Eli Piasetzky

THE EMC EFFECT AND HIGH MOMENTUM NUCLEONS IN NUCLEI

Recent developments in understanding the influence of the nucleus on deep-inelastic structure functions, the EMC effect, are reviewed. A new data base which expresses ratios of structure functions in terms of the Bjorken variable xA = AQ2/(2MA q0) is presented. Information about two-nucleon short-range correlations (SRC) from experiments is also discussed and the remarkable linear relation between SRC and the EMC effect is reviewed. A convolution model that relates the underlying source of the EMC effect to modification of either the mean-field nucleons or SRC nucleons is presented. It is shown that both approaches are equally successful in describing the current EMC data.

Radiocarbon and the History of Copper Production at Khirbet En-Nahas

Abstract The article deals with the 46 14C determinations from Khirbet en-Nahas, described as the largest Iron Age copper-smelting site in the southern Levant. It is suggested that production at Khirbet en-Nahas: (1) commenced in the early Iron I (after the collapse of the Egypto-Canaanite system) as an outcome of the decline in Cypriot copper-trade with the Levant; (2) peaked in thefirst half of the 9th century, possibly as a result of the need for considerable amounts of bronze by the vast and powerful armies of the rising territorial kingdoms of the Levant; (3) ended in the late 9th century BCE, probably as a consequence of the revival of contacts with Cyprus and the economic interests of Aram Damascus.

Nucleon-Nucleon Correlations, Short-Lived Excitations, and the Quarks Within

This article reviews our current understanding of how the internal quark structure of a nucleon bound in nuclei differs from that of a free nucleon. We focus on the interpretation of measurements of the EMC effect for valence quarks, a reduction in the Deep Inelastic Scattering (DIS) cross-section ratios for nuclei relative to deuterium, and its possible connection to nucleon-nucleon Short-Range Correlations (SRC) in nuclei. Our review and new analysis (involving the amplitudes of non-nucleonic configurations in the nucleus) of the available experimental and theoretical evidence shows that there is a phenomenological relation between the EMC effect and the effects of SRC that is not an accident. The influence of strongly correlated neutron-proton pairs involving highly virtual nucleons is responsible for both effects. These correlated pairs are temporary high-density fluctuations in the nucleus in which the internal structure of the nucleons is briefly modified. This conclusion needs to be solidified by the future experiments and improved theoretical analyses that are discussed herein.

14C and the iron age chronology debate : Rehov, khirbet en-nahas, dan, and megiddo

A recently published volume, The Bible and Radiocarbon Dating: Archaeology, Text and Science (Levy and Higham 2005), provides data related to the debate over the chronology of the Iron Age strata in the Levant (for a review, see Carmi 2006). The present article comments on several chapters in the volume. The article highlights methodological problems, such as insecure stratigraphic provenance of 14C samples, and demonstrates how unjustified selection of data can bias the result. The article offers a new interpretation to some of the results and shows that the full set of measurements from Tel Rehov supports the Low Chronology system.

Binarization of First Temple Period Inscriptions: Performance of Existing Algorithms and a New Registration Based Scheme

The discipline of First Temple Period epigraphy (the study of writing) relies heavily on manually-drawn facsimiles (black and white images) of ancient inscriptions. This practice may unintentionally mix up documentation and interpretation. As an alternative, this article surveys the performance of several existing binarization techniques. The quality of their results is found to be inadequate for our purpose. A new method for automatically creating a facsimile is then suggested. The technique is based on a connected-component oriented elastic registration of an already existing imperfect facsimile to the inscription image. Some empirical results, supporting the methodology, are presented. The procedure is also relevant to the creation of facsimiles for other types of inscriptions.

Iron Age Mediterranean Chronology: A Rejoinder

This article is a rejoinder to a recent paper in this journal by van der Plicht et al. (2009) who use radiocarbon determinations from several sites in Israel, Italy, Spain, and Tunisia to advocate a High Chronology system for the entire Med- iterranean Basin. We contend that they reached mistaken conclusions due to problematic selection of sites and data. We argue that a reliable way to provide absolute dates for the Iron Age in the central and western Mediterranean is by employing a com- bination of well-identified Greek pottery found in well-stratified sites and radiometric results from short-lived samples. For the time being, this combination exists only in the Levant, and provides an anchor for Greek chronology, which supports the Conventional Chronology for the Aegean Basin, which corresponds to the Low Chronology in the Levant.

Recent radiocarbon results and King Solomon

Radiocarbon dating and stratigraphy here offer a new chronological structure for the Iron Age in the Levant. The credit for the construction of massive public monuments in the northern part of Israel is here wrested from David and Solomon and attributed to the later Omride dynasty. The early Israelite monarchs actually ruled over a small kingdom in the highlands around Jerusalem rather than a great empire.

Quality Evaluation of Facsimiles of Hebrew First Temple Period Inscriptions

The discipline of First Temple Period epigraphy (the study of writing) relies heavily on manually-drawn facsimiles (black and white images) of ancient inscriptions. This practice may unintentionally mix up documentation and interpretation. The article proposes a new method for evaluating the quality of the facsimile. It is based on a measure, comparing the image of the inscription to the registered facsimile. Some empirical results, supporting the methodology, are presented. The technique is also relevant to quality evaluation of other types of facsimiles and binarization in general.

The Iron I/IIA Transition in the Levant: A Reply to Mazar and Bronk Ramsey and a New Perspective

Mazar and Bronk Ramsey (2008) recently proposed that the Iron I/IIA transition in the Levant took place during the first half of the 10th century. In the first part of this article, we challenge their method and conclusions. We argue against the inclusion of charcoal in their model, which could lead to an ?old wood effect.? We also argue that in dealing with a transition date, all available data must be taken into consideration. In the second part of the article, we propose Bayesian Model I for the Iron I/IIA transition, which is based on 2 sets of data?for the periods immediately before and after this transition. Our model, along with the other 11 published Bayesian models for this transition that used only short-lived samples, agrees with the Low Chronology system for the Iron Age strata in the Levant and negates all other proposals, including Mazar?s Modified Conventional Chronology. The Iron I/IIA transition occurred during the second half of the 10th century. In the third part of the article, we present a new insight on the Iron I/IIA transition. We propose that the late Iron I cities came to an end in a gradual process and interpret this proposal with Bayesian Model II. Mazar and Bronk Ramsey (2008) recently challenged Sharon et al. (2007; also Boaretto et al. 2005) and us (e.g. Finkelstein and Piasetzky 2003, 2007a,b) regarding the date of transition from the Iron I to the Iron IIA in the Levant. While we and Sharon et al. placed this transition in the second half of the 10th century BCE, Mazar and Bronk Ramsey positioned it ?during the first half of the 10th century BCE? and argued that ?the second half of the 10th century BCE should be included in the Iron IIA? (Mazar and Bronk Ramsey 2008:178). We discuss some problems in the methodology of Mazar and Bronk Ramsey that may have influenced their results. In particular, we discuss 1) the exclusion of data; 2) the inclusion of data (charcoal samples); and 3) show that even according to Mazar and Bronk Ramsey, excluding these samples position the late Iron I/IIA transition in the late 10th century. Finally, we present our own 2 Bayesian models for the Iron I/IIA transition.

Algorithmic handwriting analysis of Judah's military correspondence sheds light on composition of biblical texts.

Significance Scholars debate whether the first major phase of compilation of biblical texts took place before or after the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE. Proliferation of literacy is considered a precondition for the creation of such texts. Ancient inscriptions provide important evidence of the proliferation of literacy. This paper focuses on 16 ink inscriptions found in the desert fortress of Arad, written ca. 600 BCE. By using novel image processing and machine learning algorithms we deduce the presence of at least six authors in this corpus. This indicates a high degree of literacy in the Judahite administrative apparatus and provides a possible stage setting for compilation of biblical texts. After the kingdom’s demise, a similar literacy level reemerges only ca. 200 BCE. The relationship between the expansion of literacy in Judah and composition of biblical texts has attracted scholarly attention for over a century. Information on this issue can be deduced from Hebrew inscriptions from the final phase of the first Temple period. We report our investigation of 16 inscriptions from the Judahite desert fortress of Arad, dated ca. 600 BCE—the eve of Nebuchadnezzar’s destruction of Jerusalem. The inquiry is based on new methods for image processing and document analysis, as well as machine learning algorithms. These techniques enable identification of the minimal number of authors in a given group of inscriptions. Our algorithmic analysis, complemented by the textual information, reveals a minimum of six authors within the examined inscriptions. The results indicate that in this remote fort literacy had spread throughout the military hierarchy, down to the quartermaster and probably even below that rank. This implies that an educational infrastructure that could support the composition of literary texts in Judah already existed before the destruction of the first Temple. A similar level of literacy in this area is attested again only 400 y later, ca. 200 BCE.