David Ussishkin

Royal Judean Storage Jars and Private Seal Impressions

The present excavation project at Tell Lachish (Tell ed-Duweir) was started in 1973 by the Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University and the Israel Exploration Society with the support of the Samuel H. Kress Foundation in New York, the Wolfson Foundation in London, and other public bodies. One of the three selected areas was the complex Judean city gate (Area G), which is still being excavated under the supervision of Y. Eshel. So far, efforts have been concentrated on uncovering the left, northern half of the inner gatehouse of (J. L. Starkeys) Level III. The inner gatehouse consists of six chambers, three on each side, and seems to be larger in size than similar gates at other sites. The gatehouse was totally destroyed by fire. The excavation of this area produced two royal Judean storage jars, Type 484 according to Olga Tufnells division (1953: 315-16), which form the starting point of our discussion. The first storage jar was discovered in 1974 in a room (Locus 4014) which apparently served as a storeroom, situated behind and adjacent to the Level III gate. The room produced much pottery, mainly storage jars, all of which were crushed when the gatehouse was destroyed. Our storage jar, no. 10074, was badly damaged by the conflagration but it could be reconstructed (fig. 1) and is now exhibited in the Israel Museum (no. 75-244). The storage jar has two handles positioned adjacent to each other with royal stamps of the two-winged type (Diringers Class III). The third handle carries a private stamp, while the fourth handle is plain (fig. 2). The handles have a protruding central rib along which the royal stamps were impressed, but in a very careless manner. As a result, the symbol is quite clear but the inscription above and below the symbol is missing. The private stamp is round, ca. 11 mm. in diameter, and a central dividing line which separates the two lines of the inscription can clearly be distinguished. The rest is blurred. Remains of letters can be discerned, but the reading is doubtful and obscure.

The Cache of Egyptianized Vessels from Megiddo: A Stratigraphical Update

Abstract The article presents an updated description of the Early Bronze I finds in Area J at Megiddo, in view of the results of the 1998 and 2000 seasons. Specifically, it discusses the layout of the Level J-4 (EB IB) monumental temple, the circumstances of its abandonment and a phase of renewal of activity at the ruined temple in Level J-4a (also dating to the EB IB). The cache of Egyptianized pottery found in Area J in 1996 was dated by Finkelstein and Ussishkin, on stratigraphical grounds, most likely to the EB III (Level J-5), and by Joffe, on typological grounds, most likely to the EB IB (Level J-4). The 1998–2000 seasons provided additional stratigraphic evidence for its attribution to Level J-4a, the last phase of the EB IB temple.

Notes on the Fortifications of the Middle Bronze II Period at Jericho and Shechem

This article analyzes the latest MB II fortifications in Jericho and Shechem. In Jericho the fortifications are reconstructed by integrating the data and conclusions of the three expeditions that dug there. In Shechem, the analysis is based on the published data regarding Walls A and B, the city gates and the fills associated with them. In both sites the great stone revetments seem basically to be parts of the substructure of the fortifications as well as supporting walls for the constructional fills that characterize the MB II enclosures, rather than to be city walls proper. The interpretation of the character and appearance of the city walls in both sites is accordingly revised.

A Canaanite Temple at Tell Lachish

Excavations at Lachish have been best known heretofore for the discovery of ostraca in an anteroom of the city gate, ostraca which shed light on the last days of the Judean kingdom. Now, new excavations have uncovered remains of Late Bronze Age Lachish, including a large temple once lavishly furnished with cedar beams and stone columns and pillars. A graffito representing a god, armed with a lance, hints at additional discoveries still to be made.

The Sacred Area of Early Bronze Megiddo: History and Interpretation

The sacred area at Tel Megiddo was first excavated by the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago in 1933–1938 and then by the Tel Aviv University expedition in 1992–2010. At present, readers studying the results have to find their way between four excavation reports, each of which is partial and sometimes contradicts the others, as well as in among various complementary and critical studies. The primary aim of the present study is to present a comprehensive picture of the Megiddo sacred area and its history during the Early Bronze Age. As the excavated data are largely incomplete and open to different interpretations, emphasis will be put here on the authors views and stratigraphic interpretations. Finally, the question of whether the sacred area in its various stages was part of a settlement or a pilgrimage site is discussed in detail.

King Solomon's Palaces

The Biblical Archaeologist is published quarterly (February, May, September, December) by the American Schools of Oriental Research. Its purpose is to provide readable, nontechnical, yet thoroughly reliable accounts of archaeological discoveries as they relate to the Bible. Authors wishing to submit unsolicited articles should write the editors for style and format instructions before submitting manuscripts.

The Necropolis from the Time of the Kingdom of Judah at Silwan, Jerusalem

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Was the Egyptianized Pottery Cache from Megiddo a Foundation Deposit of Megaron Temple 4040? Response to Matthew J. Adams

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On the Date of a Group of Ivories from Nimrud

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