The Beth Shean Valley and its Vicinity in the 10th Century BCE

This article brings together results of archaeological explorations related to the 10th century BCE in the Beth Shean Valley, with emphasis on the excavations at Tel Beth Shean and Tel Reḥov. The evidence is evaluated in light of two transitions that occurred during this century: from the Iron Age I to the early Iron Age IIA and from the early Iron Age IIA to the late Iron Age IIA.

Moẓa during the 10th–9th Centuries BCE: The Results of Excavation Seasons 1993, 2002, and 2003 and their Reflection in a Wider Judahite Context

The paper discusses the finds of the Late Bronze Age, the Iron Age I/IIA, and the Iron Age IIA from the excavations at Moẓa during the years 1993, 2002, and 2003. The site is discussed in its historical framework, relating to Shishak’s campaign to Palestine, as well as in its wider Judahite archaeological context during those periods.

The Emergence of Early Phoenicia

The transition from the Iron Age I to the Iron Age IIA during the 10th century BCE was a period of profound political and socio-economic transformations in the Levant. One of these developments was the emergence of early Phoenicia. In its course, Phoenicia emanated as an interface of international exchange connecting Mediterranean and continental economies of the Levant. This had a profound impact on the societies of the Southern Levant in general and ancient Israel in particular. Phoenician influence was not just marginal for the history of ancient Israel but developed into an integral component of Israelite economic and political history.

The Philistines in the Highlands: A View from Ashkelon

The collapse of Bronze Age Mediterranean trade was a long-term process that took place through the 12th and 11th centuries BCE. The effects of this decline were particularly acute for coastal cities such as Philistine Ashkelon. This paper examines the response to this crisis in Philistia by examining redactional strata in the Deuteronomistic History that might speak to the period of early Philistine activity in the highlands. Through the memories preserved in these texts and in archaeological results from the late Iron Age I–early Iron Age IIA, it is argued that the Philistines reacted to the loss of Mediterranean trade by conducting raids that devastated rural highland settlements.

The Iron Age I–II Transition in the Northern Levant: An Emerging Consensus?

The development of a refined, and widely accepted, chronological and cultural sequence has eluded the study of the Iron Age Northern Levant, despite more than a century of archaeological exploration and research. The renewed investigations at Tell Tayinat (ancient Kunulua), capital of the Neo-Hittite Kingdom of Palastin/Walastin and scene of large-scale excavations by the Syrian-Hittite Expedition in the 1930s, have resulted in a tightly constructed stratigraphic and chronological cultural sequence, or “local history,” for this period. This refined “Amuq Sequence” indicates a number of culturally and historically significant transitions, including the transition from the Iron Age I to the Iron Age II, ca. 900 BCE, and it offers the prospect of forging a consensus regarding the cultural and chronological periodization of the broader Iron Age Northern Levant and Southeast Anatolia.

The “United Monarchy” on the Ground: The Disruptive Character of the Iron Age I–II Transition and the Nature of Political Transformations

It is commonly agreed that the Iron Age I–II transition was gradual and that processes of social complexity initiated in the Iron Age I simply matured in the Iron Age II. The emergence of Levantine kingdoms – whether the so-called “United Monarchy” (i.e., the highland polity) or other polities – was therefore seen as an outcome of this gradual maturation, even if the date of their emergence is hotly debated. The present paper challenges both the perceived gradual nature of Iron Age complexity and the dated understanding of state formation processes that lies behind the common scholarly reconstructions of Iron Age political developments. Instead, the paper shows that the Iron Age I–II transition was troubled and was accompanied by drastic changes in many parameters, whether settlement patterns, settlement forms, or various material traits. Acknowledging these transformations is therefore the first step in understanding the process through which local kingdoms emerged.

The Continuity of the Canaanite Glyptic Tradition into the Iron Age I–IIA

The article relates to several recognizable developments in the iconography of the Early Iron Age. It indicates that during the 11th and beginning of the 10th centuries BCE the dominant Egyptian influence was on the decline, and other traditions came to prominence: from the north, Syrian influences, and in some places sub-Mycenaean influences. The autochthonous Canaanite heritage experienced a revival, developing new themes and using new media.