Even Briefer

008

Biblical Archaeology Today, 1990: Proceedings of the Second International Congress on Biblical Archaeology

ed. Avraham Biran and Joseph Aviram

(Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society, 1993), 770 pp., $60.00

More than 600 scholars gathered to hear over 100 papers at this congress in Jerusalem from June 24 to July 4, 1990—the largest Biblical archaeology conference in history. The event, marking the 100th anniversary of Sir Flinders Petrie’s pioneering excavation at Tel Hesi, heralded the arrival of a new generation of scholars. With the passing of such luminaries as Yigael Yadin, Samuel Noah Kramer and Yigal Shiloh—who graced the First International Congress in 1984—and the less active presence of many senior scholars, younger scholars such as Thomas E. Levy, Shlomo Bunimovitz and Michal Artzy carry on the great tradition. If the growth of the proceedings represents growth in the field, then Biblical archaeology is healthy indeed. This volume and a paperback supplement (149 pp., $20.00) gather 93 papers, as well as responses and discussion, for a total of 919 pages, almost double the length of the proceedings from the first congress. (The papers in the supplement come from a pre-congress symposium on population, production and power in the ancient Near East.) The contents, virtually a state-of-the-field report, include the history of the field, papers on sites in every period from the Late Bronze through the Byzantine, cult sites, art, trade, interdisciplinary studies, the Dead Sea Scrolls and other texts.

Ancient Stone Anchors and Net Sinkers from the Sea of Galilee

Mendel Nun

(Ein Gev, Israel: Kibbutz Ein Gev Tourist Department & Kinnereth Sailing Co., 1993), 64 pp., $6.50, paper

A fisherman on the Sea of Galilee for nearly 50 years—as BAR readers will remember from his recent article, “Cast Your Net Upon the Waters,” BAR 19:06—Mendel Nun, in this new work, explores the material evidence of fishing and sailing from ancient harbors on the Sea of Galilee. This thorough, well-presented study examines the weights, shapes and composition of anchors, net sinkers and mooring stones: their fabrication, function and relationship to shfifonim—the ancient anchor-shaped cult stones of the region. Nearly 100 black-and-white photographs of anchors, sites and other finds, as well as numerous line drawings showing the function of various net arrangements and fishing objects, make the study easy to follow.

Ammon, Moab and Edom: Early States/Nations of Jordan in the Biblical Period (End of the 2nd and During the 1st Millennium B.C.)

Burton MacDonald

(Amman, Jordan: Al Kutba, 1994), 83 pp., $12.00, paper

This book brings together the literary and archaeological evidence of the kingdoms of Ammon, Moab and Edom during the Biblical period (1200 B.C.–300 A.D.) in an attempt to unravel the “scattered, erratic, inconsistent and often controversial” record of their history.

MacDonald treats these early nations—which lay to the east and south of Judah and the Dead Sea, now in Jordan—as one unit, in the manner of the Biblical tradition. He methodically examines the pertinent Egyptian and Mesopotamian literary sources, epigraphic evidence from Jordan, Biblical information and archaeological discoveries. The specific sources include the hieroglyphs of Ramesses II and III and Merneptah; the Elephantine Letters; the stelae of Shalmaneser III, Tiglath-pileser III and Sennacherib; the Deir ‘Alla and Mesha inscriptions; and the finds from the Amman Citadel, Hesban, Dhiban and Wadi al-Hasa (where MacDonald directed a dig). Accompanying the text are 28 black-and-white photographs, a small fold-out black-and-white map, lists of archaeological periods and selected readings, which curiously neglect to mention the Hesban volumes (reviewed in Books in Brief, BAR 19:04).

Biblical Archaeology Today, 1990: Proceedings of the Second International Congress on Biblical Archaeology