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Volume 64, no. 3
September 2001
On
the cover:
The Tell Dan Inscription. Photo by Bruce Zuckerman
and Marilyn Lundberg,
West Semitic Research. Courtesy of the Israel Antiquities
Authority and the Bowers Museum. | | |
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100 Herod
the Great Shows His True Colors
David M. Jacobson
Numismatics
takes center stage as the author paints a different picture of Herod the Great.
Our knowledge of this ancient ruler derives mostly from ancient written sources,
principally the works of the first century CE Jewish historian, Josephus, which
were composed a century or more later and reflect the bias of the author. But
a look at Herod’s coins offers us some insights into the ideology of this
monarch. You may be surprised to find that the images on Herod’s largest
bronze coin refer to Greek mythology and religious ritual. The composition on
the reverse of this bronze piece is identified as a Greek banqueting rite in homage
to the "savior" deities, the Dioscuri (Castor and Pollux), while the
obverse bears the tripod of Apollo. The portrayal of these and other pagan symbols
on Herod’s coins raises some interesting questions about his religious orientation
and state ideology.
106
Fractional Coins of Judea and Samaria in the Fourth Century
BCE
Stephen N. Gerson
The author argues that, despite
having the extrabiblical Elephantine papyri and the Wadi ed-Daliyeh texts, our
knowledge of Judea and Samaria in the fourth century BCE is sparse. He inserts
into this vacuum of epigraphic source material the so-called "fractional"
coins. Coins from these two locales are often viewed as being very similar due
to their close geographic location. By analyzing weight standards, iconography,
circulation patterns, and paleography, Gerson teases out cultural information.
He argues that he can detect distinctly different sensibilities between Judea
(more "inward" looking) and Samaria (more "outward" looking).
132 Lessons from
the Kiln: Reduction Firing in Cypriot Iron Age Pottery
Nancy
Reid Hocking
Have most of us been duped by holding firmly to the "slip
assumption?" The author insightfully instructs us with lessons from the kiln.
Firing conditions have been given far too little attention as a factor in color
variation. No more, argues Hocking, should "slip remain the rule." In
particular she proposes that reduction technique as a firing practice was widely
used on Iron Age Cypriot pottery.
140
DIALOGUE
Stones for Bread: Archaeology versus History
Anson F. Rainey
Regardless of where one falls in the current debate
about historiography and the tenth century of Iron Age Israel, all would acknowledge
that it has had the positive impact of making scholars rethink cherished positions
as well as the methodology and data by which they are substantiated. In this spirited
essay, the relationship between text and material culture, between archaeology
and history, is put to the test. The author takes up the challenge presented by
Israel Finkelstein’s 1999 NEA article, "State Formation in Israel and
Judah" with his own challenge, namely, that teachers and scholars pursue
the serious study of ancient documents in their original languages as the best
means for reconstructing the history of ancient Israel.
150
Abandoned Tent Camps in Southern Jordan
Benjamin
Adam Saidel
Benjamin Saidel details the results of a recent survey in
southern Jordan by the Bedouin Ethnoarchaeological Survey Project (BESP). The
BESP, building on the work of Roger Cribb in Anatolia, surveyed 88 abandoned tent
encampments. While the data presented here are preliminary, Saidel’s study
gives new insights into how pastoralists adapted to living in arid zones with
varying terrains.
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