Volume 69, no. 3-4
September-December 2006

Cult Stands of the Philistines

Forum: The Talpiot "Jesus" Family Tomb
by Eric M. Meyers, Sandra Scham, Christopher A. Rollston, Stephen J. Pfann, and James Tabor

The Ottoman Qasr at Hisban: Architecture, Reform, and New Social Relations
by Lynda Carroll, Adam Fenner, and Øystein S. LaBianca

Cult Stands of the Philistines: A Genizah from Yavneh, Israel
by Raz Kletter, Irit Ziffer, and Wolfgang Zwickel

The Lower Paleolithic Occupation of Iran
Fereidoun Biglari and Sonia Shidrang

Working Bones: A Unique Iron Age IIA Bone Workshop from Tell es-Safi/Gath
Liora Kolska Horwitz, Justin Lev-Tov, Jeffrey R. Chadwick, Stefan J. Wimmer, and Aren M. Maeir

DEPARTMENTS

ARTI-FACTS

Heros, Mummies, and Treasure: Near Eastern Archaeology in the Movies
{Kevin McGeough)

The Museum of the Ancient Orient
(Sandra Scham)

REVIEWS

More Than Meets the Eye: Studies on Upper Palaeolithic Diversity in the Near East
(Daniel S. Adler)

Object Worlds in Ancient Egypt: Material Biographies Past and Present
(T. Musacchio)

Whose Pharaohs? Archaeology, Museums and Egyptian National Identity from Napoleon to World War I
(Darren Glazier)

Artifact: The Hunt for Stolen Treasures...
(Morag Kersel)

116 Forum: The Talpiot "Jesus" Family Tomb
by Eric M. Meyers, Sandra Scham, Christopher A. Rollston, Stephen J. Pfann, and James Tabor

In this expanded edition of the NEA Forum, five prominent scholars debate the Talpiot Tomb and its possible associations with the family of Jesus.

138 The Ottoman Qasr at Hisban: Architecture, Reform and New Social Relations
by Lynda Carroll, Adam Fenner, and Øystein S. LaBianca

The sweeping reforms that the Ottoman Empire initiated at the end of the nineteenth century had a profound effect on the provinces. New land-tenure policies that favored private landholding drew moneylenders, merchants, and elits to Transjordan, where they established large farmsteads, in the process transfroming not only the lives of the tribal groups and peasant fellahin already living in the area, but the local landscape and architecture as well. The impact of these new state policies on the built environment is still in evidence in particular in one Ottoman-period farmstead, the Wasr at Hisban in Jordan.

146 Cult Stands of the Philistines: A Genizah from Yavneh, Israel
by Raz Kletter, Irit Ziffer, and Wolfgang Zwickel

A recent salvage excavation conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority on a small hill adjacent to the large tell of Yavneh, identified with the Philistine city of Yavneh mentioned in the Bible, uncovered remains of a small pit dating to the Iron Age that contained thousands of ritual objects, including an especially large number of cult stands. As ritual objects, these items were ceremonially disposed of in the pit when they were no longer serviceable. Here, the authros discuss the possible uses and significances of the cult stands, and argue for their Philistine (as opposed to Israelite) manufacture and design

160
The Lower Paleolithic Occupation of Iran
by Fereidoun Bigalri and Sonia Shidrang

Iran is a natural bridge connecting Western Asia to South and Central Asia and therefore, we might expect it to have been a main route for hominin expansion eastwards. Despite its strategic location, however, it has so far produced little evidence for early hominin occupation. The authors present here the results of new investigations in the region that affirm the archaeological potential of this region for understanding Lower Paleolithic hominin adaptaton to their environment.

169
Working Bones: A Unique Iron Age IIA Bone Workshop from Tell es-Safi/Gath
by Liora Kolska Horwitz, Justin Lev-Tov, Jeffrey R. Chadwick, Stefan J. Wimmer, and Aren M. Maeir

The discovery of a ninth-century BCE bone workshop during recent excavations in the biblical city of Gath offers valuable insights into the production and use of bone tools in Iron Age Palestine.