, R. 26,195
Dearman, J .A. 200, 320
Deem, A. 199
Delcor, M. 199
Deutsch, R. 303
Dever, W.G. 66, 113, 137, 140, 162,
181, 190, 197, 199,200,205
Dietrich, M. 200, 204
Dinur, U . 133
Donkin, R.A. 129
Donner, H. 92-93
Dornemann, R.H. 183, 229-31
Dothan, M. 87, 92, 99, 190, 196, 201,
260, 270
Dothan, T. 113,228,231
Driver, S.R. 199
Dunand, M. 240
Dunayevsky, I. 159, 228
Duncan, J .G. 197
Eckholm, E.P. 137
Edelman, D.V . 88,89,319
Edelstein, G. 48, 115, 134, 137-38
Efrat, E. 128
Eisenberg, E. 134,138
Eitam, D. 46, 48
El-Amin, M. 265, 268, 270, 272
Elat, M. 259
El-Shakhs, S. 23
Emerton, J .A. 149, 200
Engle, J .R. 180,183,199
Epha'al, I. 259
Eshel, I. 194,218
Fantar, M.H. 199
Faust, A. 46
Feig, N. 48,133,138
F inkelstein, I. 19, 27, 29, 31, 38, 46,
66, 72-73, 89-90, 121-22, 127, 133,
136-37, 169, 174, 183,281,283,
293,295,319,321
F inley, M.I. 94
Fischer-Elfert, H.W. 83, 85
Fisher, C.S. 250-51
F landin, M.E. 157, 164, 166-67
F leming, S. 188
Fowler, M.D. 195
Frankel, R. 72, 75, 87, 89-90, 99
Franken, H.J . 180-81, 190, 194, 196-
97,201,225,280-82
Frankfort, H. 262
Franklin, N. 257
Frazer, J. 202, 203
Frendo, A.J . 126
Frevel, C. 200
Frick, F.S. 125
Fritz, V . 49
Gadd, C.J. 58
Gadon, E. 181,188,199
Gal, Z. 67, 71 -72, 75, 87, 90, 92, 97,
116,136
Galling, K. 97
Ganzman, L. 204
Garrow Duncan, J. 281
Garstang, J. 30
Gates, C. 196
Gelinas, M.M. 283
Getzov, N. 71,72,75,87,99
Geus, C.H.J. de 49, 117-18, 120
Geva, S. 293, 300
Gibson, J.C.L. 305
Gibson, S. 67, 114-16, 119-20, 122-23,
130, 134, 137-38
Gilboa, A. 95
Gitin, S. 113,200,236,246-47
Gladigow, B. 204
Glazier-McDonald, B. 227
Glueck, N. 117,310-11
Golomb, B. 116
Goncalves, F.J. 83
Gophna, R. 19,22, 133, 180
Goren, Y . 188,191
Gorg, M. 199
Gottwald, N.K. 117,127
Grant, E. 183
Grayson, A.K. 40
Green, A. 245, 250
Green, A.R.W. 258
Greenberg, M. 41
Greenhut, Z. 129
Groot, A. de 281
Grossmann, D. 20
Gubel, E. 182-83
Gunter, A. 264
Guralnick, E. 266
Guterbock, H.G. 265
Haak, R.D. 261,268
Hadley, J.M. 200,251
Hadzisteliou-Price, T. 198
Hagget, P. 22
Hale, G.A. 114-15, 128-29, 133
Hallo, W.W. 204, 260
Handy, L.K. 198
Haran, M. 38, 166
Harding, G.L. 226-27
Harel, M. 117
Hart, S. 311
Hayes, J.H. 257
Heaton, E.W. 197,201
Heltzer, M. 89, 303
Herbordt, S. 240, 243-45
Herr, L.G. 129
Herrera Gonzalez, D. 67, 91
Herrmann, S. 120
Herzog, Z. 156-59, 162, 165, 169,
171-73, 175
Hestrin, R. 200, 236
Hobsbawm, E. 66
Hodder, I. 22
Holladay, J.S. 31, 40, 193, 197, 199
Holland, T.A. 180-82, 189-90, 194,
199,218,220,225,228
Hopkins, D.C. 124-25, 127
Horton, F.W. 22
Hiibner, U. 181, 189-90, 195, 197, 200
Humbert, J .B. 67,95,99,199
Humbert, J.P. 91
Hunt, M. 95
Ibbs, B. 123, 130
Ikada, Y . 49, 200
Ilan, O. 157
loannides, G.C. 190
Ismail, B.K. 238-39
Isserlin, B.S.J. 182
Jacobs, P. 194
Jacobsen, T. 262
J acobsen, Th. 204
J acobson, D.M. 119
J akob-Rost, L. 249
James, W.F. 289-90, 293-94, 299
J amieson-Drake, D. 280, 284
J eremias, J. 199
J ericke, D. 183
J ohnson,G.A. 22-23, 78
J ones, S. 66
Kallai, Z. 29, 83, 85, 87, 92-93
Kamaiski, E. 191
Kamp, K.A. 65
Kapera, Z.J. 260
Karageorghis, V . 226-27
Katzenstein, H.J. 93, 96
Kedar, Y . 116
Keel, O. 181, 189, 197, 227, 235-37,
247-51
Kelley, C.P. 193
Kelso,J .L. 180,188-89
Kempinski, A. 126
Kenyon, K.M. 31, 40, 49, 58, 180,
194-95, 197, 217-18, 220, 223-4,
227, 280-84
King, L.W. 58
Kitchen, K.A. 258
Klengel, H. 89, 95-96
Klengel-Brandt, E. 245
Kletter, R. 14, 179, 182, 184-85, 188-
89, 191, 198,200,202,218-19,
251,316
Kloner, A. 72,123,130
Klopfenstein, M.A. 200
Knauf, E.A. 92-83, 322
Koch, K. 200
Kochavi, M. 14,117-18,133,137
Kowalewsky, S.A. 23
Kramer, C. 66
Kuan, J .K. 257
Kuschke, A. 83
L'Heureux, C.E. 26
LaBianca, O.S. 125,138,322
Lamon, R.S. 251
Lampl, P. 49
Lamprichs, R. 95-96
Laperrousaz, E.-M. 159
Lass, E. 120
Leclant, J. 199
Lee, T.G. 204
Lehmann, G. 67, 72, 75, 89, 96, 248
Lemaire, A. 38-39, 44, 49, 83, 89, 92,
199,200,284
Lemche, N.P. 66,197
Levy, S. 48
Linder, E. 187,268
Lipinski, E. 26, 38, 44, 83, 85, 93, 97,
181
Lipschitz, N. 43, 48
Liverani, M. 185
Livingstone, A. 238, 250
Loretz, O. 200, 204
Loud, G. 262
Lowenstahm, S. 46
Luckenbill, D.D. 93, 257, 259-61, 263
Lumsden, S. 95
Lyon, D.G. 250-51
Macalister, R.A.S. 180, 190, 197, 199,
281-82
MacDonald, B. 129
Mackenzie, D. 180
Maclaurin, E.C.B. 26
Maddin, R. 118
Magen, U . 246
Magen, Y . 27,31
Magness, J. 223
Malecki, E.J. 23
Malinowski, B. 202, 203
Marcus, M.I. 261,264
Marfoe, L. 119-21
Matsushima, E. 204
Mattingly, G.L. 95, 259
Mauss, M. 203
May, J .G. 197
Mazar, A. 38, 54, 113, 156, 159-60,
169-70, 197, 290, 293, 295, 300
Mazar, B. 39, 85, 171, 228-29, 282
Mazar, E. 190,282
McCown, C. 188, 190, 197, 199, 201
Meitliss, Y . 46,138
Melson, W.G. 95
Mendenhall, G.E. 26
Menzel, B. 238, 243
Merhav, R. 244
Meshel, Z. 128
Messika, N. 71
Meyers, C. 181,183,188
Mienis, H.K. 285
Milevski, I. 134
Miller, J .M. 44
Miller, P.O. 197
Miroschedji, P. de 129
Mittmann, S. 27, 187
Moorey, P.R.S. 188,244
Moortgat, A. 243-46
Moran, W.L. 83, 85
Morris, B. 201
Moshkovitz, S. 159, 162, 169, 175
Muhly, J.D. 118
Na'aman, N. 23, 26, 29, 41, 83, 85, 92,
95-96, 170, 183, 185-87,257-60,
262, 296
Nadelman, Y . 190
Naveh, J. 149,153,155,187,261
Netzer, E. 156, 159-60, 169
Nicholls, R.V . 189
Niemann, H.M. 71,75,87,93
North, R. 200
Noth, M. 26-27
Nylander, C. 156,159,193
Gates, J. 238
Oded, B. 44, 258
Ofer, A. 14-15,23,25-28,30-31,48,
78, 136,283
Olami, Y . 72
Olyan, S.M. 200, 252
On, A. 99
Orni, E. 128
Orton, C. 22
Pace, J .R. 27
Pakman, D. 95
Paran, U. 157
Parker, B. 235
Parker, C. 281
Parr, P.J. 320
Pastor-Borgonon, H. 66
Patai, R. 180,188,199
Paynter, R.W. 23
Peilstocker, M. 67-68, 72
Peleg-Zarzeki, A. 293
Peltenburg, E.J. 190
Petrie, W.M. Flinders 251
Pettey, R.J . 200, 205
Phythian-Adams, W.J. 30
Pilz, E. 180,183,199
Pongratz-Leisten, B. 242
Porada, E. 240-41, 244, 246
Portugal!, J. 22, 72
Prag, A.J.N.W. 231
Prag, K. 194,218,222,226-27,230
Pratico, G.D. 318
Prausnitz, M.W. 71,99
Pritchard, J.B. 180, 182-83, 189, 196
Raban, A. 72-73, 89-90
Rad, G. von 259
Rainey, A.F. 26, 66, 159, 162, 165,
169-70, 175
Ranger, T. 66
Rappaport, U . 91
Reade,J .E. 240,245,261-62,264-65
Reed, W.L. 180, 199, 200, 205
Reese, D. 227, 285
Reich, R. 187
Reinhold, G.G. 38
Reisner, G.A. 250-51
Renfrew, C. 83-84
Renz, J. 305, 306
Ritner, R.K. 190,193,203
Ritter, C. 116
Rollefson, G.O. 129
Romano, I.E. 204
Ron, Z.Y .D. 115,117,129
Ronen, A. 72
Rose, M. 181
Rosen, A. 129,134,138
Rosen, S.A. 48
Rowton, M.B. 137
Rozenson, Y . 114
Russell, J .M. 244, 262-63, 274
Saarisalo, A. 73-74, 99
Sader, H. 38
Safir, Z. 99
Saggs, H.W.F. 262
Said, E. 65
Sass, B. 242, 244, 246-47, 250, 305
Schmitt, G. von 259, 274
Schmitz, P.C. 46
Schroer, S. 181,200
Schumacher, G. 315
Scott, R.B.Y . 284
Sedman, L. 311
Seeden, H. 242
Seetzen, U .J . 310
Segal, D. 153
Seidl, U. 240, 250
Sellin, E. 39
Shavit, A. 259
Sherratt, A.G. 140
Shiloh, Y . 47, 157, 226, 281-85
Shipton, G.M. 251
Singer, I. 26, 89
Singer-Avitz, L. 322
Skorupski, J. 203
Smith, C.A. 22
Smith, M.S. 199, 200
Soffer, A. 86
Soggin, J .A. 38
Spalinger, A. 258, 260
Spencer, J.E. 114-15,128-29,133
Spycket, A. 188,192
Stager, L.E. 46, 118-19, 121, 123-24,
129,136
Steiner, M.L. 129, 180, 190, 194, 196-
97,201,281-85
Stekelis, M. 129
Stern, E. 30, 67, 89-92, 97, 100, 113,
184,228-29,231,236,246
Stern, Edna 99
Stern, S. 86
Stieglitz, R.R. 67
Stronach, D. 95-96
Stucky, R.A. 204
Supinska-L0vset, I. 197
Tadmor, H. 29, 257-65
Teissier, B. 242, 244
Teubal, S. 181,188,199
Thompson, T.L. 27, 75, 83, 119, 126,
280,283
Thorley 180, 188-89
Thureau-Dangin, F. 240, 242
Tigay, J.H. 200
Tooley, A.M.J. 196
Tsafrir, Y . 157
Tsuk, T. 119
Tucker, D.J. 67, 78
Tufnell, O. 31, 180, 182, 188, 195,
197,249
Tushingham, A.D. 138, 223, 225
Tzaferis, V . 99
U cko, P.J. 180,192,195,197
U ehlinger, C. 181, 189, 197, 235-37,
239,247-50
U nger, E. 58
Uri, Y . 99
U ssishkin, D. 58, 156, 160-62, 169,
267
V an Beek, G.W. 95
van Buren, E.D. 240
van Cangh, J .M. 83
van der Horst, P.W. 251
V an der Meijden, H. 204
van der Steen, E. 321-22
V an der Toorn, K. 181,251
V andenabeele, F. 190
V anderhooft, D.S. 320
V apnarsky, C.A. 22
V ersnel, H.S. 203
V incent L.-H. 281
V incent, L. 30
V incent, P.M. 190,199
V oigt, M.M. 181,195,203
von Luschan, F. 244, 247
V orlander, H. 181
V riezen, K.J .H. 223
V rijhof, P.H. 181
Waardenburg, J. 181
Wafler, M. 259-60
Wagstaff, M. 115
Walls, N.H. 197,199
Warburton, E. 116-17
Watanabe, K. 248
Watzinger, C. 197
Weber, M. 202, 203
Weinfeld, M. 252
Weippert, H. 95,181
Weisel, O. 43, 48
Wenning, R. 181, 187, 197, 199, 201
Wheeler, T.S. 118
Whitelam, K.W. 125
Whitley, C.F. 38
Whitt, W.D. 200
Wiggermann, F.A.M. 203, 239, 247
Wiggins, S.A. 200
Wightman, G.J . 281
Wilcke, C. 240
Wilkinson, T.J. 67, 78
Willesen, F. 26
Wilson, C.T. 128
Winter, IJ. 66, 240, 243, 246, 264
Winter, U. 181, 183, 188, 197, 200,
243, 245
Worshech, U . 226
Wright, G.E. 183,201
Wurthwein, E. 92
Y adin, Y . 38,156,159,241,293
Y ardeni, A. 300, 301, 303, 305
Y eivin, S. 99, 258
Y eivin, Z. 54, 56
Y israel, Y . 204,311,315-16,318,
321-22
Y izraeli, T. 129
Y offee, N. 65
Y ounker, R.W. 322
Zeitler, J.P. 319
Zertal, A. 38-41, 44, 46, 48-49, 53-54,
56-58, 123, 138
Zimhoni, O. 28, 31, 156, 169, 172
Zipf, G.W. 22
Zoref, H. 114
INDEX OF PLACE NAMES
'Abda, Kh. 71
Abi'ezer 56
Abu Daraj, Kh. 53
Abu Ghazi 53, 56
Abu Mudawwar, Kh. 71
Abu Sha'ara 45
Abu Tuwein, Kh. 54
Acco 250
Achshaph 85, 86, 90
Achziv 67,68,71,77,90
Aelia Capitolina 225
'Ai 120,135
'Ain Abu Daraj 53
'Ainun, Kh. 49-50
Ajjul 251
Akko 67, 71 -73, 76, 77, 79, 81, 83, 84
90, 94, 97
Akko plain 68-70, 75, 85, 86, 89, 93,
97
Akshapa 85
Amman 226
Ammon 204, 226, 227
Amqarruna 270
Ancient Israel 66
Anthedon 260
Arabia 44, 226, 322
Arad 31, 58, 156, 159, 160, 163-65,
168-71, 174, 175, 194, 195,259,
306
Aram 44
Arbela 238,240,241,242
Arpad 259
Arubboth 40
Arza 260,270
Ashdod 187, 192, 260, 270, 271, 274,
304
Ashdod-Y am 260
Ashkalon 251
Ashur 239, 249, 250, 258
Assyria 242, 258, 260, 261, 285
'Ayyadiya, Kh. 71
'Ayytawiya, Kh. 74
Azeka 185
Babylon 238
Babylonia 242
Bailgazara 272
Bavian 240
Beer-Sheba valley 157,172,174
Beer-Sheba 30, 58, 159, 175, 285, 322
Beit El 148
Beit Farr (A) 50
Benjamin 27-29, 31, 185, 187
Beth-El 58
Bethha-'Emeq 71,75,77,85
Beth-Haggan 41
Beth Shean 48, 49, 236, 237, 289, 290,
291,293,294,298,306,307
Beth Shean V alley 296
BethShemesh 185,285
Beth-Zur 29
Biqa'V alley 119-20,121
Bir al-Gharbi 77
Bird, el- 53
Bozrah 310,311
Brook of Egypt 259,268,269,274
Buqe'ah V alley 118
Busayra 226, 227, 228, 310-20
Calah 258,263
Canaan 24, 26, 29, 120, 123, 124, 125,
175, 199,289
Carmel 27,43
Carthage 95
Chatt-el-Arab 262
City of David 281
Cush 268
Cyprus 91, 93, 94, 190, 204, 226, 285
Dabth el-'Afarith 56
Damascus 259
Damun 70
Dan 58, 148, 149, 153, 155
Dead Sea 228,231,310
Debir 26,29
Dhahrat en-Nisnas 56
Dhahrat es-Senobar 56
Dor 67,89,91,95,244
Dothan valley 56
Dur-Sharrukin 258,260,261,263,264,
268,274
Ebal 30
Edom 183,204,226-228,310,311,
318-22
Egypt 97, 190, 193, 201, 203, 204, 251,
258,259,285
'Ein Bikura 130
'Bin Farah, Kh. 133
Ekallu 262
Ekron 187, 188, 200, 261, 270, 273,
274, 285
En-gedi 228-31
'EnHaseva 204,310,312,315,316,
318,320,321,322
en-Naqb, Kh. 56
Ephraim 39, 121
er-Ras, Kh. 134, 138, 139
esh-Shaqq, Kh. 54, 55
Euphrates 238
Fuqaha, Kh. 50
Ga'atun, Kh. 73
Gabbtunu 268
Galilee 71, 89, 90, 92, 94, 95, 115, 116,
236
Gath 260
Gaza 259, 268, 270
Gezer 187,281,283
Gibbethon 259,268,270,271,274
Gibeon 180
Gihon 283
Giloh 30
Giv'atY asif 71
Gortyn 231
Greece 203,285
Habor 258
Haifa 68, 85
Halah 258,261,274
Halil, el- 30
Hamath 259, 264, 273, 174
ha-Qain 27
Harran 227
Hatrika 259
Hazor 31,49,281,283
Hebron 14, 15, 23, 24, 26, 27, 29, 30,
41, 157
Hejaz 320
Hepher 40
Horvat Qitmit 310,311,312,318
Horvat Rosh Zayit 294
Horvat 'Utza 71
Idumaea 319
Iktanu 231
Israel 27, 39, 40, 43, 44, 46, 67, 78, 88
89, 93, 124, 126, 128, 148, 155,
180, 183, 187, 188, 189,205,235,
236, 239, 244, 246, 249, 251, 252,
257, 280
Israel, Kingdom of 289, 306, 307
Israel, Land of 19, 297, 306
Isyar, Kh. el- 57
Izbet Zarta 30
Jaba 56
Jair 46
Jebel Abu Y azid 56
Jebel Dabrun 56
Jebel el-Kebir 58
Jebel el-Mahjara 2, 58, 59
J ema'in, Kh. 138
Jemdat Nasr 320
Jenin 42, 50, 58
J erusalem 25-27, 29, 40, 44, 49, 123,
129, 130, 136, 138, 157, 165, 168,
175, 180, 188, 191, 217, 218, 220,
224, 226, 227, 200, 280, 281, 283,
284
Jerusalemcave I 194, 218
J ezreel 39, 40, 48
Jezreel V alley 86, 90, 93, 294, 296
J ordan 310
J ordan river 231, 148
J ordan valley 51,53,54,217,231
J udaea 115,137
J udaean Desert 118,129,137
J udaean Highland 14, 15, 19, 20, 21,
23, 26, 28, 30, 32
J udaean Hills (Mountains) 116, 185,
187
J udah 26-31, 40, 43, 44, 46, 54, 157,
170, 174,175, 179, 180-87, 198-
200, 201, 205, 226, 251, 261, 283,
285,310,311,318,319,321
Kabul 92,93
KadeshBarnea 187
Karm el-Qasqas 56
Karmil, Kh. 15,17,18,27
KefarShaul 136
Keilah 29
Khorsabad 261
Kom, Kh. el. 179,199,205
Kourion 226
Kuntillet 'Ajrud 179, 199, 205, 298
Kush 260,261
Lachish 3, 27, 28, 30, 159, 169, 175,
180, 185, 188,250,251,266,274,
283,285
Larnaka 240
Lebanon 115,120,121,303
Lower Galilee 68, 90, 93, 97, 136
Ma'on 27
Magganubba 261
Mahruq, Kh. el- 54, 55, 56
Malhata 185
Maltai 238,239
Manahat 134
Manasseh 38-40, 45, 46, 49, 50, 58, 60
Maqabalain 226,227
MaqtalBil'aish 57
Masu'a 122, 134, 138
Mechora valley 58
Megiddo 31, 49, 86, 87, 95, 180, 251,
281,283,293,294,296,315
Merah 'Arrar 58, 59
Mesad Hashavyahu 187
Mesopotamia 44, 193, 201, 203, 204,
285, 320
Mhallal, Kh. 50
Mizan, el- 56
MizpehHarNof 136
Moab 226,229
Modi'in 120
Mount Ebal 138
Mount Musri 261
Mrah el-'Anab 50
Mujrabin, Kh. 56
Muqqanna, Kh. 261
Nahal Beit'Arif 138
Nahal Besor 259, 268, 269
Nahal Issachar 236, 237, 243, 247
Nahal Lachish 134,138
Nahal Oren 129
Nahal Zimri 138
Negev 15, 123, 129, 137, 171, 185,
187, 188,311,318,319,320,322
Nile 268
Nimrin 229,230,231
Nimrud 205, 242, 243, 258, 264
Nineveh 238, 239, 240, 258,260
Northern Kingdom 39, 40, 51, 60, 90,
170, 175,305,306
Nubia 257,258
Ophel hill 282
Palestine 40, 41, 65, 75, 78, 83, 88, 89
113-16, 119-21, 123, 126-29, 136-
38, 140,218,228,285
Penuel 39
Petra 310,319
Philistia 185,259
Phoenicia 44, 66, 95, 97, 185, 199
Qa'adeh, el- 57
Qarqar 259
Qasr ez-Zoreh 57
Qast Abub'r 56
Qitmit, Kh. 58,204,311,312,315,
316,318-22
Quleh, el- 138
Raddana, Kh. 120,136
Ramat Rahel 138, 180, 195, 228, 229
Raphia 259, 267, 268
Ras an-Naqura 68, 85
Ras az-Zaytun 71,92
Ras-Tawra 23
Red Sea 285
Rehov 292
RephaimV alley 122,134,138
River Jordan 148
River of Gozan 258
Rosh ha-Niqra 68, 85
RoshZayit 67,71,92
Rujum Abu Muheir 54, 56
Ruways 70
Salhab, Kh. 49
Samaria 31, 38-40, 44, 49-51, 56, 57,
60, 115, 137, 138,250,251,257,
259, 266, 267, 269, 270, 272, 274,
280, 283, 305-307
Sanur valley 57
Sartaba 50,54
Sartaba Massif 59
Sataf 122, 123, 129, 130, 131-33, 137
Shechem 40, 42, 50, 235, 236, 239, 244
Shephelah 20, 27, 29, 31, 120, 185, 187
Shiloh 39,227
Shiqmona 96
Siannu 272
Sidon 89,204
Simirra 259
Sinai 259
Sinnu 272
Site J 25
Soreq V alley 130
Sumayriya, as- 71
Susa 192
Syria 89, 95, 198, 226, 242, 247, 249,
285
Taanach 296
Tamra 70
Tana et-Tahta, Kh. 59
Tawilan 226,227,310,312
Tel 'Ira 316
Tel Achziv 85, 96
Tel Amal 294, 296
Tel Aphek 70, 85
TelArad 157,171
Tel Beer Sheba 185, 195, 259
Tel Beit Mirsim 180,185
Tel Beth Shean 289, 291, 292, 294,
296, 300
TelBira 71
Tel Dan 96, 148, 170
Tel Dor 236, 237, 246
Tel el-Ful 122, 129
Tel el-Kheleifeh 318
Telen-Nasbeh 180,188
Tel Esdar 31
TelHalif 185
Tel Ira 188,195
TelKabri 71,89,95,96
TelLahav 194
Tel Ma'amer 71
TelMasos 185
Tel Melat 259, 274
Tel Miqne (Ekron) 236, 238, 244, 246-
48,251
Tel Rechesh 236
TelRegev 71,292
Tel Sera 259, 260
Tel Y armut 129
Tell 'Amal 48
Tell Abu Hawam 67, 71, 77, 85-87, 90,
91,95
Tell Abu-Seleimeh 260
Tell al-'Aim 71
Tell al-'Idham 81,90
Tellal-F ar 71
Tell al-Fukhkhar 70,71, 84, 87
Tell al-Harbaj 71,90
Tell an-Nakhl 85
Tellar-Ras 71
Tell Balatah 40
Tell Beit Mirsim 285
Tell Bir al-Gharbi 71
Tell Da'uk 74, 96
TellelQadi 148
Tellel-'U meiri 127
Tell el-Far'ah (North) 40,49,50,56
Tell el-Hamma 294, 296
Tell en-Nasbeh 49, 285
TellErani 187
Tell es-Safi (Gath) 26
Tell es-Sarem 292
Tell es-Sirtassa 56
Tell Halaf 243
Tell Harbaj 85
TellHesban 138
Tell Hilu 50
Tell Iktanu 229, 231
Tell J emmeh 95, 251, 259-60, 270
Tell Keisan 67, 70, 71, 77, 85, 90, 91,
95,96
Tell Kurdana 70, 85
Tell Malhata 259
Tell Mimas 71,75,77,85,87
Tell Miski 50
Tell Qasile 30, 169, 170
Tell Qiri 48
Tell Za'annuni 50
Teqoa' 27
Til Barsib 240-43, 247, 248
Tilfit 49
Tirat Tamra, Kh. 74
Tirzah 39,56
Transjordan 41, 183, 185, 217, 226,
227,285,312,318,321
Tubas 49
Tullul el-Beidha 51
Tyre 92-97
U garit 121,124,127,272
U mmal-Biyara 227
Ummej-J urein 53, 54
Umm et-Tala, Kh. 136
U mmHallal 53
'U nuq, el- 52
U pper Galilee 68, 75, 87
U ruk 238
V alley of Roses, the 134
WadiArabah 319,321,322
Wadi el-Hasa 129
Wadi el-Werd 134
Wadi Far'ah 50, 52-55
Wadi Malih 50, 53-55
Wadi Ras el-Kharubeh 45
Wadi Shu'aib 229
Wadi Zeit 58
Wasi Hisban 229
Wastani, al- 70
Western Galilee 73-87, 89-92, 93
Western Palestine 70
Y ehud 29
58 Za'atarah, Kh.
Zebabdeh 49
Zinjirli 245,247-49
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Chronicler as Historian
239 Mark S. Smith, The Pilgrimage Pattern in Exodus
240 Eugene E. Carpenter (ed.), A Biblical Itinerary: In Search of Method, Form
and Content. Essays in Honor of George W. Coats
241 Robert Karl Gnuse, No Other Gods: Emergent Monotheism in Israel
242 K.L. Noll, The Faces of David
243 Henning Graf Reventlow (ed.), Eschatology in the Bible and in Jewish and
Christian Tradition
244 Walter E. Aufrecht, Neil A. Mirau and Steven W. Gauley (eds.), Urbanism in
Antiquity: From Mesopotamia to Crete
245 Lester L. Grabbe (ed.), Can a 'History of Israel' Be Written?
246 Gillian M. Bediako, Primal Religion and the Bible: William Robertson Smith
and his Heritage
247 Nathan Klaus, Pivot Patterns in the Former Prophets
248 Etienne Nodet, A Search for the Origins of Judaism: From Joshua to the
Mishnah
249 William Paul Griffin, The God of the Prophets: An Analysis of Divine Action
250 Josette Elayi and Jean Sapin, Beyond the River: New Perspectives on Trans-
euphratene
251 Flemming A.J . Nielsen, The Tragedy in History: Herodotus and the Deuter-
onomistic History
252 David C. Mitchell, The Message of the Psalter: An Eschatological Pro-
gramme in the Book of Psalms
253 William Johnstone, 1 and 2 Chronicles, Volume 1: 1 Chronicles 12
Chronicles 9: Israel's Place among the Nations
254 William Johnstone, 1 and 2 Chronicles, Volume 2: 2 Chronicles 10-36: Guilt
and Atonement
255 Larry L. Lyke, King David with the Wise Woman ofTekoa: The Resonance of
Tradition in Parabolic Narrative
256 Roland Meynet, Rhetorical Analysis: An Introduction to Biblical Rhetoric
257 Philip R. Davies and David J .A. Clines (eds.), The World of Genesis: Persons,
Places, Perspectives
258 Michael D. Goulder, The Psalms of the Return (Book V, Psalms 107-150):
Studies in the Psalter, IV
259 Allen Rosengren Petersen,The Royal God: Enthronement Festivals in Ancient
Israel and Ugarit?
260 A.R. Pete Diamond, Kathleen M. O'Connor and Louis Stulman (eds.),
Troubling Jeremiah
261 Othmar Keel, Goddesses and Trees, New Moon and Yahweh: Ancient Near
Eastern Art and the Hebrew Bible
262 V ictor H. Matthews, Bernard M. Levinson and Tikva Frymer-Kensky (eds.),
Gender and Law in the Hebrew Bible and the Ancient Near East
263 M. Patrick Graham and Steven L. McKenzie, The Chronicler as Author:
Studies in Text and Texture
264 Donald F. Murray, Divine Prerogative and Royal Pretension: Pragmatics,
Poetics, and Polemics in a Narrative Sequence about David (2 Samuel
5.17-7.29)
265 John Day, Yahweh and the Gods and Goddesses of Canaan
266 J. Cheryl Exum and Stephen D. Moore (eds.), Biblical Studies/Cultural
Studies: The Third Sheffield Colloquium
267 Patrick D. Miller, Jr, Israelite Religion and Biblical Theology: Collected
Essays
268 Linda S. Schearing and Steven L. McKenzie (eds.), Those Elusive Deuterono-
mists: 'Pandeuteronomism' and Scholarship in the Nineties
269 David J.A. Clines and Stephen D. Moore (eds.), Auguries: The Jubilee
Volume of the Sheffield Department of Biblical Studies
270 John Day (ed.), King and Messiah in Israel and the Ancient Near East: Pro-
ceedings of the Oxford Old Testament Seminar
271 Wonsuk Ma, Until the Spirit Comes: The Spirit of God in the Book of Isaiah
272 J ames Richard Linville, Israel in the Book of Kings: The Past as a Project of
Social Identity
273 Meir Lubetski, Claire Gottlieb and Sharon Keller (eds.), Boundaries of the
Ancient Near Eastern World: A Tribute to Cyrus H. Gordon
274 Martin J. Buss, Biblical Form Criticism in its Context
275 William Johnstone, Chronicles and Exodus: An Analogy and its Application
276 Raz Kletter, Economic Keystones: The Weight System of the Kingdom of
Judah
277 Augustine Pagolu, The Religion of the Patriarchs
278 Lester L. Grabbe (ed.), Leading Captivity Captive: 'The Exile' as History and
Ideology
279 Kari Latvus, God, Anger and Ideology: The Anger of God in Joshua and
Judges in Relation to Deuteronomy and the Priestly Writings
280 Eric S. Christiansen, A Time to Tell: Narrative Strategies in Ecclesiastes
281 Peter D. Miscall, Isaiah 34-35: A Nightmare/A Dream
282 J oan E. Cook, Hannah's Desire, God's Design: Early Interpretations in the
Story of Hannah
283 Kelvin Friebel, Jeremiah's and Ezekiel's Sign-Acts: Rhetorical Nonverbal
Communication
284 M. Patrick Graham, Rick R. Marrs and Steven L. McKenzie (eds.), Worship
and the Hebrew Bible: Essays in Honor of John T. Willis
285 Paolo Sacchi, History of the Second Temple
286 Wesley J . Bergen, Elisha and the End ofProphetism
287 Anne Fitzpatrick-McKinley, The Transformation of Torah from Scribal
Advice to Law
288 Diana Lipton, Revisions of the Night: Politics and Promises in the Patriarchal
Dreams of Genesis
289 Jose Krasovec (ed.), The Interpretation of the Bible: The International Sym-
posium in Slovenia
290 Frederick H. Cryer and Thomas L. Thompson (eds.), Qumran between the
Old and New Testaments
291 Christine Schams, Jewish Scribes in the Second-Temple Period
292 David J .A. Clines, On the Way to the Postmodern: Old Testament Essays,
1967-1998 Volume 1
293 David J .A. Clines, On the Way to the Postmodern: Old Testament Essays,
1967-1998 Volume 2
294 Charles E. Carter, The Emergence of Yehud in the Persian Period: A Social
and Demographic Study
295 J ean-Marc Heimerdinger, Topic, Focus and Foreground in Ancient Hebrew
Narratives
296 Mark Cameron Love, The Evasive Text: Zechariah 1-8 and the Frustrated
Reader
297 Paul S. Ash, David, Solomon and Egypt: A Reassessment
298 J ohn D. Baildam, Paradisal Love: Johann Gottfried Herder and the Song of
Songs
299 M. Daniel Carroll R., Rethinking Contexts, Rereading Texts: Contributions
from the Social Sciences to Biblical Interpretation
300 Edward Ball (ed.), In Search of True Wisdom: Essays in Old Testament
Interpretation in Honour of Ronald E. Clements
301 Carolyn S. Leeb, Away from the Father's House: The Social Location of
na 'ar and na 'arah in Ancient Israel
302 Xuan Huong Thi Pham, Mourning in the Ancient Near East and the Hebrew
Bible
303 Ingrid Hjelm, The Samaritans and Early Judaism: A Literary Analysis
304 Wolter H. Rose, Zemah and Zerubabbel: Messianic Expectations in the Early
Postexilic Period
305 Jo Bailey Wells, God's Holy People: A Theme in Biblical Theology
306 Albert de Pury, Thomas Romer and J ean-Daniel Macchi (eds.), Israel Con-
structs its History: Deuteronomistic Historiography in Recent Research
307 Robert L. Cole, The Shape and Message of Book III (Psalms 73-89)
308 Y iu-Wing Fung, Victim and Victim izer: Joseph's Interpretation of his Destiny
309 George Aichele (ed.), Culture, Entertainment and the Bible
310 Esther Fuchs, Sexual Politics in the Biblical Narrative: Reading the Hebrew
Bible as a Woman
311 Gregory Glazov, The Bridling of the Tongue and the Opening of the Mouth in
Biblical Prophecy
312 Francis Landy, Beauty and the Enigma: And Other Essays on the Hebrew
Bible
314 Bernard S. J ackson, Studies in the Semiotics of Biblical Law
315 Paul R. Williamson, Abraham, Israel and the Nations: The Patriarchal
Promise and its Covenantal Development in Genesis
316 Dominic Rudman, Determinism in the Book of Ecclesiastes
317 Lester L. Grabbe (ed.), Did Moses Speak Attic? Jewish Historiography and
Scripture in the Hellenistic Period
320 Claudia V . Camp, Wise, Strange and Holy: The Strange Woman and the
Making of the Bible
321 V arese Layzer, Signs of Weakness: Juxtaposing Irish Tales and the Bible
322 Mignon R. Jacobs, The Conceptual Coherence of the Book ofMicah
323 Martin Ravndal Hauge, The Descent from the Mountain: Narrative Patterns
in Exodus 19-40
324 P.M. Michele Daviau, John W. Wevers and Michael Weigl (eds.), The World
of the Aramaeans: Studies in Honour of Paul-Eugene Dion, V olume 1
327 Gary D. Salyer, Vain Rhetoric: Private Insight and Public Debate in
Ecclesiastes
331 Amihai Mazar (ed.), with the assistance of Ginny Mathias, Studies in the
Archaeology of the Iron Age in Israel and Jordan
332 Robert J.V . Hiebert, Claude E. Cox and Peter J. Gentry (eds.), The Old Greek
Psalter: Studies in Honour of 'Albert Pietersma

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