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

345 Pages·2001·17.74 MB·English

by  Amihai Mazar

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
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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. AVIOFER
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. GUNNAR 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. AVRAHAMBIRAN
The High Places of Biblical Dan 148
6 Studies in the Archaeology of the Iron Age
6. ZE'EVHERZOG
The Date of the Temple at Arad: Reassessment of the
Stratigraphy and the Implications for the History of
Religion in Judah 156
7. RAZ KLETTER
Between Archaeology and Theology: The Pillar
Figurines from Judah and the Asherah 179
8. KAYPRAG
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 View: Images from Room V at Khorsabad,
Samaria, Nubians, the Brook of Egypt and Ashdod 257
Part III
ASPECTS OF MATERIAL CULTURE
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, UCL 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
Judah, 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.
8 Studies in the Archaeology of the Iron Age
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,
University 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 University of Jerusalem
ABBREVIATIONS
AASOR Annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research
ABD David Noel Freedman (ed.), The Anchor Bible Dictionary
(New York: Doubleday, 1992)
ADAJ Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan
AJA American Journal of Archaeology
AN Archaeological News (Jerusalem: Israel Antiquities Authority;
Hebrew)
ANET J.B. Pritchard (ed.), Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to
the Old Testament (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 3rd
edn,1969)
AnOr Analecta orientalia
AOAT Alter Orient und Altes Testament
AOS American Oriental Series
BA Biblical Archaeologist
BAR British Archaeological Reports, International Series
BARev Biblical Archaeology Review
BASOR Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research
BBB Bonner biblische Beitrage
BHS Biblia hebraica stuttgartensia
BN Biblische Notizen
BO Bibliotheca orientalis
BWANT Beitrage zur Wissenschaft vom Alten und Neuen Testament
BZ Biblische Zeitschrift
BZAW BeiheftezurZAW
CTA A. Herdner (ed.), Corpus des tablettes en cuneiformes
alphabetiques decouvertes a Ras Shamra-Ugarit de 1929 a
1939 (Paris: Imprimerie nationale Geuthner, 1963)
EB N. Tur-Sinai, S. Yeivin and B. Mazar (eds.), Encyclopaedia
Biblica (Jerusalem, 1958-1976; Hebrew)
El Eretz-Israel (Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society)
HAR Hebrew Annual Review
HSM Harvard Semitic Monographs
HTR Harvard Theological Review
IEJ Israel Exploration Journal
JAOS Journal of the American Oriental Society
JBL Journal of Biblical Literature