Cabotage at Aperlae in Ancient Lycia

Aperlae was a small remote maritime city in ancient Lycia with a millennial floruit (late 4th century BC through the late 7th century AD). The harsh terrain of its hinterland forced a reliance on the Mediterranean from its founding to its demise. The Aperlites stabilized and enhanced their urban waterfronts in modest ways over the centuries, but basically they maintained and sustained their intimate relationship with the sea without elaborate docking or harbour installations. Fishing, probably a primary industry, centred on the harvest of murex trunculus , the marine mollusk from which purple dye was made. This valuable commodity appears to have been produced in Aperlae for export to Andriake, the international emporium of nearby Myra, for transshipment to textile centres throughout the Mediterranean. There, coastal traders also acquired the necessities and luxuries the city needed but did not produce. Proxy evidence, impressive archaeological features on land and under the sea, speaks to moments of prosperity for Aperlae well beyond mere subsistence. Cabotage was this secondary port's enduring lifeline.     

Cannibalism in muricid snails as a possible explanation for archaeological findings

Shells of the rock murex, Trunculariopsis trunculus (Linné, 1758), used in the purple dye industry in ancient maritime civilizations, have been found in archaeological sites along the coasts of Israel. Some of these shells bear drilled holes. Biological study revealed that such holes were probably drilled by cannibalistic conspecifics, but only under artificial conditions. This indicates that the ancients may have maintained these snails alive in captivity until they accumulated a sufficient quantity of fresh snails for their dye industry.     

PURPLE-DYE PRODUCTION IN LYCIA – RESULTS OF AN ARCHAEOZOOLOGICAL FIELD SURVEY IN ANDRIAKE (SOUTH-WEST TURKEY)

Summary.   In 2003 a substantial deposit of heavily fragmented shells of purple snails was by chance located at the site of Andriake, the ancient port of the Lycian city of Myra near Demre, in southern Turkey. The archaeozoological and archaeological record of a survey project in 2004 proved the identification of a large installation for the production of purple dye. Adjacent to a well preserved Hadrianic granary and partly superimposing the remains of a U-shaped building, the deposit is wrapped around three sides of a subterranean cistern. Apparently dating to the sixth century AD, the deposit contains approximately 300 m³ of shell debris. The unique chance of examining an undisturbed and well preserved manufacturing place for purple dye provides an excellent opportunity to investigate the processual particularities as well as the ecological impact of purple-dye production in antiquity.     

Geography and Economic Preferences as Cultural Markers in a Border Town: The Faunal Remains from Tel Beth‐Shemesh,Israel

We present a zooarchaeological analysis of the faunal remains at Tel Beth‐Shemesh, a site located in the Shephelah region of Israel, which has been dated to the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age I. The site, identified as the biblical city of Beth‐Shemesh, was a Canaanite border town between Philistine and Israelite settlements and of great importance in our attempts to understand the social and cultural transformations that occurred in the southern Levant during those periods. This study contributes to a more accurate understanding of the cultural identity of the site's inhabitants by exploring the cultural differences between populations as reflected in their different dietary preferences. We analysed the subsistence economy at the site, the general exploitation patterns, herd management strategies and consumption practices, all of which are based mostly on domestic livestock. We determined the cultural identity at the site mainly by comparing the representation of pig remains with that found at other sites in the region, and offer various explanations for the differences. The comparisons revealed clear differences between Tel Beth‐Shemesh and other known nearby Philistine sites. This site appears to have possessed a self‐contained production and consumption economy with similarities in the general pattern of animal exploitation between the two periods. These similarities constitute evidence for the continuation of the local population and of its culture at the site during the period of turmoil that swept the region during the transition to the Iron Age. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

1948: A History of the First Arab-Israeli War

Shulamit Laskov, ed., Haim Hissin, Memoirs and Letters of an Early Pioneer (Hebrew), Jerusalem, Yad Izhak Ben‐Zvi, 229 pp.

Ilan Schori, The Dream turned into a Metropolitan — The Growth of Tel Aviv, the First Hebrew City in the World, Tel Aviv, Avivim Publishers, 423 pp.

Ran Aaronsohn. Baron Rothschild and the Colonies; The Beginnings of the Jewish Colony of Eretz Israel, 1882–1890, Jerusalem, Yad Izhak Ben‐Zvi, 322 pp.

Meir Avizohar, National and Social Ideals as Reflected in Mapai, 1930–1942, Tel Aviv, Am Oved, 447 pp.

Aviva Halamish, Exodus — The Real Story, Tel Aviv, The Association for the Study of Illegal Immigration in Memory of Shaul Avigur at Tel Aviv University and Am Oved, 325 pp.

Eli Shaltiel, Pinhas Rutenberg: 1879–1942, Tel Aviv, Am Oved, 2 vols., 703 pp.     

FTIR imaging and HPLC reveal ancient painting and dyeing techniques of molluskan purple

Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and imaging coupled to optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy coupled to energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled to diode-array detection are used to investigate two samples removed from a painted decoration of a burial kline and a textile fragment, both found in Koru tumulus (fifth century BCE) in Daskyleion. Tyrian purple and kaolinite were identified in both samples, thus suggesting that the aluminosilicate compound had an important role in the applied painting and dyeing processes. The textile fragment is composed of undyed cotton and silk yarns dyed with the molluskan dye. The relative compositions of the molluskan materials used in the two archaeological objects are similar and comparable with the corresponding composition measured for a purple sample originated from Murex trunculus mollusks according to the HPLC results. This result is supported by principal component analysis (PCA) which, furthermore, takes into account the relative compositions of the extracts of the three Mediterranean mollusks, published in previous reports.     

THE STAMPED AMPHORA HANDLES FROM TEL JEZREEL

Abstract

The eighteen stamped amphora handles found at Tel Jezreel include sixteen of the Rhodian class, one of the Knidian class, and one unclassified. They are valuable as evidence for the Hellenistic occupation at the site. Their half-century span roughly corresponds to the profile of the 310 stamps from nearby Tel I??abbah (Hellenistic Nysa-Scythopolis), and suggests a similar chronological terminus related to the campaign of John Hyrcanus I through the region.     

NEW ANALYSIS OF CYLINDRICAL AND OVOID JARS (‘ARCHIVE JARS') FROM SOUTHERN JUDEA

This paper presents new compositional analysis of 26 fragments of the much‐debated cylindrical and ovoid jars, a vessel type first defined at Khirbet Qumran and associated with the Dead Sea Scrolls. The new samples include 15 examples from Tel ?evron, a site which yielded a pottery workshop and that carries certain similarities with Khirbet Qumran during the Early Roman period, as well as several examples from Jericho and Masada. According to the new as well as previous analyses, many of these jars were produced in the ?evron area; another source may be located in the northern Dead Sea area. The actual function of these jars, and whether they ever contained scrolls, is still unclear.     

THE TEL NAGILA MIDDLE BRONZE AGE HOMES—STUDYING HOUSEHOLD ACTIVITIES AND IDENTIFYING CHILDREN IN THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECORD

Abstract

The excavation at Tel Nagila uncovered a series of domestic structures dating to the Middle Bronze Age II. In the following paper, a division of the finds in the various structures is undertaken, in order to further our understanding of the use of space at the site. Within the domestic structures, many miniature vessels were found. We suggest that these were not votive offerings, rather attest to the presence of children in the various rooms of the homes. The role of children and the ability to identify them in the archaeological record is discussed.     

THE ANALYSIS OF DYESTUFFS FROM FIRST‐ TO SECOND‐CENTURY TEXTILE ARTEFACTS FOUND IN THE MARTRES‐DE‐VEYRE (FRANCE) EXCAVATIONS*

A series of Gallo‐Roman clothes and miscellaneous textile fragments from the first and second centuries from the Martres‐de‐Veyre necropolis (Puy‐de‐Dôme, France) was investigated. The objects studied were excavated between 1851 and 1923, during successive rounds of archaeological work. Since that time, they have been conserved in the Barguin Museum at Clermont‐Ferrand. The target of our research was dye identification, as it gives very interesting and useful information regarding the ancient technology. This approach has until now not been considered to be relevant and, unfortunately, is not systematic. The analysis was carried out by high‐performance liquid chromatography with photodiode array detection (HPLC–PDA). The small samples (threads up to 0.6 mg, less than 1 cm long) of coloured textile fibres were submitted to this technique. In one case, X‐ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis was applied. According to the analysis, the dyeing sources proposed are the Rubiaceae family for red, a luteolin ‘base’ for yellow, ellagitannins for brown and indigo for blue colours. Several samples did not seem to contain any dye. We point out possible factors for the partial dye source determination: instrumental limits, sample size, low dyestuff content in analysed samples and the dyes’ decomposition during ageing. Some improvements of dye analysis in archaeological samples by separation techniques based on recent analytical instrumentation and combined approaches are proposed.     

A Discussion on the Emergence and Development of Ancient Chinese Artificial Barium Copper Silicate Pigments from Simulation Experiments

The ancient Chinese barium copper silicate minerals mainly comprise Chinese purple (BaCuSi₂O₆) and Chinese blue (BaCuSi₄O₁₀), which were widely used from the late Warring States Period to the late Eastern Han Dynasty. In order to clarify the raw material of the pigment, a series of simulation experiments was conducted to produce Chinese purple pigment under varying mineral conditions. The minerals that we applied in the experiment were quartz as the source of silicon, malachite and copper oxide as the sources of copper, barite and witherite as the sources of barium and lead oxide as the source of lead. Simulation experiments showed that the barium copper silicate minerals and the purple pigment can be produced easily when witherite is used as the barium‐containing raw material. From the perspective of mineral resources, the birth of the ancient Chinese pigment associated with a unique barium mineral resource. The Chinese copper‐based pigments are assumed to have been developed independently and are presumably an outcome of historical developments in glazing techniques.     

An Aegean Fire-Stand from Tel Nagila

Abstract

In this short paper we present a detailed study of a unique ceramic vessel fragment that was found in the excavations at Tel Nagila. The interpretation of this fragment as an Aegean fire-stand has implications for our understanding of the origin and development of Philistine material culture in Iron Age Philistia.     

Nami's Middle Bronze Age Suburb: The Coastal Settlement at Site 104–106

This study presents a late 19th to early 18th cent. BCE, MBIIA settlement in the immediate vicinity of Tel Nami on the Carmel Coast of Israel. Site 104–106 has been all but destroyed by modern agricultural activity as well as quarrying, but a large number of ceramics and small finds were salvaged during a 1985–6 survey of Tel Nami?'s hinterland as well as subsequent geoarchaeological research of the area. Little of the site remains, and the current study functionally amounts to a salvage project for an MBIIA coastal site, which was mentioned in an earlier survey. Geomorphology reveals how the sandstone kurkar ridges in this area of the coast governed the dynamic relationship between Tel Nami and its hinterland. Comparable ceramic chronology for Site 104–106 presented derives from Aphek-Antipatris, Megiddo, Kabri, Tel Ifshar, Tel Nami itself, and other MBIIA coastal sites of the Southern Levant. The ceramics include well-produced local wares as well as imports from coastal Lebanon, Syria, and Cyprus confirmed by petrographic analyses. Finds suggest a small agro-industrial site in the immediate periphery of the coastal Tel Nami.     

A Monkey Figurine from Tel Beth Shemesh

This paper presents a unique clay figurine found at Tel Beth Shemesh, Judah, in a late Iron Age II context. The figurine portrays a monkey-faced horse, a combination that is rare in the ancient Near East and unknown, so far, from Judah. Comparisons are sought, followed by a discussion of the Monkey in small representations in the ancient Near East and Mesopotamia. Monkeys were exotic, held as pet animals by the higher classes and related to sex, music, ugliness, lack of intelligence, and various other human characteristics. It is suggested that the significance of this figurine lies in such 'secular' connotations, rather than in a religious realm     

Spatial Reach of Office Firms: Case Study in the Metropolitan CBD of Tel Aviv, Israel

This paper, using the CBD of metropolitan Tel Aviv, Israel, as a case study, discloses the spatial range of linkages of office firms, situated in newly built office towers. The linkages explored, from the results of a sample of 120 office firms, are those held by office firms with clients, suppliers of goods and services, and with other service firms as partners or as subcontractors. The magnitude of the linkages is revealed in the context of Israel's recent entry into the post-industrial age and its rapid affiliation with the global economy, accompanied by functional restructuring of the service economy. It is also visible in the built environment of Tel Aviv, with large-scale construction of over thirty Class A office tower buildings. Complex spatial interrelationships are found, extending from their immediate metropolitan environment toward the world's leading economic centres. Future avenues of research are explored.     

The Location of Medieval/Pre-Modern and Biblical Ziklag

Abstract

Most modern attempts to identify biblical Ziklag build on the pioneering work of Edward Robinson. Analysis of the medieval and pre-modern observations made by Father Felix Fabri, in Evagatorium in Terræ Sanctæ, Arabiæ et Egypti Peregrinationem and Sionpilger, and Eugène Roger, in La Terre Sainte, provide support for the identification of biblical Ziklag with Tell esh-Shari'ah (Tel Sera') during these periods. Such a medieval and pre-modern identification provides support for this same modern identification of biblical Ziklag and militates against competing identifications with Tell el-Hesi (Tel Hasi), Khirbet Meshash (Tel Masos), Tell es-Seba' (Tel Beer-Sheva), and Tell Khuweilifeh (Tel Halif).     

MATERIAL CHARACTERIZATION OF CERAMIC TILE MOSAIC FROM TWO 17TH‐CENTURY ISLAMIC MONUMENTS IN NORTHERN INDIA

Coloured tiles from two northern Indian monuments were analysed for their body and glaze composition. The results suggest that three different groups of tiles were used, all comprising a stonepaste body with alkali glaze. One group has strong similarities to a major Indian glass group, known as high alumina mineral natron glass, while the other two are similar to Western and Central Asian plant ash glazes, although with much lower lime content. The colorants conform with those usually employed in pre‐modern glazes, with lead‐tin yellow Type I and Type II for opaque yellow, copper blue‐turquoise, cobalt blue, manganese purple, and green through mixing of lead‐tin yellow and copper blue.     

Like an oasis in the desert: The Israel consulate in Munich, 1948–1953

Yosef Gorny, Zionism and the Arabs 1882–1948: A Study in Ideology Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1987, 342 pp., U.S. $67., U.K.£35.

Robert S. Wistrich, The Jews of Vienna in the Age of Franz Joseph. Oxford: Oxford University Press for the Littman Library, 1989, 696 pp.

Shabtai Teveth, Ben‐Gurion: The Burning Ground 1886–1948, Boston, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1987. 967 pages.

Jehuda Reinharz, Hashomer Hatzair in Germany, 1931–1939, Tel Aviv: Sifriat Poalim Publishing House, Ltd., 1987, 246 pp.

Benjamin Akzin: From Riga to Jerusalem — A Memoir (Hebrew), The Zionist Library, Jerusalem, 1989, 369 pp; Herzl Rosenblum, Drops from the Sea (Hebrew), Tel Aviv, 1987, 207 pp; Dr. Meir Kahan, Carry a Fire to Kindle (Hebrew), Tel Aviv, 1988, 221 pp.

Uri Bar‐Joseph, Best of Enemies: Israel and Transjordan in the War of 1948, Frank Cass Publishers, London, 1987, x+254pp.,£25.     

Proceedings of the 1980 Tel Aviv ethiopianist conference

Goldenberg, Gideon, ed. Ethiopian Studies: Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference, Tel‐Aviv, 14–17 April 1980. Boston: A. A. Balkema, 1986. xiii + 530 pp. including chapter references and notes, photographs, and reproductions of texts. $54.00 cloth.     

Identifying a Roman Casting Pit at Tel Dor,Israel: Integrating Field and Laboratory Research

Abstract

The functional identification of industrial features is difficult when few characteristic artifacts are preserved. We studied a Roman-period pyrotechnological feature at Tel Dor, Israel, where the only possibly diagnostic ceramic artifacts were found in fill between the walls and above the floor, rendering their association with the feature itself uncertain. The ceramic artifacts included coarse slabs and fragments of utilitarian vessels, some vitrified with adhering bronze droplets or slag-like residues. Analysis of the sediments within and around the industrial feature, using an X-ray fluorescence spectrometer on-site, revealed high concentrations of copper and lead, indicating metallurgical activity. Lead isotope analyses showed that the slag-like residue adhering to a ceramic fragment had the same isotopic values as the sediments, implying that the fragment was associated with the activities carried out in the feature. Microscopic and chemical analyses of the slag-like residue demonstrated that it was produced from melting leaded bronze. Some of the ceramic fragments contained elongated impressions on their inner surfaces, similar to those of casting molds found at other sites. We propose that the feature was used as a casting pit for bronze objects.