July 2015
Vol. 3, No. 7
Welcome to The Ancient Near East Today, Vol. III, No. 7! In this issue we take you from the foothills of the Judean Mountains to the Egyptian desert, and from the mid-twentieth century back to the Bronze Age.
We begin with Avi Faust and Haya Katz recapping the excavations at the important Iron Age site of Tel ‘Eton in Israel. Juan Carlos Moreno García then looks at the question of bureaucrats and natural resources in ancient Egypt. Karel Innemée reviews the development of monasticism in Egypt, while Amara Thonton looks at the life of British archaeologist Gerald Lankester Harding.
Finally, we bring you another report from ASOR’s Syrian Heritage Initiative, looking at the damage to antiquities and heritage in Syria and Iraq and the international responses.
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Excavating Over Two Thousand Years of History at Tel ‘Eton
By: Avraham Faust and Hayah Katz
Tel ‘Eton, usually identified with biblical Eglon, is a 6.6 hectare mound located in Israel’s lowland (the Shephelah), at the edge of the trough valley which separates the lowlands from the Judean highlands. The ancient city is situated near an important junction on the north–south road and the east–west road that connected the coastal plain with Hebron.
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Land, Water, and Wood: Managing Resources in Ancient and Modern Egypt
By: Juan Carlos Moreno García
Egypt has the aura of an unchanged landscape. But how much of what we see today and in the recent past really applies to antiquity? Are they in fact two fundamentally different entities? And what do the similarities between past and present tell us about the future of Egypt?
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Egyptian Monasticism: The Growth of the Solitary Life
By: Karel Innemée
Monasticism and asceticism are not exclusive to Christianity. Buddhism has a tradition of monasteries and a life of abstinence that is centuries older and in Judaism we find predecessors to Christian monasticism that have many similarities. The Essenes, a community in the Judean desert, practiced a life of religious devotion and abstinence.
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Our Man in Transjordan?
By: Amara Thornton
The middle decades of the 20th century are often considered a ‘romantic’ era in archaeology. The romance is debatable, but without doubt those excavating during this period have acquired a mystique that continues to fascinate. Gerald William Lankester Harding is one of these figures.
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The Ancient Near East Today features contributions from diverse academics, a forum featuring debates of current developments from the field, and links to news and resources. The ANE Today covers the entire Near East, and each issue presents discussions ranging from the state of biblical archaeology to archaeology after the Arab Spring.
