Volume
74 Issue 3
September 2011
BETWEEN CARMEL
AND THE SEA—
Tel Dor: The Late Periods
Jessica L. Nitschke, S. Rebecca Martin, and
Yiftah Shalev
The 2010 excavation season at Tel Dor (located on Israel’s Carmel coast) marked the eighth year of the new campaign and the thirtieth year overall of continuous study and excavation of this Mediterranean port town, turning up a wealth of data on the cultural character of Dor from the Bronze Age through the time of the Roman Empire. Investigations have revealed an ongoing dynamic transformation in the urban character of the town from the end of the sixth century to the end of occupation on the tell in the third century c.e. Small finds and architecture show both local continuity and an embrace of foreign goods and artistic styles, suggesting that in these periods Dor continued its long tradition as an entrepôt and as a participant in the cultural koiné that developed in the Mediterranean.
BEFORE ALBRIGHT:
Charles Torrey, James
Montgomery, and American
Biblical Archaeology 1907–1922
Rachel Hallote
William Foxwell Albright was a young scholar when he first arrived in Palestine, but his nearly immediate success led to Americans dominating biblical archaeology throughout the twentieth century. How was Albright able to become so influential so quickly? An examination of archival materials and other early twentieth-century records reveals that two senior American scholars laid the groundwork for American interests in archaeology years before Albright arrived on the scene: Charles C. Torrey and James A. Montgomery. After examining the stage on which Torrey and Montgomery worked— the British colonial situation in Palestine in as much as it relates to archaeology—this article will trace American involvements in archaeology in Palestine before World War I and during the war years, then consider how Torrey and Montgomery used British colonial initiatives to further American interests, setting the stage for Albright to launch his career.
FROM MOUNTAIN
TO ICON:
Mount Gerizim on Roman
Provincial Coins from
Neapolis, Samaria
Jane DeRose Evans
Coins from the mint of Neapolis, Samaria, first show the sanctuary of Zeus on Mount Gerizim in the second century, rendering the landscape in great detail. While such sacred landscapes are not unknown on coins, they remain a rarity—especially in ancient Palestine. However, by the third century, die engravers are no longer interested in portraying the sacred landscape but in using the landscape as a sacred baetyl, modeled on the sacred baetyl of El-Gabal depicted on coins of Emesa. The coins of Neapolis are unique in extending the symbolism of the “sacred baetyl of Gerizim” to mean “the city of Neapolis.” In doing so, the coins model the transition happening in the late antique world from naturalistic object to abstracted symbol encompassing a wealth of meanings. Such transitions are commonly understood to have happened in sculpture and painting, but they have not yet been noted to occur on coins, a medium with a potentially larger audience.
REVIEWS
The Architecture of Herod, the Great Builder
Danielle Steen Fatkin
Living Images: Egyptian Funerary Portraits
in the Petrie Museum
Barbara E. Borg
Archaeology in the Archives: Unveiling the
Natufian Culture of Mount Carmel
Brian F. Byrd
The Social History of Ancient Israel: An
Introduction
Abigail Limmer
The Archaeology of Mobility: Old World and
New World Nomadism
James L. Phillips
Resurrecting the Brother of Jesus: The James
Ossuary Controversy and the Quest for
Religious Relics
Michael Tilly