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Table of Contents for Near Eastern Archaeology 81.4 (December 2018)

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Pp. 228–237: “Reuse and Recycling in the Temple of Millions of Years of Thutmosis III (Luxor, Egypt): Archaeological Evidence of a Pottery Workshop,” by Juan Jesús Padilla Fernández, Linda Chapon, and Francisco Contreras Cortés

Archaeological excavations carried out during seasons 2013 and 2014 in the Temple of Millions of Years of Thutmosis III shed light on a set of material elements linked to the production process of ceramics. Among these elements are a kiln and possible decanting sink structures. Long after the sacred precinct had been abandoned, changes seem to have occurred in the ideological and ritual conceptions of the Theban Mountain situated on the west bank of Luxor. These changes led to the reutilization in more recent times of still-visible mud-brick structures, but with different functions and uses.

Click here to access the above article on The University of Chicago Press Journals (ASOR membership with online access and/or subscription to UCP Current Content required).

Pp. 239–243: “New Fragments of “Nectanebo the Falcon” from the Temple of Behbeit el-Hagar,” by Mahmoud A. Emam and Ehab Abd el-Zaher

Two new fragments (no. 456 and Hor.Behbeit.4) presenting the lower part of two unfinished Horus statues in the form of a falcon embracing the king between his claws were discovered recently during irrigation works in the western side of the temple of Behbeit el-Hagar in 2009. The authors present a full description of the two newly discovered fragments and propose their dating to the reign of King Nectanebo II (360–342 B.C.E.) by comparing them with two other statue bases of the falcon Horus dated to the same king that are apparently from Behbeit el-Hagar. The strong relations between King Nectanebo II and the god Horus in Behbeit are in evidence.

The author describes the recent, renewed vandalizing of the site of Khirbet el-Lauz in the West Bank. In doing so, he stresses the role of the general public in protecting the archaeological resources located in Area C, as well as the importance of raising awareness among the school students to engage them in safeguarding the archaeological sites, and offers some recommendations for reducing the looting of antiquities in the Palestinian Territories.

Click here to access the above article on The University of Chicago Press Journals (ASOR membership with online access and/or subscription to UCP Current Content required).

Pp. 244–249: “Khirbet el-Lauz Revisited: Lessons from the Renewed Destruction of a Vulnerable Heritage Site,” by Salah Hussein Al-Houdalieh

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Pp. 250–258: “Archaeological Excavations at Khirbet Beit Bassa, Palestine,” by Ibrahim Mohammad Abu Aemar

Khirbet Beit Bassa is located about three kilometers southeast of Bethlehem city on a hilltop that in every direction overlooks other archaeological sites.The results of surveys and archaeological excavations conducted at the site indicate that it was inhabited during the Roman, Byzantine, and early Islamic periods, and for a time in the Ottoman period. The architectural remains that have been discovered during various archaeological activities at the site include a subterranean rock-cut tomb, ground graves, a wine press, residential structures, cisterns, and a khan. Over recent decades, many parts of the site have been exposed to destruction and vandalism resulting mainly from the looting of antiquities by local groups, by urban development such as the construction of new roads and houses, and through agricultural activities in which tractors were used for plowing. This study focuses on presenting the results of archaeological excavations that the author conducted at the site, mainly in 2009 and 2010.

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Pp. 259–268: “Between Destruction and Diplomacy in Canaan: The Austrian-Israeli Expedition to Tel Lachish,” by Katharina Streit, Lyndelle Webster, Vanessa Becker, Ann-Kathrin Jeske, Hadas Misgav, and Felix Höflmayer

The transition from the Middle to the Late Bronze Age in the southern Levant is marked by violent destructions of most major cities. The prevalent historical narrative connects these events with the expulsion of the Hyksos, the reunification of Egypt, and the end of the Second Intermediate period. However, current radiocarbon evidence indicates that the destruction of the Middle Bronze Age cities began around 1600 B.C.E., about half a century before the defeat of the Hyksos under King Ahmose. Aiming to test this chronological question, which could again open up the discussion regarding the underlying cause for the Middle Bronze Age destruction layers, excavations have been renewed at Tel Lachish. In the course of the first two seasons by the Austrian-Israeli Expedition, substantial remains from the Middle and Late Bronze Age have been uncovered. This report highlights the potential of further excavations at Lachish and summarizes the preliminary results of the project and its excavation strategies.

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Pp. 269–275: “A Second Cult Room at the Lachish Gate?,” by Elad Liraz

Recently, a cult room was excavated in the southern side of the Level III gate structure of Tel Lachish. Within it, a desecrated double four-horned altar was found together with a stone privy, which led the excavators to suggest that this cult room was canceled during the religious reforms of King Hezekiah. The author proposes that a second, twin cult room existed in a parallel location on the northern side of the gate structure, containing similar elements, and that this room underwent the same process of desecration, probably during King Hezekiah’s reforms.

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Pp. 276–299: “Pigs in Space (and Time): Pork Consumption and Identity Negotiations in the Late Bronze and Iron Ages of Ancient Israel,” by Avraham Faust

Pork consumption and avoidance became a major issue in the study of ancient Israel in the 1980s. Initial works associated massive consumption of pork with the Philistines and its avoidance with the Israelites, and despite the doubts cast by some later studies, the topic is still closely associated with the study of Iron Age ethnic identities. The extensive data that has accumulated over the years, however, show that the distribution of pork-consuming communities in space and time is not random and, when examined in tandem with the wider social background of this era, can reveal a great deal about Iron Age group interactions and boundary maintenance. It appears that the arrival of the Philistines was a watershed as far as pork consumption was concerned, and in subsequent centuries pork consumption and avoidance correlate closely with the changing strategies of boundary maintenance used by the different groups residing in the region.

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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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Table of Contents for Near Eastern Archaeology 81.3 (September 2018)

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You can receive NEA (and other ASOR publications) through an ASOR Membership or through an Individual Subscription. Single issues (subject to availability) are available for purchase, with ASOR members receiving a discount. Please e-mail us if you have any questions.

Pp. 164-173: “Sanctifying the House: Child Burial in Prehistoric Anatolia,” by Burcu Yıldırım, Laurel D. Hackley, and Sharon R. Steadman

Intramural burials are common on the Anatolian plateau, beginning in early prehistory. Neolithic examples indicate that the incorporation of human remains into domestic architecture was a regular part of the rhythm of family life. By the Late Chalcolithic, adult burials have largely moved into extramural cemeteries, although there are some exceptions. Infants and small children, however, continue to be buried within the house and these interments are a common feature on the Anatolian plateau. At the site of Çadır Höyük in central Anatolia, well over one dozen Chalcolithic infant burials were placed in corners of existing rooms, in areas of possible ritual function, and incorporated in walls at the time of construction. This study investigates the relationship between the spatial context of these burials and their function in the domestic context, and considers the possibility that some infant burials served as foundation deposits in the architecture at Chalcolithic Çadır.

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Pp. 174-181: “Infant Burial Practices as Domestic Funerary Ritual at Early Bronze Age Titriş Höyük,” by Timothy Matney

The Early Bronze Age tradition of intramural tombs at settlements in the Middle Euphrates region is well established, with examples from many excavations. Often these intramural tombs comprise stone-built cist chambers with adult or juvenile occupants and a range of funerary offerings. They are located within domestic residences and interpreted as family crypts. Less well explored are contemporary infant burials, which, in addition to poor preservation, are often located beneath the living floors of domestic houses but not within the cist tombs. This study reviews the evidence for the intramural burial of infants at mid-to late Early Bronze Age Titriş Höyük in southeastern Turkey in the context of broader funerary traditions at the site and in the region. The author suggests that the division between adult/juvenile and infant burial treatments might be more pragmatic than dogmatic; the implications of this observation for domestic funerary rituals and household cults are explored.

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Pp. 182-190: “Foundation Deposits and Strategies of Place-Making at Tell el-Dab’a/Avaris,” by Miriam Müller

Foundation ceremonies are well known from the Egyptian royal and sacred spheres: They mark the beginning of construction work and ensure the effectiveness and longevity of the building to which they belong. One important component of these ceremonies is the foundation deposit, which is often placed under the corners of a temple or tomb and contain various items. Although foundation deposits are also attested in connection with profane architecture, such as storage buildings belonging to the royal household, they are uncommon in the nonelite sphere. The author discusses the evidence for this practice from a neighborhood of the ancient city of Avaris (Tell el-Dab’a) in the eastern Nile Delta. These finds are evaluated in light of comparative evidence from other parts of Egypt and the Near East. The author concludes that domestic foundation rituals are essentially poorer versions of royal ones, serving to sanctify, protect, commemorate, and elaborate. The evidence for this practice at Tell el-Dab’a furthermore hints at a mixture of Near Eastern and Egyptian elements at the site, opening up a new area of research in Egyptian domestic architecture.

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Pp. 191-201: “Residential Burial and Social Memory in the Middle Bronze Age Levant,” by Melissa S. Cradic

Disposal of the dead within occupied buildings of the Middle Bronze Age Levant, or intramural burial, offered inhabitants a way of closely interacting with the physical remains of the deceased. Residential burials provided permanent spatial connections between the living and the dead and served as loci of social memory for the intergenerational household. Drawing on archaeological evidence from Tel Megiddo, this article presents a model for residential burial and social memory focusing on the diversity of body disposal methods. Burials inside the settlement varied significantly in terms of type and architecture, body disposal methods, and grave goods. In several cases, burials were reopened periodically to reposition corpses while others were never disturbed. The author argues that the high degree of diversity within this mortuary corpus relates to differential social roles of the deceased after burial, and that mourners’ close encounters with deceased bodies transformed the status of the dead in a complex and protracted sequence of funerary rituals.

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Pp. 202-211: “Household Rituals and Sacrificial Donkeys: Why Are There So Many Domestic Donkeys Buried in an Early Bronze Age Neighborhood at Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath?,” by Haskel J. Greenfield, Tina L. Greenfield, Itzhaq Shai, Shira Albaz and Aren M. Maeir

A few years ago, a domestic donkey (Equus asinus), or ass, was discovered at Tell eṣ-Ṣafi/Gath in modern Israel and determined to have been sacrificed and buried as a foundation deposit beneath the floor of an Early Bronze III house. Since then, three additional complete domestic donkey burials have been revealed beneath the floors of another house in the same Early Bronze neighborhood. These animals were buried within a nonelite domestic neighborhood at the edge of the city. The authors suggest that this urban space may have been the location of the homes and work spaces of merchants who relied upon donkeys as “beasts of burden” to transport their goods regionally and interregionally.

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Pp. 212-221: “Materiality of Religion in Judean Households: A Contextual Analysis of Ritual Objects from Iron II Tell en-Naṣbeh,” by Aaron Brody

The author highlights household religion through a direct, contextual presentation of ritual artifacts from one Judean household compound at Tell en-Naṣbeh in their original contexts. The compound is made of five conjoined pillared houses that constitute the living space of one extended family. The author takes a gendered approach to the artifacts, which include female pillar figurines, animal figurines, horse-and-rider figurines, incense stands, and zoomorphic vessels. Ritualized utilitarian objects are also taken into account. This approach to ritual at the site adds to our understanding of the religious culture of women, men, children, families, and households at Naṣbeh. Most notably the author proposes that the concentration of ritual objects near the two kitchen spaces in the compound suggests that the female head of household who provided sustenance for the extended family and its dependents also presided over the religious health of the household.

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