Volume 70 no. 1
March 2007

Cult Stands of the Philistines

Forum: Rural Settlements, State Formation, and "Bible and Archaeology"
by Avraham Faust, with responses by Neil Asher Silberman, Lester L. Grabbe, ALex Joffe and Ze'ev Herzog

Photography and the American Contribution to Early "Biblical" Archaeology, 1870-1920
by Rachel Hallote

Throne Villages of the Highlands: Local Nobility and their Mansions in Ottoman Palestine
by Kamal Abdulfattah

DEPARTMENTS

ARTI-FACTS

A Rare Kernos Variant from Tell el-Hesi
{Andrea Bignasca)

The North Mesopotamian Neighborhood: Domestic Activities and Household Space at Titris Hoyuk
(Yoko Nishimura)

Commentary on the New Inscised Scapula from Tel Kinrot
(Richard J. Dumbrill)

REVIEWS

Qumran: The Site of the Dead Sea Scrolls: Archaeological Interpretations and Debates
(Jonathan L. Reed)

Breaking Ground: Pioneering Women Archaeologists
(Carol Meyers)

One Hundred Years of American Archaeology in the Middle East: Proceedings of the American Schools of Oriental Research Centennial Celebration, Washington, DC, April 2000
(Rachel Hallote)

4 Forum: Rural Settlements, State Formation, and "Bible and Archaeology"
by Avraham Faust, with responses by Neil Asher Silberman, Lester L. Grabbe, ALex Joffe and Ze'ev Herzog

The Forum in this issue looks at the topic of state formation in Israel and the theories presented by Israel Finkelstein, Avraham Faust, and others. The Forum highlights various theories about how Israel actually came into existance as a monarchy, and leading scholars discuss whether or not the biblical texts can be a reliable historical witness to kings David and Solomon. The Forum begins with a thorough reply from Faust to a recent article in NEA by Finkelstein (who was responding to Faust's 2003 NEA article. Rather than have the debate solely between these two scholars, the editors decided to invite other scholars into the fray for the discussion and attempt to widen the debate. The Forum thus continues with essays from Neil Asher Silberman, Lester L. Grabbe, Alex Joffe, and Ze'ev Herzog. Faust then concludes the Forum section with a Rejoinder.

26 Photography and the American Contribution to Early "Biblical" Archaeology, 1870-1920
by Rachel Hallote

The contributions of Americans to the use of photography in the early years of biblcial archaeology have largely gone unheralded. The author attempts to rectify this oversight by highlighting the many ways in which Americans and American expeditions advanced and improved the photgraphic recording of ancient sites and monuments in Israel-Palestine.

43 Throne Villages of the Highlands: Local Nobility and their Mansions in Ottoman Palestine
by Kamal Abdulfattah

The author takes us on an architectural exploration of an Ottoman-period mansion, Dar Abdullah, in the "throne village" of Kur in Palestine. Throne villages were the local seats of local sheikhs who collected taxes on behalf of the Ottoman central administration. Throne-village palace architecture reflects a unique style of Palestinian rural architecture that is a distinct survival of the Ottoman period in the Levant. In mansions such as this one, the sheikhs lived, ruled and conmpeted for power and prestige.