Table of Contents for Bulletin of ASOR 379 (May 2018)

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Pp. 1-18: “The Kingdom of Geshur and the Expansion of Aram-Damascus into the Northern Jordan Valley: Archaeological and Historical Perspectives,” by Omer Sergi and Assaf Kleiman

Fragmented texts in the Hebrew Bible mention a kingdom named Geshur, usually in contexts that denote its independent existence and relations with King David’s royal court (e.g., 2 Sam 3:3; 13:37–38; 14:32; 15:8). Scholars investigating the history of this kingdom have frequently commented on the ambiguous and non-informative nature of these verses, especially in regard to political history and foreign affairs. Others have emphasized the contribution of archaeological research for elucidating some of the aspects mentioned above, and, in particular, for demonstrating the existence of a territorial entity around the Sea of Galilee during the early 1st millennium B.C.E. Nonetheless, the dynamic discussion has not inspired a reevaluation of the archaeological record in the northern Jordan Valley, the presumed home of the Geshurites, and most scholars have uncritically adopted the traditional archaeological views regarding the dating of sites located in this region. In this article, we challenge the common dating of some key sites (e.g., et-Tell and Tel ʿEn Gev) and consequently reexamine the nature of the political formation that emerged in the region in the early Iron Age and its possible identification with the kingdom of Geshur.

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Pp. 19-41: “Late 1st-Millennium B.C.E. Levantine Dog Burials as an Extension of Human Mortuary Behavior,” by Helen Dixon

Simple dog burials, dating primarily to the second half of the 1st millennium B.C.E. (Persian–Hellenistic periods [ca. 6th–1st centuries B.C.E.]), have been excavated at more than a dozen Levantine sites, ranging from a handful of burials to more than 1,000 at Ashkelon. This study systematizes previously discussed canine interments, distinguishing intentional whole burials from other phenomena (e.g., dogs found in refuse pits), and suggests a new interpretation in light of human mortuary practice in the Iron Age II–III-period (ca. 10th–4th centuries B.C.E.) Levant. The buried dogs seem to be individuals from unmanaged populations living within human settlements and not pets or working dogs. Frequent references to dogs in literary and epigraphic Northwest Semitic evidence (including Hebrew, Phoenician, and Punic personal names) indicate a complex, familiar relationship between dogs and humans in the Iron Age Levant, which included positive associations such as loyalty and obedience. At some point in the mid-1st millennium B.C.E., mortuary rites began to be performed by humans for their feral canine “neighbors” in a manner resembling contemporaneous low-energy–expenditure human burials. This behavioral change may represent a shift in the conception of social boundaries in the Achaemenid–Hellenistic-period Levant.

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Pp. 43-54: “Evidence for Middle Bronze Age Chronology and Synchronisms in the Levant: A Response to Höflmayer et al. 2016,” by Daphna Ben-Tor

In a recent article published in the Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 375, Felix Höflmayer and his colleagues present a set of radiocarbon data from Tell el-Burak on the Lebanese coast and claim that these data argue for dating the early phase of the Middle Bronze Age in the Levant (Middle Bronze Age IIA/I) between ca. 2000 and the early 18th century B.C. Considering these radiocarbon dates, the authors assert that the low chronology for this period suggested by Manfred Bietak, based on archaeological evidence from Tell el-Dabʿa, should be raised by roughly 120 years. The aim of this article is to show that ceramic and glyptic evidence from Egypt and the Levant firmly support the low chronology and historical synchronisms proposed by Bietak.

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Pp. 55-85: “Archaeology and Conservation of the Middle Phrygian Gate Complex at Gordion, Turkey,” by Semih Gönen, Richard F. Liebhart, Naomi F. Miller and Elspeth R. M. Dusinberre

In 2016, a project was undertaken at Gordion, Turkey, to stabilize and conserve the remains of a rubble platform built early in the Middle Phrygian period (ca. 800–700 b.c.e.) under the vast Gate Complex leading to the megarons on the Citadel Mound. In the process, aspects of Middle Phrygian building strategies came to light that enhanced our understanding gained from the original excavation in the 1950s. This article outlines the archaeology of the Middle Phrygian Gate Complex and the sophisticated internal structures that lent stability to the rubble platform upon which it was built, and examines the recent evaluation and stabilization of the remaining rubble. Internal walls that created a casemate-like structure, combined with strategically placed juniper logs, assisted with the construction of the rubble fill and its structural stability. The use of water-soluble gypsum in the rubble led to the eventual collapse of the walls in antiquity. Conservation and stabilization in 2016 illuminated these features, made the rubble safe again, and improved the visitor’s experience of the site, allowing the gateway of the Early Phrygian period behind the Middle Phrygian Gate Complex to come into its own as a visible access point to the megarons within.

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Pp. 87-102: “Human Figurines from the Region of Tel Halif in Light of Schematic Representations in the Chalcolithic Cultures of the Southern Levant,” by Ianir Milevski, Nimrod Getzov and Amir Ganor

This article presents a newly discovered figurine of chalky limestone found at a cave close to Tel Halif in the northern Negev during salvage excavations conducted after the cave was partially looted. The figurine is compared with the corpus of figurines with similar iconographic characteristics. Two exemplars found years earlier at Tel Halif itself are reexamined. In light of new data, it is suggested that these figurines should be dated to the Chalcolithic period.

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Pp. 103-112: “A Double Abecedary? Halaḥam and ʾAbgad on the TT99 Ostracon,” by Thomas Schneider

This article attempts to advance the debate on the terms inscribed on an ostracon of the Egyptian 18th Dynasty from the excavation of Theban Tomb 99, suggested by Ben Haring to contain the first historical attestation of the Halaḥam sequence. It presents new etymologies for the words listed on the two sides of the document, all of them in Egyptian syllabic writing. The obverse contains at least the five initial consonants of the Halaḥam sequence; the words of the acrostic may form a mnemonic verse. Additionally, the reverse side may provide the first historical attestation of the beginning of the second and historically more consequential ancient alphabet sequence, the ʾAbgad. This sheds important new light on the history of the Semitic alphabets and Egyptian knowledge of alphabetic ordering in the 15th century B.C.E.

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Pp. 113-152: “Distancing the Dead: Late Chalcolithic Burials in Large Maze Caves in the Negev Desert, Israel,” by Uri Davidovich, Micka Ullman, Boaz Langford, Amos Frumkin, Dafina Langgut, Naama Yahalom-Mack, Julia Abramov and Nimrod Marom

The Late Chalcolithic of the southern Levant (ca. 4500–3800 b.c.e.) is known for its extensive use of the subterranean sphere for mortuary practices. Numerous natural and hewn caves, constituting formal extramural cemeteries, were used as secondary burial localities for multiple individuals, refecting and reaffirming social order and/or communal identity and ideology. Recently, two large complex caves located in the northern Negev Highlands, south of the densely settled Late Chalcolithic province of the Beersheba Valley, yielded skeletal evidence for secondary interment of select individuals accompanied by sets of material culture that share distinct similarities. The observed patterns suggest that the interred individuals belonged to sedentary communities engaging in animal husbandry, and they were deliberately distanced after their death, both above-ground (into the desert) and underground (deep inside subterranean mazes), deviating from common cultural practices.

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Pp. 153-169: “Climate, Settlement History, and Olive Cultivation in the Iron Age Southern Levant,” by Israel Finkelstein and Dafina Langgut

In this article, we suggest a palaeo-climate reconstruction of the Iron Age based on pollen diagrams for sediment cores extracted from the center of the Sea of Galilee and from the Zeʾelim ravine on the western shore of the Dead Sea. We describe three pollen zones that roughly correspond to the Iron Age I, Iron Age IIA, and Iron Age IIB–C. Pollen Zone 1 (ca. 1100–950 b.c.e.) is characterized by high arboreal and olive pollen percentages in both records, representing relatively wet climate conditions and intense olive cultivation in the regions west of the lakes. Pollen Zones 2 (ca. 950–750 b.c.e.) and 3 (ca. 750–550 b.c.e.) are typified by a profound reduction in olive cultivation. Based on Mediterranean tree pollen percentages in the Sea of Galilee record and sediment characteristics in the Zeʾelim profile, climate conditions still seem to have been humid, albeit slightly less than in Pollen Zone 1. The low arboreal pollen in Pollen Zones 2 and 3 in the Zeʾelim diagram is probably the result of intense human influence on the natural vegetation in the Judaean highlands. The lowest olive pollen values during the Bronze and Iron Ages were documented in both records at ca. 700 b.c.e., possibly the outcome of depopulation as a result of deportation and the succeeding abandonment of olive orchards. These and other trends discussed in the article show that climate is only one of the factors that influenced settlement processes and economic trends in antiquity.

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Pp. 171-195: “Neolithic Kritou Marottou-Ais Giorkis, Cyprus—Living in the Uplands,” by Alan Henri Simmons, Katelyn DiBenedetto and Levi Keach

For many years, the “Neolithic Package” was believed to be a latecomer to the Mediterranean islands. The oldest Neolithic remains were those from the Cypriot aceramic Khirokitia Culture, starting around 7000 cal b.c. Late by mainland standards, the Khirokitia Culture had few parallels with either the Levantine or Anatolian mainland from which it derived. Recent research, however, has revolutionized perspectives on the colonization of these islands, with Cyprus again playing a major role. We now know that the island had a pre-Neolithic occupation around 12,000 years ago. In addition, an early Neolithic occupation predating the Khirokitia Culture has been documented, with both Pre-Pottery Neolithic A and B (or Cypro-PPNB) phases as early as those on the mainland. Most sites are coastal; however, Cypro-PPNB Ais Giorkis is located in the foothills. Interdisciplinary excavations have revealed it to be a unique occurrence, with some of the earliest directly dated domesticates in the Near East, unusual architecture, and evidence for trade and feasting—all of which are summarized here. Ais Giorkis contributes to emerging research on Cyprus that has reoriented how we view island colonization, early seafaring abilities, domestication processes and accompanying social changes, and the spread of the Neolithic from its core areas.

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Pp. 197-228: “Four Iron Age Silver Hoards from Southern Phoenicia: From Bundles to Hacksilber,” by Tzilla Eshel, Naama Yahalom-Mack, Sariel Shalev, Ofir Tirosh, Yigal Erel and Ayelet Gilboa

Iron Age silver in the Levant has attracted scholarly attention regarding its function as currency. Scholars debate whether hacksilber can be interpreted as representing a pre-monetary economic system, using pre-portioned silver exchanged in standardized weights, which inspired the invention of coins. In this study, four Iron Age silver hoards from southern Phoenicia (Tell Keisan, Tel Dor, ʿEin Hofez, and ʿAkko) are examined from archaeological and analytical perspectives. The combination of a contextual analysis of the hoards, a typological study of the items in them, chemical analysis, and comparison with other Bronze and Iron Age southern Levantine hoards implies that the use of silver as currency changed throughout the Bronze and Iron Ages. In particular, contrary to common interpretations, the hoarding of silver in stamped bundles and the practice of hacking silver do not represent a single phenomenon. Rather, bundling was gradually replaced by the practice of hacking silver ingots to verify their quality. In Iron Age II, during every transaction, the hacked items were weighed using miniature silver items to balance the scales. We conclude that the “hacked silver” economic system was not based on “pre-weighing” and therefore cannot be defined as heralding the use of coins.

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