Search

Ancient Lachish (Tell ed-Duweir) in southern Israel is a key site for understanding the Canaanite cultures of the Middle and Late Bronze Ages and the Kingdom of Judah in the Iron Age of the Levant. It has been intensively excavated since 1932 by a number of entities. This article presents the excavation results by the Fourth Expedition to Lachish in 2013-2017. Fieldwork focused on the site's northeastern corner, a neglected area believed to have been uninhabited in some periods. Excavation in the area, however, uncovered remains of successive fortifications and evidence of cultic activities. The new discoveries highlight the strong connection of the Bronze and Iron Age cities to the nearby valley, which supplied Lachish with water, mud, fertilized land, and a major road. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The story of Canaanite Gath begins with the el-Amarna texts (Na'aman 1979; Rainey 2012; Levin, this issue), where it appears that the city was a major contender in the Shephelah power plays of the fourteenth century b.c.e.. While some have contended the connection between Gath, Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath and the Amarna period ruler Šuwardatu (Moran 1992: 384), the petrographic examination conducted on the tablets create a strong link between them (Goren, Finkelstein, and Na'aman 2004: 280-86). In this light, the results of the surface survey prior to the onset of the excavations noted the existence of a large settlement at Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath (ca. 27 ha; see:Uziel and Maeir 2005: 56). Yet, the survey results did not allow identification of differences within the Late Bronze Age (LB) between the subphases of the period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2013, an ivory bowl was discovered in a chalky matrix in the Early Iron Age (Philistine) levels in Area A at Tell es-Safi/Gath. Conservation revealed it to be a shallow vessel with a single lug handle, decorated in the interior and on the base with an incised twelve-petal lotus-rosette surrounded by five concentric circles. Applying an object biography approach, we investigate the history and far-flung socio-cultural connections of the Tell es-Safi/Gath bowl, which is unique within Philistia. Specific reference is made to parallels in the ivory hoard from the Late Bronze/Iron Age transition (c. late twelfth century/early eleventh century bce) palace at Megiddo, Stratum VIIA. It is proposed that the Tell es-Safi/Gath bowl was one of a set manufactured somewhere in Canaan. The vessel became separated from the set, ending up as a foundation offering at this Philistine site. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tomb Cl at Tel 'Eton (Israel) is a unique Iron Age I elite burial cave (excavated in 1968 by Gershon Edelstein). The finds include many metal artifacts, seals, beads, and dozens of ceramic vessels, including Philistine bichrome pottery. Although some have interpreted the finds as reflecting Philistine occupation at Tel 'Eton, the ethnic composition of the region and the cultural significance of various objects suggest that the interred were members of the indigenous Canaanite elite. By combining the current understanding of cultural interaction in the region during Iron Age I and similar processes elsewhere, the present study reexamines this tomb and the associated finds. This will enable us to gain new insights into the interaction between the various groups that inhabited the region, internal developments within Canaanite society, and the nature of local responses to colonialism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper focuses on the distribution, typology and technology of Black Wheel-Made Ware (also known as 'Megiddo Ware') and presents a discussion of its origin and date. In the second half of the third millennium BCE the southern Levant witnessed a radical change in settlement pattern, nature of sites and material-culture assemblages. One of the features defining this period was the regionalism in the ceramic repertoire. Despite varying opinions regarding the division of the pottery groups, it is agreed that one of these groups-the Black Wheel-Made Ware-was limited to northern Israel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Antiguo Oriente is the property of Pontificia Universidad Catolica Argentina and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this paper, we present an analysis of an Iron Age I dwelling at the Phoenician site of Dor, on Israel's Carmel coast. We provide a definition for the architectural mental template for this type of house--a Central Courtyard Hash-Plan House. By combining an analysis of the size and layout of the house, and the distribution of artifacts and ecofacts in it, we define rooms devoted to specialized economic activities such as food production and storage and also attempt to identify gendered spaces. We conclude that the house was a self-contained agrarian unit engaged in complex economic activity. The same conceptual plan, housing similar economic activities, can be identified in other dwellings in the southern Levant, from Late Bronze Age I to Late Iron Age IIA. The gradual disappearance of this house type, vis-à-vis the emergence, on the one hand, of smaller and simpler dwellings such as the ubiquitous Four-Room House and, on the other, that of public facilities for specialized economic tasks, signifies to our minds a fundamental ideological and economic transformation, a change in the habitus of Levantine society--namely, the gradual segregation between households and various aspects of economic life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses some examples of intersections between the Bible and archaeological excavations. The author focuses on the Conquest of Canaan and the United Monarchy, summarzing the consensus of critical scholars and then consider the evidence that has been found. He also considers key archaeological discoveries found at Jerusalem, Khirbet Qeiyafa, and the copper mines in southern Jordan.

A sample of glossed and non-glossed Canaanean blades from the Early Bronze Age Ib-II site of Qiryat Ata, northern Israel, was the subject of a use-wear analysis. This research comprised microscopic analysis and a series of experiments based on the microscopic usewear detected to reconstruct the function of the archaeological Canaanean blades. Two main activities were reconstructed in the analysis: one related to plant processing, including cereal harvesting and threshing; and the other, which is the focus of this article, was related to pottery processing. Several experiments using experimental flint blades were carried out, including processing clay on a potter's wheel, and processing by hand. The results indicated that the microscopic traces on the blades were produced by contact with moist coarse-tempered clay, especially for smoothing by hand, as in the initial stages of pottery processing and shaping. Reconstructing the potters' use of Canaanean blades indicated that ceramic tools were locally produced at Qiryat Ata. Reconstruction also contributed to the understanding of the complexity involved in models related to Canaanean blade production and distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Late Bronze IIB, parts of Canaan were under Egyptian suzerainty. An influx of Egyptian-style objects during this period has led to scholarly speculation about the nature and intensity of Egyptian occupation in Canaan, and whether Egyptians were present in large numbers. The considerable number of burials at Tell el-Far'ah (South) from ca. 1300 to 1150 B.C.E. provides an excellent database with which to examine the significance of Egyptian style in constructing social roles and the social order, as well as its implications for the identity of the burial population. The site is believed to have been an Egyptian administrative base, and a number of Egyptian object types, including ceramics, amulets, scarabs, jewelry, stone vessels, and coffins, were found in the graves. The way they were used in the burials was in some instances distinct from Egyptian mortuary practice, suggesting a transformed meaning; in fact, the whole burial program was strongly Canaanite in nature. Two hypotheses are offered as to the identity of the population burying its dead at Tell el-Far'ah: a Canaanite garrison in Egyptian employ or sent by a Canaanite king: or the residents of a Canaanite settlement established along-side an Egyptian base. In either hypothesis, Egyptian-style material culture played a role in creating a new, dual social identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early Bronze Age Canaanite glyptic andpottery traditions encompass many iconographic components, some of which are not filly understood. While various aspects of Canaanite glyptic traits have been thoroughly discussed, the component arbitrarily dubbed 'space fillers' has been neglected. Incised "potmarks" which are part ofthe Early Bronze Age ceramic production process, have also been studied only sporadically. This arti cle aims to show a relationshzp between iconographic motif and symbols that have been designated as space fillers, and incised signs on pottery vessels that have been classified as potmarks. Through the examination ofa specific case study, I challenge the notion that these symbols are meaningless, and aim to show that both components play a role in the same iconographic milieu whose set of ideas spread throughout the southern Levant during the third millennium BC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the results of archaeological research in Bronze Age tombs at the ancient city of Megiddo in Israel. Topics include the implications of the research regarding the involvement of Canaanite peoples in trade, the finding that chemical components of vanilla were present at the site, and the discovery of bodies of men who apparently had leprosy.

Tel Reḥov, identified with Reḥob, was one of the largest Canaanite cities in the southern Levant during the Late Bronze Age (15th–13th centuries b.c.e.). Unlike many other Canaanite settlements, the city was founded in the 15th century after a hiatus beginning in Early Bronze Age III. In this article, four major Late Bronze Age occupation strata are described. Notable is a monumental structure dated to the 14th century b.c.e. with unusual architectural features that could be either the residence of a high-ranking family or an administrative building. During the 13th century b.c.e. , this building was replaced by a new structure containing a metalsmith's workshop, inspired by Egyptian 19th Dynasty techniques, while later building phases belong to the final stages of the Late Bronze Age. No destruction layers were found, and the Late Bronze Age city was rebuilt and continued to thrive throughout the Iron Age I. Five Late Bronze Age plaque figurines, some of particular interest, are also described. An appendix discusses a rare funerary scarab of an Egyptian high official found in the 14th-century b.c.e. edifice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]