Oded Lipschits

Archaeological investigations and OSL dating of terraces at Ramat Rahel, Israel

Abstract Dating terraces, the most prominent feature of the agricultural landscape in many parts of the world, is a problem for archaeologists. This study presents an interdisciplinary approach that combines archaeological survey and excavations with direct sediment dating of terrace fill using Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL). The study focuses on Ramat Rahel, a multi-period site located in the southern outskirts of modern Jerusalem, Israel, where, on a defined terraced slope chosen for a small-scale landscape archaeology project, three main phases of terrace construction and use were identified. The earliest phase dates to the Late Byzantine/Early Islamic period, the second to medieval times, and the last to the Ottoman period. The results enable a comprehensive reconstruction of the changing local landscape through time and demonstrate the validity of OSL, when combined with archaeological investigations, as a reliable method for terrace dating.

Fossil Pollen Reveals the Secrets of the Royal Persian Garden at Ramat Rahel, Jerusalem

The ancient tell (mound) of Ramat Rahel sits on the outskirts of Jerusalem. It features an impressive residency and palatial garden that flourished during the seventh to fourth centuries BCE, when biblical Judah was under the hegemony of the Assyrian, Babylonian and Persian empires. Until recently, the gardens flora has been a mystery, as standard archaeological procedures were unable to retrieve secure archaeobotanical remains. A unique method of extracting fossil pollen from ancient plaster has now enabled researchers to reconstruct the exact vegetation components of this royal Persian garden and for the first time to shed light on the cultural world of the inhabitants of the residence. The plaster layers and garden are dated archaeologically and by Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) methods to the Persian period (fifth to fourth centuries BCE), and produced evidence of importation by the ruling Persian authorities of special and highly valued trees to the garden from remote parts of the empire. The most surprising find, and marking its earliest appearance in the southern Levant, was the citron (Citrus medico), which later acquired a symbolic-religious role in Judaism. Other imported trees found to have been grown in the garden are the cedar, birch and Persian walnut. The pollen evidence of these exotic trees in the Ramat Rahel palatial garden suggests that they were probably brought to flaunt the power of the imperial Persian administration. Native fruit trees and ornamentals that were also grown there include the fig, grape, olive, willow, poplar, myrtle and water lily. The identification of the ancient gardens plant life opens a course for future research into the symbolic role of flora in palatial gardens. It also offers new opportunities for studying the mechanism by which native flora was adopted in a particular geographical area and proliferated by humans across the world.

A New Typology of the Yehud Stamp Impressions

Abstract This paper presents a new framework for studying the Yehud stamp impressions of the Persian and early Hellenistic periods. It includes a new typology of 17 types divided into three different chronological groups, resting on a more precise chronological system informed by palaeography, stratigraphy, distribution and comparative analysis. It also proposes new readings of four stamp types, and suggests a new type not yet recognized.

Judahite Stamped and Incised Jar Handles: A Tool for Studying the History of Late Monarchic Judah

Abstract The paper probes the distribution of the various stamped and incised Judahite jars with two criteria in mind: (1) their estimated date; (2) the assumption that in addition to Jerusalem, sites that yielded large quantities of stamped handles (mainly lachish and Ramat Rahel) served as major collection centres while sites that yielded only a few dozen stamped handles served as secondary administrative centres of the kingdom. Based on their findings, the authors reconstruct the evolution of the royal administrative system in the late 8th through the early 6th centuries BCE.

PALACE AND VILLAGE, PARADISE AND OBLIVION: Unraveling the Riddles of Ramat Raḥel

Tel Ramat Ra?el, located halfway between Jerusalem and Bethlehem, holds the key to understanding much of the political, economic, and social history of Judah during the Iron, Persian, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, and Early Islamic periods. Yohanan Aharoni’s excavations at the site between 1954 and 1962 began the process of unraveling the site’s millennial secrets, but his reports were preliminary, and he left many issues unresolved. In 2005, Oded Lipschits of Tel Aviv University and Manfred Oeming of Heidelberg University began an extended expedition at the site. The two main missions of their project were to complete publication of Aharoni’s excavations (a White-Levy project) and to open up new areas of excavation at the site. The combination of the two missions has enabled their team to challenge Aharoni’s reconstruction of the site and to present an innovative, alternative depiction of the stratigraphy, architecture, and material culture of Ramat Ra?el. This new perception of the site has also served as the basis for a comprehensive reevaluation of the political, social, and economic history of the kingdom of Judah.

Six centuries of geomagnetic intensity variations recorded by royal Judean stamped jar handles

Significance Understanding the geomagnetic field behavior in the past, and, in particular, its intensity component, has implications for various (and disparate) fields of research, including the physics of Earth’s interior, atmospheric and cosmologic sciences, biology, and archaeology. This study provides substantial data on variations in geomagnetic field intensity during the eighth to second centuries BCE Levant, thus significantly improving the existing record for this region. In addition, the study provides further evidence of extremely strong field in the late eighth century BCE (“geomagnetic spike”), and of rapid rates of change (>20% over three decades). The improved Levantine record is an important basis for geophysical models (core−mantle interactions, cosmogenic processes, and more) as well as a reference for archaeomagnetic dating. Earth’s magnetic field, one of the most enigmatic physical phenomena of the planet, is constantly changing on various time scales, from decades to millennia and longer. The reconstruction of geomagnetic field behavior in periods predating direct observations with modern instrumentation is based on geological and archaeological materials and has the twin challenges of (i) the accuracy of ancient paleomagnetic estimates and (ii) the dating of the archaeological material. Here we address the latter by using a set of storage jar handles (fired clay) stamped by royal seals as part of the ancient administrative system in Judah (Jerusalem and its vicinity). The typology of the stamp impressions, which corresponds to changes in the political entities ruling this area, provides excellent age constraints for the firing event of these artifacts. Together with rigorous paleomagnetic experimental procedures, this study yielded an unparalleled record of the geomagnetic field intensity during the eighth to second centuries BCE. The new record constitutes a substantial advance in our knowledge of past geomagnetic field variations in the southern Levant. Although it demonstrates a relatively stable and gradually declining field during the sixth to second centuries BCE, the new record provides further support for a short interval of extreme high values during the late eighth century BCE. The rate of change during this “geomagnetic spike” [defined as virtual axial dipole moment > 160 ZAm2 (1021 Am2)] is further constrained by the new data, which indicate an extremely rapid weakening of the field (losing ∼27% of its strength over ca. 30 y).

The Genesis of Moab: A Proposal

Abstract We propose that an early Moabite territorial entity emerged south of Wadi Mujib (the biblical Arnon) in the late Iron I – the late 11th and 10th centuries BC. A chain of fortresses protected Khirbet Balu a — the hub of this polity — on the north and east. The Balu a Stele may be associated with this polity. We further propose that the prime-mover behind the rise of the south Moabite territorial entity was the trade of copper from the Wadi Faynan area south of the Dead Sea. Its abandonment in the late 10th century BC may have been the result of the campaign of Sheshonq I in the south and the diversion of at least part of the Arabah copper flow to the west, in the direction of the Mediterranean coast and Egypt.

Ammon in Transition from Vassal Kingdom to Babylonian Province

This article discusses the archaeological data from Ammon during the seventh-fifth centuries B.C.E., while considering the broader historical picture of the Babylonian period and comparing it with the historical, demographical, and geopolitical processes that occurred during this period in Judah. I will claim that Ammon was subjugated by the Babylonians in 604 B.C.E. and became a vassal kingdom. During the Babylonian expedition of 582/581 B.C.E., the invading army destroyed the fortified cities near the kingdoms northwestern border and on the main road to the capital and might also have hit Rabbat-Ammon. The outcome of this expedition was that Ammon became a province of the Babylonian Empire. As part of their methods of ruling and exploiting the hilly conquered territories in Hatti-Land, the Babylonians established a new capital (Tall al-ʿUmayri), at a site not far from the ancient capital of Rabbat-Ammon, allowing the continued existence of the rural settlement in the area around it. The ʿUmayri-Hisbān region specialized in wine and oil production, used mainly for paying taxes.

The yršlm Stamp Impressions on Jar Handles: Distribution, Chronology, Iconography and Function

Abstract The yršlm stamp impressions are the final link in a long chain of a Judahite- Yehudite-Judean administrative tradition of stamping handles or bodies of storage jars. With its cessation, the system that functioned for 600 years under Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, Ptolemaic and Seleucid rule from the 8th century BCE through to the establishment of the Hasmonean kingdom, fell into obsolescence. This paper presents an updated corpus of the yršlm stamped jar handles. The authors discuss the following issues: distribution and chronology of the finds; their connection to the late yhwd stamp impressions; the reason why the administrative system in Judea began using iconographic symbols hundreds of years after employing only script on the stamped jar system; the meaning of the pentagram symbol utilized in these seals; and the function of the stamping system in the Hasmonean kingdom in the 2nd century BCE.

The Royal Judahite Storage Jar: A Computer-Generated Typology and Its Archaeological and Historical Implications

Abstract The paper presents an objective, repeatable and independent computergenerated typology of the iron Age II Oval Storage Jar (OSJ), also known as the lmlk or Royal Judahite Storage Jar. It demonstrates that this jar was in use from the late 9th to the early 6th century BCe and that it was distributed beyond the confines of the Judahite administrative system. The OSJ first appeared as a local phenomenon that was limited to the Shephelah, with no particular political or ethnic affiliation. During the early to mid-8th century BCe, the production of some of the jars became standardized, which is evidence of the consolidation of the Kingdom of Judah and its territorial expansion into the lowlands region. By the late 8th century BCe, at least one or more of the workshops producing these jars became integrated into the royal Judahite administrative system that stamped jar handles, and this established the workshops main function until the destruction of Judah in the early 6th century BCe.