Abstract: This article examines the trends in archaeological research and the state of conservation of archaeological sites in Judea and Samaria between 1993 and 2022. The absence of Palestinian-Israeli cooperation resulted in the establishment of two parallel bodies that have been responsible for the issue, with no connection between them. In the Israeli-controlled territory, academic involvement declined with only a handful of new excavations. In the Palestinian-controlled territory, many new studies were conducted with foreign assistance, primarily to strengthen Palestinian national identity. An assessment of the state of conservation indicates significant damage as a result of development and antiquities theft. In this region, where the future remains uncertain, relics of the past and the research of these relics appear to have sustained irreversible damage.

Abstract: In archaeological discourse, mainly in the field of numismatics, many terms are used to describe groups of valuable artifacts found in a specific archaeological context. This study discusses the main synonymous nouns comprising the semantic field of the word hoard, with the aim of determining the differences between the lexical items and presenting a comprehensive rendering of their meaning. The results of this study stress the pragmatic, context-sensitive stance of synonymity, highlighting the importance of word-choice in the interpretation of archaeological finds.

Abstract: The scholarly history of the Levantine alphabet centers on scribal literacies. Yet there is compelling evidence that the script was used and taught in other communities of text-makers: the artisans involved in text-creation in stone, metal, ceramic, ivory, and other writing surfaces involving technical tools and specialized knowledge. The present essay explores the evidence for the intersection of craft and literacy practices in the inscriptional and archaeological record with a focus on the Bronze and Iron Ages. The proposed “craft-literacy” approach makes several suggestions about how scholars of alphabetic inscriptions might better theorize about the transmission of alphabetic literacies in the process of craft-production and the dissemination of inscribed objects. To this end, the present essay sets the study of Northwest Semitic epigraphy in conversation with material cultural approaches to the study of literacy, specifically “artifactual literacies,” an approach that evaluates the materiality of literacy and the ways in which textual-artifacts engage different audiences, and thereby participate in the transmission of knowledge.

Abstract: This chapter considers ancient Jewish ritual and practice through the lens of material culture. Its focus is on three areas of inquiry: the archaeology of Jewish pilgrimage; the archaeology of bodily practice, including purification, eating practices, and mortuary customs; and the archaeology of the communal gathering at the synagogue. The material remains drawn upon for the discussion derive primarily, though not exclusively, from Israel-Palestine of the Roman and Byzantine periods, namely the first century BCE through the sixth century CE. The chapter seeks to shed light on the embodied, sensory, and experiential elements of early Judaism, subjects at the intersection of materiality and religious studies. It is also indebted to a reframing of ritual studies toward approaches emphasizing the lived experience of ritual agents.

Abstract: Modern archaeological scholarship typically overlooks the experiences of people with disabilities, assuming that ancient societies, like contemporary ones, focused on the able-bodied. However, recent developments in the field have demonstrated the possibility of uncovering previously hidden aspects, such as prostheses and votive offerings related to disabilities at healing shrines. Nevertheless, excavations and material culture interpretations still often neglect the lived experiences of individuals with disabilities in antiquity. This article proposes a novel approach that integrates disability studies and mobility design into archaeology to shed light on the lives of the disabled. It applies these concepts to examine access to temples for people with disabilities in ancient Greece, Egypt, and Canaan/Israel, serving as a proof of concept to show that archaeologists can uncover insights into disability by understanding the theological underpinnings of religious site construction.

Abstract: Hiding complexes are among the well-attested archaeological remains of Roman-period Jewish settlement sites. Found chiefly in the Judean Lowlands and Lower Galilee, they consist of rock-cut subterranean facilities that are linked by an intricate network of narrow passageways and burrows, creating a sort of labyrinth beneath the settlement. In this article I propose a phenomenon that has not previously been addressed in the literature: namely, the association of hiding complexes with fortified settlements and forts from the time of the Bar Kokhba Revolt. The most conspicuous feature of these systems is that they permit movement underground from a fortified built-up area to the outskirts of the settlement or the open land beyond it. On the basis of an examination of the features, territorial extent and geographical distribution of the most prominent examples, and a comparison with the tunnels at Herodium, I propose that they were an important and planned defensive element of Bar Kokhba's military strategy.

Abstract: This article assesses the distribution of storage vessels, pithoi and jars in an effort to evaluate surplus management strategies connected to political and environmental conditions in the southern Levant in the second millennium BCE. We examined 27 ceramic assemblages from four Middle Bronze–Late Bronze sites in northern Israel: two rural sites (Tel Qashish and Tel Yoqneʾam) and two urban centres (Tel Hazor and Tel Beth-Shean). We then examined how variability in storage activity relates to major historical, political and climate changes recorded in the Levant within the chronological framework of the study. Our results suggest that the relative frequency of storage vessels varies according to type of settlement, is somewhat impacted by political events, and is weakly related to climatic events. This highlights the potential importance of focusing upon datasets that quantify the response of societies to political and climatic change as a measure of the latter’s effect on the past. The results also allow us to suggest a change in the distribution system of Bronze Age urban centres.

Abstract: This contribution offers a framework for studying the deportations to and from the southern Levant during the Age of the Mesopotamian empires. It begins with a brief sketch of the importance of deportations as an Assyrian colonial means: the interests of the empire in both the imperial heartland and the southern Levant. The second part is dedicated to an overview of the various available sources, written and material alike, on the lives of the deportees, focusing mainly on their interaction with the hosting society. Concluding this contribution are musings on the fate of the deportees following the collapse of the Assyrian Empire and the destructive Babylonian conquest of the southern Levant.

Abstract: Twenty ceramic ring-shaped stands came to light during the archaeological excavation of Khirbet el-Maqatir in the central highlands of Israel. The ring stands functioned as pedestals for round or conical vessels. Four of the twenty stands remained mostly intact and contained inscriptions. One of these stands included an inscribed word, two stands preserved a letter of the Hebrew or Aramaic alphabet, and another stand featured an incision. The stands dated to the early Roman period. At that time, ritually observant Jews occupied Khirbet el-Maqatir, a fortified village 16 kilometers north of Jerusalem. Khirbet el-Maqatir fell to the Romans in approximately 69 CE, during the First Jewish Revolt.

Abstract: This article examines the factors that influenced the trends in archaeological excavations in Judea and Samaria during the decade attending the 1967 Six-Day War. Examination reveals a close connection between the political trends in Israel as they pertained to Judea and Samaria and the archaeological excavations undertaken in this region. When a prime minister appeared to consider Judea and Samaria an inseparable part of the state of Israel archaeologists followed (Meir). But when prime ministers regarded Judea and Samaria as territory that would be returned to the Jordanians (Eshkol and Rabin), the archaeologists stopped excavating in the region.

Abstract: The Antiquities Ordinance (Law) of 1920 was instrumental for the archaeology of Palestine in the British Mandate period. It was highly successful in having significant influence, for many years, on the antiquities legislation of Jordan and Israel after 1948. This law has hardly been studied so far, except for one detail—the setting of the year 1700 CE for defining antiquities. Based on many as yet unpublished documents from several archives, I discuss in this article the complex origins of the 1920 Antiquities Law. Contrary to the current scholarly consensus, it was created by many agents (historians, archaeologists, legal experts, politicians, military men), working since 1918 in Egypt, Palestine, Britain, and the international peace conferences held after World War I. The law was a compromise between the desire to facilitate the excavation, trade, and export of finds (for the benefit of Western institutions) and the wish to protect sites and keep finds in Palestine (for the benefit of local populations). The year 1700 CE was not a measure taken against protecting the area’s (late) Ottoman heritage, but a reasonable choice at a time when the discipline of historical archaeology did not exist yet.

Abstract: A stone vessel industry existed in early Roman Palestine (first century CE), and many of these utensils were either hand-carved or made on a lathe. The stone vessels were part of the tableware within Jewish households from different socio-economic levels of society in cities and villages. This research indicates that stone vessels were not as “common” in Jewish settlements of that time as has previously been thought. The article’s purpose is to sum up the new archaeological data on the subject. It deals with manufacturing processes, morphological aspects. This article also offers a refined chronological scheme for stone vessels (late first century BCE–mid-second century CE) in Judea, and it incorporates hitherto unpublished data from the excavation of a quarry-cave manufacturing site at Tel el-Ful, as well as providing detailed information on the typological frequency of stone vessels from sites at Jerusalem, notably at Mount Zion.

Abstract: Excavations at el-Munṭar el-Abyad uncovered several buildings of a one-period settlement dating to Middle Bronze Age IIB (mid-seventeenth century BCE), a burial ground dating to the Persian period (fifth century BCE) and several stone sarcophagi from the Roman period (third century CE). The rural character of the MB IIB site is attested by the architectural finds, the ṭabuns, the infant burials below the floors, and the ceramic and ground stone assemblages, as well as by the lack of luxury or prestige items. The MB II rural occupation, located in the immediate region of Tel Bet She’an, seems to have been part of a settlement floruit during this period in the Bet She’an Valley.

Abstract: The ceramic finds from the excavation at Gane Ṭal date from the Roman (first century BCE–first century CE), Byzantine and Mamluk periods. The large Byzantine-period assemblage, associated with industrial activity at the site, mainly comprises storage vessels, which were produced on-site or nearby. The rich assemblage from the Mamluk period presents a variety of vessel types and decoration styles, including locally produced handmade wares, characteristic of contemporary rural sites.

Abstract: Excavations at Gane Ṭal uncovered sporadic pre-Roman remains; large, plastered pits dating to the Early Roman period (first–early second centuries CE); a rural settlement and cemetery from the Late Roman and Byzantine periods; and meager architectural remains from the Mamluk period. Two settlement phases were related to the Byzantine period: an earlier occupation, probably a farmstead, comprising a large assemblage of simple grinding stones, clay ovens and a domestic ceramic assemblage; and a later occupation, including a manor house and an adjacent, multi-compartment storage facility. The source of wealth at the site was probably the production of wine, as attested by the complex winepresses found at the site and the presence of numerous Gaza jars, possibly of local production. The Byzantine occupation at Gane Ṭal ended sometime in the eighth century CE, probably due to economic pressure applied by the Muslim rulers against the non-Muslim population.

Abstract: A large quantity of glass vessels, as well as glass production debris, was retrieved from Gane Ṭal. The glass repertoire exhibits a wide range of types, including bowls, a single beaker, a wineglass, bottles, cosmetic vessels and bowl-shaped oil lamps—all well-known types of the Late Roman and early Byzantine periods (fourth–fifth centuries CE). The glass-production debris found at the site includes the remains of furnace floors and a large number of raw-glass chunks, probably indicating the manufacture of raw glass.

Abstract: The excavation at Gane Ṭal yielded coins dating from the Early–Late Roman, Byzantine, and Ayyūbid and Mamluk periods. Most of the coins date from the Byzantine period, from the fourth–fifth and the sixth–seventh centuries CE. Noteworthy is the fact that most of the sixth–seventh-century coins date to the period before 541/2 CE, the time of the Justinianic plague. It is possible that the decline of the settlement was related to this plague; however, it might have also been the outcome of other historical circumstances.

Abstract: The malacological remains excavated at Gane Ṭal include Mediterranean shells and land snails dating from the Early Roman, Byzantine and Mamluk periods. Most of the shells had plaster inside their valves, indicating that they were used in construction material. Two shells might have served as ornaments or amulets.

Abstract: The origins and early history of the pentateuchal prohibition against eating finless and scaleless aquatic species (Lev 11:9–12; Deut 14:9–10) has yet to merit a detailed investigation. The present study is an initiatory attempt to attend to this lacuna by analysing 56 zooarchaeological assemblages of fish remains from 30 sites throughout the southern Levant from the Late Bronze Age through to the end of the Byzantine period (ca. 1550 BCE to 640 CE). A central conclusion of the study is that consumption of scaleless fish— especially catfish—was not uncommon at Judean sites throughout the Iron Age and Persian periods. Unlike the pentateuchal prohibitions against eating pork, the ban against finless and scaleless aquatic species apparently deviated from longstanding Judean dietary habits. The pentateuchal writers appear to have legislated this dietary restriction despite the lack of an old and widespread dietary tradition at its root. This conclusion should encourage us to rethink commonly held assumptions that other pentateuchal dietary proscriptions emerged out of earlier dietary ‘taboos’.

Abstract: this note summarizes what is known at present about the coins minted in Jerusalem in the last years of the reign of Antiochus VII Sidetes. A (unique?) coin with a new date, SE 183=130/129 BCE, is presented and a possible minting distribution of this series during the time span 132–129 BCE is discussed. All this is historically and numismatically important because it stands at the beginning of Hasmonean full autonomy and at the beginning of Hasmonean coin minting.

Abstract: Since the beginning of scholarship on this subject, scholars have cast doubt on the historical credibility of the description of the results of the Bar Kokhba war in the Roman History of Cassius Dio. At the base of the discussion lie the meaning of the term Judea, the scope of the revolt and the area which was destroyed following it, as well as the estimate of the settlement sites and the population of the country in the period under discussion. The examination of the demographic data presented by Cassius has so far been based mainly on the results of archaeological surveys and excavations conducted and published during the previous century. In this article, we would like to summarize the abundant archaeological evidence that has been added over the recent years, and to reevaluate the demographic data presented by Cassius. Due to methodological difficulties in estimating the country’s population in ancient times, the focus will be on the question of the number of settlements destroyed in the war: fifty forts and 985 villages. The findings of the current study illustrate the potential of the archaeological findings and support those scholars who viewed Cassius Dio’s demographic data as are liable report based on contemporary documents.

Abstract: For the past seventy years, numerous conflicting interpretations have been proposed regarding the site of Qumran and the identity of its inhabitants, resulting in a highly complex scholarly landscape. Jean-Baptiste Humbert and Alain Chambon’s recent publication of Roland de Vaux’s 1951-56 excavations, and Yitzhak Magen and Yuval Peleg’s report on excavations they conducted between 1994 and 2004 present important new data to the scholarly community, but they also contribute further to the existing confusion. This article evaluates these reports and highlights methodological and epistemic shortcomings that undermine their usefulness. The analysis focuses on the question of the site’s stratigraphy and chronology — with a particular emphasis on the development of the water system, the dating of the pottery deposit in L89, and the history of pottery production at Qumran — and on various matters of interpretation, including Humbert and Chambon’s and Magen and Peleg’s reconstructions of Qumran as a Hasmonean villa or military outpost and their interpretation of particular site features, such as the kiln in L64 and the stepped pools. These examples serve as a showcase for the larger problems that permeate both volumes and should help scholars use the reports judiciously. The article demonstrates that the main problem with both works is ultimately one of method.

Abstract: In 2002–2005, salvage excavations were conducted at the site located in the central and southern parts of Moshav Kerem Maharal, on the southwestern slopes of the Carmel range (Fig. 1). From the Arab village Ijzim on the summit of the northern hill survived the remains of a two-story building (Sheikh’s house), which according to its style was built in the Ottoman period (probably the seventeenth century CE); it still incorporates some ancient architectural elements (Figs. 2–4).On the northern hill, two squares were excavated in each lot designated for construction (Areas A–E, H, I, K, L; Fig. 5; Table 1); in some areas the excavation reached the bedrock at a depth of 3.5 m below surface, cutting eight occupation layers. About 10% of the summit of the northern hill (15–20 dunams) was excavated. The excavations on the southern hill were conducted only in the lots and on the road connecting them (c. 35 dunams; Areas F1–23; Fig. 5), only where archaeological remains were detected in preliminary test trenches dug mechanically. In most of the area of the southern hill, bedrock was reached close to the surface (up to a depth of 0.5 m).The excavations revealed agricultural installations, quarries, rock-cuttings, cisterns, tombs, including a burial cave, and cup marks from 12 occupation layers (ten periods; Figs. 6–21; Plans 1–25; Appendix 1): Stratum XII, the Geometric Kebaran period (fourteenth–thirteenth millennia BP; see Marder, this volume); Strata XI–X, the Persian–early Hellenistic periods (sixth–fourth centuries BCE); Stratum IX, the Roman period (late first–early second century CE); Strata VIII–VII, the Byzantine period (fifth–seventh centuries CE); Stratum VI, the late Byzantine–beginning of the Early Islamic periods (seventh–eighth centuries CE); Stratum V, eleventh century CE; Stratum IV, twelfth–thirteenth centuries CE; Stratum III, the Mamluk period (late thirteenth–fifteenth centuries CE); Stratum II, the Ottoman and British Mandate periodS (until 1948); Stratum I, the modern era (after 1948). The pottery, glass and numismatic finds from these strata are discussed by Gendelman and Sai’d, this volume; Cytryn-Silverman, this volume; Katsnelson, this volume; and Kool, this volume. Additional periods are represented at the site by pottery alone: the Chalcolithic period, Late Bronze Age II and Iron Age II (tenth–seventh centuries BCE), the Hellenistic period (fourth–third centuries BCE; see Gendelman and Sa’id, this volume), and from the Early Islamic period (ninth–tenth centuries CE; see Cytryn-Silverman, this volume).The results of the excavations attest that Moshav Kerem Maharal is a multi-period site, occupied almost continuously from the Byzantine period to the modern era. During periods, there was also some activity to the north, east and west of the excavated areas. The Kerem Maharal site was an important rural site in Lower Carmel, and perhaps in the entire Carmel region during these periods.From the findings it can be deduced that in prehistoric and protohistoric times—the Geometric Kebaran and the Chalcolithic period—the site was located mainly on the southern hill, although similar cup marks were also discovered in the southern part of the northern hill. During the Persian period, and perhaps also at the beginning of the Hellenistic period, the settlement extended over most of the eastern slope of the northern hill. The settlement from the Roman period was exposed in the same area, but it seems to have been limited, and it is possible that it was mostly licated in the center of the site (Areas B–H). During these periods, the settlement’s cemetery was located on the southern hill, possibly also on the hill to the east of the site.During the Byzantine period, the settlement reached its peak. The northern hill was densely inhabited and according to the architectural remains, it appears that at the top of the hill (Areas F and F2) stood a large public building. The southern hill served as an industrial area, which included winepresses (one of which was a complex winepress), quarries and other installations whose function was not clear. In the Early Islamic period, the settlement at the site diminished in size and its remains were found only on the eastern slope, north of Area H.During the Mamluk period, the site flourished once again, and it extended over the entire northern hill and in several locations on the southern hill. The construction quality in this period was poorer than that of the Byzantine period, apart from the large structure that stood on the hill summit.In the Late Ottoman period, and possibly even in its earlier stages, the settlement extended over both hills, where dwellings were built. The large extent of this settlement is further attested by the location of the cemetery (Area F23) in the middle of the settlement, indicating its expansion beyond its previous boundaries. The oil press in Area C attests to the cultivation of olives and the production of olive oil during the Ottoman period. The crushing basin was probably reused, perhaps from the Byzantine period; therefore, it is probable that this economic branch had also existed during this period.The settlement at the site was rural in nature. It seems that throughout the periods the residents engaged in agriculture, as can be seen from the vast agricultural installations that were exposed. The large number of winepresses indicates the extensive cultivation of vines and wine production. The agricultural activities continued into the sixteenth century CE and later. Based on the ceramic finds and the petrographic analyses, it seems that the inhabitants of the site maintained close ties mainly with their immediate surroundings.The excavations at Kerem Maharal were the first to reveal a large-scale multi-period site in the Carmel range, as opposed to other nearby sites, such as ‘Usfiyya and Daliyat el-Karmel, where only a few excavations were conducted in limited areas, and the remains were poorly preserved.