Syro-Palestinian archaeology

Khirbet Qeiyafa: An Unsensational Archaeological and Historical Interpretation

by Alexander Fantalkin

Co-authored with Israel Finkelstein
Finkelstein, I. and Fantalkin, A. 2012. Khirbet Qeiyafa: An Unsensational Archaeological and Historical Interpretation. Tel Aviv 39: 38-63.

The article deals with the finds at the late Iron I settlement of Khirbet Qeiyafa, a site overlooking the Valley of... more The article deals with the finds at the late Iron I settlement of Khirbet Qeiyafa, a site overlooking the Valley of Elah in the Shephelah. It points out the methodological shortcomings in both field work and interpretation of the finds. It then turns to several issues related to the finds: the identity of the inhabitants, their territorial affiliation and the possibility of identifying Khirbet Qeiyafa with sites mentioned in the Bible and in the Shoshenq I list.

Why Did Nebuchadnezzar II Destroy Ashkelon in 604 BCE?

by Alexander Fantalkin

Fantalkin, A. 2011. Why Did Nebuchadnezzar II Destroy Ashkelon in Kislev 604 B.C.E.? In: Finkelstein, I. and Na'aman, N. eds. The Fire Signals of Lachish: Studies in the Archaeology and History of Israel in the Late Bronze Age, Iron Age, and Persian Period in Honor of David Ussishkin. Winona Lake: 87–111.

TELL AL- MASHHAD REPORT ON 2010 SEASON

by francesco benedettucci

Unpublished Report

Tell al-Mashhad report on 2011 season

by francesco benedettucci

Unpublished Report

La formulazione architettonica e spaziale dell'area sacra nell'edilizia templare del Ferro I in Palestina

by Gilberta Spreafico

published in Vicino Oriente XII 2007, pp. 59-83

The Southern Temple of Tell el-Husn/Beth-Shean: The sacred architecture of Iron Age Palestine

by Gilberta Spreafico

published in Cordoba J.M. et al (edd.) 2008, Proceedins of the 5th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, pp. 181-202

In the twenties of the 20th century an expedition of the University of Pennsylvania Museum brought to light at Tell... more In the twenties of the 20th century an expedition of the University of Pennsylvania Museum brought to light at Tell el-Husn/Beth-Shean a sacred precinct of the Iron Age I, comprising a pair of temples characterized by an unusual plan. The origin of the Southern Temple planning concept, with the large long-room divided by two rows of columns into three aisles, was debated for a long time. Mariusz Burdajewicz suggested a comparison with
the Cypriote temples built at Kition and Palaepaphos during the 12th-13th centuries B.C., but in Palestine the Beth-Shean temples were the only examples of this architectural typology. The recent discovery of Complex 650 at Khirbet el-Muqanna‘/Ekron provided a new example of a temple with a long-room cella divided into three aisles and surrounded by a row of auxiliary rooms, offering new evidence for the reconstruction of the Iron Age sacred architecture.
Keywords: Tell el-Husn/Beth-Shean, Iron Age I Palestine, sacred architecture, Mariusz Burdajewicz, Khirbet el-Muqanna’/Ekron Complex 650.

Alcuni esempi di adozione di modeli planimetrici neo-assiri nell'architettura sacra della Palestina e della Transgiordania del Ferro IIC

by Gilberta Spreafico

published in Dolce, R. (ed.) 2010, Quale Oriente? Omaggio a un Maestro. Studi di Arte e Archeologia del Vicino Oriente in memoria di Anton Moortgat a trenta anni dalla sua scomparsa, pp. 135-161

I sistemi difensivi del Bronzo Antico in Palestina: tecniche architettoniche e sviluppo tipologico

by Gilberta Spreafico

Published in Contributi e Materiali di Archeologia Orientale X (2005), pp. 303-329

Food Processing in the Levant during the Middle Bronze Age. Fire installation cooking pots and grinding tools at Tell Mardikh-Ebla (Syria) - Two Case Studies

by Gilberta Spreafico

Co-authored with L. Peyronel

The excavations carried out since 1964 at Ebla-Tell Mardikh (North Inner Syria), have brought to light large sectors... more The excavations carried out since 1964 at Ebla-Tell Mardikh (North Inner Syria), have brought to light large sectors of the Old Syrian town dating to the Middle Bronze Age II (c. 1800-1600 BC). A large quarter of houses located in the Area B East, at the foot of the Acropolis in the South-Western sector of the Lower Town , and the Western Fort, built on the top of the rampart defending the town during the Middle Bronze Age, provided a large evidence of fire installations and contexts related to the food processing (cooking pots,
grinding tools, and bio-archaeological remains). Within a more wide project of environmental cross-disciplinary researches, including archaeometry, bio-archaeology, palaeogeography, sedimentological and geological analyses, we will focus here the attention on the typology of fireplaces for cooking and/or heating, proposing a comparison between a public defensive complex and a group of private dwellings.

Social identity in the Jordan Valley during the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages: evidence from the Tall as-Sa‘idiyya cemetery

by Jack Green

Submitted for publication in: Studies in the History and Archaeology of Jordan vol. XI. Amman, Jordan: Department of Antiquities. Draft available on request.

The cemetery at Tall as-Sa‘idiyya in the Jordan Valley provides a rich set of archaeological data with which to... more The cemetery at Tall as-Sa‘idiyya in the Jordan Valley provides a rich set of archaeological data with which to examine changing aspects of social identity in death between the terminal Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Ages (c.1250–800 BC). This paper focuses on ‘personal’ assemblages from the cemetery, particularly clothing attachments, jewellery and beads associated with individuals of different age, gender and status groups and examines aspects of identity expression over time. What might these items indicate about changes and variability in population, economy and lifestyle across the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages?

Ritual and Social Structure in the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age Southern Levant: the Cemetery at Tell es-Sa'idiyeh, Jordan

by Jack Green

Ph.D thesis (two volumes), University College London (2006).  Digitial copy available on request.

This thesis examines ritual and social structure in the Southern Levantine Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages, through a... more This thesis examines ritual and social structure in the Southern Levantine Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages, through a detailed study of the cemetery at Tell es-Sa’idiyeh (Jordan).  The cemetery phases examined date broadly from the late thirteenth to tenth centuries BCE, and consist of approximately 300 burials.  Two socio-historical settings are of relevance here.  The first (13th-12th Centuries BCE) relates to a final phase of Egyptian economic and military domination in the region.  The second (11th-10th/9th Centuries BCE) relates to a widespread re-emergence of local semi-independent polities in the Central Valleys after the collapse of the Late Bronze Age city-states and the Egyptian withdrawal.  It is argued that responses to widespread socio-political, cultural and economic changes in the Late Bronze-Early Iron Age transition had a significant impact on social structure and kinship relations – affecting the ways in which the dead were perceived and treated by the living. 

Through a combined quantitative and contextual study of the burial data, aspects of variability in the expression of social rank, age and gender, and cultural identity in the Sa’idiyeh cemetery are examined, and in turn compared and contrasted with ‘living’ societal models.  Elements of continuity and change are explored, including attitudes to the body, variability in the deposition of grave-objects, and aspects of commemoration, re-use and cemetery organization.  The relationship between ritual and social structure is examined through a ‘rites of passage’ framework that breaks down the burial context both temporally and spatially.  It is argued that aspects of status and identity (as expressed by the living survivors) were partly formulated and transformed through the deposition of special objects and the elaboration of ritual space.  These actions helped to create and reproduce social distinctions through ritual performance and memory.  The results of this analysis provide new insights into the societies of the Jordan Valley in the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages.  In the 13th-12th Centuries,  ‘death-styles’ at Sa’idiyeh are seen as reflecting social inequalities and unstable relationships between dominant foreign powers and local elites, with evidence for ritual innovation, elite emulation, and individualized status expression in death.  In the 11th-10th Centuries, changing socio-economic and political conditions contributed to the formation of a more ‘egalitarian’ social structure, with emerging gender inequalities and expressions of associative status that emphasized kinship relations within commemorative death rituals. 

Contra the Mycenaen Roots of the Name Taita: The Potential Hurrian and Anatolian Derivations of the Name Taita : the Onomastic and Toponymastic Evidence

by Mark Shindel

A preliminary title that may merge with the article on the mycenaean and greek evidence for the name along with another article that proposes a possible genealogy directly and firmly connecting the Kings of Hamath and Patin mentioned in Hieroglyphic Luwian and Cuneiform sources

There is an overwhelming amount of Hurrian and even Anatolian personal names and place names ranging in time frome the... more There is an overwhelming amount of Hurrian and even Anatolian personal names and place names ranging in time frome the early late bronze age to the middle of the Neo-Assyrian Empire within the boundaries and around the periphery of the kingdom of Patin that proves a most likely local origin of the name Taita without even using Tette, the nuhhassian king or the indochine offensive. even then one's name did not always determine one's ethnicity.

A scenario: Fugitives from Kanesh and the origins of the Old Hittite Kingdom

by Joost Blasweiler

Bir senaryo : Kaniş’in yerinden olmuş halkı ve Antik Hitit Krallığı’nın kökeni.
İçerik:
M.Ö. yaklaşık 1710 yılında Kaniş Krallığı’nın, belkide o zamanlar Alahzina adını taşımakta olan başkenti yıkılmış ve akabinde yüzyıllar boyunca bir daha şehir olarak inşa edilmemiştir. İki yüzyıl boyunca Anadolu’da Asur ticaretinin merkezi konumundaki, kale surlarının hemen yanında kurulmuş bulunan Kaniş’in Karum Şehri de aniden terk edilerek harabeye dönmüştür. Yıkıldıktan sonraki dönemde Kaniş ülkesinde Anadolu ve Asur tüccarlarına ait kalıntılara bir daha hiç rastlanamamıştır. Hattuşa Şehri M.Ö. yaklaşık 1750 yılında Kral Anitta tarafından yıkılmış, ancak muhtemelen küçük bir yerleşim birimi varlığını sürdürmeye devam etmiştir. Arkeolog Andreas Schachner, Hattuşa (2011 – 71) adlı etkileyici kitabında şunları bildirmektedir: “Wahrscheinlich bestand dort trotz der Eroberung durch Anitta eine funktionierende Siedlung, deren Ausbau sich fur einen ambitionierenden Herscher lohnte”. M.Ö. 17. ve 16. yüzyıllar arasındaki asır değişimi civarında, büyük yeraltı tahıl silolarının ve büyük savunma duvarlarının yapımı gibi önemli inşaat faaliyetleri hayata geçirilmiştir. Bunu 16. yüzyılın başında küçük yerleşim birimlerinin büyük ve planlı genişlemeleri takip etmiştir. Bu makalede Kaniş ve Hattuşa’daki bu tarihi olayların birbirleriyle doğrudan bir bağlantısı olup olmadığı incelenmiş ve aynı zamanda Kaniş ve Kussara Krallıkları’nın Antik Hitit Krallığı ile tarihi bağı tanımlanmıştır. Bir senaryo şeklinde Kaneşli mültecilerin kil tabletlerdeki Nesili’nin gelişimi üzerindeki muhtemel etkileri ve Antik Hattuşa Krallığı’nın doğuşu kaleme alınmıştır.

About 1710 BC the capital of the kingdom of Kanesh, probably ruled at that time by Zuzu, the Great King of Alahzina, was laid waste and no longer inhabited as a town for hundreds of years Also suddenly abandoned and sacked was the karum of Kanesh, situated alongside the citadel and established for a good two hundred years as the centre of Assyrian trade in Anatolia. From the period after the destruction no Assyrian mercantile artifacts have been found in the land of Kanesh. The city of Hattusa was similarly devastated about 1750 BC by King Anitta. Nevertheless it is plausible that a small settlement persisted there. The archaeologist Andreas Schachner reports in his impressive book Hattusha (2011: 71): ‘’Wahrscheinlich bestand dort trotz der Eroberung durch Anitta eine funktionierende Siedlung, deren Ausbau sich für einen ambitionierenden Herrscher lohnte’’. Around the turn of the 17th to the 16th century important constructions were carried out, namely the building of large underground grain silos and a large defensive wall. At the start of the 16th century large and well planned enlargements to the small settlement followed. Whether these historical events in Kanesh and Hattusa are directly linked with each other is investigated in this article, and the historical relationships of the kingdoms of Kanesh and Kussara with the Old Kingdom of the Hittites are described. The possible significance of fugitives from Kanesh in the development of the Nesili language of the clay tablets and in the origins of Old Kingdom Hattusa is laid out in scenario form

Anatomy of a Cargo Cult: Virginity, Relic Envy, and Hallowed Boxes

by Ryan Byrne

Resurrecting the Brother of Jesus, eds. Ryan Byrne and Bernadette McNary-Zak (University of North Carolina Press, 2009) pp. 137-186

Catalog essays: Metereological Balloon with Camera Attached, Megiddo; & "Air-Mosaic" of the Mound at Megiddo.

by Jack Green

Catalog Nos. 30-31, In, J. Green, E.Teeter & J.A. Larson (eds.), Picturing the Past: Imaging and Imagining the Ancient Middle East. Chicago: The Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago. Pp.154-158.

Excerpt: "From the excavator’s perspective, the purpose of the aerial photographs was twofold. Firstly, they... more Excerpt: "From the excavator’s perspective, the purpose of the aerial photographs was twofold. Firstly, they provided accurate and detailed records of excavated buildings, surveying points, and other features on the mound. These images are still invaluable to archaeologists as many structures were subsequently removed to expose the strata beneath. Secondly, the air-mosaic was used for checking the excavations as they progressed. Philip L. O. Guy (field director, Megiddo Expedition,
1927–1935) and his assistant Robert S. Lamon (surveyor), took the large-scale air-mosaic out onto the mound during the course of excavation, seeing it as a “very great help in disentangling one stratum from another,” helping to verify wall alignments that may have been difficult to locate at surface level and comparing buildings of similar size and design separated by several hundred feet. Guy recommended the projection of lantern slide images of the aerial photographs on to a screen for quiet study off-site...

A possible onomastic Mycenaen and later Greek derivation of the Hieroglyphic Luwian written name Taitas, the same as the two kings of the enigmatic land of Pa/walastina: Is it Possible?

by Mark Shindel

Prelimanry Title. While perusing through the newly published second volume of A companion to Linear B, Volume 2, (Leuven, Peeters,2011). J.l. Garcia's Ramon's chapter 15 on Mycenaean Onomastics,pp.222-223 briefly mentions the connection he found between mycenaean da-te-wa/Daitewas/ and eudaita /E(h)u-daitas/ and the classical greek name Dait-as and its derivative names. He refers the reader for more information to his more detailed and extensive article in Minos 35-36 (2000-2001)431-442. I know that the aforementioned Mycenaean names come from just Knossos as far as I am aware right now. I have to check the possible late cypriot. It is a closer match to Taitas than Tette; morever his Minos article has been available for 10 years. His artice in Minos is German, but one cannot use the excuse' that it is greek to me' because Taitas name might have been greek-like to him, but nontheless Greek.

Well, if anyone has more mycenean, cypriot, and various reference books to all the greek dialects, feel free to pursue... more Well, if anyone has more mycenean, cypriot, and various reference books to all the greek dialects, feel free to pursue it. I just jumped on a hunch from a number of articles that I read earlier. Considering how much material there is out there, I am a team player who does not patent his ideas and is viciously territorial and secretive . Anyone could have read the same things and come up with the same conclusion or not. If someone else thought of it and is covertly secreting their ideas until they can forward them to some kind of publication, I am sorry.I do not act that way. I have an encylopaedia Bittanica megalopaedia's-(it has not been released) worth of ideas.Where there was one, there still is many more.

Zu Tisch im Jenseits. Totenmahl und Ahnenkult in der Levante (1600 –700 v. u. Z.)

by Alessandra Gilibert

published in M. Friedlander – C. Kugelmann (eds.), Koscher & Co. Über Essen und Religion, Berlin 2009, 288-29

This paper discusses the Ancient Near Eastern "system" of food and drink offerings to the dead as known from... more This paper discusses the Ancient Near Eastern "system" of food and drink offerings to the dead as known from Late Bronze and Iron Age sources.
The conceptual background of these mortuary and commemorative rites, their ties to a specific belief about life after death and the rules imposed by the latter to ancestor cults are described. Then, three different forms in which food and drink offerings to the dead took place are analysed: the presentation of food and drink offerings to an image of a dead ancestor, the partaking in cultic meals inside a funrary crypt, and the organization of "dining parties" in honor of a dead member of a male sodality.

Review of: A. Faust: “Israel’s Ethnogenesis: Settlement, Interaction, Expansion and Resistance”

by Jack Green

Palestine Exploration Quarterly 141/1: 72-73 (2009).

Review of: A.M. Maier. “Bronze and Iron Age Tombs at Tel Gezer, Israel: Finds from Raymond-Charles Weill’s excavations in 1914 and 1921”

by Jack Green

Ancient West & East 6: 416-417 (2007)

Review of: T. Harrison. “Megiddo 3: Final Report on the Stratum VI Excavations”

by Jack Green

Palestine Exploration Quarterly 138/2:  149-151 (2006).