Excavation Opportunities 1995
Between a Rock and a High Place
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“History is bunk,” said Henry Ford, who thought of the future, and only the future, as an unfolding adventure.
But the past is equally rich in adventure. For the past is not only the great epic of human endeavor, but an ongoing drama that continues to reveal itself in new ways.
This is especially so in a land beating with the 10,000-year-old rhythm of civilizations rising and falling; a land of conquering armies, reclusive monks, lyrical psalmists, remote desert monasteries, salt seas and mountain forests; a land where Stone Age tools lie mingled with Roman lamps, where three of the world’s major religions have their roots and where East has met West for as long as humankind remembers.
Next summer, from the rocky desert site of Har Karkom to the high place, or raised open-air sanctuary, at Tel Dan, excavators will be exploring backwards, into time. As a dig volunteer, you can join them. You need nothing but a sense of curiosity and a willingness to brave the hot sun while you dig. You will work with fellow volunteers of all ages and faiths, and from all over the globe. In some cases, your labors will earn you college credit.
Your plain food and lodging, while far from five-star-hotel quality, will only enhance the romance of the sun-drenched East. And you will have the pleasure of knowing that your efforts make ongoing archaeological discoveries possible. Without volunteers many such excavations could simply not operate.
Immediately following are summaries of each dig’s historical significance and connection to the Bible. Here, then, is your chance to peer back through the centuries, through the millennia, to discover for yourself that “History is bunk” is bunk.
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Abila
One of the cities of the Decapolis—a federation of ten cities in eastern Palestine (Matthew 4:25; Mark 5:20, 7:31)—Abila appears in the works of several ancient writers such as Polybius, Pliny the Elder and the geographer Ptolemy. It is located about nine miles from Irbid, in northern Jordan.
Eight seasons of survey and excavation have revealed evidence of human habitation during every period from the Neolithic (8300–4500 B.C.) onward. The site’s highlights include an inscription with the name of the city; five churches—two of them large Byzantine (324–640 A.D.) basilicas; a life-size marble statue of Artemis, the Greek goddess of the hunt; a cache of early glass lamp fragments; and an extensive Roman-Byzantine cemetery.
In the coming season, dig director W. Harold Mare (Covenant Theological Seminary) will concentrate on the site’s extensive subterranean aqueduct system.
The site is open to visitors all year. Guided tours are available during the excavation season.
El-Ahwat
Located on a high hill nine miles east of Caesarea, El-Ahwat is the site of the northwestern-most Israelite settlement in the region of Manasseh. The first two seasons of excavation revealed a large fortified village of the Iron I period (1200–1000 B.C.) and uncovered two Egyptian scarabs, several bronzes and pottery. Dig directors Adam Zertal (Haifa Univ.) and Adi Ziv (Haifa Univ.) expect to unearth the living quarter, city gate and a possible holy place during the coming season.
The site is open to visitors by appointment during excavations. Guided tours are available.
Ashkelon
Ashkelon was a major seaport of the Canaanites and Philistines from 3000 to 604 B.C. The Bible frequently mentions the Philistine city at the site. Samson went there in a rage and killed 30 men (Judges 14:19); David lamented, “Proclaim it not in the bazaars of Ashkelon,” when he learned of the deaths of Saul and Jonathan, slain by the Philistines at the Battle of Gilboa (2 Samuel 1:20); and the prophet Jeremiah, in his oracle against the Philistines, declared that “Ashkelon has perished” and that “the sword of the Lord,” in the hands of King Nebuchadnezzar and his army, was drawn “against Ashkelon and against the seashore” (Jeremiah 47:5–7).
Previous work at this large seaside site, located in a national park, uncovered a vast array of remains: the world’s oldest arched gateway, featured on the
In 1995, director Lawrence E. Stager (Harvard Univ.) will continue his search for the city’s ancient harbor installation and will excavate the Canaanite arched gateway and other sections of the Canaanite and Philistine cities.
The site is open to visitors by appointment through the excavation office at the Shulamit Gardens Hotel. Guided tours are available.
(See the following 1991 BAR articles by Lawrence Stager: “When Canaanites and Philistines Ruled Ashkelon,” BAR 17:02; “Why Were Hundreds of Dogs Buried at Ashkelon?” BAR 17:03; “Eroticism and Infanticide at Ashkelon,” BAR 17:04.)
Banias
Lying at the foot of Mount Hermon, Banias overlooks the Jordan Valley’s fertile northern end, an area of lush vegetation and abundant opportunities to walk and swim. A large, nearby spring gushes from the mouth of the famous Cave of Pan, mentioned by many ancient writers. As the Greek historian Polybius tells, Antiochus the Great defeated Egypt in an important battle at Banias in about 200 B.C. Jesus visited the area (Matthew 16:13; Mark 8:27), and many important Roman buildings were erected here. Flavius Josephus, the first-century A.D. Jewish historian, records that Herod the Great built a temple to Augustus at Banias and that Herod’s son Philip 037enlarged and beautified the city, which he renamed Caesarea Philippi.
The excavation of the ancient city at Banais, now in its seventh season under the direction of Vassilios Tzaferis (Israel Antiquities Authority), has brought to light the remains of a monumental first-century A.D. Roman city (including an early Roman basilica), a 12th-century A.D. mosque and Crusader building remains. In the coming season, Tzaferis plans to continue excavating a large Roman building discovered in 1993 and believed to be an ancient medical center.
The excavation is open to visitors all year, and guided tours are available.
Bethsaida
The Gospels mention Bethsaida more often than any other town except Jerusalem and Capernaum. The birthplace of the Apostles Peter, Andrew and Philip, Bethsaida was the town where Jesus restored a blind man’s sight (Mark 8:22–26) and fed the multitude (Luke 9:10–17). In addition, Josephus led forces that clashed with the Romans here during the First Jewish Revolt (66–70 A.D.).
Located on the east side of the Jordan River, slightly north of the Sea of Galilee, Bethsaida has yielded Roman and Hellenistic houses, an unusual statue of the Egyptian god Pataekos (see cover photo and “Prize Find: An Iron Age Amulet from the Galilee”), and a strongly fortified city from Iron Age II (1000–586 B.C.). In 1995, director Rami Arav (Univ. of Haifa) will excavate the city wall, the Hellenistic and Roman residential quarter and the Iron Age public buildings.
The site is open to visitors by appointment all year. Guided tours are available.
Tel Beth-Shean
After Saul and his sons were slain on Mount Gilboa, the Philistines displayed Saul’s body on the city wall of Beth-Shean (1 Samuel 31:8–10). The site of Beth-Shean marks one of the longest, essentially unbroken occupations in Palestine, stretching from the fifth millennium B.C. to the Byzantine period (324–640 A.D.). The city served as an Egyptian stronghold during Egypt’s domination of the region in the Late Bronze Age, and it resisted the Israelite attack during the Canaanite occupation. King David, however, eventually conquered the city when he expanded his kingdom northward (1 Kings 4:12).
The tell, overlooking the dramatic Roman remains in the later city, is especially noted for its Canaanite temples and for the abundance of cult objects unearthed by previous expeditions. In its first six seasons, an expedition led by Amihai Mazar (Hebrew Univ.) discovered a 15th-century B.C. Canaanite temple and an Egyptian residence from the 12th century B.C. In the coming season, work will continue on the Bronze Age and Iron Age occupation levels.
The site is open to visitors all year.
Tel Beth-Shemesh
Once a major Canaanite city-state and later an Israelite royal administrative center, Beth-Shemesh has strong Biblical associations. Located in the Shephelah about 16 miles from Jerusalem, it stood on the western border of the kingdom of Judah, facing powerful Philistine neighbors. The area was the scene of Samson’s struggles, and when the Philistines gave back the Ark of the Covenant, which had plagued them for months after its capture at the battle of Ebenezer, they returned it to Beth-Shemesh (1 Samuel 6). The site became an important part of King Solomon’s administrative organization (1 Kings 4:9) and one of the few centers assigned to priestly families 038(Joshua 21:16). Beth-Shemesh retained its importance throughout the period of the Judahite Monarchy and was the site of the battle in which King Jehoash of Israel defeated and captured the overly ambitious King Amaziah of Judah (2 Kings 14:11). During the time of King Ahaz of Judah (731–715 B.C.), “The Philistines had taken Beth-Shemesh … and settled there” (2 Chronicles 28:18). The Assyrian emperor Sennacherib (701 B.C.) destroyed Beth-Shemesh during his violent military campaign, and, thereafter, the site’s importance dwindled.
Excavations have revealed massive fortification systems and domestic and public structures from the Late Bronze Age (1550–1200 B.C.) and Iron Age (1200–586 B.C.). Other discoveries include one of the earliest known olive-oil production centers and many metal artifacts, pieces of jewelry, and seals and tablets with Ugaritic cuneiform and paleo-Hebrew writing. In 1995, directors Zvi Lederman (Ben-Gurion Univ.) and Shlomo Bunimovitz (Bar-Ilan Univ.) will uncover the final destruction of the Canaanite city, expose parts of the fortification system and city gate from the early Biblical period, reveal a large water system from the time of King Hezekiah (727–698 B.C.) and excavate the newly discovered Iron Age village.
Caesarea Maritima
A marvel of ancient engineering, Caesarea’s harbor could hold an entire Roman fleet. Herod the Great built the city and harbor between 22 and 10 B.C. on the site of an earlier Phoenician and Hellenistic trading station known as Strato’s Tower. A major port for over 1,000 years, Caesarea reached its zenith during the Byzantine period (324–640 A.D.), when it was the largest city in Palestine. Pontius Pilate resided in the city, and an inscription bearing his name has been found here. Peter’s conversion of Cornelius, a Roman centurion (Acts 10:1–48), and Paul’s brief imprisonment (Acts 23–25) also occurred in Caesarea.
The site has an early Christian church, well-preserved ancient aqueducts, Herod’s temple to Roma and Augustus, a Roman theater in use once again for summer music and dance performances, imposing fortifications from Crusader times and the remains of many other ancient buildings. One of the largest and richest sites in Israel, Caesarea has yielded a vast assortment of statuary, inscriptions, coins, mosaics, ceramics and other finds. Underwater excavations have uncovered remains of ancient harbor breakwaters and shipwrecks.
In 1995, directors Kenneth G. Holum (Univ. of Maryland), Avner Raban (Univ. of Haifa) and Joseph Patrich (Univ. of Haifa) plan to complete the excavation of a Roman “shopping mall” and a warehouse complex and to resume work on the temple platform. Underwater work, for certified divers only, will continue in the harbor.
The site is open to visitors from 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily.
(See the following BAR articles: “Caesarea Maritima Yields More Treasures,” BAR 20:01; Barbara Burrell, Kathryn Gleason and Ehud Netzer, “Uncovering Herod’s Seaside Palace,” BAR 19:03; Kenneth G. Holum, “From the Director’s Chair: Starting a New Dig,” BAR 17:01; Lindley Vann, “Herod’s Harbor Construction Recovered Underwater,” BAR 09:03; Robert L. Hohlfelder, “Caesarea Beneath the Sea,” BAR 08:03; Robert J. Bull, “Caesarea Maritima—The Search for Herod’s City,” BAR 08:03.)
Tel Dor
A major Mediterranean port from the Bronze Age through the Roman period, Dor was one of the Canaanite cities defeated by Joshua (Joshua 12:23). Today Tel Dor is the site of one of Israel’s largest excavations. Founded by the Canaanites as early as 1900 B.C., Dor fell to the Sikils—a Sea People 039tribe—in 1200 B.C. The Phoenicians reconquered the city in 1050 B.C. and dominated its culture for the next 800 years. Politically, however, Dor came under Israelite control, became the capital of one of Solomon’s administrative districts and played an important role in ancient Israel’s economy. After its conquest by Tiglath-pileser III in 732 B.C., it served as an Assyrian administrative center. Dor became a major fortress in the Hellenistic Age. In 137 B.C., the Syrian king Trypho took refuge there and withstood a siege by Antiochus VII before managing to escape (1 Maccabees 15:10–14, 25, 37–39). The excavations have uncovered sling stones from that siege. Dor continued to thrive in the Roman period. A Crusader fortress in the 13th century was the last occupation of the site.
Past excavations at this beautiful site have revealed the main street, a forum, sanctuaries, a stoa, basilicas, and an aqueduct of the Roman city, as well as gates and fortifications from the Hellenistic, Persian and Iron Age cities. Archaeologists have also found two Iron I destruction levels with Philistine pottery, early Phoenician artifacts and a skeleton crushed beneath a fallen wall. (A recently discovered scapula, or cow’s collarbone, with a sailing scene and a dedicatory inscription is described in “Prize Find: Recovery Of A Harbor Scene At Dor,” in this issue.) In 1995, directors Ephraim Stern (Hebrew Univ.) and Howard Goldfried (California State Univ., Sacramento) will continue to explore the Iron Age city, expand work on the Persian/Phoenician occupations and excavate a bathhouse and other Roman and Hellenistic public buildings.
The site is open Monday through Friday, 10:00 a.m. to noon. Guided tours are available by appointment, but arrangements for groups must be made with Dr. Goldfried before the season begins.
(See Ephraim Stern’s three-part BAR article, “The Many Masters of Dor,” BAR 19:01, “The Many Masters of Dor, Part 2: How Bad Was Ahab?” BAR 19:02, “The Many Masters of Dor, Part 3: The Persistence of Phoenician Culture,” BAR 19:03.)
Tel Hadar
The Bible refers to the area east of the Sea of Galilee as Geshur, an Aramean kingdom (2 Samuel 15:8) that fell under the military control of King David (2 Samuel 8:3–8). Absalom, David’s son by a Geshurite princess, fled to Geshur and spent three years there after having his brother Amnon killed for the rape of their sister (2 Samuel 13:1–39).
A part of the Land of Geshur Regional Project, which is conducting the first excavations of the Biblical period in the Golan, Tel Hadar was a Geshurite stronghold in the late 12th to late 11th centuries B.C. The site features an 11th-century B.C. palace that may have belonged to Talmai, King David’s father-in-law (2 Samuel 3:3). The Canaanites also occupied the site as early as the 16th century B.C. Other finds at Tel Hadar include an intact granary with one room still filled with wheat, a building with a pillared hall, massive basalt fortifications, and Aramean inscriptions and figurines.
In the coming season, directors Moshe Kochavi (Tel Aviv Univ.), Ira Spar (Ramapo College) and Timothy Renner (Montclair State College) will excavate the Late Bronze I (1550–1400 B.C.) royal building.
The site is open to visitors by appointment. Guided tours are available.
(See Moshe Kochavi, Timothy Renner, Ira Spar and Esther Yadin, “Rediscovered! The Land of Geshur,” BAR 18:04.)
Tell el-Handaquq South
Tell el-Handaquq lies in Jordan, on the Zarka, or Jabbok, River, which is named in Genesis as the river Jacob crossed just before wrestling with the angel (Genesis 32:23–25). Initiated in 1993, this excavation of a large Early Bronze II–III (3000 B.C.–2200 B.C.) town has focused on the site’s multiple phases of architecture and its residential areas, where several complete storage and cooking vessels dating to the Early Bronze II were uncovered. In 1995, director Meredith Chesson (Harvard Univ.) plans to explore the stratigraphic relation between the domestic areas and the outer fortifications, to undertake limited excavations at the temple site and to cut a deep test unit down through the Early Bronze II deposits into the lower Early Bronze III occupation.
The site is open to visitors from 6:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., Saturday through Thursday. Although appointments are not necessary, the dig requests that visitors contact them ahead. Tours are available with advance notice.
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Har Karkom
Boasting 40,000 petroglyphs—the largest concentration of rock art in the Negev—and 892 archaeological sites, the 75-square-mile survey in the vicinity of Har Karkom provides a rich field for exploration. Subject of a heated debate in BAR, Har Karkom is identified by archaeologist and dig director Emmanuel Anati (Centro Camuno di Studi Preistorici) as a holy site that may be Mt. Sinai; but in the view of archaeologist Israel Finkelstein, it was simply a popular gathering place for nomads over the millennia. Whoever is right, the site has abundant pottery, altars, standing stones, campsites and tumulus gravesites dating from about 3000 to 2000 B.C.
In 1992, the expedition found a site believed to be a sanctuary from the beginning of the Upper Paleolithic Age, about 30,000 years ago. This site included approximately 40 large flint boulders with quasi-anthropomorphic shapes, numerous flint implements from the Near Eastern Aurignacian culture, 220 human- and animal-shaped pebbles bearing evidence of human modification, and drawings formed by arrangements of pebbles on the ground (perfectly preserved, most likely by a sand dune that once covered them). The discovery of this Paleolithic site suggests that Har Karkom had acquired its sacred quality far earlier than previously believed, perhaps as early as the first appearance of Homo sapiens.
In 1995, Anati will continue to explore the Paleolithic sanctuaries and Bronze Age cult sites, record the rock art and undertake some cave exploration.
The site is open to visitors by appointment during the excavation season. Guided tours are available.
(See the following BAR articles: “30,000-Year-Old Sanctuary Found at Har Karkom,” BAR 19:01; Emmanuel Anati, “Has Mt. Sinai Been Found?” BAR 11:04; and Israel Finkelstein, “Raider of the Lost Mountain,” BAR 14:04.)
Hazor
Located in northern Galilee, Hazor was the site of an important dig and the subject of a popular book by the late Yigael Yadin, one of Israel’s most famous archaeologists. For its “enormous size and peculiar features,” Yadin said, “Hazor is unparalleled by any other site in the country.” Yadin also noted that the wide geographical and temporal range of the numerous references to the city in extra-Biblical sources made Hazor “almost unique among Palestinian cities.”
Hazor played an important role in Joshua’s conquests. Its king, Jabin, gathered together a league of kings to oppose Joshua. Consequently, when Joshua defeated them, he singled out Hazor and burned it (Joshua 11:1–13). Jabin also appears in the prose story of the battle between Deborah and Sisera (Judges 4). Solomon apparently rebuilt the city (1 Kings 9:15), which finally disappears from the Biblical record after its conquest by the Assyrian ruler Tiglath-pileser III in 732 B.C. (2 Kings 15:29). Excavators at Hazor recently discovered a fragment of a royal letter addressed “To Ibni,” a name similar in derivation to Jabin. Extra-Biblical references to Hazor include the Egyptian Execration Texts (c. 19th–18th centuries B.C.), which curse Hazor as an enemy of Egypt; and tablets from the royal archive at the Mesopotamian city of Mari, one of which notes that Hammurabi, the king of Babylon (1792–1750 B.C.), had ambassadors residing in Hazor.
The site contains a wide variety of Canaanite and Israelite structures, including temples, palaces and an underground water system. A large dwelling excavated last season dates the earliest Israelite fortifications at the site to the 10th century B.C. In 1995, director Amnon Ben-Tor (Hebrew Univ.) will expand excavations of the upper city in order to expose remnants of the Israelite period (10th to 8th centuries B.C.), as well as underlying remains of a Canaanite palace and a 041temple. Like Yadin, Ben-Tor believes that a major cuneiform archive still awaits discovery at the site.
The site, located in a national park, is open to visitors daily, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
(See the following BAR articles: “Babylonian Tablet Confirms Biblical Name,” BAR 20:05; Hershel Shanks, “Ben-Tor, Long Married, Will Return to Hazor,” BAR 16:01;
Israel Archaeological Society
Choosing the best dig to join can be an overwhelming task. If you just can’t settle on one excavation, the Israel Archaeological Society (not to be confused with the non-profit Israel Exploration Society, publisher of the Israel Exploration Journal) has a solution for you. This private organization offers volunteers the opportunity to explore several sites by joining any one or a combination of archaeological excavations in Jerusalem, Jaffa (south Tel Aviv) and Qumran. The 1995 excavations will offer volunteers a chance to investigate Roman villas, Second-Temple-period Jerusalem, Egyptian strongholds and ancient farming techniques. University classes and educational tours of the pyramids and of the ancient red-rock Nabatean city of Petra will all be part of this Middle Eastern adventure. Anyone interested should call 1–800-ISRAEL-8.
Jaffa
Located on the Mediterranean coast, the remains of ancient Jaffa (Biblical Joppa) nestle among the art galleries, restaurants and coffeeshops in today’s Jaffa, at the southern end of Tel Aviv. Founded in the early second millennium B.C., the ancient city flourished in the Late Bronze Age (1550–1200 B.C.), when it became the administrative headquarters for local Egyptian rulers. Gate lintels bearing the name of Ramesses II, pharaoh of Egypt during the 13th century B.C., date to this period. According to the Bible, the prophet Jonah “went down to Joppa” to hire a ship to Tarshish when fleeing God’s command to go to Nineveh (Jonah 1:1–3), and timber from Lebanon for Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem was shipped “in rafts by sea to Joppa” (2 Chronicles 2:15).
Part of the Coastal Plains Expedition, this new excavation, directed by Ze’ev Herzog (Tel Aviv Univ.), will explore the Ramesseside government stronghold of the period. Iron Age (1200–586 B.C.) and Persian Period (586–332 B.C.) remains will also be 042investigated while excavators dig down to Late Bronze Age strata.
The site is open to the public.
Tell Jawa
Located six miles south of Amman, Jordan, Tell Jawa was part of the Ammonite kingdom during the time of the Biblical monarchy, although the ancient name of the town remains unknown. The ceramic finds show evidence for occupation from the Middle Bronze Age (2200–1550 B.C.) to the early Abbasid period (750–1258 A.D.). A casemate wall system, visible on the surface for its full length, strongly fortified the site during the Iron Age (1200–586 B.C.). A chambered gate connected with the wall was discovered in 1994. In the Iron Age buildings, excavators have discovered part of a cult stand, a ram’s head figure, a bull rhyton and a male deity figure. A domestic area contained five baking ovens and a full range of utensils for preparing and cooking food.
In 1995, director P. M. Michèle Daviau (Wilfrid Laurier Univ.) will continue to expose the Iron Age town, including its houses and public buildings. Work will also continue on a Byzantine/Early Islamic building in which oil lamps, glass vessels and two mosaic floors have been discovered.
The site is open to visitors, Sunday through Thursday; an appointment is preferred. Guided tours are available.
(See Larry G. Herr, “What Ever Happened to the Ammonites?” and “The Search for Biblical Heshbon,” BAR 19:06.)
Tel Jezreel
Either King Omri (882–871 B.C.) or King Ahab (871–852 B.C.) and his wife Jezebel built Jezreel as a second capital of the northern kingdom of Israel. Standing on a spur of Mount Gilboa, at the edge of the Jezreel Valley, it served primarily as a winter residence for the royal family. This is the place where Naboth was framed by Jezebel and executed so that Ahab could take possession of Naboth’s vineyard; as a result, Elijah cursed Ahab and Jezebel (1 Kings 21). Later, during his coup d’etat in 842 B.C., Jehu took over Jezreel and there killed Jezebel and King Jehoram, Ahab’s son.
During the first five seasons of work at the site, dig directors David Ussishkin (Tel Aviv Univ.) and John Woodhead (British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem) completely excavated the eastern tower of the enclosure, reached the bottom of the moat, located the city gate and exposed a Crusader church. Next season, they will complete work on the gate system and investigate the interior of the city.
The site is open to visitors all year. Tours are available during the excavation season.
Kinneret
An important site on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, Kinneret has a long history beginning in the Early Bronze Age (3300–2200 B.C.). Joshua 19:35 mentions it as a fortified city of the tribe of Naphtali.
Excavations at this site have uncovered a city from the time of King David (10th century B.C.) and a lion bowl in the Assyrian style of the eighth century B.C. Dig director Volkmar Fritz (German Protestant Institute of Archaeology, Jerusalem) plans to spend the coming season exposing the Iron Age II (1000–586 B.C.) domestic architecture and the Middle Bronze Age II (2000–1550 B.C.) defense system.
The site is open to visitors.
Tel Malhata
The Biblical name of this important site in the Negev remains a mystery despite the discovery of Iron Age city walls, buildings and related artifacts. Past suggestions have included Moladah, Hormah and even Arad. The site was occupied from the Middle Bronze Age (2200–1550 B.C.) through the Roman period (37 B.C.–324 A.D.).
In the coming season, directors Bruce Cresson (Baylor Univ.) and Itzhaq Beit Arieh (Tel Aviv Univ.) will concentrate on the Iron Age city, in particular the defense fortifications.
The site is closed to visitors.
Tel Miqne-Ekron
One of the largest Iron Age sites in Israel, Tel Miqne is identified with Biblical Ekron, one of the five capital cities of the Philistines. When the Philistines captured the ark, they carried it to a number of their cities, including Ekron (1 Samuel 5:10). A powerful, independent city-state, Ekron threatened the indigenous Canaanites and the newly settled Israelites in the early 12th century B.C. For most of the ensuing 600 years, Ekron was a major Philistine political and commercial center. It came under 044the shadow of the kingdom of Judah in the tenth century B.C., however, and had become a vassal city-state of the Neo-Assyrian empire by the seventh century B.C. In 603 B.C., the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Ekron and with it the last vestiges of Philistine culture.
Excavations under the direction of Trude Dothan (Hebrew Univ.) and Seymour Gitin (Albright Institute, Jerusalem), and sponsored by 24 other North American and Israeli institutions, have shed new light on four dramatic chapters in Ekron’s history. The first was the Canaanite settlement of the second millennium B.C.; the second, a large fortified city founded by the Sea Peoples/Philistines in the 12th and 11th centuries B.C., which contained metal and other industries, a large palace and a hearth sanctuary with Aegean affinities. The third occurred in the tenth through eighth centuries B.C., when the city was reduced in size and conquered by the Neo-Assyrian king Sargon II in 712 B.C. The fourth took place when the city expanded and became one of the most important olive-oil production centers in the ancient Near East. Excavations have also yielded more than 1,000 restorable vessels, a unique assemblage of four-horned altars, inscriptions to the goddess Asherah and five caches of jewelry and silver ingots.
The 1995 season will focus on investigating the development of the Philistine town plan and the growth of Ekron as a major border city in the Iron Age.
Guided tours of the site and of the Miqne Museum are conducted throughout the year by members of the kibbutz.
(See Trude Dothan and Seymour Gitin, “Ekron of the Philistines, Part I: Where They Came From, How They Settled Down and the Place They Worshiped In,” BAR 16:01; “Ekron of the Philistines, Part II: Olive-Oil Suppliers to the World,” BAR 16:02; “Buried Philistine Treasures Unearthed at Tel Miqne-Ekron,” BAR 19:01.)
Nahal Tillah
Located in southern Israel, about 15 miles north of Beer-Sheva, the Nahal Tillah project explores Egyptian and Canaanite interaction during the Early Bronze I period (c. 3500–3000 B.C.). Preliminary excavations have already uncovered epigraphic evidence of trade between the two lands, including a clay seal impression and a piece of inscribed pottery with an archaic hieroglyph called a serekh, depicting a Temple facade, and the name of the Egyptian king Narmer (3100–3050 B.C.). In 1995, directors Thomas Levy (Univ. of California, San Diego [UCSD]) and David Alon will examine the site’s monumental architecture to determine whether the Egyptians had established their own colony in Canaan or merely had commercial links with the local Canaanites. This is a joint UCSD-Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Jerusalem, Expedition.
The site is open to visitors year round.
Tell Safut
Located about eight miles southwest of Amman, Jordan, Tell Safut has been proposed as the site of Nobah, a city passed by Gideon as he pursued the Midianite army (Judges 8:11). The city served as a defensive-administrative center, overseeing a large valley below it, on the perimeter of the Ammonite kingdom. Major buildings from the Late Bronze Age and from the late Iron Age to the Persian period have been found. 045Among the artifacts discovered Ammonite painted ware and a Baal-type seated figurine. In 1995, director Donald H. Wimmer (Seton Hall Univ.) will explore Iron Age and possibly Late Bronze occupations.
The site is open to visitors all year.
Sepphoris
The traditional birthplace of Mary, mother of Jesus, Sepphoris has been continuously occupied from the Iron Age to the present. During the Roman period, Sepphoris was rebuilt in grand style by Herod Antipas. In the first century A.D., Josephus testified to its beauty, calling it “the ornament of all Galilee.” After the Second Jewish Revolt against Rome (132–135 A.D.), Sepphoris became for a time the seat of the Sanhedrin, the central legal and spiritual council of the Jewish people. In about 200 A.D., Sepphoris resident Rabbi Judah Hanasi (Judah the Prince) compiled the Mishnah, the first major collection of rabbinical legal rules and the core of the Talmud. The city continued to serve as a major regional capital until the invasion of the Arabs in 640 A.D.
Finds at Sepphoris include a Roman villa, theater, reservoir and aqueduct; a ritual bath for the Jewish inhabitants (dating from the first to fourth centuries A.D.); a colorful mosaic synagogue floor depicting the zodiac; and a peristyle building with more beautiful mosaics (also from the first to fourth centuries A.D.). In 1995, director James F. Strange (Univ. of South Florida) will finish excavating the peristyle structure (possibly a market building) and its associated bath and glassmaking installation.
A national park, the site is open to visitors for a fee from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily, and tours are available. Please call ahead.
(See the following BAR articles: Ehud Netzer and Zeev Weiss, “New Mosaic Art from Sephoris,” BAR 18:06; Richard A. Batey, “Sepphoris—An Urban Portrait of Jesus,” BAR 18:03; and “Mosaic Masterpiece Dazzles Sepphoris Volunteers,” BAR 14:01.)
Shuni
Located about four miles from Caesarea, Shuni served as a hospital and spa for the people of Caesarea during the Roman period. Water festivals were held here at the Roman theater of Maiumas. The site features a mosaic floor, a public bath and an octagonal Asclepion—a building dedicated to Asclepius, the Roman god of medicine. In the coming season, work will continue on the Asclepion under the direction of Eli Shenhav (Jewish National Fund).
The site is open daily between 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Guided tours are available.
Tel Tamar
Tel Tamar marked the southern boundary of Solomon’s kingdom, according to Dr. Rudolph Cohen of the Israel Antiquities Authority, co-director of the excavation at the site. Located about 40 miles south of the Dead Sea, the city served as a major fortress guarding the border and as a tax station for caravans traveling from the east to the Mediterranean. The Bible’s first mention of the city occurs in Genesis 14:7, which speaks of “the Amorites who dwelt in Hazazon-tamar.” It also appears in the list of cities where King Solomon carried out construction projects (1 Kings 9:18) and was the southern boundary of the post-Exilic Israel that Ezekiel prophesied (Ezekiel 47:18–19, 48:28).
The city’s Solomonic gates are among the best preserved in Israel, and the city walls are the most massive of any city in Israel except Jerusalem. Previous excavations have uncovered an ancient temple dating to the time of the Israelite monarchy and an altar with pottery, bones and ritual objects. Other discoveries in past seasons include ovens, Roman baths and, most important, the seal of the southern kingdom of Judah.
In 1995, directors Rudolph Cohen and Egal Israel will continue to excavate the remaining walls and interior stone foundations. The Israel Antiquities Authority has decided to uncover this city completely and then reconstruct it as a national park.
The site is open to visitors from Monday through Thursday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Guided tours are available.
Yavneh-Yam
The site of ancient Jamnia, Yavneh-Yam lies on the Mediterranean coast, 9 miles south of Tel Aviv. This maritime stronghold of Hellenized Phoenicians played a significant role in the second-century B.C. Maccabean Revolt, the Jews’ struggle to free themselves from their Greek rulers. The Jewish leader Judas Maccabeus pursued the army of Gorgias to the plain of Jamnia (1 Maccabees 4:15) and burned the harbor of Jamnia and the fleet that was in it (2 Maccabees 12:8–9). In other incidents, Gorgias defeated a Jewish army that was marching on Jamnia (1 Maccabees 5:58–61), and Apollonius, governor of Coele-Syria, assembled in Jamnia the army that would be defeated by Jonathan at Azotus (1 Maccabees 10:69). The Book of Judith (2:28) also mentions the city as one of several terrorized by Nebuchadnezzar’s general Holofernes.
Three seasons of excavation have revealed remains from the Hellenistic (332–37 B.C.) and Persian (586–332 B.C.) periods. Among the finds were sherds of Greek red-figure pottery and a statuette of a girl playing a string instrument. In 1995, director Moshe Fischer (Tel Aviv Univ.) will examine the character of the site before Alexander the Great’s arrival in the region.
The site is open to visitors year round by appointment.
“History is bunk,” said Henry Ford, who thought of the future, and only the future, as an unfolding adventure.
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