Inside BAR

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“The Jesus Boat,” headlines called it, when the first ancient boat ever discovered in the Sea of Galilee was lifted from the lakebed in February 1986. True, the small boat very likely plied the Galilee during Jesus’ lifetime, and it was probably used for fishing, but whether Jesus or his disciples ever sailed in it we will never know. It could have been built in a shipyard nearby at Migdal and may have gone to war in 67 A.D., when the Sea of Galilee turned red with the blood of Jews rebelling against Roman rule. The mystery, however, in no way detracts from the exciting discovery of the boat and the heroic 11-day excavation to rescue it from the elements. Archaeologist Shelley Wachsmann reports on the find that fired the public imagination in “The Galilee Boat—2,000-Year-Old Hull Recovered Intact.”

Wachsmann has served as nautical archaeologist for the Israel Department of Antiquities and Museums since 1976. In this capacity he is directly responsible for discovering, recording and protecting Israel’s nautical heritage. He has dived extensively in the Mediterranean Sea, the Sea of Galilee and the Red Sea, and has directed a number of nautical surveys and excavations.

Wachsmann received his B.A. and M.A. degrees in Near Eastern archaeology at the Hebrew University’s Institute of Archaeology, where he is currently completing his Ph.D. dissertation, entitled “Seagoing Ships and Seamanship in the Late Bronze Age Levant.” He is the author of numerous articles on the results of his work and on other topics. Directing the excavation of the Galilee boat was Wachsmann’s latest project. Since then, he has devoted much of his time to completing the boat’s excavation report.

Already being hailed as a landmark, a work on the leading edge of scholarship, The Archaeology of the Israelite Settlement by Israel Finkelstein employs, for the first time, the full power of archaeology in an attempt to decipher the riddle of the Israelite settlement. Based on the author’s excavations at Izbet Sartah, Shiloh and Khirbet ed-Dawara and on his comprehensive survey of the Land of Ephraim, the book examines the material culture of the settlement sites and the nature of the settlement process from chronological, demographic, socioeconomic and historical perspectives. In “Searching for Israelite Origins,” Finkelstein presents a streamlined adaptation of his theory about where the Israelites came from and how they first settled in the hill country of Israel. For an assessment of that theory, readers may turn to Douglas L. Esse’s review of the book in Books in Brief.

Finkelstein is a senior lecturer at Bar-Ilan University. His extensive field experience includes the positions of co-director of the Tell Ira excavations in the Negev (1979–1981), director of the Land of Ephraim survey and director of the excavations at Biblical Shiloh (1981–1984). Finkelstein has previously contributed several articles to BAR, including “Shiloh Yields Some, But Not All, of Its Secrets,” BAR 12:01, and “Raider of the Lost Mountain—An Israeli Archaeologist Looks at the Most Recent Attempt to Locate Mt. Sinai,” BAR 14:04.

Some idea of the nomadic life led by the Israelites’ pastoralist forebears may be gleaned from “Finding Evidence of Ancient Nomads,” by Steven A. Rosen. Although many archaeologists think that ancient nomads have left behind fewer traces than the wind itself, Rosen shows that this belief is mistaken. While no cities and great temples mark the ancient nomads’ sojourn in the land, more subtle clues do reveal their presence to the expert eye. Rosen reads these clues and combines them with insights gained from surviving nomadic groups, such as the Bedouin, to produce a vivid picture of nomadic life in the Negev. Rosen’s views may be contrasted with Finkelstein’s views. Finkelstein suggests that when a once sedentary people revert to a nomadic way of life, they “disappear” archaeologically.

Rosen has been working in the Negev for the Archaeological Survey of Israel since 1980, excavating sites ranging in date from the Middle Paleolithic through the Byzantine period. He has participated in excavations all over Israel, including Tel Dor, Lachish, Tel Michal, Tel Sheva, Hayonim Cave and Netiv Hagdud, and outside of Israel, in Spain, Italy and the United States. He also teaches prehistoric archaeology at Ben-Gurion University in Beer-Sheva, and co-edits Mitekufat Haeven (the journal of the Israel Prehistoric Society).

Numerous pits dug in the ground appear at the Iron Age I Israelite settlement sites discussed by Professor Finkelstein in his article. Many archaeologists have speculated about the purpose of these pits. Suggestions range from water storage to latrines. With the establishment of the Lahav Grain Storage Project in 1985, the pit mystery was finally subjected to experimentation. John D. Currid and Jeffrey L. Gregg discuss the tests they conducted and their answer to the question “Why Did the Early Israelites Dig All Those Pits?”

Currid, an assistant professor of religion at Grove City College in Pennsylvania, recently received his Ph.D. in Syro-Palestinian archaeology from the University of Chicago. His dissertation is a study of Israelite Iron Age storage practices. After serving as a supervisor on the excavation staffs at Carthage and Tell el-Hesi, he became the director of the Lahav Grain Storage Project in 1985.

A senior accountant with Pete Marwick and Main, Inc., in Atlanta, Georgia, Gregg received his bachelor’s degree from Grove City College, where he studied under Currid. In addition to doing coursework at the Institute of Holy Land Studies in Jerusalem, Gregg has served on the staff of the Lahav Grain Storage Project since 1985.

“The Jesus Boat,” headlines called it, when the first ancient boat ever discovered in the Sea of Galilee was lifted from the lakebed in February 1986. True, the small boat very likely plied the Galilee during Jesus’ lifetime, and it was probably used for fishing, but whether Jesus or his disciples ever sailed in it we will never know. It could have been built in a shipyard nearby at Migdal and may have gone to war in 67 A.D., when the Sea of Galilee turned red with the blood of Jews rebelling against Roman rule. The mystery, however, in […]