Sky-Balloon

REBEL DWELLING? Hazor excavation codirector Sharon Zuckerman believes that the enemy came from within the Canaanite city. Based on this undestroyed private dwelling in the lower city and the contrasting devastation wrought in the upper city, Zuckerman concludes that the local population revolted against the ruling class, damaging all signs of their power and elite status. Excavator Amnon Ben-Tor disagrees, however, pointing out that elite symbols and structures were always the targets of outside conquerors as well, and that there isn’t enough evidence to support Zuckerman’s claim about the lower city’s private dwellings. He also notes that in antiquity the lower classes would have considered it unthinkable to challenge a ruler’s authority. Finally, he asks, if the locals took control of the city, why were their homes left abandoned for the next two centuries?