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 BiblicalArchaeolo
A Publicationof the AmericanSchoolsof OrientalResearch Volume52 Number1 March1989

ArchaeologicalSourcesfor the Historyof Palestine

The Late Bronze Age 4
Albert Leonard,fr.
The textureof Canaan'smaterialculture in the LateBronzeAge
variedin responseto Egyptianpolitical andeconomic initiatives
directedat morepowerfulstates to the east andnorth.

Introducingthe Authors 2

BookReviews 40

On the cover:A niche in the small single-room temple in area C at Hazor was found to
contain a complement of cult furnishings that suggests it could have been the focus of a
lunar cult. Drawing by LindaHuff.

Biblical Archaeologist is published with the financial assistance of

the Endowmentfor Biblical Research,a nonsectarianfoundationfor
the study of the Bible and the history of the ChristianChurch.
Page4

In the Next BA

The Hittites
Inthe second millenniumB.C.E.,
a groupof Indo-Europeans
made theirway intoAnatolia
and builtan empirerivaling
thatof Egypt.Inthe nextdouble
issueof BA,read aboutthe
culturallegacy of thisintriguing
ancient people knowntoday
as the Hittites.

Photographcourtesyof JeannyVorysCanby

Biblical Archaeologist, March 1989 1

 the Authors
Introducing THE WORLD OFTHEOLD TESTAMENT
A. S. van der Woude, General Editor
A companionto the popularWorldof the
Bible,thisvolumeoffersa detailedsurvey
of the historyand literature
of the Old
Testament.Herethe readerwillfinda
storehouseof information to enrichany
inquiryinto the Old Testament.
i~i~i~iiiii~i~:a8~:~.: "Thisdetailedhandbook,
"'" clearlyprintedin
:~~~i
?? :?
.,....
?;i
~s
~~ double-columnedpages,is a thorough
??
:~g :i::::::j:l:::::::::i:~rr:::
~"
?j examinationof the Old Testamentand its
" :~W :::::::
""' :y::::j:
ancientNearEasternsources.Likeits
"i ,,. "~I ii' companion,TheWorldof the Bible,this
handbookwas preparedby a distin-
guishedgroupof contemporary Dutch
Cloth, $34.95 scholars.... Studentsand scholarswill
ISBN 0-8028-2406-4 welcome yet anotherexampleof fine
Paper, $24.95 Europeanscholarship."
ISBN 0-8028-0443-8
-LIBRARY JOURNAL

"Acomprehensiveintroduction to the Old Testament,in both its

and its historical
literary aspects.Theauthorsdrawon the fullspec-
trumof scholarlyopinionthroughout,and the materialis handled
judiciouslyand fairly.Thisis an excellent,balancedtreatmentof the
Old Testamentandcan be highlyrecommended...."
- JOHN J. COLLINS
University of Notre Dame

Alsoavailable
THE WORLD OF THE BIBLE
A. S. vander Woude,GeneralEditor
"Containsa wealthof information
on the subjects
covered,in a relatively
-----------:?ji:i~~i:: compactformandwritten
Albert Leonard,Jr. in a quite readablestyle.... Eventhe specialistwill
........ wantthe volumeon his or hershelf ....'
-BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGIST

Currently Professorof Classics at the University of Ari- Cloth, $34.95

zona in Tucson, Albert Leonard,Jr. received his Ph.D. ISBN 0-8028-2405-6

from the Department of Near Eastern Languages and

Civilizations at The University of Chicago in 1976. His
dissertation was titled The Nature and Extent of the
Aegean Presencein Syria-Palestineduringthe LateBronze
Age. He has been activein field work in the Mediterranean
area, having directed or co-directed archaeological re-
search in Portugal(Mirobriga),Sicily (Cusumano,Ulina,
and Castelazzo), Greece (Kouphonisi),Cyprus (Kourion),
Egypt (Naukratis),and Jordan(Ain Ghazzal, Kataretes-
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2 Biblical Archaeologist, March 1989

 American Schools of

ARCHAEOLOGY
AND THE EXODUS/
CONQUESTNARRATIVES
AnnualMeeting
Anaheim,California Widi nB.swn
H an
November18-21, 1989
he storyof Mosesleadinghis peopleout of Egypt
Meeting Highlights0 and Joshua's conquest of the "promised land"
are two of the most dramatic episodes in the
ASORSpecial
Session Bible. But is the Bible a reliable source of information
I:TheProcurement
of Agricultural
Resources
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on AncientMediterranean
Food for Israel'searly history? Are the Exodus and Conquest
Oilin the Economiesin AncientPalestine;ASORGezer
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II:TheProblemof the Sassanid
and MoslemConquestsof Palestine;ASOR/SBL Bibli- archaeologist William H. Stiebing,
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Jr., of0.1es
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 Sources
Archaeological for the History of Palestine

Te ate Bronze
ge

by Albert Leonard, Jr.

Bronze
heLate Agein both events and help illuminate the will discuss each of the subphases of
Canaanbegan and ended more than three centuries of cul- the LateBronzeAge in Canaan-
with large-scalepopula- tural development that took place in first in terms of the history revealed
tion shifts: the Egyptian Canaanbetween them. In fact, Syro- by Egyptiansources and then in
repulsion the so-called Hyksos
of Palestine can be seen better against view of Canaan'sceramic, architec-
around1550B.C.E. andthe incursion the backdropof these Egyptianrec- tural, and funeraryevidence. By this
of the multinational Sea Peoples just ords than at any other time in its juxtaposition of local archaeological
after1200B.C.E. Egyptianrecords prior history. datawith contemporaneousEgyptian
from this period providedetails of Thus, in the following pages I historical materials, I hope to show

4 Biblical Archaeologist, March 1989

 that the texture of Canaan'smaterial
culture in the LateBronzeAge varied
in response to Egyptianpolitical and
economic initiatives, which, iron-
ically, were often directed towardthe
largerand more formidablestates to
the north and east of Canaan.

LateBronze IA
Late BronzeIA coveredroughly one
hundredyears. Its beginning corres-
ponded with the expulsion of the
Hyksos from Egyptby Amosis, first
pharaohof the Eighteenth Dynasty,1
and its end came with the attack of
Tuthmosis III,sixth pharaohof the
dynasty, on the Canaanite fortress of
Megiddo.This is a very confusing
period in the archaeological record,
markedby destructions and partial
abandonments.
EgyptianHistorical Evidence. For
the hundredyears prior to 1550 B.C.E.
much of Egyptwas ruled by a group
of foreigners.Laterknown as the
Hyksos and designated as the Fif-
teenth and Sixteenth Dynasties, this
group,probablyAsiatics, had its
capital at Avaris(Telled-Dabca)in
the eastern Delta (Bietak 1986).It
was the Seventeenth Dynasty pha-
raoh, Kamose, or possibly his prede-
cessor Sekenenre,who first rebelled
against the Hyksos (Pritchard1950:
232). An account of the Egyptian
attack on Avarisand its subsequent
destruction was found in the tomb
Above:Although small religious structureswith a single cult focus appearto have been the norm during Late BronzeIB, a rambling religious
precinct in stratum IX at Beth Shan can now be dated to this period. Called the "T7thmoseIII Temple"by its excavators,the precinct,probably
dedicated to numerous deities, has yielded many steles, including this one. In the upperregistera dog and a male lion of similar size wrestle
while standing on their back legs. In the bottom registera dog bites the hindquartersof a stridinglion. It is doubtful that such a costly
monument was erected as a memorial to the hunting dog, but loftier interpretationshave not been offered.Froman artistic standpoint, the
stele is as good a piece of stone sculpture as anything from Late BronzeSyro-Palestine.Photographcourtesy of the Israel Department of
Antiquities and Museums. Left:"Seventimes and seven times, I bow down on my back and belly,"is one of the claims made in the Amarna
letters by Canaanite vassals expressingtheir subservience and loyalty to Egyptianrulers duringLate BronzeIIA (el-Amarnaletter 323; Mercer
1939: 771).On this relief from the Memphite tomb of Horemheb,last pharaoh of the EighteenthDynasty, a mixed groupof foreignersseems to
be acting out their devotion beforeone of the pharaoh'sservants. The groupconsists of five full-beardedSyrians,each wearing a long-sleeved
garment with a shoulder cape; an additional Syrianwhose wavy hair is tied up like a hat and who wears a kilt with long tassels; two Libyans
distinguished by their sharppointy beards and the feather protrudingfrom their long straighthair; and a beardlessfigure,possibly that of an
African. Photographcourtesy of the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden.

Biblical Archaeologist, March 1989 5

Dividing the Late Bronze Age
Albright Wright Amiran Weinstein Kenyon
Thearchaeological 1570 Pharaoh 1949 1965b 1970 1981 1973

recordforthe Amosis
LateBronzeAge 1550
A,
in Palestine
is
Amenophis I
oftenuncertain.
Scholarshave 1525
LB IA ? ,' ?
Tuthmosis I
offeredvarying
chronologiesof Tuthmosis II LB IA
its phases. 1500o ---------- - ,' B
Hatshepsut
LB IA
ess than forty years ago William F.
L Albright (1949)made the first intelli- 1475
gent attempts to synthesize our under-
standing of the late Bronze Age at more STuthmosis III
than one Palestinian site. At that time
there wasn't much material for the criti-
cal archaeologistto use. Forinstance, Late
Bronze I was simply subdivided into an
1450 - -------- - LBIALBB
LB IB

early phase (LateBronze IA), which Al-

bright saw as representedby level IIat Tell Amenophis II c
el-cAjjuland stratum IXat Megiddo,with
their characteristic elaborate Bichrome
Warepottery.A second phase (LateBronze 1425 - ----------- -LBIB
IB) was considered "somewhat of a step- Tuthmosis IV
child"until the excavation of the lowest 7
stratum (StructureI) of the Fosse Temple
at Lachish provided Albright with what
he considered suitable archaeological 1400
deposits. Albright admitted that the sub- Amenophis III
division of Late BronzeII was difficult to
achieve with accuracy,but he offered an
S LB IIA LB IIA
early subphase, Late Bronze IIA, which
roughly correspondedto the fourteenth ---------LB IIA LBIIA Gap?
1375
century B.C.E.(the Amarnaperiodand the Amenophis IV
shift from the Eighteenth to the Nine- (Akhenaten)
teenth Dynasties), and a later subphase, ---------
Smenhare-
Late Bronze IIB,which dated to the thir- AmenphisaIre
teenth century B.C.E.(the Ramesside Thesequenceof majorEgyptian pharaohs oftheNewKingdom andthechronological
subdivisions
period). His rule of thumb for placing of the LateBronzeAgeasproposedbyWilliamE Albright(1949),G. ErnestWright(1965b),
homogeneous deposits within this skele- RuthAmiran(1970),andJamesM.Weinstein(1981).DameKathleenKenyon's (1973)Late
BronzeAgegroupsalsoareincluded.Absolutedatesarethosefollowedbythe Cambridge
ton was overlyreliant, however,on Myce- AncientHistory.Conversionto the newdatesproposedbyK.A. Kitchen(1987)canbe achieved
naean Greek and Cypriot imports whose by consultingthe reignsof specificpharaohsgivenin thetext.Whenanauthorhasgivenan

6 Biblical Archaeologist, March 1989

 Albright Wright Amiran Weinstein Kenyon chronological sequences were just then
1360 Pharaoh 1949 1965b 1970 1981 1973 becoming known (Leonard1987b;Hankey
Tutankhamun 1987). In his later writings Albright con-
1350 Gap? tinued to refine his original categories,
1350 w
~ Ay and most scholars follow at least a modi-
fied version of his chronology. Both G.
LB IIA LB IIA D Ernest Wright (1965b)and Ruth Amiran
Horemheb (1970),for instance, have divided the peri-
,., Horemheb LBIIA LBIIA od into LateBronzeI, LateBronzeIIA,and
1325 - LateBronzeIIB.
The other major attempt to create a
Ramesses I chronological yardstick for the Late
Bronze Age material from Syro-Palestine
Sethos I was made by the British archaeologist
1300 Dame Kathleen Kenyon, who devised a
E
E system based on a reevaluation of the
excavatedmaterial from Megiddo,Hazor,
Lachish, and other sites (1973: 527-30).
Kenyon selected only those individual
deposits that she was convinced displayed
1275 sufficient archaeological (that is, strati-
Ramesses II graphical)integrity for chronological pur-
poses, and she arrangedthem into seven
groups (A through G). In Albright'sterms
LBIIB LBIIB these groups can be summarized as Late
1250 SF LB IIB LB IIB Bronze IA (GroupsA and B), Late Bronze
IB (GroupC), Late Bronze IIA (latterpart
of GroupC, a gap,and GroupD), and Late
BronzeIIB(GroupsE, F,and G).
In spite of her keen eye for strati-
Merneptah graphical detail and her implicit caveat
1225
against placing too much emphasis on
Amnenmesses sites that were poorly excavated during
Sethos II Gap? the infancy of the discipline, Kenyon's
Siptah system has not been widely accepted.
This is most probablythe result of prac-
Tewosret tical matters such as confusion over the
1200
Sethnakhte relationship between GroupsA and B,the
fifty-yearhiatus between GroupsC and D
(given the absolute dates with which she
was working, this gap covers almost the
e Ramesses III
G entire Amarna period), and another sub-
1175 0G stantial gap between Groups F and G at
- - - -- - the end of the Late BronzeAge.
In 1981JamesM. Weinsteinproduced
an important synthesis of the archae-
ological and literary material bearing on
absolutedatethatdatehasbeenusedin the chart;whena datehasbeenexpressedin termsof a the chronology of the Late Bronze Age.
pharaoh's reign,the datehasbeenextrapolated to the Cambridge AncientHistorydates;when After reviewing the Egyptian as well as
botha pharaoh's reignandan absolutedateareoffered,the pharaoh's reignhasbeenused,as the Syro-Palestinianevidence, Weinstein
this is mostlikelyto reflectthe originalviewsof the author.Thischartattemptsonlyto be an
approximation bythe author. arrivedat the relative chronology that is
used in this article.

Biblical Archaeologist, March 1989 7

Theso-called Midgal Temple(number2048)in areaBBat Megiddo
had its origin in Middle Bronze(left) but continued in use during
Late BronzeIA (middle) and IIA (right).The final phase, however,
was much less impressive. With walls about half their original
thickness, the structurein stratum VIIAhardly deservesthe use of
the epithet "migdal,"meaning fortified. Drawing by LoisA. Kain.

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:-:~::::i::-:_?:-:?:.i::J::_ iii:i~i i:it-::-:~:::'
il_.itiii- :;:-::-- :"::':'
':-;:::
?:::'''--::--::: Di-:
-aii-i
~-i':i-
-: - ii:i~i itiiii--iilii
i-iiieii
:ii:sii-iiiis iiiiiili
iii~i
iiiiiiii?iisii~i :icai i~ii:-ii`i~
:..Ziiiiii9:-:--
ii*ii?~iiiiii;i~-~-i?i?iii~i
-i-ii~i?i:i:mi?ii-iii~iii?i- ii':si-iii~--ii-
::--~--
:--~-::i:?:*-
, i:iiiiai
iiii~iiiiiiii~i
:iii iiixii:i:?i~ii
iii,~iisi. ~i-::-
-:-r::j::?:: :::::::. -- :::;::- fi-i~~
-::~i::
:----L:?
:~:::-----i-~-'--_-i-i~i:--:i_.:-gi:

of an Egyptianofficer, Ahmose son emphasis on his prowess in maneu-

of Eben, at el-Kabin southern Egypt. vering the swift horse-drawn,spoke- Smallcity-states
It was left to the next pharaoh, wheeled chariot. In PapyrusAnastasi
Amosis,2to complete the rebellion I, which dates to the Nineteenth in Syro-Palestine
by leading a three-yearsiege against Dynasty, the royalscribe Hori taunts
Sharuhen,the Hyksos stronghold in his rival Amen-em-Opet:"Giveme bandedtogether
southern Palestine. Thus, the Hyk- (thy)reportin orderthat I may ... in LateBronzeIA
sos were expelled from the Delta and speak proudly to others of thy desig-
ultimately drivenback into Palestine nation 'maryan.'"Towhich Hori to defendthem-
and then Syria (Dever 1987). replies: "Iknow how to hold the
The military careerof Ahmose reins more skillfully than thou, selvesagainst
son of Eben continued through the there is no warriorwho is my equal"
whattheysaw
reign of pharaohAmenophis I4 and (Albright 1930-1931: 217; Pritchard
into that of Tuthmosis I,5whom he 1950:475-79).
The Mitannian capital, Washu-
as a bigger
claimed to have accompanied as far
north into Syria as the great bend in kanni, was located somewhere in threat,Egypt.
the EuphratesRiver.This does not the region of the headwatersof the
seem to have been an idle boast, for HaburRiver,but its exact location is
the later pharaohTuthmosis IIIre- of Indo-Europeansruling a substra- still unknown and its suggested
cordedthat his grandfatherTuth- tum of Hurrians (Merrillees 1986). association with Tell Fakhariyehhas
mosis I had erected a victory stele on The chariot-owningnobility who yet to be proveneither by excavation
the east bank of that great river (Prit- formed the upper crust of Mitanni or neutron-activationanalysis of per-
chard 1950:239; see also Spalinger were called mariyanna, a term al- tinent cuneiform tablets that were
1978).This would have brought the most certainly to be equated with suspected to have been written in
Egyptiansface to face with the king- the Indo-Europeanword marya, Washukanni on local clays (McEwan
dom of Mitanni, a North Syrian which means "youngman"or "young 1958;Dobel, Asaro, and Michel
groupmade up of a small aristocracy warrior"(Drower1973:420), with 1976).At this time Mitanni was the

8 Biblical Archaeologist, March 1989

only military threat to Egyptin the
region, but Tuthmosis I was appar-
ently not overly disturbedby the
fact; he ended his campaign relaxing
and hunting elephants in the Niya
Landsof the Orontes Valley.
A gap exists in our knowledge of Acco
Syro-Palestineduring the reigns of
Tuthmosis116and Queen Hatshepsut7
Based on the subsequent actions of
Tuthmosis IIIwhen he became sole
ruler of Egypt,we can assume it was
a period in which small local city-
states were working out their differ-
ences and joining into alliances Mevorakh
against what they perceived as a
greaterthreat, Egypt.This situation
is surprising, since at this time the
Egyptiansappearto have been rather
benevolent. Egyptdisplayedno de-
sire for permanent economic or
political/military control over the
area and was apparentlycontent
with the occasional raid into the ter-
ritories to demonstrate its strength
(Weinstein 1981;but see also Rainey
1987 and Redford1987).
Archaeological Evidence in Canaan.
The archaeological recordis unclear
as to the manner in which the polit-
ical transition from the Middle
BronzeIIC/MiddleBronze IIIto Late
Bronze IA took place in Canaan. For
instance, did the city-states of Syro-
Palestine simply transfertheir al-
legiance from the Hyksos to the
pharaohsof the Eighteenth Dynasty
(the beginning of the so-called New
Kingdom),as YohananAharoni sug-
gested (1967: 138),or do the destruc-
tions and partial abandonments
(Dever 1987;Weinstein 1981)indi-
cate a sharper,more hostile break,
describedby Kathleen Kenyon(1979:
184) as a "considerable dislocation of
life in Palestine"?
Ceramic record. From the stand-
point of ceramics, the transition from

Biblical Archaeologist, March 1989 9

the Middle to the Late Bronze Age -
if it can be seen at all - is marked by
a surprising degree of continuity in
most of the popular local forms and
fabrics. Many vessel types of the
Late Bronze I exhibit an ancestry
that can be traced to the very begin-
nings of the Middle Bronze. Three
"new"fabric types appeared in the
ceramic repertoire near the transi-
tion, however, and they are distinc-
tive enough to be used by archae-
ologists as the type-fossils of the
Late Bronze IA. These are Bichrome
Ware,Black/GreyLustrousWare,and
Chocolate on White Ware(fora de-
tailed description of these, see the
accompanying sidebar).
There also appearedduring Late
Bronze IA the first examples of two
handmade Cypriot fabrics that en-
joyeda long history in Canaan (Oren
1969): Base Ring Ware, a black or
brownish gray fabric with raised
decoration (designated BR I), which
appeared almost exclusively in
closed forms such as the jug or the
small distinctively shaped bilbil that
must have been traded for the sake
of its contents (perhaps opium, an
important painkiller in antiquity-
Merrillees 1962, 1986: 154); and
White Slip Ware (WS I), which dur-

BichromeWare
BichromeWare

Bichrome Ware
Production of this pottery, often called
ElaborateBichrome Ware,may actually
have begun at the very end of Middle
Bronze IIC, since fragments of it have
been found in deposits dating to that
periodat Tell el-cAjjuland Megiddo(Wood
1982;Kassis 1973).It is still consideredto
be a harbingerof LateBronzeIA, however.
Characterizedby a limited repertoire
of decorative motifs, such as birds, fish,
Union Jacks,and the like, executed in red
and black paint on a pale buff slip, this
pottery is so distinctive in both vessel-
form and the artistic quality of its decora-
tion that when it was first "isolated"it was
thought to be the productof a single artist
called the Tell el-cAjjulPainter (Heurtley
1939). Subsequent study has suggested
that this might be too narrowan interpre-
tation of the material, but the restricted
range of mainstream forms-jug with
shoulder handle, cylindrical juglet, one-
handled juglet and krater-in concert
with its distinctive decoration suggest
that a limited number of workshopswere
engagedin producingthis ware.Attempts
to attribute this pottery to a specific eth-
nic group, such as the Hurrians, as pro-
posed by Claire Epstein (1966), present
chronological problems that do not arise
if we think of it as the productof a limited
numberof workshops.Neutron activation
analysis has shown that some of these
workshopswere located in Cyprus (Artzy,
Perlman, and Asaro 1973), but at least a
portion of the Bichrome Ware vessels
found at Megiddo was made from local
clays (Artzy,Perlman,and Asaro 1978).
Black/GreyLustrousWare
Like the other IA speciality wares, Black/
Grey LustrousWareappearedon the cusp
of the transition from Middle BronzeIIC
and LateBronzeIA, having been found in
the earlier deposits at Tell el-cAjjul and
Te11
el-Farcah(South)(Oren 1973: 77). Its
greatest popularitycame in the years just

10 Biblical Archaeologist, March 1989

 Bichrome Ware,Black/GreyLustrous
Ware,andChocolate on WhiteWareare
the type-fossils
of LateBronzeIA.
ing this period was restricted to the hint can be gatheredat some of the of the city's character.It has been
hemispherical, wishbone-handled largersites where archaeologists claimed that area AA originated in
"milk bowl"that must have been have made substantial horizontal ex- the Middle Bronze;similar survivals
brought to Canaan as appealing posures. In areaAA at the northern of town plans from the Middle Bronze
tablewareand not as containers for end of Megiddo (Tellel-Mutesellim), into the Late Bronze I have been sug-
some luxury commodity. the city-gate of stratum IX (Loud gested at Tell el-Hesi ("BlissCity II")
Architectural evidence. As for 1948: 5) and a portion of the adjacent and Tell el-cAjjul (City I, Palace II),
the plan and appearanceof the and contemporary"Palace"(Loud presenting us with a feeling of con-
Canaanite city-states in which this 1948: 16 and 33) were uncovered,but tinuity that is difficult to reconcile
pottery was used, we are unfortu- so much had been destroyedby later with the discontinuity apparentat
nately ignorant;only an occasional rebuildings that we are not certain so many other sites (see Weinstein
1981: 1-5).
Our knowledge of religious
architecture,however,seems to be
on much firmer ground (G. R. H.
;e Wright 1971, 1985;Gray 1964).
Temple 2048 at Megiddo (stratum
x VIIB),with its thick walls, single
ro long-room,and staired towers in
~ front, would have continued in use
~ during this period, as possibly would
3
a related structure, FortressTemple
c, IBat Shechem (TellBalatah;Wright
1965a: 122 and following). At Hazor
Black/Grey c
(Tellel-Qedah),the only Palestinian
LustrousWare L site to offer a true paradigmfor the
-,x
religious architecture of Late Bronze,
s continuity between the Middle
BronzeIIC and Late Bronze I is sug-
gested by the "LongTemple"in area
Chocolateon WhiteWare A (Yadin1972: 103)and the "Ortho-
state Temple"in areaH; the latter
beforethe reignof TuthmosisIII.The ex- were coveredwith a thick, cream-colored was constructed during Middle
ampleswe havearewell constructedof a slip that was burnishedto a light luster be- Bronze IIbut survived through Late
finelylevigated(washed) greyclaycovered fore the geometric decoration was added Bronze IA and into Late Bronze II.
with a grey or black slip that was sub- in a shade of paint to the red side of At Tell Kittan a single-room temple
sequentlypolished,oftento a luster.This chocolate-brown. Also appearing just with at least two previous phases
fabricoccurredin a singleform:aglobular- beforethe LateBronzeI period, Chocolate from Middle Bronze (strataV and IV)
bodied, tall-necked juglet with handle on White Waremay havehad its origins at was enlargedduring Late Bronze I
from the shoulder to below the rim. The sites close to the JordanRiver, since the
and rooms were added.The presence
petal-like appearanceof the upper handle white katarrah marls could have been of "chocolateware"on the floors of
attachment is a hallmark of the form. used in the slip. At Kataretes-Samra,just
to the north of the Wadi Zerqa, I (1986: this latest building (stratumIII)sug-
Chocolateon WhiteWare 167)have found, in secondary association gested to the excavatorthat it had
Morphologically, vessels of this ware with Middle BronzeII,rolled-rimcooking been destroyedduring one of the
echo the mainstream shapes of the period pots that appear to be "kiln-wasters"of campaigns of Tuthmosis III,when
but are technically superior to the stan- this ware. the Egyptianswere beginning to
dardwares in almost every way. Surfaces tighten their control over the Beth
Shanvalley (Eisenberg1977).[Editor's

Biblical Archaeologist, March 1989 11

note: The author prefersthe spelling
"BethShan"as opposed to "Beth-
shean"-a preferencehe shares with
the authors of the majorpublica-
tions of the BronzeAge strata at this
site (Rowe1930, 1940;James 1966;
Oren 1973).]
Funeraryevidence. Most tombs
of LateBronzeIA appearto have been
shaft tombs from earlier epochs (in
some cases as early as EarlyBronze
IV/MiddleBronze I) that were par-
tially cleared and reused. Their fune-
raryassemblages have been assigned
to this period largely on the presence
or absence of the Late Bronze IA
ceramic type-fossils mentioned
above.Rich examples have been
found in Tomb 1100at Megiddo
(these are the hallmark of Kathleen
Kenyon'sPottery Group A) and in
Tomb42 at Beth Shan.Unfortunately,
because of later disturbancessuffered
by most of these tombs, it has been
impossible to recoverany significant
details about the funerarycult, or
cults, of the period.
Late Bronze IB
Late BronzeIB lasted approximately
75 years, its beginning markedby
the attack of Tuthmosis IIIon
Megiddo and its end corresponding
with the ascension of the pharaoh
Amenophis III.Archaeologically,the
period has often been considered
suspect, its very existence even ques-
tioned (Weinstein1981: 12).
EgyptianHistorical Evidence. In
Egyptthe death of Queen Hatshep-
sut broughtTuthmosis 1118to the
throne. Tuthmosis IIIwas deter-
mined to pursue a vigorous set of
policies in Canaan.His tremendous
achievement at the Battle of Megid-
do (1482 B.C.E.)and the major impact
that event had on Egypt's foreign
policy toward Canaan could be seen
12 Biblical Archaeologist, March 1989
as the keynote of the LateBronzeIB
period.
That the Egyptianfrontier in
Palestine had been coming increas-
ingly under outside pressure during
the reign of Hatshepsut is suggested
by the speed with which Tuthmosis
III,provokedby news of the revolt of
a confederationof Syrianprinces
gatheredat Megiddo,moved out of
Egyptafter her death. This affrontto
Egyptianpower,prestige, and nation-
al ego was led by the prince of Kadesh
(TellNebi Mend) in Syria and was
aided and abetted by "individualsof
every foreign country,waiting in
their chariots-330 princes [mar-
yanna] every one of them having
their army"(Pritchard1950:238;
Epstein 1963).Tuthmosis IIIwent
forth at the head of an army claimed
to number more than 20,000, ad-
vancing across the Sinai at the in-
credible pace of 15 miles per day.
North of Gaza, to Yehem south of
the Carmel range,the pace of the
soldiers and their baggagetrain
slowed to almost half this rate, per-
haps because they needed to forage
and consolidate as they went or per-
haps because of local opposition.
Upon reaching Yehem the Egyptian
army had three options: to head for
the coast and attack Megiddofrom
the northwest, to come upon Megid-
do from the southeast via Taanach
(TellTacannek),or to take the direct
route through the exceedingly nar-
row Aruna Pass (WadicAra).The
pharaoh'sfield officers, who were
fearfulof attempting the third option,
pleaded with him not to take that
route but he would not be deterred
(Pritchard1950: 235). Tuthmosis led
his forces through the pass and out
onto the Esdraelon Plain and sur-
prised the Syrian coalition, which
had divided most of its forces to
cover the northern and southern
approaches.
As described in the Egyptian
records,the Battle of Megiddowas a
rout, and the Egyptianforces quick-
ly began looting while the army of
the Syrian confederation"fledhead-
long to Megiddowith faces of fear.
They abandonedtheir horses and
their chariots of gold and silver, so
that someone might drawthem up
into this town by hoisting on their
garments"(Pritchard1950: 236). The
pharaohimmediately surrounded
Megiddowith a moat and a wall
made of local timber. The city re-
mained enclosed for seven months
until "the princes . . . came on their
bellies to kiss the ground ... and to
beg breath for their nostrils"(Prit-
chard 1950:237) or until "theycame
out ... pleading to (his)majesty, say-
ing: Give us breath, our Lord!The
countries of Retinue will never re-
peat rebellion another time!"(Prit-
chard 1950: 238, Barkalstele). Even
considering the hyperbole of the era
the booty that the army of Tuth-
mosis IIIbroughtback from Canaan,
which was enumeratedand described
at length on Egyptiansteles and
temple walls, was, in both kind and
quantity, simply staggering.In addi-
tion to mundane fare such as grain,
cattle, and sheep (Ahituv 1978;
Na'aman 1981),they brought back
abandonedhorses, which were still
relatively new to Egyptians,and
chariots worked with gold; bronze
coats of armor;inlaid furniture;and
intricately carvedwalking sticks. It
should be noted that Tuthmosis III
never claimed to have destroyedthe
city, a fact that accords well with the
archaeological evidence, but he did
inflict a devastating defeat on those
who were walled up there, and the
battle enabled him to dictate policy
 Aftercrushinga Syrianconfederation
at Megiddo, Tuthmosis IIIwasableto
dictatepolicyto the Canaanite
princes.
to the Canaanite lords from a posi- Sumur,possibly Tell Kazel on the Sharonwhile returningfrom his first
tion of strength. He appointed new Syrian coast (Goetze 1975a: 2; Wein- Asiatic campaign he intercepted a
princes for each town-but not be- stein 1981: 12; Aharoni 1967: 152; messenger of the prince of Mitanni
fore each took a loyalty oath-and Muhammad 1959).Claire Epstein's "carryinga letter of clay at his throat"
Palestine soon became a giant store- (1963)reconsideration of the verso of (Pritchard1950: 246). We can only
house for Egypt. PapyrusHermitage 1116A,an official guess what the subject matter of
Tuthmosis continued his mili- Egyptiandocument composed dur- this epistle was, but it must not have
tary campaigns, but with Palestine ing the of
reign Amenophis II that had the Egyptians'best interests at
firmly under his control he concen- lists rations of beer and grain for heart because the messenger was
trated on Syria. During his sixth maryannu messengers from Djahy trotted southwardat the side of the
campaign Kadesh-on-the-Orontes to Egypt (including specifically the king's own chariot.
was finally captured; with its defeat sites of Megiddo,Taanach, and The young pharaohboasted of
a new administrative policy was Hazor), indicates that during the personal valor as none had done be-
enacted, the taking of royalhostages: reign of Tuthmosis III the collection fore, and with him Egyptianforeign
"Now the children of the princes and of tribute from western Asia was a policy took on a more severe mood.
their brotherswere brought as hos- highly structured affair directly con- WhereasTuthmosis IIImay have
tages to Egypt ... (and) ... whoever trolled by the court. This system was "crushedall rebellious countries"in
of these princes died, his majesty apparently successful and remained Syro-Palestine,Amenophis II "trod
was accustomed to make his son go relatively intact for more than a Naharin, which his bow had crushed
to stand in his place"(Pritchard century, since it is still reflected in ... (and)... cut off the heads of the
1950:239). Such a policy not only the Amarna letters of the fourteenth attackers" (Pritchard1950: 245).
assured the good behavior of rela- century B.C.E. Consider the plight of the town of
tives who were left behind, but also Brilliant general that he was, Shamash-edom,possibly to be iden-
providedan heir to the throne who Tuthmosis IIIalso had a softer side tified with Qurn Hattin near the Sea
would be sympathetic at least to the that often escapes notice; he took of Galilee (Aharoni 1960).Ameno-
correct, or Egyptian,way of doing interest in, and recorded,the strange phis II attacked it with "his face ...
things when the Egyptianizedprince plants and animals he encountered terrible like that of Bastet, like Seth
returnedto rule his own area. on his many military campaigns.A in his moment of raging. ... He
It appearsthat during the reign glimpse of the flora and fauna of hacked it up in a short moment like
of Tuthmosis IIIEgypt'sattitude Canaan during the Late BronzeAge a lion fierce of face when he treads
towardthe people of Syro-Palestine can be seen today,carvedin low the foreign countries"(Pritchard
began to change as the Egyptians relief, on the walls of the Festival 1950: 245). Even more severe was the
came to appreciatethe potential Hall he had built at the rearof the treatment of seven Syrian princes
economic benefits of annual Ca- Temple of Amon at Karnak. who were capturedin the vicinity of
naanite contributions to the coffers Tuthmosis IIIdied after a reign Damascus during the pharaoh'ssec-
of the god Amon. Forthe bureau- of more than half a century and was ond Asiatic campaign.After killing
cratic purposes of collecting tribute, succeeded by his son Amenophis II."1 them with his mace, the pharaoh
Canaan was divided into three dis- A possible coregency with his father hung them upside down on the prow
tricts, each with its own administra- while the crown prince campaigned of his boat all the way to Thebes,
tive center strategically situated on in Asia creates problems with the where six of them were hanged on
or near the major highway in the numbering of his military cam- the city-walls;further upstream, in
region, the Via Maris (Aharoni 1967: paigns, but the general sequence of the land of Nubia, he hanged the
42). These centers, each of which them is clear (Rainey 1973; Yeivin seventh on the wall at Napata, all to
was the seat of an Egyptianoverseer 1967).That the King ("GreatOne")of show "his majesty'svictories forever
or commissioner,'0 were at Gaza, Naharin was continuing to involve and ever in all lands"(Pritchard
probably modern Gaza or Rapha in Egypt in Canaanite affairs has been 1950: 248; see also Rainey 1973: 72).
southern Palestine; Kumidu, Kamid shown by the fact that as Amenophis This more severe policy seems to
el-Loz in the Beqaca Valley; and II was passing through the Plain of have had the desired effect. When in

Biblical Archaeologist, March 1989 13

 Smallerreligiousstructures,
evidently
witha singlecultfocus,apparently
werethenormin LateBronzeIB.
his seventh year of rule Amenophis
IIwas conducting a military cam-
paign against a revolt in Syria, the
peoples of the Niya lands came to
the walls of their towns to applaud
him (Drower1973:460), and when,
at last, he reached Kadesh,long a
thorn in the side of his father, its
prince "cameout in peace to his
majesty ... (andwas) made to take
the oath of fealty, and all their chil-
dren as well" (Pritchard1950:246).
This new policy of cruel treatment
of prisoners, obviously intended to
deter rebelliousness, was accom-
panied by a new concept of Canaan
as a conquered land that was charac-
terized by an increase in political
and economic control coupled with
occasional military force (Weinstein
1981: 12).
Amenophis II was succeeded by
Tuthmosis IV.12The extent of his
military activity in Syro-Palestineis
debated (Malamat 1961;Weinstein
1981: 13, with references),but at
least one campaign can be inferred
from the mention of captives from
Gezer on a stele from his mortuary
temple in Thebes. This may be the
campaign representedon the dec-
oratedpanels of his chariot; these
show a divinely directed pharaoh
driving forth to "trampledown all
northern countries, difficult of
approach"(Giveon 1969: 56). The
politics of his predecessors seem to
have been sufficient to control the
region, and the annual parades
through Canaan,which had charac-
terized the early part of the dynasty,
became less and less necessary.The
actual occupation of Canaanwas
still in the future.
Archaeological Evidence in Canaan.
As mentioned above,Late BronzeIB
has often been considered suspect.
Such doubts are based on an appar-
14 Biblical Archaeologist, March 1989
ent gap in occupation at many im-
portant Palestinian sites such as
Megiddo,Taanach,Tell Beit Mirsim,
and Tell el-Farcah(South).I believe
this so-called gap in occupation can
be attributed as much to our lack of
knowledge of the pertinent subtleties
in changes in the material culture as
to the radicaldepopulation of the
countryside.
Ceramic record.The three
ceramic type-fossils noted in the dis-
cussion of Late BronzeIA appearto
have had their floruit during that
period. Their presence in strange
(late?),aberrantforms (forexample
at the MevorakhXI temple), or their
complete absence, is thought to
characterizedeposits from the rest
of the fifteenthcentury
B.C.E.--that
is, Late Bronze IB.Kathleen Kenyon
filled this period with her Pottery
Group C, which consists exclusively
of material from StructureI of the
Fosse Temple at Lachish. I don'tbe-
lieve, however,that this phase of the
building is securely dated (since the
dating is based on a single scarabof
Amenophis III),and it should not be
used to date Lachish itself, let alone
the entire region.
Partof our uncertainty over the
development of pottery types during
Late BronzeIBis the number of sites
at which a gap in occupation follow-
ing the campaigns of Tuthmosis III
has been recognized. One thing is
certain, however:In the substratum
of nonspecialty wares a slow evolu-
tion began in the fifteenth century
and continued into the fourteenth
and thirteenth centuries. "Milk
bowls"from Cypruspainted with the
"newer," more schematic, patterns of
White Slip II continued to be im-
ported into Palestine, while the first
relatively complete import from the
Aegean world, a Late Helladic
(Mycenaean)IIkylix from Fosse
Temple I at Lachish, signaled what
would become a brisk tradein Aegean
goods during LateBronze II.'a
Architecturalevidence. In spite
of the alleged gaps in occupation at
these sites, our understandingof
religious architecture in LateBronze
IBis much better than that in Late
BronzeIA. The stratigraphyof the
rambling religious precinct at level
IX at Beth Shan (Rowe1930, 1940),
called the "Thutmose IIITemple"by
its excavators,has been a source of
confusion for more than half a cen-
tury (Albright 1938: 76-77), but
there is now evidence to support a
Late Bronze IBdate (McGovern1985:
13).This precinct housed a stele
dedicated by the Egyptianarchitect
Amen-em-Opetand his son to "Mekal,
Lordof Beth Shan"(Thompson 1970).
The beardedgod Mekal is pictured
sitting on a throne wearing a conical
headdresswith horns in front and
ribbons in back and holding the
Egyptianwaz scepter and ankh,
illustrating the hybridization of
Egypto-Canaanitereligious themes
(Pritchard1950:249; 1969:plate 487).
With the exception of the temple
complex at Beth Shan (stratumIX),
smaller religious structures,evident-
ly with a single cult focus, appearto
havebeen the norm in the LateBronze
IBand beyond. This is evident at
Hazor where a two-room shrine (the
"OrthostateTemple")in areaH sur-
vived from Middle BronzeIIC with
only a slight modification of the cult
focus and an enlargement or regu-
larization of the forecourt (Yadin
1972: 75-95). In Late Bronze IBthis
court included an on-axis gateway
and a raised platform, perhaps an
altar. A bilobate pottery kiln con-
taining around 20 miniature bowls
suggests that the priests supplied
 led
During Late BronzeIB, ThthmosisIV eighth pharaohof the EighteenthDynasty, probably
at least one military campaign into Syro-Palestine.This campaign may be depicted on the
exteriorof his wooden chariot. In the panel left the pharaohis shown chargingacross the
battlefield with his bow drawn and the reigns of the lumbering eight-spokedchariot wrapped
all
securely aroundhis waist. Below each panel is a frieze depicting his vanquishedprisoners,
of whom have the characteristicbeardsof Syro-Palestinians,bound togetherby a rope.
Photographcourtesy of the EgyptianMuseum, Cairo.

Biblical Archaeologist, March 1989 15

 During the Late BronzeIB a small extramuraltemple was built
at Lachish in the fill of a defensive ditch, or fosse, that had been
in use in the Middle BronzeAge. StructureI, the earliest phase of
the "FosseTemple,"contained a tripartiteplatform with a raised
altar for cult objects against the southern wall. The temple
increased in size in subsequent StructuresII and III (shown here),
suggestinggreaterprosperityat the site, but it retainedits original
orientation and the location of the cult focus against the
southern wall. Drawing by LoisA. Kain.

worshipperswith some of the neces-

sary cult paraphernalia(Stagerand
Wolff 1981:97-98; Yadin 1972: 76).
That the forecourtwas also used as
an important and integral part of the
sanctuary can be seen from the find- ? ..

ing there of clay liver models bear-

ing Akkadian inscriptions (Yadin
1972: 82-83). Archaeological evi-
dence for the practice of hepatoscopy
(divination through the inspection
of animal livers), a well-known cus-
tom in Mesopotamia, has also been
found in the maison du pretreat
Ugarit (RasShamra)in northern
Canaan (Courtois 1969).
At Lachish, in the fill of the
Middle Bronze Age defensive ditch
(fosse),a small extramuraltemple
was discoveredin the 1930s. Struc-
ture I, the earliest phase of the
"FosseTemple,"was a three-roomed
structure with an entrance from the
west that was hidden by a short
screen wall. The main room, a
north-south longroom, had as its
cult focus a tripartite platform built
against the southern wall.
Tell Mevorakh,near the coast,
was the site of a single-room temple.
The excavatordated the temple, in
stratum XI to the Late BronzeI,
probablyIB,a date strengthened by
the presence of three (late?)Bichrome
vessels among a scree of pottery
found in situ on the floor of the
building (Stern 1977, 1984).Evident-
ly this temple had a long east-west
axis, low benches along two of the
sides, and, as its focal point, a stepped
platform for cult objects.
What is striking about all of
these LateBronze IBtemples is the
amount of variety in size, plan, and
orientation. Unfortunately,we are as
yet unable to associate these differ-
ences with specific cults or deities.
Funeraryevidence. Our knowl-
i-_ii~s:-:ii~
ii
\,
.::io}
.iiii
i I
Iiiij- ....~iis
edge of funerarypractices in Late Smenkhkare,Tutankhamun,Ay,and
Horemheb, the final rulers of the
BronzeIB is practically nonexistent,
Eighteenth Dynasty. It was a period
primarily because of our inability to
date Late BronzeI deposits that do when Egyptlost much of its empire
not include ceramic specialty waresin Syro-Palestine.In Canaan the ar-
from IA. Until we have a better chaeological recordshows a decline
understandingof the development of in local ceramics, but religious ar-
the local domestic pottery we will chitecture is notable and funerary
be unable to identify burials from evidence is rich.
EgyptianHistorical Evidence. Tuth-
this period with assurance or to de-
mosis IV was succeeded by his son
tect any patterns in the funerarycus-
Amenophis I,14 who used diplomacy
toms of the fifteenth century B.C.E.
as a powerful alternative, or adjunct,
Late Bronze IIA to military campaigns in keeping
Late BronzeIIA lasted more than the peace in Syro-Palestine.In his
one hundredyears and corresponded tenth year as pharaohhe strengthened
roughly with the reigns of Ameno- the Egyptianalliance with Mitanni
phis III,Amenophis IV (Akhenaten), by marryingGilu-Khepa,daughterof

16 Biblical Archaeologist, March 1989

 This drawing of a wall-painting from a tomb in Thebes,probably dating to the time of Amenophis III in Late BronzeIIA,
shows several Canaanite ships docked in a congested Egyptianharbor.It thus suggests that the reign of this pharaoh was a
period of relative calm in Syro-Palestine,with fruitful economic exchange.In the bottom scene left, sailors are unloading their
cargoand barteringwith the local merchants. The figure dressed in a long garment is a Canaanite. He offers the contents of a
heavy amphora while behind him sailors in short, Aegean-likekilts bringforth other ceramic containers, including, in the first
sailor'sleft hand, a pilgrim flask most likely filled with some costly scented oil. Scenes such as this give us an idea of the
international trade that flourished in the eastern Mediterraneanduring the Late BronzeAge. Drawing courtesy of The
Committee of the EgyptExplorationSociety

~-~i-~
i~~i'-.
.~--~i?i
. .iii
.ia- ....

i~i~-i --1-ii -i i~ iIN

:i:::::~SON,

k
::::;: MN?:--AMC
r:
. ..........

Shuttarna,the new king of that
empire. Gilu-Khepacame south to
Egyptwith her entourage of more
than 300 women. This could not
have been considered an ordinary
event, for it was proclaimed by the
pharaohand his Egyptianwife, Queen
Tiy, on a large commemorative
wedding scarab,copies of which
have been found in Palestine at Beth-
shemesh (cAin Shems) and Gezer
(Rowe1936: 128, 538, and 539). Later
in his reign Amenophis IIIacquired
the princess Tadu-Khepa,daughter
of the subsequent Mitannian king
Tushratta(Goetze 1975a:5) as well
as the daughterof Kadashman-Enlil,
the Kassite king of Babylon (el-
Amarna letters 1-5; Mercer 1939:
2-17; Campbell 1964:44-45).
Amenophis IIIapparentlydid
not feel the need to campaign in
Asia. His reign was a period of rela-
tive calm in Syro-Palestine;the
Egyptiangarrisons"functionedlarge-
ly to halt intercity disputes, to keep
troublesome groups such as the
cApiruunder control, and to facili-
tate the movement of trade, tribute
and communications" (Weinstein
1981: 15).It also appearsthat during
this pharaoh'sreign Egyptand Ugarit
(RasShamra)first came into diplo-
matic contact (Drower1975: 475).
The son of Amenophis IIIand
Queen Tiy is one of the most in-
triguing and controversialfigures in
history.Rulingafterhis father'sdeath,
the new pharaohAmenophis IV15
graduallylost faith in the cult of the
great god Amon and promulgated
instead the worship of the gleaming
multirayed solar disk, the Aten.
The pharaohsoon found life at the
Theban court too distracting for a
man of religious fervor,so he moved
his beautiful Queen Nefertiti, their
family, and the court northwardto a
new capital called Akhetaten ("the
Horizon of the Aten")at the modern
site of Tell el-Amarna,which is lo-
cated on the east bank of the Nile
River about 200 miles south of Cairo
(Aldred1975).Amenophis IV also
changed his name to Akhenaten,
which means "Hewho is useful to
the Aten"or perhaps"GlorifiedSpirit
of the Aten"(Redford1987: 141),re-
flecting the ardorof his new beliefs.
Akhenaten and his successors
Smenkhkare and Tutankhamun,the
Amarna pharaohs,reigned during
one of the most interesting periods
in the history of the Near East. They
turned the barrenpiece of desert on
which Akhetaten was built into a
cosmopolitan center.
One of the most important ar-
chaeological discoveries pertaining
to the history of Syro-Palestinedur-
ing the Late BronzeAge was the
hoard of more than 300 tablets that
was clandestinely excavatedby the
local villagers of Tell el-Amarnain
1887. These texts, called the Amarna
tablets, are extant samples of actual
diplomatic correspondencebetween
the pharaohsof the Amarna period
and the rulers of the great powers of
the day-Babylonia, Assyria,Mitanni,
Arzawa,Alasia, and Hatti - as well
as the local vassal states of Syria and
Palestine. The majority of these
epistles date to the reigns of Akhe-

Biblical Archaeologist, March 1989 17

Late BronzeIIA was the time of Amenophis IV tenth pharaoh of the EighteenthDynasty and one of the most intriguing and controversial
figuresin Near Easternhistory.Having lost faith in the traditional gods of Egypt,he promoted the exclusive worship of the gleaming solar disk,
the Aten. As part of this, he changed his name to Akhenaten (meaning,perhaps, "hewho is useful to Aten")and moved the Egyptiancapital
north of Thebes to a new capital, Akhetaten (meaning, "thehorizon of the Aten"),at the site of modern Tellel-Amarna.On this fragmentof a
balustrade(now in the CairoMuseum)from a temple ramp at Tellel-Amarna,Akhenaten and his queen Nefertiti are shown presenting offerings
to the Aten. The strangedeformities apparenthere and in many depictions of this pharaohhave led to numerous speculations about his
physical and mental well-being, and his religious obsessions have been blamed for the loss of much of the northernpart of Egypt'sempire
during this period. Photographfrom Pritchard(1969),courtesy of The MetropolitanMuseum of Art.
naten, Smenkhkare,and Tutankh-
amun (Campbell 1964),but some are
from the earlier correspondenceof
Amenophis IIIand were brought
from Thebes to Akhetaten when
Akhenaten moved his court to the
new capital.
These letters describe, in inti-
mate detail, the so-called presents
and gifts that were constantly being
exchangedbetween these foreign
kings andtheir "brother"the pharaoh.
Horses, chariots, inlaid furniture,
lapis lazuli, and ivory objets d'art
were the most common items ex-
changed,but the most valuable and
most sought after commodity was
gold. That a tremendous quantity of
this costly mineral was availableto
the Egyptianswas never lost on their
allies to the north. In el-Amarnaletter
16, Ashuruballit I of Assyria wrote
to Akhenaten that "goldis in thy
land like dust" (Mercer 1939: 59).16
There was also a serious diplo-
matic side to these exchanges.When
BurraburiasII of Babylonwas dis-
satisfied with the amount of gold he
had received from Akhenaten, he
wrote the pharaohto remind him of
his country's past loyalty to Egypt,
recalling that when the Canaanites
wrote to his father Kurigalzuin an
attempt to involve him in an anti-
Egyptiancoalition Kurigalzuhad
told them to "ceasemaking an alli-
ance with me; if you cherish hostility
against the King of Egypt,my broth-
er, and wish to ally yourself with
another shall I not come, and shall I
not plunder you, for he is in alliance
with me"(Mercer1939: 131).
In contrastto the correspondence
between Egyptand the kings of the
powerful lands, letters to Canaan
reveal a vast gap between king and
vassal, especially in the formulaic
salutations. In el-Amarna letter 323,

18 Biblical Archaeologist, March 1989


for example, Waidaof Ashkelon does
not referto himself as the pharaoh's
"brother"but as "thyservant and the
dust of thy feet"(Mercer1939: 771).
The subject matter of their let-
ters is also different. The lust for
gold, so much on the minds of the
pharaoh's"brothers," is replacedby a
concern for their personal safety as
well as the safety of their villages.
Such fears were not unfounded. To
the north the power of the Hittites
was expandingunchecked by the
Egyptianarmy.In Syria several of the
nominally loyal dynasts were be-
ginning to doubt the wisdom of an
allegiance to a pharaohwho was so
distant, and they sometimes tilted
their loyalty towardthe Hittites,
formed alliances with other princes
in the area, or simply struck out on
their own policies of expansion, such
as that followed by Abdi Ashirta of
Amurru and his son Aziru. Concern-
ing the latter, the citizens of Tunip
in Syria (Drower1973:427 and 453)
wrote to the pharaohin desperation:
"Butnow Tunip,the city, weeps, and
her tears are running, and there is
not help for us. Wehave been sending
to the king.., of Egyptfor twenty
years;but not one word has come to
us from our lord"(el-Amarnaletter
59; Mercer 1939:247).
Complicating the situation in
the south was the appearance,in in-
creasing numbers and strength, of a
group of outlaws and outcasts called
CApiru(orcAbiru, Hapiru/Habiru;
in Sumerian, SA.GAZ).This group
has sometimes been identified with
the Hebrews (abri)of the Old Testa-
ment (Miller and Hayes 1986: 65-67;
Gottwald 1979:396-409). The CApiru
were first encountered in Palestine
by Amenophis II, who claimed to
have captured3,600 of them (Albright
1975: 115).Freebootersand trouble-
Mycenaean"stirrupjar"
or false-necked
amphora
cookingpot with
evertedtriangularrim
shaveddipper
Cypriotbilbil
juglet
makers, they readily allied them-
selves with the less loyal Egyptian
vassals and threatened the staunch-
est supportersof a pharaohwho ap-
pears to have been disinterested in
the concerns of the area.Wordof
their actions was common in the
Amarna correspondence.Abdi-Hepa
of Jerusalem,describedby Margaret
Drower(1973:422) as a man who bore
"asemitic name but was a devotee of
the Hurriangoddess,"wrote several
letters bemoaning the turmoil the
Habiru were causing in the hill
country of Palestine and pleading
with the pharaohfor military sup-
port: "TheHabiruplunder all lands
of the King. If archersare here this
year, then the lands of the King, my
Lord,will remain;but if archersare
not here, then the lands of the King,
my Lord,are lost" (el-Amarnaletter
287; Mercer 1939: 709).
Amid protestations of loyalty
and innocence, or chargesand
Biblical Archaeologist, March 1989
flask
pilgrim
carinatedbowl
40
( 6-4
0
d.H
footedbowlor"chalice"
counterchargesof disloyalty,the
scene presented in this correspon-
dence repeats itself again and again,
with apparentlylittle or no help
from the pharaoh.
The Amarna letters offer a great
deal of insight into the daily events
of Canaan in the Late BronzeAge,
but they unfortunately also call at-
tention to the fact that we lack other
documented material to corroborate
their revelations.As Kathleen Ken-
yon (1973:556) noted, "theperiod of
destruction associated with the
Khabiru[Habiru]in the Amarna
letters does not seem to be reflected
in the history of towns, though there
may be some indication of this in a
low level of material culture, as
shown by buildings, pottery and evi-
dence of art."Rivka Gonen (1984:
69-70) has posited that the majority
of Palestinian sites, even those that
were well defended in the Middle
BronzeAge, were unfortified (that is,
19
 AegeanandCypriot
Superior imports
helpedbringaboutthedemiseof
LateBronzeIAspecialtywares.
unwalled)during the Late Bronze
Age, possibly as a result of an Egyp-
tian policy that restricted its vassals
from accumulating military strength
behind their city-walls. It is a per-
plexing situation (Several1972).
How are we to know, for instance,
whether the whining and doom-
crying of the vassals really reflected
a dramatic change in daily events or
was merely the normal situation
couched in hyperbole aimed at
winning the pharaoh'sattention?
Answers to questions such as this
would give us a much better view of
what was happening and would help
us decide whether Late BronzeIIA
was a time of catastrophic loss of
Egyptiancontrol in Canaan, as schol-
ars have traditionally held, or simply
a difficult period for the Egyptians,
as some scholars now believe (Wein-
stein 1981: 15-16).
There is no evidence to indicate
that either Akhenaten or his succes-
sor Smenkhkareansweredthe calls
of their Canaanite vassals or led the
Egyptianarmy northwardin their
defense. In fact, the only Amarna
pharaohwho may have conducted
such a campaignwas young Tutankh-
amun, who claimed on his Restora-
tion Stele that when he ascended
the throne everything was topsy-
turvy and that "iftroops were sent to
Djahi to extend the bordersof Egypt,
their efforts came to naught"(Stein-
dorf and Seele 1957:224). He may
actually have tried to do something
about the shameful state of affairs
that existed in western Asia. His
field marshal, Horemheb, claimed to
have brought back prisoners from
Palestine (Steindorfand Seele 1957:
247) and is spoken of in his Mem-
phite tomb as the "guardianof the
footsteps of his lord on the battlefield
on his day of smiting the Asiatics"
20 Biblical Archaeologist, March 1989
(Gardiner1953;Aldred 1975: 84;
Weinstein 1981: 17;Pritchard1950:
250-51). Other supportingevidence
might be found on the side of a
small painted wooden trunk from
Tutankhamun'stomb where, in a
manner that would be used to dec-
orate the massive gatewaysof the
great temples of the pharaohsin the
Nineteenth and TwentiethDynasties,
he is shown in his chariot leading
the Egyptianarmy into a jumble of
alreadyvanquished Syrians.
Whether Tutankhamunactually
conducted such campaigns (compare
Weinstein 1981with Schulman 1964)
or if his claims should be treated as
the "stylizedrecitations of cherished
old formulae"(Wilson 1951:236) can
be debated,but whatever the young
king tried to do his efforts were un-
successful. Tutankhamun'searly
death caused his young wife Ankh-
esenamon to beg Suppiluliumas,
son of TudhaliyasIII,king of Hatti
(as the Hittites called their king-
dom), to send her one of his sons so
that he might marryher and become
king over Egypt (Schulman 1979).
We can only wonder how the sub-
sequent history of Canaanwould
have evolved had this union suc-
ceeded, but it did not. The Hittite
prince, Zannanzash, was intercepted
and murderedwhile passing through
Palestine en route to Egypt (Aldred
1975:69). In the end the throne was
assumed by Horemheb, commander-
in-chiefof the Egyptianarmy (Redford
1973),whose reign brought the Eigh-
teenth Dynasty to a close, and with
it came the end of Late BronzeIIA.
The cause of the collapse of the
relationship between Egyptand
Canaan is a matter controversy. Was
it the result of a policy of benign
neglect attributable to Akhenaten's
preoccupation with his religious re-
forms? Does it reflect a policy of
laissez-fairein which individual
Canaanite chieftains were allowed,
and possibly encouraged,to feud and
fight with each other?Could it have
been an intentional policy of divide-
and-rule?To what extent was the
situation exacerbatedby the south-
wardexpansion of the Hittites under
Suppiluliumas or by internal pres-
sures supplied by the cApiru,the
Shasu bedouin, or others (Weinstein
1981:15-16)?Whicheverexplanation
one selects it is indisputable that
during the Amarna period Egyptlost
much of the northern part of its
Asiatic empire to the Hittites under
Suppiluliumas duringhis first Syrian
war.The degree of loss further south
in Palestine is still a matter of debate.
Archaeological Evidence in Canaan.
In Canaan during Late BronzeIIA
there was a decline in the quality of
local ceramics as imports from
Cyprus and the Aegean increased.
The architecture,exhibiting both
continuity and discontinuity, in-
cluded good examples of Canaanite
religious structures. Some of the
most impressive funeraryassem-
blages from all of Late Bronze date to
this period.
Ceramic evidence. The pottery
by which we try to date the events of
Late BronzeIIA can be seen more as
a degenerationthan as a development.
With the demise of LateBronze IA
specialty wares came a decline in
fabric,form, and decoration, perhaps
stimulated by the ever-increasing
presence of Aegean and Cypriot im-
ports that were of superiortechnical
quality and artistic merit.
Plain or slipped bowls with a
strong carination and cooking pots
with evertedtriangularrims were
virtually ubiquitous during Late
BronzeII, whereas footed cups, a
 During the fourteenth century
B.C.E. the markets of the Canaanite
V.0 coast were flooded with pottery from
biconiical jug Cyprus and the Aegean world. Typi-
cal of the Cypriot imports were the
Base Ring jug and bilbil, which were
introduced to the region during Late
BronzeIA. By the Late Bronze IIA
the raised decoration of Base Ring I
had given way to the white-painted,
linear patterns of Base Ring IIthat
may be associated, especially on the
bilbil, with marks that recordedthe
scoring of the opium poppy (Merril-
lees 1968: 154).The White Slip Ware
"milkbowl"shape, also introduced
during Late Bronze IA, demonstrated
less carefully executed White Slip II
motifs during LateBronze IIAbut
continued to be popular.
Representativeof the exports
Courtesyof The OrientalInstitute,Universityof Chicago from the Mycenaean Greek world
(the land of the Keftiu)were the
Middle Bronze holdover,became onic metope patterns. Largervessels, narrow-necked"stirrupjar,"which
less common. The shape of a small plain and footed kraters,and one- was purposely designed and crafted
juglet sometimes reflected the Late handled biconical mugs presented to transportand dispense costly
Bronze IA Black/GreyLustrousWare the pot-painterwith a broadercanvas, specialty oils, and both the pyxis and
tradition, but the wider necked, and the largermetopes were often piriform jars,whose wide mouths
ring-basedversion had become the filled with more elaborategeometric and strategically placed handles sug-
norm. Dipper juglets whose graceful patterns. Occasionally, abstractele- gest an easy-to-sealcontainer for
Middle Bronze silhouettes were lost ments were combined to form more scented unguents. Contemporary
in the short, dumpy Late Bronze I representationalsubjects such as the LinearB texts from sites on the
forms tended either to remain squat Tree of Life with its central tree and Greek mainland indicate that rose
or return to the earlier, attenuated antithetic caprids,a motif that had or sage were primary ingredients in
shapes. The pilgrim flask may have been popular in the Near East for these popular olive oil-basedprod-
had its inspiration in the Aegean millennia. A biconical jug found in ucts (Leonard1981).What commodi-
world, but the most popular form in TombD912 at Megiddogoes farbe- ties the Canaanites tradedfor these
Palestine, with a body constructed by yond the norm of the period, not only costly ingredients is unclear, but
joining two hemispherical bowls at in its scale but also in the number transportamphoraehave been found
the rims, was strictly a local product. and natural depiction of creatures as far awayas the Greek mainland
Flasks dating to (anddiagnostic of) presented on it (Guy and Engberg: (Grace 1956;Akerstrom 1975;Bass
Late Bronze IIAhad a petal-like at- 1938:plate 134).Quite rarewas the 1987), and wall-paintings from Egyp-
tachment of the handles to the neck. depiction of the human form, such tian tombs picture similar jarson
The painted decoration of the as on two tiny fragments from Beth the decks of Canaanite merchant
period was usually restricted to Shan or the tankardfrom Ras Shamra ships whose crews include long-
groups of horizontal bands, either showing a beardedmale, possibly haired sailors from Keftiu.
isolated or combined, with simple representing the Canaanite god Baal, Architectural evidence. The so-
vertical elements to produce embry- enthroned (Culican 1966: 121). calledpalacein stratumIX at Megiddo

Biblical Archaeologist, March 1989 21

 Thecosmopolitan of the
character
agecanbe seenin theremarkable
wealthdisplayed
at someburialsites.
was enlargedduring this period, pro-
ducing a new version in stratum VIII
with fewer,but more spacious,
rooms: a configurationthat con-
tinued through the end of the Late
BronzeAge (Loud1948).Although
we are uncertain about the function
of individual rooms of the ground
floor, we know that a great deal of
attention was paid to water removal
in the form of sumps, drains,basins,
andeven a room pavedwith sea shells.
This building and the gatewayen-
joyeda special relationship, which
lasted through the end of the Late
BronzeAge. The complaints of Biri-
diya of Megiddo recordedin the
Amarna correspondencedo not pre-
pare us for such a well-planned and
well-built city as shown in the pub-
lished remains of Megiddo VIII.
LateBronzeIIAprovides us
with some of our best information
on Canaanite religious architecture
and, once again, there was both con-
tinuity and discontinuity in temple
plan. At Megiddothe last phase of
Temple 2048 was a much less im-
pressive structure with walls about
half their original thickness; the
building hardly deserves the con-
tinued use of the epithet "migdal,"
meaning fortified. Also less impres-
sive duringthis period was the simi-
lar temple at Shechem (Fortress
Temple 2a) whose main chamber
was changed from a longroom to a
broadroom(Wright1965a:95-101).
The Fosse Temple at Lachishwas
rebuilt and enlarged.Although the
plan of StructureIIwas closer to a
broadroomsanctuarywith offering
benches on three sides, the new
"altar"was built against the south
wall directly over its predecessor,
emphasizing the sanctity associated
with the spot. In level VI on the tell
at Lachish the Summit Temple had a
22 Biblical Archaeologist, March 1989
plan that, in form and function, re-
sembled the LateBronze IIBtemple
from stratum VIIat Beth Shan (Us-
sishkin 1978: 10-25; Clamer and
Ussishkin 1977).The small finds
recoveredfrom the Summit Temple
may give us a clue to the deity or
deities that were worshippedthere,
as a gold foil plaque found during
excavations depicts a nude goddess
standing on a horse. The goddess
wears a crown made of horns and
vegetation and holds lotus flowers in
each hand. ChristaClamer (1980)has
identified her as Qudshu (Astarte?).
A partnerfor this goddess may be
depicted on a largestone slab incised
with the form of a male (Resheph?)
who wears a tall conical hat with
hanging streamersand who bran-
dishes a long spear overhis head in
both hands (Ussishkin 1978:figure 4
and plate 7:1, 8). Clamer (1980: 161)
comparedhis crown with that worn
by the god on "theMKLstela from
Beth Shan."Architectural details of
this temple suggest Egyptianinflu-
ences, and the large quantity of
MycenaeanIIIAand IIIBpottery
found on its floors accents its cos-
mopolitan nature, a nature that
characterizesall of Canaan in the
Late Bronze Age (Ussishkin 1978:
19-20).
The LateBronze IIA temple
from stratum X (1375-1300 B.C.E.) at
Tell Mevorakhalso was rebuilt over
its predecessorfrom stratum XI.
Cult objects found in situ, on or as-
sociated with the cult platform, give
an indication of the type of worship
that was practiced. In addition to
pottery vessels, glass pendants, and
faience (Mitannianstyle) cylinder
seals, the deposit included a groupof
important bronzes:knives, a pair of
cymbals, a circularpendant with a
star design, and a snake measuring
about 25 centimeters in length
(Stern 1984:33-35). On the basis of
this serpent, also known from cult-
associated deposits at the Gezer
High Place, Hazor, and the Hathor
Temple at Timna, the excavatorhas
suggested that the temple belonged
to cAshtoret (Ishtar)and Baal (Stern
1984:35). Pendants similar to the
one from Mevorakhhave been found
at other Canaanite sites. Those from
Ras Shamra/Ugaritalso have been
interpretedas celestial emblems
(shapash-shebis;see Isaiah 3:18-19;
Schaeffer 1939a:62).
At Hazor, areaH continued to
retain its sanctity. Although it was
rebuilt partially on the remains of
the Middle Bronze IIC/LateBronze I
structure, the temple from Late
Bronze IIAwas enlargedto three, on-
axis broadrooms.A pair of basalt
blocks, each carvedwith a lion in
relief, greetedvisitors as they entered
the temple. One of these orthostats
was found buried in a pit by the en-
trance to the shrine. The cult stele
found in the later, LateBronze IIB,
phase of this building probablyorigi-
nated in the LateBronze IIA struc-
ture. A similar situation existed in
the small temple in area C at Hazor,
where original cult paraphernalia
was found reused in the slightly re-
paired phase of the temple dating to
LateBronze IIB.
Funeraryevidence. Some of the
most impressive funeraryassem-
blages of the LateBronze Age can be
assigned wholly or partially to its
IIA period. These large,often reused,
sepulchers accommodated multiple
burials accompanied by a remark-
able display of material wealth that
reflects the cosmopolitan character
of the age. A good example is Cave
10A at Gezer (Seger 1972). The cave
was probably dug as a cistern but
 I,.
Ciirts~ _nvrit
y) Q )Q) Ori?na oth 1nttub
Q
fChc

for a dozen other children. The last prus, it had a surprisinglywide dis-
burial in Cave 10A was that of a tall tribution in Canaan, from Ugarit to
female about 34 years of age (named Tell el-Farcah(South),and from the
Sarahby the excavation staff)who coast as far inland as Amman and
rl ??r? was interred in the entrance passage. Sahab (Leonard1987a;Hankey 1974;
r
r.r Close to her hand lay one of the Ibrahim 1975).
?( tL~R ?.( i
r??.
?? ~~1? ?~Z~Bd?;? finest and earliest examples of
..
...
..
.?
c.
..??mtr~? ~? I\
Egyptian glass vessels thus far found LateBronze IIB
r? r, ??
?
in Palestine. LateBronzeIIB,a periodcharacterized
Originally,not secondarily, by conflict, lasted approximately 120
r
_::?:::~::-
-:::~i::

;?:?:-?
::::?? -
: :?:::?::::: ;::~::
: planned as a burial place, Tomb years. During this time both Egyp-
ii~~iii:_:iii~iiiiiiiDLiii
ii-~:lii~:i~i:i:
_:-
::~; __::
i:::-_:::::-:_:~:
.:~-
-:~::?:_-
::_:;a
:-:
_:
--:-:
:_:-~:?::::-
:::
::::i~
_i-i-i:i:.i-i
::::::~:::::::
:a:
8144-8145 was cut into bedrock in tian and Syro-Palestinianrulers were
-::-:
-:::::--:
::'"`::-:ici-i d4'-_-i?ai'-
-li-ii:i'-i---
.ii~--?
::::r~::_:i::-:~;::::::-_-i::::::i:::?::::~::::
::::::::::_:~:::::-:i;::-:-::-;~::::
~:::::~:::::~i:::--;:-~::_:i::::l':
::::::-::-:-: ::::::: area F of the LowerCity of Hazor. forced to defend their territories
::::
::::;:
::: ~i:i
:-:::~:--iii-i~:i---
::~::::
:: =:: --::
iii:ilii--:i.::::-::::::,:.::,: :-i:
:,: ::i:::a
~:-: i:~il i:izii:i:i:i~i-
-----:nli-i~--
-:_:~::_:_:-__-r_-i
:~::-
--
: --;::":::a:::
:::
-i:~i:i-i:i~r-i:--i:~-i-:
i~:i:
iii::~::
:-:i~::-
-::_:-,:._i::::a-
Ssi:~:i~iiixi~ia:i-~iii-ii-i:i-D::-i
---::a:_:-:__i:ni:_
::
-ii-~iiaiiii~iQ:i:%,ii-il'~?,:i~i:i;i::
:-:--::o:
.:P: i
::::I_: :::i::
:: ::::::::~:
This fourteenth-century shaft tomb against attacks by foreign intruders,
::-_--i-
_:~::
':::::I::
:g::::-1-
:~:_
__--
i-~-:-
-:-
.__~--
_-
-::
-si::-:-:-:::::::
iiiiia-i-i-ili~ii~ii~iii~ii~iii~i~ii-i:i
_:
::i~:-:
::::s:-?
:
contained an exceptional quantity of most notably the Sea Peoples.With
":-''-:'-":i:~litijii
i::: :::::':
:::~::::-:
':"
:::~--
.:::
-'
-i~
:".ii-i-iii~ii
:-:i~- :'::::~:
_i-
::~ii :.:8:
?::-i:::~:i??:i-
:~:--:: i:i;i:~fi
-iii:i~i
-::::~:-:-:.:-"--
iciiiiilii?iii-iiiiii:i~ii
iiiiili~i :--:-::-
-i:iili:
_i-ii-~i: : :-:'--?-
--- ~::
__: _."..
--,----::ii-i ::::::~::
ii~iii :::::a::i:::::-:
iiii9iiiiiii
i~ii ::iiili-iiiii
::~:::
iiiiii~iiiii:::
ii-i
_iii:ii~?:
i::::,:
:::::?:::-::?::::-::::?::
i:iii:~:i
iiiii~ii
iiiiii:iiiiii.iiiiii
. -;:_:_i~B'-:li::~-r '-:- '":: ": -::::-'~--ii:-_-i9-:-:i
:::::
'riiiiiii:~ii
i-iiii~i-iii
I:::::':-i(i-i.~i:i::-
i:~:ii:
::-:-_:_l-s:-:;_:-:-;~::::_:::?a:::-;-:-
:::::~::::_ grave goods, including more than their passing the BronzeAge slowly
i:i-i-~-i::-i:i-i-6ii-i:ii~.i:i
-i-i~'i-i~i:i:si-i----ii~i:i-ii-ilJ:i
-i:i-isi~.i-
i-i:~-iii-i:i--ii-::~i:~ili
.x.: iii~i
_a iii~iiii-~i i-i:il~i-~-i:i~:-::-:-i
i-iii.~iii-i(::g:- i-~-i:i
i~:i--ii-iili-:i_-?:
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i-iiifiiiili-.:-i:i
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ii:
iiaiiiiiii
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iiiCi
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i?~-
:_~::--:-
iiiiii~i
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~~:-_::-:-:~-:---~i~~:il::ii8:::---::lr
-i:i:iiE
iiii
iirii-ii:ii~i
i~--:::s:i:::
iii-i3iliii?iiiii-i
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i~-:i
:i:'i'i-- i ~I.s.
:::~:-:::::?:
:::::::~::::-::::~:::::::::i _:-
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_-:_:_:__:_-:::
::ii-:::::
::_~--:__:_-im::::
.:.j~:__.~
:::~:::-:-::-
:~-:-;::::::~::::--: 500 restorable vessels that demon- came to a close. Egypt,then in the
::::__::::::::;-:-:-:--:::-:~::i:::-~:::
:::: ::::1 -'"" :;:: ::::: :::- :::i:~:::ii::-:6-?iiii~jiji-i:i~:i::::::~i:Bi-
::;':::-:-:-
::-:-::::~
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_:_:: i:iii.3i-iiii?i~:i
-i-ii-i:~ii-i
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;~:::::
:::,:::
:-:::-::
i:--::
O -':--::~::::-::-
-I-i
i-i:iiiHi:_
i:i?i:-?i:ii-~-iii-iil
:: :: :::
-?::; -:'::~::::--:::: ?:--
-:::
::-:: i-:::::~-----i.-::~:::
-i~;:i::i~ii?i
iii:
:::-:i:ai:
_--:iiiiii.i:i
::~-i:--:::--:-:-
i- -:~:- strate the full range of Late Bronze early part of its Twentieth Dynasty,
::"
:' ::::"::
::'::'::':
: :::': :'-:: :-:
:-~_
;::
::::~::::
:::'::-i::i:::?::::
-i~?i-
_'-~-i:i::-i
:_-i
~:i-ii
::::::--::':::?'::
_~::ii:?il:F::
: -.~i-ii-i-
I::i-iiii~i 'D.'
-i
ii-iiii~ie'
i-i-i~ii
iii
::,:: : ii~ii i-i-~Eiii:i-i~i~ii~i-ii~iii:iii~iii-i:i-
i-id-iili~i
---i-~ :.:.a: i--~-- - . i-ri
-:-j-::---_-- i--i-i--i, :::,: -i;
IIAlocal ceramics as well as imports was entering what would be a long
from Cyprus and the Aegean (Myce- period of decline, and Syro-Palestine
was subsequently used for funerary naean) world (Yadinand others 1960: was about to begin the period that
purposes throughout most, if not all, 140-53, 159-60). archaeologistsreferto as the IronAge.
of the fifteenth century and part of The desire to be buried with an EgyptianHistorical Evidence. Egyp-
the fourteenth century B.C.E. if one is arrayof imported luxury goods can tian kings in the Nineteenth Dynasty
to judge from the more than one also be seen at Tel Dan (Tellel-Qadi) considered themselves the legiti-
hundred complete vessels, local and where Tomb387, a structure built of mate successors of the great pre-
Cypriot, and other rich gravegoods fieldstone, contained a melange of Amarna pharaohsof the Eighteenth
that it contained. Dating to Late 45 interments of men, women, and Dynasty. Horemheb was succeeded
Bronze IIA or slightly earlier is a children and an arrayof funerary by Ramesses I,17an elderly vizier
full-length coffin embellished with offerings of gold, silver, bronze, and who ruled for a little over a year
rows of handles down the sides and ivory.The imported pottery included before his place was taken by his son
along the lid. Similar larnax-burials an exceptionally well-preserved Sethos I.18In the manner of Amosis
are known from Crete in the Middle Mycenaean "chariotvase."This large, and Tuthmosis III,Sethos I wasted
to Late Minoan period (Buchholz well-made vessel is decoratedwith a no time in setting out for Canaan. In
and Karageorghis1973: 82-83, paradeof horse-drawnchariots and the first year of his reign, which he
number 1064),but this form is so far would have held a position of pride termed "theRenaissance,"he had
unique in Palestine. This sarcopha- on the table - or in the tomb - of any alreadyventured into Palestine try-
gus was apparentlyintended for the member of the maryanna. Although ing to reestablish the old Egyptian
interment of an adult and child but the Mycenaean chariot kraterhas frontiers. No longer guided by the
subsequently served as an ossuary been found more frequently in Cy- more ephemeral and placid Aton

Biblical Archaeologist, March 1989 23

Right: A small single-roomtemple was built in area C at Hazor during the Late BronzeIIA
and was rebuilt duringIIB.A section of that temple shows a full complement of cult furnishings.
Theplan of the later phase shows the objects arrangedin a slight arc beforean oblong offering
table in a niche along the western wall. Below: A basalt statue of a sitting male deity with an
inverted,possibly lunar, crescent suspended from his neck was found among the objects. Also
found in the niche were ten masseboth, or standing stones, the central one of which was
carved with two hands reaching upwardtoward a crescent. These objects suggest that this
broadroomshrine was the focus of a lunar cult. Drawing of plan by LoisA. Kain. Drawing of
cult objects courtesy of J. C. B. Mohr(PaulSiebeck), Tubingen.

who "filledevery land with ...
beauty"(Pritchard1590:370), Sethos
I proceedednorthwardguided and
protectedby the god Amon, whose
"heartis satisfied at the sight of
blood ... (who) cuts off the heads of
the perverseof heart ... (who) loves
an instant of trampling more than a
day of jubilation"(Pritchard1950:
254). Although the ultimate goal of
this ferocious pair was to confront
the Hittites in northern Syria,the
Egyptianarmy had to begin fighting
as close to home as the southern
Sinai where the Shasu bedouin were
disruptingthe smooth flow of travel-
ers and material along the approxi-
mately 120-mile roadwayknown as
the Wayof Horus that led from
Egyptto Gaza.
Fighting continued as the army
moved northwardthrough Palestine
to retakeBeth Shan from a confeder-
ation led by the Prince of Hammath
(possibly Tell el-Hammeh) in league
with the peopleof Pella(Pahel,Tabaqat
Fahel)in Transjordan.Sethos I and
his forces defeated the alliance in a
single day and set up a basalt stele at
Beth Shan to commemorate his
achievements (Pritchard1950:253-
54). He then continued northward
through Kadesh,northwest of Lake
Huleh (Aharoni 1967: 166),through
the LebanonValley,and on to the
coast near Tyrewhere cedarwas cut
for the glory of the god Amon. Upon
his return to Egyptthe country
turned out in celebration, for it had
not seen such a victorious pharaoh
in more than half a century. Sethos I's
good start in regainingcontrol over
Syro-Palestinewas only a beginning
for, as we have learned from a second
stele erectedby Sethos I at Beth Shan,
even the Habiru continued to be a
problem for the Egyptians.
SethosI was succeededby Rames-
ses II,19a younger son who pushed
asidehis elderbrotherthe crownprince
to become the longest ruling pharaoh
(sixty-sevenyears)in Egyptianhis-
tory. Forthe first few years of his
reign Ramesses II- King Ozyman-
dias of Percy Shelley'spoetry- con-
solidated his position at home. To
the north, the Hittites consolidated
their power in northern Syriaunder
King Muwatallis, who had moved the
Hittite capital south to Tattashsha
(Goetze 1975b: 129)to be nearerto
his Syrianinterests. (Fora different
reason for the move, see Bittel 1970:
20-22.) In his fourth year,however,
Ramesses IIreachedthe Nahr el-Kalb
(Dog River)near Beirut and left his
inscription on the neighboring rock
cliffs; in the following year he headed
north to face the largest coalition of
Syrianforces that the Hittites had
yet been able to muster.
Tension had been building be-

24 Biblical Archaeologist, March 1989

 w***
and that the pharaoh'svictory was at
i r i
best a draw.
In subsequent years Ramesses II
continued to find it neccessary to
campaign in Asia to keep the Egyp-
tian image strong (Cerny 1958;
6134
Giveon 1965;Kitchen 1964),not
only at distant Syrian sites such as
Qatna (Misrife)but also much closer
to home at Acco/Acreand even nearby
:........ Ashkelon when "itbecame wicked"
(Pritchard1950:256). New evidence
I MAIL~4 suggests, however,that the scene of
-4 the siege of Ashkelon in the temple
Is Mil
of Karnak,which is usually attrib-
1 WH

MOP., uted to Ramesses II, may actually

WINE have belonged to his son Merneptah
(Yurco1978 and quoted in Stager
1985).The endless warfaremust
have taken a tremendous amount of
energy on both sides, and with Lib-
yan and Sherdenpressurebuilding
on Egypt'swestern flank, plus the
growing power of Assyria on the
Hittite's southern border,the stage
was finally set for a true peace be-
tween the two belligerents. Sixteen
years after the Battle of Kadesha
tween the two superpowersfor some throughout Egypt (Karnak,Luxor, peace treaty between Ramesses II
time, but the real cause of the con- Abu Simbel), but the pharaoh's boast and Hattusilis III,then king of the
flict was the defection of the king of of total, single-handedvictory seems Hittites, was inscribed on silver
Amurru from the Hittite to the to be somewhat overstated.Docu- tablets that bore the imprint of the
Egyptian side (Bittel 1970: 124). The ments from the Hittite capital of two royal seals. A cuneiform text of
two sides met at Kadesh-on-the- Hattusha (nearmodern Bogazk6y) the treaty was preservedin the ar-
Orontes where the Egyptianarmy, give another version: "At the time chives at Bogazk6y,and hieroglyphic
led by Ramesses II, was ambushed when king Muwatallis made war versions of it appearat the Temple of
by an estimated force of 17,000 sol- against the of
king Egypt, when he Amon at Karnakand in the mortuary
diers who lay in wait for him on the defeated the king of Egypt,the Egyp- temple of Ramesses II (the "Rames-
northeastern side of the city. Accord- tian king went back to the country seum")on the opposite bank of the
ing to the Egyptianversion, was it of Aba. But then king Muwatalli Nile (Pritchard1950: 199-203; Lang-
the personal valor of Ramesses II defeated the country of Aba, then he don and Gardiner 1920).Thirteen
that countered the Hittite treachery. marched back to the country of years after the treaty was signed it
"He cast them into the water like Hatti" (Bittel 1970: 125).If Ramesses was commemorated by the marriage
crocodiles, and he slew whomever was pressed as far south as Aba, just of Ramesses II to the daughterof
he desired"(Steindorfand Seele to the north of Damascus (Steindorf Hattusilis IIIwho was personally
1957: 251). The events of the day are and Seele 1957: 251), it would seem escorted to Egypt during the rainy
depicted in surprisingly accurate that the Hittite version was the months of winter by her father the
topographicaldetail on temple walls more truthful of the two accounts Great King of Hatti (Bittel 1970: 127).

Biblical Archaeologist, March 1989 25

Some of the most impressivefuneraryassem-
blages of the Late BronzeAge can be assigned
to the IIA period. Below: This sarcophagus
from Cave 10OA at Gezercontains the remains
of a single adult and twelve young children.
Evidently the adult's coffin served as a pro-
tected repositoryfor the remains of the chil-
drenin subsequent burials in the tomb.
Right: The last burial found in the entrance
tunnel to Cave 10OA at Gezer was that of a
tall female, about 34 years of age, named
Sarahby the excavation staff. The woman's
remains were found just inside the entryway.
Close to her head was a magnificent Egyptian
"sandcore"glass vessel, one of the finest and
earliest examples of Egyptianglass found to
date in Palestine. Photographsby Theodore
A. Rosen, courtesy of Hebrew Union College,
Cincinnati.

26 Biblical Archaeologist, March 1989

 Multiple burials were common during the Late BronzeIIA.At Gezer,for example, the scattered
skeletal remains of eighty-nineindividuals were found in Cave IOA.Also found in situ was
this full-length coffin embellished with rows of handles down the sides and along the lid.
Although this sarcophagusis similar to larnax-burialsfrom Minoan Crete,the form is unique in
Palestine. Photographby TheodoreA. Rosen, courtesy of Hebrew Union College, Cincinnati.

This event must have been impor-

tant to the pharaohbecause he in-
cluded it among the scenes he had
carvedon temples as far south as
Abu Simbel in Nubia.
Ramesses was succeeded by his
thirteenth son Merneptah,20 who
must have been older than 50 at the
time of his coronation. The major
threat to Egyptduring his reign came
from the west where a large army
from Libya,abetted by an assortment
of future Sea Peoples was pressing
hard against his territories in the
western Delta. Merneptahwas suc-
cessful in battle against these in-
truders during his fifth year, and to
celebrate he erected in his mortuary
temple at Thebes a stele inscribed
with a victory hymn that ended with
a song of triumph over his Asiatic
enemies. Some scholars contend
that the Victory Hymn of Merneptah,
also known as the Israel Stele, is the
earliest recordidentifying Israelas an
unsettled people in Palestine, since
of all the countries mentioned on
the stele Israel alone is written with the word/term"Israel"for "Shasu"
the hieroglyphic determinative for a bedouin. Such an interpretation
people rather than for a land (Miller would suggest that whatever Israel
and Hayes 1986:68-69). This stele is was at this time, it was not com-
important to biblical scholarship in pletely understood by the Egyptians.
any event because it is the only men- Within five years of this suspect
tion of Israel in Egyptianrecords. victory, Merneptahhad died and
The text is full of examples of scrib- been buried in Thebes where his
al carelessness, however,and the mummy has survived. With his
reference to a "pacified"Hatti was death a disruption close to anarchy
simply not true, although under enveloped Egypt (Faulkner1975:
ArnuwandashIIIthe Hittites did ob- 235-39; Cerny 1975).Kings Amen-
serve the treaty that existed between messes and Siptah left no apparent
the two nations. Donald B. Redford mark on western Asia, but the car-
(1986)has completely denied the Yellowand white festoons decoratethe neck of
veracity of Merneptah'sboasts of an the blue-grayglass (unguent?)containerfound
Asiatic campaign during the early near Sarah'shead in Cave 10OA at Gezer.Late
BronzeIIA burials were often accompanied
part of his reign, claiming that the by a remarkabledisplay of wealth that re-
Victory Hymn was actually plagia- flects the cosmopolitan characterof the age.
rized from an inscription of Ramesses Photographby TheodoreA. Rosen, courtesy
II at Karnakwith the substitution of of Hebrew Union College, Cincinnati.

Biblical Archaeologist, March 1989 27

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-:~:-::_::F_:::-i:_
.~::::--iii
::.g:
::~::
:i::li:
-:~_:::__:-:-i
~:: = 3
..i~ii:iiii~
-- _ :_, iiii~
,~,_ ,:,:. iii
iii~ii
i:~iiiii
-:'-:- i::ii:isi~i
:,:::i:::~:
-::':-::
:::. -::2a:::::~::::~::::: i:iri-:i
iLii-
..:::-
::9: i~ii_
ii~ii:
ii_-i:
'.. ii~iiii
-ii:---
:::.i~ - :-- :'
ii?nii--
iiiBi:i
-~-:iii~i
--id--
I::
--~:--, : : -'
::ii~iiiii
ii~iiii: Ei:iiiiai
imii:i~:-: i:iDiii:ii~i
::. i-~ iii::":;::
iii:: +--:
?: _i~:--::li~
il;i-_
i:iia-
i-i
iisi
iiiii:i;
Right: This Mycenaean "chariotvase"from ~n
:.1~-':F_.~ - 3-i-i
:::::*:
i-i~-
'ii-iil:i:::liii~-
li:::~i::
:_:-:--:
:~:ili
i~?.
~-::
?-i-~
i?:iF
::::::::
:'-~i
:;:1:~-'
;::1:
iiij~i-:i
:ii~~:-:.:i,
:::::
_i
: Idri'
'8ii-:
:i:--i
Tomb387 at TelDan, decorated with a parade :i~:ii_
i?~iiii
iii:;-
... ii~,-iiii~i
- ii~i-i-?r:i~:i-,
-iii~i-iiii~ii::
a,::i~iiR
:::~?-i;i-jii~
of horse-drawnchariots, would have held a _iQ~lii
iiaii:
=~
place of pride on the table-or in the tomb- ee, =--?'-"---
-- --: i-----ii~
-i::i~i:i:i
ii:
i:i'~:iziii:i-iil::i:I:
-::i';_i--:ii~-iiii
ii-~:-ii::-~
ii'iiii:-
..:%.
-ii,-:
-i-_-i-
i, : i r~
of any Canaaniteprince or member of the .~cf r:
r i ::i?~iiiliiii~iii
~,,;,,.
maryanna(the chariot-owningnobility). ~ O:~:
8~~.8? : : ::::--:-:
-~- _-i:--:__::s_
_s::,a-_ i-ii:;-i--i--i:i:si-i:i
:iip r~r ~
rj~
?i~i-- --:-:r::-:.:,:
~::::
:::;::::
:::;:
::::::
Importedluxury goods are a common feature iii~;i
ii~iii
iiic~:
---
::~-s--
:i~:
::?:i~-----
I:~.

of burials from the Late BronzeIIA. Drawing ii:iii

iiii:iii~:i
-::::
-isi-i:iii:i~---
i~. i:mii-i-
iii~-i-:i:i
i:ii-i:~i-i-
ii~i:
i-i

from Biran(1970),courtesy of the Hebrew

Union College,Jerusalem.Below right: The ~qT: I
~r
:~:: :~:
::-
::~::--: ::,::: /A
Late BronzeIIB was a period of seemingly ;tr?ll~ :~:i:
ii~iiii
li~i
.ii:i~i:i
iii~i~i:i~-
i-i.:l:~-i
Zi-~-i?ii~:~i-':"-:
-:-
-'-:-:-
?5:?~i
- ?; o
rv
::-
endless warfareas Egyptianrulers of the
Nineteenth Dynasty venturedinto Syro-
?:.ei:?:?ri~;rLI'I~~?i?~~'iL
L __
~: 3;i3r
rerrc
clL~
i?i, i?
ii-:i:i-i--i
i;--: :
Q r
Palestine in an attempt to regain control of \?`f

areas that had been lost during the Amarna ~-ii

iBi-:i- cS O~ ?~' In-f
:"'7
,t P~ rr i

period. In this drawing of a relief from the ?*~~ ; ;TC??- ?-P.. F. ~??~~ . .--
iii-Pi.-
ii:r.;-:iii~i--i
iiiLii-:
iiii~ii
-ii-ii:
i;
Templeof Ramesses II at Karnak,the coastal i-i--iiiiiiiiiL-
:'''-'~"'-
.- - '~:~L'-j_~i_:
:,i-ii-iifiiiiiiiibi:i ii~l
: :;
i.~i-i:i-i-~-iii
:a::: *j-_-:
-E:i:jii::i_
i:---:
_:::-_-
city of Ashkelon is being attacked and over- i c: :-----_iiir:_i_
:i:iai-ii-i?i-i~ii
a-i-iii~ii
ii~i-
iii~ii:s:i:uii
-~_i? : --

taken by Egyptianforces. This victory scene

is usually attributed to Ramesses II, but new
data suggest that it should be dated to the
reign of his son Merneptah,fourthpharaohof
the Nineteenth Dynasty. Drawing from
Stager(1985),courtesy of the Israel Explora-
tion Society

touche, or royal seal, of Sethos I121

has been found impressed on a pot-
sherd at Tell el Farcah(South)(Wein-
stein 1981:22) and a faience vessel
bearingthe name of Queen Tewosret22
was discoveredat Deir cAlla in the
Transjordan(Franken1961;Dorne- iii-B-
iiii

mann 1983:20, 44; Faulkner 1975:

235-39; Yoyotte 1962).During this
period of uncertainty it appearsthat
a Syrianprince was actually able to
claim title to the throne of Egypt
(Pritchard1950:260). Putting an end
to this state of chaos, which bordered
on civil war,was Sethnakhte,23 a
man of uncertain origin who became
the first king of the Twentieth
Dynasty. Although he ruled for only
a year, Sethnakhte seems to have
placed the country back on track
before leaving the kingship to his
son Ramesses III.4
Forthe first few years of his reign
Ramesses IIIwas faced with con-
tinued threats from the Libyansand
their allies in the western Delta,
similar to the situation that his

28 Biblical Archaeologist, March 1989

 TheSeaPeoplesposedthegreatestthreat
to theregionsincethe movements
of the
Hyksosmorethanthreecenturiesearlier.
predecessorMerneptahhad faced. Brug 1985;Dothan 1982b;Barnett ranean since the movements of the
To the north and east of Egypt,how- 1975).In his eighth year Ramesses Hyksos more than three centuries
ever, trouble in the form of the Sea IIIwas forced to deploy the Egyptian earlier:"Theywere coming forward
Peoples was almost literally on the army and navy in an attempt to towardEgypt,while the flame was
horizon. This international coali- thwart the progressof the Sea Peo- preparedbefore them. Their con-
tion was quickly moving into the ples who representedthe greatest federationwas the Philistines,Tjeker,
Egyptianorb,bringing with them threat to the stability of the coun- Shekelesh, Denye[n],and Weshesh,
death and destruction (Sandars1978; tries of the southeastern Mediter- lands united. They laid their hands

In the eighth year of his reign, during Late

BronzeIIB in Palestine, Ramesses III was
forced to deploy his army and navy to thwart
the eastward progressof the Sea Peoples,an
international confederation that represented
the greatest threat to the region since the
movements of the Hyksos more than three
centuries earlier.In the land battle shown
here, left, taken from the mortuary temple of
Ramesses III at Medinet Habu in Thebes,
confusion reigns as the pharaoh'sforces,
assisted by Sherdenmercenaries wearing
horned helmets (top row center),battle the
invaders'infantry somewhere along the Syro-
Palestinian coast. The Sea Peoples,some of
whom are characterizedby tall, featherlike
helmets, must have been severelyhampered
by the presence of their families and their
slow, ox-drawnwagons with heavy solid
wheels. In the naval scene below, also taken
from Medinet Habu, the lion-headed prows
on the Egyptianfleet bear down on the ships
of the Sea Peoplessomewhere along the
eastern shore of the Nile Delta. The Sea
Peoples'ships have high, duck-headedprows
and sterns but no oars, the absence of which
might mean that the Egyptianfleet had caught
them by surprise.Sherdenmercenaries are
depicted as fighting on both sides of the fray.
Drawings from Dothan (1982b),courtesy of
The Oriental Institute of The University of
Chicago.

Biblical Archaeologist, March 1989 29

 RamessesIIIdefeated the SeaPeopleson
landandsea,butthevictorydepleted
Egyptof muchof its revenueandresolve.
upon the lands as far as the circuit of
the earth, their hearts confident and
trusting: 'Ourplans will succeed!'"
(Dothan 1982b:3).
RamessesIl andhis forcesfought
this international confederation on
two fronts. Somewhere along the
coast of Palestine his army met the
infantry and chariotry of their land
forces.The Egyptianswere victorious
over the invaders,who must surely
have been severely hamperedby the
necessity of protecting their families
who accompanied them in slow ox-
drawnwagons with heavy solid
wheels: "Those who came on [land
were overthrownand killed]. Amon-
Re was after them, destroyingthem.
Those who entered the river-mouths
were like birds ensnared in the
net. ... Their leaders were carried
off and slain. They were cast down
and pinioned"(Dothan 1982b:3).
Much closer to home, some-
where off the eastern shores of the
Delta, a sea battle raged.Oar-driven
Egyptianships with reefed sails,
often identified by their lion-headed
prows,clashed with the ships of the
Sea Peoples, which were charac-
terized by high duck-headedprows
and sterns. The absence of any de-
piction of oars on the ships of these
intruders may indicate that they
were caught by surprise by the Egyp-
tian fleet (Dothan 1982b:7), but in
any case they were undoubtedly
overwhelmed by the pharaoh'snavy:
"Those who came forwardtogether
on the sea, the full flame was in
front of them at the river mouths,
while a stockadeof lances surrounded
them on the shore. They were dragged
in, enclosed, and prostratedon the
beach, killed, and made into heaps
from tail to head. Their ships and
their goods were as if fallen into the
water" (Dothan 1982b: 3). Egypt was
30 Biblical Archaeologist, March 1989
victorious, but it must have been a
Pyrrhic victory at best. It so ex-
hausted the nation in both revenue
and resolve that Egyptentered into a
period of steep decline that lasted for
centuries.
At Ras Shamra(Ugarit)the
remarkablediscovery of a kiln for
baking clay tablets that was filled
with about 100 pieces of foreign cor-
respondencethat had been translated
into Ugaritic, a Semitic language
closely related to Phoenician and
Biblical Hebrew,indicates that this
area also faced impending danger,
imminent doom. Beforethe ancient
scribes could return to remove these
tablets, disaster struck the city, and
the palace was destroyed.Fortunate-
ly, the tablets survived to tell their
story (well summarized in Drower
1975: 145-47; see also Astour 1965).
They tell how in parts of Great Hatti,
for example, famine was described
as being a "matterof life and death,"
causing the Hittite king Suppilu-
liumas II to call on his vassal in
Ugarit to send a shipment of 2,000
measures of grain to Cilicia. Pagan,
ruler of Alasiya/Cyprus,also wrote
to Ugarit requesting food supplies.
But how could Ugarit help? Its army
had alreadybeen sent northwardto
help the Hittites, and its navy had
been stationed off the Lycian(Lykka)
coast; strippedof its defenses, it had
alreadybeen ravaged.As Ammurapi
of Ugarit respondedto the Cypriot
request, "behold,the enemy's ships
came here; my cities(?)were burned,
and they did evil things in my coun-
try"(Astour 1965: 255). Marauders
were everywhere. Soon the city of
Ugarit was completely destroyedand
its ruins "mined" for valuables.
Afterwards, a different, much less
sophisticated people settled on the
site. It is difficult not to associate
the disruptions mentioned in the
kiln tablets with the eastern move-
ments of the Sea Peoples (compare,
however,Schaeffer'schanging views:
1939b:45-46, 1968: 760-68).
Archaeological Evidence in Canaan.
The archaeologicalrecordfor Late
BronzeIIBin Canaan is mixed. Local
pottery continued to decline; sur-
prisingly,the quality of Cypriot
imports also deteriorated,and even-
tually these imports disappeared;
Mycenaeangoods were still popular,
but they were also less well made
than before, perhapsproducedout-
side the traditional Aegean produc-
tion centers. In architecture,we are
beginning to learn more about the
administrative centers in the south,
which possibly relate to an Egyptian
presence; cult architecture shows
continuity with the past; and we
know little of Canaanite domestic
architecture.Burial customs during
the period were strange and varied.
Ceramic record.The quality of
Late BronzeIIBpottery continued
the decline alreadynoted in the pre-
ceding periods. The shapes of cari-
nated bowls, cooking pots, kraters,
and mugs remained about the same,
but a carelessness of execution and
of decoration seems to have been the
hallmark of Palestinian pottery in
the thirteenth century B.C.E.
The only morphological differ-
ences in the local repertoire,other
than size and proportion,were in the
dipperjuglet and flask. Dipper jug-
lets dating to this period often had a
pinched lip and vertically shaved
body. Shavedjuglets became popular
in Cyprus as well at this time; their
fabric and distinctive manner of
pushing the base of the handle
through the vessel wall pointed to
their having been manufactured on
the island. A similar technique was
This clay tablet contains the 30-charactercuneiform alphabet of Ugaritic, a Semitic language
closely related to Phoenician and Biblical Hebrew.At Ras Shamra(Ugarit)a kiln for baking
clay tablets was found containing about 100 pieces of foreign correspondencethat had been
translatedinto Ugaritic. These texts tell their own story of destruction at the hands of foreign
invaders.Although the kiln tablets do not mention the intrudersby name, it is hard not to
associate the events recordedon them with the onslaught of the Sea Peoplesinto Syro-Palestine
during Late BronzeIIB. Photographby MarwanMusselmany,courtesy of Ali Abou-Assaf,
directorgeneralof Antiquities and Museums, Damascus.

-
....... . IY

used in the production of shaved
juglets made from local Palestinian
clays towardthe end of Late Bronze
II. Pilgrim flasks continued to be
popular,but during this period they
tended to exhibit a direct (non-petal-
like) attachment of the handle to the
neck of the vessel.
Strangelyenough, Cypriot
imports, which were so popular in
the earlier centuries, declined in
quantity and finally ceased to be
imported to Canaan (Gittlen 1981).
Mycenaean goods took up the slack
and continued to be popular,al-
though many were of lesser quality;
both they and their contents could
have been made outside the tradi-
tional Aegean production centers.
The copying of many of the Aegean
forms, often quite unsuccessfully by
the local Canaanite potters, might
have been a reflection of increasing
difficulty in long-rangeseaborne
commerce. It is possible that before
the end of the period Mycenaean
pottery was actually made on the
coast out of local Syro-Palestinian
clays (Stager1985;Asaro, Perlman,
and Dothan 1971).
Architecturalevidence. Our
knowledge of Canaanite domestic
architecturefrom the LateBronzeIIB
period is slight, but Eliezer Oren
(1984)has called attention to a dis-
tinctive type of well-built, mudbrick
structuretermed the Governor'sResi-
dency at several sites in southern
Palestine (forexample, Tell esh-
Sharicah/TelSerca,Tell el-Hesi, Tell
el-Farcah(South),and Aphek/Rasel-
CAin).To these West Bank sites may
now be addedTell es-Sacidiyehin
Transjordan(Tubb1988a).In fact,
the traditional view of Transjordan
as a cultural backwaterduring the
Late BronzeAge, based in part on
Nelson Glueck's early survey work,
is slowly being changed as more
sites are excavated(Yassine1988;
Dornemann 1983;Kafafi 1977;
Leonard1987a).These governor's
residencies were squarebuildings
with rooms groupedarounda small
central hall in a manner reminiscent
of certain New Kingdom structures.
It is thought that the Canaanite
buildings represent the thirteenth
century B.C.E. administrative centers
through which the Egyptianscon-
trolled their Asiatic empire, and this
theory is supportedby the concen-
tration of this architecturaltype
(with the exception of Sacidiyeh)in
the southern part of the country
where such control was strongest.
The date of the stratum VII
"AmenhotepIII"temple at Beth Shan
has been the subject of some debate,
but a thirteenth-century-B.C.E.date
seems to fit the evidence best
(McGovern1985: 13).It and the
temple in stratum VI (the excavators'
"SetiI"temple), whose floruit ex-
tended into the twelfth century
B.C.E.(James1966: 25-26), shared
many features including an indirect
entrance and a largebroadroom
sanctuary with two Egyptianlotus
columns beyond which was the cult
focus. These features set the two
temples markedly apartfrom the
reoriented (fromnorth-south to east-
west) temples in Beth Shan stratumV,
which definitely should be dated to
the IronAge. The degree of Egyptian
influence on the plans of the temples
in strataVII-VIhas also been a topic
for discussion (forexample, Kenyon,
1979),but the intensity of the Egyp-
tian presence at Beth Shan in the
Nineteenth and early Twentieth
Dynasties is demonstrated by the
presence there of two stone steles
erected by Sethos I and a life-sized
basalt statue of Ramesses III.
At Lachish the Fosse Temple
from Late Bronze IIB (StructureIII)
continued with very little modifica-
tion. The temple at Hazor also
showed considerable continuity of
cult. In areaH the thirteenth-century-
B.C.E.temple essentially continued
the plan of its predecessor.The floor
of the thirteenth-century temple
contained a fire-blackenedrectangu-
lar piece of basalt describedby the
excavatorsas an incense altar.A
symbol consisting of a circle with a
cross inside it was carvedon the face
of this block. Nearby,but evidently
related to this structure, was a frag-
mentary statue of a male deity
standing on a bull-shapedbase; a

Biblical Archaeologist, March 1989 31

 Theplans of these four buildings-from Aphek, Tellel-Farcah(South),Beth Shan, and Tell
esh-Sharicah- exemplify a distinctive type of well-built, mudbrick structuretermed the
Governor'sResidency.Because of the similarity of their plans and interiorroom arrangement,
both with suggestedEgyptianaffinities, these buildings are thought to have been the adminis-
trative centers throughwhich Egyptexercisedpolitical control over Syro-Palestinein the Nine-
teenth and early TwentiethDynasties. Drawings by LoisA. Kain.

similar circle and cross was carved

on his chest. This deity has been
identified as the storm-godHadad,
and it is thought that the areaH
temple was dedicated to him (Yadin on.-

1972:95).
The small single-room temple
in areaC, first noted in Late Bronze
IIA,was rebuilt in this period. The
cult focus of this broadroomshrine
was a niche in its western wall that '111l
arah(SAlth11
contained a full complement of cult
furnishings arrangedin a slight arc
Woo
before an offering table. In the niche
was a largebasalt statue of a beard-
less, seated male holding a cup or rR

bowl in his right hand;he wears no

identifying headdress,but an in-
verted (lunar?)crescent is suspended
from his neck. The niche also con-
tained ten basalt masseboth (stand-
ing stones), one of which has a carv-
ing on it of a pair of outstretched
human arms/handsapparentlyreach
ing towarda disc and crescent. WN4K:i
KTl--i~---
Yigael Yadincomparedthe motif on St MiiIN-Si:i-
this massebah (stone)with one on a R.~i i a

stele from Zinjirli inscribed with a :.u

4 g

dedication to Baalof Harranand

suggested that the area C shrine was
the focus of a lunar cult (Yadinand
others 1958: 89; Yadin 1970).
Although they were originally
constructed as early as the Middle
Bronze Age (Schaeffer1936: 11),the
temples to Dagan and his son Baal at
Ras Shamramost probablysurvived
into the Late Bronze IIBperiod to ingly rich in imported Mycenaean Funeraryevidence. That strange
judge from a Nineteenth Dynasty(?) vessels (Hennessy 1966;Hankey and variedburial customs were
stele of the Egyptian"royalscribe 1974).The structure has been vari- practiced during the Late BronzeIIB
and chief treasurer"Mami dedicated ously identified as a temple for a fire period has been demonstratedat
to "Baalof the North,"the great god cult, human sacrifice, or tribal cove- many sites. The cemetery at Tell es-
of Ugarit, that was found just inside nants, but a recent investigation Sacidiyeh,which has been partially
his temple (Schaeffer1939a:24). (Herr1981)viewed it as a mortuary dated by its Aegean imports, pro-
When the Amman airport in institution that practiced, in part, duced two tombs (Numbers 102,
Jordan was being expanded in 1955, a rites of cremation, demonstrating 117)in which the deceased were
stone building, square in plan, was possible ties with the Hittite lands wrappedin cloth and subsequently
discovered and found to be exceed- to the north. coated with bitumen, possibly in

32 Biblical Archaeologist, March 1989

This aerial view of a building at Telles-Sacidiyehin the Transjordanreveals the characteristic
plan of the Governor'sResidency,with its square shape and rooms groupedaround a small
central hall. Photographcourtesy of JonathanN. Thbb,The British Museum.
imitation of, or as a substitute for,
more standardEgyptianrites of
mummification. In a third tomb,
which was lined with mudbrick, the
deceased was interred in a more nor-
mal manner, but the wealth of the
individual was evidenced by the rich
supply of graveofferings;these
items consisted of an assortment of
bronzes including a wine set (laver,
bowl, strainer,and juglet) that was
kept close at hand for use in the
afterlife. Inasmuch as burial prac-
tices are a conservative part of one's
personal and religious beliefs, the
mixture of such diverse burial types
at Tell es-Sacidiyehmust indicate a
similar diversity within the general
population. (Forthese tombs, see
Pritchard 1964, 1965, 1980;also see
Tubb 1988b for more intriguing
burials from the new excavations at
the site.)
Another manifestation of the
degree of Egyptianinfluence on the
burial practices of at least one
segment of Canaanite society can
be seen in the use of anthropoidsar-
cophagi at sites such as Deir el-
Balah (Dothan 1979, 1982a).These
large clay coffins representeda type
of middle-class burial practiced in
the EgyptianDelta during the New
Kingdom,but their size and friability
suggest that those found in Palestine
were locally made, a fact supported
Biblical Archaeologist, March 1989
by neutron activation analysis of
clay samples from the Deir el-Balah
sarcophagi(Perlman,Asaro, and
Dothan 1973).Although plain un-
decoratedcoffins have been found,
they are rare;on most sarcophagithe
face and/orupper torso of the de-
ceased has been modelled on the lid.
Paintedaccents also have been found.
The maker of the clay coffin found
in Tomb 570 at Lachish attempted to
paint a prayerin hieroglyphs along
with a representationof the goddess
Isis and her sister Nephtys, two of
the four female deities closely asso-
ciated with the rites of mummifica-
tion in Egypt.Funeraryofferings
that were buried in these anthropoid
coffins, both in Canaan and Egypt,
were truly international, including
pottery and other artifactsfrom as far
awayas Cyprusand the AegeanWorld.
TrudeDothan has identified
two main phases in which these
anthropoid sarcophagiwere used. In
the first phase, which took place
during the late fourteenth and into
the thirteenth century B.C.E., they
appearto have been the choice of
high-rankingEgyptianofficials,
either civilian or military, who
served at Egyptiangarrisons in
Canaan. To this group might be
addedEgyptianizedlocals of similar
status and foreign mercenaries of
some rank. Coffins dating to this
first phase have been uncoveredat
Deir el-Balah,Beth Shan,Tellel-Farcah
(South),and, if it is correct to assign
Tomb 570 to stratum VI, at Lachish
(see Dothan 1982b:252-88). The
practice of using clay anthropoid
coffins outlived the Late Bronze Age,
as seen in examples from Dothan's
second phase of sarcophagi, which
dates to the twelfth and eleventh
centuries B.C.E.after the groups of
vanquished Sea Peoples had settled-
33
 Previously affluentCanaanites
were
unableto maintaina highstandardof
livingat theendof theLateBronzeAge.
or had been settled - along the coast
of Canaan (Dothan, 1982b:252-88).
Conclusion
The end of the LateBronze Age in
Canaancame less with a bang than
with a whimper. Ramesses IIIhad
stoppedthe Sea Peoples. Egyptand
its Asiatic empire were saved- for a
while. The pharaohsettled some of
the vanquished intruders along the
coast of southern Palestine, but
other survivors simply staked out
any relatively secure piece of land
and built new homes. The Bible
speaks of Philistines settling along
the southern coast, but in fact they
were probablya hybridlot. They
could easily have included an admix-
ture of other Sea Peoples such as the
Sherdenor the Tjekerwho were
encountered by WenAmun around
1100 B.C.E.on his ill-fated trip to
Byblos to purchase cedar wood (Prit-
chard 1950: 25-29). The victim of
treachery and robbery,WenAmun
found that his position as "Seniorof
the Forecourtof the House of Am-
mon"had little influence on Zakar-
Baal, an eleventh-century prince of
Byblos who forcedhim to camp on
the beach for almost a month while
sending him daily messages to "get
out of my harbor!"It is difficult to
imagine a Canaanite prince respond-
ing in such a way to an Egyptianoffi-
cial duringthe reign of Tuthmosis III,
Ramesses II, or practically any other
non-Amarnapharaohduring the
halcyon days of Egypt'sLate Bronze
Age empire in Canaan.
The archaeologicalrecordis often
uncertain and, at times, confusing
and difficult to read,but we get the
impression that the lessening of
Egyptian control was a slow and
gradual one (Weinstein 1981). Many
of the major Palestinian cities and
34 Biblical Archaeologist, March 1989
Right: Although originally constructed as
early as the Middle BronzeAge, the Templeof
Baal at Ras Shamra(Ugarit)most probably
survivedinto the Late BronzeIIBperiod. The
temple plan is strictly oriented along a north-
south axis and an altar was placed in the
courtyard,as it was in the "SetiI"temple in
stratum VIat Beth Shan. Drawing by LoisA.
Kain.Above: One of the strange burialprac-
tices found in Syro-Palestiniantombs dating
to the Late BronzeIIBis the "doublepithos"
burial, in which the deceased was placed
inside two large storagejars that had been
brokenand joined at the shoulders to form a
kind of coffin. The burialpicturedhere, grave
45 at Telles-Sacidiyeh,illustrates a variantof
this burial type. Here the neck of a jar was
brokenoff to accept the head and uppertorso
of the deceased while the lower torso was
coveredwith large flat sherds from similar
pithoi. Photographcourtesy of JonathanN.
Tubb,The British Museum.
towns sufferedone or more destruc-
tions in the second quarterof the
twelfth century B.C.E. (summarized
by Fritz 1987)between the reigns of
Ramesses IIIand Ramesses VI or
possibly a little later. No single cul- chants were unable to maintain the
prit or culprits can be identified with high standardof living they had
certainty, although the pharaohs,the come to enjoy.No longer could they
Habiru, and/orthe Sea Peoples/Phi- barterfor the exotic products of dis-
listines, acting individually or in con- tant lands or commission craftsmen
cert, must share the blame for bring- to produce objets d'artwhose eclec-
ing the Late Bronze Age to a close. ticism and hybridization were the
Life became markedly different. very essence of the Late BronzeAge.
Previously affluent Canaanite mer- A much different flavorbegan to
 Left:This human male skeleton found in grave251 at Telles-Sacidiyehshows distorted bone
displacement due to the tightness of the wrappingof the body. The bronzejavelin head on the
chest of the skeleton preservedthe imprint of two differently woven cloths, indicating that it
had been placed on the cloth-wrappedbody of the deceased and then coveredwith a burial
shroud. Upper left: A fish-shapedivory "cosmeticbox"was found inside a bronze bowl that
had been placed over the pelvis of a man who was buriedface down in grave232 at Tell
es-Sacidiyeh.The significance of the fish theme is still a matter of speculation, but it apparently
had some meaning because a deposit of fish bones was placed on the back of the deceased's
skull at the time of interment, evidently as part of the funeral ceremony Upper right: Indica-
tive of the high standard of living that was attainable during the Late BronzeAge is this
bronzewine set, which was found at Telles-Sacidiyehin the burial of a wealthy individual.
Included in the set are a laver, juglet, and handled strainer.Photographscourtesy of Jonathan
N. Thbb,The British Museum.

fresh from their own island ports. It K. A. Kitchen (1987),which assigns an

pervade the cities and towns. Road-
ways were empty of the pharaoh's
messengers, tinkers from Hatti, and
Cretan artisans enjoying the travels
of their trade. Things were quieter.
The once prosperous seaports ceased
to ring with the cacophany of ban-
tering Canaanite longshoremen,
Cypriot sailors, and Aegean seamen
would be almost a millennium, not
until the passing of the armies of
Alexander the Great, before such an
international spirit would return to
these ancient shores.
Notes
'Absolutedatesfor the New Kingdom
Egyptianrulers (Eighteenththrough
Twentieth Dynasties) remain a matter of
debate. Perhapsthe most readily avail-
able chronologies are those of the Cam-
bridge Ancient History, but they are
based on views dating back to the 1950s
(see Hayes 1959)and much work has
been done on the subject since then. For
better or worse, I have used the system of
accession date of 1479 B.C.E.for Tuth-
mosis III and 1279 B.C.E.for Ramesses II.
I also have accepted that the Sothic
datum of the ninth year of Amenophis I,
given in the EbersPapyrus,was taken at
Thebes ratherthan at either Memphis or
Elephantine,therebyproducingan initial
date of 1550 B.C.E.for Amosis and the
beginning of the Eighteenth Dynasty.
Forthe sake of convenience, both the
dates from the CambridgeAncient His-
tory (abbreviatedas CAH) and Kitchen's
dates are presentedhere. Dates in both
of these publications are given as "B.C.,"
as they are in the present author'sorigi-
nal manuscript. The use of is the
"B.C.E."
editorial policy of Biblical Archaeologist.
2Kitchen: 1550-1525 B.C.E.;CAH:

Biblical Archaeologist, March 1989 35

1570-1546 B.C.E.
30r was it three successive campaigns
against it? See James B. Pritchard (1950:
233) and Hans Goedicke (1974: 40-41).
Sharuhen is now identified more plausibly
with Tell el-cAjjul (Weinstein 1981: 6;
Kempinski 1974) than with nearby Tell el-
Farcah (South) (Kenyon 1973: 526, 555).
4Kitchen: 1525-1504 B.C.E.;CAH:
1546-1526 B.C.E.
SKitchen: 1504-1492 B.C.E.;CAH:
1525-1512 B.C.E.
6Kitchen: 1492-1479 B.C.E.;CAH:
1512-1504 B.C.E.
7Kitchen: 1479-1457 B.C.E.;CAH:
1503-1482 B.C.E.
8Kitchen: 1479-1425 B.C.E.;CAH:
1504-1450 B.C.E.,including a coregency
with Hatshepsut.
9This view is different from that of
G. Ernest Wright (1965b: 111), Kathleen
Kenyon (1973: 534-35), and others.
See James M. Weinstein (1981: 11). For
stratum VIII, area BB as the Megiddo
fortress of Tuthmosis III, compare Rivka
Gonen (1987).
IOInAkkadian, rabisu; in Canaanite,
sokinu.
"Kitchen: 1427-1400 B.C.E.;CAH:
1450-1425 B.C.E.
12Kitchen: 1400-1390 B.C.E.;CAH:
1425-1417 B.C.E.
'3For more information on Cypriot
ceramics of the period see P. Astrom
(1972). For Mycenaean goods see A. Furu-
mark (1972a, 1972b), A. Leonard (1987b),
and V. Hankey (1987).
14Kitchen: 1390-1352 B.C.E.;CAH:
1417-1379 B.C.E.
'SKitchen: 1352-1336 B.C.E.;CAH:
1379-1362 B.C.E.
161 have used Samuel A. B. Mercer's
translations because they are in English,
but they are not always satisfactory. For a
caveat on their value, see Anson Rainey
(1978: 1, 7, and continuing).
'7Kitchen: 1295-1294 B.C.E.;CAH:
1320-1318 B.C.E.
'8Kitchen: 1294-1279 B.C.E.;CAH:
1318-1304 B.C.E.
19Kitchen: 1279-1213 B.C.E.;CAH:
1304-1237 B.C.E.
20Kitchen: 1213-1203 B.C.E.;CAH:
1236-1223 B.C.E.
21Kitchen: 1200-1194 B.C.E.;CAH:
1216-1210 B.C.E.
22Kitchen: 1188-1186 B.C.E.;CAH:
1209-1200 B.C.E.
23Kitchen: 1186-1184 B.C.E.;CAH:
1200-1198 B.C.E.
36 Biblical Archaeologist, March 1989
24Kitchen: 1184-1153 B.C.E.;CAH:
1198-1166 B.C.E.
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Press.
Rowe,A.
1930 The Topographyand History of Beth-
Shan. Philadelphia:University of
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1936 A Catalogue of EgyptianScarabs,
Scaraboids,Seals and Amulets in the
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Cairo:Imprimeriede l'Institut
frangaisd'archeologieorientale.
1940 The FourCanaanite Templesof Beth
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Sandars,N. K.
1978 The Sea Peoples:Warriorsof the
Ancient Mediterranean1250-1150
B.c. London: Thames and Hudson.
Schaeffer,C. E A.
1939a The CuneiformTextsof Ras Shamra-
Ugarit (SchweichLectures 1936)
London:British Academy.
1939b Ugaritica. Mission de Ras Shamra,
Tome 3. Paris:LibrairieOrientaliste
Paul Geuthner.
1968 Commentaires sur les Lettreset
Documents Trouv~sdans les Biblio-
thbquesprivees d'Ugarit.Pp. 760-68
in Ugaritica V (Mission de Ras
ShamraXVI),edited by J.Nougayrol
and others. Paris:LibrairieOrien-
taliste Paul Geuthner.
Schulman, A. R.
1964 Some Observationson the Military
Backgroundof the AmarnaPeriod.
Journalof the American Research
Centerin Egypt3: 51-69.
1979 Diplomatic Marriagein the Egyptian
New Kingdom.Journalof Near
EasternStudies 38: 177-93.
Seger,J.D.
1972 bTomb Offeringsfrom Gezer (Rocke-
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salem: The RockefellerMuseum.
Several,M.
1972 Reconsideringthe EgyptianEmpire
in Palestine duringthe Amarna
Period.Palestine Exploration
Quarterly 104: 123-33.
Shea, W
1979 The Conquest of Sharuhenand
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Spalinger,A.
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Stager,L.
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Steindorf,G., and Steele, K. C.
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Stern,E.
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1984 Excavationsat TelMevorakh(1973-
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Stubbings,E H.
1951 Mycenaean Potteryfrom the Levant.
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Thompson, H. O.
1970 Mekal: the God of Beth-Shan.
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Tubb,J.N.
1988a Tell es-Sacidiyeh:PreliminaryReport
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1988b The Role of the Sea Peoples in the
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1978 Excavationsat Tel Lachish:1973-
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1972 Greece in the BronzeAge. Chicago:
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1951 The Burdenof Egypt:An Interpreta-
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1982 The StratigraphicRelationshipof
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1965a Shechem: The Biographyof a Bibli-
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1965b The Archaeologyof Palestine.Pp.
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1971 Pre-IsraeliteTemplesin the Landof
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1972 Hazor, the Head of All Those
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Yadin,Y., and others
1958 Hazor I. Jerusalem:MagnesPress.
1960 Hazor II. Jerusalem:MagnesPress.
1961 Hazor Ill-IV Jerusalem:Magnes
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Yassine,K.
1988 Archaeologyof Jordan:Essays and
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Yeivin, S.
1967 Amenophis II'sAsiatic Campaigns.
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Yoyotte,J.
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39
 j look..ReieuI
Secretsof Mount Sinai, by JamesBentley, are more than a dozen leaves previously the codex"in his lively account of the
272 pp. Garden City, New York: missing from Codex Sinaiticus. The textual peculiarities of Codex Sinaiticus,
Doubleday, 1986; $17.95. monks at St. Catherine's,apparently he does providethe generalreaderwith
recalling the treacheryof Tischendorf an urgent sense of the significance of the
In 1859 the German scholar Constantin more than a century ago,determinednot readingsin this codex for the establish-
von Tischendorfdiscovereda remark- to make the newly discoveredtexts ment of an authentic New Testament
able fourth-centurybiblical codex in St. widely availableto scholars but instead text. In particularBentley highlights the
Catherine'sMonasteryat Mount Sinai. have allowed only a few scholars, conclusion of the Gospel of Markin
As he told the story,he had been shown particularlyGreek scholars, to have Codex Sinaiticus. In the codex, Mark
"alargeand wide basket full of old parch- access to the manuscripts. ends at 16:8,and this ending includes no
ments"on an earlier visit to the monas- Given the sensitivity of the present account of Jesusappearingto his dis-
tery in 1844. The monastic librarian, political situation at St. Catherine's ciples after his resurrection.(Codex
Tischendorfwrote, "toldme that two Monastery,it is no wonder that Bentley's Sinaiticus is not the only ancient bib-
heaps of paperslike these, moulderedby version of "thestory of the world'soldest lical text, however,that has Mark con-
time, had been alreadycommitted to the Bible,"as the book's subtitle puts it, clude at 16:8.Codex Vaticanusdoes the
flames."Among the loose pages Tischen- labors under the burdenof Tischendorf's same, as do a substantial number of
dorf recognized sheets from the Greek folly. Bentley details information con- other early versions and citations in the
Old Testament,and he maintained that cerning Tischendorf'slife availablefrom writings of the church fathers- compare
he was allowed to take forty-threeof published sources as well as from thir- pages 178-79.) The conclusion of Mark
these sheets with him when he left the teen unpublished letters sent by Tis- is a fascinatingquestion that continues to
monastery.Then, in 1853, when Tis- chendorf to the ReverendDr. Samuel intrigue scholars.Bentley'sbrief reflec-
chendorfvisited St. Catherine'sMonas- Davidson and now housed in the library tions upon this question (pages137-48)
tery again, he found another fragment of the University of Glasgow.In so doing should provehelpful to the general
from the Greek Old Testament,this one the author re-creates- quite deliberately, reader,but his dramaticintimations that
with eleven lines from Genesis 24. it seems to me - a pious scholar with Codex Sinaiticus nearly single-handedly
Finally,some six years later, Tischendorf feet of clay. Tischendorfwas, according disclosed secrets about the resurrection
was at St. Catherine'sonce more, and to Bentley,a scholar of irascibility,ruth- of Christ that for a long time were
the Athenian stewardof the monastery lessness, and sheer brilliance (page108). rejectedby scholars may sensationalize
showed him a packagethat was wrapped Bentley suggests that although Tischen- the position of many critical scholars,
in red cloth and contained one of the dorf sought to advancethe cause of who duringthis century have increasing-
most valuable ancient manuscripts ever truth, it may have been the case that ly come to the conclusion that Mark
discovered:346 parchment sheets from a "fightingfor religious truth and knowl- originally ended without a description of
single codex, called Codex Sinaiticus, edge became more importantthan Jesusappearingafter the resurrection.
which included the entire New Testa- charity or what was morally right"(page Charlesworth'sterse comments in this
ment, much of the Old Testament,the 109).Convinced of his special place as a regard(pages6-7) are more sober and
of and
Epistle Barnabas, part of the divinely gifted scholar,"hedisplayeda balanced.
Shepherdof Hermas. quite extraordinaryviciousness towards Secrets of Mount Sinai is an attrac-
The familiar story of Tischendorf any scholar whose reputationmight tive popularaccount of the discoveryand
finding and "borrowing"the codex that diminish his own standingin the eyes of importance of Codex Sinaiticus. Rich in
eventually was sold to the British the world"(page88). His attitude toward anecdote, the book is enlivened by the
Museum is retold in this handsome the monks may have been even worse. author'sown visit to St. Catherine's
study by JamesBentley.In Secrets Bentley doubts the veracity of Tischen- Monastery.In addition to Codex Sinaiti-
of Mount Sinai Bentley describes and dorf'saccount of the events at St. Cath- cus, Bentley also mentions the Oxyrhyn-
evaluatesTischendorf'sfind and the erine'sMonasteryin 1844:"This story, chus, JohnRylands,Chester Beatty,and
characterand significance of the manu- told by Tischendorflong after the event, the Bodmerpapyri,as well as the Dead
script that was the chief object of his entirely fits in with his generaldesire to Sea Scrolls and the Nag Hammadi
attention. The story is made all the depict the monks at St. Catherine'sas Codices (pages151-76; his referencesto
more compelling by the discovery in little better than idiots"(page86). Nag Hammadi texts, page 168, are
1975 of a new treasuretrove of manu- Nonetheless, Bentley recognizes inaccurate),but regrettablyhe says
scripts at St. Catherine'sMonastery, that the codex this flawed scholar dis- nothing about the letter of Clement and
manuscriptsnumbering in the hundreds coveredis a manuscript of incomparable the Secret Gospel of Markdiscoveredin
and written in Greek, Arabic, Syriac, worth for biblical studies. Bentley re- 1958 by Morton Smith at Mar Saba.This
and other languages.The new discovery hearses some of the ways in which controversialtext in the Markantradi-
is recounted in chapterX, A New Mys- Codex Sinaiticus has provedto be indis- tion may shed importantlight on the
tery, (pages196-208), as well as in the pensable in the formation of a critical theme of discipleship in the Gospel of
forewordby JamesH. Charlesworth New Testamenttext. Although it might Markand the question of the conclusion
(pages4-7). Among the manuscripts be said that he succumbs to "romancing of Mark.It is also unfortunate that

40 Biblical Archaeologist, March 1989

Bentley providesno footnotes, endnotes,
or adequatebibliography(veryfew items
are listed on page 266, and Tischendorf's
own When WereOur Gospels Written?is
not mentioned there) for readerswho
wish to pursue the issues addressedin
the book. The volume contains extracts
from the Epistle of Barnabasand the
Shepherdof Hermas (translatedby
KirsoppLakeand reprintedfrom the
LoebClassical Library),and sixteen
pages of stunning full-color plates.
MarvinW.Meyer
Chapman College
The MoralWorldof the First Christians,
by WayneA. Meeks, 182pp. Philadelphia:
WestminsterPress, 1986; $18.95 (cloth);
$10.95 (paper).
WayneMeeks, Religious Studies Profes-
sor at Yale,has once again crafteda well-
conceived study of the world of ancient
Christianity, this time presenting an
examination of the moral world in which
the first Christians lived and wrote. The
author'scontention is that the moral
writings of the early Christians can be
understoodonly when viewed in light of
the prevailingsocial structures and atti-
tudes that surroundedthem. As was the
case with his previous book, the widely
acclaimed The First Urban Christians:
The Social Worldof the Apostle Paul
(YaleUniversity Press, 1983),Meeks ef-
fectively drawson two methods to aid
his historical analysis: the sociology of
knowledge,using the work of PeterBerger
and Thomas Luckmannprimarily,and
anthropology,especially the symbolic
anthropologyof CliffordGeertz. This
book, part of the series called the Library
of Early Christianity, is outstanding in
two respects:First, it is an excellent
introduction to the social and symbolic
world of ancient Christianity, and, sec-
ond, it has methodological significance
for the study of the early Christians'
moral teachings.
Forthe beginner in New Testament
studies or for anyone interested in re-
viewing the social world of the early
Christians, this book gives a concise,
well-written overview.After a brief intro-
duction, Meeks begins in chapter 1 with
an examination of the social setting of
the ancient Mediterraneanworld. In par-
ticular, he focuses on the changes that
occurredin the power structure,away
from the autonomous polis to the world
domination of Rome,and on the reactions
to that changing social fabric.Meeks
then moves on to a discussion of the two includes the force of ideas"(page125).
great traditions that most profoundly
shaped the minds and lives of the early
Christians:the Greco-Romantradition
(chapter2) and the Jewishtradition (chap- of Christianity.
ter 3). In chapter 2 Meeks focuses his at-
tention on the moral teachings of some
of the majorphilosophical schools of the the early Christians.It is methodological-
TeMoral Wotid
of the
First C -hristians
WayneXMeeks
Greco-Romanworld-the Stoics, the
Cynics, and the Epicureans.Then, in
chapter3, he looks at some representa-
tive voices within ancient Judaism-
Sirach,the Qumran community, Philo,
and the rabbisof the Mishnah.
In the final two chaptersMeeks
turns his focus to the early Christians
themselves. In chapter4 Meeks consid-
ers similarities and differencesbetween
the social forms of the early Christian
communities and those of the surround- the nonspecialist it offers an accessible,
ing cultures. In particular,he examines
the Christian communities, first as a
messianic sect in Israeland second as a
household association in the polis.
Meeks concludes the book in chapter5
by focusing on what he calls "thegram-
mar of early Christian morals."In this
chapterhe looks at six early Christian
writings-1 Thessalonians, 1 Corinthi-
Biblical Archaeologist, March 1989
ans, Matthew, Revelation,The Didache,
and Irenaeus'Proofof the Apostolic
Preaching-in an attempt to discover,in
his words,"notmerely the logic of their
ideas but the grammarof their sensibili-
ties and their behavior,which of course
His interest here is determining the ways
in which the early Christians were re-
socialized into the new symbolic world
The value of this book lies farbeyond
its helpful introduction to the world of
ly significant for the study of the moral
teachings of the early Christians. Al-
though there are many books that treat
the subject of New Testament ethics,
this author'sconcern is not with ethics
as such but with the ethos of the early
Christian communities, that is, their
"underlyingattitude towardthemselves
and their world that life reflects"(page15,
quoting CliffordGeertz).In this respect,
Meeks' approachis, to my knowledge,
novel.
WayneMeeks has significantly fur-
thered the study of the New Testament
through the use of sociological and an-
thropological methods. He has taken us
a step beyond the earlier work in this
areadone, for example,by GerdTheissen,
JohnGager,and HowardKee. Yetmuch
work remains to be done, and the verdict
is still out on how successful this ap-
proachwill be. In particular,it is ques-
tionable whether the New Testament
texts actually provideenough data for us
to be able to put together an in-depth
description of their social and symbolic
worlds. This study has taken giant steps
towardthis end and is a significant book
for that reason. Still, the extent to which
the goal has not yet been reached calls
attention to this book'sgreatest poten-
tial weakness.
In spite of this reservation,TheMoral
Worldof the First Christians is an out-
standingwork. The beauty of this book is
in both its simplicity and its depth. For
clear introduction to the social setting of
the first Christians. Forscholars it ex-
pands the horizon by opening up new
ways of looking at old questions. It is es-
sential readingfor anyone interested in
the state of the art regardingthe study of
the social teachingsof the first Christians.
William Barcley
Gordon College
41
Exodus,by JohnI. Durham, xxxiv +
516 pp. Waco,Texas:WordBooks, 1987;
$25.95.
JohnDurham'swork on Exodusis the
third volume of the WordBible Com-
mentary, a series representingan evan-
gelical perspective and featuring original
translations of biblical texts. The series
is designed for a broadspectrum of read-
ers from beginning students to ministers
to professionals in the field of biblical
studies. Clearly defined subsections
(Bibliography,Notes, Form/Structure/Set-
ting, Comment, and Explanation) point
readersin the direction of their special
interests.
Durham'scommentary is shapedby
two choices on his part. First of all, he
has assigned primaryimportance to the
final text, that is, the text that has come
down to us. Durham is convinced that
the ancient compilers had a single "uni-
fied and unifying"theme in mind when
they wove together varied traditions. In
other words,although the Book of Exodus
representsdiverse traditions of origin,
Durham believes "itis not literary or
theological goulash"(pagexxi). To the ex-
tent that scholarly studies (source,form
and tradition criticism, rhetorical and
structuralanalysis, investigations of his-
toricity) detract readersfrom the over-
archingtheme in the final text, they may Exodus 1:19where Durham'stranslation profit from the complete bibliographical
be set aside. The second position shaping says "thinkingfast"(whereasthe trans-
Durham'scommentary is his conviction
that the pervasivetheological theme of
Exodusis God'sPresence. Accordingto
this view, Israel'smeeting with God at
Sinai (Yahweh'sAdvent and Yahweh'sTen denoting special emphasis. Thus, in Exo- tianity in the Roman World,by Alan
Words)forms the center and goal of the
entire Exodusaccount. Durham views
deliveranceand covenant as subthemes
that have been put into the service of the "Ihave observedyou ... ").Many other
overarching theme of God's presence.
Of the many tasks involved in pre-
paringa commentary such as this,
Durham has assigned highest priority to
the translation of the original text. The
extensive notes that accompanyhis
translation indicate that Durham has
thoroughly researchedthe Masoretic
text and its variants as well as the
Septuagint,the Vulgate,the Samaritan
Pentateuch, and the Targum.He is
particularlysuccessful in tappingthe
rich nuances of Hebrew vocabularyand
syntax. The end result is a dynamic
translation written in commonly spoken and/orwith what is yet to come in the
English. (Inmany cases a more literal
translation is providedin the Notes sub- The advantageof writing a com-
section for purposes of comparison.) mentary on a biblical book with a view
In preparinghis translation Durham to its overridingtheme (in this case,
has paid special attention to the use of God'sPresence)is that different sections
the narrativewaw in the Hebrew text. of the book are related to one another,
The impact of this is clear in Exodus 1:15 which makes for smooth reading.The
dangeris that the commentator may
neglect significant aspects of the biblical
message that do not fit easily into the
overallidea. Accordingly,some readers
might take issue with the prominence
"/OR[) Durham has assigned to the theme of
BILIA divine presence, especially in the narra-
tives about Israel'sexodus from Egypt
where Durham pays minimal attention
to the meaning and relevanceof divine
involvement in the struggle for human
liberation from oppression.
Durham'swork is eminently suc-
cessful in meeting the needs of the
diverse readershipenvisioned by the
editors of this series. Those with some
backgroundin biblical studies will note
the care with which Durham has pre-
paredthe notes to his translation and his
concise and informativepresentation of
a wealth of scholarship in the subsec-
tions called Form/Structure/Setting.
General readerswill find in the Com-
ment and Explanationsubsections lucid
where Durham rendersthe waw con- expositions of the text's meaning, as
secutive "stillnot satisfied"(comparethe interpretedby Durham. All readerswill
Revised StandardVersion,"then")and in take interest in the fresh translation and
data that Durham has prepared.
lation in the Revised StandardVersion Rita J.Burns
omits any referenceto the waw consecu- MarquetteUniversity
tive in the Hebrew).Durham also has
been carefulto renderHebrewexpressions Rebecca'sChildren:Judaismand Chris-
dus 3:16 he translates the divine address Segal,207pp. Cambridge,Massachusetts:
as "Ihave paid close attention to you ... " HarvardUniversity Press, 1986; $20.00.
(comparethe Revised StandardVersion,
This accessible, generallyjargon-free,and
examples of Durham's commendable well-written book has two main theses.
care in this regardcould be cited. First, RabbinicJudaismand Christianity
In the subsections of the commen- are precisely contemporaneoustrans-
tary titled Form/Structure/Setting,Dur- formations of earlier Judaisminto uni-
ham presents the state of modern schol- versalistic religions of personal piety.
arship on each pericope as well as his Second, all varieties of Second Temple
own position vis-A-visthose of other period Judaism,including Rabbinism
scholars. The meaning of individual and Christianity,were characterized,
verses or of a few verses groupedtogether indeed, generated,by differinginterpre-
is explored at some length in the Com- tations of the basic myth, or "rootmeta-
ment sections. Under the heading, Ex- phor,"of Judaism-the covenant between
planation, Durham offers an overview of God and Israel as expressed in the Torah.
the majorthrust of a passage,frequently An introductorychapterdefines the
connecting it with what has gone before myth of the Covenant and discusses the
differentunderstandingsof it in the bib-
biblical text. lical books themselves. The lengthy first
Biblical Archaeologist, March 1989 43
chaptertraces developments in Judaism
down to the end of the MaccabeanRevolt,
with special attention given to Jewish
reactions to Greek culture. The second
and third chaptersdescribe the main
Jewishsects, institutions, and religious
concepts in the first century and their
relationto the "rootmetaphor"of Judaism.
The fourth and fifth chaptersdiscuss
Paul and the Rabbisand the transforma-
tions they wrought in Judaism.The sixth
chaptersurveysChristian anti-Jewish
and Rabbinicanti-Christianpolemic,
setting both firmly in their social and
historical contexts. The conclusion ex-
pands on the discussions in chapters4
and 5 of the universalism of early Chris-
tianity and RabbinicJudaism.
The book's main thesis is prob-
lematic. The Rabbisdid not transform
Judaisminto a universalistic faith of per-
sonal piety. Indeed,the extension of the
Judeanreligion beyond the bounds of the
Judeannation -one of the main things
Segalmeans by universalism- is nearly
as old as the religion itself. It is probable
that by 75 B.C.E.only a minority of Jews
could plausibly claim Judeanancestry:
The ambiguous characterof the word
loudaios (does it referto ethnicity or re-
ligious affiliation?),repeatedlydiscussed
by Segal,is centuriesolderthan Rabbinism
and Christianity.Nor was personalpiety
an invention of the Rabbis,as any reader
of the Psalms or, for that matter Philo,
knows. (Indeed,Segal'sdescription of the
Rabbisin chapters5 and 7 makes them
sound curiously Philonic.) Segal'ssecond
thesis -that the main Jewishgroupsof
antiquity defined themselves and their
institutions in terms of the Torah- is
less problematic,though it is somewhat
overstated.Differing methods of exegesis
are unlikely to have generatedthe dif-
ferent sects, as Segal claims. Methods of
biblical exegesis scarcely differedfrom
sect to sect. It was the results of the exe-
gesis that differed;given the similarity
of the methods, this probablyindicates
that the results were predeterminedby
other factors.Exegesis,therefore,should
not be presented as the main distinction
between the sects. Furthermore,there is
no reason to believe that every Jewishin-
stitution was thought to requirebiblical
justification.The first-century-c.E.Jewish
historian Josephus,for instance, declares
both the traditionalaristocraticJudean
political constitution and the practice of
the public weekly readingof the Torahto
44 Biblical Archaeologist, March 1989
be Mosaic, yet he does not cite verses or Christian polemic against Jews,and vice
imply any exegetical foundation for versa- chapter 6, on polemic, is the best
these statements. in the book. Rebecca'sChildren is far
The book's theses abstracted,we are less valuable when it shifts from static
left with a survey of ancient Judaismand descriptions of bodies of literatureor
early Christianity,and as such the book theology to history. The chief difficulty
has something to offer.There are ex- is that Segalprefersto explain religious
cellent sections on Philo, Christian changes in either religious or sociological
apologetic and biblical exegesis, Paul, terms; politics is omitted. Togive one
VOLUME 9, NUMBER 3-1989 Editor: ROGER W. MOELLER
NORTH AMERICAN
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Book Reviews
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example, Segal attributes the victory of
the Pharisees (whom he conflates with
the Rabbis)to the fact that membership
in the sect eliminated "statusambiguity"
(page127);Pharisaism, Segal claims,
"bridgedthe gap between a fractured
national and a continuing religious
existence"(page129);it representeda
native response to Hellenism (page 137
and following);and its scripturalexegesis
seemed to the masses more authentic
than that of the Sadducees (page123).
Each of these points is debatable,but
even if all were true they would not be
sufficient to explain why the Pharisees-
or,more correctly,the Rabbis(tworelated
but, notwithstanding Segal, distinct
groups)-eventually won, because all
these points could equally well be ap-
plied to, say,the Essenes. The key to the
victory of Rabbinism should be sought
not among vague sociological entities
beset by equally vague anxieties about
their status and somehow educated
enough to evaluate PharisaicBible
scholarship,but among flesh-and-blood
late first-century-c.E.Judeanlandowners,
prominent priests, and perhapseven
senators and emperorsof Rome. Forin
the aristocraticworld of antiquity, the
fate of great religious and political move-
ments was usually decided at the top.
Even the victory of Christianity was by
no means inevitable before Constantine
had his vision at the Milvian bridge.
Rebecca's Children, in sum, has its
defects, but the attentive readerwill be
able to detect and discount these. The
book should be read,by scholars and
nonscholars alike, for its good descrip-
tions of movements and institutions in
ancient Judaismand EarlyChristianity.
Seth Schwartz
HarvardUniversity
The T'ImpleScroll:An Introduction,
Translationand Commentary,by Johann
Maier (JSOTSupplement Series 34), xi +
147 pp. Sheffield, England:JSOTPress,
1985; $28.50 (cloth), $13.50 (paper).
The Temple Scroll (11QTemple/Torah),
the longest scroll found at Qumran, is a
treasureof historical information about
the religious climate of Judaismin the
second (andperhapsthe first) century
B.C.E.,as well as about the Dead Sea
sect's views towardscriptureand how it
interpretedscripture,particularlythe
ritual legislation. Its editio princeps,
edited by Yigael Yadinin Hebrew
(MegillatHa-Miqdash;Jerusalem:Israel
ExplorationSociety, 1977),appeared
a decade afterthe complete scroll came
into Yadin'shands duringthe Six-
Day War.
Since the appearanceof Yadin'swork
there has been a wave of scholarship on
the scroll; in this JohannMaier has
playedno small part. In 1978 Maier
published one of the first western
languagetranslations of and commen-
taries on the scroll, Die Tempelrollevom
TotenMeer:iibersetzt und erliautert
(Munchen:ErnstReinhardt,1978).The
TempleScroll:An Introduction, Transla-
tion and Commentary is an English
translation with revisions of the German
edition, reflecting scholarship since
1977. Notably it employs some of the
reassessments made by Yadinin his
English translation, The TempleScroll
(Jerusalem:IsraelExplorationSociety,
1983),as well as observationsby scholars
such as JacobMilgrom and E. Qimron.
Maier'sbook begins with a short
introduction describingthe physical
makeup of the scroll and its relationship
to the traditionalbiblical text; it also
includes a brief discussion of some of its
themes. (This introduction should be
readwith the forewordto the book.)
Next comes an outline of the contents of
the scroll, followed by the translation
and then the explanatorynotes on the
text. A bibliographyand architectural
drawingsof parts of the courts of the
temple in question complete the book.
This format and the generalnature
of the book may suggest that the edition
is intended as an introductorywork that
could benefit a nonspecialist. But this is
not the case. Maier'sobject is simply "to
present a readable translation. .. with
concise annotations"(pageix), with the
apparentlargergoal of contributing to
and stimulating study of the scroll. It is
true that he wants nonspecialists to use
the book; he has been careful not to offer
translations of speculative restorations
so that those who do not know Hebrew
will not draw"doubtfulconclusions."
But the use of Hebrewwords, either in
Hebrew script or in transliterationwith-
out translations, the much-abridged
introductorymaterial, and the treat-
ment of selected topics in the notes indi-
cate that the book is really for scholars
who are competent in Hebrew and who
have some backgroundin the scroll.
Biblical Archaeologist, March 1989
The main contribution of Maier's
volume, besides his translation, is his
commentary on the architecturaldesign
of the courts and buildings of the temple
complex. Manypages scatteredthrough-
out his explanatorynotes are devotedto
this. This discussion is complemented
by four drawingsat the end of the book
illustrating some of his conclusions. In
addition, the outline of the scroll's con-
tents aids in perceivingits compositional
logic. There is also a helpful calendarof
the year that lists all the festivals pre-
scribedby the scroll. Finally,the bibliog-
raphyis valuable to scholars and non-
specialists. It includes both generalworks
on Qumranand its texts and studies on
the Temple Scroll in particular.Those
beginning study of the scroll or catching
up since-Yadin'sHebrewedition appeared
will find this bibliographya good place
to start.
In summary,for scholars, Maier's
book is not a primarywork for the study
of the scroll but, nonetheless, a neces-
sary auxiliary.Those who teach courses
on Qumrantexts may find the work
useful as a textbook because of the
English languageand its reasonable
price, but it will need some supplement-
ing. Nonspecialists will find the volume
the most valuable when used with a
more complete general study, such as
Yadin'sThe TempleScroll:The Hidden
Law of the Dead Sea Sect (New York:
RandomHouse, 1985).
David P.Wright
BrighamYoungUniversity
Guide to Biblical Coins, by David
Hendin, 207 pp., 16plates and numerous
drawings. New York:Amphora Books,
1987;n.p.
Many travelersto the Holy Landare in-
triguedby the handfuls of coins offeredby
local individuals who frequent archae-
ological and historical sites. Are the coins
real or fake? How much are they worth?
ShouldI visit one of the shops in Jerusalem
to find some coins that I am sure are
genuine? David Hendin asked these
questions himself as he developeda col-
lector's interest in the coins of the Holy
Land.Basedon his own collecting ex-
perience, which began in 1967, Hendin
has written a wonderfulguidebook to the
coins one encounters throughout Israel.
Quoting from the Hebrew and Chris-
tian scriptures,Hendin discusses the de-
45
velopment of money, weight standards, facts. The coin collector or travelerto the past seventy-fiveyears,providinga
and coinage in ancient Israeland the Israelwill be interested in this book as majorelement in the reconstructionof
Near East.He also mentions the recent will the scholar who desires a general the ancient Near East.Unfortunately
scholarly debate concerning the more surveyof "biblicalcoins."The book's much of this information has remained
controversialcoins, such as the problem- plates and drawingsare excellent and inaccessible to the English-speaking
atic Yehudminutiae. Struck apparently easy to use. world since the primaryresearchand
in Judahor Jerusalem,these small issues The principal shortcoming of the most popularaccounts have been pub-
bore the name of the province in Hebrew book is its incomplete listing of types. lished in German. Notable exceptions
or Aramaicand were issued in the fourth One might buy a coin in Jerusalemand are O.R.Gurney'sThe Hittites (Har-
and third centuries B.C.E.New types con- not find it listed by Hendin, although mondsworth:Penguin, revised in 1980),
tinue to be unearthed on digs and in the similar types certainly are mentioned. and Macqueen'sThe Hittites and Their
bazaarsof Israel and the West Bank, and Having looked at many handfuls of an- Contemporariesin Asia Minor.Part
scholars continue to struggle to make cient coins at sites in North Africa and of the Thames and Hudson series on
sense of their inscriptions and types. the Middle East, I know the excitement Ancient Peoples and Places, Macqueen's
Hendin sensibly notes the controversy that Hendin describes in his introduc- book is the revision of a work which
but adroitly steers clear of attempting to tion. Coins can tell us many things originally appearedin 1975. The text has
settle the dispute one way or the other. about life in antiquity and the people been reordered,if not always completely
This handbook is one of the most who used them to buy the goods and rewritten, and material has been added
comprehensiveguides to date describing services that sustained their lives. The to reflect advancesin researchduring
coins relatedto biblical subjects or demand for coins in the marketplace, the intervening decade. Similarly,maps
struck in the time period of the Hebrew however,continues to result in the pil- and architecturalplans have been
and Christian scriptures.Not only are laging of archaeologicalsites where stra- broughtup to date, and additional illus-
the coins of the Persian and Hellenistic tigraphicallyexcavatedcoins could be trations have been added,bringingthe
periodscovered,including the Hasmonean invaluablein determining dates for fea- total to 149. A largerformat contributes
types, but also the coins of the Herodian tures and other artifacts.This is infor- to the usefulness and attractivenessof
period, the Roman procurators,the first mation that money-even largenumbers the book.
and second Jewishrevolts, the Judaea of coins - cannot buy. Macqueen'sprose is readable,lively,
Capta coins, the city coins of ancient JohnW.Betlyon and accessible to the nonspecialist. His
Israeland the Transjordan,and the spe- Smith College outline of almost a thousand years of
cific coin referencesfound in the New Hittite history is a model of conciseness
Testament.Hendin does not include The Hittites and Their Contemporaries and clarity.The specialist might wish
coins of the later Roman Imperial series in Asia Minor, by J.G. Macqueen, that certain topics, such as literatureor
or the Nabatean series, however,even revised and enlarged edition, 176 pp. cult practices,had been treatedmore
though these coins are readily available New York:Thames and Hudson, 1986; fully. And while other Hittitologists
throughout Israeland Jordan. $22.50. may not agreewith all of his interpre-
The author begins each chapter tations, Macqueen carefully sets forth
with quotations from the Bible or extra- Longknown to students of the Old both sides of controversialhistorical
biblical sources, such as the Jewishhis- Testament as one of the many peoples issues and invites readersto form their
torian Josephus.He then presents a short with whom the Israeliteshad dealings, own opinions. Detailed notes buttress a
historical prospectus on the topic of the the Hittites emerged into the light of number of arguments,and a bibliography
chapter, followed an
by abridged cata- history early in this century as the result points the way to furtherreading.
logue of coin types with descriptions of of spectaculararchaeologicaland philo- Macqueen endeavorsto "seethe
specific examples by metal, diameter (in logical discoveries.Farfrom being an Hittites as people, and observethe way
millimeters), obverseand reversetypes, obscure tribe like the Hivites, or even a they lived and thought about their lives"
date (if available),a bibliographicalrefer- local powerlike the Philistines, the (page8), and his discussions of agricul-
ence, and an estimated value in U.S. dol- Hittites controlled one of the major ture, government,religion, warfare,art,
lars. The coin values are based on "very states in the ancient Near East during and architecturenever lose sight of
fine"examples from auctions and private the latter half of the second millennium the underlyinghuman element. A good
sales during the period 1982-1987 and B.C.E. Dominating what is today central example is his demonstration that the
are the opinion of HerbertKreindler,a Turkeyand northern Syria,they were Hittites were motivated in their foreign
dealer from New YorkCity. These prices treatedas equals by Egypt,Assyria, and policy by considerations similar to those
are interesting, but they often fail to take Babylonia.Most mentions of Hittites in motivating governmentstoday.Rejecting
account of the true historical or religious the Bible are either anachronismsor ref- the misconception of a Hittite monop-
value of these coins. erences to petty Syrianpolities which oly in iron, Macqueen nonetheless views
Of special interest to collectors will continued certain Anatolian cultural and the control of metal supplies, particu-
be the introductorychapterin which the political forms into the first millennium larly of the tin necessary for the produc-
author discusses severaltopics, includ- until their eventualabsorptionby Assyria. tion of bronze, as a key element in
ing the cleaning of ancient coins, the Knowledgeof the history and culture Hittite history. Macqueen sees the con-
manufactureof coins in antiquity, and of the Hittites of second-millennium trol of this strategic resource as having
how to tell forgeriesfrom genuine arti- Anatolia has greatly increased during determined the direction and organiza-

46 Biblical Archaeologist, March 1989

tion of Hittite imperial expansion.
While his view that southeast Europe
was the major source of the Hittites' tin
is one of the more uncertain points of
his exposition, Macqueen amply sub-
stantiates his opinion that Hittite con-
quests were "basedon economic prin-
ciples ... rathermore rational than
simple barbarousgreed"(page52).
This volume is an excellent intro-
duction to the Hittites and their neigh-
bors in Asia Minor. Ongoing archaeo-
logical work has recently produceda
number of exciting finds, and the Hittite
ruins will probablyyield many more
surprisesin the near future. I hope that
ProfessorMacqueen, after the passing
of another decade of exploration and re-
search, will see fit to revise his work
again, enabling future audiences to keep
abreastof advancesin the field of
Hittitology.
Gary Beckman
YaleUniversity
AH CE
I MaXWelI Mil er -John H. Hayes
A History of Ancient Israel and Judah,
by J.Maxwell Miller and JohnH. Hayes,
523 pp. Philadelphia: Westminster
Press, 1987; $27.95 (cloth).
This beautifully producedvolume
contains a presentation of the biblical
period to the end of the Persianera by
two well-known and long-associatedhis-
torians. J.Maxwell Miller bears primary
responsibility for the preexilic period to
the eve of the Assyrian conquest, while
the contribution by JohnH. Hayes pre-
vails from chapter 10 through the rest of
the book, especially in chapters 13 and
14 in dealing with exilic and postexilic
times.
No time is wasted in methodological
prolegomena.After stating in the preface
that "anyattempt to write a history of
ancient Israel and Judahmust depend
primarily on the biblical recordand
necessarily presupposesa moderateposi-
tion between two extremes"(page19),
Miller and Hayes proceedto implement
this approach.Chapter 1, The Setting,
focuses on the chronological and geo-
graphicalcontext and on everydaylife in
ancient Palestine; the other chapters
cover the traditionally recognized divi-
sions of biblical history in a succession
reflecting that of the Genesis-2 Kings
narrative.
The authorsretaintheir primarycon-
cern with the biblical recordthroughout
chapters2-7. Everychapteris introduced
by a summary and an evaluation of the
biblical narrative,Chronicles included,
followed by the authors'reconstruction
of the events. Regretfully,nonbiblical
written sources and archaeologicaldata
in particularare quoted too sparingly.
The focus is on political developments
in Israel and Judahwith considerableat-
tention to chronology and geographical
identifications. The positions taken on
these issues are thoroughly critical, but
they are neither supportedby notes nor,
in most cases, arguedin great detail.
Unfortunately,little interest is shown in
material culture or in sociological and
religious structures and transformations,
and other ethnic groupsliving in the
Palestinian milieu receive scanty atten-
tion. A good deal more is said about in-
ternational developments beginning in
chapter8, The Omride Era,with much
information presentedfrom cuneiform
records,Josephus,and Herodotus.From
the time of Ahaz on, the priority given
to an examination of the biblical sources
is often dispensed with, but the balance
of the treatment is not ideal, and the
two-and-a-half centuries that followed
587 B.C.E. are dealt with in a skimpy
sixty pages.
Excellent bibliographies,which are
divided by chaptersas in Rolandde
Vaux'sclassic Ancient Israel (1961),com-
pensate to a certain extent forthe absence
of notes. Of the four-hundred-and-fifty
Biblical Archaeologist, March 1989
pages contained between the list of abbre-
viations and the bibliography,ninety-
four are devotedto charts, illustrations,
maps, and translations of ancient Near
Easterntexts, which are presented in
special boxes. The book concludes with
a Name Index and a ScriptureIndex. The
black-and-whiteillustrations are well
chosen and well reproduced,andthe texts
have been carefullyselected;both include
important items that students would be
unable to find in the standardcollections.
Maps are distributedthroughout the
book, which is a definite advantage,al-
though they are ratherschematic and do
not always agreeperfectly with the text.
All in all, these unusual features con-
siderablyenhance the pedagogicvalue of
a textbook that is obviously designed
primarily for college students who have
little familiarity with the Bible and who
areunacquaintedwith the biblical milieu.
To comment briefly on the contents,
I regretto say that chapter 1, The Setting,
is weak. It proposes strangechronological
divisions and betrays,more than other
sections, the authors'somewhat limited
knowledge of the ancient world beyond
the limits of Palestine. Factualerrors,
such as assigning the breakdownof the
urban civilization of the EarlyBronze
Age to the "earlysecond millennium"
(page70), occur mostly in chapter 2, The
Question of Origins, which coincides
with the subject matter of the Genesis-
Joshuanarratives.After surveyingthe
evidence and previous scholarly hypoth-
eses, the authors are led to an "extremely
cautious"(andperhapsslightly more
agnostic than necessary)position, de-
clining "anyattempt to reconstruct the
earliest history of the Israelites"(page79).
In the remaining chapters,Miller
and Hayes'sresponses to the innumerable
issues confronting historians of Israel
are often quite interesting. Here are a
few highlights from the best documented
sections: The Arameanwar narrativesin
2 Kings 20 and 22 and the Elisha stories
belong to the dynasty of Jehu,not to the
time of the Omrides, who were staunch
allies of Hadadezer(chapter8 and follow-
ing). Jehoram,the last of the Omrides,
was identical to the similarly named
king of Judah,son of Jehoshaphat(pages
280-82). Pekahhad ruled part of the for-
mer Israelite territoryas an Aramean
vassal long before his seizure of Samaria
in 735 B.C.E.(pages 323-29). Ahaz's gift to
the Assyrian king Tiglath-pileserIIIwas
47
a response to the Assyrian march toward substance as this book, the thirteenth model of the relationship between Israel
Philistia, which had been undertakenfor volume in a series called WorldSpiritu- and the God of history. JonLevenson
other reasons (page345). Longbefore 616 ality: An EncyclopedicHistory of the illuminates the conceptual infrastruc-
B.C.E.,Egypt, with the consent of the Religious Quest. Arthur Green, a noted ture of the Temple and its somewhat
Assyrians,ruled Palestine (especially authority on Hasidism, has commis- antithetical counterpart,the Tabernacle,
pages 383-85). Nebuchadnezzar had sioned fifteen first-ratescholars to con- interpretingthe cultic rites as an imitatio
of
appointedGedaliahking Judah(page tribute erudite yet readableessays on dei. The sanctuarywas both the center
423). Zerubbabel was probably a non- topics dealing with Jewishreligious ex- and the symbol of the cosmos, and an
Davidide and may be the Pierced One of pression in its variedforms, from the Israelite would enter to "seeGod'sface."
Zechariah 12:10(pages456-60). biblical through the medieval periods. Levenson raises the intriguing question
Most biblical scholars will no doubt The contents are arrangednot by theme of whether or not in early times the
concede the plausibility of many such but by time. The threefold division Templehoused an image of YHWH,Isra-
contributions and will easily agreewith reflects an exegetical perspectiveon el's God. Michael Fishbanedistinguishes
the authors'judicious decisions in most Judaism:the biblical age, titled Founda- prophecyfrom mysticism. The prophets
matters. Because of the excellent peda- tions; the rabbinicage, or Emergence(of regardedthemselves as mediators of the
gogical features outlined above, teachers Judaismproper);and the medieval age, covenant, subject to the demands of God
will find A History of Ancient Israel and as Other,yet caring.JamesKugelde-
Judaha convenient and enjoyabletext- scribes how modern researchhas trans-
book to use in their lecturing. They will formed the psalms from articulations of
have to add a fair amount of bibliographi- inner spirituality into conventionalized
cal, epigraphical,and archaeologicalin- liturgy removedfrom spontaneous reli-
SH---?~~
formation,but they will not have to fight gious expression. He emphasizes the
at
the authors every step as has been in- votive function of praisingGod, making
creasingly the case with more conserva- offeringsof the lips as well as those of
tive and more radicalpresentations. livestock and cereal. In what perhaps
Froma scientific standpoint,how- should have been the fifth chapterof this
ever,this is by no means the last word on section, JoelRosenbergexamines the
the subject. As I pointed out in outlining corpus of biblical traditions phenomeno-
the authors'aims and methods, Miller logically, describingthe majorfigures
and Hayes focus their work much too and trends and offeringinterpretations
narrowlyon the political history of Israel that suggest their unity and inner ten-
and Judah.In my opinion, not only sions. The two great personalities of
should more attention be paid to the Moses and David, for example, represent
material culture and to social structures; the polarity between the conditional and
a resolutely territorialapproachshould unconditional covenants. Somewhat
be adoptedas well. In this book not even similarly Levensonspeaks of the theo-
the Philistines are given distinct con- logical paradoxin biblical religion be-
sideration,whereas a territorialapproach tween divine grace and rewardfor good
would allow for a vast amount of literary or Reflections on the classical sources in works; Fishbanesuggests his own para-
and archaeologicaldata, and this ancient diversephilosophical and hermeneutical dox between the rule of divine provi-
human community would at long last modes. Despite the universal commit- dence and the freedom of human will.
receive the attention it deserves. Such an ment among Jewsto the sacrednessof The authors portraybiblical thought
approachwould not result in a loss to Scriptureas divine truth and to the ful- overallas dialectical, not systematic.
the study of the Israelite culture, whose fillment of covenantal obligations, or Some might see this as a Jewishway of
multiple links with other groups sharing mitsvot, the chapters in this volume looking at the HebrewBible.
the same geographicalenvironment are clearly show that the historical growth MarthaHimmelfarb'schapteron
becoming more and more apparent,as of Judaismhas hardlybeen linear or eschatology and apocalypticwritings
Miller and Hayes note forcefully and monolithic. As Green says in his intro- bridgesthe biblical andrabbinicdivisions.
correctly (page78). duction to the volume, the essays are not On the one hand eschatology redeems
Paul E. Dion intended to present a coherent portrait unfulfilled prophecy;on the other, it re-
University of Toronto of Jewishreligiosity but to paint various places a temple-centeredexperience of
features of it. the divine with an apocalypticalone. In
David Sperlingdiscusses the emer- his overtureto the book's second part,
Jewish Spiritualityfrom the Bible gence of Israelite religion out of its an- JacobNeusner distills his voluminous
throughthe Middle Ages, edited by cient Near Easterncontext, critically writings on classical Jewishculture. The
Arthur Green,xxv + 450 pp. New York: assessing the reconstructions of both Pharisees formulatedJudaismin the first
CrossroadPublishing, 1986; $49.50. Julius Wellhausen and Yehezkel Kauf- and second centuries of this era by mak-
mann. He regardsmonotheism as a post- ing the study and observanceof Toraha
One rarelyfinds an anthology of scholar- exilic development and sees biblical critical factorin bringingthe messiah.
ship as uniformly excellent in style and religion'sspecialness in its covenantal Philo of Alexandria,on the other hand,

48 Biblical Archaeologist, March 1989

emphasized the contemplation of the
divine throughan allegorizedunderstand-
ing of biblical law and prayer,as David
Winston illustrates in his chapter.Robert
Goldenbergdevelops his notion of rab-
binic religion, as expressedprimarily in
the Talmud,as a law-basedspirituality
in which action counts far more than in-
tention and feeling counts far less than
intellectuality. There is nevertheless an
ambivalentascetic tendency within early
Judaism,as Steven Fraadedemonstrates.
One of the unique ideas of classical Juda-
ism, accordingto Fraade,is that life can
be sanctified through the moderatepur-
suit of pleasure.Alongside the well-
known legal focus of rabbinicJudaism,
JosephDan carefully describes a signifi-
cant mystical current in which God may
have been perceivedas dual and in which
magic could release divine powersin the
cosmos.
The book's final division, on the
Middle Ages, posits the fundamental
importance of observing the law and the
exegetical freedom to speculate on its
theological or philosophical meaning.
FrankTalmagehas composed a detailed
but elegant essay on allegory as a con-
ceptual and hermeneutical mode in both
philosophical and mystical circles. Ivan
Marcusdescribes the German pietists
who found spiritual rewardsin extend-
ing ritual observanceand enhancing
prayer.Daniel Matt explains the Kab-
balistic or mystical searchfor the esoteric
significance of Jewishlaw as a response
to rationalism. Observanceof mitsvot,
Matt shows, was in Kabbalahan effective
means of maintaining the equilibrium of
the upper and lower spheres. In the path-
blazing final chapterby Moshe Idel, in-
dividual concentration as a technique
for experiencing the divine is traced
from its origins in Sufi Islam to Spanish
and then to SafedianKabbalah.
A book that coversthis much ground
is bound to lack complete balance. Cer-
tain chaptersare far more specific than
others. As much, if not more, attention
is paid to Philo as to the religion of the
Talmud.One also wonders what differ-
ence a thematic ratherthan historical
arrangementof materials would have
made. Continuities and rupturesin the
legal traditions, the mystical traditions,
and hermeneutics could have been high-
lighted better in a phenomenological
ratherthan historical presentation. On
the other hand, expertise is generally
attained through specialization in a par-
ticular historical period, and the rich-
ness of this volume owes much to the
authors'command of their source mate-
rial. Yetfew of the authorsdelved into the
spiritual experience itself. What did bib-
lical people feel about God, for example?
It is true that the sources rarelytranslate
such feelings. When one contrasts, for
example, Fishbane'smore theological
account of prophecywith J.Lindblom's
(1962)more psychological description,
one wonders whether a comparative
anthropologicalor typological analysis
might have favoredan inner picture of
the Jewishspirit. If such studies are
undertaken they will benefit immea-
surablyfrom the vast learning presented
so handsomely in this volume.
Bibliography
Lindblom,J.
1962 Prophecyin Ancient Israel.
Philadelphia:FortressPress.
EdwardL. Greenstein
The JewishTheological Seminary
of America
The Gnostic Scriptures,A New Transla-
tion with Annotations and Introductions
by Bentley Layton,edited by Bentley
Layton, xlii + 526 pp. Garden City, New
York:Doubleday, 1987; $35.00 (cloth).
Bentley Layton,Professorof Ancient
Christian History at Yale,has produceda
volume that will become a standardfor
both students and scholars of early Chris-
tianity, Hellenistic Judaism,and gnosti-
cism for many years to come. Laytonhas
certainly succeeded in his goal of creat-
ing "areadable,coherent collection of
the scripturesof ancient, gnostic religion
and its relatives"(pagexi). I have worked
through the volume in detail with both
undergraduateand graduatestudents and
have found its readability,coherence,
and overallusefulness in both teaching
and researchto be outstanding.
The book begins with a forty-two-
page introductorysection in which the
author includes concise and informative
discussions of the contents of the volume,
the relationshipbetweenthe gnostic scrip-
tures and the Christian Bible, and the
nature of the gnostic primarysources.
Also included are helpful discussions of
his editorial method, an explanation of
the typographicaland referencesystems
Biblical Archaeologist, March 1989
used in the volume, a list of other ac-
cepted names for the writings, a list of
ancient sources and manuscripts for the
writings included, a list of illustrations
(fourtables, one figure, and six maps),
and a list of abbreviations.
The rest of the book is divided into
five sections in which the authorpre-
sents and discusses (1)classic gnostic
scripture, (2)the writings of Valentinus,
(3)the school of Valentinus,(4)the school
of Thomas, and (5)other early currents
(the writings of Basilides and the Hermet-
ic Corpus).The volume concludes with
a general, though sparse,four-pagebib-
liography(select bibliographiesare scat-
tered throughout the text), an extremely
useful and detailed forty-eight-pageindex
of names and subjects, and a complete
index of scripturereferencesto the Chris-
tian Bible. Thankfully,many of the trans-
lations and discussions are gender-free,
and some are presented from a feminine
point of view (pagexx).
It should be noted that the volume
appearsto be a sort of modern Gnostic
Bible with new translations, introduc-
tions, and annotations. If this was the
publisher'sintention, then this volume
certainly supercedesall previously
published "otherbibles."The canonizing
criteria for the selection of the texts in
this volume were determinedby the au-
thor, who has been a recognized author-
ity on gnostic literature,especially in
the Coptic tradition, for many years. The
texts describedas "classicgnostic scrip-
ture"are those texts that were considered
authoritative by an ancient groupwho
called themselves gnostic, and it is the
received Christian (secondary)form of
those texts that Laytonpresents. Other
texts are included because they derive
from Valentinus,the greatsecond-century
Christian reformerof gnostic theology,
and from his followers,the ancient Valen-
tinians of the orthodox heresiologists.
Relatedwritings that are included are
texts from the ancient Syrian school of
Thomas as well as the writings of Basi-
lides and excerpts from the Hermetic
Corpus (tractates1 and 7), all of which
had some influence on classic gnostic
and Valentinian thought. All of the texts
seem to have in common the gnostic
myth, which is discussed in detail in the
form in which it is reflected in the Nag
Hammadi text, The SecretBook Accord-
ing to John.
Laytondescribes the gnostic myth
49
as "theliterary creation of theological
poets - an elaboratetheological poem"
(pages12-13) with similarities to the
mythic tale of creationin Plato'sTimaeus,
Philo's On the Origin of the World,and
Genesis. The myth unfolds in four acts:
(1)the expansion of a solitary first prin-
ciple (god)into a full spiritual universe;
(2)the creation of the material universe,
including stars,planets, earth, and hell;
(3)the creation of Adam, Eve,and their
children;and (4)the subsequent history
of the human race.Throughoutthis
dramathere is the subplot of fullness,
theft (loss),andultimate recovery.Figure1,
which Laytonoffers as a schematic of
the classic gnostic myth in The Secret
Book According to John,serves as a use-
ful reader'sguide to variations of the
myth as they occur in the texts included
in the volume.
Especially useful for the general
readerare the eleven illustrations, most
notably the six maps with detailed an-
notations, which at a glance present a
chronological and geographicaloverview
of severalimportant features of gnosti-
cism: Map 1, The Gnostic Sect and Its
Opponents from the Second to Eighth
Centuries; Map 2, Dated Evidence for
Gnostics and Valentiniansto the Eighth
Century;Map 3, Pilgrimageof Eutaktos
of Satala,circa 350; Map 4, The Educa-
tion and Careerof Valentinus,circa
100-175; Map 5, Followersof Valentinus
and Their Enemies, A.D. 150-692; Map
6, The School of St. Thomas and Its
EgyptianConnections, and the Voyageof
the Soul (Greek"Hymnof the Pearl").
The experienced readerof gnostic
texts, however,will find severalfeatures
of the book to be quite cumbersome. Im-
mediately noticeable is Layton'spresen-
tation of a new set of titles and abbrevia-
tions for most of the texts in this volume.
This innovation is based on Layton'sre-
liable and intimate acquaintancewith
the texts in their original languages,and
his reasoningmay have been to make the
texts more understandableto new readers
by eliminating transcriptionsof Greek
technical terms. Thus, the well known
TrimorphicProtennoiais now First
Thoughtin ThreeForms.But the experi-
enced readerwill encounter difficulty
with the correspondinglynew system of
abbreviations.Forinstance, the immedi-
ately recognizableand well-known Steles
Seth (= ThreeSteles of Seth) is now the
abstruse3Tb, which correspondsto the
50 Biblical Archaeologist, March 1989
new title The ThreeTabletsof Seth.
Many readerswill find the extensive use
of abbreviationsunnecessary and, con-
sequently,will need to insert a bookmark
at the page containing the list of abbre-
viations. Toomany of the abbreviations
are nondescriptive.Forexample, BasFrA
refersto the first fragmentof a Basilidean
quote, which is given the title The Octet
of Subsistent Entities (why not the
descriptiveand mnemonic BasOct?).
Another innovation by the author is
the consistent translation of the Greek
technical term "gnosis"as "acquaintance"
(verb:"tobe acquainted").This is certain-
ly a change from previouspractice where
"gnosis"was translatedas "knowledge"
(verb:"toknow").Laytondefends the
translation in a half-pagediscussion in
which he refersto the distinction that
Greek and Frenchmake between two
types of knowledge:propositional (objec-
tive) and personal (acquaintance).The
well-known Delphic maxim would be-
come, by extension, "beacquaintedwith
yourself." Thus, logion three of the Gospel
of Thomas is translatedas "whenyou be-
come acquaintedwith yourselves ...,"
and the novelty works nicely at this
point. However,the generalEnglish
readerhas the sense that the most com-
mon and colloquial use of the term "ac-
quaintance"is that of a superficialknowl-
edge, clearly not what the ancient usage
intended. Thus, in English a person has
both close friends and acquaintances
(casual acquaintances!)- two distinct
groups.Although Layton'sbook is de-
signed primarilyfor the general reader,
he seems to have introduceda novel
translation of an important technical
term, which now is understandableper-
haps only to experienced readersof these
texts. One might arguethat this impor-
tant Greek technical term could have
been left untranslated,at least in its
nominal form, so that the new reader
could learn the significance of technical
terms and loan words in religious and
philosophical texts from antiquity.
Finally,the markedtendency to
speak of "heretics"and "saints"(for
example, Saint Epiphanius)casts an
anachronistic and orthodox Christian
tone over the entire volume. This feature
is clearly at odds with the publisher's
apparentinterest in marketinga volume
in the populargenre of "otherbibles."
Apart from these points, Bentley
Layton'slong-awaitedvolume on the
gnostic scriptureswill no doubt become
both a standardintroduction for the gen-
eral readerand an authoritativesource
for advancedresearchin gnosticism. The
strength of the volume is that it leads the
readerto a first-handexperience with
the ancient texts by one of the most re-
liable guides working in the field today.
Paul Allan Mirecki
University of Kansas
Haggai, Zechariah 1-8. A New T'Iansla-
tion with Introductionand Commentary,
by Carol L. Meyersand EricM. Meyers,
xcv + 478 pp., with 3 maps, 13 charts,
and 17 photographs.Garden City, New
York:Doubleday, 1987; $20.00.
Good commentaries are not easy to re-
view because, unlike bad commentaries,
they take each passage and verse on its
merits and do not allow their interpreta-
tion to be prejudicedby some wider
theory they are trying to force on the
text. The reviewerthus tends to be left
with a host of minor points of qualifica-
tion ratherthan a majorthesis with
which to interact. This volume, number
25B of The Anchor Bible, is a good com-
mentary.It combines a competence in
the traditional skills of textual criticism
and historical-criticalexegesis with some
of the newer approachesby way of appre-
ciation of literarypatterning,attention
to the social and economic as well as re-
ligious dimensions in the text, and, in-
evitably in view of who the authors are,
an informed input of backgroundillu-
mination from archaeologicalsources.
The formatof the work can be simply
described.After an introduction that
deals with such topics as historical con-
text, the literary shape of the books of
Haggaiand Zechariah 1-8, the text, and
a brief survey of recent studies followed
by a substantial bibliography,the com-
mentary properon each pericope falls
into three unequal parts:(a)new transla-
tion (textually conservative and aiming
to reflect the underlying Hebrew accu-
rately ratherthan elegantly); (b)notes,
which are the powerhouseof the com-
mentary as a whole - each significant
word or phrase is commented on from
every angle and at great length, only
partly disguised by the smaller typeface,
which makes progressin readingseem
even slower than it is; and (c)the com-
ment, which effectively summarizes in a
brieferand more flowing style the major
points of interest for overall interpreta-
tion to have emerged from the preceding
notes. Indeed, it may well be that many
readerswill find it best to start with the
comment, referringback to the notes
only for matters of particularinterest or
difficulty.
There is, it has to be said, a good
deal of repetition, not only between
notes and comment, but also between
one section and another where a similar
topic is being considered. Although this
tends to make the book a little weari-
some to read straightthrough, it un-
doubtedlyenhances its value as a work
of reference,for one may reasonably
expect to find a full statement of the
authors'views on a given verse at that
place in the commentary ratherthan
being referredto many parallel passages
for bits and pieces of the requiredinfor-
mation, as is so often the case.
The authors'view of the composi-
tion of these two books is remarkably
straightforward.Both prophetswere
clearly active at the time of the rebuild-
ing of the second temple (begunin 520
B.C.E.),but neither makes any reference
to its dedication some five years later. In
view of the importance of this latter
event, both books-whose editing reflects
the same outlook and has effectively
drawnthem togetherinto a single work-
must have been completed before that
time. This conclusion flies in the face of
recent approachesto these books, in par-
ticular by W.A. M. Beuken and R. A.
Mason, which have sought to distin-
guish carefully between the words of the
prophets and the later editorial frame-
work. In some ways it would be a pity if
the Meyerses are right because the usual
approachallows for a richer theological
readingof the text as earlier insights are
reappliedto later generationsafter the
initial, almost messianic, fervorof the
temple building had died down- and it
is certainly a disappointment that the
authors do not reportmore fully on this
view in the course of their commentary.
Perhapsthey are right, but it needs to be
recognized that their dating dependsen-
tirely on an argumentbased on silence
not unlike the one that allowed John
Robinson to date the whole of the New
Testamentbefore 70 C.E.(Robinson1976).
The account of the books'historical
and political background,both in the
introduction and elsewhere, is also
straightforward,but in the sense that
some difficulties for the consensus view
supportedare simply passed by unmen-
tioned. Specialists in Iranianhistory,for
instance, have raised doubts about
whether it really was Darius I who re-
organizedthe empire into satrapies;in
my opinion, it is completely anachronis-
tic (andthereforemisleading) to speak of
Samaritansso soon after the return from
exile in Babylon;and, whereas I agree
that Judahwas an independent province
with its own governorfrom the days of
Cyrus on, it needs to be recognized that
this cannot be provedin the present state
of knowledge, only shown to be probable
(see my recent article in TyndaleBulletin
39: 59-82).
Throughout the commentary there
is a remarkableblend of conservatism
and innovation. Because of their early
date for the completion of the work, the
authors shun any attempt to rearrange
the text, even in parts where this has
become commonplace (forexample, at
Zechariah4), and they are equally loathe
to emend the Masoretic text (but can
kab6d in Zechariah2:12 really be a
divine title, despite 2:9, and can te~eb in
2:8 be translated"will be inhabited"?).

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EXCAVATIONS at
TEL MICHAL, ISRAEL
Ze'ev Herzog, George Rapp,Jr., and Ora Negbi, editors
Forfour summersfrom 1977through 1980,a consortiumthat includedthe Universityof TelAviv
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Forty-threeof the participantshave contributedto this generouslyillustratedvolumewhich includes
extensivehistoricalbackgroundto the findings.
A publicationof the Instituteof Archaeology,
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Biblical Archaeologist, March 1989 51

On the other hand, they give us an excit-
ing new socioeconomic readingof Hag-
gai 1 whereby the prophet'sinsistence
that the people rebuild the temple de-
spite the unfavorableconditions is seen
not so much as an attempt to twist the
divine arm as a realistic appraisalof the
central importanceof the temple in any
ancient Near Easternsociety for the
economic health of the community as a
whole. Again, the vogue for observing
literarypatterns brings mixed returns-
successful, for instance, in pointing to
correspondencesbetween Haggaiand
Zechariah 7-8, and thus supporting
views of a single redaction of these two
books, but less so, in my opinion, when
trying to settle specific matters of inter-
pretation,such as in the flying scroll
vision of Zechariah 5:1-4.
In so thorough a commentary,I was
surprisedto encounter occasional pas-
sages where the authors seem to have
overlookedgrist for their mill. At Zecha-
riah 6:13,for instance, they could have
strengthenedtheir interpretationof m'l1,
"torule,"by observingthat at 2 Chronicles
7:18the chronicler slightly alters the
text of his source (1 Kings 9:5)by chang-
Civilization before
Greeceand Rome
H.W.F.Saggs
In this "livelyandauthoritative"
work(AndrewM.T.Moore),Saggs
presentsa wide-rangingsurveyof the
greatestachievements of the ancient
civilizationsof the NearandMiddle
East. $29.95
Biblical Hebrew
A Textand Workbook
BonniePedrottiKittel,VickiHoffer,
andRebeccaAbtsWright
Thistextbookhasbeendesignedto
teachstudentsto readbiblicalHebrew
prosewith competenceby the end of a
two-semester course. Text $29.95;
audiotape$9.95
accompanying
Yale University Press
Dept. 019, 92A YaleStation
New Haven,CT 06520
52 Biblical Archaeologist, March 1989
ing "aman upon the throne of Israel"to
"aman to rule (m6sel)Israel,"an obvious
allusion to Micah 5:1 and, in the overall
context in Chronicles, one which sug-
gests that, as the authors tentatively pro-
pose, the wordmil had significant over-
tones in the postexilic period (compare
Williamson 1982:226).
But these are the kind of details
that, as I indicated at the start of this
review,in no way detractfrom the value
of the enormous amount of material that
has been so painstakingly assembled
here. As the previously neglected period
of Persianrule in Palestine continues to
be opened up by modern research,this
commentary will take its place in the
burgeoningliteratureon the subject as
both an authoritativework of reference
and as an original contribution in its
own right to the understandingof these
two propheticbooks.
Bibliography
Robinson,J.A. T.
Phila-
1976 RedatingtheNew Testament.
delphia:FortressPress.
Williamson, H. G. M.
1982 1 and2 Chronicles.New Century
Bible Commentary.GrandRapids,
MI:Eerdmans/London:Marshall,
Morgan& Scott.
H. G. M. Williamson
University of Cambridge
EgyptAfter the Pharaohs332 B.C.-A.D.
642: FromAlexanderthe Greatto the
ArabConquest, by Alan K. Bowman,
264 pp. Berkeley: University of Califor-
nia Press, 1986; $25.00.
Most accounts of the period from the
spear-wonincorporationof Egyptinto
Alexander'sworldempireuntil the arrival
of Islam consist of clinical assessments
of the recordedand deduced historical
events. Papyrological,epigraphical,
onomastic, numismatic, and archae-
ological data are adducedfor the pur-
poses of corroboration,exclusion, and re-
interpretationof the received historical
traditionsamong the ancient and modern
authorities. A concern for the everyday
existence of ordinarypeople tended to
be, until recently, a marginalconcern to
the majority of historians.
This approachwas the case in the
early twentieth century with but a few
exceptions, such as M. Rostovtzeff's
pioneering study,A LargeEstate in
Egyptin the Third CenturyB.C. (1922),
and his magnum opus, A Social and
Economic History of the Hellenistic
World(1941).Since the Second World
Wara remarkablegrowth of interest in
the social, economic, and psychological
aspects of life in the ancient world has
redressedthis previous imbalance.This
trend can be tracedto the impact of H. I.
Bell'sEgyptfrom Alexander the Great to
the Arab Conquest:A Study in the Dif-
fusion and Decay of Hellenism (1948).
Naphthali Lewis'more recent work,
Egyptunder Roman Rule (1983),pro-
vides a "viewfrom below"of the "silent
majority"accordingto the evidence of
papyri.In this vitalized tradition Bow-
man'spublication takes its place as the
most recent and the most comprehensive
of the social/culturalhistories available
in English.
In a one-pageprefacethe authorchar-
acterizes his task as an attempt to achieve
". .. a general synthesis of an intimidat-
ing rangeand quantity of material ... in
orderto see the impact of the presence
of the Greeks and Romans in Egypt
against the backdropof the Egyptian
tradition"(page7). Consistent with his
stated aims, Bowmanpresents a richly
varied and fully documented assessment
of the nature and extent of the phenom-
ena of cross-culturalinteraction among
the indigenous and alien components of
Egyptiansociety, focusing specifically
on severalareasof convergence- or what
he calls "interface"and "overlap"-in the
economic, political, social, religious,
and linguistic spheres of life. Bowman's
readableand, at times, chatty narrative
assembles an impressive arrayof primary
sources,which he integratesinto a search-
ing inquiry that spans the spectrum of
daily life.
The book comprises seven chapters,
each a self-standingstudy,within which
Bowman'sselections of the primary
sources are marshaledand interpreted.
Pursuantto his stated goals, Bowman
sparesthe readera "proliferationof foot-
notes"(page7), but he nonetheless pro-
vides full documentation in the form of
concise endnotes (pages240-49) prefaced
by an alphabeticallisting of the authori-
ties cited in each chapter-a welcome
researchaid. The bibliography(pages
249-58) providesa wealth of titles,
which encompass not only the cultural
history coveredin this study but also the
rangeof relevantpapyrologicalliterature
to the date of publication. Augmenting
the text are 144 photographicillustra-
tions, 34 of which are high-quality color
plates. Subjectmatter rangesfrom ro-
mantic nineteenth-century views of life
along the Nile to objects of everydaylife,
for example, children'stoys. Hundredsof
individual artifactsfrom the ateliers of
Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine Egypt
offer some idea of the perplexinghetero-
geneity of artistic styles that developed
duringthe millennium involved.Bow-
man'sdetailed labeling providesa paral-
lel visual text, especially for the reader
unfamiliar with the complex art history
of this period. This is a handsomely de-
signed book and a credit to both the
author and his technical advisers.One
improvement might be a listing of both
the inventorynumbers of the individual
artifacts and their respective museums
in the list of illustrations, especially
valuable in a British Museum publica-
tion like this one.
Except for a general synopsis of the
book's structure and content, it is not
possible here to discuss the arrayof data
and interpretivearguments detailed.
Chapters 1-3 providea comprehen-
sive and straightforwardintroduction to
the broadissues of the geographic,en-
vironmental, political, administrative,
and social backgroundsof Egyptthat its
rulers encountered, modified, and in-
evitably adjustedto over many genera-
tions. In clearly formulatedlanguage
Bowman exposes what he understands
to be the underlying dynamics of the
long-termhistorical process.
The central chapters,4 and 5, offer
formal analyses of the economic and
social networks detected at all levels of
society, particularlywith regardto how
these affected individual citizens within
their regions, towns, and extended fami-
lies. Chapter4 focuses on the connections
between social status and economic
activities by contrasting the ruraland
urban economies. Fromlandholding
patterns to the organizationof guilds
and monastic establishments, the author
outlines the effects of economic, politi-
cal, and social forces unleashed by the
introduction of coinage. Complex taxa-
tion and banking systems developed,
especially in the Romanperiod, and
Bowman speculates that the common
person benefited somewhat from the
improvedtechnologies and mass produc-
tion initiated by Egypt'sforeign rulers.
A short section of chapter5, in turn, is
devotedto a re-creationof the urbanand
rural settings using the relevantarchae-
ological data, especially from the well-
known site of Karanis,to providea vivid
picture of life in Egypt'shinterland. The
closing section of the chapter,"Cultural
Patterns,"sketches the linguistic groups,
their distribution, the degrees of literacy
among them, and their characteristic
literary output. One might logically ex-
pect this assessment of the linguistic
and ethnic stratain Egyptto be placed at
the beginning of the text, but it is equally
correct and, indeed, more apt to be placed
here, just before the religious life of this
millennium is considered.The blurring
of linguistic and social layersis paralleled
by the syncretistic religious trends devel-
oping from the Ptolemaic throughGreco-
Roman periods.
Chapter6 surveyspublic, domestic,
and personal religious practices from
paganthrough Christian times. Bowman
touches briefly on the animal cults as
practicedat Saqqaraand elsewhere in
the Nile Valleybut neglects to offer his
appreciationof their significance to the
pilgrims who participatedin these oracle-
related rites. Forthe masses of Egypt's
population the animal-oraclecults were
more important than the distant and
cloistered shrines of the state gods, a
trend that can be tracedback to the later
New Kingdomperiod, for example, at
the necropolis workers'town at Deir el-
Medina in western Thebes. Bowman's
short account, however,merely signals
the phenomenon as part of a long tradi-
tion in Egypt,neglecting the importance
of the animal cults as a development of
the ancient religious concept of the
intermediary,with its roots in the Late
BronzeAge (epitomizedby Amenophis,
son of Hapu, whose statues encouraged
believers to petition the gods through his
auspices). Tobe sure, the animal cults
participatedin the cult of mummifica-
tion, but this appearsto have been sec-
ondaryto their function as oracle and
healer,which is what attractedEgyptians
and foreignersalike, the latter as early as
the seventh-century-B.C.E. Carianmer-
cenaries, whose Egyptian-style,false-
door steles were immured in the Baboon
Gallery at Saqqara.
By the Romanperiod the animal-
oracle cults and the cult of mummifica-
tion had formed the essential poles of
Biblical Archaeologist, March 1989
personalreligion, resolving the spectrum
of crises both in daily life and in the
transition to a promised afterlife.The
mummification of the dead and its
elaborateritual were especially appeal-
ing to the ruling elites. Bowman correct-
ly assesses the religious sphere as the
"interface"of maximum "overlap" where-
by the foreign conquerorsof Egyptwere
themselves conquered,as indicated by
many thousands of resident Greeks and
Romans opting for full mummification
of their remains instead of inhumation
or cremation.
A final division of chapter6 traces
Christianity in Egyptfrom its obscure
beginnings to the time of its emergence
as the dominant official religion in the
fourth century C.E.The profoundin-
fluence of the Coptic Christian Church
and its militant monastic movements on
the economic, political, and social life of
Byzantine Egyptare summarized. There
is also a brief mention of the struggles
of the Coptic Church against the twin
threats of the gnostic and Manichaean
"heresies."Bowman ends this important
chapterwith an instructive observation,
namely, that perceptiblecontinuities in
symbolic forms and modes of thought
exist between the Coptic Church and
the Pharaonicpast. ForBowman,"Chris-
tianity engulfed its paganprecedents
slowly and untidily" (page202), a conclu-
sion substantiatedby a broadspectrum
of scholarship.Forthe readerinterestedin
exploring this fascinating phenomenon
of Pharaonicafterlife,the most penetrat-
ing study (not on Bowman'sbibliography)
is that of JeanDoresse, DBshieroglyphes
azla croix: ce que le passe a legue au
Christianisme (Istanbul,1960).
The last chapteris devotedappro-
priately to the focal point of Hellenism
in, or more accurately"nextto,"Egypt,
"Alexandria: Queen of the Mediterranean."
A brief description of Alexandria'scity-
scape is followed by a consideration of
the city's preeminence in trade,the arts,
and letters.The internecine civil struggles
among her volatile populations are sum-
marized from the early RomanImperial
period to the popularpolitics of the hip-
podrome under Byzantine rule. Here, a
note of caution might be offeredabout
the way Bowmanjuxtaposes historical
themes like "urbanviolence"with the
religious, political, and economic vicis-
situdes of Alexandria'sheterogenous
population. This kind of juxtaposition
53
can give the misleading impression that he then comments on their significance Jesuswas first addressedas Kyrios,"Lord,"
life in Alexandriawas continuously for both Old Testamentand New Testa- among gentile Christians.Fujitaalso
chaotic, though one cannot deny that ment studies as well as for Jewishhis- omits any referenceto the controversy
the potential for violence was always tory.In the final section he discusses over J.O'Callaghan'sidentification of the
there waiting for a catalyst, such as the mysticism at Qumranand in rabbinic, QumranGreekfragmentsas manuscripts
faction-engenderinghippodrome.This Christian, and gnostic literature. of the New Testament.Eventhough
last chaptercloses with an appreciation The author,who wrote his disserta- O'Callaghanis universally believed to be
of Alexandria'scontributions both to its tion on the Dead Sea Scrolls, has a gift incorrect, his views might have deserved
contemporaryintellectual culture and to for lucidly presenting the complex a paragraph.
subsequent periods,including our own. scholarly theories of FrankCross, J.A. I find Fujita'suse of referencesin his
Fromthe patronageof the Ptolemies to Sanders,and others. He discusses and discussion of gnosticism unsatisfactory
the final embers of the paganliterary makes sound judgments on various pro- and, in some cases, misleading. Sub-
culture in the early fifth century C.E.as posals for the identification of the Qum- scribing to the theory that "itis rea-
preservedon papyrifound in Upper ran community and the Wicked Priest. sonable to assume from what we have
Egypt,Alexandria'sgolden ages are brief- He favorsthe theory of a possible Qum- discussed thus far that Gnosticism has
ly limned. ran affinity with Johnthe Baptist (pages its importantroots in Judaism"(page
Twoappendices,The Reigns of the 112-15),for example. Readersshould 200), Fujitacites I. Gruenwaldto support
Ptolemies, and, Metrologyand Currency, also find his exposition of the debates on the evolution of Jewishesoteric types of
round out the author'sdocumentation the JewishZealots and on the linguistic knowledge into gnosticism (page169).
and providehelpful guides and discus- backgroundof Jesusquite helpful. As a matter of fact, Gruenwaldhas op-
sions of both the chronology and the Severalminor criticisms can be posed such a derivationof gnosticism
technical terms frequently used in the raised, however.It is untrue that prior to from Judaism.On the matter of Simon
text. A two-pagediscussion of the mod- the Dead Sea Scrolls "noancient pre- and the origins of gnosticism, Fujita
ern equivalents of the coinage denomi- Masoretic texts were available"except says, "Itis not certain, for example, that
nations and their relative purchasing for the Nash Papyrus(page74). Quota- the Simon of Acts was indeed the same
powerfor food familiarizes the reader tions from the Old Testament are found Simon referredto by the church fathers"
with this often neglected dimension of in the Aramaic magic bowls from Meso- (page191).This, however,is not the prob-
everydaylife in ancient times. potamia, which date to around600 C.E. lem. The issue is whether Acts 8, our
Bowman'sseries of studies achieves (see Yamauchi 1965).Also, the long-held earliest source that depicts Simon as
its stated purposes,and out of it emerges view that a so-called chroniclerwrote magician, is correct (asbelieved by
a dynamic model of cultural interac- Ezra,Nehemiah, andChronicles (page30) R. Bergmeier,K.Beyschlag,andW.Meeks)
tion/assimilation/changethat providesa has been rendereduntenable by the anal- or if the patristic accounts that depict
new and welcome reassessment of the yses of SaraJaphetand H. G. M. William- Simon as the arch-Gnosticare to be
many known and not-so-well-known son (see the summary in Williamson preferred(asheld by E. Haenchen and
sources for Greco-Egyptianculture(s). 1982:5-11). In addition, Fujita'sdiscus- K. Rudolph).
This book can be recommended to the sion of the Samaritantext of the Penta- In discussing the possible Iranian/Zo-
generalreaderas well as to the scholar.It teuch should have referredto Bruce roastrianinfluence on Qumran,Fujita
also providesa superbintroductorytext- Waltke'swork on the subject(forexample, cites articles by D. Winston and J.Neus-
book for university students, for whom 1970:chapter 14). ner (in History of Religions 5, 1966,
this thoughtful work maps a complex Another limitation is that, in re- pages 183-216, and 8, 1968,pages 159-
cultural topography. porting the significance of some of the 77) without informing his readersthat
R. V.McCleary Aramaictexts for the New Testament, Neusner's article is critical of Winston's
Kelsey Museum, University of Michigan Fujitadoes not fully explain the situa- belief in an Iranianinfluence on Judaism.
tion for most readers.Forinstance, Fujita'sadditional statement that "Schol-
A Crackin the Jar:WhatAncientJewish would most readersunderstandthe sig- ars also have pointed out the fact that
Documents Tell Us About The New Tes- nificance of the Qumranphrase"menof there were a number of smaller pious
tament, by Neil S. Fujita, viii + 308 pp. good will" without being shown how its groupswhich practicedbaptism in Pales-
New Yorkand Mahwah, New Jersey: meaning affects the traditionalChrist- tine and Syriaaroundthe time of Jesus,
Paulist Press, 1986; $9.95 (paper). mas refrain,"Peaceon Earth,Good Will such as the Hemero-baptists,the Naza-
to Men,"which, incidentally, was based reans, the Ebionites, the Elkasites, and
Neil S. Fujita,an associate professorof on an inferiorreadingof the Byzantine the Mandaeans"(page116)is unsupport-
religious studies at Iona College, has Textus Receptus?(see Fitzmyer 1974). able. Elchasaiflourished in the time of
authoredan excellent, concise and well- Also, the absolute use of the Aramaic Trajan (98-117 C.E.),decades after Jesus.
informed exposition of the significance marac (foundin the JobTargumfrom Thus, in spite of scholarslike K. Rudolph,
of the Dead Sea Scrolls and other manu- Qumran)to explain the Jewishuse of the there is no objective evidence that the
script discoveriesfor understandingthe title "Lord" for Jesusoverturnsnot only Mandaeansflourished earlier than the
backgroundof the New Testament.In RudolfBultmann'sthesis that Judaism second century C.E.(see Yamauchi1970).
five chaptershe examines the discoveries never referredto the Messiah as "Lord," Finally,the book contains numerous
of various manuscripts at Qumran, but also Wilhelm Bousset'sfamous Kyrios misprints, especially in the bibliography,
Murabacat,Wadied-Daliyeh,and Masada; Christos, which attempted to provethat which mar the work:page 57, cica for

54 Biblical Archaeologist, March 1989

sica, Anotius for Antonius; page 76, cavation, and in chapters3 through 6 he altar measuring about 26 feet across and
Josephu'for Josephus';page 236, considers the history of the site from the dating to EarlyBronzeII (around2700
Urgemiende for Urgemeinde;page 254, earliest settlement through Canaanite, B.C.E.). Severalbuildings dating to Ca-
Oomah for Qomah; page 258, Strolls Israelite, and Persiantimes. A "visitor's naanite Megiddo (second millennium
from Qumran (!)for Scrolls from guide"and indexes are included at the B.C.E.) were identified as temples. Arti-
Qumran;page 261, Avi-Yonafor Avi- end of the text. A chronological table is facts that were found include religious
Yonah;page 262, Brockfor Broek;page also included. items such as a seated deity and a clay
269, Jerdfor Gert, Gerechitigkeit for The site has been excavatedby model of a liver, the latter used in divi-
Gerechtigkeit;page 271, Vandenhoech Germans (Schumacher,1903-1905), nation. A large quantity of ivory mate-
for Vandenhoeck,Quomran:Lestabliss- Americans (Fisher,1925-1927; Guy, rials also were found, including a game
ment for Qoumran: L'tablissement; 1927-1934; Lamon, 1934-1935; Loud, board.Egyptwas the primarypowerin
page 274, literire for litteraire;page 275, 1935-1939), and Israelis (Yadin,1960, this period, and Tuthmosis III,sixth
Grott for Grotte;page 278, Corpus 1966-1967, 1971-1972; Dunayevsky, pharaohof the Eighteenth Dynasty, cap-
Pantinum (!)for Corpus Paulinum; page 1965;Eitan, 1974).Gottlieb Schumacher tured the city around 1469 B.C.E.Accord-
282, Les Press de L'universiteLavel; counted eight occupation periods num- ing to his records,"Thecaptureof Me-
Editions Peatersfor Les Presses de bered I-VIII,beginning with the earliest, giddo is as the capturingof a thousand
l'Universit6Laval;Editions Peeters;page and he found fortresses,palaces, and a towns."Egyptiancontrol may have been
284, Leiderfor Lieder. temple-fortress.Schumacher'sfindings intermittent, but it continued at least
were published in volume 1 of his ex- until Ramesses VI (around1142-1135
Bibliography cavation reports,but his notes and B.C.E.).A statue base inscribed with his
Fitzmyer,J. drawingswere lost beforework could name was found in a later level.
1974 'PeaceuponEarthamongMenof His begin on volume 2, which was eventually Justwhen the Israelites took over
GoodWill'(Luke2:14).Pp.101-04in published in 1929 by Carl Watzinger, Megiddo is unknown because of the pre-
Essays on the Semitic Background who rejectedthe temple identification. viously mentioned debate over the strata
of the New Testament.Missoula, Excavationsby The Oriental Institute of and because the artifactsthat have been
MT:ScholarsPress. The University of Chicago beganbefore found are not clearly Israelite. Davies
Waltke,B.
1970 Samaritan Pentateuchandthe Text Watzinger'svolume was published, so it suggests that stratum VB (American
of the OldTestament. InNew Per- was useful to the Americans only in numbering)is the reconstruction of the
spectives on the Old Testament, their later seasons. The Chicago team city by David. StrataVA/IVBthen are
edited by J.B. Payne.Waco,TX: Word cleared awaymost of the top layersand Solomonic, whereas IV(A)dates to the
Books. then sank a deep trench to bedrock.They ninth century.The identity of the stables
Williamson,H. G. M. numbered 20 strata,I-XX, from the top is retained.The city continued as a major
1982 1 and 2 Chronicles. The New Cen- down. Their results were published in governmentcenter under the Assyrians
tury Bible Commentary.Grand severalvolumes between 1931 and 1948 but afterwardsfell into decline and was
Rapids,MI:Eerdmans/London: as part of two series, Oriental Institute abandonedafter Alexanderthe Great.
Marshall,Morgan& Scott. Publications and Studies in Ancient Davies has packeda thorough analy-
Yamauchi, E.
1965 AramaicMagicBowls.Journalof the Oriental Civilization. In the currentvol- sis of the evidence into a small space.
American Oriental Society 85: ume Davies drawson excavationdiaries The book presents a good summary for
511-23. and archivalmaterial from Chicago.In a classroom use, and students can go to
1970 Gnostic Ethics and Mandaean later Israeliexcavation,Yigael Yadinof the original reportsfor comparison. The
Origins. Cambridge,MA: Harvard the HebrewUniversity of Jerusalemwas text is presented as written for the gen-
University Press. concerned with clarifying the construc- eral reader,but some readerswill proba-
tion of the Solomonic gate and its related bly get lost in the plethora of details
Edwin Yamauchi wall system. about walls and strata.Archaeologists,
Miami University Majordebates have centered on stra- however,will appreciateDavies' precise
tigraphy.Stratawere mixed in the debris presentation and the logical way in
Megiddo, by Graham I. Davies, xii + or the workersmixed them in excava- which he interpretsthe data.We are in
116pp. Cambridgeand Grand Rapids: tion. The biggest issue, however,is the his debt.
Lutterworth and Eerdmans, 1986; identity of Solomonic remains, if any. Henry O. Thompson
?6.95/$8.95 (paper). The prevailingtheory is that the so- Philadelphia,PA
called Solomonic stables, describedby
Megiddo is GrahamDavies'scontribu- some as warehouses,belong to the time BOOKPUBLISHERS
tion to the series Cities of the Biblical of King Ahab. Please send all review copies to:
World,of which he is also general editor. Excavationof pre-Israelitestrata,
Dr. JamesMoyer
He opens the volume with a description which go back to 5000 B.C.E.,was much
of the geographicalsetting and identity more limited. The site was occupied from Department of Religious Studies
of the site: Tellel-Mutesellim,"themound 5000-2000 B.C.E.,during which time a Southwest Missouri State University
of the governor,"on Mount Carmel, 25 series of shrines and temples and many 901 South National, Box 167
miles inland from the Mediterranean. tombs were built. One of the outstand- Springfield,MO 64804-0095
In chapter2 he reviews the history of ex- ing finds from these stratawas a round

Biblical Archaeologist, March 1989 55


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