Hartuv, an Aspect of the Early Bronze I
Culture of Southern Israel
AMIHAI MAZAR
The Institute of Archaeology
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Mt. Scopus, Jerusalem 91905, Israel
PIERRE DE MIROSCHEDJI
Centre National de la
Recherche Scientifique
Paris, France
Appendix B by NAOMI PORAT
Geological Survey of Israel
30 Malkhe Israel St.
Jerusalem 95501, Israel
Excavations at the site ofhartuv, in the Shephelah region ofisrael, have revealed a single-period site dating to the Early Bronze I. The major discovery is an architectural complex excavated at the center of the site. It includes a central courtyard surrounded by rooms on at least three sides. One of the rooms, a rectangular hall with pillar bases along its long axis, may have been a sanctuary with a line ofstanding stones (massebot) which in apreviousphase probably stoodfree. Another hall has a monumental entrance flanked by two large, monolithic door jambs. The complex appears to have had both religious and secularfunctions.
The material culture of the site represents a regional variant, hitherto poorly recognized, of EB 1, characterizing southern Israel. It can be dated to the main part of the period, between an earlier and a later phase, and thus contributes to a better understanding of both the chronology of this period in southern Israel and the process of urbanization in the central Shephelah region.
The Chipped Stone Assemblage
From Hartuv
STEVEN A. ROSEN
Department of Bible and Ancient Near East
Ben-Gurion University
POB 653
Beersheeva, Israel
The chipped stone assemblage from Hartuv is comprised of three basic components:
flake tools and associated waste; blade tools, both locally produced and imported; and
tabular scrapers. There is little evidence of on-site manufacture. The sickle tools differ
somewhat from most Early Bronze Age assemblages but otherwise the assemblage is
functionally, technologically, and typologically typical of the Early Bronze Age.
The Central East Jordan Valley in the Late
Bronze and Early Iron Ages
EVELINE J. VAN DER STEEN
Department of Archaeology
Leiden University
PO Box 9515
2300 RA Leiden
The Netherlands
The Deir 'Alla region in the Central East Jordan Valley was relatively densely settled in the Late Bronze Age. Archaeological and other sources suggest that it connected western Palestine with the Transjordanian Plateau in that period. The decline of the Egyptian empire and the collapse of the trade network at the end of the period resulted in the disintegration of this west-to-east route, and of the socioeconomic structure it supported. The result was a return to a more egalitarian society based on agriculture and pastoralism, and settlement of marginal areas. People migratedfrom the plateau through the Wadi Zerqa and settled in the Jordan Valley. Some may have crossed the Jordan and settled on the other side.
Tel Dan Stela: New Light on
Aramaic and Jehu's Revolt
WILLIAM M. SCHNIEDEWIND
Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures
University of California, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1511
Two new fragments of the Tel Dan stela were found in 1994. These new fragments provide a more certain historical contextfor the mention of the "house of David" in the firstfragment. The reconstructedfragments refer to the death of both Joram, king of Israel, and Ahaziah, king of the "house of David." These new data indicate that Hazael was the author of the inscription and suggest that Jehu's revolt was undertaken in collusion with Hazael. The language of the stela also fills a gap in the dialect continuum that stretchedfrom northern Syria to Canaan.
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