This publication is the last volume to appear of Dame Kathleen Kenyon's excavations in Jerusalem, presenting the Bronze and Iron Age material. It contains a stratigraphical analysis of the architectural remains, a study of the pottery and an interpretation of the results. The volume includes a reconstruction of the occupational history of the site, currently a highly controversial issue, using not only Kenyon's results, but data from earlier and more recent published digs.
The fifth volume in the series of final reports on the work of the Joint Expedition to Jerusalem in the 1960s describes the discoveries made in six sites in the ancient city and places them in the archaeological and historical context of Jerusalem and the surrounding lands. Among the most debated issues are the extent of the occupation of the city during the Iron Age, the location of the southern defence line in Herodian and Roman times, and the date of the destruction of an Umayyad palatial structure. There is fresh information on the civic amenities of the southern half of the Byzantine city, and on the structure of the Ottoman city defences built under Sulaiman the Magnificent in the sixteenth century. Fine glazed pottery, both locally made and imported, and the wide range of materials reaching Jerusalem through trade and pilgrimage, reflect elite patronage and the high status of the holy city under Islamic rule.
Dame Kathleen Kenyon has always been a larger-than-life figure, likely the most influential woman archaeologist of the 20th century. In the first full-length biography of Kenyon, Miriam Davis recounts not only her many achievements in the field but also her personal side, known to very few of her contemporaries. Her public side is a catalog of major successes: discovering the oldest city at Jericho with its amazing collection of plastered skulls; untangling the archaeological complexities of ancient Jerusalem and identifying the original City of David; participating in the discipline’s most famous all-woman excavation at Great Zimbabwe. Her development (with Sir Mortimer Wheeler) of stratigraphic trenching methods has been universally emulated by archaeologists for over half a century. Her private life—her childhood as daughter of the director of the British Museum, her accidental choice of a career in archaeology, her working at bombed sites in London during the blitz, and her solitary retirement to Wales—are generally unknown. Davis provides a balanced and illuminating picture of both the public Dame Kenyon and the private person.
This fascinating volume continues the publication of the late Dame Kathleen Kenyon's 1961-67 excavations of ancient Jerusalem. Franken and Steiner provide full descriptions of the stratigraphy, architecture, and objects recovered from eight phases dating between the ninth and early sixth centuries B.C., carefully analyzing their ceramic sequence and various manufacturing techniques. In addition, the book offers commentaries on the practices of both ancient and modern Jerusalem potters that illuminate the social, religious, and economic life of the quarter, and that trace the progressive decline of the quarter to its final abandonment c. 700 B.C. when a new city wall system was built over it.
The fifth volume in the series of final reports on the work of the Joint Expedition to Jerusalem in the 1960s describes the discoveries made in six sites in the ancient city and places them in the archaeological and historical context of Jerusalem and the surrounding lands. Among the most debated issues are the extent of the occupation of the city during the Iron Age, the location of the southern defence line in Herodian and Roman times, and the date of the destruction of an Umayyad palatial structure. There is fresh information on the civic amenities of the southern half of the Byzantine city, and on the structure of the Ottoman city defences built under Sulaiman the Magnificent in the sixteenth century. Fine glazed pottery, both locally made and imported, and the wide range of materials reaching Jerusalem through trade and pilgrimage, reflect elite patronage and the high status of the holy city under Islamic rule.
On a cold winter morning in January of 1851, a small group of people approached the monumental façade of an ancient rock-cut burial cave located north of the Old City of Jerusalem. The team, consisting of two Europeans and a number of local workers, was led by Louis-Félicien Caignart de Saulcy—descendant of a noble Flemish family who later was to become a distinguished member of the French parliament. As an amateur archaeologist and a devout Catholic, de Saulcy was attracted to the Holy Land and Jerusalem in particular and was obsessed by his desire to uncover some tangible evidence for the city’s glorious past. However, unlike numerous other European pilgrims, researchers and adventurers before him, de Saulcy was determined to expose the evidence by physically excavating ancient sites. His first object of investigation constitutes one of the most attractive and mysterious monumental burial caves within the vicinity of the Old City, from then onward to be referred to as the “Tomb of the Kings” (Kubur al-Muluk). By conducting an archaeological investigation, de Saulcy tried to prove that this complex represented no less than the monumental sepulcher of the biblical Davidic Dynasty. His brief exploration of the burial complex in 1851 led to the discovery of several ancient artifacts, including sizeable marble fragments of one or several sarcophagi. It would take him another 13 years to raise the funds for a more comprehensive investigation of the site. On November 17, 1863, de Saulcy returned to Jerusalem with a larger team to initiate what would later be referred to as the first archaeological excavation to be conducted in the city.—(from the “Preface”) In 2006, some two dozen contemporary archaeologists and historians met at Brown University, in Providence RI, to present papers and illustrations marking the 150th anniversary of modern archaeological exploration of the Holy City. The papers from that conference are published here, presented in 5 major sections: (1) The History of Research, (2) From Early Humans to the Iron Age, (3) The Roman Period, (4) The Byzantine Period, and (5) The Early Islamic and Medieval Periods. The volume is heavily illustrated with materials from historical archives as well as from contemporary excavations. It provides a helpful and informative introduction to the history of the various national and religious organizations that have sponsored excavations in the Holy Land and Jerusalem in particular, as well as a summary of the current status of excavations in Jerusalem.
Recently, a travel account and 700 photographs came to light by the hand of Leo Boer, a former student of the École Biblique et Archéologique Française in Jerusalem who, at the age of 26 in 1953–4 visited many archaeological sites in the area of present-day Israel and the Palestinian Territories. These documents inspired 20 internationally-renowned scholars – many of whom excavated at the sites they describe – to report on what we know today of nine particular sites chosen from the many that Leo Boer visited 60 years ago: Jerusalem, Khirbet et-Tell (Άi?), Samaria & Sebaste, Tell Balata (Shechem), Tell es-Sultan (Jericho), Khirbet Qumran, Caesarea, Megiddo, and Bet She’an. Rather than focusing on the history of these sites, the contributors describe the history of the archaeological expeditions. Who excavated these sites over the years? What were the specific aims of their campaigns? What techniques and methods did they use? How did they interpret these excavations? What finds were most noteworthy? And finally, what are the major misconceptions held by the former excavators? Several themes are interwoven amongst the contributions and variously discussed, such as ‘identification of biblical sites’, ‘regional surveys’, ‘underwater archaeology’, ‘archaeothanatology’, ‘archaeology and politics’, ‘archaeology and science’, and ‘heritage management’. This unique collection of images and essays offers to scholars working in the region previously unpublished materials and interpretations as well as new photographs. For students of archaeology, ancient or Biblical history and theology it contains both a detailed archaeological historiography and explores some highly relevant, specific themes. Finally, the superb quality of Boer’s photography provides an unprecedented insight into the archaeological landscape of post-war Palestine for anyone interested in Biblical history and archaeology.
Antiguo Oriente (abbreviated as AntOr) is the annual, peer-reviewed, scholarly journal published by the Center of Studies of Ancient Near Eastern History (CEHAO), Catholic University of Argentina.
In History, Archaeology and the Bible Forty Years after "Historicity", Hjelm and Thompson argue that a ‘crisis’ broke in the 1970s, when several new studies of biblical history and archaeology were published, questioning the historical-critical method of biblical scholarship. The crisis formed the discourse of the Copenhagen school’s challenge of standing positions, which—together with new achievements in archaeological research—demand that the regional history of ancient Israel, Judaea and Palestine be reconsidered in all its detail. This volume examines the major changes that have taken place within the field of Old Testament studies since the ground breaking works of Thomas Thompson and John van Seters in 1974 and 1975 (both republished in 2014). The book is divided in three sections: changing perspectives in biblical studies, history and cult, and ideology and history, presenting new articles from some of the field’s best scholars with comprehensive discussion of historical, archaeological, anthropological, cultural and literary approaches to the Hebrew Bible and Palestine’s history. The essays question: "How does biblical history relate to the archaeological history of Israel and Palestine?" and "Can we view the history of the region independently of a biblical perspective?" by looking at the problem from alternative angles and questioning long-held interpretations. Unafraid to break new ground, History, Archaeology and the Bible Forty Years after "Historicity" is a vital resource to students in the field of Biblical and East Mediterranean Studies, and anyone with an interest in the archaeology, history and religious development in Palestine and the ancient Near East.
This is the first monograph dedicated to the site of Socoh in the Judean Shephelah. Our research was initiated in 2010 as an intensive survey by the Institute of Archaeology, Southern Adventist University, and the Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The study incorporates historical sources that are listed and analyzed, including the Bible, ancient Near Eastern, Byzantine, and Medieval records. A history of the research conducted over the past 190 years by explorers, geographers, and archaeologists is compiled, before providing the full report on the results of an intensive site survey conducted at Socoh in 2010. Finally, specialized studies of the finds and a report of recent salvage excavations of burial caves, looted by antiquity robbers nearby, give a state-of-the-art presentation of the latest information known about this important biblical site in southern Judah.
