In the Midst of the Jordan: The Jordan Valley during the Middle Bronze Age (circa 2000-1500 BCE). Archaeological and Historical Correlates

300 Pages·2008·4.42 MB·English

by  Maeir

AREN M. MAEIR
“IN THE MIDST OF THE JORDAN”
ÖSTERREICHISCHE AKADEMIE DER WISSENSCHAFTEN
DENKSCHRIFTEN DER GESAMTAKADEMIE, BAND LXIV
Contributions to the Chronology
of the Eastern Mediterranean
Edited by Manfred Bietak
and Hermann Hunger
Volume XXVI
ÖSTERREICHISCHE AKADEMIE DER WISSENSCHAFTEN
DENKSCHRIFTEN DER GESAMTAKADEMIE, BAND LXIV
AREN M. MAEIR
“IN THE MIDST OF THE JORDAN”
THE JORDAN VALLEY DURING THE MIDDLE
BRONZE AGE (CIRCA 2000–1500 BCE)
Archaeological and Historical Correlates
With a contribution by E.S. Marcus
Vorgelegt von w. M. MANFREDBIETAKin der Sitzung am12. Dezember 2008
Spezialforschungsbereich SCIEM 2000
„Die Synchronisierung der Hochkulturen im östlichen Mittelmeerraum
im 2. Jahrtausend v. Chr.“
der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften
beim Fonds zur Förderung
der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung
Special Research Programme SCIEM 2000
“The Synchronisation of Civilisations in the Eastern Mediterranean
in the Second Millennium B.C.”
of the Austrian Academy of Sciences
at the Austrian Science Fund
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ISBN: 978-3-7001-6602-3
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CONTENTS
Preface by the Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Chapter 1: Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Chapter 2: Regional Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Chapter 3: Description of Major Sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Chapter 4: Aspects of Material Culture, Trade, and Chronology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Chapter 5: Settlement Patterns and Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Appendix A: List of Sites in the Jordan Valley with Middle Bronze Age Remains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Appendix B: Radiometric Dates from the Middle Bronze Age Jordan Valley – by Ezra S. Marcus . . . . . . . . 243
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
List of Figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
List of Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299

PREFACE BY THE EDITOR
This study by Aren Maeir fills a long desideratum strong fortification of existing places such as Jericho,
within the SCIEM 2000 research programme – to tie Tell Nimrin and Tell el-Hammam. It is the question if
together the evidence from different sites after many all those sites, except Tell Kinrot, were dependent on
years of excavations and research in this region. It Pella or if they represent emerging independent cen-
also serves as a companion to the joint study of Peter tres. There are also indications that the land use in
Fischer, Stephen Burke and Gerrit van der Kooij on MB III was more intense than ever and that many new
the Chronology of the Jordan Valley in the Middle settlements were developed.
and Late Bronze Ages.1 Aren Maeir’s study on the Still obscure is the end of the Middle Bronze Age
development and chronology of the Middle Bronze and the transition to the Late Bronze Age. Seeing
Age in the Jordan Valley is based on his dissertation Egyptian military involvement as the main reason for
on the central Jordan valley, which with the present the end of the MB in the Jordan Valley is not a con-
volume have now been extended to cover the entire vincing explanation anymore. Different agents must
Jordan valley. have been at work. The impressive fortifications do
Differing from previous studies, a fascinating pic- demonstrate that there was an increased awareness of
ture on the spread and re-urbanisation of inner new threats and security risks. It becomes more and
Canaan emerges. It appears that Susan Cohen’s2sug- more clear that the transition took place only some
gested model for a commencement along the coast time after the beginning of the New Kingdom and
and spreading inland, does not sufficiently to explain that the transition may vary regionally. Some sites are
the cultural development of the Middle Bronze Age abandoned, others terminated by destruction, and
Culture. It is evident that in the Jordan Valley there others destroyed and subsequently resettled, while
was no delay in the cultural colonization, and sites as others display a smooth transition.
Tel Dan/Tell el-Qadi (Laish) and Pella show that the The site of Hazor plays a key role in the discus-
spread of the early Middle Bronze culture most likely sion of the chronology of the Middle Bronze, as this
derived from inner Syria, reaching the northern and site links the world of the Middle Bronze Age in
central parts of the Jordan Valley in an early stage of Canaan with Mesopotamia and Egypt alike. The con-
the Middle Bronze Age. The study also adds to our nection with Egypt can be established through com-
perception of the political development of the Jor- parisons of pottery types appearing in Hazor and
dan Valley. From an early stage of this period, Tell el-Dabca. The connection with Mesopotamia is
Dan/Laish and Pella were the most important towns, evident from the Mari correspondence, where Hazor
including some of the earliest known fortifications in is mentioned repeatedly, and from the cuneiform
the Levant. From the early MB II onwards Hazor and tablets from Hazor which are connected to Mari –
Pella dominated the entire region and most likely, unfortunately in secondary contexts. Amnon Ben-
two large polities were created, which led to a sce- Tor presented this evidence in 2004.3He argued that
nario that no important towns could develop near only “Greater Hazor”, which he dates from MB II
those sites. In MB III, however, one sees the appear- onwards, after the completion of the most important
ance of medium to large fortified towns such as at Tel construction works, could have been the focus of the
Kinrot in the north and Tell Abu el-Kharaz and Tell Mari letters. There is some room for a debate of this
Deir cAlla in the central part. Significant is also the point, as Aren Maeir discusses in the present volume,
1 P.M. FISCHER (ed.), The Chronology of the Jordan Valley during 2 S.L. COHEN, Canaanites, Chronologies and Connections: The
the Middle and Late Bronze Ages: Pella, Tell Abu el-Kharas and Relationship of Middle Bronze Age IIA Canaan to Middle King-
Tell Deir cAlla, with contributions by Stephen Burke, Rachael dom Egypt,Winona Lake 2002.
Sparks and Maria Schroder for Pella, Peter M. Fischer for 3 A. BEN-TOR, A. Hazor and Chronology, Ägypten & Levante14
Tell Abu el-Kharas and Gerrit van der Kooij for Tell Deir (2004), 45–67.
cAlla, Contributions to the Chronology of the Eastern
Mediterranean 12, Vienna 2006.
8 Preface by the Editor
but the difference of the positions is only within a I hope that this study by Aren Maeir will be well-
limit of 20–30 years. received in the international community of scholars
Of particular importance is the contribution of on the archaeology of the Ancient Near East, and
Ezra S. Marcus in Appendix B on the radiocarbon that similar studies will soon fill the gaps regarding
determinations. There he discusses the available short- the coastal Middle Bronze Age, in the south, in the
lived samples from the Middle Bronze Age Jordan Val- central and the northern parts of the Levant.
ley. He shows that the results from the earliest phase Finally I would like to thank the Fonds zur
are more or less the same as those of the same phase Förderung wissenschaftlicher Forschung for financ-
at coastal sites, repeating the conclusions obtained by ing the research programme of SCIEM 2000 in such
Aren Maeir. The beginning of this culture in Canaan an exemplary way. My thanks go also to the Austrian
in the littoral and in the Jordan Valley can be assessed Academy of Sciences who took a respectable share in
at approximately from 1920 BC onwards in both areas. funding of and in providing the infrastructure for
This would fit very well with the archaeological/his- this research programme and gave us all support they
torical date of the earliest imports of the Middle could.
Bronze Age Culture to Egypt.4The later phases of the
MB need more samples. We also need more samples
from the end of the Middle Bronze Age which accord-
ing to results from Jericho date to the second half to Manfred Bietak
the end of the 16thcentury BC. First Speaker of SCIEM 2000
4 M. BIETAK, Relative and Absolute Chronology of the Middle ogy, 121–146 in: P. MATTHIAE et al. (eds.), Proceedings of the
Bronze Age: Comments on the Present Stage of Research, International Colloquium From Relative Chronology to Absolute
30–42 in: M. BIETAK (ed.), The Middle Bronze Age in the Lev- Chronology: The Second Millennium BC in Syria-Palestine, Rome
ant, Proceedings of an International Conference on MB II A 29thNovember–1stDecember 2001, Accademia Nazionale dei Lin-
Ceramic Materials in Vienna 24th–26thof January 2001,Contri- cei, Rome 2007.
butions to the Chronology of the Eastern Mediterranean 3,
Vienna 2002. IDEM, Towards a Middle Bronze Age Chronol-
PREFACE
This volume is an outgrowth of years of research that hope that the result is a study which is as wide-rang-
have been conducted in the Jordan valley, by numer- ing and updated as feasible. To a large extent, this
ous scholars in the past and in the present, including book marks the end of a very interesting, and impor-
the present author. The idea to write this book came tant, stage in my academic life; and while I have since
from Prof. Manfred Bietak, who suggested that I moved on, and most of my current research relates
expand the regional study on the Middle Bronze Age to other topics (in particular, the Philistines and Sea
(MB) of the Central Jordan Valley (MAEIR 1997a), Peoples and the excavations at Tell es-Safi/Gath),
into a general survey on the entire Jordan Valley dur- the study of the MB in the Jordan Valley will always
ing the MB, a work that would fit in with other be of central importance, and interest, to me.
regional and topical studies carried out under the I would like to thank various people who have
aegis of the SCIEM 2000project. assisted in different ways in the preparation of this
Over the last two decades I have had the fortune study: M. Bietak (for suggesting the volume and pro-
to deal extensively with various issues related to both viding initial financial backing for the project); A.
the MB period and the Jordan Valley. This work com- Mazar and J. Yellin (who were my dissertation advi-
menced with my participation in the excavations at sors [MAEIR 1997a], which is the initial basis for this
Tel Beth Shean (directed by A. MAZAR[2006a; MAZAR study, and have graciously guided and assisted me
& MULLINS 2007a]); subsequently, I was graciously since the very beginning of this research); D. Cassu-
given the responsibility (by A. Mazar) to publish the to, A. Dagan, S. Gur-Arieh, A. Perko, I. Shai, J. Uziel,
MB pottery from the excavations (MAEIR 2007b). staff members of the Tell es-Safi/Gath Archaeological
This was soon followed with a decision to conduct a Project (www.dig-gath.org), for assistance with vari-
regional study of the Central Jordan Valley (MAEIR ous technical issues (large and small) relating to the
1997a; my doctoral dissertation at the Hebrew Uni- volume; G. Avraham, L. Korniblat, and J. Rosenberg
versity, Jerusalem), which included the analysis of (for preparing the maps); A. and D. Ben-Tor, E.
the MB finds from Tel Beth Shean, a regional survey, Boaretto, R. Bonfil, S. Bourke, , S. Collins, K. Covello-
and an extensive program of pottery provenience Paran, P. Fischer, R. Greenberg, M. Iamoni, D. Ilan, ,
(published now in MAEIR & YELLIN 2007). In addi- J. Kamlah, M. Luciani, A. Malamat (z”l), E.S. Marcus,
tion, over the years, I have had the opportunity to I. Milevski, D. Morandi Bonacossi, R. Mullins, L.
publish studies that are directly or indirectly related Nigro, A. Rainey, H. Sader, Y. Stepansky, and A. Yasur-
to the MB in the Jordan Valley, and in this volume I Landau (for sharing unpublished information, pro-
have attempted to bring together, as well as expand viding offprints and publications, and discussing var-
and update, various previously published aspects ious issues). I would like to thank E.S. Marcus for
(e.g., MAEIR 1997b; 2000a; 2000b; 2000c; 2002a; agreeing to compile the list of 14C dates in Appendix
2002b; 2003a; 2003b; 2007a; MAEIR & GARFINKEL B and discuss their significance. Needless to say, I
1989; MAEIR & MULLINS in press). take full and sole responsibility for all mistakes and
One should keep in mind that since these earlier omissions that appear throughout this study.
studies were published, a large volume of material Last but not least, I would like to gratefully, and
has appeared, both in the form of excavation reports lovingly, acknowledge the unquantifiable portions of
(e.g., MARCHETTI & NIGRO 1998; 2000; FALCONER & love, caring, support, understanding, and fun, that I
FALL 2006; FISCHER 2006e; MAZAR & MULLINS 2007a), have been so fortunate to receive from my partner-in-
and numerous investigations on sundry issues (e.g., life Adina, and our sons Noam, Uri and Netanel.
STEPANSKY 1999; GREENBERG 2002; FISCHER 2006b).
Thus, I have tried to combine earlier research along
with more recent work by other scholars and by Aren Maeir
myself, to produce a comprehensive as possible study Jerusalem/Ramat-Gan
of the entire Jordan Valley during the MB. It is my September 2010