Iron II

This paper presents a cache of 31 astragali from the site of Tel Nagila, dating to the Middle Bronze Age. This is the earliest known cache of astragali from the Southern Levant outside tombs, and may be the forebearer of the later caches found in cultic contexts in the Late Bronze and Iron Ages. This paper presents the context in which the cache was found, adjacent to a tower that functioned as part of the site's fortifications; the social mechanisms behind the use of astragali; their deposition in a cache; and how the cache may have related to the function of the context in which it was found.

The complexation of Fe(II) with organic matter (OM) and especially with humic acids (HA) remains poorly characterized in the literature. In this study, batch experiments were conducted on a pH range varying from 1.95 to 9.90 to study HA-mediated Fe(II) binding. The results showed that high amounts of Fe(II) are complexed with HA depending on the pH. Experimental data were used to determine a new set of binding parameters by coupling PHREEPLOT and PHREEQC-Model VI. The new binding parameters (log KMA = 2.19 ± 0.16, log KMB = 4.46 ± 0.47 and ΔLK2 = 3.90 ± 1.30) were validated using the LFER (linear free energy relationship) method and published adsorption data between Fe(II) and Suwannee River fulvic acid (SRFA) (Rose and Waite, 2003). They were then put in PHREEQC-Model VI to determine the distribution of Fe(II) onto HA functional groups. It was shown that Fe(II) forms mainly bidentate complexes, some tridentate complexes and only a few monodentate complexes with HA. Moreover, Fe(II)...

The recovery of a ceramic assemblage from a pit in Area T2 at Tel Azekah provided new data for the analysis of the Iron Age II. Following restoration of the vessels, it became clear that the assemblage did not conform to the known ‘ceramic pegs’ of the Iron II i.e., Iron IIA or Iron IIB.

The following study evaluates the context of the ceramic assemblage i.e., a pit, and proposes a framework for the broad analysis of pits, along the vectors of construction, contents, and location. The integration of Garbology and refuse analysis into a consideration of pits facilitates the classification of the Tel Azekah pit as a short- term refuse pit. Such an analysis enables the treatment of the ceramic material as a homogenous assemblage, which is indicative of a specific ceramic horizon.

Following the identification of the assemblage as holistic, this study aims to provide ceramic parallels for the Tel Azekah assemblage, effectively placing it within a wider typological (relative) framework. A consideration of the Tel Azekah material in conjunction with alternate sites, indicates that the assemblage rests somewhere between the late Iron IIA (Tell es-Safi/Gath Stratum A3) and the Iron IIB (Lachish Level III).

The emergence of new archaeological data from sites such as Jerusalem (Spring House Stratum 9), Tel Beth Shemesh (Level 3), and Tel Nagile (Stratum IV), in conjunction with Tel Azekah, suggest that it is now possible to narrow the ceramic horizon of the Shephelah during the Iron IIB to ‘early Iron IIB’ (late 9th–mid 8th century BCE) and the ‘late Iron IIB’ (mid-end 8th century BCE). The ‘early Iron IIB’ is here perceived as the reorientation of the Shephelah following the late 9th century BCE destruction of Tell es-Safi/Gath by Hazael of Aram Damascus, and subsequent consolidation of Shephelite networks with Jerusalem and associated Highland sites.

Up until now, only a small number of studies have been dedicated to the binding processes of As(III) with organic matter (OM) via ionic Fe(III) bridges; none was interested in Fe (II). Complexation isotherms were carried out with As(III), Fe(II) or Fe(III) and Leonardite humic acid (HA). Although PHREEQC/Model VI, implemented with OM thiol groups, reproduced the experimental datasets with Fe(III), the poor fit between the experimental and modeled Fe(II) data suggested another binding mechanism for As(III) to OM. PHREEQC/Model VI was modified to take various possible As(III)-Fe(II)-OM ternary complex conformations into account. The complexation of As(III) as a mononuclear bidentate complex to a bidentate Fe(II)-HA complex was evidenced. However, the model needed to be improved since the distribution of the bidentate sites appeared to be unrealistic with regards to the published XAS data. In the presence of Fe(III), As(III) was bound to thiol groups which are more competitive with reg...

The paper attempts to integrate the study of the manufacture, function and discard of chalices from three sites in Philistia in order to form a coherent 'life-cycle story' of this vessel type. The analyses include examination of the sources of the ceramic raw material using petrography; study of the modes of manufacture, employing visual inspection and ethnographic data; and examination of the function of these vessels, using organic residue analysis. By combining these analytic perspectives, the authors shed new light on cultic practices in Iron Age Philistia and offer an alternative view of Philistine identity.

The publication of a Proto-Canaanite inscription from Eilat Mazar’s excavations at the Ophel has stimulated much interest in research but also controversy regarding its date. In this article, I discuss the emergence of neckless pithoi with outfolded rim in Israel, Judah and Philistia while considering the changes that were introduced in the relative and absolute chronology of Iron Age Judah and nearby regions. My objective is to trace the earliest appearance of this pithos type systematically and consequently to estimate whether the various dates suggested for the Ophel pithos inscription fit the evidence from the field. A detailed review of the archaeological data indicates that setting the beginning of the production of the neckless pithoi in the late 10th or even the early 9th century BCE is a bit too high. In contrast, dating their earliest examples, including the inscribed piece, to the second half of the 9th century BCE is reasonable and may suggest that some second millennium BCE cultural traditions survived longer than expected in Iron Age IIA Jerusalem.

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In this paper we examine why common methodologies for determining ‘religious architecture’ do not account for the diverse and fluid ways in which religious behaviour can be expressed. We focus on religious architecture from the Iron Age Southern Levant highlighting certain sites that ‘fall through the cracks’ of current taxonomies. We propose a different way of approaching evidence for religious practice in the archaeological record, viewing religion as one dimension of social action made visible along a spectrum of ritualization.

From 2005 to 2008 archaeological excavations were carried out at the summit of the City of David under the directorship of Dr. Eilat Mazar on behalf of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The excavations were conducted in the area of the City of David Archeological Park visitor's center, managed by the Ir David Foundation. Unearthed were the impressive remains of fortifications and a massive royal structure, as well as large amounts of pottery, bullae, seals, ivories, figurines and arrowheads. The finds range in date from the beginning of the Iron Age II (the 10th century BCE) until the Early Islamic period (the 11th century CE). This volume is the first in a series of final reports of the excavations at the summit of the City of David. It presents the architectural remains of the Stepped Stone Structure of the palace of King David, built by the Phoenicians in the 10th century BCE; the collapse of a structure destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BCE and the poor construction built on top of it immediately following its destruction; a section of Nehemiah's city wall, including the Northern Tower, erected in the 5th century BCE; and the Persian, Babylonian and Iron Age II layers sealed beneath it, one on top of the other. These findings have dramatically altered previously held conceptions of the development of ancient Jerusalem and provide striking tangible evidence for its Biblical narratives.

Was There A Cult Reform under King Josiah? The Case for a Well-Grounded Minimum, in: L. L. Grabbe (ed.), Good Kings/Bad Kings: The Kingdom of Judah in the Seventh Century (European Seminar in Historical Methodology, 5; Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies, 393), London – New York: Continuum, 2005 (ppb ed. 2007), 279-316.