scholarly journals The Religion of Idumea and Its Relationship to Early Judaism

Religions ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 487
Author(s):  
Yigal Levin
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Religious Identity ◽  
Hellenistic Period ◽  
Persian Period ◽  
Archaeological Data ◽  
Early Judaism ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Late Iron Age ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Many

For several hundred years, from the late Iron Age to the end of the 2nd century BCE, the southern neighbor of Judea was “Idumea”, populated by descendants of Edomites, together with Qedarite and other Arabs and a mix of additional ethnicities. This paper examines the known data on the identity, especially religious identity, of these Idumeans, using a wide range of written sources and archaeological data. Within the Bible, “Edom” is presented as Israel’s twin and its harshest enemy, but there are hints that the Edomites worshipped the God of Israel. While the origins of the “Edomite deity” Qaus remain obscure, as does the process of their migration into southern Judah, the many inscriptions from the Persian period show that Qaus became the most widely worshipped deity in the area, even if other gods, including Yahweh, were also recognized. The Hellenistic period brought heightened Greek and Phoenician influence, but also the stabilization of “Idumea” as an administrative/ethnic unit. Some of the practices of this period, such as male circumcision, show an affinity to the Judaism of the time. This paper also discusses the outcome of the Hasmonean conquest of Idumea and the incorporation of its inhabitants into the Jewish nation.

Biblical Archaeology

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Avraham Faust
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Persian Period ◽  
Palestinian Authority ◽  
Near Eastern ◽  
Clear Cut ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Late Iron Age ◽  
Biblical Archaeology

The term “biblical archaeology” has meant different things to different people at different times. During most of its history, the term was used broadly and included archaeological (and archaeology-related) activities in the biblical lands, mainly the Near East but even beyond it, from prehistory to the medieval period. Later, the term was seen as parochial, narrow, and religiously loaded, and many felt uncomfortable using it, sometimes calling for a “secular archaeology” (e.g., William Dever), and preferring instead terms such as “Syria-Palestinian archaeology,” “Near Eastern archaeology,” or “archaeology of the Levant.” The change has also been connected with the decrease in the historical value attributed to the biblical narratives, and to political correctness. The term, nevertheless, is still widely used, and many scholars speak today about “new biblical archaeology.” Geographically, the new term is narrower, covering mainly the Land of Israel (also known as the southern Levant, Palestine, or the Holy Land; roughly covering the area of modern Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority). Chronologically, it still covers a long period, but a difference exists between Israeli usage and American/European usage. Both “groups” begin the era with the start of the Bronze Age (although all agree that there was nothing “biblical” in those periods). For Israeli scholars, however, the biblical period refers to the time covered in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), and it ends by the Late Iron Age, or the Persian period. For most American and European scholars, especially in the past, the term embraced the Hellenistic period, the Roman period, and perhaps even the Byzantine period. Today, however, scholars specialize either in the early periods (Bronze and Iron Ages) or in the later (Hellenistic-Byzantine) periods, and the term “biblical archaeology” is becoming synonymous with the Bronze and Iron Ages (including the Persian period). Indeed, these are the periods that will receive most attention here. Although originally the “child” of biblical studies and archaeology, in its current usage the term is not necessarily connected with the Bible; rather, it relates to studies of a certain era in a certain region. Due to the wide definitions of biblical archaeology, and in light of the differences in meanings associated with it, the boundaries between biblical archaeology and other disciplines are not always clear cut, and they have changed over the course of the discipline’s history. Therefore, the following sections will address some works that are not archaeological in nature. Notably, this article will usually not refer to excavation reports or technical ceramic studies.

Sustenance and Survival in Biblical Narrative

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer L. Koosed
Keyword(s):  
Religious Identity ◽  
Food Production ◽  
Biblical Narrative ◽  
Adam And Eve ◽  
Early Judaism ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Ancient Israel ◽  
Class Status ◽  
Cultural Code ◽  
Shape Characterization

Food is a comprehensive cultural code. In ancient Israel and early Judaism, food production and preparation structured lives; what one did in the process was determined by gender and class status and sometimes even marked by ethnic and religious identity. Food also serves to structure narrative, shape characterization, and add layers of symbolic signification to story. In the Bible, the drama of the first few chapters revolves around proper versus improper eating, and the final book portrays God as a lamb sacrificed for the Passover meal. Between picking and tasting the forbidden fruit, and slaughtering and eating God, a whole host of food-related plots, characters, and images proliferate, many of which revolve around the most important of foodstuffs: bread. This chapter explores the centrality of bread in the story of Adam and Eve, the book of Ruth, and the gospels of Jesus.

scholarly journals The environmental and cultural contexts of the late Iron Age and medieval settlement in the Mazurian Lake District, NE Poland: combined palaeobotanical and archaeological data

2014 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 439-459 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agnieszka Wacnik ◽  
Mirosława Kupryjanowicz ◽  
Aldona Mueller-Bieniek ◽  
Maciej Karczewski ◽  
Katarzyna Cywa
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Lake District ◽  
Cultural Contexts ◽  
Archaeological Data ◽  
Ne Poland ◽  
Late Iron Age

scholarly journals Mixture model of pottery decorations from Lake Chad Basin archaeological sites reveals ancient segregation patterns

2016 ◽  
Vol 283 (1827) ◽  
pp. 20152824
Author(s):  
John D. O'Brien ◽  
Kathryn Lin ◽  
Scott MacEachern
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Cultural Dynamics ◽  
Data Types ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Lake Chad ◽  
Chad Basin ◽  
Archaeological Data ◽  
Lake Chad Basin ◽  
The Many

We present a new statistical approach to analysing an extremely common archaeological data type—potsherds—that infers the structure of cultural relationships across a set of excavation units (EUs). This method, applied to data from a set of complex, culturally heterogeneous sites around the Mandara mountains in the Lake Chad Basin, helps elucidate cultural succession through the Neolithic and Iron Age. We show how the approach can be integrated with radiocarbon dates to provide detailed portraits of cultural dynamics and deposition patterns within single EUs. In this context, the analysis supports ancient cultural segregation analogous to historical ethnolinguistic patterning in the region. We conclude with a discussion of the many possible model extensions using other archaeological data types.

Research Tools

2019 ◽  
pp. 8-22
Author(s):  
Philip C. Schmitz
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Historical Study ◽  
Hellenistic Period ◽  
Historical Sources ◽  
General Readership ◽  
Reliable Knowledge ◽  
The Many ◽  
Many Sources ◽  
Academic Study ◽  
Research Tools

The academic study of the Phoenicians and their civilization began relatively recently, but has quickly generated a large bibliography of important studies. One of the difficulties that learners face is that the historical study of Phoenician civilization must draw on a large number of sources from several different fields of research, not all of which are in regular communication with each other or are widely known to the general readership. This chapter provides an introduction to and a sample of the many sources available to specialists and nonspecialists seeking reliable knowledge about Phoenician civilization from the Iron Age to the Hellenistic period. Terminology is introduced, beginning with designations of the land known as Canaan. Greek testimonies to Phoenician history are next presented, especially the figure Sanchuniathon discussed by Porphyry and Josephus. Phoenician alphabetic texts—that is, epigraphic sources—are discussed for their limited potential as historical sources, with ample bibliographic citations to guide the researcher.

İkiztepe in the Late Iron Age

1999 ◽  
Vol 49 ◽  
pp. 27-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Önder Bilgi
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Hellenistic Period ◽  
Northern Slope ◽  
Late Iron Age

Following a three year survey in the Samsun region between 1971 and 1973, excavations started at İkiztepe, situated on the outskirts of İkiztepe village near Bafra town, in 1974. The results obtained from the excavations since 1993 demonstrate that the Bafra region was also settled during the Late Iron Age (Bilgi 1995: 142; 1996: 157; 1997: 145).Intensive survey and subsequent excavations located no settlements at İkiztepe after the first quarter of the second millennium BC. A monumental tomb from the Hellenistic period, however, was found at Tepe I (fig 1. Alkım et al 1988: 85-7). In addition to this tomb, comprising a dromos and two chambers built of cut stone blocks, traces of a settlement with pottery (figs 23, 27:3-6, 27:13-14) and small metal objects (figs 2-4) were found during excavations on the northern slope of Tepe I (Bilgi 1985: 55-6, pls 12-15).

Mammals in the economy of ancient Porphyreon (Lebanon)

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 453-473
Author(s):  
Joanna Piątkowska-Małecka
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Hellenistic Period ◽  
Archaeological Record ◽  
Persian Period ◽  
Livestock Species ◽  
Animal Economy ◽  
A Minor ◽  
Insight Into

An archaeozoological analysis of mammal remains recovered from the dwelling units and streets of ancient Porphyreon excavated in 2009, 2010 and 2012, gives insight into the importance of mammals for the residents of this quarter in succeeding periods: from the Iron Age through the Persian and Hellenistic periods to Byzantine times. Husbandry lay at the base of the animal economy and was supplemented with hunting various species of gazelle. Cattle, sheep and goat were the most numerous livestock species represented in the archaeological record. The high percentage of cattle observed in Iron Age deposits could have resulted from the agricultural lifestyle of the population. Starting from the Persian period, sheep and goat played the most prominent role in the animal economy, implying a pastoral model of husbandry. Raising goats for meat was more significant initially; from the Hellenistic period onwards, the number of sheep reared for milk and wool increased. Pigs constituted a minor percentage of the livestock. The presence of equid remains, including horse and donkey, was confirmed for the Persian period, when these animals were used for transportation.

“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.

Metalworking at Hengistbury Head, Dorset and the Durotrigan Coinage: A Reinterpretation of an Iron Age and Roman Industrial Site

1992 ◽  
Vol 267 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris J. Salter ◽  
J. Peter Northover
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Copper Alloys ◽  
Industrial Site ◽  
Southern England ◽  
Late Iron Age ◽  
Extensive Analysis ◽  
Gold Silver ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
New Perspective

ABSTRACTThe excavation of the metalworking areas of the late Iron Age and early Roman port of Hengistbury Head in southern England revealed evidence of a wide range of processes. These involved gold, silver and copper alloys and their connections with the local Iron Age coinage as well as the casting of bronze artefacts and ironworking. Since publication, in 1987 re-analysis of some material coupled with an extensive analysis of the associated coinage has led to a re-interpretation of the material. This paper presents the new perspective on the site as a metallurgical centre that has emerged as a result of our analyses.

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