ABUSE,REUSE, RECYCLE: THE USES OF BASALT ORTHOSTATS AT HAZOR IN THE BRONZE AND IRON AGES

This paper investigates the use of basalt orthostats in Syro‐Anatolia throughout the Bronze and Iron Ages, focusing on the changes in their consumption at Hazor. Used to reflect the wealth and power of city rulers in the Middle and Late Bronze Ages, this practice continued in the Iron Age in Syro‐Anatolia, while at Hazor it stopped entirely. By applying the modern concepts of counter‐monumentality and spolia, it is suggested that, at Hazor, the orthostats were used by the Iron Age inhabitants of the city to glorify the destruction of the Late Bronze Age city and to humiliate the previous royalty of Hazor, thus exhibiting their victory over its Canaanite rulers.     

Hazor rulership and ritual manipulation

ABSTRACT

Hazor was unquestionably the largest Bronze Age Canaanite site, standing as an anomaly in the southern Levant in terms of its size, elaborate public architecture, special geopolitical stature and far-reaching international networks. While the site has been well established as an urban center with many temples, the use of each of Hazor’s temples and how they relate to one another remains unclear. In this study, we analyze the rituals and other activities that were conducted within Hazor’s numerous temples. The methodology we employ stresses, fundamentally, the necessity to contextualize objects within entire assemblages – through spatial analysis – to most accurately assess how Hazor’s cultic spaces were actually used. We apply the same methodology to other MB and LB Canaanite temples to establish a generalized ideal-type temple assemblage for Canaanite temples. This study successfully demonstrates that Hazor’s temples substantially diverge from the ideal temple assemblage, indicating cult at Hazor was practiced differently than elsewhere in the region. This includes the atypical distribution of certain cultic vessels (e.g. miniature vessels), the appearance of special vessels in ritual contexts (e.g. cups), and a fundamentally different use of indoor and outdoor spaces when compared to other Canaanite temples. It turns out that Hazor’s elites were major factors controlling the anomalies of cultic practice at the site. Hazor’s rulers impacted cultic architectural forms and locations and played instrumental roles in dictating and manipulating the types of rituals and associated cultic paraphernalia that were allowed to be performed and used throughout the entire settlement landscape.     

'.. Slaying oxen and Killing Sheep,Eating Flesh and Drinking Wine ..': Feasting in Late Bronze Age Hazor

Abstract

Communal feasts, events of ritual activity that involve shared food and drink consumption and display in religious and secular elite contexts, received considerable attention in anthropological and archaeological literature in recent years. In those studies, the focus was on the identification of feasting in the material record of ancient societies, and an attempt was made to decipher the complex social and political meanings inherent in such contexts. In this study, the aim is to identify and interpret traces of feasting activities in the context of Canaanite society of the 14th–13th century BCE. The site of Hazor, the largest Canaanite kingdom, serves as a case study for this discussion. Archaeological correlates of commensal feasts, uncovered in the extensive excavations of the site, are presented and discussed within the general picture of the Canaanite palatial system.     

Yahweh's divorce in Hosea 2 — Who is that woman?

Abstract

The proposal that Yahweh's wife being divorced in Hos 2 is Asherah fails all tests that one puts to it. The monotheistic prophet would not have dignified the Canaanite Goddess with such a recognition. Nor would the Israelites have claimed the Canaanite mother of the Gods as their own mother. The city of Samaria is the only bride/divorcee around. (Israel, being masculine, is son m not wife — of Yahweh). Hosea does not create the idea of the city as woman; the usage is an ancient West‐Semitic way of speaking of cities. Hosea is simply one of the first Israelite prophets to use the Canaanite imagery for cities, but his utterance was preserved. He probably is distinctive as the first to have Yahweh divorce his city‐wife. Thus, Hosea in Chap 2 proclaims the future demise of Samaria.     

Rethinking Canaanite Palaces? The Palatial Economy of Tel Kabri during the Middle Bronze Age

Here we explore aspects of Canaanite palatial economy through an analysis of finds from the Middle Bronze Age palace at Tel Kabri, a 34 ha site located in the western Galilee of modern day Israel. The palace was founded in the middle part of the MBA I period, and continued without interruption until an advanced part of the MBA II period. Despite the fact that the Kabri palace was vast (perhaps up to 6000?sq?m), functioned as the center of a polity, and could commission wall and floor paintings in an Aegean style, there are no signs of literate administration, or even administrative use of sealings. Patterns of animal husbandry, textile production, pottery manufacture and consumption, and storage within the palace all provide evidence that the palace behaved economically much more like an estate than a redistributive center. Our hypothesis is that the palace had aspects of an Oikos economy, i.e., that it functioned as a large household—richer and more populous than other households of the period, but with minimal involvement in the economy of the private sector. This contrasts with the contemporary polities in Syria, such as Alalakh and Ebla, as well as possibly its neighbor to the east, Tel Hazor, which had literate administrations and redistributive economies during this same period.     

Hydrogeological insights in antiquity as indicated by Canaanite and Israelite water systems

Hazor, one of the largest fortified city during the Israelite (Iron-Age) period, encompasses a gigantic underground water system within its perimeter, supplying water to thousands of its inhabitants. It is considered as the ultimate example that Iron-Age engineers had mastered the concept of regional groundwater table. However, evaluating the hydrogeological conditions and the degree of success in finding water in Hazor and other contemporary cities, and thereby assess to what extent this concept was known at that time has seldom been done. Resurveying the water system of Hazor indicates that its water chamber was dug along a major strand of the Dead Sea Fault, a boundary between the Arabian and African (Sinai) plates. Hydrological simulations have shown that water ascends into the water chamber, utilizing this strand. Hazor's engineers initially planned to connect the city with the springs at the foot of the mound (tell) through a shaft and tunnel as has been done at other biblical cities, but adjusted their plan when groundwater was encountered within the mound perimeter. This accidental success as well as the failure to reach the aquifer in deep water wells dug in the contemporary cities of Lachish and Beer Sheba, imply limited hydrogeological understanding at the beginning of the first millennium B.C.E.     

Hazor - a city state between the major powers

The problem of the identity of the conqueror of Hazor is discussed against the background of the basic political constellations in South Syria and North Canaan in the 13th century. The Biblical references to Hazor in Joshua and in Judges are critically examined. This is followed by a survey of the results of excavations in Hazor up to the present (Dec.1999). The thesis that Hazor was destroyed around 1230 B.C. is questioned in the light of the recent debate on the Mycenaean IIIB ware dating. The final destruction of Hazor is seen as one of the aftermaths of the battle of Kadesh, when Ramses II directed his first campaign at Upper Galilee to subdue his rebellious vassals.     

The zooarchaeology of exclusion and expropriation: Looking up from the lower city in Late Bronze Age Hazor

The collapse of complex societies is a recurring theme in archaeological and historical scholarship. Zooarchaeological investigation, conventionally applied in recent studies to detect environmental degradation resulting in resource stress, is employed here to study the social conditions leading to the decline of the powerful Bronze Age city of Hazor, located in the northern Jordan Valley, Israel. The results of the analysis of faunal remains from the lower city show that the exclusion of its residents from ideological use of animals and their impoverishment by elite livestock expropriation preceded other material manifestations of sociopolitical decline in the city. The results are encouraging in respect to the prospective value of zooarchaeology for investigating collapse not directly caused by subsistence failures.     

Saul’s Journey to Zuph

Abstract

In this study I have discussed two distinct, though intimately connected, topics. To begin with, the status and role of the major polity in the MB II southern Levant was scrutinized. It is apparent that one must deal with this site on a completely different scale from other contemporary southern Levantine sites. As suggested, in fact it should be placed within the context of the Syro-Mesopotamian cultural sphere. As such, its dominant role in the political and economic framework of the Southern Levant is seen, and the far-reaching effect that it had on inter- and intra-regional trade is evidenced.

With this as a background, an analysis of the trade patterns of the MB II southern Levant reveals intricate patterns that fit in nicely with the suggested reconstructions of the political and social structure of this period. When these suggested patterns are implemented on a local, regional scale (in regard to the Central Jordan Valley), as sort of a case study of the larger picture, the entire picture fits together nicely. Evidence for international trade is seen predominantly at a limited number of large central sites (e.g. Hazor, Kabri). These centres seem to incline towards different international cultural connections. Within the southern Levant itself, the picture is different. Evidence for intense contacts between the different regions is apparent. Likewise, within the regions themselves (exemplified in this case by the Central Jordan valley) an extensive and intensive web of trade contacts is evidenced. These trade patterns appear to mirror the underlying political and social structures, that of the MB II Canaanite culture.     

Vitrification of basalt orthostats and mud building components from Tilmen Höyük (south-eastern Turkey): an experimental and geoarchaeological approach

Finds of basalt orthostats and mud building components from the archaeological site of Tilmen Höyük (south-eastern Turkey, early 2nd Millenium BC) preserve a glassy crust formed by vitrification of the material. It is proposed that such features are related to destructive fire events, which destroyed the wooden building elements and burned natural stones. The geoarchaeological and experimental approach confirms this hypothesis. The geochemical composition of experimental melts is comparable to that of natural basalts. Spot analyses evidence the heterogeneity of the melts, especially for mudbricks and ceiling plasters. It is concluded that the investigated finds were subjected to strong burning under oxidising conditions reached during a violent fire. Temperatures similar to those derived by experimental melting (1180–1195 °C) were likely reached in the fire at Tilmen in order to produce the glass observed.     

Metalworking at Hazor: A Long‐Term Perspective

The temporal and spatial distribution of metal production remains from Hazor was used in this study to sketch the development of metalworking (bronze, iron and silver) at this important site. The remains attest to a long sequence of metalworking at Hazor, from the Middle Bronze Age through to the Iron Age, and significantly highlight the transition from bronze to iron production and the mode of bronze production after the transition had been completed.     

BEYOND COPPER: COMMODITIES AND VALUES IN MIDDLE BRONZE CYPRO‐LEVANTINE EXCHANGES

During the transition from the Middle to Late Bronze Age, Cyprus became a full participant in the Levantine maritime interaction sphere. This is reflected in the archaeological record by a dramatic increase in the Cypriot pottery found in the surrounding region, widely assumed to be the by‐product of an (archaeologically invisible) external demand for Cypriot copper. On the receiving end of this relationship, small numbers of imported ‘luxury’ goods appear on Cyprus. This paper discusses one aspect of exchange that has received little attention in the literature, the presence and significance of quantities of imported transport amphorae (Canaanite jars). These vessels have only rarely been recognized from excavations on Cyprus but recent examination of material from several sites reveals that they are more common than previously assumed. The Canaanite jar evidence may go some way towards redressing the apparent imbalance in goods exchanged and also to illuminate the processes through which Cypriot populations first engaged with the materiality of urban ways of ordering the world.     

ARAMAIC BASALT STATUES FROM TELL HALAF,SYRIA: LOCATING THE ANCIENT QUARRIES

Tell Halaf is the locality of the ancient Aramaic city of Guzāna (c. 1000–800 bc ) in Syria. The statues of Tell Halaf were made from monolithic basalt blocks, comprising massive as well as amygdaloidal types. However, the exact location of the original quarries was as yet unknown. Reconnaissance mapping and sampling concentrated on the four basaltic centres in the vicinity of Tell Halaf, covering both south‐eastern Turkey and north‐eastern Syria. In addition, basaltic artefacts from the two archaeological sites of Tell Beydar (c. 2700–2300 bc ) and Djebelet el Beda (c. 2600–2350 bc ) were investigated. All basalt samples were analysed for their bulk rock major and trace element compositions by X‐ray fluorescence, ICP–MS analysis and the mineral chemistry of individual minerals by combined electron microprobe analysis and laser‐ablation ICP–MS. The data show that basalt works of art from all three archaeological sites were derived from the Syrian basalt plateau of Ard esh‐Sheikh, approximately 57 km south of Tell Halaf. Accordingly, this basalt quarry was actively exploited over a considerable time span of c. 1900 years. This study demonstrates that petrographic and geochemical investigations of basalt, combined with electron microprobe and laser‐ablation ICP–MS analysis of minerals, are powerful tools to discriminate between possible sources of raw materials, especially if isotopic data yield unsatisfying results.     

THE SHEPHELAH IN THE IRON AGE: A NEW LOOK ON THE SETTLEMENT OF JUDAH

Abstract

The Shephelah was densely settled in the Late Bronze Age, but most of the settlements were gradually abandoned during the transition to the Iron I period. Only a few Iron I settlements existed in the eastern part of the region (excluding the Philistine sites at the northwestern edge of the Shephelah), forming a small Canaanite enclave. During the Iron II period the region was gradually resettled, and it became part of Judah. This process lasted until the 8th century BCE, when the region reached an unparalleled demographic peak. Sennacherib's campaign brought wide-scale destruction, and the region recovered only partially before being devastated by Nebuchadnezzar. After reconstructing the region's settlement history, the article reassesses its political and demographic history in comparison to the neighbouring regions of the Judean highlands and the southern coastal plain, it is concluded that the Shephelah had a lesser role in the history of Judah than some recent studies suggest.     

The Empire of the Hittites

Abstract

The paper deals with six recent studies which relate to the on-going debate over the chronology of the eleventh to the ninth century B.C.E. strata in the Levant and thus to the history of the region in the Iron Age. The paper takes issue with methodological problems relating to the questions of ethnographic comparison in archaeology, interpretation of biblical sources by archaeologists, pottery typology and dating. It offers a different interpretation of the finds at Hazor, Beth-shemesh, Tel Batash, Horbat Rosh Zait, and Bethsaida.     

Personal Names of the Pentateuch in the Northwest Semitic Context: A Comparative Study

The personal names of the Pentateuch (the first 11 chapters excluded) have not very often been under systematic scientific investigations. The topic is interesting from the points of view of linguistics, onomastics, theology and ethnohistory. The anthroponyms of the Pentateuch are compared with personal names found from the 2^nd millennium BCE (from Amorite, Ugaritic and Amarna Canaanite sources) and with anthroponyms from extrabiblical and biblical Hebrew sources, as well as with Phoenician sources of the first half of the 1^st millennium. The conclusion is that the anthroponyms of the Pentateuch reflect the onomasticon of the second millennium, having slightly modified typological and lexical roots in the same Northwest Semitic entity as Amorite, Amarna Canaanite and Ugaritic personal names.     

Iron smelting and smithing in major urban centers in Israel during the Iron Age

By-products of iron production, mainly slag and bloom fragments, unearthed at three Iron Age urban centres in Israel (Hazor, Tel Beer sheba and Rehov), were analysed in order to better understand the organization of iron production during the Iron Age. The production remains studied are all dated not earlier than the Iron Age IIA, and thus shed light on a period of transition from bronze to iron production. Chemical composition and microstructural analyses enable us to determine that both the smelting of iron ores and the refining of the bloom took place within the urban centres of Hazor and Beer-Sheba. We show that slag cakes are the products of smelting, possibly carried out in pit-furnaces. Hammerscales, products of primary and secondary smithing, were attached to slags. From these observations we infer that all stages of iron production were practiced in these urban centres.     

COMPOSITIONAL VARIATIONS IN AGED AND HEATED PISTACIA RESIN FOUND IN LATE BRONZE AGE CANAANITE AMPHORAE AND BOWLS FROM AMARNA,EGYPT*

This study examines resinous deposits from the interior surfaces of sherds of imported Canaanite amphorae and locally produced bowls from the 18th Dynasty site of Tell el‐Amarna, Egypt. Archaeological evidence indicates that the Canaanite amphorae were used for resin transport, whilst the bowls are associated with burning resin as incense. A number of characteristic triterpenoids identify all the resinous deposits from both vessel types as Pistacia spp. No other resins were observed and there was no evidence of mixing with oils or fats. The composition of the archaeological resins is more complex than that of modern pistacia resin, due to degradation and generation of new components. Experimental heating alters the relative abundance of the triterpenoid composition of modern pistacia resin. One component, the triterpenoid 28‐norolean‐17‐en‐3‐one, is produced by such heating; however, an increase in its relative abundance in ancient samples is not matched by the archaeological evidence for heating. It is therefore not possible to use this component reliably to identify heated resin. However, additional unidentified components with a mass spectral base peak at m/z 453 have been associated with seven (out of 10) bowls and are not observed in resins associated with Canaanite amphorae. It is proposed that these components are more reliable molecular indicators of heating.     

LEAD ISOTOPIC ANALYSIS FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF LATE BRONZE AGE POTTERY FROM HALA SULTAN TEKKE (CYPRUS)

Lead isotopic compositions were measured for 65 sherds from five pottery wares (Plain White, Coarse, Canaanite, White Slip and Base‐ring) excavated from the Late Bronze Age site of Hala Sultan Tekke (Cyprus). The elemental composition and isotopic signature of the sherds were compared with those of 65 clay samples collected in south‐east Cyprus, mainly in the surroundings (<20 km) of Hala Sultan Tekke. This work shows the effectiveness of using lead isotopic analysis in provenance studies, along with other analytical techniques, such as X‐ray diffraction (XRD) and a scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipped with an energy dispersive X‐ray detection (EDX) facility, to identify the composition of pottery wares and the clay sources used for pottery ware production.