The Dor 2001/1 Byzantine Shipwreck,Israel: final report

Dor 2001/1 was a Byzantine coaster, about 16.9 m long, with an estimated displacement of 50 tonnes, dated to the first third of the 6th century CE, and loaded with building stones. It was excavated over five seasons, recorded under water, and a section of the shipwreck was retrieved and studied on land. The hull construction was based on frames without any type of planking edge‐fasteners. It is thus among the earliest frame‐based shipwrecks found so far in the Mediterranean. The origin of its construction tradition, with flat frames amidships, hard chine and straight sides, might have been related to a riverine tradition.     

The Dor 2001/1 Shipwreck, Israel—a Summary of the Excavation

Dor 2001/1 was probably a Byzantine coaster carrying building stones, dated to the end of the 5th or beginning of the 6th century AD. No shell-first construction features were identified, specifically no kind of planking edge-joints; but instead all the essential components showed that it was a frame-based hull. Thus it is apparently among the earliest frame-based shipwrecks found so far in the Mediterranean.
© 2006 The Authors     

Two Ancient Wooden Anchors from Ein Gedi, on the Dead Sea, Israel

Two ancient wooden anchors with ropes, dating to different periods, were found on the western shore of the Dead Sea. The one-armed anchor was dated by 14C to the Late Iron Age—Persian Period, and the second anchor to the Roman Period. The saline water of the Dead Sea preserved the wood and ropes, but corroded almost all the metal parts. A thin black crust of lead and a green crust of copper are the only remains of the collar of the Roman anchor. The finds were made from local tree species and were probably made locally: the one-armed anchor from Acacia, the Roman one from Christ-thorn, and both ropes of date-palm.
© 2005 The Nautical Archaeology Society     

Contesting the nation: negotiating national narratives and the Jewish settlements

Why and how does national identity reopen for contestation? Existing theories argue that institutional design, social ties or elite manipulation alter the saliency and nature of national identity. These theories view the ethno‐nation as homogenous and shaped vis‐à‐vis other groups. However, I argue that we should examine the re‐emergence of nationalism as an intra‐national struggle between groups with different saliency and understandings of national identity: new issues can raise the importance of national identity for some members of the group but not others. Moreover, members develop diverging understandings of fundamentals of national identity such as citizenship, borders and the role of religion. To support the theory, the paper utilises original not yet studied archival materials to show that struggle over Jewish settlements in the Occupied Territories led to contestation of the saliency and meaning of Jewish Israeli national identity. Specifically, I analyse letters individuals sent to leading government officials in the early days of the settlements and show that settlement supporters tied the issue to Zionist ethos, injecting new content into Zionist identity. Meanwhile, national identity did not rise in importance or alter in meaning for settlement opposition. The method reveals individual understandings of national identity and points at broader societal divisions.     

Two Artificial Anchorages off the Northern Shore of the Dead Sea: a specific feature of an ancient maritime cultural landscape

A recently discovered artificial stone mound on the northern shore of the Dead Sea is a maritime feature exposed by the drying of the lake. Lake‐level fluctuations, a loose silt bottom, lack of natural anchorages, and onshore prevailing winds, prevented the long‐term planning, construction and maintenance of shore‐based harbour installations in this area. This and a similar mound nearby, Rujum el Bahr, are interpreted as structures once used for open‐water mooring, providing a firm anchor‐hold over a range of lake levels and wind directions. As such, they enabled the use of this economically and strategically important part of the lake by maritime traffic.     

The genetic signature of a shrunken head

The making of ritual shrunken heads, or tsantsas, was a common practice among the Jivaro-Shuar tribes of Ecuador and Peru during the post-Columbian period. The raising interest in the tsantsas in the late nineteenth through the twentieth century caused an increase in manufacturing of forged shrunken heads for profit. In the current study, we examined the authenticity and possible cultural provenance of the shrunken head displayed at the “Eretz Israel Museum, Tel Aviv” using macro- and microscopic criteria together with DNA analyses. DNA analyses have revealed that the shrunken head represents a human male individual with a genetic profile compatible with an African ancestry and resembling that of modern South American populations.     

A New Type of Composite Anchor Dated to the Fatimid-Crusader Period from the Dead Sea, Israel

Two composite anchors of a kind not hitherto identified, each composed of a re-used ashlar block, a wooden shank, two arms and a rope, were discovered recently on the Dead Sea shoreline. Two additional anchor weights of identical type were found in the same region. The two well-preserved anchors were dated to the Fatimid-Crusader period. The shank and the arms were made from local tree species: Christ thorn and tamarisk, and both ropes of date-palm.
© 2008 The Authors     

Outward Appearance of Children in Medieval Muslim Legal Texts: Modesty,Adornment and Gender

This article focuses on some aspects of boys' and girls' outward appearance in pre-modern Muslim societies according to medieval legal sources. These compendiums are analysed as the product of a continuing, two-way dialogue between law and reality, and as reflecting the desired norms side by side with existing customs. They were not created in a vacuum but are anchored in a local, socio-economic, cultural and political reality. Muslim jurists followed the physical and psychological changes of children, classified them, and concluded that these changes will be followed by changes in their outward appearance. They have constructed children's appropriate outward appearance according to age, gender distinctions, norms of modesty and manners of adornment. A careful examination of this legal discussion presents a case study of pre-modern traditional societies in which components of outward appearance reflect and construct at the same time norms of modesty, means of adornment and gendered socialisation of children's outward appearance.