The Biblical Archaeologist - Vol.50, N.2

68 Pages·1987·16.3 MB·English

by  American Schools of Oriental Research

Bitiiecaa rchaeolst
AP ublicatioofnt heA mericaSnc hoolosf O rientRale search Volum5e0 Numbe2r June1 987
Settlement?
Conquest or
The Iron
Early Age
in Palestine
AMERICAN SCHOOLS OF ORIENTAL RESEARCH
ADMINISTRATIOVFEF ICEA,S OR4, 243S PRUCEST REETPH, ILADELPHPIAA1, 9104 [phone]
JamesA . Sauer,P resident W.F .A lbright Institute of
ErPicu Mbl.i cMateiyoenrss ,F irst Vice Presidentf or P. AOr. Bchoaxe 1o9lo0g9i6c,a 9l1R 1es9e0a Jrecrhu( AsaIlAemR,)I .s rael. \S OFO
William G. Dever, Second Vice President Seymour Gitin, Director
for Archaeological Policy JosephA . Callaway,P resident
George M. Landes,S ecretary JoyU ngerleider-MayersonF, irst Vice 0
Anne Ogilvy, Theasurer President
Gough W Thompson, Jr.,C hairman of the Carol Meyers,S econd Vice President CI
Boardo f Trustees ,40.,t w6
Norma KershawD, irector of Tours
Catherine Felix, Staff Assistant BaghdadC ommittee for the Baghdad
Ann Norford, Coordinatoro f Academic School.
Programs JerroldS . Cooper, Chairman
Stephanie Pinter, Secretary Near EasternS tudies, The Johns CyprusA merican Archaeological
Susan Wing, Bookkeeper Hopkins University,B altimore,M D ResearchI nstitute (CAARI).
21218. 41 King Paul Street, Nicosia, Cyprus.
Stuart Swiny,D irector
Charles U. Harris,P resident
American Center of Oriental Research LydieS hufro,V ice President
ASOR Newsletter; JamesA . Sauer,E ditor (ACOR). Ellen Herscher,S ecretary
Biblical Archaeologist;E ric M. Meyers, P. O. Box 2470, JebelA mman, Amman, AndrewO liver, Jr.,T heasurer
Editor Jordan.
Bulletin of the American Schools of David W.M cCreery,D irector Damascus AdvisoryC ommittee.
Oriental Research;W alterE . Rast, EdgarH arrell, President Giorgio Buccellati, Chairman
Editor LawrenceT . Geraty, Vice President Center for MesopotamianS tudies,
Journalo f Cuneiform Studies; Erle Bert DeVries,S ecretary University of California,4 05 Hilgard
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Biblical Archaeologist
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BiblicaAl rchaeologist
A Publicationo f the AmericanS choolso f OrientalR esearch Volume5 0 Number2 June1 987
70 Homage to the Elders
Gloria Anne London
BAG uidet oA rtifacts
75 Egyptian Amphorae of the New Kingdom and Ramesside
Periods
Bryant G. Wood
84 Conquest or Settlement? The Early Iron Age in Palestine
Page 70 VolkmarF ritz
101 A TyrianC oin in Jordan
Henry O. Thompson
105 The FirstH asmoneanC oins
Yigal Ronen
110 A New Look at Chalcolithic Beer-sheba
Isaac Gilead
118 The Harboro f the Sea Peoples at Dor
Avner Raban
66 Introducingth e Authors
68 Lettert o the Readers
Cover:T he top view on the front and the photographo n the back are of the
remains of four-roomt ype houses at the early Iron I site of TelM asos; the
aerial on the front is of Ai (et-Tell)w, hich has a modest early Iron I settlement
Page8 4 on the acropolis of a largerL ate BronzeI II city. Photographso f TelM asos are
courtesy of VolkmarF ritz and Aharon Kempinski.P hotographo f Ai is
courtesy of JosephC allaway.
Biblical Archaeologist is published with the financial assistance of
the Endowment for Biblical Research, a nonsectarian foundation for
the study of the Bible and the history of the Christian Church.
Page1 18
BiblicalA rchaeologistJ, une1 987 65
the Authors
Introducing
Gloria Anne Londonr eceived her Ph.D. from the Univer-
sity of Arizona, following undergraduates tudies at Tel
Aviv University. She has conducted ethnoarchaeological
studies of traditional potters in the Philippines and
Cyprus.C urrentlyD r. Londonh as a PostdoctoraRl esearch
Fellowship at the University of Washington,w here she is
investigating the archaeological evidence of the Israelite
settlement period.
Gloria Anne London
With a Ph.D. in Syro-Palestiniana rchaeology from the
University of Toronto,B ryantG . Woodh as participatedi n
many excavations,i ncluding the WadiT umilat Projecta t
Tell el-Maskhuta,E gypt,a nd the University of the Negev
excavations at Huruvit. Dr. Wood is at present a staff
member of the Associates forB iblical Researchi n Willow
Grove, Pennsylvania.
Volkmar Fritz is Associate Professor of Old Testament
Studies and Biblical Archaeology at the Johannes Deir cAlla" in the December 1986 issue of BA-he has
Gutenberg-Universitit Mainz, in West Germany. Dr. edited many books, including The Answer Lies Below
Fritz co-directedt he excavations at Tel Masos from 1972 (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1984) in
to 1975 and has directedt he excavationsa t Kinnerets ince honor of his mentor LarryT oombsa nd Put YourF uturei n
1982. He is a member of the editorial board of Biblical Ruins (Bristol,I N: WyndhamH all Press, 1985).
Archaeologist.
Yigal Ronen has a Ph.D. in Nuclear Sciences from Cornell
Henry O. Thompson has excavateda t a number of sites, University and is currently Professor of Nuclear Engi-
including Shechem, Tell Hesban, and severalo ther places neering at Ben Gurion University of the Negev in Beer
in the vicinity of Amman. He served as Director of the Sheva. For the past ten years Dr. Ronen has been in-
American Center of Oriental Research in Amman from terested in Jewishn umismatics.
1971 to 1972 and was Visiting Professora t the University
of Jordanf rom 1972 to 1973. In addition to his writing- Isaac Gilead is a Senior Lecturera t the Archaeological
among which is his recent "Balaami n the Bible and at Division of Ben Gurion University of the Negev in Beer
66 Biblical Archaeologist, June 1987
BryantG . Wood
Avner Raban
Photograph courtesy of Kenneth Weber.
Henry 0. Thompson
VolkmarF ritz YigalR onen
Sheva. He received his Ph.D. in prehistoric archaeology
from The Hebrew University in Jerusalema nd has con-
ducted numerous surveys and excavations of Paleolithic
sites in the Negeb and Sinai. Recently he has been ex-
cavating Chalcolithic sites in the northern Negeb.
Avner Raban, with a Ph.D. in biblical archaeology from
The HebrewU niversity, is currently a Faculty Member of
the GraduateD epartment for History of Maritime Civili-
zations at the University of Haifa. He is also Director of
the Center for Maritime Studies at that university. In
recent years his focus of research has been ancient har-
bors and he has directed the CaesareaA ncient Harbours
ExcavationP roject since 1975.
Biblical Archaeologist, June 1987 67
i
Letter to the Readers
ur regularr eadersk now that Biblical Ar- now has American successors at, among other places,
chaeologist, founded in 1938 by G. Ernest Kourion and Akrotiri.
Wright, is now celebrating its fiftieth year In Israel, Robert Bull, who worked with Wright at
of publication. Since this is our summer Shechem, is now finishing up his own projecta t Caesarea
issue, and summer is when most digs are in the field, Maritima, and Joe Seger, one of Wright'ss tudents who
perhaps it would be of interest to note Wright'sc ontinu- worked with him both at Shechem and Gezer, continues
ing influence in the field. to direct the important LahavP roject.W right'sl egacy can
This season witnesses some twenty ASOR excava- also be seen in other important projects directed by
tions in four countries. Each project director has sub- scholars who, though they were not his students, have
mitted a researchp roposalt o the Committee on Archae- been influenced by him: these include Miqne-Ekron,
ological Policy for review and approval.T he committee is being excavatedb y Seymour Gitin (with TrudeD othan);
chaired by William Dever in his capacity as ASOR's Shiqmim,b eing excavatedb y Thomas Levy;a nd Sepphoris,
SecondV ice President.W illiam Dever is, of course, one of being excavated in part by James Strange (Eric Meyers,
Wright'sf oremost students, having worked with him at Editor of BA and ASOR's First Vice President, is Co-
Shechem and Gezer, subsequently directing projects of director of another dig being conducted there).
his own at both sites. Once more, Jordani s the country with the most
The countries hosting digs this summer are Yemen, ASOR projects, including the Madaba Plains Project,
Cyprus, Israel, and Jordan.T he first is the location of which I direct. Presently concentrating on and around
James Sauer's Wadi al-Juba Project. James Sauer, the Tell el-cUmeiri, this project is strongly influenced by
current President of ASOR, first became interested in Wright: I studied with him as a graduate student at
archaeology through Paul Lapp, one of Wright's early Harvard, cutting my archaeological field teeth at his
students; eventually he studied with Wright himself at Gezer dig, and one of my field directors,L arryH err,w as a
Harvard,w hen Wrightw as ASOR'sP resident, writing his Wright graduate student, while the other, 0ystein
doctorald issertation on ceramic typology at Tell Hesban. LaBianca,h as worked with a number of his students.
Cyprus is in many ways a world unto itself. Wright Another project underway in Jordant his summer is the
began the important Idalion Project there, a project that Limes Arabicus, a long-termr egional investigation of the
68 Biblical Archaeologist, June 1987
Roman frontier east of the Dead Sea. The originator of brings us up to date on one aspect of that topic in the third
this project, Thomas Parker,g ot his start in Jordana t Tell millennium, while Isaac Gilead'se ssay does the same for
Hesban, which did for Jordanw hat Gezer did for Israel in the preceding millennium (see Wright's 1937 article in
terms of providing trained field talent for a subsequent number 66 of the Bulletin of the American Schools of
generation of dig directors. Similar projects with respect Oriental Research, "Palestinei n the Chalcolithic Age").
to period and region are John Edie's Roman Frontier Known as the foremost ceramic typologist of his day,
Project and John Oleson's Humayma Hydraulic Project. Wright loved nothing better than to sit down at the
Furthern orth are a series of excavationso r surveysw hose pottery-readingt able on a dig. In light of his October 1940
directorsh ave been influenced more indirectlyb y Wright: article in the Palestine Exploration Quarterly," TheS yro-
Edward Banning's Wadi Ziqlab, Patrick McGovern's Palestinian Jarf rom Vounous, Cyprus,"h e would have
Baqcah Valley,A lan Simmon's cAin Ghazal Survey,a nd enjoyed BryantW ood'sp iece on Egyptiana mphorae.
Burton MacDonald'sN ortheast cArabaS urvey. At Shechem and Gezer, Wrightb ecame interested in
G. Ernest Wright would have been proud of the coinage, too; he therefore would have read with interest
excavations going on today-both for the quality and the articles in this issue by Yigal Ronen and Henry
quantity. He loved to make field rounds, becoming ac- Thompson-the latter a young colleague of his at Tell
quainted with the latest discoveries firsthand. That's Balatah (Shechem).
what he was doing the summer of 1974, right up until a So today, almost thirteen years after his death, the
few days before his death. I'll never forget the inspiration presence of G. Ernest Wright continues to be felt in the
and excitement of his visit to my projectt hat summer. At field and in the pages of this magazine. This is another of
that time it was Tell Hesban (biblical Heshbon). He was his remarkablea ccomplishments.
always interested in every aspect of what was going on- LawrenceT . Geraty
from the finds, to how they were being uncovered,t o the Associate Editor
health and well-being of the discoverers.
American fieldwork is alive and well today,t hanks in
largem easuret o the vision and determinationo f G. Ernest
Wright, mediated by ASOR. And how does one keep up
In Memoriam:
with all the discoveries? Through the pages of Biblical
Archaeologist, of course! In this issue, for example, the P&rPe ierreB enoit,O . P
finds reportedr angef rom the fourth millennium B.C.E. to
Hasmonean times, from Israel to its near neighbors,
The productive life of another giant in biblical
Egypt and Jordan,t ouching on many subjects that were
archaeology has come to an end: Pierre Benoit died
dear to Wright'sh eart.
this spring in his beloved Jerusalem.B orni n Nancy,
Volkmar Fritz addresses the difficult question of
France, nearly eighty-one years ago, he joined the
what took place in Palestine during the transition from
the LateB ronzeA ge to the IronA ge: Israelite conquest, or Dominican Ordera nd soon (1933)c ame to work for
its renowned Ecole Biblique et Archeologique
settlement, or revolution? As is well known, Wright
Francaisei n Jerusalem.K nown and loved as its long-
opted for the first choice, following his teacher William E
time director, from 1953 to 1968 he also edited its
Albright. He did so consistently through severalp ublica-
prestigious Revue Biblique. Specializing in New
tions right up until his death (see "The Conquest Theme
Testament studies, he was also a churchman and
in the Bible,"i n A Light Unto My Path: Old Testament
activea t the SecondV aticanC ouncil. Benoita uthored
Studies in Honor of Jacob M. Myers, edited by H. N.
several books and contributions to dictionaries and
Bream, R. D. Heim, and C. A. Moore, published in Phila-
Festschriften as well as journal articles. Among the
delphia by Temple University Press in 1974). After evalu- best known are his contributions to the Jerusalem
ating the latest field evidence, Fritz argues for a variation
Bible. He received honorary degrees from France,
of the second.
Germany, and Britain, and he belonged to several
Avner Raban touches on another of Wright's pet professional societies, including the Society for
subjects, summarized in BA more than two decades ago
New TestamentS tudies,w hich he led for one year as
in "Fresh Evidence for the Philistine Story" (September president. Many an archaeologist will remember
1966, volume 29, number 3). Clearly the ongoing excava- Father Benoit's long flowing white robes, his gra-
tions at Dor are important for that story.
cious dignity, his ability at the organ, and his pious
Several articles hark back to a chronological interest leadershipi n worship.B ut most of all they will miss
Wright had at the beginning of his career fifty years ago. his knowledge of the land of Jesusa nd especially his
His doctoral dissertation, published in 1937 by ASOR, intimate knowledge of its Holy City.
was The Pottery of Palestine from the Earliest Times to
the End of the Early Bronze Age. Gloria London's piece
Biblical Archaeologist, June 1987 69
Roman frontier east of the Dead Sea. The originator of brings us up to date on one aspect of that topic in the third
this project, Thomas Parker,g ot his start in Jordana t Tell millennium, while Isaac Gilead'se ssay does the same for
Hesban, which did for Jordanw hat Gezer did for Israel in the preceding millennium (see Wright's 1937 article in
terms of providing trained field talent for a subsequent number 66 of the Bulletin of the American Schools of
generation of dig directors. Similar projects with respect Oriental Research, "Palestinei n the Chalcolithic Age").
to period and region are John Edie's Roman Frontier Known as the foremost ceramic typologist of his day,
Project and John Oleson's Humayma Hydraulic Project. Wright loved nothing better than to sit down at the
Furthern orth are a series of excavationso r surveysw hose pottery-readingt able on a dig. In light of his October 1940
directorsh ave been influenced more indirectlyb y Wright: article in the Palestine Exploration Quarterly," TheS yro-
Edward Banning's Wadi Ziqlab, Patrick McGovern's Palestinian Jarf rom Vounous, Cyprus,"h e would have
Baqcah Valley,A lan Simmon's cAin Ghazal Survey,a nd enjoyed BryantW ood'sp iece on Egyptiana mphorae.
Burton MacDonald'sN ortheast cArabaS urvey. At Shechem and Gezer, Wrightb ecame interested in
G. Ernest Wright would have been proud of the coinage, too; he therefore would have read with interest
excavations going on today-both for the quality and the articles in this issue by Yigal Ronen and Henry
quantity. He loved to make field rounds, becoming ac- Thompson-the latter a young colleague of his at Tell
quainted with the latest discoveries firsthand. That's Balatah (Shechem).
what he was doing the summer of 1974, right up until a So today, almost thirteen years after his death, the
few days before his death. I'll never forget the inspiration presence of G. Ernest Wright continues to be felt in the
and excitement of his visit to my projectt hat summer. At field and in the pages of this magazine. This is another of
that time it was Tell Hesban (biblical Heshbon). He was his remarkablea ccomplishments.
always interested in every aspect of what was going on- LawrenceT . Geraty
from the finds, to how they were being uncovered,t o the Associate Editor
health and well-being of the discoverers.
American fieldwork is alive and well today,t hanks in
largem easuret o the vision and determinationo f G. Ernest
Wright, mediated by ASOR. And how does one keep up
In Memoriam:
with all the discoveries? Through the pages of Biblical
Archaeologist, of course! In this issue, for example, the P&rPe ierreB enoit,O . P
finds reportedr angef rom the fourth millennium B.C.E. to
Hasmonean times, from Israel to its near neighbors,
The productive life of another giant in biblical
Egypt and Jordan,t ouching on many subjects that were
archaeology has come to an end: Pierre Benoit died
dear to Wright'sh eart.
this spring in his beloved Jerusalem.B orni n Nancy,
Volkmar Fritz addresses the difficult question of
France, nearly eighty-one years ago, he joined the
what took place in Palestine during the transition from
the LateB ronzeA ge to the IronA ge: Israelite conquest, or Dominican Ordera nd soon (1933)c ame to work for
its renowned Ecole Biblique et Archeologique
settlement, or revolution? As is well known, Wright
Francaisei n Jerusalem.K nown and loved as its long-
opted for the first choice, following his teacher William E
time director, from 1953 to 1968 he also edited its
Albright. He did so consistently through severalp ublica-
prestigious Revue Biblique. Specializing in New
tions right up until his death (see "The Conquest Theme
Testament studies, he was also a churchman and
in the Bible,"i n A Light Unto My Path: Old Testament
activea t the SecondV aticanC ouncil. Benoita uthored
Studies in Honor of Jacob M. Myers, edited by H. N.
several books and contributions to dictionaries and
Bream, R. D. Heim, and C. A. Moore, published in Phila-
Festschriften as well as journal articles. Among the
delphia by Temple University Press in 1974). After evalu- best known are his contributions to the Jerusalem
ating the latest field evidence, Fritz argues for a variation
Bible. He received honorary degrees from France,
of the second.
Germany, and Britain, and he belonged to several
Avner Raban touches on another of Wright's pet professional societies, including the Society for
subjects, summarized in BA more than two decades ago
New TestamentS tudies,w hich he led for one year as
in "Fresh Evidence for the Philistine Story" (September president. Many an archaeologist will remember
1966, volume 29, number 3). Clearly the ongoing excava- Father Benoit's long flowing white robes, his gra-
tions at Dor are important for that story.
cious dignity, his ability at the organ, and his pious
Several articles hark back to a chronological interest leadershipi n worship.B ut most of all they will miss
Wright had at the beginning of his career fifty years ago. his knowledge of the land of Jesusa nd especially his
His doctoral dissertation, published in 1937 by ASOR, intimate knowledge of its Holy City.
was The Pottery of Palestine from the Earliest Times to
the End of the Early Bronze Age. Gloria London's piece
Biblical Archaeologist, June 1987 69
Tombsa t Jebel Qacaqira rrangedi n rows cut into the bedrock of the hill. Adjacent to some tomb entrances are capstones that once sealed the
openings. Photographso n this and facing page are courtesy of William G. Dever.
theersBy
to
Homage
Gloria Anne London
Most
buriailns a ncient nium B.C.,e specially with regard to to the EarlyB ronze IV period.' On
Israel were in isolated the treatment of community elders. the hilltop are at least four caves
tombs or large ceme- with habitational debris (Dever
teries, and few have The Site 1981;G itin 1975; London 1985).
been found in association with JebelQ acaqirw as discoveredi n 1967 Twelve cairns, or rock piles, and a
domestic debris. Twelve kilometers by villagers of Deir es-Samit who "dolmen"-typceo nstruction were
from Hebron at JebelQ acaqir,h ow- were using deep-plowingm achinery also found. Although a boundary
ever, tombs with habitational debris to improve agriculturalf ields. Some wall skirting the hill, and a kiln in
have been found (Dever 1972).T hese modest Chalcolithic, Iron II, and the valley cannot be dated definitely
tombs reveal new aspects of mortu- later deposits have subsequently to the late third millennium B.C.,n o
ary practices in the late third millen- been identified, but most finds date other period seems likely. The tombs
70 Biblical Archaeologist, June 1987
Above left: A disarticulated skeleton in tomb
B46 at Jebel Qacaqir.A bove:A view inside
an undisturbed tomb (B43)c ontaining four
individuals. The bones of a woman fifty
years of age were among the finds, as were
the remains of a young goat.
Smith (1982)w ere disarticulated
without exception. Random bones
were missing, which suggests that
these are secondary burial deposits.
Pots, metal objects, and animal
TombB 54B at Jebel Qacaqir contained nine individuals, including a female aged fifty to sixty bones (mainly sheep and goats -
years, two females aged forty to fifty years, and three males of similar advanced age. This Horwitz, n.d.) were found, and a
double-chamberedt omb also held the remains of five animals in addition to five ceramic spindle whorl purchased from the
pieces: a lamp (farr ight, upside down), an amphoriskos( righto f the pelvis at the far right
cornero f the tomb), a cup (left of the amphoriskos),a nd a bowl underneath a large storagej ar villagers is attributed to one of the
(centerl eft). tombs.
In the sixteen excavatedt ombs,
multiple burials are predominant,
are arrangedi n rows cut into the hill leading down into a circular burial with as many as nine skeletons per
slope. (Therem ight be others un- chamber cut into the limestone bed- tomb. Individual interment was
detected below agriculturalf ields rock. (Twod ouble-chamberedt ombs slightly less common. A largep ro-
currently under cultivation.) Many were also found.) Some have lamp portion (26 percent) of the remains
had been robbedb ut sixteen were niches cut into the chamber walls, are of individuals who were over fifty
found undisturbed;t hese were sys- and others have shallow depressions years old when they died. Individuals
tematically excavatedb y William G. in the floor. Stone piles and stone who died between the ages of forty
Dever chips were occasionally deposited in and forty-nine account for 28 percent
(1972). the chambers. of the burials; those between twenty
The Tombs and Their Contents The forty-sixs keletons excavated and thirty-nine, 13 percent; and those
Each tomb is entered via a shaft by Dever and examined by Patricia between one and nineteen, 33 percent.
Biblical Archaeologist, June 1987 71