Itach, G., 2023. The Diachronic Archaeological Record of Ancient Yehud: From the Late Chalcolithic to Modern Times. pp. 1-41, 4, pp.1-41.Substantial archaeological exposure of the ancient city of Yehud was achieved through as many as forty-four trial and salvage excavations conducted since 1993. The accumulated data has now reached a critical mass where a broad synthesis is made possible, concerning a site for which investigation has been slow due to the challenges of excavating within a densely populated and rapidly developing modern city. Excavations in the city, located in Israel’s central coastal plain, revealed a patchy history of human settlement, ranging in date between the Late Chalcolithic and Ottoman periods, with lengthy periods of sparse residential use, when the site was variably utilized for funerary, industrial, agricultural, or other types of yet unidentified activities. This comprehensive synthesis unravels the archaeology and history of this little-known site, located at the heart of a region that has undergone major social transformations and historical upheavals during the period in question. The information on Yehud is contextualized with up-to-date knowledge of the archaeology of the central coastal plain, especially concerning Yehud’s hinterland within the Ayalon valley.
Vainstub, D., 2003. Incense from Sheba for the Jerusalem Temple. pp. 42-68, 4.In Eilat Mazar’s excavations in the Ophel in Jerusalem, a partially preserved inscription engraved on the shoulder of a pithos was found in 2012 in a context dated to the 10th century BCE. Although close to a dozen interpretations of the inscription have been offered over time, its reading remains highly disputed. All of these interpretations consider the script to be Canaanite. In this study, it is argued that the inscription was engraved in the Ancient South Arabian script and that its language is Sabaean. The inscription reads “ ]šy ladanum 5.” The aromatic ladanum (Cistus ladaniferus), rendered as lḏn in the inscription, is most probably שׁ ְ חֵ לֶ ת (šǝḥēlet), the second component of incense according to Exod 30:34. The inscription was engraved before the locally made vessel was fired, leading to the conclusion that a Sabaean functionary entrusted with aromatic components of incense was active in Jerusalem by the time of King Solomon.
Hruby, K., Bar, S. & Rosenberg, D., 2023. Why Painted? The Decorated Stone Tools from Fazael 4, an Early Bronze Age I Site in the Jordan Valley. pp. 69-86.The current paper discusses three painted ground stone tools—two upper grinding stones and a bowlet—from the Early Bronze Age Ia2 rural settlement Fazael 4. All three items are utilitarian and potentially linked to food processing (particularly grinding stones). Their working surfaces were brush painted with a basket-like design composed of intersecting lines. While the decorations are frail, the items are complete and suitable for use, implying that the painting deliberately took them out of service. So far, this phenomenon is unparalleled in the contemporary southern Levant. We suggest that it underscores the tools’ social and symbolic significance as food processors and discuss this hypothesis as part of a broader phenomenon of food processing tools’ secondary use and decoration observed throughout late prehistory.
Garfinkel, Y., 2023. Early City Planning in the Kingdom of Judah: Khirbet Qeiyafa, Beth Shemesh 4, Tell en-Naṣbeh, Khirbet ed-Dawwara, and Lachish V. pp. 87-107.The earliest fortified sites in the kingdom of Judah in the early 10th century BCE feature a casemate city wall lined with an abutting belt of houses, which incorporate the casemates as rear rooms. This urban plan is clearly recognized in the sites of Khirbet Qeiyafa, Tell en-Naṣbeh, Khirbet ed-Dawwara, and, as discussed in detail, Beth Shemesh. Recently, excavations at Lachish, Level V, uncovered a similar pattern comprising a peripheral belt of structures abutting the city wall. This city wall was solid with no casemates. These sites have far-reaching implications for understanding the urbanization process, urban planning, and borders of the earliest phase of the kingdom of Judah.
Raviv, D., Stripling, S. & Farhi, Y., 2023. New Findings from the Acrabat Toparchy and the Northern Border of Judea before and after the Great Revolt. pp. 108-136.The toparchy of Acrabat occupied the border between Judea and Samaria during much of the Roman and Byzantine periods. During the late Second Temple period, it was the northernmost administrative district of Judea. The decades of 70–136 CE, which encompass the interbellum period and the Bar Kokhba Revolt, remain opaque. Until recently, the region’s ethnic composition, in general, and the existence of Jewish communities, in particular, was obscure. This study presents and analyzes new data from recent excavations and surveys in the toparchy’s territory. We draw two conclusions: (1) A Jewish population resided in the region during the interbellum period and participated in the Bar Kokhba Revolt, and (2) the northern border of the Bar Kokhba administration was roughly the same as the northern border of Judea in the late Second Temple period. These conclusions indicate that the Jewish territory during the Second Jewish Revolt extended further north than was previously thought.
Hadas, G., 2023. From Where Did the Romans Breach into Masada?. pp. 137-154. Available at: https://jjar.huji.ac.il/sites/default/files/jjar/files/jjar4_art06_hadas_2023-09-06_02_an_opt.pdf. Publisher's VersionIn his book, The War of the Jews, Flavius Josephus describes the Roman conquest of Masada. He reports that the Roman soldiers breached the site’s western wall with a battering ram installed on a siege tower and positioned at the top of a siege ramp. In this paper, I challenge this narrative and argue that the Romans entered Masada from the south through the Southern Gate.
