Nine seasons of excavations were conducted at Tel Dan between 1990 and 1999 by the Nelson Glueck School of Biblical Archaeology of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, under the direction of A. Biran. Work continued in previously excavated areas. In area A (the Iron Age fortifications) and area T (the sanctuary) the excavations were considerably enlarged. The expedition included the staff of the school in Jerusalem, student volunteers, and laborers from the village of Ghajar. These seasons of excavations provided new discoveries and enable us to present an overall history of Dan-Laish.
EXCAVATION RESULTS
THE NEOLITHIC PERIOD–EARLY BRONZE AGE. Remains of three stone walls, floors, one infant burial, five stratified phases in area B, and pottery from below the ramparts in area T3 are evidence that the site at the spring of the Jordan River was settled in the Pottery Neolithic period. The abundance of material from this period indicates an extensive and long-lived settlement. Following this period there appears to have been a c. 1,500-year break in the occupation of the site, until the Early Bronze Age II. Early Bronze Age II–III remains were uncovered throughout the site. This was a very large city, extending far beyond the edges of the impressive Middle Bronze Age ramparts, whose builders utilized Early Bronze Age structures as the core for the sloping earthen layers. The large variety of Early Bronze Age pottery testifies to a well-developed urban community, probably the major urban center of the rich and prosperous Hula Valley in the third millennium BCE. Situated at a main water source, it presumably also served as a staging area for the trade caravans from Damascus in the east, on their way to the Mediterranean ports in the west.
THE MIDDLE BRONZE AGE. The earliest phases of the Middle Bronze Age II appear in domestic structures and courtyards below the rampart slopes and extending beyond them. A large pottery assemblage, including storage jars and kraters, as well as ceramic and bronze burial goods were found. The number and density of the phases suggest intensive habitation through the Middle Bronze Age II. The flat area available for habitation within the confines of the inner slope of the ramparts was limited compared to that of the large urban Early Bronze Age center below the ramparts and the earliest Middle Bronze Age II strata. Later Middle Bronze Age dwellings extended onto the inner slope of the ramparts. Houses and burials reaching to the upper part of the slope were uncovered and jar burials were found under the floors of these houses. Stone-built cist tombs and jar burials were also found below the houses over previous occupation levels on the flat “crater” floor of the enclosed Middle Bronze Age II city. The finds include imported items and point to a repeated use of the tombs. A large corbelled Middle Bronze Age IIB chamber tomb (T4663) found in area B1, some 35 m north of the rampart core, contained four complete large vessels set onto a bench at the far end of the tomb. Near the bench were complete platter bowls and lamps, juglets, a carved bone inlay, a frit cylinder seal, a bone bead, and a stickpin, but surprisingly almost no human skeletal remains. A major destruction level dated to the end of the Middle Bronze Age IIC marked the end of Middle Bronze Age Laish.
The Ramparts. The Middle Bronze Age II rampart system of Laish was based on a central core supporting earthen layers poured and set against it. On the eastern and northern flanks, Early Bronze Age structures served as a base for the core. In the east, a structure with an upright outer face and a sloped inner face was used. Stone and mud-brick construction was added to obtain the height and breadth for the required incline. The wide exposure along the northern flank revealed the buttressed construction of the outer face—with six buttresses excavated—rising from a complex set of structural foundation elements. On the southern flank, a vertical stone core at least 10 m high and 6 m thick was specially built to support the earthen slope. It extended along the length of the southern flank eastward to the buttressed south tower of the triple-arch gate in area K. Wherever examined, the sloping earthen layers of the ramparts consisted of debris of previous occupation and of natural materials—soil, clay, travertine, and pebbles—from the surrounding plain. The base of the rampart system was at least 60 m wide. The date of construction is confirmed: the end of the nineteenth–beginning of the eighteenth century BCE.
THE LATE BRONZE AGE. Following the Middle Bronze Age destruction, the city was soon rebuilt. Late Bronze Age I and II occupational strata with bichrome pottery were uncovered. A major feature of the Late Bronze Age II city is an impressive open paved area leading northward from the crest in area B1. More than 80 sq m of this pavement have been uncovered. A furnace, crucible and tuyere fragments, and slag were found some 30 cm below the pavement. Dated to the Late Bronze Age II, these are precursors of the extensive Iron Age metal working installations. In the pavement was a ceramic plaque depicting a man dancing and playing the lute. The excavation also uncovered remains of walls, perhaps of a Late Bronze Age gate that opened to the broad paved area leading into the city. The Late Bronze Age city came to an end toward the end of the thirteenth–beginning of the twelfth century BCE.
THE IRON AGE. More of the pits of stratum VI, the first definitive evidence of the Iron Age settlement, were uncovered. The pits confirm the view that the settlers of stratum VI, i.e., the tribe of Dan, were semi-nomadic in character. The subsequent stratum V, in contrast, is fully urban with well-built stone and mud-brick houses with benches along the walls. Inhabitants of stratum VI also engaged in metal work. Numerous installations containing copper slag, fragments of crucibles, and bronze needles were found. These remains suggest the recycling of metal objects, which is more widespread in stratum V and continued in stratum IV, the tenth century BCE.
Stratum V of the city of Dan suffered total destruction. The following strata of occupation, however, indicate that the city continued to prosper for many centuries, notwithstanding the destruction of the city gates and wall in the eighth century BCE.
The City Gate Complex and Wall. The city wall (W38) with its towers has now been traced for 420 m along the foot of the ramparts eastward, turning northward and then westward. The paved courtyard, over 170 sq m in size, between the main and outer gates was found to continue eastward as an open piazza. At a distance of c. 40 m from the outer gate was a row of five standing stones (maṣṣebot) set against the city wall and met by the pavement. Uncovered south of the paved piazza were the threshold, door sockets, and basalt pivot bases of yet another gate. Three proto-Aeolic capitals—two carved and one uncarved—were found in the debris covering the piazza.
Three phases of a stone structure were found in the piazza, 16 m from the outer gate. The structure is termed ḥuṣṣot, from the Hebrew root ḥuṣ (outside), a word appearing in 1 Kg. 20:34. It contained pottery sherds of lamps, juglets, kraters, cooking pots, and storage jars. The structure was first built in the first half of the ninth century. Two thin bronze plaques with cultic scenes, as well as sherds of storage jars and bowls from the second half of the ninth century, were found in the second phase of construction. The third construction phase is from the end of that century, with the pottery on the floors dated to the end of the ninth–beginning of the eighth centuries BCE.
Three fragments of an Aramaic inscription were also uncovered. The largest fragment was in secondary use in a wall overlying the west wall of the ḥuṣṣot, the smallest fragment as a pavement stone in the face of the city wall, and the third was found when sorting through the debris. These fragments are part of a victory stela of an Aramean king (Hazael?) who claims to have killed the king of Israel and the king of the House of David, i.e., of Judah. The term “House of David” for the kingdom of Judah is in accord with the biblical account of the Davidic dynastic rule in that region. The piazza, maṣṣebot, walls overlying the ḥuṣṣot structure, and inscription fragments were all covered by the thick debris layer of the Assyrian destruction of the gate complex in 732 BCE.
The tradition of cultic installations and maṣṣebot was continued even after the Assyrian destruction. A three-sided structure entered from the south was erected on top of the destruction layer above the northwest portion of the ḥuṣṣot. Four maṣṣebot were set before the back wall. Two were tall and tapering, one shorter and triangular, and one short and squat. A basalt bowl filled with ashes was set against the tallest maṣṣeba. The bowl rested on a column-like carved limestone block, itself set onto a distinctive flat basalt stone. The pottery collected here was dated to the eighth–seventh centuries BCE.
The four-chamber gate uncovered at the crest was built in the eighth century BCE. To strengthen its defenses, a wall creating a winding access and a gated courtyard were added halfway up the paved approach to the gate. Between this wall and the gate, cultic installations similar to those between the gates at the foot of the slope were found. A row of five maṣṣebot were also uncovered to the right of the entrance of the gate. The chambers were ultimately filled and blocked by benches, although the passageway was in use into the Roman period.
The High Place. Upon removing the fill near the steps of the high place, five stone blocks, each 1.90 by 0.50 by 0.35 m, forming the southwest corner of bamah A, were uncovered. This is the high place attributed to the period of Jeroboam I, who set the golden calf at Dan. Removal of an ash layer, fallen bricks, and debris revealed a portion of the yellow floor surrounding bamah B, the high place attributed to the reign of Ahab. The southwest corner of the Hellenistic and Roman temenos was excavated. A small limestone altar was found at the bottom of the lower wall and above an ashlar wall of the Iron Age temenos. Two basalt elements, one with carved drooping petals and the other a lotus flower, were discovered in the fill that raised the foundation level for the Roman temenos. An oil lamp, pottery sherds, glass fragments dated to the third–fourth centuries CE, and a third-century CE Roman coin attest to the activity at the spring of the Jordan River at that time.
SUMMARY
The earliest remains at Tel Dan indicate that the site was settled during the Pottery Neolithic period. It became a large fortified city with a rich material culture in the Early Bronze Age. The construction of the earthen ramparts in the Middle Bronze Age reduced the area of settlement, which extended up the inner slope of the ramparts. This process continued during the Late Bronze and Iron Ages. In the ninth century BCE, a massive city wall surrounding the foot of the ramparts and an elaborate gate complex with an outer gate and a main inner gate at the southern flank of the site were built. An offering installation with five maṣṣebot, the “bench of the elders,” and a canopied structure were set in the courtyard between the gates and are identified as the “High Place at the Gate” (2 Kg. 23:8). The wall and gates were destroyed during the Assyrian attack in 732 BCE, but the city continued to prosper until the Babylonian conquest. The sanctuary of Dan maintained its centrality well into the Roman period, the third–fourth centuries CE. The availability of water and the relatively large system of irrigation channels and installations, including well-built plastered stone reservoirs, provide further indication that the site was in use during the Roman and Byzantine periods. In the Islamic period, Tel Dan was used as a cemetery.
AVRAHAM BIRAN
Main publications: A. Biran, Dan: “Howbeit the Name of the City was Laish at the First” (Judges 18:29). 25 Years of Excavations at Tel Dan, Tel Aviv 1992 (Eng. abstracts); id., Biblical Dan, Jerusalem 1994; ibid. (Reviews) BAR 20/4 (1994), 6, 8. — PEQ 127 (1995), 171–172. — RB 102 (1995), 458–459. — JAOS 116 (1996), 139–140. — BASOR 308 (1997), 100–102; id. et al., Dan I: A Chronicle of the Excavations, The Pottery Neolithic, The Early Bronze Age and The Middle Bronze Age Tombs (Annual of the Nelson Glueck School of Biblical Archaeology), Jerusalem 1996; ibid. (Reviews) BAR 24/5 (1998), 67. — BASOR 309 (1998), 82–84. — NEA 61 (1998), 258–259. — JNES 58 (1999), 277–279; id. & R. Ben-Dov, Dan II: A Chronicle of the Excavations and The Late Bronze Age “Mycenaean” Tomb, Jerusalem 2002; ibid. (Reviews) Antiquity 78/301 (2004), 732–733. — BASOR 333 (2004), 86–88. — JAOS 124 (2004), 159–160. — NEA 67 (2004), 176–177. — VT 54 (2004), 561; N. E. Heidenbrecht, A Lexicon of Metal Terminology in the Hebrew Scriptures with Special Reference to the Excavations of the Metal Industry at Tel Dan, Israel (Ph.D. diss.), Los Angeles, CA 1993.
Studies: A. Biran, ABD, 2, New York 1992, 12–17; id., MdB 75 (1992), 25; 90 (1995), 32–37; 118 (1999), 72; ESI 13 (1993), 8–11; 14 (1994), 4–7; 15 (1996), 7–10; 16 (1997), 14–17; 18 (1998), 3–4; 20 (2000), 1*–2*; 109 (1999), 2*–3*; 110 (1999), 1*–2*; 112 (2000), 1*–2*; id., AJA 98 (1994), 494; 102 (1998), 769, 789; id., ASOR Newsletter 44/2 (1994), n.p.; 46/2 (1996), 20; id., Scripture and Other Artifacts, Louisville, KY 1994, 1–17; id., EI 25 (1996), 89*; 26 (1999), 227*; id., A Life in Jewish Education (L. L. Kaplan Fest.; ed. J. Fruchtman Jr.), Bethesda, MD 1997, 31–37; id., BAR 24/5 (1998), 38–45, 70; id., Mediterranean Peoples in Transition, Jerusalem 1998, 479–481; id., IEJ 49 (1999), 43–54; id., Studies in the Archaeology of the Iron Age in Israel and Jordan, Sheffield 2001, 148–155; id., NEA 66 (2003), 128–134; I. Finkelstein, TA 19 (1992), 201–220; J. Gunneweg et al., EI 23 (1992), 54*–63*; id. & H. V. Michal, JAS 26 (1999), 989–995; Z. Herzog, ABD, 2, New York 1992, 844–852; D. Ilan, EI 23 (1992), 145*; id., TA 19 (1992), 247–266; id. (et al.), IEJ 43 (1993), 230–234; id., The Archaeology of Death, Oxford 1995, 117–139; id., Levant 28 (1996), 157–172; id., OEANE, 2, New York 1997, 107–112; id., Material Culture, Society and Ideology: New Directions in the Archaeology of the Land of Israel—Conference Proceedings, Bar-Ilan University 3.6.1999 (eds. A. Faust & A. Maeir), Ramat-Gan 1999, ix; id., Northern Israel in the Iron Age I: Cultural, Socioeconomic and Political Perspectives, 1–2 (Ph.D. diss.), Tel Aviv 1999; id., ASOR Annual Meeting 2004, www.asor.org/AM/am.htm; id., BAIAS 22 (2004), 69; A. Kempinski, EI 23 (1992), 149*; P. J. King, ibid., 95*–99*; D. W. Manor, ABD, 4, New York 1992, id., ASOR Newsletter 47/2 (1997), 40; E. Minoff, EI 23 (1992), 87*–89*; D. Pakman, ibid., 154*; 27 (2003), 290*; M. Spaer, Journal of Glass Studies 34 (1992), 44–62; V. Tzaferis, EI 23 (1992), 128*–135*; J. Yellin (& A. Maeir), Archaeometry 34 (1992), 31–36; id., Trends in Analytical Chemistry 14 (1995), 37–44; H. Katzenstein, IEJ 43 (1993), 79–80 (Review); S. Shalev, BAT II, Jerusalem 1993, 57–65; S. R. Wolff, AJA 97 (1993), 142, 144; C. Uehlinger, BN 72 (1994), 85–100; W. Zwickel, Der Tempelkult in Kanaan und Israel (Forschungen zum Alten Testament 10), Tübingen 1994, 254–256; K. L. Noll, ASOR Newsletter 45/2 (1995), 23; id., Proceedings, Eastern Great Lakes and Midwest Biblical Society 15 (1995), 145–156; id., JSOT 80 (1998), 3–23; V. Fritz, The City, Sheffield 1995; id., Jahrbuch des Deutschen Evangelischen Instituts für Altertumswissenschaft des Heiligen Landes 8 (2002), 17–22; R. Ben-Dov, EI 25 (1996), 89*; S. R. Wolff, AJA 100 (1996), 725–769; C. H. Geus, Phoenix 43 (1997), 138–153; 44 (1998), 21–38; R. Sivan, The Conservation of Archaeological Sites in the Mediterranean Region (ed. M. de la Torre), Los Angeles 1997; M. Bernett & O. Keel, Mond, Stier und Kult am Stadttor: Die Stele von Betsaida (et-Tell) (Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis 161), Göttingen 1998, 45–53; I. Jaruzelska, Amos, Poznan 1998; T. Haettner Blomquist, Gates and Gods: Cults in the City Gates of Iron Age Palestine: An Investigation of the Archaeological and Biblical Sources (Coniectanea Biblica: Old Testament Series 46), Stockholm 1999, 57–66; H. Niehr, Bibel und Kirche 54 (1999), 128–130; Practical Impact of Science on Near Eastern and Aegean Archaeology (Wiener Laboratory Publications 3; ed. S. Pike), London 1999, 63–69; H. Shanks, BAR 25/5 (1999), 30–47, 72–74; M. Bietak & K. Kopetzky, Synchronisation, Wien 2000, 103–104; R. Greenberg, Ceramics and Change, Sheffield 2000, 183–200; B. Finlayson et al., Levant 32 (2000), 1–26; R. T. Schaub, The Archaeology of Jordan and Beyond, Winona Lake, IN 2000, 444–464; E. Stern, The Sea Peoples and Their World, Philadelphia 2000, 197–212; S. L. Cohen, Canaanites, Chronologies, and Connections, Winona Lake, IN 2002 (index); L. A. Hitchcock, “Imagining” Biblical World (J. W. Flanagan Fest.; eds. D. M. Gunn & P. M. McNutt), London 2002, 233–249; H. Guillaud, al-Rafidan: Journal of Western Asiatic Studies (Japan) 24 (2003), 41–70; B. Alpert Nakhai, AASOR 58 (2003), 136–137; H. M. Niemann, UF 35 (2003), 447–448 (421–485); W. Zanger, Jewish Bible Quarterly 31 (2003), 27–35; S. Bunimovitz & R. Greenberg, BASOR 334 (2004), 19–31; Y. Elitzur, Ancient Place Names in the Holy Land: Preservation and History, Jerusalem 2004, 201–209; A. Malamat, Nomades et sédentaires dans le Proche-Orient ancien: Compe rendu de la XLVIe Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, Paris, 10–13.7.2000 (Amurru 3; ed. C. Nicolle), Paris 2004, 351–353; J. D. Muhly, BAR 31/5 (2005), 44–51.
The Aramaic Inscription
Main publication: G. Athas, The Tel Dan Inscription: A Reappraisal and a New Interpretation (JSOT Suppl. Series 360; Copenhagen International Seminar 12), Sheffield 2003; ibid. (Reviews) RB 111 (2004), 423–429. — Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament 18 (2004), 135–146; Journal of Semitic Studies 50 (2005), 23–34.
Studies: S. Aḥituv, IEJ 43 (1993), 246–247; A. Biran & J. Naveh, IEJ 43 (1993), 81–98; 45 (1995), 1–18; A. Biran, BAR 20/5 (1994), 22; id., The Israel Museum Journal 12 (1994), 57–60; id., Scripture and Other Artifacts, Louisville KY 1994, 1–17, id., BAIAS 14 (1994–1995), 75; id., Mediterranean Peoples in Transition, Jerusalem 1998, 479–481; Z. Kallai, IEJ 43 (1993), 248; J. Tropeer, UF 25 (1993), 395–406; 26 (1994), 487–492; R. L. Chapman III, BAIAS 13 (1993–1994), 23–29; BAR 20/2 (1994), 26–39; E. Ben-Zvi, JSOT 64 (1994), 25–32; F. H. Cryer, Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament 8 (1994), 3–19; 9 (1995), 52–59; id., JSOT 69 (1996), 3–17; P. R. Davies, BAR 20/4 (1994), 54–55; id., JSOT 64 (1994), 23–24; The Digging Stick 11/3 (1994), 1; M. Dijkstra, BN 74 (1994), 10–14; G. Garbini, Atti della Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei Rendiconti, Scienze Morali 4 (1994), 461–471; B. Halpern, BASOR 296 (1994), 63–80; P. Kaswalder & M. Pazzini, Rivista Biblica 42 (1994), 193–201; E. A. Knauf et al., BN 72 (1994), 60–69; id., Bibel und Kirche 51 (1996), 9–10; A. Lemaire, BAR 20/3 (1994), 30–37; id., Henoch 16 (1994), 87–93; id., Studi Epigrafici e Linguistici sul Vicino Oriente Antico 11 (1994), 17–19; id., Études sémitiques et samaritaines (J. Margin Fest.; eds. C. -B. Amphoux et al.), Lausanne 1998, 41–52; id., JSOT 81 (1998), 3–14; id., Prophetes et rois: Bible et Proche-Orient (Lectio divina. Hors serie; ed. A. Lemaire), Paris 2001, 85–118; id., MdB 146 (2002), 34–39; N. P. Lemche (& T. L. Thompson), JSOT 64 (1994), 3–22; id., Meilenstein (H. Donner Fest.; eds. M. Weippert & S. Timm), Wiesbaden 1995, 99–108; E. Lipinski, Studies in Aramaic Inscriptions and Onomastics, 2, Leuven 1994, 83–101; B. Margalit, N.A.B.U. 1994/1, 20–21; id., UF 26 (1994), 317–320; É. Puech, RB 101 (1994), 215–241; id., MdB 90 (1995), 38–40; A. F. Rainey, BAR 20/6 (1994), 47–48; id., ASOR Newsletter 45/2 (1995), 23; id., NEA 64 (2001), 146–147; C. Uehlinger, BN 72 (1994), 85–100; R. M. Porter, Journal of the Ancient Chronology Forum 7 (1994–1995), 92–96; H. M. Barstad, BN 77 (1995), 5–12; B. Becking, Nederlands Theologisch Tijdschrift 49 (1995), 108–123; id., BN 81 (1996), 21–29; 118 (2003), 19–23; id., Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament 13 (1999), 187–201; A. Demsky, JANES 23 (1995), 29–35; D. N. Freedman & J. C. Geoghegan, BAR 21/2 (1995), 78–79; C. H. Geus, Phoenix 41 (1995), 119–130; J. K. Hoffmeier, Archaeology in the Biblical World 3 (1995), 12–15; id., BH 33 (1997), 13–20; R. G. Lehmann & M. Reichel, BN 77 (1995), 29–31; H. -P. Müller, Zeitschrift für Althebraistik 8 (1995), 121–139; T. Muraoka, Abr-Nahrain 33 (1995), 113–115; id., IEJ 45 (1995), 19–21; id., Zeitschrift für Althebräistik 11 (1998), 75–81; id., VT 51 (2001), 389–392; N. Na’aman, BN 79 (1995), 17–24; id., UF 27 (1995), 381–394; id., EI 26 (1999), 232*; id., IEJ 50 (2000), 92–104; G. A. Rendsburg, ibid. 45 (1995), 22–25; V. Sasson, Journal of Semitic Studies 40 (1995), 11–30; 50 (2005), 23–34; id., UF 28 (1996), 547–554; K. A. D. Smelik, Amsterdamse Cahiers voor Exegese en Bijbelse Theologie 14 (1995), 131–141; T. L. Thompson, Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament 9 (1995), 59–74, 236–240; J. T. Willis, Restoration Quarterly 37 (1995), 219–226; S. Yamada, UF 27 (1995), 611–625; id., The Construction of the Assyrian Empire (Culture and History of the Ancient Near East 3), Leiden 2000; Ancient Inscriptions: Voices from the Biblical World (ed. P. K. McCarter Jr.), Washington, DC 1996; M. Mülzer, BN 84 (1996), 54–58; W. M. Schniedewind, BASOR 302 (1996), 75–90; id., IEJ 51 (2001), 88–91; W. Dietrich, Theologische Zeitschrift 53 (1997), 17–32; P. -E. Dion, Les Araméens à l’Âge du Fer: histoire politique et structures sociales (Études bibliques N.S. 34), Paris 1997. 192–195; id., Michael: Historical Epigraphical and Biblical Studies (M. Heltzer Fest.; eds. Y. Avishur & R. Deutsch), Tel Aviv 1999, 145–156; J. A. Emerton, VT 47 (1997), 429–440; 50 (2000), 27–37; K. A. Kitchen, JSOT 76 (1997), 29–44; id., On the Reliability of the Old Testament, Grand Rapids, MI 2003 (subject index); S. B. Parker, Stories in Scripture and Inscriptions, New York 1997; J. Renz, Schrift und Schreibertradition: Eine Paläographische Studie zum Kulturgeschichtlichen Verhältnis von Israelitischen Nordreich und Südreich (Abhandlungen des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins 23), Wiesbaden 1997; H. Shanks, BAR 23/6 (1997), 28–32; BH 34/2 (1998), 44–45; 61–62; W. G. Dever, NEA 61 (1998), 42–43; I. Kottsieper, “Und Mose schreib dieses Lied auf” (O. Loretz Fest.; Alter Orient und Altes Testament 250; eds. M. Dietrich & I. Kottsieper), Münster 1998, 475–500; id., Texte aus der Umwelt des Alten Testaments, Gütersloh 2001, 176–202; K. L. Noll, JSOT 80 (1998), 3–23; J. Naveh, EI 26 (1999), 232*; U. Szwarc, Roczniki Theologiczne (Katolicki Univ. Lubelsi), 46 (1999), 139–148; J. -W. Wesselius, Nederlands Theologisch Tijdschrift 53 (1999), 177–190; id., Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament 13 (1999), 163–186; 15 (2001), 83–103; G. Galil, Studies in Historical Geograpy, Leiden 2000, 35–41; id., PEQ 133 (2001), 16–21; G. Couturier, The World of the Aramaeans: Biblical Studies, 2 (P. -E. Dion Fest.; eds. P. M. M. Daviau et al.), Sheffield 2001, 72–98; V. DeCaen, VT 51 (2001), 381–385; C. S. Ehrlich, The World of the Aramaeans, 2 (op. cit.), Sheffield 2001, 57–71; S. A. Irvine, The Land That I Will Show You (J. M. Miller Fest.; eds. J. A. Dearman & M. P. Graham), Sheffield 2001, 104–118; id., JBL 124 (2005), 341–347; W. M. Schniedewind & B. Zuckerman, IEJ 51 (2001), 88–91; Texte aus der Umwelt des Alten Testaments Ergänzungslieferung (eds. M. Dietrich et al.), Gütersloh 2001, 176–179; G. Gmirkin, Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament 16 (2002), 293–302; S. Mittmann, ZDPV 118 (2002), 33–65; N. P. Lemche, Jerusalem in Ancient History and Tradition (JSOT Suppl. Series 381; Copenhagen International Seminar 13; ed. T. L. Thompson), Sheffield 2003, 46–67; H. Hagelia, Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament 18 (2004), 135–146 (Review); id., Svensk Exegetisk Arsbok 69 (2004), 155–166; id., Tidsskrift for Teologi og Kirke 75 (2004), 5–19; L. J. Mykytiuk, Identifying Biblical Persons in Northwest Semitic Inscriptions of 1200–539 B.C.E. (Society of Biblical Literature Academia Biblica 12), Atlanta, GA 2004, 110–132, 275–277; J. D. Muhly, BAR 31/5 (2005), 44–51; B. Sass, The Alphabet at the Turn of the Millennium: The West Semitic Alphabet Ca. 1150–850BCE (Tel Aviv Occasional Publications 4), Tel Aviv 2005 (index).
Color Plates
EXCAVATIONS
Nine seasons of excavations were conducted at Tel Dan between 1990 and 1999 by the Nelson Glueck School of Biblical Archaeology of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, under the direction of A. Biran. Work continued in previously excavated areas. In area A (the Iron Age fortifications) and area T (the sanctuary) the excavations were considerably enlarged. The expedition included the staff of the school in Jerusalem, student volunteers, and laborers from the village of Ghajar. These seasons of excavations provided new discoveries and enable us to present an overall history of Dan-Laish.
