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COURTESY AREN MAEIR/TELL ES-SAFI/GATH ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROJECT

ALIEN CULT. Horned altars used to burn incense and sacrificial offerings were long thought to be characteristic of Israelite religious practice, perhaps having originated in the Northern Kingdom of Israel before spreading to Judah following the Assyrian conquest of Samaria in the late eighth century BCE. A jar inscribed with the Hebrew name Abtam was found next to the altar, suggesting people from Judah may have occasionally made offerings at Philistine shrines and temples.