“To the God Who is in Dan”: The Archaeology and History of Biblical Dan

2009 ◽  
Vol 106 (3) ◽  
pp. 323-359
Author(s):  
John C.H. Laughlin
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Iron Age Ii ◽  
Archaeological Data ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Northern Kingdom ◽  
History Of ◽  
Middle Bronze Age ◽  
Biblical Texts ◽  
The City

This article consists of two foci. First, the archaeological history of Tel Dan as revealed by the longest running excavation ever conducted in Israel will be surveyed. Emphasis will be given to the major periods of known urbanization of the site: The Early Bronze Age; the Middle Bronze Age; and the Iron Age II. The materials dated to Iron Age II will be especially emphasized because they have the most significance for any attempt to understand the city of Dan during the biblical period. The second issue to be discussed is the thorny one of relating biblical texts to archaeological data or vice-versa. The Bible is not written as straightforward history, whatever that may be. Thus biblical texts cannot often be taken at face value in evaluating their historical content. It will be argued that is especially true of the mostly negative and hostile attitude seen towards the City of Dan in the Bible. It will be concluded that this view of Dan is due to the literary formation and editing of the texts as we now have them in the Bible. This hostility represents a Judean perspective which is very negative of the northern kingdom of Israel that was created after the death of Solomon.

The Swedish Jordan Expedition 2009 and 2010 at Tall Abu al-Kharaz. Preliminary results from the Early Iron Age occupation in Area 9

2012 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 165-185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter M. Fischer ◽  
Teresa Bürge ◽  
A. Gustafsson ◽  
J. Azzopardi
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Jordan Valley ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Central Jordan ◽  
History Of ◽  
Middle Bronze Age ◽  
The City

Tall Abu al-Kharaz, in the central Jordan Valley, was occupied during approximately five millennia. A walled town, which had a dominant position in the Jordan Valley, existed already in the Early Bronze Age IB, viz. before 3050 BC. Walled settlements also flourished at the end of the Middle Bronze Age (around 1600 BC), during the Late Bronze Age (roughly 1500–1200 BC) and throughout the entire Iron Age (roughly 1200–600 BC). It is most likely that Tell Abu al-Kharaz is identical with Jabesh Gilead: this city is mentioned frequently in the Old Testament. During earlier seasons most of the Early Iron Age remains were found to have been disturbed by later settlers. It is, therefore, essential for the documentation of the settlement history of this city, that the expedition of 2009 unearthed an extremely well-preserved city quarter dating to the 12/11th century BC (according to high-precision radiocarbon dates). The excavations were extended in autumn 2010 and a stone-built, architectural compound was uncovered. Fourteen rooms (state October 2010), with walls still upright and standing to a height of more than 2 m, were exposed. The inventories of these rooms, which comprised more than one hundred complete vessels and other objects, were remarkably intact. Amongst the finds were numerous imports from Egypt and Lebanon. There are also finds which should be attributed to the Philistines, according to several Aegean-style vessels. The find context points to a hasty abandonment of the city. In the past, the beginning of the Iron Age has often been described as “the Dark Ages”—a period of cultural regression: this categorization is not relevant to the find situation at Tall Abu al-Kharaz where the remains of a wealthy society, which had far-reaching intercultural connections, can be identified.

Jaffa

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Isaac
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
The Political ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Eastern Shore ◽  
Urban Centre ◽  
Tel Aviv ◽  
History Of ◽  
Middle Bronze Age ◽  
The City

The city of Joppe/Jaffa/Yafo on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean, immediately south of modern Tel Aviv, has a long history of importance as an urban centre, from the Middle Bronze Age onward until the 20th century. It was one of the few sites along the Palestinian coast that had a usable anchorage. The present article focuses on the Hellenistic, Roman, and late Roman periods, giving a brief survey of the major events, the political, social, and administrative history, and the major sources of information.

The Iron Age Enclosures and Prehistoric Landscape of Sutton Common, South Yorkshire

1997 ◽  
Vol 63 ◽  
pp. 221-259 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Parker Pearson ◽  
R.E. Sydes ◽  
S. Boardman ◽  
B. Brayshay ◽  
P.C. Buckland ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Late Neolithic ◽  
Archaeological Data ◽  
Plant Remains ◽  
Archaeological Materials ◽  
Middle Bronze Age

The Early Iron Age enclosures and associated sites on Sutton Common on the western edge of the Humberhead Levels contain an exceptional variety of archaeological data of importance not only to the region but for the study of later prehistory in the British Isles. Few other later prehistoric British sites outside the East Anglian fens and the Somerset Levels have thus far produced the quantity and quality of organically preserved archaeological materials that have been found, despite the small scale of the investigations to date. The excavations have provided an opportunity to integrate a variety of environmental analyses, of wood, pollen, beetles, waterlogged and carbonised plant remains, and of soil micromorphology, to address archaeological questions about the character, use, and environment of this Early Iron Age marsh fort. The site is comprised of a timber palisaded enclosure and a succeeding multivallate enclosure linked to a smaller enclosure by a timber alignment across a palaeochannel, with associated finds ranging in date from the Middle Bronze Age to the Roman and medieval periods. Among the four adjacent archaeological sites is an Early Mesolithic occupation site, also with organic preservation, and there is a Late Neolithic site beneath the large enclosure. Desiccation throughout the common is leading to the damage and loss of wooden and organic remains. It is hoped that the publication of these results, of investigations between 1987 and 1993, will lead to a fuller investigation taking place.

scholarly journals Animal husbandry from the Middle Bronze Age through the Iron Age in the Shephelah—faunal remains from the new excavations at Lachish

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shyama Vermeersch ◽  
Simone Riehl ◽  
Britt M. Starkovich ◽  
Katharina Streit ◽  
Felix Höflmayer
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Animal Husbandry ◽  
Faunal Analysis ◽  
Faunal Remains ◽  
Southern Levant ◽  
Subsistence Strategies ◽  
Iron Age Ii ◽  
Middle Bronze Age ◽  
Synchronic Comparison

AbstractLachish (Tell ed-Duweir) is located in the southern part of the Judean foothills, known as the Shephelah, and is one of the larger and most extensively excavated multi-period sites in the southern Levant. We present the faunal results of the first three seasons of the most recent excavations, the Austrian-Israeli Expedition to Tel Lachish. The expedition focusses on two areas of the tell encompassing the Middle Bronze Age III through the Iron Age II, area S (deep section) and area P (palace area). The aims for the faunal analysis are threefold: comparing the results between the two areas, seeing how our results compare to previous analyses, and comparing Lachish to other synchronous sites in the Shephelah. We observe differences in subsistence strategies between the areas in addition to diachronic differences. Ovicaprids dominate all assemblages, but we see shifts in the sheep to goat ratio and mortality profiles through time indicating changes in subsistence strategies. Our new results largely agree with the results from previous analyses, showing the value of previous studies and their potential compatibility with newer research. A synchronic comparison of Lachish within the Shephelah shows the occupants of the site were largely self-sufficient but possibly engaged in an exchange of resources in the vicinity.

Absolute Dating of the Gihon Spring Fortifications, Jerusalem

Radiocarbon ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 1171-1193 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johanna Regev ◽  
Joe Uziel ◽  
Nahshon Szanton ◽  
Elisabetta Boaretto
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Water Source ◽  
The Other ◽  
Iron Age Ii ◽  
Middle Bronze Age ◽  
Absolute Dating

AbstractOne of the most impressive structures in Jerusalem’s ancient landscape is the tower that was built to surround and protect the Gihon Spring, Jerusalem’s perennial water source. The structure, first discovered by Reich and Shukron (2004), encompasses the cave in which the spring sprouts from, with walls 7 m thick built of large boulders. The Spring Tower, along with the other features relating to it, were all attributed to the Middle Bronze Age II, based on their architectural and stratigraphical relationship, the type of architecture, and the pottery found. In the continued excavations carried out by the Israel Antiquities Authority along the outer, eastern face of the Spring Tower, it was noted that at least the northeast side of the tower was not built on bedrock, but rather on layers of sediment, which were sealed by the massive boulders at the base of the tower. In order to provide an absolute dating for the structure, two sections were sampled for radiocarbon (14C) dating beneath the foundation stones at two locations. Scenarios for the construction of the tower during Middle Bronze Age (MB) and Iron Age II are considered, based on the new 14C data, yielding a series of dates, the latest of which falls in the terminal phases of the 9th century BCE, alongside previous excavation data.

VI. History of the City and Times

1938 ◽  
Vol 38 ◽  
pp. 134-141
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
The Other ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Many ◽  
The City ◽  
The Bronze Age

The period to which the occupation of Karphi belongs is clearly the dark age which follows the end of the Bronze Age. This period is often known indiscriminately as the Sub-Minoan or as the Proto-Geometric Period, that term being used which seems to fit best the results at the particular site to which it is applied. Neither term, however, is satisfactory when applied to the period as a whole.Sub-Minoan pottery is clearly contemporary with Proto-Geometric. It would be absurd to apply the term Proto-Geometric to a city like Karphi, where only one or two sherds of the true Proto-Geometric style have appeared. On the other hand, the term Sub-Minoan takes no account of the very considerable non-Minoan elements which have crept into the architecture and other manifestations of culture. In the same way, it would be absurd to apply the term Sub-Minoan to the Early Iron Age cemeteries of Knossos. Here the term Proto-Geometric is more excusable, though it still takes no account of the many Minoan features which survived there.

The History of the Judahite Bench Tomb

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Suriano
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Hebrew Bible ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Seventh Century ◽  
Mortuary Practices ◽  
Iron Age Ii ◽  
Gradual Development ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Dead ◽  
Insight Into

The history of the Judahite bench tomb provides important insight into the meaning of mortuary practices, and by extension, death in the Hebrew Bible. The bench tomb appeared in Judah during Iron Age II. Although it included certain burial features that appear earlier in the Middle and Late Bronze Ages, such as burial benches, and the use of caves for extramural burials, the Judahite bench tomb uniquely incorporated these features into a specific plan that emulated domestic structures and facilitated multigenerational burials. During the seventh century, and continuing into the sixth, the bench tombs become popular in Jerusalem. The history of this type of burial shows a gradual development of cultural practices that were meant to control death and contain the dead. It is possible to observe within these cultural practices the tomb as a means of constructing identity for both the dead and the living.

scholarly journals Ancient genomic time transect from the Central Asian Steppe unravels the history of the Scythians

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (13) ◽  
pp. eabe4414
Author(s):  
Guido Alberto Gnecchi-Ruscone ◽  
Elmira Khussainova ◽  
Nurzhibek Kahbatkyzy ◽  
Lyazzat Musralina ◽  
Maria A. Spyrou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Gene Pools ◽  
Social Rules ◽  
Eurasian Steppe ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
Genome Wide Data ◽  
History Of ◽  
First Millennium

The Scythians were a multitude of horse-warrior nomad cultures dwelling in the Eurasian steppe during the first millennium BCE. Because of the lack of first-hand written records, little is known about the origins and relations among the different cultures. To address these questions, we produced genome-wide data for 111 ancient individuals retrieved from 39 archaeological sites from the first millennia BCE and CE across the Central Asian Steppe. We uncovered major admixture events in the Late Bronze Age forming the genetic substratum for two main Iron Age gene-pools emerging around the Altai and the Urals respectively. Their demise was mirrored by new genetic turnovers, linked to the spread of the eastern nomad empires in the first centuries CE. Compared to the high genetic heterogeneity of the past, the homogenization of the present-day Kazakhs gene pool is notable, likely a result of 400 years of strict exogamous social rules.

scholarly journals THE BEGINNING OF THE IRON AGE AT ARSLANTEPE: A 14C PERSPECTIVE

Radiocarbon ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Federico Manuelli ◽  
Cristiano Vignola ◽  
Fabio Marzaioli ◽  
Isabella Passariello ◽  
Filippo Terrasi
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
High Precision ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Accelerator Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
13Th Century ◽  
Historical Events ◽  
Preliminary Results ◽  
Archaeological Data

ABSTRACT The Iron Age chronology at Arslantepe is the result of the interpretation of Luwian hieroglyphic inscriptions and archaeological data coming from the site and its surrounding region. A new round of investigations of the Iron Age levels has been conducted at the site over the last 10 years. Preliminary results allowed the combination of the archaeological sequence with the historical events that extended from the collapse of the Late Bronze Age empires to the formation and development of the new Iron Age kingdoms. The integration into this picture of a new set of radiocarbon (14C) dates is aimed at establishing a more solid local chronology. High precision 14C dating by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) and its correlation with archaeobotanical analysis and stratigraphic data are presented here with the purpose of improving our knowledge of the site’s history and to build a reliable absolute chronology of the Iron Age. The results show that the earliest level of the sequence dates to ca. the mid-13th century BC, implying that the site started developing a new set of relationships with the Levant already before the breakdown of the Hittite empire, entailing important historical implications for the Syro-Anatolian region at the end of the 2nd millennium BC.

Late-glacial and Post-glacial history of the Chalk escarpment near Brook, Kent

1964 ◽  
Vol 248 (745) ◽  
pp. 135-204 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Late Glacial ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Valley Floor ◽  
Glacial Period ◽  
Late Neolithic ◽  
Local Conditions ◽  
Arable Farming ◽  
History Of

This paper describes the morphology of a small piece of the Chalk escarpment near Brook in east Kent, and reconstructs its history since the end of the Last Glaciation. The escarpment contains a number of steep-sided valleys, or coombes, with which are associated deposits of chalk debris, filling their bottoms and extending as fans over the Gault Clay plain beyond. Here the fans overlie radiocarbon-dated marsh deposits of zone II (10 000 to 8800 B.C.) of the Late-glacial Period. The debris fans were formed and the coombes were cut very largely during the succeeding zone III (8800 to 8300 B.C.). The fans are the products of frost-shattering, probably transported by a combination of niveo-fluvial action and the release of spring waters; intercalated seams of loess also occur. The molluscs and plants preserved in the Late-glacial deposits give a fairly detailed picture of local conditions. The later history of one of the coombes, the Devil’s Kneadingtrough, is reconstructed. The springs have effected virtually no erosion and have probably always emerged more or less in their present position. In the floor of the coombe the periglacial chalk rubbles of zone III are covered by Postglacial deposits, mainly hillwashes. They are oxidized and yield no pollen, but contain rich faunas of land Mollusca, which are presented in the form of histograms revealing changing local ecological and climatic conditions. During most of the Post-glacial Period, from the end of zone III until about the beginning of zone VIII, very little accumulation took place on the coombe floor. But below the springs there are marsh deposits which span much of this interval. They yield faunas of considerable zoogeographical interest. The approximate beginning of zone VII a (Atlantic Period) is reflected by a calcareous tufa, which overlies a weathering horizon, and represents an increase in spring flow. Two clearance phases are deduced from the molluscan record. The first may have taken place at least as early as the Beaker Period (Late Neolithic/earliest Bronze Age); the second is probably of Iron Age ‘A’ date. In Iron Age times the subsoil was mobilized and a phase of rapid hillwashing began. As a result the valley floor became buried by humic chalk muds. The prime cause of this process was probably the beginning of intensive arable farming on the slopes above the coombe; a possible subsidiary factor may have been the Sub-Atlantic worsening of climate. The muds yield pottery ranging in date from Iron Age ‘Kentish first A’ ( ca . 500 to ca . 300 B.C.) to Romano-British ware of the first or second centuries A.D. Evidence is put forward for a possible climatic oscillation from dry to wet taking place at about the time of Christ. In the later stages of cultivation, possibly in the Roman Era, the valley floor was ploughed and given its present-day form.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document