Volume 60 Number 2
June 1997
62 Four Thousand Years of History at Tel Beth-Shean:
An Account of the Renewed Excavations
Amihai Mazar
From its towering command of a strategic crossroads, the steep mound of Beth-Shean beckoned excavators in the early part of this century. Returning to the site with its extended settlement history, archaeologists from the Hebrew University's Institute of Archaeology opened a large-scale project in 1989. Eight seasons of excavation have answered many of the unresolved issues, produced more precise stratigraphic and architectural definitions, and illuminated the settlement continuum and its shifting character on the tell. Of special note are the surprising finds from the Egyptian New Kingdom period when Beth-Shean served as the center of Egyptian imperial rule in the north of Canaan.
77 Urkesh: The First Hurrian Capital
Giorgio Buccellati and Marilyn Kelly-Buccellati
The monumental building excavated at the margin of Tell Mozan offered its legacy in miniature: hundreds of seal impressions, small and fragile nuggets of clay. Discarded on the building's floor, the sealings provided satisfying proof that Tell Mozan was the site of the third millennium Hurrian capital city, Urkesh. But they also revealed the presence of a distinctive artistic style and a new phenomenon in third millennium art. Further excavations have shown that the building is attached to a much larger architectural complex. The excavators anticipate that the upcoming season of fieldwork literally will cross the threshhold of a palace, entering thereby into the nerve center of one of the great seats of power of ancient Syro-Mesopotamia.
97 The Amarna Age Inscribed Clay Cylinder from Beth-Shean
Wayne Horowitz
What appeared at first to be an ordinary cylinder seal turned out to be a unique letter inscribed on a clay cylinder. Deciphering the short missive produced another surprise: the sender and recipient of the letter, Tagi and Lablaya, were two well known figures from fourteenth-century Canaan. About what were these two rebels communicating, and why did their singularly small (secretive?) letter end up at the site of Egypt's main garrison?
101 Isotopes from Wood Buried in the Roman Siege Ramp of Masada: The Roman Period's Colder Climate
Arie S. Issar and Dan Yakir
It's always one of the first questions out of the mouths of visitors to the ruins of Israel's Negev: has the climate changed from "back then"? Increasingly sophisticated analyses are beginning to piece together a reliable answer. Case in point: collect samples of 1900-year-old tamarisk branches from within the Roman siege ramp at Masada and compare their chemical composition to modern tamarisks. And the result: 50% more rain flowed through the wadis into the Dead Sea when Flavius Silva built his durable siege ramp.
107 Arti-Facts
On the cover: Stepped trench (AS) on western side of mound, looking north.
Excavations of the AK building (Royal Palace?) are at the end of the trench.
