Scholars Bookshelf
067
Dan I: A Chronicle of the Excavations, the Pottery Neolithic, the Early Bronze Age and the Middle Bronze Age Tombs
Avraham Biran, David Ilan and Raphael Greenberg; Edited by Avraham Biran
(Jerusalem: Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion, 1996; available from the Israel Exploration Society) vi + 329 pp., 10 foldout plans; 234 figures and photos, $52.00
Tel Dan is surely one of the most imposing and important sites in Israel, and the publication of Dan I—the first volume of the site’s excavation report—is a milestone in Israeli archaeology.
Shaped like a “rounded rectangle,” Tel Dan lies in the northern end of the Huleh Valley, at the foot of Mt. Hermon and near the headwaters of the Dan River. Much of the interest in the Dan excavation—led by Avraham Biran from 1966 to 1992—arises from the site’s tremendous importance in Biblical literature. The identification of Tel Dan with Biblical Laish or Leshem (Judges 18:29; Joshua 19:47)—its name before the Danites conquered it—is widely accepted; the discovery in 1976 of the inscription “to the God who is in Dan” confirmed the identification of the site with its later Biblical designation, Dan, first mentioned in Genesis 14:14. Perhaps best known is the reference to Jeroboam I’s setting up a golden calf, building a “house of high places” (beth bamot) and appointing non-Levitical priests at Dan (1 Kings 12:28–31). Most recently Dan has gained notoriety for the discovery in secondary use of the “House of David” inscription, the first extra-Biblical mention of David or the Davidic dynasty. Biblical Dan (Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society and Hebrew Union College), Biran’s semipopular and synthetic treatment of all the excavation seasons, appeared in 1994. That volume may serve as a handy guide to the present scientific report and subsequent volumes.
Noting the lack of consensus on how “final reports” are to presented, Biran opts for what he calls a topical approach in Dan I. Although his selection of topics may strike some readers as a bit idiosyncratic, the essays are readable and synthetic.
Biran begins with a chronicle of excavations from 1966 to 1992, presenting a summary of his digging strategy and the highlights of each season by area. A presentation on the Neolithic pottery follows, with some specialty notes on stone assemblages, bones and other finds. A detailed chapter on the Early Bronze Age levels deals with stratigraphy, pottery and small finds. The final major report, on the Middle Bronze Age tombs, includes stratigraphy, pottery analysis, small finds, tomb typology and interpretation. A faunal report is also appended. The reports on the pottery and small finds, as well as much of the physical aspects of the report, resemble the model established in the Gezer reports. The high quality of the drawings, plans and figures is to be commended.
Some will criticize Biran’s decisions about what to include in this volume: Why publish the Middle Bronze tombs without the Middle Bronze architecture and stratigraphy? But as Biran himself notes, “All loci and architectural features will be referenced in a future volume, so that the particular archaeological context of any object or feature will be explicit.” Although the absence of some material will, for now, inhibit interpretation, the high quality of this handsome volume raises both expectations and confidence in the Hebrew Union College team’s ability to tackle such major discoveries as the Middle Bronze mudbrick tower (in area K), the Middle Bronze platforms and ramparts (in areas T3 and B), and the high places in the sacred precinct (area T)—to mention only a few critical areas—in future years.
Yoqne‘am I: The Late Periods, Qedem Reports No. 3
Amnon Ben-Tor, Miriam Avissar, Y. Portugali et al.
(Jerusalem: Institute of Archaeology, Hebrew University, and Israel Exploration Society, 1996) 262 pp., $52.00
The great mound of Yoqne‘am commands the Milh Pass, which cuts through the the Carmel Ridge and connects the Jezreel Valley with the Via Maris (the Way of the Sea), the major route between ancient Egypt and Syria-Palestine. Its strategic location, fertile soil and abundant water combined to make this a desirable site, occupied from the Early Bronze Age to the Ottoman period.
This superbly illustrated volume, the first report on the site, focuses on the later years—the Hellenistic to Ottoman periods. The authors note that the most important remains from this time come from the early Islamic-Crusader-Mamluk periods. Among the most significant architectural finds is a 12th-century Crusader church. Built on the remains of a Byzantine church, the Crusader building appears to have remained in use into the 13th century. A report on the human remains found in graves in the nave of the church is also appended. An excellent summary of the late strata helps us understand the pottery and other finds published elsewhere in the report.
As part of the new Qedem Reports series (which is to be distinguished from the Qedem Monograph series), the report has a large format that makes the pottery presentation much more attractive and legible. The accompanying text allows a reader easily to match a particular sherd or artifact to its suitable stratum and offers a discussion of parallels. The all-important key to each plate is not particularly helpful, however, because the reader must still turn to the text for chronological information. The volume includes an important distribution index of medieval sherds, and though there is a great deal of data of importance here for all periods, I especially note the presence of some early Islamic black incised wares (fig. XIII.75: 1–5; photos XIII.55–56), which are very similar to the black-ware vessels from Nabratein (in upper Galilee) that depict a Torah shrine on them. I have already accepted the suggestion of Jodi Magness on the later dating of this material to the ninth century C.E. (see Eric Meyers, “The Torah Shrine in the Ancient Synagogue,” Jewish Studies Quarterly 4 [1997], p. 320 n. 58) and point to the identical conclusion here (p. 123). The catalogue of medieval pottery is most impressive, including the lamps and clay pipes.
Specialty reports on stamped jar handles, coins, glass, metal objects, bone objects and faunal remains round out a very impressive report.
Dan I: A Chronicle of the Excavations, the Pottery Neolithic, the Early Bronze Age and the Middle Bronze Age Tombs
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