Papers by freud liora
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
The Hebrew Bible and other ancient Near Eastern texts describe Egyptian, Aramean, Assyrian, and B... more The Hebrew Bible and other ancient Near Eastern texts describe Egyptian, Aramean, Assyrian, and Babylonian military campaigns to the Southern Levant during the 10th to sixth centuries BCE. Indeed, many destruction layers dated to this period have been unearthed in archaeological excavations. Several of these layers are securely linked to specific campaigns and are widely accepted as chronological anchors. However, the dating of many other destruction layers is often debated, challenging the ability to accurately reconstruct the different military campaigns and raising questions regarding the historicity of the biblical narrative. Here, we present a synchronization of the historically dated chronological anchors and other destruction layers and artifacts using the direction and/or intensity of the ancient geomagnetic field recorded in mud bricks from 20 burnt destruction layers and in two ceramic assemblages. During the period in question, the geomagnetic field in this region was ext...
PLOS ONE
The article presents results of residue analysis, based on Gas Chromatograph Mass Spectrometer (G... more The article presents results of residue analysis, based on Gas Chromatograph Mass Spectrometer (GC-MS) measurements, conducted on 13 ceramic storage jars unearthed in the Babylonian destruction layer (586 BCE) in Jerusalem. Five of the jars bear rosette stamp impressions on their handles, indicating that their content was related to the kingdom of Judah’s royal economy. The identification of the original contents remains is significant for the understanding of many aspects related to the nutrition, economy and international trade in the ancient Levant. The study shed light on the contents of the jars and the destruction process of the buildings in which they were found. The jars were used alternatively for storing wine and olive oil. The wine was flavored with vanilla. These results attest to the wine consumption habits of the Judahite elite and echo Jerusalem’s involvement in the trans-regional South Arabian trade of spices and other lucrative commodities on the eve of its destruct...
plos one, 2022
The article presents results of residue analysis, based on Gas Chromatograph Mass Spectrometer (G... more The article presents results of residue analysis, based on Gas Chromatograph Mass Spectrometer (GC-MS) measurements, conducted on 13 ceramic storage jars unearthed in the Babylonian destruction layer (586 BCE) in Jerusalem. Five of the jars bear rosette stamp impressions on their handles, indicating that their content was related to the kingdom of Judah's royal economy. The identification of the original contents remains is significant for the understanding of many aspects related to the nutrition, economy and international trade in the ancient Levant. The study shed light on the contents of the jars and the destruction process of the buildings in which they were found. The jars were used alternatively for storing wine and olive oil. The wine was flavored with vanilla. These results attest to the wine consumption habits of the Judahite elite and echo Jerusalem's involvement in the transregional South Arabian trade of spices and other lucrative commodities on the eve of its destruction by Nebuchadnezzar.
PloS One, 2022
The article presents results of residue analysis, based on Gas Chromatograph Mass Spectrometer (G... more The article presents results of residue analysis, based on Gas Chromatograph Mass Spectrometer (GC-MS) measurements, conducted on 13 ceramic storage jars unearthed in the Babylonian destruction layer (586 BCE) in Jerusalem. Five of the jars bear rosette stamp impressions on their handles, indicating that their content was related to the kingdom of Judah's royal economy. The identification of the original contents remains is significant for the understanding of many aspects related to the nutrition, economy and international trade in the ancient Levant. The study shed light on the contents of the jars and the destruction process of the buildings in which they were found. The jars were used alternatively for storing wine and olive oil. The wine was flavored with vanilla. These results attest to the wine consumption habits of the Judahite elite and echo Jerusalem's involvement in the transregional South Arabian trade of spices and other lucrative commodities on the eve of its destruction by Nebuchadnezzar.
New Studies in the Archaeology of Jerusalem and Its Region, Collected Papers, 2021
חידושים בארכיאולוגיה של ירושלים וסביבותיה: קובץ מחקרים, כרך י"ג, 2019
New Studies in the Archaeology of Jerusalem and its Region, Collected Papers, Peleg-Barkat, O. et. al. (eds.). Jerusalem: 51-70. [Hebrew], 2019
This report presents the results of nine seasons of excavations at Tel Malhata located in the Ara... more This report presents the results of nine seasons of excavations at Tel Malhata located in the Arad-Beer-sheba valley, Israel.
Six Strata were exposed, ranging from the Middle Bronze Age to the Byzantine period.
The flourishing settlement activity that occurred during the 7th century BCE in the Arad-Beer-sheba Vally is well reflected in Stratum IIIA at Tel Malhata. The finds are richer and more varied than at other settlement sites of this period excavated in the valley, and present clear evidence attesting to the commercial activities and the special status of Tel Malhata in the economy and the settlement system of the Kingdom of Judah - as a central city in this sensitive region on the eastern border.
Conference Presentations by freud liora
חידושים בארכיאולוגיה של ירושלים וסביבותיה, 2021
Persian Period Settlement in the Rural Jerusalem Hinterland
Efrat Bocher and Liora Freud
In this ... more Persian Period Settlement in the Rural Jerusalem Hinterland
Efrat Bocher and Liora Freud
In this article we examine Persian period pottery from a number of different sites in the rural Jerusalem hinterlands in order to identify continuity and change and by doing so to understand the nature of these settlements.
In recent years there has been a burgeoning of research dealing with the Persian period in Judah in general and in Jerusalem in particular. In the wake of this scholarly attention, numerous salvage excavations have taken place in Jerusalem’s rural environs. These rescue excavations, however, if published at all, have in large part been published as preliminary reports, with only schematic plans and at times without ceramic finds. This reflects the understanding by excavators that conclusions have their place only after final processing of finds. Thus, even when researchers detected Persian period elements in their excavations they made no attempt to associate them to the longue durée of the Persian period. Today, in view of the large number of rescue excavations conducted in the area, understanding of the pottery of the period has improved, allowing for more precise information about the degree of continuity of the rural settlements around Jerusalem at Persian period. But despite the new insights in identifying ceramics in the Persian period, there is still much difficulty in distinguishing its short phases and in recent published studies, researchers often refer to the Persian period as a single unit of time.
A careful examination of the pottery from several sites—published and unpublished—allows us to detect changes and trends in the Persian period rural settlement around Jerusalem, and to establish the typology of the pottery of the time. For our research, as most of the sites have been published in only a limited manner, we decided not to rely on these reports, but rather to study the ceramics first-hand at the IAA storerooms. Our probing led us to several conclusions:
• There are a small number of sites that demonstrate continuity from the Iron Age through to the end of the Persian period. These sites are the larger settlements in the area.
• At a great many sites there is continuity from the Iron Age to the Persian period. This continuity, however, did not last through to the end of the Persian period and was apparently abandoned towards the end of the 5th century BCE.
• The Iron Age sites that did carry on into the Persian period and were then abandoned were primarily isolated farmhouses. Of the larger sites there is a reduction in settlements during of the Persian period.
• In the late Persian period (4th century BCE), there is a decline in the rural area around Jerusalem despite the establishment of several new settlements. New settlements were constructed only in the north of Jerusalem.
• Although the construction of new settlements in the north of Jerusalem, there is a decline in the settlement around Jerusalem in the late Persian period (4th century BCE).
Books by freud liora
New Publications by freud liora
New Studies in the Archaeology of Jerusalem and its Region, 2023
This article describes two installations that include a web of shallow rock cut channels. These a... more This article describes two installations that include a web of shallow rock cut channels. These are unique installations that date to the late Iron IIa period. The function of the installations is unknown. We suggest they were meant at soaking vegetal product and that production was under the control of the palace/temple.
PLOS ONE, 2022
Fot the entire article see:
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.026... more Fot the entire article see:
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0266085
The article presents results of residue analysis, based on Gas Chromatograph Mass Spectrometer (GC-MS) measurements, conducted on 13 ceramic storage jars unearthed in the Babylonian destruction layer (586 BCE) in Jerusalem. Five of the jars bear rosette stamp impressions on their handles, indicating that their content was related to the kingdom of Judah’s royal economy. The identification of the original contents remains is significant for the understanding of many aspects related to the nutrition, economy and international trade in the ancient Levant. The study shed light on the contents of the jars and the destruction process of the buildings in which they were found. The jars were used alternatively for storing wine and olive oil. The wine was flavored with vanilla. These results attest to the wine consumption habits of the Judahite elite and echo Jerusalem’s involvement in the trans-regional South Arabian trade of spices and other lucrative commodities on the eve of its destruction by Nebuchadnezzar.
Uploads
Papers by freud liora
Six Strata were exposed, ranging from the Middle Bronze Age to the Byzantine period.
The flourishing settlement activity that occurred during the 7th century BCE in the Arad-Beer-sheba Vally is well reflected in Stratum IIIA at Tel Malhata. The finds are richer and more varied than at other settlement sites of this period excavated in the valley, and present clear evidence attesting to the commercial activities and the special status of Tel Malhata in the economy and the settlement system of the Kingdom of Judah - as a central city in this sensitive region on the eastern border.
Conference Presentations by freud liora
Efrat Bocher and Liora Freud
In this article we examine Persian period pottery from a number of different sites in the rural Jerusalem hinterlands in order to identify continuity and change and by doing so to understand the nature of these settlements.
In recent years there has been a burgeoning of research dealing with the Persian period in Judah in general and in Jerusalem in particular. In the wake of this scholarly attention, numerous salvage excavations have taken place in Jerusalem’s rural environs. These rescue excavations, however, if published at all, have in large part been published as preliminary reports, with only schematic plans and at times without ceramic finds. This reflects the understanding by excavators that conclusions have their place only after final processing of finds. Thus, even when researchers detected Persian period elements in their excavations they made no attempt to associate them to the longue durée of the Persian period. Today, in view of the large number of rescue excavations conducted in the area, understanding of the pottery of the period has improved, allowing for more precise information about the degree of continuity of the rural settlements around Jerusalem at Persian period. But despite the new insights in identifying ceramics in the Persian period, there is still much difficulty in distinguishing its short phases and in recent published studies, researchers often refer to the Persian period as a single unit of time.
A careful examination of the pottery from several sites—published and unpublished—allows us to detect changes and trends in the Persian period rural settlement around Jerusalem, and to establish the typology of the pottery of the time. For our research, as most of the sites have been published in only a limited manner, we decided not to rely on these reports, but rather to study the ceramics first-hand at the IAA storerooms. Our probing led us to several conclusions:
• There are a small number of sites that demonstrate continuity from the Iron Age through to the end of the Persian period. These sites are the larger settlements in the area.
• At a great many sites there is continuity from the Iron Age to the Persian period. This continuity, however, did not last through to the end of the Persian period and was apparently abandoned towards the end of the 5th century BCE.
• The Iron Age sites that did carry on into the Persian period and were then abandoned were primarily isolated farmhouses. Of the larger sites there is a reduction in settlements during of the Persian period.
• In the late Persian period (4th century BCE), there is a decline in the rural area around Jerusalem despite the establishment of several new settlements. New settlements were constructed only in the north of Jerusalem.
• Although the construction of new settlements in the north of Jerusalem, there is a decline in the settlement around Jerusalem in the late Persian period (4th century BCE).
Books by freud liora
New Publications by freud liora
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0266085
The article presents results of residue analysis, based on Gas Chromatograph Mass Spectrometer (GC-MS) measurements, conducted on 13 ceramic storage jars unearthed in the Babylonian destruction layer (586 BCE) in Jerusalem. Five of the jars bear rosette stamp impressions on their handles, indicating that their content was related to the kingdom of Judah’s royal economy. The identification of the original contents remains is significant for the understanding of many aspects related to the nutrition, economy and international trade in the ancient Levant. The study shed light on the contents of the jars and the destruction process of the buildings in which they were found. The jars were used alternatively for storing wine and olive oil. The wine was flavored with vanilla. These results attest to the wine consumption habits of the Judahite elite and echo Jerusalem’s involvement in the trans-regional South Arabian trade of spices and other lucrative commodities on the eve of its destruction by Nebuchadnezzar.
Six Strata were exposed, ranging from the Middle Bronze Age to the Byzantine period.
The flourishing settlement activity that occurred during the 7th century BCE in the Arad-Beer-sheba Vally is well reflected in Stratum IIIA at Tel Malhata. The finds are richer and more varied than at other settlement sites of this period excavated in the valley, and present clear evidence attesting to the commercial activities and the special status of Tel Malhata in the economy and the settlement system of the Kingdom of Judah - as a central city in this sensitive region on the eastern border.
Efrat Bocher and Liora Freud
In this article we examine Persian period pottery from a number of different sites in the rural Jerusalem hinterlands in order to identify continuity and change and by doing so to understand the nature of these settlements.
In recent years there has been a burgeoning of research dealing with the Persian period in Judah in general and in Jerusalem in particular. In the wake of this scholarly attention, numerous salvage excavations have taken place in Jerusalem’s rural environs. These rescue excavations, however, if published at all, have in large part been published as preliminary reports, with only schematic plans and at times without ceramic finds. This reflects the understanding by excavators that conclusions have their place only after final processing of finds. Thus, even when researchers detected Persian period elements in their excavations they made no attempt to associate them to the longue durée of the Persian period. Today, in view of the large number of rescue excavations conducted in the area, understanding of the pottery of the period has improved, allowing for more precise information about the degree of continuity of the rural settlements around Jerusalem at Persian period. But despite the new insights in identifying ceramics in the Persian period, there is still much difficulty in distinguishing its short phases and in recent published studies, researchers often refer to the Persian period as a single unit of time.
A careful examination of the pottery from several sites—published and unpublished—allows us to detect changes and trends in the Persian period rural settlement around Jerusalem, and to establish the typology of the pottery of the time. For our research, as most of the sites have been published in only a limited manner, we decided not to rely on these reports, but rather to study the ceramics first-hand at the IAA storerooms. Our probing led us to several conclusions:
• There are a small number of sites that demonstrate continuity from the Iron Age through to the end of the Persian period. These sites are the larger settlements in the area.
• At a great many sites there is continuity from the Iron Age to the Persian period. This continuity, however, did not last through to the end of the Persian period and was apparently abandoned towards the end of the 5th century BCE.
• The Iron Age sites that did carry on into the Persian period and were then abandoned were primarily isolated farmhouses. Of the larger sites there is a reduction in settlements during of the Persian period.
• In the late Persian period (4th century BCE), there is a decline in the rural area around Jerusalem despite the establishment of several new settlements. New settlements were constructed only in the north of Jerusalem.
• Although the construction of new settlements in the north of Jerusalem, there is a decline in the settlement around Jerusalem in the late Persian period (4th century BCE).
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0266085
The article presents results of residue analysis, based on Gas Chromatograph Mass Spectrometer (GC-MS) measurements, conducted on 13 ceramic storage jars unearthed in the Babylonian destruction layer (586 BCE) in Jerusalem. Five of the jars bear rosette stamp impressions on their handles, indicating that their content was related to the kingdom of Judah’s royal economy. The identification of the original contents remains is significant for the understanding of many aspects related to the nutrition, economy and international trade in the ancient Levant. The study shed light on the contents of the jars and the destruction process of the buildings in which they were found. The jars were used alternatively for storing wine and olive oil. The wine was flavored with vanilla. These results attest to the wine consumption habits of the Judahite elite and echo Jerusalem’s involvement in the trans-regional South Arabian trade of spices and other lucrative commodities on the eve of its destruction by Nebuchadnezzar.