Preface—The Iron Age in Israel: The Exact and Life Sciences Perspectives

Radiocarbon ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Israel Finkelstein ◽  
Steve Weiner ◽  
Elisabetta Boaretto
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Research Council ◽  
Life Sciences ◽  
Archaeological Record ◽  
European Research ◽  
Special Volume ◽  
Original Proposal ◽  
Ancient Israel ◽  
Iron Age Levant

In the original proposal entitled Reconstructing Ancient Israel – The Exact and Life Sciences Perspective, two of us (Israel Finkelstein and Steve Weiner) wrote, “If the microscopic data are well integrated into the macroscopic (archaeological) record, they will undoubtedly provide new insights into the study of Ancient Israel.” And this was what this 5-year (2009–2014) European Research Council (ERC) sponsored program (details below) was all about. New ground was broken on three fronts: conceptual, methodological, and in the generation of new data that indeed provide novel insights into the history and material culture of Ancient Israel in particular and the Iron Age Levant in general. The reviews presented in this special volume synthesize some of these new insights. The findings have been published in about 70 papers (see Appendix).

The Transition from Bronze to Iron in Canaan: Chronology, Technology, and Context

Radiocarbon ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 285-305 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naama Yahalom-Mack ◽  
Adi Eliyahu-Behar
Keyword(s):  
Research Council ◽  
Life Sciences ◽  
Iron Production ◽  
Major Contributor ◽  
European Research ◽  
Southern Levant ◽  
Urban Centers ◽  
12Th Century ◽  
Funded Project ◽  
Iron Technology

In the framework of the European Research Council-funded project, “Reconstructing Ancient (Biblical) Israel: The Exact and Life Sciences Perspective,” we carried out multiple analyses on iron and bronze objects from provenanced contexts in Israel, as well as on previously unidentified metallurgical remains from the production of both metals. In addition, we counted anew iron and bronze objects from well-stratified contexts and studied metalworking sequences at major sites, which included those that had undergone the bronze/iron transition. This enabled us to clarify some of the issues related to the bronze/iron transition in the southern Levant. Using this evidence, we showed that iron was not used for utilitarian purposes before the Iron I (late 12th century BCE) and that iron only became dominant concurrently with the beginning of its systematic production during the Iron IIA (10th–9th centuries BCE). A strong correlation between iron and bronze production suggests that during the Iron I local independent bronzesmiths adopted the new iron technology. Under local administrations that developed during the Iron IIA, workshops that previously produced bronze turned to iron production, although they continued to manufacture bronze items as a secondary venture. Significantly, at some of the major urban centers iron production was an independent industry that included the entire operational sequence, including the on-site smelting of the ore. This development appears to have been a major contributor to the transition to systematic production of iron.

Memory and its Materiality: The Case of Early Iron Age Khirbet Qeiyafa and Jerusalem

2015 ◽  
Vol 127 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel D. Pioske
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Hebrew Bible ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Ancient Israel ◽  
Over Time

In den wenigen Jahren seitdem Ausgrabungen in Khirbet Qeiyafa durchgeführt wurden, haben sich schon einige wichtige Studien mit seiner beeindruckenden Hinterlassenschaft aus der frühen Eisenzeit beschäftigt. Was bislang unberücksichtigt blieb, sind die Folgerungen der Befunde für die Schriftkultur, die für das Bild dieser Periode in der Hebräischen Bibel verantwortlich ist. Die Absicht dieser Studie besteht darin, das literarische Schicksal von Khirbet Qeiyafa mit dem des frühen und späten eisenzeitlichen Jerusalem zu vergleichen und zu ermitteln, was das Nichtvorkommen bzw. Vorkommen dieser Standorte in der Hebräischen Bibel über die Quellen der biblischen Verfasser aussagt, über die sie im 11. und 10. Jh. v. Chr. verfügten. Zugleich wird gefragt, welchen Beitrag Ort und Erinnerung bei der Überlieferung dieser Geschichten im antiken Israel und Juda hatten.In the few short years since excavations were first carried out at Khirbet Qeiyafa a number of important studies have been devoted to its impressive early Iron Age remains. Yet what has not been pursued within these discussions are the implications of the settlement’s material culture for our understanding of the scribal cultures responsible for the portrayal of this time period in the Hebrew Bible. In comparing the literary fate of Khirbet Qeiyafa with that of the contemporaneous site of late Iron I/early Iron IIA Jerusalem, the intent of this study is to examine what the absence and presence of these two sites in the Hebrew Bible indicates about the sources biblical scribes possessed about the 11th–10th centuries BCE, and how place and memory contributed to the transmission of these stories over time in ancient Israel and Judah.Dans les quelques années qui ont suivi les fouilles à Khirbet Qeiyafa, un bon nombre d’études conséquentes ont été consacrées à ses impressionnants vestiges du début de l’âge de Fer. Cependant, ce qui n’a pas été développé dans ces discussions, ce sont les implications de la culture matérielle de ce site pour notre compréhension milieux de scribes responsables de la description de cette période dans la Bible hébraïque. En comparant le destin littéraire de Khirbet Qeiyafa avec celui de Jérusalem, site contemporain de la fin du Fer I et du début du Fer IIA, cette étude cherche à examiner ce que la présence et l’absence de ces deux sites dans la Bible hébraïque indiquent au sujet des sources que les scribes bibliques possédaient sur les 11–10

Beyond Hadrian’s Wall

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fraser Hunter
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Indigenous Population ◽  
Local Population ◽  
Third Century ◽  
Archaeological Record ◽  
Historical Sources ◽  
Military Presence ◽  
Hadrian's Wall ◽  
The Relationship

Britannia’s northern frontier varied considerably over the Roman period, stabilizing only in the early third century. This variation leads to a fascinating archaeological record of the changing Roman military presence and its relation to the local population. This chapter examines the local Iron Age societies, considers military aspects of the invasion, and presents a wider view of life on the frontier. It then turns to the relationship between the indigenous population and Rome over four centuries. Historical sources for conflict indicate an uneasy relationship, but archaeological evidence uncovers other aspects: Roman material culture found varied uses in Iron Age societies, while the long and often difficult relationship had a series of unexpected consequences on both sides.

scholarly journals A 360-Day Administrative Year in Ancient Israel: Judahite Portable Calendars and the Flood Account

2021 ◽  
Vol 114 (4) ◽  
pp. 431-450
Author(s):  
Jonathan Ben-Dov
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Second Temple ◽  
Central Place ◽  
Ancient Israel ◽  
Second Temple Literature ◽  
A Chain ◽  
The City ◽  
Material Evidence

AbstractAdministrators in ancient Judah used schematic 30-day months and a 360-day year alongside other annual frameworks. This year was never practiced as a “calendar” for any cultic or administrative purpose, but rather served as a convenient framework for long-term planning, as well as for literary accounts that were not anchored to a concrete calendar year. Examples for such a usage are attested here from Mesopotamian texts. Material evidence for the 360-day year in Judah comes forth from a series of small perforated bone plaques from various sites in Iron Age Judah. One such item was recently unearthed in the city of David. These objects can reasonably be understood as reflecting a schematic 360-day year, serving as desk calendars for Judahite administrators. Several priestly pentateuchal texts are best understood against this background, such as the dating of some festivals and most notably the dates in the Flood narrative (Gen 7–8). The original dating system is best represented in LXX Gen 7:11, while the reading of MT is a late modification, inserted later, when calendar debates took a central place in the religious discourse. MT is thus a link in a chain of later reworking of this narrative in Second Temple literature. The 360-day year is thus a unique case where material culture dovetails with literary evidence, and may shed light on the material culture of priestly sources. This insight is significant for future studies of biblical time reckoning.

THE RISE OF SECONDARY STATES IN THE IRON AGE LEVANT

2002 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 425-467 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Joffe
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Social Identities ◽  
Early States ◽  
Iron Age Levant

AbstractThis paper examines the formation of states during the Iron Age of the eastern Mediterranean, with particular emphasis on the Levantine states of Israel, Judah, Ammon, and Moab. Using archaeology and texts it proposes that the formation of secondary states was fundamentally different from that of early states such as in Mesopotamia and Egypt. Secondary states in the Levant needed to create not new bureaucratic methods, but new social identities, novel ethnic categories and boundaries. New ideologies were disseminated through material culture which was saturated with symbols of identity, from royal architecture through personal emblems. Cet article examine la formation des états pendant l'âge de fer du méditerranéen oriental, avec l'emphase particulière sur des états de Levantine de l'Israel, du Judah, de l'Ammon, et du Moab. En utilisant l'archéologie et les textes il propose que la formation des états secondaires ait été fondamentalement différente de celle des états tôt comme dans Mesopotamia et l'Egypte. Les états secondaires dans le Levant ont dû ne pas créer des méthodes bureaucratiques nouvelles, mais de nouvelles identités sociales, des catégories de roman et des bornes ethniques. De nouvelles idéologies ont été diffusées par la culture matérielle qui a été saturée avec des symboles d'identité, de l'architecture royale par les emblèmes personnels.

Iron Age Pigs: New Evidence on Their Origin and Role in Forming Identity Boundaries

Radiocarbon ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 307-315 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lidar Sapir-Hen ◽  
Meirav Meiri ◽  
Israel Finkelstein
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Driving Force ◽  
Research Council ◽  
Urban Centers ◽  
Economic Motivation ◽  
Ancient Israel ◽  
Northern Kingdom ◽  
Widespread Phenomenon ◽  
New Evidence ◽  
Pork Consumption

This article reviews recent studies of pigs in the Iron Age in the southern Levant. The studies were carried out as part of the European Research Council-funded Ancient Israel project, with the aim of examining questions of identity and ethnic boundaries, with special emphasis on Philistia and ancient Israel. On the Philistine side, the results show a dichotomy in pork consumption between urban centers and the rural sector, and suggest that European domestic pigs were brought to the Levant by the Sea Peoples, most probably to secure the supply of meat. Reviewed with previous evidence, we suggest that economic motivation was the driving force for pork consumption and abandonment. Regarding ancient Israel, new studies show that avoiding pork was a widespread phenomenon of much of the Iron Age in both the highland and the lowlands outside of Philistia. They also point to a rise in pork consumption in lowlands sites of the Northern Kingdom in the Iron IIB and suggest a link between this phenomenon and the early consolidation of the taboo on pigs in Judah in late-monarchic times.

scholarly journals ORKG: Facilitating the Transfer of Research Results with the Open Research Knowledge Graph

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sören Auer ◽  
Markus Stocker ◽  
Lars Vogt ◽  
Grischa Fraumann ◽  
Alexandra Garatzogianni
Keyword(s):  
Research Council ◽  
Knowledge Graph ◽  
European Research ◽  
Proof Of Concept ◽  
Research Knowledge ◽  
European Research Council ◽  
Research Results ◽  
Original Proposal ◽  
Open Research

This document is an edited version of the original funding proposal entitled 'ORKG: Facilitating the Transfer of Research Results with the Open Research Knowledge Graph' that was submitted to the European Research Council (ERC) Proof of Concept (PoC) Grant in September 2020 (https://erc.europa.eu/funding/proof-concept). The proposal was evaluated by five reviewers and has been placed after the evaluations on the reserve list. The main document of the original proposal did not contain an abstract.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document