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From the Editor, David C. Hopkins
I admit to being enamored of the faces on the cover of this
inaugural issue of Near Eastern Archaeology. Whether divine
or human visages, they remind me of the humanistic core of
our discipline, the diverse peoples whose behavior is the
primary focus of our archaeological endeavors. And such a
strange and beautiful lot they are! (Do you recognize the
provenance and period of each one? See page 37). Of course,
the same could be said for us archaeologists and ancient historians:
what a strange and beautiful (with the necessary allowances)
lot are we! Naturally, much depends on how one sees.
Putting together this issue has reminded me repeatedly both
of the peculiar humanity of past and present and the epistemological
concerns involved in constructing a bridge between them. A
case in point, the table of contents has gone through any
number of revisions owing primarily to the inescapably human
circumstances of editor and authors: illness and overwork,
procrastination and promptness. Manuscripts dropped in and
fell out; authors did the same. Page count became a real concern.
I have never been more happy finally to put an issue to bed.
Or more proud. As usual, the reader of NEA (BA) receives
a bargain of the printed word and its graphic companion: the
average page boasts one graphic and approximately 550 words.
And this issue's seventy-two pages cost less than nine dollars!
I cannot name another limited circulation periodical that
offers a better quantity and quality combination. The explanation
is simple: authors and editors donate their time and expertise.
Besides Scholars Press staff and the printer, only the Art
Director is not a volunteer. All the rest work gratis or for
a tiny stipend. Authors are not paid a single cent: they often
absorb the costs of providing expensive illustrations. Here's
an example of behavior that an archaeologist might some day
have difficultly puzzling out.
All the arhcles in this issue intentionally broach the question
of how we know what we know about the world populated by the
cover's collection of beautiful faces. In two newly published
ostraca, the epistemological question reaches beyond the difficulties
of translation. It takes the shape of a common quandary„apparent
contradichon between biblical and archaeological data. The
current case involves divergent portraits of royal authority
found in the Hebrew Bible and one ostracon's authorization
of a contribution to the temple. In a second article, the
debate is joined intensely when the issue stretches beyond
adjudicating data sources to our ability to affirm anything
at all about an ancient entity we call "Israel." Does the
lack of an objective eye mean the lack of any certain knowledge
of the past? The tormented relation between history and archaeology
has long reflected this quandry. The renewed archaeological
project at Megiddo, a site with numerous historical attestations,
attempts to transcend the divorce. Neither field has a more
unconstrained access to the past, and both benefit from inter-disciplinary
dialogue as both practice their respective disciplines.
The articles on excavation and survey in the Habur River
Valley in Syria and maritime archaeology in the Asar Bay of
Turkey's coast have more in common than bodies of water. Both
take stock of bodies of knowledge filled with data from major
Syrian urban environments or the results of numerous projects
focused on internahonal port cities. Just as third and second
millennium civilization was not restricted to urban hot spots
but encompassed towns and countryside, the warp and woof of
Mediterranean commerce and culture was woven at small and
undeveloped anchorages.
The new title for our journal necessarily projects a new
image and appeals for a new orientation to the archaeology
of the Near East. In reality, this orientation, which endeavors
to embrace the "ancient worlds from Mesopotamia to the Mediterranean,"
has for many years supplied the magazine's editorial policy.
Thus, regular readers will hardly notice any change in the
scope or tenor of the journal's contents. Those who encounter
the magazine for the first time, however, are likely to discover
inside the cover what is advertized on the outside of the
cover. Since we started advertizing under the new title, I
am heartened to have found a tremendous increase in the number
of subscription cards in my mailbox, hopefully the beginning
of an upward trend.
I hope that the faces of all our readers, authors, editors,
and friends--a peculiar and beautiful lot--will greet each
issue of Near Eastern Archaeology expecting to gaze into the
faces of their ancient Near Eastern ancestors and, thus, envision
the past.
King's Command and Widow's
Plea: Two New Hebrew Ostraca of the Biblical Period
P. Boudreuil, F. Israel, and D. Pardee
A judicial plea from one of the periphery and a directive
from one occupying the center stage. Newly published ostraca
from Iron Age Israelite society preserve a widow's plea and
a monarch's command and stimulate rethinking of its legal
customs and economic systems.
New Horizons in Ancient
Syria: The View from 'Atij
Michel Fortin
Sensational discoveries made at sites of large cities of the
third and second millennia BCE have drawn much attention to
Syrian archaeology in recent years. But civilization is not
based solely on cities--like the now famous Ebla--but also
on villages and the countryside. A new conceptual frameowrk
that attempts to embrace the multiple facets of cultural evolution
in this region has contributed to intense activity in salvage
zones where archaeologists race to excavate sites and survey
landscapes before they disappear.
Uncovering the Maritime
Secrets of Aperlae, A Coastal Settlement of Ancient Lycia
Robert L. Hohlfelder and Robert L. Vann
At the terminus of one of the Mediterranean's countless exposed
bays, open and vulnerable to the ravages of the sea, the fortified
town of Aperlae surprosingly boasts an impresive complex of
ruins that speak clearly to the town's prosperity. A clue
to why Aperlae flourished may be found in the ubiquitous remains
of the sea snail murex, the source of Tyrian purple
dye. Aperlae and the submerged ruins of its waterfront offer
an attractive arena for maritime archaeology, especially because
local ports have not received evena small portion of the attention
lavished on advanced international harbors.
Archaeology, Ideology,
and the Quest for an "Ancient" or "Biblical Israel"
William G. Dever
Was there an "ancient" or "biblical" Israel? The question
sounds absurd, but prominent and well-published "revisionist"
scholars not only take the question seriously, but answer
it with a defiant "No!" Despite a natural inclination to dismiss
the flawed arguments of these "revisionists," we must tackle
them head on.
Research Design
in Archaeology: The Interdisciplinary Perspective
Baruch Halpern
Archaeology today finds its most strained relations with the
field of history, the field, ironically, of its intellectual
origins. This circumstance restricts and diminishes archaeology.
While archaeology must continue to recover and identify material
culture and proceed with its interpretation, dialogue with
the discipline of history enriches archaeological investigation
and stirs its imagination in the creation of meaningful interdisciplinarity.
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