The Last Days of Canaanite Azekah

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There was nothing but chaos. The air was filled with smoke and the screams of her family. Where was her father? She couldn’t see and was unsure of where to go. In front of her, hidden on the shelf, was the family treasure. She grabbed hold of it. “This cannot be lost!” she exclaimed. But where was the exit now? The smoke was too thick. She could not breathe and slumped to the ground. Then, suddenly, there was nothing—only darkness.

More than 3,000 years have passed since this dramatized event, but for the archaeologists of the Lautenschläger Azekah Expedition, it looks as if it had happened only yester-day. Slowly and carefully—it took four full seasons—we uncovered a building filled with more than 200 complete ceramic vessels, 45 stone tools, exceptional metal objects, 108 beads, five scarabs, eight034 amulets, and the remains of four people. This collapsed building is located on the top of Tel Azekah.

The name of Azekah (or ‘Azeqah) is known to most readers as the location of the famous battle between David and Goliath in the Elah Valley, “between Socoh and Azekah” (1 Samuel 17:1). Renewed excavations at the site, which began in 2012,¹ exposed another dramatic episode in its history: At the very end of the Late Bronze Age, around 1130 B.C.E.,² the entire site was destroyed—an event so severe that it lay abandoned for the next 200 years!

But what caused this terrible destruction at Canaanite Azekah?

Because of its immense size, unfolding Azekah’s story is not an easy task and is based on meticulous interdisciplinary work conducted by students³ and scholars working independently toward a single, detailed (but large) story. Over the course of the last six years, these researchers have been able to draw out many of Azekah’s secrets, using various multi-disciplinary studies: architectural and ceramic analyses, residue analysis of pottery containers, FT-Infrared Spectroscopy of minerals, physical anthropology studies, and glyptic and figurative examinations. The results bring testimony to the character of daily life, reveal aspects of interaction with Egyptian overlords, and provide a glimpse into the last moments of Tel Azekah during the Late Bronze Age.

Tel Azekah (Tell Zakariya, in Arabic) is situated in the heart of the Shephelah (literally, “the lowlands,” the gradually sloping foothills between the Mediterranean Coastal Plain and the Judean Hills in south-central Israel) and watches over a strategically important junction in the Elah Valley. The site of Azekah is a pear-shaped, 11-acre mound encircled on three sides by the Elah Valley (Naḥal Ha-Elah; Wadi ‘Ajjur). The mound rises about 417 feet above the valley floor with steep slopes on the west, north, and east. On the south, it is joined by a low saddle to a ridge about 100 feet below. A lower city grew on this saddle around the southern slopes of the tell during the Late Bronze Age, adding about 3.2 acres to the site.

Azekah was settled for the first time during the Early Bronze Age III (c. 2900–2500 B.C.E.) and then again in the Middle Bronze (c. 1950–1550 B.C.E.), Late Bronze (c. 1550–1130 B.C.E.), and Iron (c. 1130–539 B.C.E.) Ages, as well as in the Persian (539–330 B.C.E.), Hellenistic (330–31 B.C.E.), and Roman (31 B.C.E.–324 C.E.) periods.⁴

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During the Late Bronze Age, the Shephelah and the inner Coastal Plain were the most densely settled areas of Canaan. Like the rest of the land, Azekah was under the direct control of Egypt, both politically and economically. We know, however, that the Egyptians held much tighter control over sites along the Southern Coastal Plain and directly administrated the land through a chain of estates. Azekah, however, was excluded from this region of direct Egyptian control, and instead was part of an autonomous area that the Egyptians allowed the Canaanites to rule. The socio-political organization of this area was based on segmentation of the land into small cities, with a local structure grounded on a hierarchy of kinship and household relations.

At Azekah, a large architectural compound of about 1,720 square feet was discovered below thick destruction debris in Area T2. It had at least three different rooms and a large roofed courtyard area with several grinding installations. Sealed under the floor, directly at the entrance of the compound, a lamp-in-bowl foundation deposit was uncovered. This was an adapted Egyptian practice of ritually burying votive offerings beneath the foundations of new buildings at the start of the construction process.

In the destruction layer of this compound, we discovered four victims, who became the subjects of a detailed physical anthropological study. In the courtyard, we uncovered a 15- or 16-year-old of uncertain sex and a young woman between 15 and 17 years old, accompanied by numerous amulets and an artisan kit. Just about 16 feet away, in the room next to the entrance of the building, the archaeologists found a young man between 19 and 25 years old and a woman about 35 to 45 years old. The four victims were discovered in positions that reveal the sudden and dramatic nature of the fatal catastrophe: In crawling or protective postures, they had been crushed by stones or heavy ceramic containers that fell from the upper floor or as part of the collapsing walls and roof. When the compound collapsed and burned, these four individuals were probably trapped inside the structure by the debris and smoke while attempting to escape the fire.

Osteological analysis revealed that in their daily lives all four individuals were likely physically active, presumably involved in the industrial and manufacturing activities taking place within the building. Three of them also showed evidence of illness or malnutrition in different periods of their lives—episodes that were significant enough to leave marks on their bones.

The compound contained almost the entire range of pottery forms typical of southern Canaan in the Late Bronze Age II and III.⁵ But thanks to a036 detailed ceramic analysis, it was possible to narrow the compound’s active period to the very end of this time frame, which is marked by specific pottery types, as well as the absence of imported ware. The assemblage features a strong Canaanite cultural tradition. This can be seen foremost in the beautiful decoration styles that exhibit popular Canaanite motifs, depicting the flora and fauna of the region, including palm trees, ibexes, deer, and ostriches. But one part of the ceramic assemblage illustrates even more: A locally produced Egyptian-style cooking pot and several juglets, all imitating Mycenaean vessels, point to a possible direct connection between the inhabitants of Azekah and the Egyptian estates of the Southern Coastal Plain. These vessels are usually found only at these sites or in tombs containing anthropoid ceramic coffins, which are uniquely associated with sites in Canaan that experienced profound syncretism with Egyptian religion and burial customs.

Organic residue analysis of 32 vessels revealed plant oil in 19 jars and nine other vessel types, including three of the above-mentioned juglets. Animal fat was detected in two jars, and bee product was identified in another. The lamp-in-bowl foundation deposit uncovered at the entrance of the compound also revealed interesting results, as it showed no signs of fats. This indicates that the deposit was used—and maybe even produced—solely for offering purposes and was not used for consumption or lighting before or during the ritual.

In the most northern part of the courtyard, together with the remains of a young woman, we uncovered a small grinding plate with an assemblage of different stone tools and minerals, including what we hypothesized might be pigments. The pigments were investigated using FT-Infrared Spectroscopy, a technique that uses an infrared spectrum of light to identify unknown chemicals. The testing identified the pigments as Egyptian Blue, hematite (the reddish-black mineral form of iron oxide), and what is believed to be a red-yellow gradient ochre material. This assemblage represents another facet of Egyptian connections, emphasizing the prosperity of the building through the presence of Egyptian Blue, a pigment not available locally.

There are many possible uses for a pigment kit of this kind. Both ochre and hematite were often037 applied as cosmetics, used to decorate objects, and, in the case of hematite specifically, used as a base for creating amulets and beads. However, it is Egyptian Blue that gives us further insight into the true purpose of this pigment kit. The material could have been molded into amulets or beads by an artisan or even used as a pigment in paint for decorating pottery or small objects of personal adornment, which could have been beads, scarabs, or figurative amulets.

Tellingly, we unearthed a rich assemblage of Egyptian amulets within the compound.⁶ They include a variety of 20th Dynasty scarabs—one depicting a suckling gazelle—as well as figurines of the protective deities Bes, Pataikos, and Amun dating to the 19th–20th Dynasties (c. 1298–1064 B.C.E.). This assemblage demonstrates that the local population welcomed and appropriated conceptualizations of the Egyptian pantheon into their daily lives.

Seven of the 13 amulets were found alongside the remains of two of the victims, with dozens of beads. Similar items are usually found in burials, sometimes consisting of a necklace placed on the body or beside it; they convey a personal connection between the artifacts and the owner and are, therefore, relics of their owners’ lives. The discovery at Azekah of two individuals accompanied by two sets of scarabs and figurative amulets is the first time this practice has been identified in the context of daily life and seems to confirm that these were part of the owners’ daily adornments—and not reserved exclusively for ritual practices.

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Unfortunately, Azekah’s compound and its inhabitants witnessed a calamitous event, and the archaeological record reveals their exceptional story. The many Egyptian objects testify to direct contact and political relations with the Egyptian-related sites that occupied the coastal plain to the west and to the south of Tel Azekah during the Late Bronze Age. Throughout this period, Egyptian activity in the region was complemented by collaboration with local groups, and across the many generations that followed an intermediate elite class emerged. This Canaanite elite was exposed to various practices and ideas that they selectively adopted and appropriated from the Egyptians. The wealth found inside our structure, with its elaborate decorated ceramics, artisan kit, and other finds, is another testament to the high social status of its inhabitants.

The four individuals found in the building performed strenuous activities with the grinding installations discovered there. That different kinds of oils and fats were not restricted to storage containers alone, but also detected in the juglets and other ceramics, points to the possibility that the vessels were involved in the manufacturing cycle of a specific product.

Two questions remain: What was this product? And, more generally, who—or what—devastated the building and the entire city of Late Bronze Age Azekah that caused the sudden death of the four individuals found in the architectural compound in Area T2?

The answer to the latter question may be related to the larger mystery of what caused the end of the Late Bronze Age. We trust our ongoing excavations will provide additional clues to solving this problem, so the stories of our four unfortunate souls can one day be told in full.

Excavations at Late Bronze Age Tel Azekah reveal various aspects of daily life in this Canaanite city, including its close interactions with Egypt. The gruesome discovery of four human skeletons poses questions about the final days of Azekah and how those dramatic events might be related to the Bronze Age collapse of Mediterranean civilizations.