The Biblical Archaeologist - Vol.51, N.4

51 Pages·1988·15.17 MB·English

by  American Schools of Oriental Research

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Biblical
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BiblicaAl rchaeologist
A Publication of the American Schools of Oriental Research Volume 51 Number 4 December 1988
Commentary
The Archaeologist as Viewed by the Geologist 197
Paul Goldberg
It should not be forgotten that the artifacts recovered from an
excavation are taken from a geological framework.
Commentary
How Not to Do Archaeology: The Story of Qumran 203
Philip R. Davies
Much has been learned from the excavation of the site associated
with the Dead Sea Scrolls. How much of it is correct?
The Mosaics at Um er-Rasasi n Jordan 208
Michele Piccirillo
The discovery of two mosaic floors in churches dating to the
Byzantine and Early Islamic periods provides important new
evidence of the history of the Transjordan.
Byzantine Palestine: A Christian Holy Land 214
Robert L. Wilken
The Christian idea of Palestine as a land of inheritance had just
begun to send forth fragile shoots when it was uprooted by the
upheavals of the seventh century c.E.
Christian Life in Palestine
During the Early Islamic Period 218
Robert Schick
Page2 08 During the first two centuries of Muslim rule church mosaics were
routinely damaged - and repaired. What does this elusive feature
of early Christianity say about the Muslim conquest of Palestine?
Jordan'sC hurches: Their Urban Context
in Late Antiquity 222
Bert de Vries
Unlike Greco-Roman cities of the second century c.E., which were
dominated by imposing temples and formal monuments, rural towns
in the sixth century C.E.w ere the site of numerous small churches
that blended into their surrounding structures.
Introducing the Authors 194
Front cover:M ichele Piccirillo and the excavation team at Um er-Rasasi n Jordant ry out a
new method of aerial photographyB ack cover: The two-panel mosaic of ancient Kastron
Mefaa (Um er-Rasas).P hotographsc ourtesy of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum,
Jerusalem.
Biblical Archaeologist is published with the financial assistance of
the Endowmentf or Biblical Research,a nonsectarianf oundationf or
Page2 18 the study of the Bible and the history of the Christian Church.
Biblical Archaeologist, December 1988 193
Introducinthge Authors
Paul Goldberg received his Ph.D. in geology from the
University of Michigan. He became well acquaintedw ith
geoarchaeological problems while working on his dis-
sertation - a sedimentological study of the deposits from
the prehistoric cave of et-Tabun,M ount Carmel, Israel.
Since 1973 he has been the de facto "geologist in resi-
dence" at the Institute of Archaeolgy of the Hebrew
University in Jerusalem.H e has participated in excava-
tions in Israel, as well as in France, England, Australia,
and Canada. The CambridgeU niversity Press will soon
publish his book, written in collaboration with M. A.
Courty and R. I. Macphail, on Soil Micromorphology and
Archaeology.
Educated at Oxford, St. Andrews (in Scotland), and
Jerusalem, Philip R. Davies is on the faculty of the
Department of Biblical Studies of the University of
Michele Piccirillo Sheffield in England. He has written four books on the
Dead Sea Scrolls, an introduction to the Book of Daniel,
and an introduction to the Old Testament, the last of
which is being published by Prentice Hall. He is an Editor
of the Journal for the Study of the Old Testament and
Cofounder of the JSOTP ress.
Michele Piccirillo belongs to the Ordero f the Franciscan
Fatherso f the TerrasantaC ustody and is Professoro f Bib-
lical History and Geography at the Studium Biblicum
Franciscanum in Jerusalem. A native of Carinola Italy,
FatherP iccirillo earnedh is Ph.D. in archaeologyf rom the
University of Rome. He has conducted excavation and
restoration work at the Memorial of Moses on Mount
Nebo and at Madabai n JordanS. ince 1986, in cooperation
with the Department of Antiquities of Jordan,h e has
been codirector of the excavation at Um er-Rasas. He
is in the process of preparinga full body of work about
mosaics in Jordan,i ncluding the mosaic church floors at
Um er-Rasas.
RobertL .W ilken is William R. Kenan,J r.P rofessoro f the
History of Christianity at the University of Virginia in
Charlottesville. Dr. Wilken has authored several books
on the subject of early Christianity, including Aspects of
Wisdom in Judaism and Early Christianity (Notre
Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1975), The
Christians as the Romans Saw Them (New Haven, CT:
Robert Schick Yale University Press, 1984), Jews and Christians in
Antioch in the First Four Centuries of the Common Era
194 Biblical Archaeologist, December 1988
emA
Robert L. Wilken
Philip R. Davies Paul Goldberg
Bert de Vries
(Missoula,M T:S cholarsP ress,1 978),a ndJ ohnC hrysostom
and the Jews: Rhetoric and Reality in the Late Fourth Statement of Ownership,
Century (Berkeley,C A: University of California Press, Management,a nd
Circulation, 10/1/88
1983). He has recently authored a book on the Christian Title: Biblical Archaeologist. Publication Number 0006-0895.
holy land to be published by Yale University Press. Frequency: Quarterly. Four issues published annually. Subscrip-
tion price: $27.00 institutions, $19.00 individuals. Location of
With an emphasis on the study of Christianity in Pales- office of publication: The Johns Hopkins University Press,
701 W 40th Street, Baltimore, MD 21211. Headquarters of
tine after the Muslim conquest, Robert Schick received publishers: Same. Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University
his Ph.D. from The University of Chicago in 1987. Cur- Press, 701 W 40th Street, Baltimore, MD 21211. Editor: Eric
rently he is an Annual Professora t the American Center M. Meyers, ASOR Publications Office, P.O. Box H. M., Duke
Station, Durham, NC 27706. Owner: The American Schools
of Oriental Research (ACOR),a n international research of Oriental Research, 711 W 40th Street, Suite 354, Baltimore,
institute sponsoredb y the American Schools of Oriental MD 21211. The purpose, function, and nonprofit status of this
Research in Amman, Jordan.H e is also writing a book organization and the exempt status for federal income tax
about Christianity in Southern Jordand uring the Byzan- purposes have not changed during the preceding 12 months.
tine and Early Islamic periods. In the past eight years Anuvmerbaegreo f Anuctmubale ro f
Dr. Schick has participated in several excavations of copies of each copieso f single
Byzantine and Islamic sites in Jordan, including Um issue during issuep ublished
preceding nearestt o
er-Rasas and Mount Nebo with Michele Piccirillo, as Extent and natureo f circulation 12 months filing date
well as el-Lejjun,U mm el-Jimal,a nd Aqaba. A. Totaln umbero f copies printed 7641 7577
B. Paidc irculation,m ail subscriptions 5119 5463
C. Totalp aid circulation 5119 5463
Bertd e Vries is directoro f the AmericanC entero f Oriental D. Freed istribution 439 444
E. Totald istribution 5558 5907
Research (ACOR)i n Amman, Jordan,a nd is on extended E Copies not distributed 2083 1670
leave from Calvin College in GrandR apids,M I where he G. Total 7641 7577
is Professoro f Ancient History. Dr. de Vries has served as
I certify that the statements made by me above are correct and
architect on numerous field projects in Jordan,i ncluding complete. Marie R. Hansen, Assistant Director and Journals
the Hesban Excavationsa nd the Limes Arabicus Project. Manager.
He is also director of the Umm el-Jimal Project.
Biblical Archaeologist, December 1988 195
0S OFO,
0 The American Schools
ca r of Oriental Research
;co
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and
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196 Biblical Archaeologist, December 1988
I
-mntr
The Archaeologist
u)ed
as vie
b.y
The Geologist
Paul
by Goldberg
ostr esearcihnevrosl ved
The first scene is an archaeologi-
in solving geoarchae- cal tell somewhere in the Middle
ological problems East. As a geologist who works on
would admit that, prehistoric and archaeological sites,
within the last decade or two, ar- I have been invited by an archaeolo-
chaeologists have become much gist to visit the site. After arriving I
more awareo f geological aspects, or receive a refreshing cup of Turkish
problems,a ssociatedw ith their work. coffee and a brief tour of the site,
This cognizance has been expressed during which I am shown various
in books and journal articles that aspects of the stratigraphy,r eplete
describe the role and capabilities of with mudbrick walls, plaster lines,
geologists in an archaeological exca- foundation trenches, and pits. I am
vation or environment (Limbrey then treated to a view of the archae-
1975; Rapp 1975; Gladfelter 1977, ological goodies consisting of vari-
1981;H assan 1978; Rosen 1986; see ous remnants of material culture
Butzer, 1975, though, for a remark- such as bowls, daggers,m aces, and
ably prescient view). loom-weights.
Characteristic of these works is Up to now, no problem, but
a careful explanation of some of the then comes the stinger: I am politely
types of analyses that can be per- asked, "Do you suppose you could
formed by various techniques and write up a couple of pages on the
how the subsequent results can be site?"I 'm left speechless; I simply do
presented and interpreted.U sually, not know how to answer.
however,t he readeri s not told of the A variation of this scenario
archaeological ramifications or takes place in my office/lab. I have
implications of the research results just arriveda nd am slogging down a
Fieldp hotographo f a test trenchf romS hiqmim,
or, even less often, why the analyses cup of morning coffee when I hear a a village in the northern Negeb that dates to
were performedi n the first place. knock on the open door; in comes an the Chalcolithic period (approximately4 500
The role of the archaeologist in geo- archaeologistc olleague accompanied to 3200 B.c.E.). The material under geo-
archaeological study, possibly of mudbrick
archaeological endeavorsi s prac- by a student holding a brown card- origin, is to the left of the 2-meterm ark on
tically never considered in these boardb ox. After I sit down they the stadia rod. Photographc ourtesy of
works, despite the fact that many are show me the contents of the box and Thomas E. Levy.
ostensibly written for archaeologists. ask me several types of questions,
Let me provide a few illustrative, depending on what is inside.
hypothetical examples. Usually I am asked to identify or
Biblical Archaeologist, December 1988 197
Below top: Photomicrograph of a thin section prepared from material found in the test trench
at Shiqmim shot in cross-polarized light. Scale: 0.5 inch equals 0.2 millimeter. Below bottom:
Snail fragments in a dusty clay matrix from a cemetery site in Pseira, Crete, shot in plane-
polarized light. Scale: 0.5 inch equals 0.2 millimeter.
determine the lithological affinity of
the materialsi n the box. Often they are
polished parts of beads,l oom-weights,
or other objects that under no cir-
cumstancesc an be altered- scratched,
picked, or subjected to chemical
torture by hydrochlorica cid - in the
course of the examination.
In another variant the box con-
tains hazelnut-sized chunks of some
nondescript material that could be
almost anything hard. Or the box
turns out to be full of pottery, and
my visitor wants petrographicd e-
scriptions because someone else has
worked on a similar type of pottery.
My aim in citing these eclectic
examples is not to point fingers at
my archaeological colleagues but to
try to elucidate the nature of the
relationship between geologist and
archaeologist.
Insteado f being asked to perform
such generalized tasks as "writingu p
a few pages,"I need to be asked specif-
ic, pointed questions: "Ist his pitlike
feature a well or a storagep it? If it's a
well, was it functioning throughout
the duration of the occupation(s),
and what does it indicate about
former levels of the water table?"O r,
"What'st he composition of this pit
fill (fore xample, ashes), and did it
accumulate as a result of anthro-
pogenic processes (fore xample, as a
dump site) or geogenic processes (for
example, slumping, colluviation)?
Have the limestone fragments found
within it been burned?"
The answers to such questions
may be intrinsically interesting in
their own right, relating to the geo-
logical availability of raw materials
or how certain materials might have
been transformed during manufac-
ture-by heating for example. Gen-
erally, however, they have broader
ramifications concerning other as-
pects of the history of the site (for
198 Biblical Archaeologist, December 1988
Wem usti ntegratae ll typeso f data-
archaeologicagl,e ologicalb, iological--
in ordert o evaluatea site.
properly
example, the ash may be associated cards-on-the-tablek ind of approach. of ash, and, if so, is it associated
with metallurgy at the site) or the This is not to say that geologists with residential activities or indus-
region (fore xample, large kilns for and their analyses are infallible and trial activities such as smelting or
making quicklime plasters require not open to various interpretations, pottery manufacture?"
abundant fuel, which may or may or that they are totally irrelevant to Asking the geologist, "Could
not have been available in the area). the archaeological situation at hand. you come down to look at my site
Such anthropogenic activities may Archaeologists spend a considerable and clarify things?"i s simply not the
have resulted in modifications of the amount of time and effort excavat- best way to interact; at the same
landscape (deforestationl eading to ing a site and, admittedly, should time, it's usually a waste of time for
large-scalee rosion) or may imply have a good intuitive feel for what is all of the parties concerned.
different climatic conditions that going on at the site. This ability has George Rappo nce told me that
would have had to exist in ordert o to be respected by the geologist. there is virtually no geoarchaeologi-
support such abundant vegetation. Nonetheless, archaeological cal problem that cannot be solved,
In other words, the archae- situations involve interactions be- given enough time or money. Archae-
ologist should be concerned not only tween human activities and "natural" ologists must keep this in mind, es-
with the answer to the question but environmental situations; unravel- pecially within their own constraints
also with how the question relates ing these complex interactions is related to finances and personnel.
to largers cale problems such as not an easy task. Thus, we must be I have seen firsthand the value
trade networks, social organization, obliging and try to integrate all of of the kind of geoarchaeological in-
and the like. Thus, a petrographic the information- archaeological, teraction I'veb een talking about.
description of a certain type of pot- geological, and biological - in order During the excavation of the Chalco-
tery should not only be compared to make some sense out of it. lithic village of Shiqmim, directed
with others of the same type of ves- As a way of helping remedy and by Thomas E. Levy and David Alon,
sel (if these descriptions exist), but ameliorate some of the situations I was asked to determine if a com-
should also be integrated into larger and problems cited in this commen- pact silty material observed in an
scale problems such as trade. After tary,I suggest we take the following area of limited excavation consti-
all, different interpretations of the approaches: tuted the remains of decayed mud-
same archaeological feature can Archaeologists must pose spe- brick. The answer would have clear
have totally different implications. cific questions to specific problems implications concerning the proxim-
Once the geological analyses (or that need to be solved. Fore xample, ity of buildings or other man-made
observations)h ave been made, the instead of asking, "Whati s the com- structures that had not yet been
archaeologist has the responsibility position of these sherds?"t he ar- exposed in the test trench.
of dealing with the results, whether chaeologist should have something In an attempt to solve this pr6b-
they coincide with expectations and specific in mind such as, "Do these lem, an undisturbed sample of the
archaeological theory or not. It is two sherds have the same petro- material was impregnatedi n poly-
not unusual for the results of geo- graphic composition?"S imilarly, the ester resin, and a petrographict hin
logical observations or analyses to question, "Whati s this white mate- section was preparedf rom the re-
disagree with an archaeologist'sp re- rial?"i s too vague; try to get to the sulting hardenedb lock. (A petro-
conceived ideas, and such results are point: "Ist his white layer composed graphic thin section is essentially a
frequently dismissed. Occasionally of lime or gypsum plaster or simply 30-micron-thick slice of the material
an archaeologist will shop around unfired chalk?"I nstead of asking, mounted on a glass slide.) When
for another geologist's opinion if the "Whati s this red layer?"o ne should viewed under a petrographicm icro-
first results are not to the archae- have a possible scenario in mind: "Is scope, the material exhibited charac-
ologist's liking. While it is true that this reddeningt he result of heating teristically elongated voids, or black
two heads are better than one, and of the material or is it simply a red areas, clearly marking the former
that geoarchaeological situations are sediment?" Finally, the question, presence of straw binder that was
notoriously complex, this best-buy "Why is this layer grey?"i s too elu- incorporated into the bricks. Thus
strategy is not really fair play or in sive. Rather, ask something to the we had our answer.
the interest of a truly objective, effect of, "Is this grey layer composed In another case a sample was
Biblical Archaeologist, December 1988 199
Below top: Sand-sized rock fragments in dusty clay matrix from the cemetery at Pseira shot in
plane-polarized light. Scale: 0.5 inch equals 0.2 millimeter. Below bottom: Dusty clay matrix
from Pseira shot in plane-polarized light. The large white area is a void. Scale: 0.5 inch equals
0.2 millimeter.
mass. Moreover,m any of the voids
(in this case, large white areas on
the section) were coated with dusty
and impure clay that commonly dis-
played gradedb edding such that the
portion of the coating closest to the
void was finer and better oriented
than the material farthera way from
it. Remarkably,n ot one fragment of
bone was visible on the entire slide.
These observations strongly
suggest that the deposits have no
connection to the cemetery per se
since even splinters of bone would
be observed if they did. Rather,t he
presence of angular stone and shell
fragments suggests a colluvial origin,
the accumulation of rock and soil
matter at the foot of a slope. More-
over, the presence of clayey void
coatings indicates a downwardm ove-
ment of muddy material through
the deposits, possibly as a result of
runoff or heavy rain falling on a
relatively bare surface. In addition,
the lack of complexity in these coat-
ings (that is, there is only one coat-
ing event) indicates that the mate-
rial is either quite young or was
quickly buried below the surface, a
process that would remove it from
the zone of downwardt ranslocation
of particles.
At the same site, samples were
collected from a fill behind an agri-
cultural terraced ating to the Minoan
period. Among other specific ques-
tions I was asked:" Howw as the
material deposited?"" Ist here evi-
dence of tilling?"" Aret here differ-
collected during the excavation of a cally and if the sedimentary matrix ences in the soil with depth?"" How
cemetery at the site of Pseira in had been deposited at one time or does the material of the terrace fill
Crete, directed by P. Betancourt. gradually. comparew ith that of the settlement?"
Whole vases were present at the site The thin section showed that Although for technical reasons it
but no bones were visible, and the the material consisted of calcareous was not possible to answer all of
excavatorn eeded to know if any rock fragments, snail shells, and these questions, micromorphologi-
bones could be observedm icroscopi- some quartz in a clayey silt ground- cal observations showed that the
200 Biblical Archaeologist, December 1988