Table of Contents for Bulletin of ASOR 380 (November 2018)

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Pp. 1–25: “A Possible Location in Northwest Sinai for the Sea and Land Battles between the Sea Peoples and Ramesses III,” by James K. Hoffmeier

The naval invasion of Egypt during the reign of Ramesses III by the Sea Peoples, coupled with the land invasion, represent critical events in ancient Egyptian history. This study explores a location for the maritime conflict, based on recent archaeological and palaeo-environmental investigations of the northwestern Sinai. Where the land battle occurred is hotly debated in light of new, putative evidence that the Philistines originated from northern Syria. Based on a careful reading of the Medinet Habu Sea Peoples’ reliefs, their accompanying texts, and the emerging picture of Egypt’s eastern frontier defense network in Ramesside times, it is posited that the ground attack also occurred in the northwestern Sinai, not far from the location of the naval encounter.

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Pp. 27–60: “A Middle Timnian Nomadic Encampment on the Faynan-Beersheba Road: Excavations and Survey at Nahal Tsafit (Late 5th/Early 4th Millennia B.C.E.),” by Kyle Knabb, StevenA. Rosen, Sorin Hermon, Jacob Vardi, Liora Kolska Horwitz, and Yuval Goren

The naval invasion of Egypt during the reign of Ramesses III by the Sea Peoples, coupled with the land invasion, represent critical events in ancient Egyptian history. This study explores a location for the maritime conflict, based on recent archaeological and palaeo-environmental investigations of the northwestern Sinai. Where the land battle occurred is hotly debated in light of new, putative evidence that the Philistines originated from northern Syria. Based on a careful reading of the Medinet Habu Sea Peoples’ reliefs, their accompanying texts, and the emerging picture of Egypt’s eastern frontier defense network in Ramesside times, it is posited that the ground attack also occurred in the northwestern Sinai, not far from the location of the naval encounter.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. 61–131: “The Huqoq Excavation Project: 2014–2017 Interim Report,” by Jodi Magness, Shua Kisilevitz, Matthew Grey, Dennis Mizzi, Daniel Schindler, Martin Wells, Karen Britt, Raʿanan Boustan, Shana O’Connell, Emily Hubbard, Jessie George, Jennifer Ramsay, Elisabetta Boaretto, and Michael Chazan

Excavations at Huqoq in Israel’s eastern Lower Galilee are bringing to light a Late Roman synagogue, a medieval public building, and the remains of ancient and modern (pre-1948) villages. In this interim report, we describe the major discoveries of the 2014–2017 seasons, including the extraordinary figural mosaics decorating the synagogue floor. Our discoveries provide evidence of a Galilean Jewish community that flourished through the 5th and 6th centuries C.E.—a picture contrasting with recent claims of a decline in Jewish settlement under Byzantine Christian rule. The possibility that the medieval public building might also be a synagogue has important implications for understanding Galilean Jewish settlement in the Middle Ages, about which almost nothing is known. The excavations also shed light on the last phase of the settlement’s long history: the development of the modern village of Yakuk in the 19th through 20th centuries.

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Pp. 133–204: “Eastern Sigillata at Sardis: Evidence for a Local Industry,” by Susan I. Rotroff, Malgorzata Daszkiewicz, Gerwulf Schneider, and Ross Owen

Eastern Sigillata B was an important ceramic ware of the Early Roman East, characterized by a shiny red gloss, micaceous clay body, and, in its first phase, epigraphic stamps on the vessel floor. Production was established in the Great Meander Valley in western Asia Minor as an offshoot of the Italian sigillata industry and flourished primarily in the 1st and 2nd centuries c.e. Vessels excavated at Sardis, some 75 km to the northeast, share the micaceous clay and red gloss of Eastern Sigillata B and are visually almost identical to products of the main production center, but some bear name stamps unique to the site, suggesting that a local production center existed at Sardis. It is now possible to test this proposal through wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence analysis and, on this basis, to identify a group of local products. This article describes that process, sketches a portrait of local production, and explores the mechanism and timing of its establishment at Sardis.

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Pp. 205–229: “Archers, Antiochos VII Sidetes, and the ‘BE’ Arrowheads,” by Matasha Mazis and Nicholas L. Wright

Bronze arrowheads featuring barbs, a tang, and a nodule at the base of the head were widespread throughout the Mediterranean region from the 6th century b.c.e. to the end of the Hellenistic period. This article investigates a variant of the main type bearing a stamped device in the form The general arrowhead form is often called “Cretan,” and previous studies have specifically associated the stamped type with Cretan archers in the service of the Ptolemaic queen, Berenike II. By looking at the distribution and physical attributes (including through X-ray fluorescence analysis) of the stamped arrowheads, this article provides fresh insight into the social organization of bow-armed fighting units in the Levant during the late Hellenistic period. In doing so, the authors challenge some long-held assumptions and interpretations about the arrowhead type. Relying on a mix of literary, iconographic, and archaeological evidence, the article demonstrates that the stamped arrowhead type should be associated with a body of archers involved in the campaigns of the Seleukid king Antiochos VII Sidetes (138-129 b.c.e.).

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Pp. 231–246: “The Harvard Semitic Museum Palmyrene Collection,” by Eleonora Cussini, Maura K. Heyn, Jeremy M. Hutton, Nathaniel E. Greene, and Catherine E. Bonesho

Three Palmyrene funerary busts are part of the collections of the Harvard Semitic Museum. This article discusses the epitaphs, the portraits, and their stylistic features, summarizes the funerary busts’ documented history of possession, and offers a palaeographic analysis of the inscriptions.

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Book Reviews

Pp. 247–248: “Cities and the Shaping of Memory in the Ancient Near East by Ömür Harmanşah,” by Nicola Laneri

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Pp. 248–249: “A History of Biblical Israel: The Fate of the Tribes and Kingdoms from Merenptah to Bar Kochba by Ernst Axel Knauf and Philippe Guillaume,” by Baruch Halpern

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Pp. 249–250: “Leadership, Social Memory and Judean Discourse in the Fifth–Second Centuries BCE edited by Diana V. Edelman and Ehud Ben Zvi,” by Christine Mitchell

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Pp. 250–252: “Tell Qudadi: An Iron Age IIB Fortress on the Central Mediterranean Coast of Israel (with References to Earlier and Later Periods); Final Report on The Hebrew University of Jerusalem Excavations Directed by E. L. Sukenik and S. Yeivin, with the Participation of N. Avigad by Alexander Fantalkin and Oren Tal,” by George A. Pierce

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