Several short excavation seasons were conducted in 1998–2000 at the Second Temple period winter palaces in the area of Tulul Abu el-‘Alayiq in Jericho. The excavations were conducted by an expedition of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem under the direction of E. Netzer, with the assistance of Y. Kalman and R. Laureys-Chachy. The work concentrated upon the area east of the twin palaces, the area northeast of Herod’s second palace, and the workshop area.
EXCAVATION RESULTS
THE OPEN-AIR TRICLINIUM. A broad U-shaped plastered couch or triclinium of the Hasmonean period, built in two phases, was exposed in the courtyard adjoining the eastern side of the twin palaces. A recess in one corner of the initial phase of this structure contained evidence for a tree root c. 70 cm in diameter, indicating that the triclinium was constructed in this spot to take advantage of a date palm or some other tree that provided shade. The inner side of the couch bears remains of a fresco decoration. During its second phase the structure was extended to accommodate more diners.
THE SYNAGOGUE COMPLEX. Most of the main wing of the second palace was fully exposed, including the central part of its courtyard—the garden—elevated c. 80 cm above the surrounding colonnades. An outstanding discovery was made under the northeastern corner of this wing, where a synagogue complex from an earlier, Hasmonean, stage was revealed and fully excavated. The complex is located at the edge of a row of mostly unexcavated buildings, which extended from the Hasmonean palace complex to the workshop area, next to a branch of the Na‘aran aqueduct. Dated to the end of the reign of Alexander Jannaeus, these buildings apparently accommodated the administrators of the adjacent royal estate.
The complex was constructed in three phases. In the first phase, a building (c. 20 by 10 m) consisting of a small courtyard and seven rooms was constructed, probably as a dwelling. In the second phase, probably during the reign of Queen Salome Alexandra (76–67 BCE), this building was turned into a synagogue, with the addition of a large hall (16.5 by 11.5 m) and a wing that included a mikveh. The hall was surrounded on all sides by pillars (c. 90 by 80 cm ), 12 altogether, and the aisles were separated from the nave by low retaining walls, between the pillars, which functioned as benches. One additional bench was constructed in the western aisle, two others in the northern aisle. In all, the synagogue hall contained some 140 seats.
The hall was equipped with two interesting features. One is a niche with a two-level, built-in cupboard located at its northeastern corner. The niche included a compartment with a narrow opening, apparently intended to hold the Torah scrolls, and under it a tiny compartment, below the level of the aisles, probably to be used as a genizah. The second feature of the hall is a basin, perhaps for the ritual washing of hands, incorporated into the benches of the northern aisle. It was attached to a narrow channel, which began at the Na‘aran aqueduct, and continued under the hall floor into the mikveh. The mikveh contained two pools, one for immersion and the other for stored water (the otzar). Two small rooms, apparently used for washing, were exposed next to the mikveh.
The major change in the third phase was the addition of two rooms, a large one (6.4 by 4.7 m) that opened onto the western side of the hall, and a second small one, which was triangular in shape. A U-shaped wide couch—a triclinium—occupied the large room, whereas the small room probably functioned as a kitchen. Worthy of note is the dismantling of the southwestern corner of the synagogue hall, necessitated by this addition, and the shifting of the central western pillar, so as not to be an obstruction between the audience in the hall and those dining in the triclinium. Noteworthy is the physical proximity of this triclinium and the open-air triclinium described above, only 60 m apart, as well as their approximate contemporaneity.
Architecturally, the synagogue resembles that of Gamala, which is dated to the beginning of the first century CE. Jericho’s synagogue, as a whole, corresponds to information from literary sources concerning the role of the synagogue during the Second Temple period, when it served as a place for reading and studying scripture, settling disputes, accommodating guests, and community gatherings. The presence of the mikveh and triclinium within the synagogue of the period are also attested by these sources.
THE WORKSHOP AREA. The renewed excavations further explored the workshop area, offering a better understanding of the function of its main installations. Two of these were probably connected with the cultivation of balsam. Each installation contained paved floors, two adjacent pools, and stoves. The basalm branches were apparently crushed upon the paved floors. The two adjacent pools were connected at their bottom, one with stairs on two opposite sides, the other without stairs. They appear to have been used for soaking the crushed balsam branches. Pliny describes the use of branches to provide more of the precious raw balsam (NH XII.LIV, 118). The stoves were apparently for the distillation in cauldrons of the liquid produced by the soaking process. The liquids that were processed in these installations were probably stored in the “liquids storage building.” The workshop area also included several mikvehs and a press for the processing of date wine and beer, and probably also of date honey, one of several exposed around the royal estate.
EHUD NETZER
Tulul Abu el-‘Alayiq
Main publications:Hasmonean and Herodian Palaces at Jericho: Final Reports of the 1973–1987 Excavations (director E. Netzer), I: Stratigraphy and Architecture, by E. Netzer, Jerusalem 2001; ibid. (Reviews) BAR 28/4 (2002), 56–58. — BAIAS 21 (2003), 87–91. — IEJ 53 (2003), 259–261. — JRA 16 (2003), 659–664; II: Stratigraphy and Architecture, by E. Netzer & R. Laureys-Chachy. — The Coins, by Y. Meshorer, Jerusalem 2004; III: The Pottery, by R. Bar-Nathan, Jerusalem 2002; ibid. (Review) Dead Sea Discoveries 10 (2003), 421–428; E. Netzer, The Palaces of the Hasmoneans and Herod the Great, Jerusalem 2001 (Heb.); ibid. (Review) BAIAS 19–20 (2001–2002), 180–181.
Studies: T. A. Holland & E. Netzer, ABD, 3, New York 1992, 737–740; K. L. Gleason, Landscape Journal 12 (1993), 156–167; id., Albright News 3 (1997), 8–10; E. Netzer, BA 56 (1993), 144–146; id., BAT II, Jerusalem 1993, 126–136; id., JSRS 5 (1995), xiv–xv; 11 (2002), xii–xiii; 12 (2003), xi–xii; id., Basileia: Die Paläste der hellenistischen Könige. Internationales Symposium, Berlin, 16–20.12.1992 (Schriften des Seminars für klassische Archäologie der Freien Universität, Berlin; eds. W. Höpfner & G. Brands), Mainz am Rhein 1996, 203–208; id., Caesarea Maritima: A Retrospective after Two Millennia (Documenta et Monumenta Orientis Antiqui 21; eds. A. Raban & K. G. Holum), Leiden 1996, 193–206; id., Judaea and the Greco-Roman World in the Time of Herod in the Light of Archaeological Evidence, Göttingen 1996, 27–54; id., Archéo 14/7 (1998), 32–37; id., IEJ 49 (1999), 203–221; id., Die Paläste der Hasmonäer und Herodes’ des Grossen (Antike Welt Sonderhefte; Zaberns Bildbände zur Archäologie), Mainz am Rhein 1999; id., Roman Baths and Bathing, 1: Bathing and Society (JRA Suppl. Series 37), Portsmouth, RI 1999, 45–55; id., Antike Welt 31 (2000), 477–484; id., MdB 131 (2000), 60; id. (& G. Garbrecht), The Aqueducts of Israel, Portsmouth, RI 2002, 366–379; id., The Architecture of Herod, the Great Builder, Tübingen (forthcoming); S. Ilani & N. Porat, Geological Survey of Israel, Current Research 8 (1993), 41–43; M. Kislev, Cathedra 72 (1994), 193–194; J. Magness, Revue de Qumran 16/63 (1994), 397–419; I. Nielsen, Hellenistic Palaces: Tradition and Renewal (Studies in Hellenistic Civilization 5), Aarhus 1994; P. Richardson, Herod: King of the Jews and Friend of the Romans (Studies on Personalities of the New Testament), Columbia, SC 1996; id., Building Jewish in the Roman East, Waco, TX 2004; S. Rozenberg, Judaea and the Greco-Roman World in the Time of Herod (op. cit.), Göttingen 1996, 121–138; id., Roman Wall Painting: Materials, Techniques, Analysis and Conservation: Proceedings of the International Workshop, Fribourg, 7–9.3.1996 (eds. H. Béarat et al.), Fribourg 1997, 63–74; id., Michmanim 14 (2000), 14*–15*; id., Colour in the Ancient Mediterranean World (BAR/IS 1267; eds. L. Cleland & K. Stears), Oxford 2004, 22–31; R. Förtsch, Judaea and the Greco-Roman World in the Time of Herod (op. cit.), Göttingen 1996, 73–119; K. Fittschen, ibid., 139–161; A. M. Berlin, BA 60 (1997), 2–51; R. Hachlili, OEANE, 3, New York 1997, 16–18; Le opere fortificate de Erode il Grand, Firenze 1997; Archaeology 51/4 (1998), 27; P. Donceel-Voûte, Res Orientales 11 (1998), 93–124; id., La mosaïque gréco-romaine 8: Actes du 8. Colloque International pour l’Étude de la Mosaïque Antique et Médiévale, Lausanne, 6–11.10.1997 (Cahiers d’Archéologie romande 86; eds. D. Paunier & C. Schmidt), 2, Lausanne 2001, 490–509; N. Porat & S. Ilani, Israel Journal of Earth Sciences 47/2 (1998), 75–85; id., Michmanim 14 (2000), 168; D. W. Roller, The Building Program of Herod the Great, Berkeley, CA 1998; A. M. Schneider, Reticulum: Ausgewählte Aufsätze und Katalog seiner Sammlungen (Jahrbuch für Antike und Christentum Ergänzungsband 25), Münster 1998; D. Herman, Eretz 67 (1999), 57–60; D. M. Jacobson, BAIAS 17 (1999), 67–76; id., PEQ 134 (2002), 84–91; A. Lichtenberger, Die Baupolitik Herodes des Grossen (Abhandlungen des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins 26), Wiesbaden 1999; N. Marchetti & L. Nigro, Les Dossiers d’Archeologie 240 (1999), 98–105; Y. Porath, 7th Seminar on History of Irrigation, Drainage and Flood Control (ed. H. Fahlbusch), New Delhi 1999, 53–70; G. Garbrecht & E. Netzer, Wasser im Heiligen Land: Biblische Zeugnisse und Archäologische Forschungen (Schriftenreihe der Frontinus Gesellschaft Suppl 3; ed. W. Dierx), Mainz am Rhein 2001, 205–221; Y. Rapuano, IEJ 51 (2001), 48–56; H. Shanks, BAR 27/6 (2001), 51–57; Z. Meshel, Cura Aquarum in Israel, Siegburg 2002, 81–87; H. Schwarzer & S. Japp, Antike Welt 33 (2002), 277–288; M. Fischer, JRA 16 (2003), 659–664; id. (& O. Tal), ZDPV 119 (2003), 19–37; J. Magness, Dead Sea Discoveries 10 (2003), 421–428; F. Brossier, MdB Hors Série 2005, 46–47; A. Lewin, The Archaeology of Ancient Judea and Palestine, Los Angeles, CA 2005, 110–115.
Tell es-Sultan
Main publications: R. Ruby, Jericho: Dreams, Ruins, Phantoms, New York 1995; ibid. (Review) BAR 22/4 (1996), 68–69; K. Bieberstein, Josua–Jordan–Jericho: Archäologie, Geschichte und Theologie der Landnahmerzählungen Josua 1–6 (Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis 143), Fribourg 1995; ibid. (Reviews) Levant 29 (1997), 262–264. — Orientalistische Literaturzeitung 95 (2000), 453–454; D. Neev & K. O. Emery, The Destruction of Sodom, Gomorrah and Jericho: Geological, Climatological and Archaeological Background, New York 1995; ibid. (Reviews) BAR 23/1 (1997), 70. — Geoarchaeology 13 (1998), 96–99; Quaderni di Gerico, 1: Scavi a Gerico, 1997: Relazione preliminare sulla prima campagna di scavi e prospezioni archeologiche a Tell el-Sultan, Palestina (eds. N. Marchetti & L. Nigro), Roma 1998; ibid. (Review) PEQ 133 (2001), 66–67; Quaderni di Gerico, 2: Excavations at Jericho, 1998: Preliminary Report on the 2nd Season of Archaeological Excavations and Surveys at Tell es-Sultan, Palestine (eds. N. Marchetti & L. Nigro), Roma 2000; Jericho und Qumran: Neues zum Umfeld der Bibel (Eichstätter Studien, N.F. 45; ed. B. Mayer), Regensburg 2000; ibid. (Review) BASOR 329 (2003), 94–96; I. Finkelstein & N. A. Silbermann, Keine Posaunen vor Jericho: Die archäologische Wahrheit über die Bibel, München 2002.
Studies: L. K. Horwitz & P. Smith, Archaeozoologia 4 (1991), 29–38; H. Eshel, Revue de Qumran 15/59 (1992), 409–420; C. H. J. de Geus, Phoenix 38/2 (1992), 4–15; T. A. Holland, ABD, 3, New York 1992, 723–737; id., OEANE, 3, New York 1997, 220–224; W. D. Kingery et al., MRS [Material Research Society, Pittsburgh, PA] Bulletin 27 (1992), 46–52; A. Yasur-Landau, TA 19 (1992), 235–246; J. Zias & S. Pomeranz, International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 2 (1992), 183–186; J. N. Benton et al., Mediterranean Archaeology 5/6 (1992–1993), 59–110; O. Aurenche, Between the Rivers and Over the Mountains (A. Palmieri Fest.; ed. M. Frangipane), Roma 1993, 71–86; P. G. Dorrell, PEQ 125 (1993), 95–114; A. Gopher & R. Gophna, Journal of World Prehistory 7 (1993), 297–353; H. A. Lyall & G. E. Mann, International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 3 (1993), 233–240; R. B. Robinson, Konsequente Traditionsgeschichte (K. Baltzer Fest.; eds. R. Bartelmus et al.), Freiburg 1993, 311–335; E. Stern, EI 24 (1993), 238*; id., Scripture and Other Artifacts, Louisville, KY 1994, 399–409; E. Dubis, Munus Amicitiae (Olga Hirsch Dyczek Fest.; Sumptibus Universitatis Iagellonicae 332), Cracow 1994, 59–67; V. Fritz, Das Buch Josua (Handbuch zum Alten Testament I/7), Tübingen 1994; R. Hachmann, Baghdader Mitteilungen 25 (1994), 19–74; J. G. van der Land, Bijbel, Geschiedenis en Archeologie 1 (1994), 1–12; I. Thuesen, Fra dybet (J. Strange Fest.; Forum for Bibelsk Eksegese 5; eds. N. P. Lemche & M. Müller), Copenhagen 1994, 243–252; S. J. Robinson, Journal of the Ancient Chronology Forum 7 (1994–1995), 27–51; H. J. Bruins & J. van der Plicht, Radiocarbon 37 (1995), 213–220; 40 (1998), 621–628; 43 (2001), 1321–1332; Y. Goren & I. Segal, Israel Journal of Chemistry 35 (1995), 155–166; id. & A. N. Goring-Morris, JAS 28 (2001), 671–690; L. Mazor, Textus 18 (1995), 47–62; G. W. A. Newton & K. Prag, SHAJ 5 (1995), 573–585; G. Philip, ibid., 523–530; B. Poree, Orient Express 1995, 95–97; E. G. D. Robinson, Trade, Contact, and the Movement of Peoples in the Eastern Mediterranean (J. B. Hennessy Fest.; Mediterranean Archaeology Suppl. 3; eds. S. Bourke & J. -P. Descoeudres), Sydney 1995, 61–80; B. Rosen, TA 22 (1995), 70–76; I. Sharon, JAS 22 (1995), 751–767; id., Models for Stratigraphic Analysis of Tell Sites (Ph.D. diss.), Jerusalem 1995; A. Z. Zivotofsky, Tradition 29/3 (1995), 21–39; P. Beck & U. Zevulun, BASOR 304 (1996), 69–73; L. Nigro, Contributi e Materiali di Archeologia Orientale 6 (1996), 1–69; 9 (2003), 121–158; id., Bollettino dei Monumenti Musei e Gallerie Pontificie 19 (1999), 5–52; id., Rendiconti della Pontificia Accademia Romana di Archeologia 69 (1999), 187–218; id., Archéologie dans l’Empire Ottoman autour de 1900: entre politique, economie et science (eds. V. Krings & I. Tassignon), Brussel 2004, 215–229; E. Noort, Nederlands Theologisch Tijdschrift 50 (1996), 265–279; P. J. Parr, The Furniture of Western Asia: Ancient and Traditional (ed. G. Herrmann), Mainz am Rhein 1996, 41–48; id., The Archaeology of Jordan and Beyond, Winona Lake, IN 2000, 389–398; S. Riklin, ESI 15 (1996), 68–70; O. Rohrer-Ertl, Ethnographisch-Archaeologische Zeitschrift 37 (1996), 503–513; N. Marchetti (& L. Nigro), Archéo 13/9 (1997), 45–77; 15/1 (1999), 10–12; id. (et al.), Orient Express 1997, 35–37; 1999, 17–21; 2000, 82–85; id. (et al.), PEQ 130 (1998), 121–144; id. (& L. Nigro), Les Dossiers d’Archéologie 240 (1999), 90–97; id., ICAANE, 1, Roma 2000, 869–901; id., Synchronisation, Wien 2003, 295–322; H. Taha, Occident and Orient 2/2 (1997), 25–26; E. B. Banning, NEA 61 (1998), 188–237; 66 (2003), 4–21; K. A. Kitchen, Beer-Sheva 12 (1998), 65–131; O. Negbi, TA 25 (1998), 184–207; M. Bonogofsky, Occident and Orient 4/1–2 (1999), 5–6; id., An Osteo-Archaeological Examination of the Ancestor Cult during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B Period in the Levant (Ph.D. diss., Berkeley, CA), Ann Arbor, MI 2001; id., JAS 29 (2002), 959–964; id., Journal of the Association of Graduates in Near Eastern Studies, Berkeley, CA, 9 (2002), 1–7; id., BASOR 331 (2003), 1–10; id., NEA 67 (2004), 118–120; P. R. Callaway, The Qumran Chronicle 8 (1999), 169–170; D. E. Fleming, Ki Baruch hu: Ancient Near Eastern, Biblical and Judaic Studies (B. A. Levine Fest.; eds. R. Chazan et al.), Winona Lake, IN 1999, 211–228; Y. Garfinkel, Levant 31 (1999), 65–69; id., Neolithic and Chalcolithic Pottery of the Southern Levant (Qedem 39), Jerusalem 1999; H. Novetzky & A. Mermelstein, Nachalah: Yeshiva University Journal for the Study of Bible 1 (1999), 65–74; M. P. Pearson, The Archaeology of Death and Burial (Texas A & M University Anthropolgy Series 3), College Station, TX 1999, 156–164; J. N. Tubb, Minerva 10/2 (1999), 23–26; M. Bietak (& K. Kopetzky), Synchronisation, Wien 2000, 112; id., Ägypten und Levante 13 (2003), 13–38; D. Oredsson, Moats in Ancient Palestine (Coniectanea Biblica, Old Testament Series 48), Stockholm 2000; M. Ramazzotti, Vicino Oriente 12 (2000), 89–115; R. Hänsch, SCI 20 (2001), 155–167; T. P. Harrison, Studies in the Archaeology of Israel and Neighboring Lands, Chicago, IL 2001, 215–236; J. Weinstein, ASOR Annual Meeting Abstract Book, Boulder, CO 2001, 18; A. Ronen & D. Adler, Archaeology, Ethnology and Anthropology of Eurasia 2/6 (2001), 97–103; S. Colledge & J. Conolly, Archaeology International 2001/2002, 44–46; D. Schmandt-Besserat, Origini 24 (2002), 95–140; id., Archaeology Odyssey 6/2 (2003), 19–27; Z. Herzog, Saxa Loquentur, Münster 2003, 85–100; S. Mithen, After the Ice: A Global Human History, 20,000–5000 BC, London 2003, 56–61; D. Naveh, CAJ 13 (2003), 83–96; M. Vidale, Archéo 19/223 (2003), 80–87; K. Bartl, Die spätepiapläolitische und frühneolithische Entwicklung im westlichen Vorderasien (Studies in Early Near Eastern Production, Subsistence, and Environment 10), Berlin 2004, Chapters 10–11; M. Rosenberg, Tüba-ar: Turkish Academy of Sciences Journal of Archaeology 7 (2004), 53–60; C. R. Cartwright, PEQ 137 (2005), 99–138.
Tell es-Samarat
E. Netzer, JSRS 5 (1995), xiv–xv; id., Caesarea Maritima: A Retrospective after Two Millennia (Documenta et Monumenta Orientis Antiqui 21; eds. A. Raban & K. G. Holum), Leiden 1996, 193–206; id., Judaea and the Greco-Roman World in the Time of Herod in the Light of Archaeological Evidence (Abhandlungen der Akademie der Wissenschaften in Göttingen, Philologisch-Historische Klasse 3/215; eds. K. Fittschen & G. Foerster), Göttingen 1996, 42–43; P. Richardson, Herod: King of the Jews and Friend of the Romans (Studies on Personalities of the New Testament), Columbia, SC 1996.
The Second Temple Period Jewish Cemetery at Jericho
Main publication: R. Hachlili and A. E. Killebrew, Jericho: The Jewish Cemetery of the Second Temple Period (IAA Reports 7), Jerusalem 1999.
Studies: L. Y. Rahmani, ‘Atiqot 22 (1993), 149–150; H. Eshel, JSRS 4 (1994), 114–115; G. Hadas et al., Nine Tombs of the Second Temple Period at ‘En Gedi (‘Atiqot 24), Jerusalem 1994; R. Hachlili, IEJ 47 (1997), 238–247; id., Jewish Funerary Customs, Practices, and Rites in the Second Temple Period (Suppl. to the Journal for the Study of Judaism 94), Leiden 2005; G. Hadas, Michmanim 16 (2002), 40*–41*; Y. Peleg, BASOR 325 (2002), 65–73.
The Hellenistic to Early Islamic Periods
M. Price, INJ 11 (1990–1991), 24–25; A. Ovadiah, 5th International Colloquium on Ancient Mosaics, Bath, 5–12.9.1987 (JRA Suppl. Series 9; eds. P. Johnson et al.), Ann Arbor, MI 1994, 67–77; J. Magness & E. E. Cook, BAR 22/6 (1996), 37–52; P. R. Callaway, The Qumran Chronicle 8 (1998), 169–170; H. M. Cotton & W. Eck, Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 127 (1999), 211–215; J. H. Charlesworth et al., Miscellaneous Texts from the Judaean Desert (Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 38), Oxford 2000; J. Schwartz & Z. Amar, Jerusalem and Eretz Israel (A. Kindler Fest.; eds. J. Schwartz et al.), Ramat Gan 2000, 77–88; R. Hänsch, SCI 20 (2001), 155–167.
The Synagogue
O. Hess, Israelal Magazine 58 (1994), 27, 29, 32–34; J. F. Strange, Judaism in Late Antiquity III/4, Leiden 2001, 93–120.
Khirbet en-Nitla
O. Sion, LA 46 (1996), 245–264.
RENEWED EXCAVATIONS
Several short excavation seasons were conducted in 1998–2000 at the Second Temple period winter palaces in the area of Tulul Abu el-‘Alayiq in Jericho. The excavations were conducted by an expedition of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem under the direction of E. Netzer, with the assistance of Y. Kalman and R. Laureys-Chachy. The work concentrated upon the area east of the twin palaces, the area northeast of Herod’s second palace, and the workshop area.
EXCAVATION RESULTS
THE OPEN-AIR TRICLINIUM. A broad U-shaped plastered couch or triclinium of the Hasmonean period, built in two phases, was exposed in the courtyard adjoining the eastern side of the twin palaces. A recess in one corner of the initial phase of this structure contained evidence for a tree root c. 70 cm in diameter, indicating that the triclinium was constructed in this spot to take advantage of a date palm or some other tree that provided shade. The inner side of the couch bears remains of a fresco decoration. During its second phase the structure was extended to accommodate more diners.
