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THE MEIRONEXCAVATIONS The AmericanSchools of OrientalRe- which contributeto the authors'analysis of search is pleasedto announcethe publication historyandeverydaylifeintheGalilee.Among of Excavationsat AncientMeiron,by E. M. the mysteries considered is the apparent Meyers,J. F. Strange,and C. L.Meyers.This premeditatedabandonmentof the settlement oftenyearsof ca. A.D.350 and the astonishing"RoomF," workrepresentstheculmination excavationand scholarlyresearchat ancient whichcontainedmagnificentand rareglasstradition. Meiron,a cityrichinliterary Prosper- ware and intentionallyburnedfoodstuffs,all ing as a NorthernPalestinianJewish Center surrounded by four solid walls with no afterthe destructionof Jerusalem,Meiron's apparententry! Excavations at Ancient Meiron is -a archeologicalhistoryexemplifiesthe historical folioissue,beautifully currentsshapingPalestineearlyinthe Chris- prestigious121/4"x 121/4" tianEra.The extensiveexcavationsincluded boundinNaturalRecordBuckramandlavishly with75 drawings,61 plates,and68 the majestic synagogue carved into solid illustrated bedrock, residentialblocks, manufacturingblack-and-white photographs. List price:$42.50. ASORmemberprice: areas, tombs,cisterns,a ritualbath,agriculturalareas,andotherstructuresandfeatures. $26.00.To order,mailcheckormoneyorderto The Excavations yielded over 1,000 ASOR,126 InmanStreet, Cambridge,MA: coins, dozens of lamps, numerous glass 02139. vessels, and many personal objects, all of

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The culturalmilieuof the patriarchsis exploredin several essays. RonVeenker proposesthatthe Storyof the MagicPlant,whichformspartof the GilgameshEpic and the hero's quest for immortality, was originallya separate and independent to created the The lattertheme is also myth, explain longevityof the antediluvians. the focus of John Walton'scareful comparisonof the SumerianKingList and Genesis 5. In addition,VictorH. Matthewsexamines the variedsocio-economic functionsof the patriarchs.

BIBLICAL(

ARCHEOLOGIST Editor David Noel Freedman AssistantEditor David F. Graf EditorialCommittee FrankM. Cross,Jr. Tikva Frymer-Kensky Sharon Herbert CharlesR. Krahmalkov John A. Miles, Jr. WalterE. Rast ProductionManager BruceE. Willoughby EditorialAssistants David M. Howard,Jr. TerrenceM. Kerestes BusinessManager TracyB. Shealy Composition LouiseWashburnePalazzola DistributionManager R. Guy Gattis SubscriptionServices AndrewE. Hill Promotions DeborahMarsicek

lbiHcal Archeologist (ISSN: 0006-0895) is published quarterly (Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall) by the American Schools of Oriental Research. Its purpose is to provide the general reader with an accurate, scholarly, yet easily understandable account of archeological discoveries and their bearing on the biblical heritage. Unsolicited mss. are welcome but should be accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope. Address all editorial correspondence and advertising to Biblical Archeologist, 468 Lorch Hall, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109. Address all business correspondence to ASOR, 126 Inman Street, Cambridge, MA 02139. Copyright * 1981 American Schools of Oriental Research. Annual subscription rate: $16.00. Foreign subscription rate: $18.00 (American currency). Current single issues: $5.00. Second class postage paid at Ann Arbor, MI 48106. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Biblical Archeologist, 416 W. Huron Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48104. Composition by ASOR Publications, Ann Arbor, MI. Printed by Printing Services, The UniversityofMichigan.

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Avraham Biran, Director of the Nelson Glueck School of Biblical Archaeology of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. Formerly the Director of the Department of Antiquities in Israel, he is currently the chairman of the Israel Exploration Society. For the past 15 years he has been directing the excavations at Tel Dan in Galilee. Alfonso Archi is Associate Professor of Hittitology at the University of Rome. In 196972, he participated in several archeological expeditions to Anatolia for the Italian Research Council. Since 1977, he has been the epigrapher for the Archaeological Expedition to Syria conducted by the Istituto di Studi del Vicino Oriente at Rome.

Carole R. Fontaine is Assistant Professor of Old Testament at Andover Newton Theological Seminary and a specialist in the relationship of ancient Near Eastern Wisdom literature to the Bible.

Yigal Shiloh is Senior Lecturer at the Institute of Archaeology, Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He has participated in excavations at Arad, Hazor, Megiddo and Masada. Currently, he is the director of the City of David Archaeological Project and the new excavations at the eastern sector of ancient Jerusalem.

L. Y. Rahmani is Chief Curator of State Antiquities with the Israel Department of Antiquities and Museums in Jerusalem. He has done extensive research in Jewish tombs in the environs of Jerusalem and is presently preparing a comprehensive catalog of the ossuaries discovered in these investigations.

Biblical Archeologistis published with the financial

assistance of Zion Research Foundation, a non-

sectarian foundation for the study of the Bible and the history of the Christian Church.

Cover:A fragmentof a clay reliefbelongingto a rectangularculticstandfrom the 10th centuryB.C.E.displayingthe figureof a nakedman with a pointedbeard,long hairor a feather cap, and four handsholdingeach otherin the centerof his body. From Area G, City of David excavations,Jerusalem.

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AvrahamBiran

Volume 44 Number 3

The Discovery of the Middle Bronze Age Gate at Dan 139

The recent uncovering of a monumental mud-brick gate at ancient Laish is described in detail. Alfonso Archi

CaroleR. Fontaine

Yigal Shiloh

Further Concerning Ebla and the Bible The current epigrapher at Tell Mardikh provides us with the text and some fresh views of some of the controversial Ebla tablets.

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A Modern Look at Ancient Wisdom: The Instruction 155 of Ptahhotep Revisited The "instruction"genre of ancient Egyptian literature is given a modern touch. The City of David Archaeological Project: The Third

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Season, 1980

New information about the Iron Age Israelite settlement on the eastern slopes of Jerusalem. L. Y. Rahmani

MichaelDavid Coogan DEPARTMENTS

Ancient Jerusalem's Funerary Customs and TombsPart One An examination of the psychological, social, and theological aspects of ancient burial practices. Harry Thomas Frank, In Memoriam, 1933-1980 Letter to the Readers Polemics and Irenics Notes and News Book Reviews A Student Map Manual (Baly); Lind, Yahweh is a Warrior(Miller); Wilson, Prophecy and Society in Ancient Israel (Mendenhall); Shanks, Judaism in Stone: The Archaeology ofAncient Synagogues (Kraabel); Hopkins, The Discovery of Dura-Europos (Eadie); Miscellany (Graf).

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Letter to

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Readers As so often in recent years, Ebla and its famous tablets again command our attention. Professor Archi, of the University of Rome, in the continuing exchange with Professor Pettinato, has provided a rejoinder to the statements made by the latter in the Fall 1980 number of BiblicalArcheologist. While the debate has become increasingly technical and abstruse, we feel that, aside from the merits of arguments which we would not try to adjudicate, the value of the primary data which each side is supplying cannot be questioned. Besides, it is a condition of our agreement with both scholars that their remarks would be published exactly as received. We would wish that the exchanges were less heated and more restrained as to personal references, but as long as they provide vital primary data from the tablets we will continue to carry the dialogue. Gradually this picture will fill out, and whoever prevails in the debate, scholarship and the general reader will be the true gainers thereby. In addition, we take considerable pride and pleasure in presenting the first of a series of articles by L. Y. Rahmani on the perennially fascinating and controversial subject of funerary rites and burial practices in the Holy Land, and among the Jews of the Second Temple period in particular. The first article deals with the general topic, while subsequent studies will provide (1) an analysis of the customs of the preexilic period and (2) the era of the Second Temple, and conclude with a discussion of (3) Jewish ossilegium and ossuaries. We plan to publish these in successive numbers of BA. We are also indebted to Carole Fontaine for an entertaining and provocative paraphrase (in poetic style) of one of the oldest pieces of Wisdom literature in the world: the Instruction of Ptahhotep. It is remarkable how the sage's comments and admonitions strike us as being up-to-date, but then the human condition has not changed so radically over the years, and at the same time Ms. Fontaine has worked some magic with her words. Two important reports of ongoing archeological operations in Israel fill out the main section of the journal. Yigal Shiloh, working at the remains of the City of David, has brought many new things to light, including walls and buildings, along with their contents, from the period of the great king who ruled the empire and made

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Jerusalem his capital, and his son and successor whose wealth and wisdom were proverbial. Avraham Biran. who has been digging at Dan for many years, deals with a unique discovery: the great gate of the Middle Bronze Age City (ca. 1900 B.C.E.)in an almost perfect state of preservation, after a period of 4000 years. This will stand as one of the great architectural finds in this region, and serve as a model by which to measure and reconstruct less well-preserved gateways in other ancient cities. Other features include contributions from F. Filas on the Turin Shroud, and N. Schur on the manuscript discoveries at St. Catherine's Monastery in Sinai, both of which have been reported extensively in our pages. Welldeserved tributes to Tom Frank, late Associate Editor of Biblical Archeologist, chosen from among the many communications we have received, are herewith added to the memorial statement by Michael Coogan.

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lrenlcs A Tributeto Dr. HarryThomasFrank HarryThomas Frank had three academicpassions.His first was his teaching at OberlinCollege; "Tom"had a special rapportwithhis students;his brillianceandmasterfuluseof the languagewerecombinedwith his marveloussenseof wit in his lectures,but beyond that, he was approachable.After class, studentswould gather around him to discuss questions.He invitedthemto meetin his office,in theirdorms,orat hishome in smallgroupsfor discussion.He hadthe abilityin his lectures to makethe Biblecomealivewithmeaningandfor its peopleto becomeour friends,sharingour frustrations,hopes,and fears. He was a teacherparexcellencewho inspired,demanded,and receivedmuch from his studentsand who was admiredand respectedby his fellow facultymembers. His second passion was his researchand lecturing;he enjoyedsharinghis knowledgewith others. He was indefatigable in his drive to finish his last book for Reader'sDigest Press. He stayed up night after night in his effort to meet deadlines,yet met his next day'scommitmentswith prideand enthusiasm.In spite of the pressureson his time, he would always take time out for a friend-to visit, or to answer questions.He spoke of his lecturesas a way of sharingwith others,not of teaching,andhedevelopeda devotedfollowingin the community. Tom's most treasuredpassion was the Holy Land. He lovedthis Landandall thearcheologicaltreasuresit holds.Last spring he developed and taught a course on the Historical Geographyof the Holy Landin conjunctionwiththe newmaps he had helped devise and the magnificentslides of Richard Cleave.He eagerlylooked forwardto sharinghis love for the Landwith his friendsthat accompaniedhim on tours in 1978 and 1980.It was a marvelousway to travel,not like any other tour. Weclimbedtellssuchas Mitzpah,Ai, Heshbon,andHesi, waded throughHezekiah'stunnel,searchedfor EarlyBronze Age tools in fields in Jordan,wanderedthroughthistle and overgrowthat Taanachand Caesarea,visited RichardCleave andJim Sauerfor lecturesandpictures,andmetRobertBullat Caesareafor a tour. His studytripswerehis way of sharinghis greatlove for the Land.He was also veryactivein the Tell elHesi excavations.Nothing could match his excitementupon findinga beautifullypreservedRoman coin or EarlyBronze Age pot. His collection of artifacts at Oberlin College is tremendous. Tom Frankcould walk with giantsand yet worryabout commonplacetrivialities;he could encounteroppositionwith forcefulnessand commitment,yet be gentle and caring;he couldbe dynamicwithhisresonatingvoicein a speech,yettease his friends with his marveloussense of humor. He was a wonderfulman, whose passingaffectscountlesspeoplewhose lives have been touchedby knowinghim. Judy Skillicorn

Elyria,OH

A BelatedLetterto HarryThomasFrank In the sad polemicsaboutthe discoveriesof Ebla,that, as you will certainlyunderstand,wereon morethanoneoccasionquite painful for me, I want to tell you clearly that your total objectivityand honestyare perfectlyclearto me;I believethat just this kind of behaviorwill really help in makingpeople understandhow thingsare and whose are the responsibilities for the past speculations. Paolo Matthiae Universityof Rome St. Catherine'sMonastery:Whenwas the recentlydiscovered cache of ancientmanuscriptshidden? Professor James H. Charlesworth reports in his recent article (BA 42 [1979]: 178-79) that "in May 1975 a fire damaged the Church of St. George. The monks then decided to clear the debris beneath this church in the northern wall of the monastery. In the process, on 26 May 1975, they found an old cell which contained the treasures beneath much trash and dirt. Long ago the ceiling above the floor of the cell apparently collapsed, sealing the treasures." It still must be determined when this cache could have been hidden. Prof. Charlesworthassumes this to have happened "out of fear from the conquering Turk." I beg to differ. The Turks were not a danger to the security of the local monks, but rather brought with them a promise of more energetic rule, which might help to keep in check the marauding local bedouin, who were the real threat to the security of the monastery. Within the last 600 years the bedouin actually occupied the monastery by force at least once, and threatened to do so several more times, resulting in its being evacuated by the monks at least five more times. It seems likely that in one of these instances the cache was hidden away and when the monks reoccupied the monastery later they had forgotten all about it. In Christian pilgrims' itineraria the following cases are recorded of the monastery having been evacuated. (1) Capodelista' mentions in 1458 that the Mamluk Sultan occupied the monastery in 1431, held it for two years, and had all its contents ("mobile come immobile'") transferredto Cairo, Jerusalem, Gaza, and Damascus. (2) Felix Fabri2shows the Mamluk Sultan in a much more favorable light: the local bedouin drove out the monks in the very year of Fabri's visit, i.e., 1483, but by the time Fabri's party arrived there, the Sultan had reestablished the monks in their monastery. Apparently no looting had taken place, as Fabri mentions the great riches of the monastery. (3) Mantegazza' reports that in 1516 the monastery was occupied by "much force" by the bedouin, during the interregnum between Mamluk and Ottoman rule, and only on the intervention of the Turks in 1518 was it returned to the Greek monks.

BIBLICALARCHEOLOGIST/SUMMER1981 133

(4) Count L6wenstein4 mentions in 1561 that the monastery had been evacuated several times in recent years by the monks, but that the Arabs had apparently left everything undisturbed. (5) Johann Helffrich5found in 1565the monastery actually deserted by the monks, but not occupied by the bedouin. The monks had retired to Tor, but when they heard about the approach of his party of pilgrims, one of them came out to the monastery and opened it up for them. (6) Jean Palerne6 reports the monastery to have been deserted in 1581. The general insecurity in the Sinai desert had induced the monks to retire to Tor. However, when Jacques de Valimbert7 visited the monastery in 1584 it had been reoccupied. (7) Thevenot8 mentions during a visit in 1657 that the monastery had been evacuated two years previously, the monks retiring to Tor, which had apparently not been pillaged.

Might it not be a good idea to try and locate and perhaps dig up other likely hiding places within the monastery and its compound, without waiting for them to be discovered by another accidental fire? The very fact that some 300 pages of the Codex Sinaiticus are still missing could indicate that they might be awaiting discovery in another hideaway. Perhaps the Greek ecclesiastical authorities would agree to an outside team investigating the monastery and its grounds with modern equipment, as long as there is no doubt as to their keeping final possession of all finds. The effort and outlay involved look very small when compared with the fantastic possibilities. This could prove to be the scientific treasure hunt of the century! NOTES 'Gabriele Capodelista: Itinerario 1458 (A. L. M. Lepschy), Milano

(8) Pococke9 was told during his visit in 1738 that the 1966,p. 231. der hin und widerFahrtzu 2Felix Fabri:EigentlicheBeschreibung monastery had in the past been twice evacuated by the monks who then retiredto Tor, but he does not mention in which years. demheiligenLandegenJerusalem,in Reyse-BuchdesHeiligenLandes, As we have mentioned more than two such instances, it seems I, C61n 1670,p. 309. 3Steffano Mantegazza:Relatione Tripartitadel Viaggiodi Gieruunlikely that there were further ones after Thevenot's visit, salemme, Milano 1616, pp. 139, 140. before 1738. 4Albrecht Graven zu L6wenstein: Pilgerfahrt gen Jerusalem, ReyseIn 1802 the walls of the convent were strengthened by the Buch, I, 369. p. French under Kl6ber, and this might have saved the monks 'Johan Helffrich:Kurtzerund warhafftigerBericht von der Reyss aus from a further bedouin occupation during the lawless period Venedig nach Jerusalem, Reyse-Buch, I, p. 726. after the French had left Egypt and before Muhammad Ali was 6Jean Palerne: PNregrinations. . ., Lyon 1606, pp. 160-216. firmly in the saddle. The area was visited only by very few 7GeorgesGrazier: Le p6lerinage d'un bisontin en Egypte et en Terre Western travelers in the years of the Napoleonic wars, and thus Sainte en 1584, Mimoires de la Societe d'Emulation du Doube, we are particularly poorly informed about what went on then in Besanqon 1930, p. 30. Sinai. 8Monsieur de Th6venot: Relations d'un voyage fait au Levant, Paris (9) Fazakerly'o reports in 1811 unrest among the bedouin, 1665, p. 323. 9Richard Pococke: Beschreibung des Morgenlandes, Erlangen 1754, who complained that the monks were not living up to their traditional duty of supplying them with bread. They threatened I, F. 242. J. Fazakerley: Journey from Cairo to Mount Sinai, in Walpole's the monastery, but perhaps because of its newly strengthened Travels, London 1820, II, p. 373. walls, it was not evacuated by the monks. In the years afterwards we have no reports of further critical breakdowns in the relations between bedouin and Nathan Schur monks, perhaps mostly because of the strong rule of Tel-Aviv, Israel Muhammad Ali and his successors in Sinai. Let us look now again at the evidence in hand. If we do not consider the 1431occupation by the Mamluk Sultan, we have at A Response: The Cache in St. Catherine's Monasteryleast six, or more, instances in which the monastery was Speculations on When and Why the Treasures were evacuated by the monks because of the bedouin threat. Placed in the Northern Wall. Only once-in 1516-is it clearly stated that the bedouin The title of N. Schur's note reveals that he presupposes the had actually occupied the monastery, but the cache could have treasures discovered recently in St. Catherine's Monastery been hidden away during any one of these occurrences. If any were "hidden."He even contends that I assume this happened 18th-centurydocuments should prove to have been included in "out of fear from the conquering Turks,"and claims that the the cache, it could even have been hidden away in the 1811 "Turks were not, in the eyes of the local monks, a danger to their security. .. " scare. The quoted section of my second BA article on the Sinai If the "450 years"mentioned by Prof. Charlesworthshould be taken seriously, then the most likely time would seem to be treasures reads as follows: "At Sinai a reliable source told me the 16th century. The repeated evacuations reported in its the treasures had been concealed for '450 years.''If this figure second half seem particularly suitable, as the cache might not is accurate, then the treasures were hidden probably out of have been taken out of its hiding place, as a further evacuation fear from the conquering Turks ..." (BA 42 [1979]p. 179). disasseemed likely, and thus the treasure might have been finally The protasis (the prefatory conditional-"if"-clause) forgotten. The sudden attack of 1516 might also present a sociates the hypothesis from the writer. The previous suitable background to such a cache being hurriedly hidden sentence intimates that myvsource is a monk at St. Catherine's away by a monk who, perhaps, perished during the "forcible Monastery; a careful reading of my English then denotes that occupation." When the documents are inspected properly and this idea belongs to him. The following paragraph .further their dates ascertained, it should be possible, with the help of the emphasizes my disenchantment with the above hypothesis, above list, to fix the most suitable occasion and date. "If it was hidden from threatening warriors or Bedouin, why' However, the many evacuations mentioned here should was it forgotten?" I raised another possibility: perhaps this raise also another, even more important question. One cache cache was "a collection of discarded" documents and other was found by pure chance; might there not be others hidden treasures. The latter possibilit ' is the one I am still convinced away prior to any of the several evacuations mentioned here? looms as more probable. Codex Sinaiticus was not "hidden";

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what was stored away was only some of its beginning leaves that had become separated from the codex and had lost their utility. Also, in favor of the idea that the cache is a depository of sacred but worn manuscripts and objets d'art is the fact that (as far as I know) every codex and icon recovered is broken. Schur's hypothesis that the Sinai treasures were hidden "because of bedouin threat, " is certainly, at least, possible, and his report of bedouin incursions into the monastery is a contribution to our understanding of the history of this magnificent monastery. It is prudent, however, not to assume that the diaries of pilgrims feature bruta facta (see my note 15 in BA 43 [1980]p. 34). Regarding the final section of Schur's note, let me assure our readers that I am in constant touch with the monastery and its wise archbishop. He and his fellow monks have myfull support; the manuscripts and art objects recovered in 1975 belong to them. With their gracious cooperation we hope to have more good news to announce through BA.

such a principle! (N.B.: Today's Western world also lacks such a concept, and it is definitely in the minority among the world's civilizations, most of which have it.) Larry G. Herr Seventh-Day Adventist Theological Seminary, Far East Manila, The Philippines

Retribution and Personal Honor: A Response I appreciate Larry Herr's interest and his contribution. The question of "personalhonor" is certainly an intriguing one, and it would be interesting to try to find out whether the Mesopotamians or other peoples in the ancient Near East had such a concept. I am, however, not sure that our texts could give us enough evidence to answer the question. The matter is really not relevant to the question of talionic retribution. Although it is certainly true that talionic retribution would restorepersonal honor, it is not the only legal mechanism that could do so. Any punishment of the false accuser or false witness would be J. H. Charlesworth sufficient, and certainly other mechanisms for determining Duke University the appropriate punishment could be used. I think particularly of the principle of "punishingthe offending organ, "i.e., cutting off the hands of thieves or the penis of rapists. It would be Retribution and Personal Honor to punish the accuser and restore the Tikva Frymer-Kensky in "Tit for Tat: The Principle of Equal possible theoretically honor of the accused by cutting out his tongue. WhatI personal Retribution in Near Eastern and Biblical Law" (BA43 [Fall was interested in in my article was not the issue of why the 1980]: 230-34), mentions two forms of talionic (or retributive) accuser or witness was punished-although this is certainly a justice in the ancient Near East. In the first type, talionic valid question-but rather how and when the idea that "tit for punishment for assault (an "eye for an eye"), the reasons she tat" was an appropriate principle for determining punishment gives for such a legal principle seem sufficient: "those guilty of entered the Near Eastern legal tradition. physical assault suffer the same harm which they first inflicted" (p. 230). Her appeal to the symmetry of such laws (p. 230) is Tikva Frymer-Kensky logical. It could also be stated that talion for assault provides Wayne State University compensatory satisfaction to the wronged party. More, however, could have been said regardingthe second form of talion, that dealing with false witness and false accusation, whereby the false accuser receives the punishment which the accused would have received had the accusation been The Shroud of Turin: Roman Coins and Funerary Customs correct. Frymer-Kensky stated that "this provision has two A number of archeologists (who happen to accept both the objectives: it seeks to provide an incentive for identification and authenticity of the Shroud of Turin as well as my announceprosecution ... and, at the same time, tried to minimize the risk ment of dating it by means of coins of Pontius Pilate) have of false accusation in the hope of material gain" (p. 231), since contacted me to ask that I offer a rebuttal to the lengthy letter of the property of the accused would often revert to the accuser if Dr. Rahmani in your recent Fall issue (BA 43 [1980]: 197). That convicted. She also suggests that "the desire of the law is to letter took issue with references in Virginia Bortin's article return the parties to a type of status quo, to maintain symmetry, concerning the Shroud and a possible custom of placing coins and to preserve the balance of forces on the 'scales of justice"' on the eyes of the dead (BA 43 [Spring 1980]: 109-17). This (p. 232). Perhaps it is because I live in Asia that I expected present rejoinder is completely independent of any stance with another reason to be given. In most of Asia, including Arab regard to Virginia Bortin's article. To make the state of the question absolutely clear, no point societies, the principle of personal honor is very important, influencing the forms by which human conversation and rela- of the issue whatsoever concerns the religious veneration of the tionships are governed. To be falsely accused is a crime against Shroud of Turin as the burial cloth of Jesus Christ. The the innocent party which does not stop with official exonera- discussion is limited to the Shroud as a primary archeological tion, for the very existence of the accusation indicates that some artifact that is now indisputably in existence. It also prescinds part of society doubts the integrity of the innocent party's from inquiry as to the identity of the body of the Man of the character. This cannot be righted by simply stating that the Shroud, except insofar as pointing to a Jewish male living in charged party is not guilty. A form of shame lives on. The Palestine under the Roman procurator Pilate. This letter assumes that its readers have an elementary principle of talion for false accusation would, however, reinstate personal honor while yet satisfying the other needs of acquaintance with the Shroud, that this 14 X 3.5 foot cloth society which Frymer-Kensky mentioned. possesses partial qualities of a photographic negative. It also Frymer-Kensky is correct to have couched her final exhibits photographically positive blood stains that reflect conclusion as tentatively as she did. Before saying that such a bleeding before and after death, and recently proven (by principle originated with the West Semites, one should explore conversion of hemes to porphyrins that fluoresce under U-V the legal systems of other civilizations. It may be that, as with light) to have the characteristics of human blood. Pathologists the principle of personal honor, the Sumerian culture, which assert that the body images indicate a postmortem condition far dominated southern Mesopotamia (including the Semitic less than ten hours after death. No one has been able to Dynasty of Akkad), may have been relatively alone in lacking duplicate the images.

BIBLICALARCHEOLOGIST/SUMMER1981 135

Top: View of the face on the linen shroud. Imprinted on the herringbone weave of the cloth are the full front and back images of a crucified man. The horizontal lines on the photograph were caused by the creasing of the cloth. The circle around the right eye of the figure denotes the general location of the enlargement provided in the left panel of the photograph below. Bottom: A comparison of the enlarged area and a typical coin of Pontius Pilate.

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Right Panel: An enlargement of a typical Pontius Pilate coin actually in existence, 15 mm in vertical dimension; a lituus or astrologer's staff is visible in its middle, 12 mm from base to the crook (about 0.5 inch = 12 mm). Notice that to the left of the astrologer's staff, ascending along the rim, are the letters IOU; all other letters of this coin happen to have been eaten away by long centuries of burial. Notice also that from 1:30 to 3:30 o'clock on the coin there is a definite clipped area interrupting its curve. Left Panel: An enlargement of the area on the right eye of the Man of the Shroud, representinga photographic negative of the markings on the Shroud cloth. This enlargement, as is evident, is at the limit of the grain of the film. It is suggested that the photo be held at arm's length in case the high degree of enlargement prevents a viewer unfamiliar with this material from locating the staff and the UCAI at once. Most easily discernible is a clearly outlined, apparent shepherd's-staff figure, slightly left of the center of this panel. From 9:30 to 11:30 o'clock, the curving and angled letters can be easily made out: U (with a fainter right limb), C, A, I. The length of the staff on this photograph when adjusted to the actual dimensions of the Shroud approximates 12 mm, the same as the staff on the coin in the right panel. Harder to discern for one unfamiliar with the "geography"of the photo is a definite line in the border of the weave pattern (best located by paralleling the clipped-rim line of the coin in the right panel); the line starts at a point horizontally to the right of the right limb of the "A";it then ends after diagonalizing at a point that is horizontally on the level of the "I" letter still visible as projecting on the rim of the coin. The scale of this photo is five times actual size. The actual size of the letters is about 1.5 mm high.

To me the fact appears indisputable that imprints of a Pontius Pilate coin exist over the right eye. In the middle 1970s, Drs. Jackson, Jumper, and Mottern published image-analysis photos suggesting 3-D "buttons"protruding over both eyes. In a monograph which I published in 1980, I presented a series of twenty-four coincidences between typical Pilate coins and the imprints on the Shroud, to identify one of these "buttons." The imprints consist of an apparent coin diameter of 15 mm, of an astrologer's or augur's staff called a lituus 12 mm from the base to the top of the crook, and four capital letters, "UCAI," each about 1.5 mm high, that arch around the outside of the staff from 9:30 to 11:30 o'clock. These markings represent the proper angular rotation, location, selection, order, and dimensions of the lituus and four letters of (TIBER)IOUKAICAROC, with the "C" of "UCAI" logically explained as a coin-striker'serrorfor the Greekkappa, since it was pronounced identically in Greek to the Latin letter. Numismatic science unanimously agrees that Pilate coins, as a class, are of wretched technical quality and spelling. This identification is made with requirements more stringent than for legal fingerprints. Simple mathematical probability indicates a chance of fewer than I in 1042for a random occurrence of so many coincidences. Since numismatic

136 BIBLICALARCHEOLOGIST/SUMMER1981

experts state that Pilate alone issued such lituus coins between A.D.29-32, this would seem to date the Shroud according to the archeological principle of dating finds from coins found in situ in the finds. In addition, I am forced to disagree with the assumption of both Dr. Rahmani and of Dr. Rachel Hachlili (in a lengthy letter to me of Summer, 1979), that a monolithic attitude existed among Jews of the Second Temple period. To cite merely one indication, evidence from Qumran points to extensive divergences from supposedly uniform religious and cultural positions. Likewise, the claim that the skulls in the Jewish cemetery at Jericho could contain a coin or coins because of adherence to the pagan mythology of paying for passage over the River Styx (with a coin in the mouth) seems inconceivable for group Jewish acceptance. Concerning the coin-on-eye customs in literary records perhaps as late as medieval times, this does not prevent the existence of such a custom long before our extant records. Finally, the Man of the Shroud was buried in such a hasty, incomplete manner that it would seem legitimate to conclude that customs for formal, time-consuming burial must not be appealed to as the necessary norm in so unusual a case as this.

All of this reasoning can act as the reply to the objection that Second Temple Jews considered Roman coinage so abominable that they could not conceivably make use of it in this manner. "Against the fact there is no argument." Francis L. Filas, S.J. Loyola University of Chicago

A Warm Embrace The Biblical Archeologist walked into my office the other day and I embraced him warmly. What a fascinating issue, impressive in its artistic composition and its editorial content. I took it home, was instructed and impressed. To its editor my deep thanks and warmest regards. William Haber The University of Michigan

The Ebla Debate I read in BA 43 (1980), p. 203-16, the English translation of the article by G. Pettinato, formerly published in Italian in OrAn 19 (1980), pp. 49-72 (a journal directed by Pettinato himself). Of course, its tone of wild and personal invective does not conform at all with the dignity of a scholarly contribution, but it qualifies its author. I am glad that, upon this occasion, the readers of BA will be able to verify directly the basis and the objectivity in the presentation of evidence on the presumed connections of the Bible with Ebla. The author (hatefully) implies that the linguistic and historic evaluations of a member of our Expedition, Prof. A. Archi, were made in order "to please the descendants of the Eblaites"(sc. the Syrians), leading to wonder whether "the article was inspired by the love of scientific truth or by political motives." This is an insinuation that clearly of professional ethics: the surpasses the-impassable-limits only possible response is to quote a source above any suspicion of acquiescence to a hypothetical Arab point of view on this matter, that of Prof. A. F. Rainey, Tel Aviv University: "The Ebla tablets will shed much light on the ancient history of Syria and the Near East in general. Why prostitute them for false Biblical 'parallels'?"(letter by A. F. Rainey to BAR VI, 5 [1980], p. 13). In my capacity as director of the Italian Expedition at Ebla and chairman of the International Committee for the study of Ebla texts, I maintain my firm engagement to bring to light the responsibilities in the misunderstandings,illusions, and speculations that have developed concerning the discoveries of Ebla. On the other hand, in order to protect my dignity as a scholar I will not answer this or any other personal attack that the author of the quoted article frantically launches against me, in the hope that these responsibilities will be concealed. But it is a vain hope when, from the evidence, opinions like the following are now emerging: "It may well be that when all the facts about the Ebla tablets appear, Professor Pettinato may be the one whose face is red"(letter by S. Fohr to BAR VI, 6 [1980] p. 10). In due respect to the readers of BA I must, however, provide some information. In the first place, as regards the scientific aspects of the article, Prof. A. Archi, associate (incaricato) professor of the University of Rome (the translator, Prof. M. J. Dahood, referring to this scholar as a "teacher on annual contract," is perhaps thinking of Vatican, not Italian, university status), and epigraphist of the Expedition at Ebla, has since replied with the article Ancora su Ebla e la Bibbia, published in Studi Eblaiti 2 (1980), pp. 17-40 (a translation of this article appears in this issue of the BA). In the second place,

on the specifically moral aspects, there is a rejoinderon the part of the International Committee for the study of the Ebla texts, signed by all the members of the Committee itself, during the meeting of May 30th, 1980, in Rome. Since BA has decided to publish the English translation of G. Pettinato's article, it is my duty to ask that the same journal publish in full also the text of the rejoinder, which I enclose here. In fact, I believe that the readers of BA have the right to breathe not only poisonous fumes but also the atmosphere of scientific research. Prof. Paolo Matthiae Director of the Italian Expedition at Ebla Rome A Rejoinder to G. Pettinato In the last issue of Oriens Antiquus (19 [1980] 49-72), G. Pettinato has published an article which purports to give a scholarly assessment of certain matters pertaining to the interpretation of the texts of Ebla and their relationship to the Bible. In point of fact, much of the logic invoked in the argumentation is based not on deductions derived from the data, but rather on a kind of characterassassination with which one must strongly take issue. That we do this collectively is occasioned by the fact that we had occasion to work collegially with the individual who is being singled out for attack, Alfonso Archi, and we have, as a result of this association, formed a strong and well-informed opinion on this matter. We consider performance to be the only scholarly qualification, not labels of disciplines or academic titles. We further consider special knowledge of certain cuneiform areas, whether Hittitology or lecanomancy, to be a positive element in anybody's training, especially if the results obtained were held in esteem by the major specialists in the respective areas. Beyond that, the only test is in the skill with which the task at hand is performed: in the case of an epigraphist, whether of Ebla or otherwise, this means the fulfillment of obligations toward the Expedition, the accuracy of the documentation, the sobriety of judgment in interpretative matter. All of this we have found in the highest degree in Alfonso Archi. Through frequent interaction, we have come to appreciate more and more his competence and reliability, by any recognized scholarly standard. Hence we consider the personal attack leveled against him to be singularly unfounded. We also found it all the more astonishing since we were all witnesses, no longer than two years ago, to the unconditional approval given by Pettinato himself to Archi when the latter was assigned several texts of Ebla for publication as well as a large share in the responsibility for maintaining the textual and lexical files of the Expedition. We are aware of the fact that we are only expressing our opinion without documenting it; this is because we are simply replying to the personal aspects of the remarks by Pettinato, ratherthan reviewing the scholarly work by Archi, published and in progress. Because of the seriousness of the accusations contained in the original article by Pettinato, we respectfully request that the above note be published as a rejoinder in your journal. May 30, 1980 The International Committee for the Study of Ebla Texts Giorgio Buccellati Dietz O. Edzard Pelio Fronzaroli Paul Garelli Horst Klengel Jean-Robert Kupper Paolo Matthiae Fauzi Rashid

BIBLICALARCHEOLOGIST/SUMMER1981 137

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After 15 years of excavation, the patience and persistence of an archeologist is rewarded by the striking find of an intact gate of the Canaanite city of Laish (Tel Dan).

In thecourseof the investigationin 1978 of the MB fortificationsat Tel Dan a mudbrickstructurewas reachedin the southwesterncornerof the mound. At thattimeit wassuggestedthatthiscould be the core of the earthenramparts,or a tower, or perhaps a gateway. Subsequent excavations in 1979 and 1980 revealeda gate complex of sun-dried mudbrickperhapsstandingto its original height. This remarkablediscovery, the more so becauseof the completely

preservedarch of the gate, is brought here to the attention of scholars, althoughmany details of the construction requirefurtherinvestigation. In the Middle BronzeAge a large Laishstood on the site called called city Tel Dan today, as we know from the biblical record as well as from the EgyptianExecrationtexts andthe Mari inscriptions.We also know that Abraham, pursuingthe kings who took his nephew Lot prisoner, went as far as

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Dan. Dan-Laish, in the 19th-18th centuries B.C.E., was defended by sloping

earthen ramparts rising from the plain to a height of some 18 m. The gate, discovered by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion's archeological expedition, was part of that defense system. However, it seems that the gate did not remain long in use. Perhaps because the construction was found to be defective, the gate entrance was blocked with earth, and the entire structure was overlaid with earth so that it became part of the core of the rampart. The ramparts, however, continued to defend the city for many centuries until the time of Jeroboam, in the late 10th century B.C.E.It is due to

140

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the layers of earth which covered the mudbrick structure that the gate was preserved. When the mudbrick structure was discovered, it soon became evident that only by removing the earth ramparts could the nature of the structure be understood. Thus, the careful removal of layers of earth revealed in 1979 the northern gate-tower. On the very last day of the season the arch was discovered, but only its northern half was completely cleared. Returning to the site in 1980, we decided to continue working only in the northern half of the gate complex, in order not to endanger the gate and to preservethe evidence for future archeologists. The gate complex consists of two towers, each 5.15 m wide, flanking a recessed, arched gateway, also 5.15 m wide. The entire structure is thus 15.45 m wide. Some 47 courses of mudbrick were uncovered and today the gate

BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST/ SUMMER 1981

stands 7 m high. Remains of white plaster (made of lime and calcite), which originally covered the brick, still adhere to the joins between the courses. Recessed 1.15 m from the outer face of the towers is the basket arch, above which 17 courses of brick have been preserved. The arch is constructed of 3 radial courses of mudbrick measuring 1.25 m at its spring, 0.95 m at the top, and spanning 2.40 m. The entrance is 3. 10m high but was 3.60 m originally. The gate was reached from the east by stone steps which were uncovered when we removed the rampart. Twenty steps were cleared along an 11-m stretch running east. Each step is about 0.40 m wide and 0. 10-0.17 m high. The stones show signs of wear. This entryway must originally have been at least 5 m wide, the same width as that between the towers, but only 3 m of its width were excavated, the other 2 m remaining under the unexcavated rampart. At the bottom of the

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steps, a slopingstonepavementextending a further 2 m was found, which appearsto continue downwardto the plainin a roughlynortherlydirection.If so, it is under the existing earthen ramparts.Farthereast a pit and a level surface covered with white plaster, probably an agriculturalinstallation datingto the beginningof the IronAge, were uncovered. A probe carried out near the thresholdof the gaterevealedan earlier one and steps leading to it. Another probe, 5.50 m east of the threshold, revealedthe continuationof the earlier steps about 0.50 m below the present stone construction.Thus, at least two stagescan be discernedin the construction and use of the gate entrance. The gate complex was located between the sloping rampartswhich defendedthe city. To preventthe earth and stones of the rampartfrom sliding into the approachto the gate, special revetmentswerebuilton both sides.On the north,to therightof theentrance,14 narrowbatteredrows of stone built on top of mudbrickwereuncovered.These steppedrows are laterthan yet another stone construction which was built againstthe tower, and must have been designedbothas a supportfor thetower and as a revetment.Earlierrevetments, whichno doubtexist, havenot yet been uncovered. The excavation of the entrance posed logistic problems.To ensurethe preservationof the structure,the excavation was carried out by means of tunnelinginto the northernhalf of the soil which filled the entrance.A 3-mlong tunnel, 1.80m high and 1 m wide,

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was excavatedsome 0.70 m from the rightdoor post. Thestepsleadingup to the gate werefound to continueinside the gate. Three steps were uncovered, the third being 0.40 m higherthan the threshold. At this point we changed course and continuedtunnelingnorthwardfor a distanceof 1.30m. Theinner facing of the mudbrickwall of the first pier of the gate was revealed, still showingtracesof white plaster. The excavationof the tower from the surfacedown was begun last year and a square was opened along the north wall of the tower. A probe I X 1.75m was excavatedto a depthof ca. 3 m. Thisseasonwecontinuedto go down in this shaft to an additionaldepth of 4 m and uncoveredthe north and east walls of a chamber.Remainsof white plasterwerestill visibleon the walls.At the bottomof theshafta whiteplastered floor 0.10-0.15 m thick was reached, laid on top of a largestoneconstruction. However,some 1.70m of soil havestill to be cleared in order to connect the excavationof thepassagewiththeshaft. A bowl and fragmentsof a storagejar were found on the floor. These belong to the transitionalperiod betweenMB IIA-MB IIB and provideevidencefor the date of the gate before it was blocked. We know the width of the gate

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(15.45 m), but its depth has not been

determined.Of the north tower 13 m could be traced,but the modernroad preventedfurtherwork. Consequently, a probewas openedbeyondthe roadat the placewherewe expectedto findthe exit fromthe gateintothecity.IronAge remainswerefoundbeneaththe surface of the mound. Below that, rampart materialwasfound.At a depthof 3m, a stepped stone construction was uncovered. This discovery was puzzling because the constructionblocked the presumedentranceinto the city. However, after removing the lower rows of stones, steps were discovered going down westward. We assume that these steps are a continuation of the steps we had discovered earlier leading to the entrance of the gate from the east. If our assumption is correct, these are the steps that lead into the MB city. Whether the purpose of the abovementioned construction was similar to the one on the east of the entrance could not be determined. It may well be later, built after the gate was blocked, and

forming part of the later stages of the

rampartfortifications. The rampartsare the major elementin the defensesystemof Canaanite Laish. The gate is of necessitypart of that defense. How was the gate integrated into the rampart system? In order to investigatethis problem,two parallel trenches, 6.50 m apart, were opened from the tower northward. Here, as in the gate complex, we

142 BIBLICALARCHEOLOGIST/SUMMER1981

discovereda complexand sophisticated system of construction.

In the centerof the rampartis the core, builtof blocksof earth,stone,and brickset one next to the other.(Inother parts of the moundthe compositionis different.)In the east trench the first block,consistingof mudbricklaidhorizontally, extends about 2.80 m north from the north face of the tower. The originalthicknessof the core could not

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be determined,but it is morethanthe 11 m uncovered.The mudbrickblock was erectedon a stonefoundation.Thenext block consists of naturalsoil brought fromthe wadi.No regularpatternin the sequenceof the blockscould be traced,

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loop handlefrom the end of the Early Bronze Age was found on one of the walls. These walls were probablybuilt for structural reasons in order to stabilizethe slopes of the ramparts.It appearsthatthe gateandrampartswere built as one integralunit. The heightof the originalgate is a matter of conjecture,though it may well be that the existing structure approximatesthe original height. In any case, the gate must have been an impressivesight, rising high above the surroundingplain. Whetherthe gatepassagewas roofedin its entiretycould not be determined. The mudbricks, uncovered when the topsoil was removed, were laid both horizontally and vertically. The horizontally laid bricks were found in the northern, eastern,and southernwallsof thetower as well as above the arch. All other uncoveredbricks were laid vertically. The reason for this differenceis not clear, nor do we have any information about the nature of the changes that may havebeenmadewhenthe gatewas blocked.Ourconclusionsmustperforce be tentative,sinceat no placewasvirgin soil reached.Moreover,the naturalsoil usedto buildthe rampartin its firstand second stages came from the same source--the surroundingwadis. The ceramic evidence presents a further difficulty:very little potterywasfound, and what was found was homogeneous in character. Most of the excavated sherds belong to the Early Bronze Age, and only a few, 10-15%at most, belongto the transitionalperiodbetweenMBIIA and MB IIB. These sherdswere found incorporated(1)inthe mudbricksthem-

selves; (2) on the steps leading to the gate and under them; and (3) in the core and in the rampart material of the first and second stages when the gate was in use, and after the gate was covered with earth. A somewhat later date can perhaps be suggested for the pottery of the second stage, but we remain in the as in the westerntrench,wherea block same ceramic horizon. This homoof mudbrick 1.70 X 1.30 m came to geneity of the ceramic evidence and the light. fact that we find the blocked gate as part Two walls,3 m apartand2 m wide, of the core of the ramparts leads us to runningin an east-westdirection,abut the conclusion that the gate was in use on the core from the east. A sealwitha only for a short time. However, the

BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST/ SUMMER 1981

143

excavationsshowedthatthereweretwo or morestagesin theconstructionof the stepsand of the revetments.Webelieve, therefore, that the use of the gate structureas an entranceto the city may have lasted one to threegenerationsin the late 19thcenturyandduringpartof the 18th century B.C.E.If this is correct,

the historyof the gateand the ramparts can be summarizedas follows. In the late 19th or early 18th an earthenrampartwas centuriesB.C.E., builtencirclingthe city of Laish,witha gateat its southeasterncorner.Whether the rampartand gate werebuilton the alignmentof an earliercity wall or on otherremainscouldnot be determined. Of Laish in the Early BronzeAge, we know only that it wasestablishedin the and middleof the 3rdmillenniumB.C.E., the abundant EB pottery which was excavatedsuggestsa largeand richcity. When the inhabitantsof the MB city came to build theirrampartsand gate, they sought to locate them at some heightabove the plain.Earlyin the 2nd millenniumB.C.E.the plain aroundthe site was considerablylower, and the buildershad to bringsoil from outside to raisetheirfortificationsto thedesired height above the surrounding area. When the top of the slope reacheda

heightof 10 m, constructionof the gate and the core began. As the core rose, additionallayersof earthwerebrought, and revetmentswere built to keep the entrance free from falling stones and earth. Sometimelater, new steps were laid and more revetmentswere built. After another relatively short time, perhaps because it was considereda weak link in the defensesof the city, the gate-passagewas blocked with earth, and the entire gate structure was coveredwiththe samematerial.Thetop of the rampartwas apparentlyflat, and we tentativelyestimateits widthto have been 18m. No evidencewas foundfor a wall on top of the rampart.A new entrance to the city had to be built, perhaps on the southern side of the mound,wherewe foundevidencefor a MB gate in Area B. The discovery of the gate and especiallyof the potteryof the MB IIAMB IIB periodsin situ on the floor of the gate chambercalls for reconsideration of our earlier conclusions. Our previous suggestionthat the ramparts were built in the MB IIB period,in the second half of the 18thcenturyB.C.E., was basedon the fact that the builders used the debris of earlier occupation levels for the constructionof the ram-

parts.The excavatedpotterywas Early Bronzeand MB IIA. Moreover,in Area A, in the southernpart of the mound, the rampartwas clearlybuilton top of definite MB IIA strata of occupation. Hence,the conclusionthat the rampart was builtlater.Now, however,we have discovereda gate with potteryon the floor which is earlier than MB IIB. Consequently,the gate musthave been built and used before the MB IIB period. The historical implications bear upon the date of Zimrilimof Mari,but perhapsthe solution should be sought in a reevaluationof the datesandterminology of whatis calledthe "transitional MB IIA-MB IIB period."Since this "transition"may be of relativelylong duration,and since it appearsto havea characterof its own,perhapsa newterm should be coined. In any case, if we follow, as most scholarsdo, the Middle Chronology,we will assumethatZimrilim sent tin to Laisharoundthe second quarter of the 18th century B.C.E. Zimrilim'semissarieswould then have entered Laish by way of our gate. Whether Abraham also did so is another story.

Bibliography Albright,W. F. TheJordanValleyin theBronzeAge. 1926 Annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research 6: 16-18.

Biran,A. 1966

Tel Dan. Israel Exploration Journal

1969a

Tel Dan. Israel Exploration Journal

16(1966): 144-45. 19 (1969):239-41. 1969b Tel Dan. Revuebiblique76: 402-4. 1970a Tel Dan. Revuebiblique77: 383-85. 1970b A MyceneanCharioteerVase from

Giveon,R. Negbi, O. 1961 Two New Hebrew Seals and their 1964 A CanaaniteBronzeFigurinefrom IconographicBackground.Palestine Tel Dan. Israel Exploration Journal ExplorationQuarterly93: 40-42. 14:270-71. Malamat,A. Negev, A. 1970a Northern Canaan and the Mari 1966 Soundingsat Tel Dan. Ariel 16:71Texts. Pp. 164-77in Near Eastern 75. Archaeology in the Twentieth Cen- Robinson,E. tury, ed. J. A. Sanders. Garden City, NJ: Doubleday.

1970b The Danite Migrationand the PanIsraelite Exodus-Conquest.Biblica 51: 1-16. 1971 Syro-Palestine Destinations in a

Tel Dan. Israel Exploration Journal

20: 92-94. 1970c

Tel Dan. Israel Exploration Journal

20: 118-19. 1974

1980

Tel Dan. Biblical Archaeologist 37: 26-51, 106-7.

Tel Dan-Five YearsLater.Biblical

Mazar,B. 1960 The Cities of the Territoryof Dan.

Archeologist 43: 168-82.

144

Mari Tin Inventory. Israel Exploration Journal 21 (1971): 31-38.

BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST/ SUMMER 1981

Israel Exploration Journal 10:65-77.

1841

Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea,

Vol. III. London:Murray.

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A response to Professor G. Pettinato's "Ebla and the Bible" (BA 43 [1980] 203-16; first published in Italian as "Ebla e la Bibbia, " in Oriens Antiquus 19 [1980] 49-72), this article continues the debate over the reading, translation, and interpretation of the Ebla texts, providing a great deal of new material for study (it first appeared in Italian as "Ancora su Ebla e la Bibbia," in Studi Eblaiti 2 [1980]17-40).

the

BIBLE By Alfonso Archi

In a study published in Biblica 60 (1979): 556-66, I discussed and rectified some surprising affirmations given currency by Giovanni Pettinato relating to presumptive connections between Eblaite culture and Old Testament traditions. Now Pettinato is devoting numerous pages in Oriens Antiquus (XIX [1980]: 49-72) to my article. I have not the least intention to give consideration here to the insulting remarks Pettinato has deemed proper to make about me. Such uncontrolled rage is not allowable even in the most heated scientific controversies. Since Pettinato has recourse to these insults instead of the data that he might have offered in support of his arguments, they can only reflect upon him revealingly. I desire here solely to bring light to problems of scientific nature. 1. The Particle -ya (a) Within a given text, variants of the type en-na-il / m a ? k i m / za-ba-ram and / ma , en-na-iil(NI) k i m / za-ba-rzim (TM.75.G.2450 r. III 14-16 and v. VI 2-4) pertaining to names of persons are to be observed. Consequently, I concluded (p. 558): "It is evident that we have here the same persons, though these names end now in IL, now in NI (= ya) since in the same text they are qualified in the same way, that is: ... 'EnnaII/ya, inspector: Z.' We indeed have the interchange of -ya for the god Il/El."

BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST/ SUMMER 1981

145

the spellings: DINGIR-su-ra-bi / i-li-su-ra-bi (see the relative attestations in I. J. Gelb, MAD 3: 36; J. J. M. Roberts, The Earliest Semitic Pantheon, Baltimore [1972]: 131ff.). TM.75.G.1527 r. V 3-VIII 9: m u-t i m ib-ri-um ... (e) On p. 55, Pettinato writes: "As regards the general interpretation of theophorous names in -il or in is'l-da-mu wa il-a-i-sar 2 d i-k u 5 ... ha-ra-ia(NI) ... AN.AN-ha-ia(NI) . . . is -ga-ba-ir . . . m u-t i m -ya, I am now convinced that both elements are generic terms for 'God'. .. ." 1 u ga 1-1 u ga 1. TM.75.G.1556 r. V 2-VIII 11: m u-t iu m ib-ri-um ... Unfortunately, no linguistic item of evidence nor is i-da-mu wa il-a-i-sar 2 d i-k u s . . ha-ra-il ... any other argumentation is produced, however, in AN.AN-ya-il... iii-ga-ba-ir... m u-t i m 1 u ga l1- support of this declaration that attributes to the Eblaites theological conceptions that cannot fail to arouse the lugal. liveliest interest. It is clear that ha-ra-hii(N) and AN.AN-ba-ida(NI) So, as I had asserted, not only can one not speak of a in and one has with AN.AN-ha-il; religious reform that would have substituted Jaw for El, correspond ba-ra-il but also in the epigraphic documentation of Ebla there is fact in both texts the same list of "governors," 1 u g a 1no element favoring the presence of Jaw, whose name is lu ga 1. and "El was a active As for an archaic form of Jahwe. considered real, affirmation, (b) my worshiped god at Ebla" (p. 559), Pettinato (p. 53) writes: "I learn indeed that here at Ebla El was a living god and 2. The ceremony of anointing the sovereign not a deus otiosus, but at the same time I'd like for proofs In RivBiblt 25 (1977): 235, Pettinato had stated: "As to be furnished me for such an assertion inasmuch as I, in regardsthe latter's(i.e., the king of Ebla's) succession, it is four years' study of the Ebla texts, have not succeeded in impossible at the present moment to speak of a dynastic finding a single one." succession; instead, the other hypothesis maintained by But Pettinato gives himself the lie, since in studying an important element of frequent recurrence in the texts the pantheon of Ebla, he expressed himself in the same gains significance; that is the ceremony of anointing the journal, OA XVIII (1978): 102, in these words: "AN: I king, which act can but call to mind the anointing of kings consider the hypothesis that we have before us the god An in the Old Testament." of Mesopotamian tradition to be unacceptable; I would Respecting this theory, I have pointed out (pp. rather tend to read i 1, hence the god II or El. The latter 560ff.) that (a) "the dynastic principle and the ceremony received offerings in the months VI and XI .. ."(cf. H.-P. of anointing do not exclude each other";(b) in the texts of Ebla, no such ceremony is, to my knowledge, attested; Milller: ZA 70 [1980]). (c) In my article (p. 559), I maintained that even moreover, this rite is not characteristic of ancient Israel; during the reign of Ibbi-Sipi? "Names in -il remain well (c) for the term i-gis-sag one must refer back to the attested, if not the majority." Pettinato (p. 53ff.) shows equivalence with ris'tum, "first-quality oil," of the how TM.75.G. 1643, to which I referred, is to be dated, in Akkadian vocabulary lists. Now Pettinato, on p. 56, cites the passage effect, by Ibrium, but then does not trouble at all to TM.75.G.1321 v. III 12-IV 6: 1 'az-da-um-tui g-I 1 dispute my argument. 1 i bIII-t li g-s a 6-g~ n Yet, in reality, Pettinato himself has already a k t u m-t ig / supported it. I quote from his Catalog of cuneiform texts du-bi-ab / d u m u-n i t a / zi-ba-da / n i g-d 6 / of Tell Mardikh-Ebla, Naples (1979): 48ff., under i-g i' / si-in // (IV 1) s a g / da-kie'-ma-lik / TM.75.G.1318, dated as of "the reign of Ibbi-Sipis" (ti- dum u-m i / ib-ri-um / in u 4 / ni g-m u-s a. ra-il, ni-ba-il, en-zu-il, Pettinato's transcription); p. 55, For this Pettinato gives the following translation: "1 under TM.75.G.1360, "reign of Ibbi-Sipis" (r. XI 17: en- cloth-E for one, I cloth-A, 1 very fine gown of many na-ni-il); ibid., under TM.75.G.1363, "reign of Ibbi- colors for Tubi-Ab, son of Z., (as) payment for oil on the Sipig" (r. II 2: en-na-il, VI 13: su-ma-il, VII 7: ha-ra-il, head of Takeg-Malik, daughter of Ebrium on the wedIX 9: i-ri-ik-il).1 ding day." From this he concludes: "It is legitimate to (d) The ,ersonalname AN.NI-ra-mu that Pettinato infer from this passage that i--g i s a g-e n signifies (p. 55) reads ii-ra-mu "Ja is Most High" and that would nothing other than oil for the sovereign's head, the constitute the "best proof" of the existence at Ebla of a anointing of the sovereign." But, not one text bears out divinity Ja(w) is really to be read as d i n g i r-li-ra-mu, his assertion. So, once again Pettinato presents no docuthat is, [C'il-T-],"my god is most high" (the variant mentation relative to the anointing of the sovereign in the d i n g i r-ir-ra-mu to be kept in mind). Let one refer to course of the enthronement ceremony. The passage quoted above is indeed not an isolated what I have written in SEb I/3-4 (1979): 45-48, where I mention likewise i-li-ra-am and ilu(AN)-ra-mu/ilrm are one. See TM.75.G.1935 r. VIII 1-10: 1 'a-da-um-t i g-II a 6-g i n-t i g / attested respectively at Mari and at Ugarit. The personal 1 aktum-t 6ig 1 ib-III-name, cited by Pettinato as dii-ra-bi, from a text of LagaS du-lu / kab-lus-ul' / ni g-d & / i-g i ~ / si-in / u--s ; and of the III Dynasty of Ur (MVN 6: 339), should be read sag / ti-i-ib-da-mu / in u4 / nig-m DINGIR-li-ra-bi and clearly corresponds to i-li-ra-bi, also TM.75.G.1250 r. I 3-13: (woven materials) / ul-tum/ en / na--g rk / "my god is great." Keep in mind as well the alternation of hu-hu / dumu--nita But, Pettinato is of a contrary opinion: "This is not at all sufficient to establish an acceptable identity." Compare, however, another couple of extracts:

146

BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST/ SUMMER 1981

ni g-a-d / i-g is / al / sag / dag-ri-i0-damu / d u m u-m i / [, where the preposition al replacessi-in. Accordingly, on the day the weddinggifts were handed over (terzatu = n i g-m i--i' s-s a; at Ebla: n i g-m u-s a), the bride's head was anointed. This connection between the terhatu and the anointing of the bride harks back precisely to a passage from a letter of Tugratta to the Pharaoh, EA 29, 1. 22ff.: "When your (i.e., the Pharaoh's) messenger arrived and brought the oil for her head as he brought the terbatu for her...." It is well known that in some societies of the ancient Near East anointing was performed not only for the wedding ceremony but even-for example at Ugarit-on the occasion of the manumission of a slave (PR U III: 11Off.), or elsewhere up2onthe execution of an agreement for sale and purchase. But, the term i-g i 9-s a g at Ebla recurs in other contexts. In short, adequate documentation must be offered for consideration so as to render its meaning as exact as possible. Such and such a combination of Sumerian words then is confirmed in the ecomonic documents that prevalently record delivery of textiles, but of metal objects too. In general only one article of apparel or a single object (or pair of objects) is given for each type. And, sometimes i-g i 9-s a g is inserted directly after the list of such woven goods and before the name of the consignee. 1. Textiles (and other manufactured articles), i-g s a g: at PN qualified by indication of kinship.

i 9-

1.1. a-mu "paternal uncle (?)"3 (see 1.6.1) 1.2. a m a-g a 1 "mother"4 1.2.1. TM.75.G.1729 r. IX 1-7: 1 BE+AS-t U'g 2 bu-di x(=20) bar6: k / i-gig -sag / dam / en-na-idi / 1 [BE+AS-t i' g 2 bu-d]i [x(= 20) bar6: k] i / [i-] gi 9-s ag / am a-g al-sti. 1.2.2. TM.75.G.1775 r. III 8-13: 1 BE+AS-t Uig / / ama--gal / tai-ma-zi-pi? / i--gig--sag

dam

1.5.2. TM.75.G.1457 r. V 8-11: 2 aktumt i g / i-g i g-s ag / dum u-n ita / i-ri-ikma-lik. 1.5.3. TM.75.G.1681 r. VI 1-6: 1 i b-III-t i gSa 6-g A n / i-g i --s a g / zi-mi-na-da-mu / dum u-n ita / e9 / ib-ri-um. 1.5.4. TM.75.G.1729 r. VII 9-VIII 4: 2 '-da-um' t ig-II 2 a-da-um-tiug-I 4 aktum--t 4 ig i b-t i g-9 a 6-g A n / i-g i 9-s ag // (VIII 1) dum u-n ita dum u-n ita / i-gd-sum / e S / ma-lik-tum. 1.5.5. TM.75.G.1783 r. VIII 3-10: 2 'a-da-umt i g-II 2 ak tu m-t i g 2 i b-III-t i g-9 a6g n / i--g i -s ag / ar-si-a-ba / wa / i-ti-NE / dum u-n it a-s~i liz kar / ma-nu-wa-atk. 1.5.6. TM.75.G.1900 r. VI 4-8: [1] 'i-da-um-t i gA g-? a6-g i n / i-g i 9-s ag / II 1 i b-III-t bta-ba / dum u-n ita / e n. 1.5.7. TM.75.G.530 v. V 16-19: 1 'i-da-um-t i gII 1 a k t u m-t Uig I i b-II-t Uig-9 a 6-g i1 n / i-g i g-s a g / su-ra-da-mu / d u m u-n i t a e n. 1.6. ? e g "brother" 1.6.1. TM.75.G.1298 r. IX 16-X 7: 1 m i-t Uig 1 % n // (X 1) i-g i g-s ag / ENi b-III-t ig-g da-za / e -si / I1 gu--mug--t6ig-I / ig i ?-s a g / ar-si-a-ta / a-mu-su. 1.6.2. TM.75.G.1360 r. XI 14-20: 3 a k t u mt i g 3 i b-III-t i g-- a 6-g f n / i-g i gs a g / zi-mi-na-da-mu / en-na-ni-il / en-zi-ma-lik / e l / ib-ri-um. 1.6.3. TM.75.G.1729 v. III3-10: 1 a'-da-um-t i g II ak tu m-t ig 1 i b-III-t U g-? a 6-g n / 1 i-g i-?-s ag / '-lik / ?e / ma-za-a-du / in / 'u ba 4-t i. za-ank' /

/ en.

1.2.3. TM.75.G.1830 v. IV 12-V 3: 1 BE+AS-t (x g 10 b ar 6: k i` 2 bu-di 2 s a g--sui k 6--g i / igi s-s ag // (V 1) a-zif(-x)] / am a-g al / i-bizi-pis 1.3. d a m "wife"5 1.3.1. TM.75.G.1362 v. I 7-11: 1 BE+AS-t ix g 15 bar6: k i 2 bu-di / i-gi --sag / NAM-NEna?-du d a m / il-ba-ma-lik (see 1.2.1.). 1.4. d u m u-m i "daughter" 1.4.1. TM.75.G.1588 v. I 6-10: 1 BE+AS-t " g x(=20) bar6: k i 2 bu-di / i--g i -s ag / RI-duud / dumu-m i / ib-ri-um. 1.5. d u m u-n ita

"son"

1.5.1. TM.75.G.1298 v. III 1-7: 2 ak tu m-t ti g 2 i b-III--t i g / i--gi --s ag / i r-dma-lik/ wa/ NE-da / 2 dumu-n ita / su-i-lum.

2. Textiles (and other manufactured articles), i-g i ?s a g: at PN qualified by names indicating functions or dependence. 2.1. d i-k u s "judge" 2.1.1. TM.75.G.1726 v. III 9-12: 1 BE+A -tts g 1 i [b-III--g i n-t 6i g] / i--g i --s ag / ib-dur-isar / di--k u 5. 2.2. en "king" 2.2.1. TM.75.G.1323 r. VI 13-VII 5: 1 gu-zi-tum1 ib-III--t 6 a 6t6g 1 aktum-ttig igg i n // (VII l) i-g i -s a g / en / ir-i-tumki/ asum / gu mu-d i b. 2.2.2. TM.75.G.1414 r. X 8-14: 1 gu-zi-tum-t i g 1l a 6-g n-t 6 g / 1 aktum-t ig 1 ib-III-/ en / / i-gi --sag ib--1 bar6--ki--gi ma-nu-wa-atki / iS-mi-ga-lu S u m u-d ii b. BIBLICAL SUMMER1981 147 ARCHEOLOGIST/

2.2.3. TM.75.G.1705 v. XII 13-21: 2 i b-1- a k ii / i-g i 9-s ag // 2 e n (scil. twice for the king?) / g u m u-d U b / in ma-nu-wa-atki / ba-ga-ma / u4 / ug6 / ma-lik-tum. 2.2.4. TM.75.G.1728 r. VII 3-8: 1 'ci-da-um-t6 g 1 U g-] a 6-g n / ak tu m-t i g I i b-III-[t en i du-bi / / za-bur-rim / Su i-g g-s ag m u-d 6 b. U'g--II 2.2.5. TM.75.G.1894 v. IV 5-11: '&i-da-um-t 1 6 g-9 a6 / g 1 i b-III-t 1 ak tu m-t g-m u ni g--l -s ag / i-g i gad a-t / en / ir-i-tumki / iSll-g i-x-KA / [ u sag m u-] d 6 b. 2.2.6. TM.75.G.1949 r. III 1-4: 1 g i r-k u n 1 2.3. 1 i "the one (masc.) of, belonging to; dependent" 2.3.1. TM.75.G.1675 r. VI 4-7: 1 '-da-um-t Uig-II I i b-II-t u g-9 a 6-g n / i--g i -s a g / rii-ma-lik / I i en-na-BE. 2.4. n a g a r "carpenter" 2.4.1. TM.75.G.1382 r. II 8-11: 1 a k t u m-t 6i g 1 ib-II-tuig--g / in-ma/ i-gig--sag fn lik / nagar. 2.4.2. TM.75.G.1886 r. X 5-9: 1 a k t u m-t fi g / 1 ib-IV--gfin--tig / i--gig--sag / in-malik / naga r. 2.5.

e

: p a 4 "anointed priest"

2.5.1. TM.75.G.1360 r. IX 11-15: 1 ak tu m6 g-- a 6-gl n / i-g i -tig 1 i b-III-t sag / i-ti-di-lam / geg:pa4 / en. 2.5.2. TM.75.G.1588 v. III 2-6: 'a-da-um-t ii g--I ` n / i-g i -s a g / nai b-III-t 1 i g-9 a 6-g

an-hia-lu/ Se pa4 / e n. ':

2.5.3. TM.75.G.1757 r. II 15-III 3: 1 a k t u mt 6g 1 ib--gin--tU'g / i-gig--sag / i-barKA//(111) / zi-da-rai ge': pa4 / BARAio :i ' 2.6. u-i "barber" 2.6.1. TM.75.G.1335 r. III 12-15: 1 g u--DLt ti g / i-g i -s a g / su-na-im / s u-i. 2.6.2. TM.76.G.530 v. VI 14-17: 1 a k t u m-t iAg i b-III-t 1 i g-- a 6-g ii n / i-g i --s a g / suna-im / S u-i. 2.7. u g u la NG "superintendent of 2.7.1. TM.75.G.1748 r. IV 9-12: 1 t i g-II 1 ak tu m-t i g 1 i b-III-t / ib-dur-i-sar gi n / i--gi --sag is-da-mu-gkiu .

NG" '"-da-um-a 6/ ugula

" g-S

2.8. u g u 1 a b i r-BARxAN "superintendentof mule teams, pairs of mules" 2.8.1. TM.75.G.1525 r. VII 8-15: 1 ak tu mn / i--g i g-sag t g-[g] t i g [1 ib-III-] / 148

BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST/ SUMMER 1981

/ en / in / ib-ga-ii / u g ula bi r-BARxAN 'u / ba4--ti. NE-a-tki 2.8.2 TM.75.G.1828 v. VIII 3-9: 1 '"-da-I 1 a k t u m-t U g 1 i b-t Uig-- a 6-g i n/ igi g-s a / en-na-ii / u g ula bi r-BARxAN/ gk / u ba 4-t i. in / ma-duki 2.9. u g u 1 a e n g a r "superintendent of farmers" 2.9.1. TM.75.G.1389 r. VIII 13-18: 1 ;i-da-umt 6i g-II 1 a k t u m-t ii g 1 i b-III--t 6 g-9 a 6g in / i-g i --s ag / ir-NE / u g ula engar / u m u-d ii b. il-ba-malik / , 2.9.2. TM.75.G.1525 r. III 9-12: 1 'a-da-um-tUigII 1 i b-II-t g--s a 6-g f n / i-g i -s ag / ir-NE / ugula engar.

3. Textiles (and other manufactured articles), i-g s a g: deliveries to several persons.

i s-

3.1. TM.75.G.1274 r. V 3-7: 2 'b-da-um-t i' gII 2 i b-IV-t ag / ug-9 a 6-g i n / i-g i ,-s il-mi / a-ti / 1 i a-da-si-in. 3.2. TM.75.G.1731 r. I 1-5: 3 'bi-da-um-t u g 3 a k t u m-t i' g 3 i b-III-t i' g-9 a 6-g i n / 1i s-s a -us-ti g / il-g / zi-pil-URU6 / 'c-mi-su. v. IV g 3-8: 4 ?'-da-um--t (i g 4 i b-III-s a 6a g / a-mu-ri / ri-da-kam / du-big ui n / i-g i ,--s sum / du-bi-zi-pi'. 3.3. TM.75.G.1886 r. IX 3-11: 2 'i-da-um-t (i ga 6-g f n-t i g/ II 2 ak tu m-t i g 2 i b-III-i-g i g-s ag / du-bi / wa / i-g i -s ag / ha-rai&/ en-na-ii / 1 6iir-kab-ar / 9 u--m u-d i' b7.(See 1.5.1.; 1.5.4; 1.5.5.; 1.6.2.). Accordingly: (a) i-g i ?-s a g is not ascribed to a category of persons or to a function (1.; 2.). (b) i-g i 9-s a g is ascribed to several persons on one occasion (3.). a g is ascribed to one and the same (c) i-g i different occasions (2.4.; 2.6.; 2.9.). person on ,-s (d) i-g i S-s a g is ascribed to a person from a definite locality who is, however, temporarily in another center; TM.75.G1765 r. X 5-11: l ak tu m-t 6ig 1 6g-- a 6--g 1 n / i--g i --sag i b-III-t / naan-da-mu / i-ra-arki / in / a-rul2-ga-duk / u b a 4-t i. Consequently, contrary to what Pettinato has a g / e n (2.2) affirmed, the combination i-g i ,-s ceremony ofa cannot be ascribed to an enthronement king in which anointment would play a part comparable to that rite attested in Israel. By reason then of what is pointed out in (c), and since i-g i S-s a g is ascribed as often to am a-g a 1 "mother"as to d a m "wife," it cannot be ascribed to a marriage ceremony.

Furthermore, the fact that i-g i 9-s a g is not preceded in the passages cited above by an indication of measure does not render questionable this term's equivalence to riagtum, as Pettinato instead believes (p. 56). In fact, it is easily possible to think of a standard quantity, since even the shipments of textiles (one unit for each item) are standard. In some passages (like those quoted below) ig i 9-s a g appears separate from the indication relative to the textiles. The documents in question this time have to do with contributions, m u-t 6 m, whereas in the preceding texts they record expenditures, b. 4.1. TM.75.G.1261 v. III 1-7: 1 gu-zi-t ak tu m-t ig 1 i b-III-t u g-9 a 6-g i b- a 1 si-ti-tum 1 gir-kun ga-pi k _--g i / t m / e n / kak-mi-umki / i-g ig -s ag ar-da-mu.

6g 1 n / 1 m u/ i11-

4.2. ibid. v. III 8-IV 5: 1 'i-da-um-t 6i g-II 1 2 ib-III-2 gu--DlL--ttig aktum--ttig t u g-- a n / 1'TAR k 6-g i /1 ib--1 a TAR 5 k6-g• m en (IV 1) / / rai-gi // mu--t 'i-ak / i-g i -s ag / e n. 4.3. TM.75.G.1462 v. V 4-9: 1 '-da-um-t iAg 1 a k t u m-t 6 g 1 i b-III-t 6 g-? a 6-g i n / en ma-nu-wa-atk / / / i-gig-mu--tim

sag

/ en.

4.4. ibid. VI 3/6: 1 1 ma--na BE+Ao--t6ig k --g i / 2 bu-di / m u-t m / ku-ri-sar I ig i s-s a g / du-si-ga'.

The contribution, m u-t 6 m, pertaining to the king of Kakmium and the one pertaining to the king of Ra'ak (4.1. and 4.2.) relate to the i-g i 9-s a g of Igar-Damu, Ibrium's son (TM.75.G.1345 r. X 15ff.: I. / d u m u . n i t a e n), and to that of the king of Ebla himself, that is to say, certainly Ibrium. In fact, the text begins with a long list of contributions for Ibrium, who obviously is the ruler (cols. I-IV; the section ends thus: m u-t (i m / ib-ri-um, IV 8-9). Then the colophon has DI m u u g 6 ib-ri-um, and yet seems to indicate that the document refers to the year in which Ibrium died. It is therefore impossible that in 4.2. i-g i --s a g is meant to signify the anointment of Ibrium (who indeed was already king), which might have taken place in the same year as his death. After all, since in 4.1. and 4.2. the formulation is the same, if indeed it was a matter of the royal unction, it would have been performed contemporaneously for both the king and his son (who, however, never mounted the throne). The case in 4.3. and 4.4. is similar, but in this instance it is not known whether Dusigu belonged to the royal family. It is conceivable that it is a question instead of contributions concerning certain sovereigns in exchange for the sending of oil (riutum) to personages of the Eblaite court.s Note again this passage:

4.5. TM.75.G.1962 v. III 1'-5': n i--l -z i 10 / ma-lik/ 2 bu-di / i-gi-9-sag bar6:kil tum / '--r u--guki / 9u mu-d Uib / 1 trig rNI .NI 1 i b-III-t ni g-b a-sti / g-g i n i ?-s en wa ma-lik-tum /9E / u g 6/ / / ag i-g / ama-g al en / x[. Here it seems it must have been intended to convey that some things, among them two pendants, bu-di, and oil, were given to the queen of Arugu. Afterwards, she received as gifts woven material, n i g-b a, and oil once more from the king and queen, for (4P?) the death of the king's mother.9 But, even if one wanted regardlessto take i--g i 9s a g to mean a ceremony upon whose occasion contributions, m u-t m, of certain goods were ti made, that term cannot certainly in any manner indicate-as observed above-the ceremony of the royal unction. Besides, if i-g i s-s a g was indeed the occasion of the handing over, then one would expect the particle in. See, for example, these formulations: TM.75.G. 1830 v. V 4-9: (woven materials) / i-a-x-Ju / dam / ik-su-ub-da-mu / in u4 / dumu-n ita / t u-d a "(woven materials) for I., the wife of I., on the day on which she bore a male child." TM.75.G. 10079v. II 2-8: (woven materials) / en-sa-gi-is / I t i-du-na / in u 4 / b il--sz` / bal-za-um / 9u ba 4-t i "(woven goods) for E., a dependent of I., on the day of her birthday, HI. has taken." TM.75.G.1321 v. I 15-II 4: (woven goods) / m a k i m--sd// (II 1) in u 4 / n a m-t a r / de for his minister (woven goods) -da" 6 on the day of auguries for the temple of Adda." But, the occasion of the sending of woven materials and objects of metal is the "offering of oil," (in u 4) n i d b a i-g i 9, carried out by some localities. Note, in particular, the passage in 5.11., where "the oil of the regions or localities, as offering" is cited, and the one in 5.3.: "on the day of the oil-offering of Ebla and of Mari," which seems to indicate a ceremony of alliance between the two cities (bear in mind the name of the year: DIS mu nid b a i-g i s ma-riki TM.74.G. 102: cf. n i d b a i--g i 9 ma-rik', TM.74G.128'0). ' 5.1. TM.75.G. 1247 r. XIII 15-19: a-p i k Ui--g i / nidba i-g ig / i n-n a-s um / ga-nuIT lum / x [. 5.2. TM.75.G.1249 v. III 12-15: 5 'i-da-II 3 g ug 3 m i-t dig 5 i bDUiL-t t g 5 ak tu m-t III-t 6 g- as 3 ib--g int / ABxAS. ABxA; / ga-du-ma-ankl / n i d b a i-g i S. 5.3. TM.75.G.1261 v. II 1-9:1 a k t u m-t 6tig 1 / nig1 nig--18A-sag nig-1i--ga-ba i/ lu gal / ma-nr /in u 4 / nidba ki--za / ib-laki/ wa / ma-ri. gig 1 5.4. TM.75,G.1264 v. I 3-7:4 't-da-um-t i g-II 5 ak tu m-t i g 4 i b-III'3-da-um-t i g-I t g-S a 6-g u nli b-III-t i6 g-g i n / IAR. TUMki / si-namki / ti-gi-na-u9ki / nidba i-g i S. BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST/ SUMMER 1981

149

5.5. TM.75.G.1345 r. X 9-11: 1 g a d a / i-da-admu / lIi nid ba i--g i . 5.6. TM.75.G.1360 r. I 18-II1111: 3 '-da-um-t 6 gII 4 g u-DUL-t iUg // (I11) 10 1 a-3 a k t u mn / zat rg 10 1•a-3 i b-III-ti g- a 6-g sa-NI / i-la-bur / i-da-rul2 / da-na-iet-II / u g u a/ da-uki / nidba ugula i--g i .

[2] 3 2 ma-na m u-t

[3] 10 gin DILMUN bar6:ki6 3 m u-t i m GiRxgunuki in u 4 obv. IV 1 nidba dku-ra

5.8. TM.75.G. 1708 r. IX 17-X4: 2 gt-li-lum / / (Xl) 10 gurus / nidba / bar6:kr ik`i--gi i-gi i / za-ba- '.

3 (anepigraphic) rev.

5.9. TM.75.G.1940 r. VII 17-VIII 11: 1 m it ig // (VIII 1) in u4 / ma~ kim a-da-mu /

/ i--gi

/ 1

AN m i-t g m a k im a-da-mu / NIG.ANAN / igi- / si-ki nidba. 5.10. TM.75.G.10079 v. III 12-19: 2 'h-da-um-2 ak tu m-t 6 g 2 i b-III-t 6 g/ sa-nap-zu-lumki / nidba / magkim g6in i-g ig / AB / ABxA / i-g ig / gu ba 4-t i. ma5.11. TM.75.G. 10088 r. XXII 1'-12': ha-ra-ikt/ AN.AN

t g-II

lik-tum/ in-na-sum/ / NIG.ANAN / i-bi-zi-pil/kibaki. / ga-ra / e / wa / i-g i' / kala m-tim nidb

a.

5.12. TM.75.G.1272: obv. I

obv. II

150

[1] 1 40 ma-na bar 6 : k i 2 m a-n a k ii-gi 3 i n--na-s um GIRxgundki 1 in u4 i-g i 4-st

BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST/ SUMMER 1981

GIRxgunuki (anepigraphic) 6 in u 4

In conclusion, as regards the term i-g i s-s a g, the entire documentation favors the thesis already advanced by me in Biblica 60: 560ff.: together with the woven materials, the Eblaite administration sent especially refined oil, too, in standard quantities for cosmetic use.1 3. The "judges"at Ebla On pp. 57-59, Pettinato maintains his affirmation that "d i-k

u 5, judge'..

. of course ... cannot but evoke the

famous 'judges'of the Old Testament"(BA 39 [1976]: 47). He (p. 57) argues that "at Ebla the term 'judge' is synonymous with l u g al 'governor' of the realm (TM.75.G. 1261et passim), something never encountered in Mesopotamia.

As regards the delivery of oil as an offering, consider finally TM.75.G. 1272. In this text forty mina of silver and two of gold are given by one locality whose name is expressed with the logogram GIRxgund,11"on the day of its oil." This expression is clarified by a parallel passage, TM.75.G.1380 v. VIII 3-VII 3: d u b-g a r / / k i-g i b a r 6 : k i / GIRxgundki / in u 4// (VII 1) That is nidba / i-g i -sti / in-n a-sum. to say, that "on the day of the offering of its wine," the locality GIRxgund has "given"the amounts of gold and of silver recorded in the text. Other contributions, m u-t iI m, of silver are made by the same locality "on and "on the day of the offering for the day of IIT-r~imu,"•2 the god Kura."

bar6 : k m

obv. III 1 DINGIR-li-ra-mu

5.7. TM.75.G. 1362 r. IX 6-X 5: 3 'i-da-um-t i gII 3 g u-DUL--t 6 g 4 ak tu m-t Uig 2 m it ti g 6 i b-II-t 6i g-s a 6-g ui n / i-la-bar? / be-laNI / i-da-da-idk/ is--la-idu / ib-da-ra-zu / is'i -ar-i&d // (X 1) ki / ib-alki / nidba / in sai--gig su ba 4-t i.

NIG.ANAN / gzi-si-but / nidba AN

i

... ."

But, Pettinato does not bother to demonstrate that the Sumerogram d i-k u 5 is truly synonymous with 1u g a 1 at Ebla. The text cited comprising X+X columns, has in r. V 2-6: m u-t i m is' -da-mu / wa / il-e-i-sar / d i-k u 5; then, in r. VIII 8-10 it reads: AN.LE.GU ... m lu gal / lugal / mu-ti mu-ttim This "Total . . . contributions of the governors."

indication refers to the section of the text in r. IV 10-VIII 7, in which are included 13 personages of whom only il-ei-sar and is'll-da-mu bear the title of d i-k u (cf. TM.75.G. 1297 r. V 3-6: is'll-da-mu / wa / il-e-i-sar / 2 d i-k u 5). Pettinato then alleges that at Ebla d i-k u s corresponds to terms derived from the root SPT. Now, considered as a theory, that can even be possible. But, every scholar is bound to provide data to support what he affirms! And Pettinato himself, in another place, that is to say in "Ebla. An Empire Incised in Clay" (Ebla. Un impero inciso nell'agrilla, Milano 1979: 262), cites from a vocabulary the correspondence d i-k us = ba-da-qdt da-ne-um! The text is TM.75.G.10023. Now there is in effect at Ebla a proper name iS-budci, TM.75.G.2608 r. II 5, that may derive from SPT and that corresponds in its vocalism to the Ugaritic ia-ar-putu (cf. F. Grondahl, Personennamen, p. 199). But at Mari beside sipitu, there is also dajanu, and it is the latter term

which is made to correspond everywhere to d i-k u s. This is likely even for Ugarit, where in Akkadic texts one has d i-k u 5, but in Ugaritic, along with_tptone has dn. It is, however, clear that the d i-k u 5 at Ebla is integrated into the royal administration. As I had previously written (p. 561), the "judges" of Ebla "were certainly officials of the palace organization." On the contrary, the "famous 'judges"'of ancient Israel-there is no need to belabor the point-are placed in the premonarchic period. They represent a governing organization of tribal character in the process of transformation towards a kind of government required by a society moving towards urbanization (W. Richter, ZA W 77 [1965]: 40-72). Obviously if d i-k u were to truly correspond to aipitu,its functions would have to be interpreted keeping in mind settings of West-Semitic type. But, it is the task of each and every historian to eschew gross comparisons of entirely different social situations. 4. The "creation of the world" A detailed study of mine that will appear in one of the future numbers of Studi Eblaiti will be devoted to the composition of the incipit 1 u g a 1-a n-k i. And, from the treatment it receives from Pettinato, it is evident how unjustified and deceptive his affirmation relative to this text was in qualifying it "a fragment of the creation of the universe which is strongly reminiscent of the story related in Genesis 1." On the contrary, it belongs to a Sumerian tradition. 5. The cities of the Pentapolis (a) Pettinato had declared that the five Cities of the Plain, i.e., Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela (Gen 14:2), would be attested in the documentation of Ebla. In this connection I have pointed out (p. 562ff.) that (1) Pettinato has never indicated the catalog number of the tablet (or tablets) upon which he based his affirmation; (2) "a check of the evidence indicates that the Ebla place names cannot, compatibly with phonetic laws, be identified." Pettinato now writes (p. 67), "The simplest response that can be given at this point is that Archi, if he is truly interested in finding something, must make a better search! And moreover he invokes the phonetic laws, but which are his phonetic laws?" So, supposedly, Semitics has not yet elaborated a single phonetic system, only for a few controverted points of view, but every scholar has "his phonetic laws"! In truth, however, it is not so "simple"to avoid one's own responsibilities. Indeed, with arguments of this sort, Pettinato in fact takes upon himself the charge of overturning one of science's universal principles, that holds that it is up to the one who formulates a thesis to furnish the proofs. (b) Pettinato then adds, "The second remarkis more general. Archi regards as having been said by me what in fact was affirmed by other scholars-in the present case-by D. N. Friedman (sic). But, the most normal deontology would demand verification of the secondary sources of information."

Once more Pettinato sets himself against the evidence and reverses the bearing of responsibility. The professional duty of a scholar (Pettinato has want of such a clarification) is to formulate-as said-only those theories for which he is in a position to produce adequate documentation. If, then, on the basis of some checks, what was affirmed should turn out to be no longer well grounded, it is only right and proper to make the suitable corrections known, particularly when other scholars have no opportunity to check the texts. Pettinato then accuses Freedman of not having quoted faithfully what he had stated, but no letter giving the lie and written by him has ever appeared. At this point light must definitely be shed upon what has been said relative to the attestation of the "Cities of the Plain" in the Eblaite archives. (1) Pettinato himself has written (RivBibllt XXV 1977: 236): "We find mentioned as existing the fabulous cities of the Pentapolis recorded in Genesis (Sodom, Gomorrah, etc.).. ." (2) M. Dahood, who has ties with Pettinato by virtue of his collaboration in the interpretation of the Eblaite texts, took up this affirmation again in toto in La Civiltih Cattolica 129 (1978): 338: "These same five cities appear in the same order in an Ebla tablet!" (3) Already in 1976 in a series of lectures given at various universities of the United States of America, Pettinato had advanced such a thesis. C. H. Gordon states (Essays on the Occasion of the Seventeenth Anniversary of Dropsie University, Philadelphia 1979: 133, n. 2): "I learned about the Ebla listing of these five towns from Pettinato's lectures in the U.S.A. during the latter part of 1976." (4) D. N. Freedman in BA 41 (1978): 153ff. relates, in terms involuntarily verging upon the grotesque, that: "During the breakfast we were talking about the tablet with the names of the five cities of the plain on it, and which he had described publicly a few days earlier at the meetings in St. Louis ... I asked him whether there were any additional details about the cities or their kings ... he informed me that he could remember the name of one of the kings of the cities of the plain on the Ebla tablet ... I suggested to Pettinato that we should proceed in a strictly scientific way ... the name he had written down was bi-irsa, which would have been pronounced birsa or precisely the same as the name of the king of Gomorrah in the Bible: bir.ac ... it was an astounding moment ... while Pettinato is a recognized expert in this field, and a man of integrity, it is necessary to have the tablet itself published and available to other scholars for reading and checking. .. " (5) The aforesaid article of Freedman's bears the title "The Real Story of the Ebla Tablets-Ebla and the Cities of the Plain." And, there is no doubt that precisely on this occasion part of the real story concerning the "Eblaite tradition" of these cities began to leak out. In fact, on p. 143 is reproduced a letter of Dahood's received by Freedman when his article was already at the printers. In it appears this information: "Giovanni [P.] tells me that he considers the reading of the first two names, Sodom

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and Gomorrah, quite certain, but that he is no longer ready to defend the next two cities . . ." Of King Biria there is no further mention.14 Precisely because these affirmations were not followed by the publication of the tablet, or at least of the section with the five, or even only the first two cities, and, on the other hand, since Freedman has declared that Pettinato is "a man of integrity," in an article of H. Shanks, director of the Biblical Archaeology Review (a journal devoted to the diffusion of Bible studies), inadmissible accusations were made against the General Administration of Antiquities of Syria and against the Italian Archaeological Mission in Syria of the University of Rome, namely: "In the case of the Ebla archive, however, there is every reason to believe that the publication of those tablets which most clearly relate to the Bible will be delayed on political grounds"; "There have been rumors that Tablet 1860 has disappeared," BAR V, 2 (1979): 43, 47. Immediately these grave accusations, not merely of deliberately delaying publication of data that would prove ties with the Old Testament, but of actually suppressing the documentation, were taken up in particular-but not exclusively-by the American press. As regards tablet TM.75.G.1860 cited in Dahood's letter in BA 41, Pettinato afterwards admitted that "it deals with the alloys of metals, quite a long text but without these city names in it," which corresponds to the verifications I myself carried out. For his part, P. Matthiae, director of the Italian Archaeological Mission, has declared in a letter sent to BA (43 [1980]: 133-34) in answer to Freedman's article that, if Pettinato furnished the inventory number of the tablet that is supposed to contain the names of Sodom, Gomorrah, and possibly of the other cities of the Pentapolis, it will be immediately published, transcribed, and photographically reproduced. Personally shaken by Dahood's letter, Shanks himself in BAR V 6 (1979): 53, asks: "Isn't the archeological world entitled at least to an explanation of how all these errors occurred?" Pettinato, by finally assuming responsibility for what he has many times stated, would be the sole individual in a position to do so. 6. King Tudya of Ashur According to Pettinato, Ebla concluded a treaty with King "Du-ud-ja" of Assyria who is supposedly to be identified as the Tudya of the "Royal List." To my objection (p. 564) that in reality this term is written i-a-du-ud, and that, in general, as far as the Ebla texts are concerned, the order of the signs cannot be changed unless they constitute certain specific logograms, Pettinato replies (p. 68): "First of all Archi reproaches me for being scantily versed in the reading of cuneiform in general and of the Ebla texts in particular because I dare alter the order of signs as in the case of J a-d u d / D u d-j a, lord of Assyria. Now, a detail has escaped Archi; namely that it was perhaps peculiar to the Assyrians to invert the order of the signs of the sovereign's name."

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BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST/ SUMMER 1981

Once more Pettinato turns the terms of the disagreement upside down. He has even recently, in Ebla (cit.): Il10ff., used the graph "Tudija," but now he pretends to have always read J a-d u d! The hypothesis that by simply changing the order of the signs of the Mesopotamian list one can make the name of the king of Ashur one with i-a--DU-UD must however be rejected. The passages of the treaty with Ashur where recur require a very different comprei-a-DU.UD hensive interpretation. 7. The mercenaries BARxAN Pettinato had interpreted BARxAN as "mercenary."In reality, as I have pointed out (p. 564), this term denotes a member of the genus Equus. But, for Pettinato my reasoning is "weak" (p. 68). In Allevamento e distribuzione del bestiame ad Ebla (The Breeding and Distribution of Livestock at Ebla), Annali di Ebla 1 (1979): 3ff. (of the extract), and in publishing other documentation on the subject, I recognized as a custom of the scribes of Ebla to omit in certain cases the sign ANSE whenever it constitutes a complex logogram. Instead of the usual Mesopotamian or graphs of the pre-Sargonic age-ANSE.BAR.AN b i r-ANSE.BAR.AN ("a draught of.. .")-at Ebla one has BARxAN and b i r-BARxAN. Moreover, the graphs SAL.BAR.AN and NITA.BAR.AN are attested even in the pre-Sargonic texts of Laga' (see J. Bauer A WL: 626ff. under MI-BAR.AN; and 633 under NITAH-BAR.AN). For IGI.NITA and IGI.SAL in Allevamento (cit.): 3, I had proposed the identification with"mANSE"uNITA/ SAL (IGI=lim). But, I. J. Gelb, still on the basis of the same principle, that is to say, that at Ebla ANSE cannot be expressed, suggests to me rather the identification with ANSE.LIBIR (= duisu), which is the equid most attested for the third millennium, in addition to ANSE.BAR.AN / ANSE.SIJ.AN (= kinga). LIBIR is in fact U",that is to say, IGI+LU. In this fashion the document TM.75.G.1480 which, in Pettinato's interpretation, seems to be a certificate of attendance of an Eblaite Kindergarten established for refugee children from the city of Ezan becomes verisimilar. Pettinato, in Ebla (cit.): 146, in fact, translates "80 new-born females / 10 foreigners of 5, 4, and 3 years / 14 foreign females of 5, 4, and 3 years / 4 foreign-born small males / 5 foreign-born small females one year old / 2 three-year-old males / 1 group (below) / Badalum / agricultural superintendent / . ..." In reality, it has to do

with animals. Anyone who has any experience whatsoever with economic texts of the third millennium knows that expressions such as t u-d a "new-born" and "(of) 5, 4, and 3 years" constitute the usual terminology precisely for designating animals (cf. also P. Fronzaroli, SEB I/5-6 [1979]: 69). For ANSE.BAR.AN in the Mesopotamian texts, see finally J. Zarins, JCS 30 (1978): 11-15; K. Maekawa, Acta Sumerologica I (1979): 35-62. 8. The dating of the texts For Pettinato (p. 69) "the Ebla texts precede the dynasty of Akkad in time by at least 150 years." He refers the

reader to p. XXXVII of his Catalogo, where it is in these cases one must read i-a or even ia-a. But, in this insinuated-with a gratuitousness that belies the con- same note 9 is also found the name en-na-ni-il that I clusion-that the stratigraphicdates relative to the cover transcribed precisely with the phonetic value ni (quoted of an alabaster vase engraved with the name of Pepi I among other things by Pettinato on the same page; cf. (whose long reign is usually made to coincide with the here point [b])! (b) Still on p. 70, Pettinato writes, "Archi ... takes period extending from the last years of the reign of Sargon to the first years of Naram-Sin) discovered near the opportunity to reveal first of all to us that he knows the Royal Palace G. are not trustworthy. nothing about the language of Ebla when he affirms that G. Scandone Matthiae (SEb 1/3-4, 1979: 37; n. 12) at Ebla the first person pronoun suffix is -ni and -na, and has confirmed how the said piece was discovered in Level advances two examples: (1) ri-i-na-dIMand (2) en-na-ni6, which "constitutes stratigraphicallythe collapse of the il. It's a pity that Archi cites no text for the first example, upper floor of the Palace," together with "fragments of the latter being an error of interpretation of G. tablets identical with those of archive L. 2769 (TM.77.G. Pettinato's (sic!). [The notation is Pettinato's!] The name 531, TM.77.G.586)." There can be no doubt that the in question does not exist in this wise; but on the contrary cover of Pepi I, whatever be the absolute chronology that it is a question of re-i-na-im, 'my shepherd and (the god) is attributed to this pharaoh, constitutes a fundamental Na'im.' Hence we do not have any plural pronoun terminus post quem for the destruction of the Palace as suffix!" maintained by P. Matthiae (CRAI 1978: 229-36). Pettinato, who is yet "a man of integrity," is amazed The problem of dating the destruction of Palace G of that an affirmation of his has been taken by me as correct! Ebla is without question a complicated problem, but Gelb had believed he could do the same thing (Syrosurely the instrumental suppression of the most impor- Mesopotamian Studies I, 1 [1977]: 20). Indeed, it is tant evidential data cannot contribute to a correct customary for scholars to consider the documentation statement of the question. For an example of a well- that is presented as being valid until the contrary is balanced judgment of the problem, see instead what R. proved to be true. Pettinato informs us instead that the data he offers are to be examined with extreme caution. Biggs (BA 43 [1980]: 76-87, esp. p. 81) has written. And, in the light of what is pointed out in this article of 9. Eblaite and the languages of Southern Arabia mine, one is compelled to agree with him! In stating some general considerations relative to the Without parading proofs-which would be out of language of Ebla, I have written that it is possible to place and misleading with respect to this phase of the pinpoint a few elements common "to Old Akkadian and studies of the language of Ebla-it must certainly be said to the languages of most ancient structure from South that the personal pronoun suffix still presents some Arabia," making reference to studies by Gelb and imperspicuities. Gelb (loc. cit.), indeed, thought of-i (1st Fronzaroli (p. 565ff. and n. 37). Pettinato (p. 70) per. sg.), -na, -ni (1st per. pl., with names), and -ni (1st comments in this fashion: "As regards the relationship per. sg. and pl., with verbs; referring, among other with languages of Southern Arabia, let us agree to be examples, to i-bi-ni-li-im/jibbi' ni-im/i "Lim has called explicit: if one wishes to do the descendants of the me/ us"). Eblaites a favor, one may reasonably call Eblaite an Now, one can regard as certain that -ni is the Arabic dialect." pronoun suffix of the Ist per. sg., with names; -ni is the By referring to any manual, Pettinato could have pronoun of the Ist per. sg., with verbs. The plural prolearned that the languages called South-Arabic are not noun suffix appears to be -na (cf. ai-du-na, TM.75.G. Arab dialects spoken in Southern Arabia. Such lan- 1531 r. II 7). Bear in mind also a name of a person such as guages, attested by inscriptions discovered in the south of zi-mi-na-ma-lik (TM.75.G.2353 r. II111; 2588 r. II 3; cf. Arabia, present-as is well known-elements of great the hypocoristic zi-mi-na-id, TM.75.G. 336 r. IV 16), to be antiquity (which exactly make what I have claimed interpreted, perhaps, as "Malik, concede us!" deriving pertinent), and are put (within the southwestern area) in the first element from SMc (but the imperative is always an autonomous position with respect to Arabic and written si-ma in d6cuments [en-ma]). Ethiopic. So, Pettinato thinks he can contradict himself freely Instead, even without having recourse to specialistic works, Pettinato could have verified that the graph (see sub 1.5, c; 5.b; 6; 10, b). He contends that he doesn't "Canacan,"preferred by him (again on p. 70, 11.6 and 7) have to prove his theses (see sub l.c; 2; 3; 5.a; 7; 8). Against does not enjoy the favor of the scholars of the Semitic anyone who demands these proofs, Pettinato levels the accusation of not exhibiting the documentationfor him languages. (see sub 5.a.). He attributes to others what they have 10. The pronoun suffix -ni never said nor intended to say (see sub 10.a and 9, (a) On p. 70, Pettinato remarks, "aside from the respectively). Pettinato denies, contrary to the evidence singularity that, according to Archi, NI never has the of others, contrary to his own signature, what he is value of ni at Ebla ... ." directly responsible for (see sub 5.b). He, however, after Now, the examples given by me on p. 558, n. 9, and having stated that Sodom, Gomorrah, the remaining to which Pettinato refers, were chosen exclusively three cities and one of their kings are attested at Ebla, and because they present NI in initial position, followed by -a- then not being able to furnish the textual information, (I added moreover a-i-a-ft-du). It is extremely likely that makes the accusation of "forcing the text" (p. 71), of

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going against the truth. Consequently, he actually writes (p. 72), "... sufficient to wonder whether such an article was truly dictated by love for scientific truth or not rather by political reasons evident to everyone"! Such an insinuation, expressed at the close of inconsistent reasonings and a string of unrestrained invectives, gives the exact measure of how much

Pettinato can be considered a person capable (to make use of his own words, p. 72) of "guaranteeing a serious study of the epigraphic treasure of Ebla." Pettinato's work, both by its tone and by the scorn of those norms that constitute the most basic principles which guide scientific research, has no precedent in the history of our studies.

NOTES 'As regardsdating, it is to be-bornein mind that texts with names of months of the "old calendar" are not to be attributed automatically to Ibrium (or to the preceding sovereigns). The documents relative to the first years of the reign of IbbT-Sipigseem to preserve the "old calendar." The odd notion that Pettinato has of Eblaite society leads him to write: "The present calendar (scilicet the "old calendar"), therefore, so different from the new one introduced by IbbT-Sipig,does not seem to correspond with the exigencies of Eblaite culture and with the really technological structure of the society as the texts reveal it to us. And, perhaps even this may have influenced the decision of Ebla's last king to conform to the times" (OA XVI [1977]: 280). Accordingly, we have an Ibbi-Sipig who lives a sort of Victorian Age in the 3rd millennium B.C. The month names of the "new calendar" are interpreted by Pettinato thus, AfO 25 (1974-77): 28-31: I-"(month of:) my Lord";II-"(month of:) the feast of Agtabili";III-"(month of:) ...; IV-"(month of:) the feast of Ada";V-"(month of:) the cities";VI-"(month of:) the taboo"; VII-"(month of:) emergencies"; VIII-"(month of:) provisionment"; IX-"(month of:) the feast of Adamma'um";X-"(month of:) the grain harvest"; XI-"(month of:) Egtar"; XII-"(month of:) the feast of Kamil." 2For the anointing of the woman on the occasion of her marriage, see also EA 31 = VBoT 1, p. 14, letter of Amenophis III to Tarbundaradu, king of Arzawa: "And oil will be poured upon her (i.e., the princess's) head"; cf. L. Rost, MIO 4 (1956): 334-37. For documentation of the Amarna Age, E. Edel, JKF 2 (1951-53): 269. For Assyria, remember Tab. A, par. 42-43 of the Assyrian Laws. The problem has been reexamined by B. Landsberger, Symbolae David, Tomus alter, Leiden 1968: 79-81, n. 4. For the anointment indicating a change of status, cf. R. Harris:JCS9 (1955): 92. Abundant material has been collected and discussed by D. Pardee: BiOr 34 (1977): 12-18. 3Cf. TM.75.G. 1318v. VI 1-4: ib-u9-mu-ut / 9 e g / a-mu / ib-rium. 4This term is generally connected with e n; cf. TM.75.G. 1860 r. XIII 4-8: ni g-b a / am a-g al / en / wa / maliktum. But passages like those in 1.2. 1. and 1.2.3. prove how it does not refersolely to the mother of the king. 'At Ebla this term signifies "(dependent) woman," and makes a pair with g u r u 9 "servant";cf. TM.75.G.10218 r. VIII 15-16: 1460 ita; TM.75.G.1775v. XI 14/ 4380 dam dumu-n gurug 19: (wool) / mi-kum-dku-ra / d a m / e n / ma-lik-tum / i-n asu m. But, some contexts suggest the meaning "wife" as well. 6In this article too the transcription zi-pis is used, inasmuch as the reading pis' for KIR has not yet been proved in this context. The PN cited here seems to suggest the reading zi-kir-ri, hence a hypocoristic.

Remember also that zi-KIR is a PN constituent element which does not take the determinative dingir. 7Note that in this passage, unlike the preceding ones, i-g i 9s a g is repeated for each of the two consignees. An analogous interpretation must perhaps be given to TM.75.G. 1525 v. VIII 9-13: 1 ak tu m-t ti g 1 i b-IV-t i g-g i n / b / i--gig (ofthecityof Irar) / gu mu--d / magkim--st i-bi-zi-pil' Ibbi-Sipigcould be here the son of Ibrium. But, note that the text simply has i-g i 9. 9In this document the term i-g i 9-s a g recurs in other sections: IV 6'-V 10: 1 BE+AS-t ii g 1 GiD-t ti g 2 bu-di TAR k 6-g i / i-g i g-s ag / a-ma-ga / 1 BE+AS-t dg x (= 20) b a r 6 : k i' 2 bu-di / i-g i -s a g / ra-t-tum / 1 BE+AS-t g 2 bu-di x(= 20) bar 6-k / i-g i g-s ag // (V 1) [(PN)]ti / [(objects)] / AL-ru12-du / 1 BE+AS-t iI 1 GID-t 6i g x(= 20) bar6:kUk / das-dur- utu / 3 nin--NI / i--gig--sag / al / en. ama-g 'OFor the connection nidba na-aka and an i-gig interpretation of the offering of oil, see Fronzaroli: SEB I/5-6 (1979): 83ff., n. 57. "For a suggested reading of the logogram, see P. Fronzaroli: SEB 1/5-6 (1979): 82. The toponym is also attested in the list of localities TM.75.G.2231 v. I 19. For another administrative document, see TM.75.G. 1353 v. VI2-4. 1 m a-n a bar 6: k ii / m u-t ' m / GIRxgunaki '2See Archi: SEb I/3-4 (1979): 45-48. "The quantities of cosmetic oil were generally modest. Tugratta sent to Amenophis III three gold objects and one container of fine oil for Giluhepa (EA 17, 11. 41-45). See also EA 22, III 36; 25 IV 51-55; 35, 11. 23-26. 14In a preceding report of a lecture given by Pettinato at the University of Michigan, Freedman positively wrote (BA 40 1977: 4): "actually there is a sixth correlation, since the alternate name of Bela given in Genesis 14:2 is Zoar; the equivalent name is given in another Ebla tablet with the specification that it belongs to the district or territory of Bela." It is on the basis of Pettinato's declarations that Freedman deemed it permissible, ironically, to deal with the recent fundamental researches respecting the traditions of the Patriarchs, concluding finally with a facetious remark concerning the dating of Abraham: "Right now, the most attractive date for Abraham offered by scholars (though on the low side) is that of the 'hyper-modern'exegete and biblical commentator, Archbishop James Usher (1581-1656), whose chronology was found in most editions of the King James Bible, and whose date for the creation of the world is the well-known 4004 B.C."

154

BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST/ SUMMER 1981

A

MODERN ANCIENT

LOOK

AT

WISDOM

The

Instruction of Revisited Ptahhotep By Carole R. Fontaine

The genre of wisdom literature is prominent in the Bible, as it is in the literature of many of Israel's neighbors. In Egypt, the "instruction"genre was particularly important. One of the earliest compilations of the wise sayings of Egypt is attributed to Ptahhotep, the vizier of King Izezi of the Fifth Dynasty (ca. 2450 B. C.), here presented in a novel format, that of the limerick.

The ancient Egyptian "instruction"genre or sebayit is a literary form which is of interest not only to Egyptologists for the information it provides about language and customs, but to students of Old Testament wisdom literature as well, since Proverbs 1-9 reflects the influence of this type of literature (Bauer-Kayatz 1966: 1-43; McKane 1970: 5-10). The "life setting" out of which this genre arose is evident from many features found in the texts themselves: the court sage (or dignitary), whose official statecraft and wisdom were greatly valued in ancient Egypt, finds himself growing old and feels the need to pass on the experience of his years to an appropriate successor (in our text, the "prop"or "staffof old age"). Thus, the wisdom born of many years' experience will be preserved and studied and will contribute to the orderly running of the court and country as a whole. The style of the sebayit makes regular use of direct address, positive and negative admonitions, motivation clauses, and an occasional "proverb" used to prove a point or provide an argument from tradition. Such features are readily apparent in the opening chapters of the Hebrew book of Proverbs, from the direct exhortation, "Hear, my son, your father's instruction, and reject not your mother's teaching" (Prov 1:8), and the admonition to "Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you; Let your eyes look

BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST/ SUMMER 1981

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~9~ ~ssa~-Hu-neferpapyrus.The god Anubisleadsthe deceasedto the GreatScalewheretheheart(symbolof intellectandconscience) is weighedagainstthe goddessMaat. Anubisis also depicted beneaththe crossbeamandThoth,thegod of thescribes,stands to the right,readyto recordthe verdict.The monsterAmenuit, the Devourerof the Dead, is crouchedbeneaththe scales, preparedto eat the heartsof thosejudgedimpure.Courtesyof the BritishMuseum. directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you" (Prov 4:24-25), to the proverbial question asked in reference to illicit sexual activity, "Can a man carry fire in his bosom and his clothes not be burned?" Prov 6:27). The themes found in the Egyptian instruction already will be familiar to the reader of OT wisdom literature. Ptahhotep, the vizier who authored this instruction, is full of perspicacious advice, covering topics from table manners and proper conduct for success in court circles to handy hints to the husband for preserving his wife's beauty by the use of moisturizers. Admonitions to avoid argumentative persons and cultivate self-control find echoes in the book of Proverbs (Prov 3:30-35; 13:3; 14:16-17, 29), as do Ptahhotep's praises of the well-turned phrase and adroit messenger (Prov 10:26; 12:14; 13:17; 15:1-2). The central concept of Egyptian wisdom literature lies in its understanding of the goddess Maat. The daughter of the primordial creator god Amon-Re (although in later times she came to be associated with the Memphite god Ptah), Maat symbolizes both cosmic order and social harmony. Thus, Maat is not only that force which ensures the regularity of the sun god's path across the sky each day (surely the most visible sign of an orderly universe!), but she is also order,justice, and truth in the human sphere. These two aspects of Maat should not be viewed as mutually exclusive, however: for the ancient Egyptian, cosmic order and moral order were

156 BIBLICALARCHEOLOGIST/SUMMER1981

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inextricably bound up with one another. This may best be seen in the office of the king-the king ruled by making the concept of Maat the fundamental moral basis of his reign, and by doing so, reestablished order on the cosmic plane, as it was during "the first time" of creation (Morenz 1973: 113-36). The "Restoration Stele" of the Pharaoh Tutankhamon says of that boy-king that he "expelled deceit throughout the Two Lands, and justice was set up [so that] it might make lying to be an abomination of the land, as (in) its first time" (Wilson 1969: 251). With Maat, we find the beginning of the significant concept that the actions of persons in the moral sphere have repercussions on a cosmic level. Ptahhotep says of her, "Maat is great, and its effectiveness endures; it has not been confounded since the time of Osiris. . . . when the end comes, rightdoing

endures. This is what a man learns from his father" (Faulkner 1973: 162). The ancient Egyptian found virtue to be its own reward: in the underworld, the heart of the deceased was weighed on the Great Scale against the weight of Maat, symbolized by the ostrich feather which she wears in her headband (Budge 1967: 255-57). After reciting the famous "Negative Confession" of chap. 125 of the Book of the Dead, those whose good deeds caused their hearts to "measure up" to the goal of Maat were assured of a blessed afterlife. (Of course, the Book of the Dead, buried with the deceased, provided an assortment of magic formulae to be uttered "just in case" judgment of the heart should prove unfavorable.) Many scholars believe that the figure of Maat, goddess of justice, truth, and order, influenced the personification of Wisdom in the Old Testament wisdom literature (Bauer-Kayatz 1966: 76-119; von Rad 1972: 153). The translation of this ancient text into modern limericks may not be as disrespectful as it seems at first glance. The wise men of Egypt and Israel took their duty

to their audience seriously and took great care to cast their insights and recommendations in pleasing-and persuasive-literary forms which might be easily memorized and remembered. For this reason, the modern limerick, with its sing-song cadence and lively character,

is an apt, if unusual, vehicle for the earthy advice of ancient Egypt. One can easily picture Ptahhotep in complete agreement with the Hebrew sage who observed, "Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body!" (Prov 16:24).

Ka The Egyptian concept of the ka, usually translated in English by "spirit,""image," "vital force," or the like, is difficult to define in all its aspects. In some writings, the ka appears as an exact duplicate of the human being and comes into being when the creator potter god, Khnum, fashions individual persons and their kas on his potter's wheel. The ka, then, is the image and vital force of a person which comes into existence with the creation of the human and continues after death. (This should be distinguished from the ba, or "soul" in the image of a bird with a human head, which separates itself from the body at the instant of death.) The ka needs to be sustained with funerary offerings of food and drink made to the departed, although it is able to subsist on the wall paintings of food offerings if necessary. (Often the extremely poor were secretly buried near the lavish tombs of the rich, in hopes that their kas might benefit from the "leftovers"of the rich.) To "be happy with one's ka" or "go to one's ka"came to mean "to die"and carried the implication of blessed existence after death (Budge 1967: lxii-lxiii; Champdor 1966: 96-97; Morenz 1973: 183-84).

The Instructionof Ptahhotep Limerick A vizier before Dynasty 6 Said, "Sovereign, my lord! I am sick with the onset of age. Though I'm still very sage, Senility's coming on quick.

Translation Lines 1-23: Introduction- The Evils of Old Age The instruction of the overseer of the city, the vizier Ptahhotep, under the majesty of the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Issi-may he live forever and ever! Thus said the overseer of the city, Ptahhotep, "O sovereign, my lord! Old age has come into being; decrepitude has befallen, feebleness has come, and weakness is renewed. One spends the night in discomfort every day; the eyes are weak; the ears are dull. The strength is perishing through weariness of the heart. The mouth is silent and does not speak. The mind (lit., "heart") has perished and does not remember yesterday. The bone suffers at length; good has become evil, and all taste is gone. What old age does to men is evil in all respects! The nose is blocked up and cannot breathe. Standing and sitting are difficult."

"For my old age, appoint me a prop So my work needn't falter or stop; Let me teach him his stuff Until he's had enough, And my maxims he surely will top."

Lines 28-35: Grooming a Successor "May it be permitted to this thy humble servant to appoint a staff of old age, so that I may speak to him the words of the judges, the counsels of those who have gone before, who in the past listened to the gods. Then it shall be done likewise for you: troubles shall be expelled from the people, and the Two Banks shall serve you."

Said Pharaoh, "It is good in my eyes To command this thing you advise. Speak to him," said he, "for it's easy to see There does not exist one who's born wise."

Lines 36-41: Pharaoh's Reply Then said the Majesty of this god (i.e., Pharaoh): "Teach him concerning the earlier words. Then he will set a good example for the children of the magistrates. Then judgment and every precision shall enter into him. Speak to him, for there is none who is born wise" (lit., "there does not exist one born wise").

BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST/ SUMMER 1981

157

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A limestone statue from the Egyptian Old Kingdom, (Giza, 2700-2200 B.C.) shows a slave grinding grain on a millstone. The stereotype of the slave at work is sometimes used as a reference to low status (Ptahhotep, lines 58-59; cf. Exod 1 1:5:"from the firstborn son of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, to the firstborn of the maidservant who is behind the millstone").

"Be not high with respect to your heart, Or think yourself so very smart: For of skill there's no limit In Kush or in Kemet, And good speech is a difficult art. malachite thanthe best "Moreso "Moreso than the best malachite from hidden sight; Good speech is quite And yet, it is found With the slavegirl profound At the grindstone displaying insight.

"If a disputant in his moment you find, Then just pay him no never mind: Men will think well of you But of him 'Um-bt-pw,'* For your heart will seem more refined,

* "he is a know-nothing"

158 BIBLICALARCHEOLOGIST/SUMMER1981

Lines 52-59: The Instruction: The Value of Education "Do not be great as to your heart on account of your knowledge (i.e., don't be arrogant), and do not fill your heart, because you are a knowing one. Take advice for yourself with the ignorant as well as the learned, for the limit of skill cannot be attained, and there is no craftsman who has acquired his mastery (in full). Good speech is more hidden than a green gem (malachite?),yet it is found with slave girls at the millstones."

Lines 60-67: How to Win an Argument "If you find a disputant in the act of arguing (lit., "in his moment"), an authority who is superior to you, bend your two arms, and bow your back. If you disagree with him, he will not side with you (lit., "he will not have a shoulder for you"). You should make little of the speaking of evil by not opposing him in his argument. He will be dubbed an ignoramus (lit., "as a he-is-one-whoknows-nothing") when your self-control has equaled his abundance."

Lines 119-21, 124-30: Table Manners at Court

"If you sit at the feast of a lord, Don't be eager or overly bored. What is given you, eat; And be most discreet, Then your plans will be sure to go forward. "Do not stareat him with many stares, Or catch his ka unawares For you live by his grace, So lower your face, And when spoken to, speak with a flair.

"Ifyou are one of theguests(lit., "asa manof the sitters") at the tableof one greaterthan you, acceptwhathe gives you when it has been set before you. Look at what is beforeyou. Do not stareat him with muchstaring(lit., "piercehim [e.g., with the eyes] with many piercings"). To be offensiveto himis an abominationto the soul (lit., "ka").Do not speakto him until he has invited,for one does not knowwhatis displeasing.You shallspeakwhen he addressesyou-then what you say will be what is pleasing."

Lines 145-51: The Careful Messenger

"If you'resent out to delivera speech, Don't go fishingor stop at the beach. Say it just as you heard-

"If you are a 'man of entering'(i.e., a trustedenvoy) whom one great man sends to another, testify entirely about what he sent you. Givethe messagefor him as he

And thus you will not make a breach.

*embroilone greatmanwithanotherto the distortionof Maat. Do not transgressit.*"

Be precise, word for word!

says it. Beware against slander in speech which may

(**The translation of the last two lines is uncertain.)

"If you can, then establishyour house; Settle down with a nice little spouse:

A rich field for her lord Is a wife who's not bored (But her body with oil you must douse).

"Oh, how good is the man who does Maat! Its procedures he follows a lot! His good deeds are a tomb In which there's no gloom, But the fool will most probably rot."

It is done, from its front to its end. Just as it was written back when, It has been copied down To the fame and renown Of Ptahhotep, the Pharaoh's best friend.

Lines 325-30: Advice to the Family Man

"Ifyou arewelloff, thenyou shouldestablishyourhouse, and love your wife in (your) home (accordingto good custom). Fill her belly; clothe her back. Oil is the prescription for her body. Make her heart glad during the time of your living, for she is a profitable field for her lord."

Lines 312-15: In Praise of Good Conduct "The man endures who proceeds in Maat, and who walks according to its (lit., "her")procedures. He makes a testament thereby, (but) there is no tomb for the avaricious."

Lines 645-46: Scribal Colophon "It is finished, from its beginning to its end, according to what was found in writing."

BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST/ SUMMER 1981

159

Bibliography Bauer-Kayatz, C. Studien zu Proverbien 1-9:eineform1966 und motivgeschichtliche Untersuchung unter Einbeziehung igyptischen Vergleichsmaterials. Wissenschaftliche Monographien zum alten und neuen Testament 22. NeukirchenVluyn: Neukirchener Verlag. Brunner, H. 1957 AlthgyptischeErziehung.Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz. Budge, E. A. W. 1967 The Book of the Dead: The Papyrus of Ani in the British Museum. Reprinted from the 1895 edition, published by order of the Trustees of the British Museum. New York: Dover. Caminos, R. A. 1956 Literary Fragments in the Hieratic Script. Oxford: University Press.

Champdor, A. 1966 The Book of the Dead: Based on the Ani, Hunefer, and Anahi' Papyri in the British Museum. Trans. Faubion Bowers from French, 1965. New York: Garrett. Faulkner, R. O. 1973 The Maxims of Ptahhotep. Pp. 15976 in The Literature of Ancient Egypt: An Anthology of Stories, Instructions and Poetry, ed. W. K. Simpson. New Haven: Yale University. Harris, J. R., ed. 1971 The Legacy of Egypt. 2nd edition. Oxford: Clarendon. Lanczkowski, G. 1955 Reden und Schweigen im iigyptischen Verstlindnis, vornehmlich Mittleren Reiches. Pp. 186-96 in Agyptologische Studien H. Grapow, ed. O. Firchow. Berlin: AkademieVerlag.

McKane, W. 1970 Proverbs: A New Approach. Philadelphia: Westminster. Morenz, S. 1973 Egyptian Religion. Trans. Ann E. Keep from German, 1960. Ithaca: Cornell University. von Rad, G. 1972 Wisdom in Israel. Trans. James D. Martin, from German, 1970. Nashville: Abingdon. Wilson, J. 1969 Tut-ankh-Amon's Restoration after the Amarna Revolution. Pp. 251-52 in Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament,ed. J. B. Pritchard. 3rd ed. with supplement. Princeton: Princeton University. Zaba, 2. 1956

Les Maximes de Ptahhotep. Prague: Editions de 1'Academie Tchecoslovaque des Sciences.

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David Project Archaeologi Third The Season-1980 The

City

By Yigal Shiloh Additional evidence for the Bronze Age Canaanite and Iron Age Israelite occupation of Jerusalem has been uncovered recently by the continued excavations in the old city, including a new segment of the ancient waterworks connected to the Gihon spring.

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The renewed excavations in the City of David were opened in the summerof 1978,underthe auspicesof the City of David Society (see BA 42 [1979]:165-73).' The 1980 Season Most of the debrisand fills which had accumulatedon the easternslope of the City of David from the destructionof Jerusalemin A.D. 70 to the presentwere already cleared by us in most of the excavated areas during the first two seasons.Presently,in mostareas,weare excavatingthe historicalstrata of the city fromthe end of the 4th millennium B.c. onward.Duringthethirdseason,in most areas we uncoveredthe Iron II remainsof IsraeliteJerusalem,and in a few places we started,earlierthan we had expected,to uncoverarchitectural remains and small finds from Jebus, Canaanite Jerusalem of the Bronze Age. City of David hill, an aerial view from the south: 1. Temple Mound; 2. Temple Mound excavations; 3. Area G; 4. The upper entrance to Warren'sShaft; 5. Gihon spring; 6. Area E3; 7. Area El and the Israelite city wall; 8. Area E2; 9. Area D and the First Wall line from the Second Temple period; 10. Area B; 11. Area A: 12. The Siloam pool; 13. Area H (west of the road); 14. The village of Silwan.

BIBLICALARCHEOLOGIST/SUMMER1981 161

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The eastern slope between Area G in the north and Area E2 in the south; view from the east. 1. Area G: the Israelite house complex built on the stepped stone structure; the fortification system of the First Wall line is in the western end of the Area: 2. Area E3: retaining walls from the Ist century A.D.; 3. Area El: at its base the Israelite wall line and above it, upslope, Israelite terraces and structures; 4. Area E2: a section in the slope below the city wall; 5. The upper entrance to Warren's Shaft: 6. Gihon spring: 7. Section A of Kenyon's excavations, the fortification system from the Bronze Age and the Iron Age.

Area E, stretchingover the central terraceof theeasternslopeof theCityof David, was enlargedand divided into three subareas.Area El includes the city wall, the retainingwalls, the terraces,and the structuresbuilton top of them upslope. This year we extended the excavatedareaoutsidethe Israelite citywall,andwe openedAreaE2,which includes a 15-m-longtrench running downslopefromthe citywallto a depth of about 8 m and a width of 1-10 m. Area E3 includesthreesquaresbetween the northernend of AreaE and AreaG. In Area G, at the top of the eastern slope, we have been excavatingsince 1978a complexof IronII structures.In Area D, at the southernend of the tell, we continuedthisyearto investigatethe natureof the Hellenisticretainingwalls

that overlieremainsof the Israelitecity on the eastern slope. As part of the studyof theancientundergroundwaterworks of the City of David, we began this year a thorough investigationof "Warren's waterShaft,"a subterranean workof IsraeliteJerusalem(AreaJ). All of the excavated areas are located within the boundaries of the stateownedlandson the easternslope of the City of David. TheIronII Remainsof the IsraeliteCity Thestructureand layoutof the Israelite city, with all its architecturalcomponents, is becoming clearer. This year moredatawereaddedto understanding the elementsof a hill-countrycity built on a steepslope,as alreadydescribedin our previous article. In Area El we

162 BIBLICALARCHEOLOGIST/SUMMER1981

continuedto uncoverthe city wall to a lengthof about45 m. In severalplacesit was preservedto a heightof about4 m. Since the back side of the wall leans againstbedrock,its widthchangesand, at times,reachesup to 5 m. Essentially, only the foundationsof the wall were excavated. The upper portions had collapsedor had been reused,when in the Hellenisticperiod parts of the city wall and otherwallsfrom the Iron Age were utilizedas foundationsfor retaining wallsand terraces.We continuedto uncoveradditionalportions belonging to the complexof structuresbuiltupon the terracesleaningagainstthe citywall upslope.Presently,our excavatedareas stretchover threeor foursuchterraces. Most outstandingis the fact that house walls are bondedwith each other,with

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channel and its covering stones are incorporated into the city wall and reachthe outer face. South of thecomplexweexcavated a stepped,narrowalley connectingthe differentterraces.Thelowerpartof this alleyis madeof builtsteps,andits upper part is hewn in bedrock. The latter pointsout clearlythatwhenthisquarter was constructedin the 8thcenturyB.C., bedrockwas still exposed in this area. The reconstructedview includedin the presentarticle was made by G. Soler, the expeditionarchitect,who presentsa somewhat different situation, since it wvasdone on the basis of information gainedin the 1978-79seasons. Most of the housewallswerecoveredwiththick, white plaster, and some of the floors were laid over a hard, gray plaster preparation.In several instances it is possible to distinguishbetween three floors, showingthat some structuresin this quarterwere used in at least three phases. Specialeffortsweremadethisyear to uncover the remainson top of the fourth (upper)terrace.We had much interestin uncoveringthis area,because in the debrisoutsidethe city wallat this point was found a fragmentof a stone slabwitha Hebrewinscriptionin monumental script dated to the time of Hezekiah.The inscription,describedin the report of the first season (BA 42 [1979]: 170), must have come, we assume,froma publicstoragebuilding, which servedthe city or the state. Indeed,duringthe lasttwo seasons we have been uncoveringin this areaa structure, of which the dimensions, location, and quality of construction indicate that it was more important

than other buildings on the slope below. This building is partly made of rough %\ lo-/ . .. / -.. ashlars, and has thick, beaten crushedlime floors. After removing the stone collapse of the walls, which in part were probably still used in the Hellenistic period, we reached the original floors. On the floors we found pottery testithe retainingwalls, and with the stone century B.C.), was built under one plan; fying to the time of the original use of fill of the city wall. Manyarchitectural northof the maincomplexon the slope, the building and its destruction at the elementsrecentlyuncoveredpoint out a drainage channel was constructed end of the Iron Age. It appears that this that this Iron II quarter,which dates with its walls incorporatedinto the important building had two levels of most likely to Hezekiah'stime (the 8th structureson both sides.Theend of the occupation spreading over two terraces. 401, / le 4rI

BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST/ SUMMER 1981

163

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Top left: Area El1;view from the south along the city wall. Its lower part is from the Israelite period, the upper courses, built of smaller stones, belong to a Hellenistic retaining wall. The city wall is built on bedrock. Natural crevices in the bedrock contained pottery from the Chalcolithic and EB I periods. Inside the wall, Iron II terracesand structurescan be seen. Top Right: Area E1; view from the north. Remains of Israelite structures built on the terraces are seen. The structures lean against and are incorporated into the city wall at the bottom of the slope. Above the wall, in the middle of the slope, are seen two Hellenistic retaining walls built on destruction layers of the Israelite city. On the right, at the top of the slope can be seen a wall made of rough ashlar masonry and collapsed wall of the public building (?), which stood at the top of the slope. Below: the City of David, Area E1; reconstruction of the Israelite city wall line and the Israelite structures built upslope above the city wall.

Thelocationof this buildingat the edge of Area El presentsa problemfor the

of its excavation.Pottery continuation

assemblagesand otherobjectsfoundon floors of severalof the houses in Area El point to the continuousoccupation of this quarterfromits establishmentat the end of the 8th centuryB.C.until its in 586s.c., at the latest. destruction To completethe descriptionof the terracednatureof the Israelitecity, we shall describeanotherstripof complete structuresuncoveredin AreaG. Before we reachedthe Israelitestratumin this area, we were surprisedto find, during

the previousseasons,two otherstrati-

graphic-historicalelementsof the City of David. Uponcompletingthe excavation of the Hellenisticearthenglacis which sealed the eastern slope in this place, we discoveredseveralwalls and fills belongingto the postexilic period and to the time of the rebuildingof Jerusalemin the Persianperiod.While

information to wedo nothavesufficient

N At

164 BIBLICALARCHEOLOGIST/SUMMER1981

identify the architecturalcharacterof these remains,their stratigraphicposition is clear-between the base of the Hellenisticstratumand the top of the destructionlayersof the Israelitecity. Until now we have excavated in this areaa stripabout25 X 12m, where we found a complex of houses and severalauxiliaryrooms,all fromthelast phase of the Israeliteperiod, 7th-6th

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Left:Fertilityfigurinesof womenandclayzoomorphicfigurinesfromthe Israelitecity, 8th-6thcenturiesB.C. Right:Area E2;view fromthe east. The section starts at the foundation of the city wall and continues downslopeon bedrock.At the tip of the rocka Hellenisticretainingwall can be seen.At the bottomof the section,on the rock,canbe seenIronII structuresbuilt outsidethe wall, coveredwith nine m of fill and debris containingpotterydated down to A.D. 70.

centuriesB.C.Thesestructurescoverthe upperterracebetweenits mainretaining wall on the east, and the fortification system at the top of the slope on the west.Themainstructurein thisareais a house, typical of the Israelite city in Judahand Israel,builtaccordingto the "four-roomhouse"plan. The plastered walls of the house were preservedto a surprisingheightof about 3 m. Northof this house,we uncoveredanotherseries of auxiliarystructures,courtyards,and storage rooms which might belong to anotherunit locatednorthof the "fourroom house." One of the rooms, which is very small (1.40 X 1.40 m), has a very hard,

thick plaster floor. In its corner was found an installationmade of a large stone (0.45X 0.50m)witha widehole in its center.The installationwas embedded in the floor and somewhatraised.A clay bowl was found by its side, and a pit, about 2 m deep, was found below the installation.From severalpossible explanations for the function of this roomwe chosethe onesuggestingthatit was a lavatory, relativelyoutstanding by the use of the stone seat. Similar installationsareknownfromtheancient Near East and Egypt,but theyarelevel with the floor, in the same manneras

some present lavatories in the Near East. We are awaitingthe resultsof the chemical analysis of the material removed from the cess pit (?) underthe seat. The resultswill help us in determiningthe functionof this room. Probesconductedin floorsandfills of thesestructuresdemonstratethatthe main structure,the "four-roomhouse," and severalof the auxiliaryroomsto its north, have two floors which are connected,with a few secondaryalterations, with one set of walls. In light of the richfindsdiscoveredin the destruction layers on the floors of these structures,it is safe to assumethatthey were destroyedat the end of the First Temple period, duringthe destruction of Jerusalemby the Babyloniansin 586 B.C. In view of the ceramic material recoveredfromthe fills underthe floors and the building,we assumethat their constructiontook placesomewhatlater than that of the maindomesticquarter uncoveredin Area E1l. The finds include assemblagesof various clay vessels, bone and metal implements,stone weights,and several inscriptionsand ostraca. Two ostraca containthe name:'ahPel-one explanation of whichis "thebrotherof God"or "God is my brother."One inscription,

No. G/4599, waswrittenon thesideof a jug thatwasburiedat the entranceto the broad room of the "four-roomhouse." It seems that, stratigraphicallyand it relatesto thefoundpaleographically, ing of the house, no later than the beginningof the 7th centuryB.C.The second ostracon, No. G/4849, was found in the destructionlayer.Six lines werepreservedon this ostracon,including several names, such as Nhy'[lJ qrb[r], paleographically and h.yq[m/r], epigraphically,this ostracon is similarto the OphelOstracon,foundin 1924in the Macalister-Duncan excavations. Both ostracabelong to the final phase of IsraeliteJerusalemon the eve of its destruction,and they are paleographicallysimilarto the LachishLetters of the same period. The "fourroomhouse"in whichbothostracawere found is presently named "Ahiel's house," after the name appearing in both ostraca. Another inscription,No. G/4809, was incised in limestone,40 cm long. This stone was much better worked than the other stones; its face was smoothed, and it seems that it was prominentlyplacedin one of the walls of "Ahiel'shouse," where it was discovered.Two names,lp/blth andIscly,

BIBLICALARCHEOLOGIST/SUMMER1981 165

wereincisedin thestonewhenthe house it seems was founded.Paleographically, that this inscriptionis also datedto no later than the beginning of the 7th century B.C. Tenth-century B.C. and LB City

Remains Themostimportantcontributionof this season was the redefinitionof date and functionof the steppedstonestructure, or glacis, rising west of the Israelite terracedhousesat the top of the eastern slope, in Area G. This architectural element,togetherwith the greattower, was first excavated by Macalister (1923-25),who identifiedboth of them as part of the defensesystemof Jebus and the City of David, withouthaving convincingstratigraphic-chronological evidence.One of the importantdiscoveries made by Kenyon,who excavated herSectionA in thisarea(1961-67),was the factthatthegreattowersouthof this stepped structurewas built on top of remainsof Israelitestructures.Thisfact was one of the reasonsfor dating the towerandthe steppedstoneglacisto the Hasmonean period. This conclusion was acceptedbyus as byothers.Whenit became clear to us in the first two seasons that the earthenglacis, which for some reasonwas not identifiedby Kenyon,was constructedin the Hellenisticperiod,we did not hesitateto make a connectionbetweenit and thestepped stone glacis, assumingthat the latter servedas a massivefoundationfor the fortificationsystem of the First Wall line, built by the Hasmoneans(BA 42 [1979]:166). Upon completionof excavationof the Israelite houses in Area G, we startedin the thirdseason to excavate the floors and the fills underneath, hopingto reachremainsof the Canaanite city. Here, one of the greatest surpriseswe encounteredduring our work in the City of David awaited us. The stone steps of the stepped glacis appeared below the structures from the end of the Iron Age. To date, we have uncovered 14 additional stepped courses, to a depth of about 15 m. As we continued to excavate other parts below the Israelite complex at the northern end of the area, we reached the same results. In addition to the fact that the house walls and the main retaining wall of the eastern terrace were built on top of the stone glacis, the heavy stone

166

BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST/ SUMMER 1981

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Top: The City of David, Area G; a general plan of the structuresfrom the Late Bronze Age to the Roman/ Byzantine period. Bottom: Area G; a general view from the east. 1. The Hasmonean tower and the First Wall line from the Second Temple period; 2. Terrace walls from the LB II period; 3. The stepped stone structure from the 10th century B.C. (?); 4. A modern support of the northern tower; 5. Remains of an Iron II structure built of small ashlars; 6. Remains of "Ahiel's house" and the Israelite structures north of it, from the end of the Iron Age; 7. The monoliths of "Ahiel's house"; 8. The lavatory (?); 9. LB II retaining walls and stone fills.

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Top left: Area G; view from the north toward the northern end. At the bottom of the photo are seen stone collapses of small ashlar stones and a wall built of the same stones. On the right, the tower built of stepped courses at the northern end of the stepped stone structure is visible. In the upper part of the photo are seen the openings built in the stone structure. Top right: An assemblage of clay vessels from floors of Israelite houses from 8th-6th centuries B.C. in Areas G and El. Bottom: Area G; view from the west, looking down the stepped stone structure. In the bottom of the photo are seen the remains of monoliths placed on the floor of "Ahiel's house" from the end of the Iron Age.

uncoveredin this layer. The retaining walls,a fewof whichwerepreservedto a height of over 4 m, were built crisscrossingeach other,northto southand east to west.Thepotteryrecoveredfrom the stone fills was dated to the 13th centuryB.C.,helpingus to concludethat here we had uncovered a series of terracesbelongingto the Canaanitecity from the Late Bronze Age (14th-13th

IN,4M

centuries B.c.).

In light of that, the stratigraphic order, of which the stepped stone structureis a part, becomesclear.This structurecould havebeenbuiltbetween the end of the 13thcenturyand the 8th

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century B.C. During the excavations

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collapsefromthe end of the IronAge in the northernend, reachingabout 4 m betweenthe house walls and theglacis, was also lying on the glacis. The stratigraphic conclusion is now clear, i.e., the steppedstoneglacis should be separatedfrom the Hasmonean tower. The stoneglacis cannotbe dated later than the 8th century B.C.

Two questions remained to be answered: when was this monumental structurebuilt, and for what purpose? Resuming excavations below the Israelite structuresand the southern side of the stoneglacis providedus with additionalinformationconcerningdating; a series of terraces made of retaining walls and stone fills was

east of the stone glacis, below the late Israelite houses, another layer was found,but its architecturalnatureis not yet clear. This layer reachesthe outer face of the stone glacis. Although the excavatedsectionis narrow,thepottery dates this layerto the 10thcenturyB.C. Consideringall this information,we now tendto datethe constructionof the stepped stone structure to the 10th centurye.C. This date is in agreement with that of the buildingactivities in Jerusalem and the rest of the royal centers during the period of the first kings, David, and especiallySolomon. An especially interesting object from this layer is a fragmentof a clay figurine depicting a naked, bearded man, that was a part of a flat, raised relief,probablyattachedto a rectangular cultic stand. Stands of this type are known from Megiddo and Taanach, where they were also found in strata dated to the 10thcenturyB.C.

BIBLICALARCHEOLOGIST/SUMMER1981 167

..................

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Above: Area G; a generalview of the steppedstone structurefrom the north. Top right:Ironmasonhammer,foundin thedestructionlayerof theendof the Ironperiod, near the steppedstone structurein Area G. Centerright:A head of a moldedclay figurineof a womanwithcurlyhair;IronAgeII. Belowright:AreaG;thelavatory(); viewfromthe east. BelowL. 789is seenthe hardplasterfloor in whichthe stoneseat was placedleaningagainsta shelfin the wall and a monolithin front.Underneathis the cess pit (?). The purpose of the stepped structure has not been clarified yet. Its dimensions and monumental character are very impressive; the excavated width is about 16 m, its height about 15 m, and we have not reached its bottom yet! It should be emphasized that the structure is not free-standing, but leans against the slope. The stepped courses

are built of especially large stones (40 X 50 X 60/70 cm). At its northern end we uncovered a well-built corner of a buttress protruding about 2 m from the line of the structure. This buttress, preserved to a height of more than 3 m, also has a sloping exterior. It seems that there was a similar one on the southern side of the structure, where

168 BIBLICAL SUMMER1981 ARCHEOLOGIST/

Al•i!iii~~

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during the 8th-7th centuries

B.C.

the

Israelitehouseswereconstructed.Three openings were found betweenthe two buttresses,at the bottom of the monumental structure. One of them was completelyblocked,and the other two lead into small chambersincorporated into the steppedstone structure.It has not yet beenclarifiedwhethertheywere an integralpartof the structureor were constructedlater,at the end of the Iron Age, togetherwith the seriesof houses built there. What was the function of this strangeand impressivestructure?One possibilityis thatit belongedto a special monumental structure, built in this place as partof a 10th-century complex belongingto the upper city of Jerusalem, completelycoveringthe Canaanite terracesunderneath.We tend to agree with the second possibility, that the structureis a portion of the defense system belongingto the royal precinct of Jerusalem-the uppercity of monarchic times. It is even possiblethat here lies the dividingline betweenthe Ophel and the rest of the city, stretching southwardand eastwardof this point, down to the city exteriordefenselineas it was uncovered by Kenyon on the lowerslope above the spring,and by us in AreaEl1.If thisassumptionis correct, then, for the first time we have a clue pertaining to the city plan and its divisioninto quartersduringmonarchic times. We hope that in the next season we will uncoveradditionalinformation enablingus to discussmore concretely matters related to this structureand otherstructuresand areasin Jerusalem that are mentionedin the Bible,suchas the "Ophel,""David's Citadel," and especially the "Millo," all connected with David and Solomon. Another point of interest was uncoveredat the northernend of Area G, next to the base of the glacis. Here, at the edge of the Israelite house complex, we uncovered small collapsed ashlar stones. A few meters to the north, closer to bedrock, Kenyon found the continuation of these collapsed ashlar stones and among them two large fragments of a proto-Aeolic capital. According to her, the capital and the ashlars belonged to a building which had stood, most likely, at the top of the slope. It now seems that this building is located north of the complex of houses, since under the collapsed ashlars we

uncovereda wall built with the same stones, with well-built steps leading toward it. It is still hard to date this building within the Iron Age. In the meantime,it is safe to assumethat it is somewhatearlier(?) than the "Ahiel's house"complexandtheadjacentrooms. The Finds The abundantfinds from the different periods in all areas are now being analyzed:ostracaand ancient Hebrew inscriptionsby J. Naveh,stone weights of different sizes and periods by A. Eran, seal impressions on Rhodian handlesand coins by D. Ariel, human andanimalskeletalremainsby P. Smith and A. Czernov,metalsby M. Brower, stone implementsby J. Magen, decorated Tridacha and scarabs by B. Brandel,potterygroupsfrom different periods by A. de Grot and D. Tarler, objects from the Islamicperiodby M. Hawari,and Iron Age figurinesby T. Motet. G. Soler, our architect,and Y. Danieli are collectinginformationpertaining to all archeologicaldiscoveries made in the City of David duringthe past 115 years-to be included in updated maps; D. Gill, geologist, is collectingall the geologicalfinds made at the City of David hill and in the subterraneanwaterworks.Pollen analysis is conductedby A. Horovitz and flint tools of the Bronze Age by S. Rosen. The senior staff is now preparingthe completepublicationof the finds from the first two seasons. Warren'sShaft Since the resumptionof researchin the Cityof David,we havebeenstudyingall waterworksconnectedwith the Gihon spring. During previous seasons we worked at the Siloam pool and the tunnelsconnectedwithit(AreaA) andat the Siloam channel (Areas A, B). In

r Above: Area J, Warren'sShaft; a view inside

the horizontaltunnel after it turns to the

southeast. Behind the two figures begins the descent to the vertical shaft. Below: A broken clay rattle (?) found near the upper entrance to Area J (Warren's Shaft). Inside the rattle were five little clay balls placed there before firing; Iron Age II.

.. . . ... .........

1979, for the first time, with the help of mountain climbers, we climbed into the so-called Warren's Shaft. This ancient water system is named after Charles Warren, who discovered it in 1867. In 1980we started clearing Warren'sShaft. A detailed description including the problems related to the finds will appear in a separate article. Warren's Shaft has four main parts: (1) the entrance area from the eastern slope; (2) a sloping tunnel, 14 m long, leading to (3) a horizontal tunnel,

BIBLICALARCHEOLOGIST/SUMMER1981 169

29 m long, at the end of whichis located (4) the top of a verticalshaftgoingdown to a depth of about 13 m, where the waterfromthe Gihon reachedand was drawnby the inhabitantsof the ancient city, who cameto the top of the vertical shaft. Excavatingthe entranceto the top of theshaftandclearingthedebrisinthe sloping tunnel presentedtechnicaland archeologicalproblems.Wereachedthe entrancechamberthrough an ancient tunnel, which we cleared with the assistanceof two miningengineersfrom South Africa. Followingthe clearance of the vaulted entrancechamber,we startedclearingthe slopingtunnel.This task was carriedout by two teams of volunteers,workingfrom both ends of the tunnel, in a mannersimilarto the hewing of Hezekiah'sTunnel, as described in the Siloam inscription.The crewclearingthe bottom of the tunnel arrivedtherethroughthe verticalshaft after climbinga rope ladderaffixedby mountain climbers from Jerusalem. Partial clearing of the tunnel was achieved toward the end of the 1980 season, and now it is possible to go throughthe tunnel,as in ancienttimes, fromthe entranceareato the top of the verticalshaft, where water was drawn from its bottom. The entrance to Warren'sShaft, located insidethe Israelitedefenseline, is hewn in bedrock. During a second phase, retainingwalls and a vaulted ceiling were built there. From an architecturalpoint of view, the vaulted structure could not have been constructedearlierthan the timeof Herod. Theconstructionof thisentrancechamber proves that Warren'sShaft was known during that period, and therefore was probably in use by the inhabitantsof the City of Davidduring the Second Templeperiod. We have no proof that this water system was Jebusite, belonging to Canaanite Jerusalem. The popular explanation developed by Vincent, that this water system was the sinnor, through which David's soldiers, led by Joab, penetrated the city ( 2 Sam 5:6-10; 1Chr I1:4-9), is not accepted today for several reasons by scholars such as B. Mazar, Yadin, and Aharoni, and we join them. We think that ancient water systems were an important element in Israelite city planning, as found in the royal centers of Megiddo, Hazor, Gezer, and

170

in cities such as Gibeon and even perhaps in Beer-shebaand Lachish. We assume that the three waterworks of Jerusalem,which most likely werebuiltin differentperiodsstartingin the 10th century B.C., were in use simultaneouslysince the days of Hezekiah. They were planned to accommodate the fact that they were connectedwith the Gihon spring,whichis differentin its hydrologicalnaturefrom regularspringsconnectedto a constant aquifer. They were each hewn in the rock in a differentmanner and were eachplannedto fulfilla differentrolein the total framework;Warren'sShaft was a conventional system through whichthe inhabitantsreceivedwaterin times of peaceand war. Directconnection between the tunnel leading from inside the city to the watersourcewas disruptedby the sophisticatedmethod of the vertical shaft. It was almost impossibleto reach the city from the springnot only for enemies,butalso for the City of David expedition. The Siloam channel, which is partly open and partly a tunnel, was usedto bringwateroutsidethe city wall and along the Kidronvalleyto irrigate agriculturalplots. This was accomplished through openingshewn in the easternwallof thechannel.Thechannel also drainedrainwaterfromtheeastern slope to pools in the central valley south of the City of David. This is the only area where it was possibleto build pools, into which watercould be brought by gravitationfrom different partsof the city, and protectthem by a fortificationsystem. Today, following the results of Avigad'sexcavationsin the Jewish Quarter,there is no doubt that the Siloam pool was enclosed within the fortificationsof Jerusalem since Hezekiah'stime. This also explains the construction of the third water system, Hezekiah'stunnel. This tunnel is an enclosed aqueduct, bringing water from the Gihon spring to the Siloam pool. By collecting the bursting water of the Gihon spring, the inhabitants of Israelite Jerusalem could control and regulate water supply from the pool without depending on times of maximum flowing; thus, they could use all the available water. Under strict regulation it was possible to divert water to Hezekiah's tunnel or to the Siloam channel. A channel branching from Hezekiah's tunnel constantly pro-

BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST/ SUMMER 1981

vided waterto the bottom of Warren's Shaft. As long as waterwas runningin Hezekiah'stunnel and the entranceto the branchingchannelleadingto Warren'sShaft was open, and as long as it was possible to reach the top of the vertical shaft through the horizontal tunnel, both watersystemscould have been used simultaneously.Hezekiah's tunnel still carrieswater to the pools south of the City of David.The Siloam channel was blocked and abandoned probably during the destruction of Jerusalemby the Babyloniansin 586 B.C.

Excavatingthe City of David, and especiallyclearingWarren'sShaft and walkingthroughit as the ancientsdid, were some of the most impressive experiencessharedby the staff and the manyvolunteerswho workedwithus in summer 1980. We need volunteersfor the comingsummer.If you are interested, come andjoin us. For furtherinformation write to: Yigal Shiloh, City of David Excavations, Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem.

Note 'The City of David Archaeological Project is conducted by the City of David Society for Archaeological Excavations, Preservation and Restoration of the City of David in Jerusalem. Members of the Society are: The Institute of Archaeology/The Hebrew University in Jerusalem; The Israel Exploration Society; The Jerusalem Foundation; the Ambassador International Cultural Foundation (U.S.A.); and a group from South Africa headed by Mr. Mendel Kaplan. Additional help was extended by the municipality of Jerusalem and the Rothschild Foundation. Yigal Shiloh, from the Institute of Archaeology/The Hebrew University in Jerusalem, directs the expedition. Giora Soler is the architect. The Senior Staff includes: Donald Ariel (administration and Area D), Allon de Grot (Area E), David Tarler (Area G), Yair Shoham (Area E2), Mahmud Hawari (Area El), Yigal Val (technical supervision and preservation), Tamar Shiloh (camp administration and registration), Jane Kahil (volunteer program), Yizthak Harari and Zeev Radovan (photography), Yael Danieli (surveying), Miri Kook (restoration), and Shifra Einzenberg(artist). They were assisted by students from the Institute of Archaeology/The Hebrew University. Work was carried out by individual volunteers and groups. The main group working this year was from the Ambasador College in Pasadena and was headed by Prof. Richard Page. Additional assistance was extended this year by Mr. Mendel Kaplan, who arranged for Harvey Espach and Jimmy Quail, both mining engineers at Grinakers Co. in South Africa, to help us with the excavations of Warren's Shaft.

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10 ...

Ancient

Funerary Jerusalem's

Customs and Part

Tombs

One

By L. Y. Rahmani Israel Department of Antiquities and Museums, Jerusalem In this initial essay, the personal, social and theological dimensions of ancient Jewish burial practices are explored. Subsequent articles will examine the development of funerary customs at Jerusalem into the early centuries of our era. Tombs of "Absalom,""Zechariah,"and BeneHezirin the KidronValleyoppositethe templemount of Jerusalem.

The extensive development of Jerusalem in the last 14 years has added significantly to our knowledge of the City's history, including that of its ancient necropolis. Many tombs of the First Temple period have been discovered or redated to this period. The extension of the city's suburbs has brought with it the excavation of many tombs of the Second Temple period. A great number of ossuaries were found in most of them, many inscribed. These discoveries have supplied us with much new information on subjects as diver-

sified as local, ancient sepulchral architecture, burial customs, and modes of crucifixion. Thus, an up-to-date survey, summarizing the results of this research seems desirable. This first of four articles, concerned with ancient Jerusalem's burial customs and the City's tombs, will summarize some basic sociological and psychological theories dealing with the place of burial customs in the life of the individual and society as a whole. It will then probe the Jewish theological as-

BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST/ SUMMER 1981

171

pects of the customs connected with burial in ancient Jerusalem. Anyone investigating the practices and origins of funerary rites will soon find himself confronted by three basic problems. The first of these is the barrier imposed by our own attitudes, which are influenced by our curiosity, fear, and preconceived ideas. We may, however, overcome this with some effort. The second problem we encounter is that any analyzed rite or custom l1nds itself to more than one interpretation. This should not disturb us, however, as it is consistent with life itself; the incentives for our own actions often are a composite of a number of different motivations, often conflicting and seldom completely reconciled. This is especially true in the major rites of passage-at birth, puberty, marriage, and death. Malinowski (1954: 47-53) has aptly described this phenomenon: "The dominant elements, love of the dead and loathing of the corpse, passionate attachment to the personality still lingering about the body and a shattering fear of the gruesome thing that has been left over, these two elements seem to mingle and play into each other .... Never do the negative elements appear alone or even dominant." We should add that in the case of the particular rites or customs discussed below, we sometimes find more than just these two elements playing into each other. The third problem we encounter is the disturbing fact that our choice as to the original motivations for a certain rite or custom may be predominantly subjective, influenced by one's own psychological and even physiological makeup. As humans we succeed only partially in mastering this tendency. Thus we must rememberconstantly that all our statements, despite the best of our knowledge and the greatest endeavor at objectivity, may be proven partially or even completely wrong by future research. Sociological Aspects Whenever he has confronted death, man has tended to deny its finality, both in general and as applied to himself. Despite the inevitability of death, he must establish his personal equilibrium after each instance. Moreover, the standing of the bereaved in society must

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172 BIBLICALARCHEOLOGIST/SUMMER1981

tinted clay. Similar skulls belonging to a family's ancestors, buried under the living quarters or exhibited at the communal house of a village, are found in recent cultures in Oceania. In many cases such skulls are believed to contain the "mana," or inherent power of these fathers in life. Keeping these skulls within the precinct of the living, reconstituted to lifelike resemblance, ensured the continued beneficial influence of this "mana" (Kenyon 1957). Certain ceremonies performed at the funeral, often repeated at specified occasions, such as libations and meals, were believed to benefit the deceased and

assure the living of their further goodwill and the beneficial outpouring of their power. This practice, which presumably benefited both the dead and the living, overcame the aversion and fear of the corpse, and indeed, outweighed it completely. If we jump in time from Neolithic Jericho to Ist-millennium B.c. Jerusalem, we find a fundamentally similar picture. While the people and culture of that time and place held all dead matter to be defiling, the royal sepulchre was nevertheless placed within the City of David. Several hundred years later this concept changed, and the demand was voiced to purify the city "of the carcasses of their kings" (Ezek 43:7-9), and later kings were probably buried outside the city. Even then, however, the sepulchre of David was not ejected or transferred. It remained inside the city down to Peter's day, who, speaking of David, stated: ". . . his sepulchre is with us unto this day" (Acts 2:29). Popular belief in latter-day Judaism and Islam, wherever it may locate the tomb of David, conceives of him as dwelling in his tomb, as Jewish folksong has it, Hay ve-kayyan, "living and existing." In more recent times and cultures better known to us, we find such practices and their motivations little changed. Be it the legendary burials of King Arthur at Avalon-Glastonbury, or Fredric Barbarossa in the Kyffhaiuser, or the real one of Charlemagne at Aachen-all these rulers were supposed to dwell there, to live among their people, and to rise at an hour of dire need. Some of these concepts linger in religious houses and foundations put in charge of central royal sepulchres in various European countries. One may encounter them again in the venerated tombs of political leaders of modern times-from Napoleon's tomb in the heart of Paris to the bodies of Lenin, Stalin, and Mao, each reconstituted to lifelike appearance and enshrined at the very heart of the capital of his country. Whether we consider the burial of important figures central to the life of a tribe, a people, or other large group, or merely the burial of an ordinary individual dear only to his immediate relatives, we find that two fundamental sociological explanations may apply. One, termed "functionalist" by Werblowski (1973), stems mainly from

Malinowski. It sees the outcome of nonexistence of the lost object is bound conflicting emotions in the rites and to the unwillingness of the ego to be lost customs connected with death, as "the as well, lured away from death by the reintegration of the group's shaken soli- sum total of narcissistic satisfactions of darity and.., the re-establishmentof its being alive. morale." The other, termed "strucTo this Helene Deutsch (1937) turalist" by Werblowski, stems from added a significant contribution, on the Durkheim and holds that these rites and basis of certain case histories which customs have a public function, creating revealed serious emotional disturbances rather than expressing emotions and whenever the Work of Mourning had thus affirming a 2iven society's values. not been completed. Deutsch saw the Van Gennep (1960: 146-65), who reason for these emotional disturbances dealt extensively with such rites of in early libidinal or aggressive unresolved attachments. She also found that passage, saw them as a regeneration of energy. The rites aim at returning the such absence of grief occured when bereaved individuals, as well as the the painful load exceeded a threshold deceased, into the customary routines limit. As she put it: "If the free energies of life. Chappel and Coon (1947), elabof the ego have been reduced by orating on van Gennep's ideas, pointed previous withdrawals for other interout that the individual "ritesof passage" ests, the residual energy is unable to were nonrecurring, as distinct from cope with the exigent demands of recurring group events, which had their mourning" (1937: 14). In other words, "rites of intensification." Individual at periods of great stress, especially if ritual was aimed at reestablishment of a these should be prolonged, we may find new equilibrium, based upon the people unable to carry through a Work changed situation caused by the death of Mourning. One would expect such a of a near relation. society then to create customs and rites With such modifications, van Gen- which might aid its members in carrying nep's scheme fundamentally still holds, out their Work of Mourning at a pace as Kimball pointed out in his intro- and in ways adjusted to the prevailing duction to the English translation of conditions. Consequently, an optimal The Rites of Passage (1960: XII-XIV). social and psychological equilibrium It seems well-attuned to Malinowski's could be maintained. views, arrived at through extensive anthropological fieldwork. These views Jewish Theological Aspects then seem most valuable for under- Let us now turn to the better-explored standing the funeral customs, which we field of Jewish religious thought about shall discuss below. death and burial, as expressed in the Bible and postbiblical and rabbinic literature. Much of the latter is conPsychological Aspects Because psychology deals largely with tained in the Tractate "Mourning" the practical field, in neurosis or psy- (Semahot -literally and euphemisticalchosis, and because psychologists have ly: "Rejoicings"). This 3rd-centuryA.D. shown, even in psychoanalytic schools, Talmudic tractate, more fully called more interest in puberty rites than in Ebel Rabbati ("Major Mourning"), rites connected with death and burial, contains regulations relating to death, we find ourselves in relatively unex- burial, and mourning (Zlotnick 1966: 1plored territory. 9), many relating to customs a hundred However, we do find that Freud or two hundredyears older. The biblical himself (1957a-b) has contributed a ideas of the fate of the dead are clear. It most basic and valuable concept in this is a descent into a netherworld (J•dl), area as well. It is that of the "Work of called at times "dust"(cdpdr-Ps 22:30; Mourning" (Trauerarbeit), designating Isa 26:19) or described as a pit (bar-Isa the slow, painful, and successive loosen14:15;cf. Prov 28:17) which may be seen ing of the ties of reminiscences and as built of stones (Isa 14:19). It is expectations with which the libido is conceived as a dark place (Job 10:21-22) connected to the lost object-the where one descends, never to return. deceased relative. Once this Work of There one is counted among the "shaMourning has been completed, the ego dows," the "Weak Ones" (rpSpdt'), is again free and unhindered. Freud never to rise again (Isa 26:14). The dead surmised that this acceptance of the are described as being cut off from the BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST/ SUMMER 1981

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practice wherever organized society existed, whether among nomadic or rural populations, with an Arab Hamula, or a Scottish clan. One would turn to one's fathers to be assured of similar provision. Thus, it should not be unexpected that the Bible constantly refers to the deceased as being "gathered unto their fathers" (Judg 2:10), "laid down with their fathers," or "buried with their fathers" (Kings and Chronicles, passim). Mourning customs kept by the next of kin, as reflected in the Bible, included abstaining from washing, anointing, and from wearing footwear and ornaments. Garments were rent, sackcloth worn; the head was bared and covered with ashes and the mournerssat on the bare ground (Lam 2:10). Lamentations were chanted, and all pleasurable activity ceased. All this concerned a mourning period of up to seven days (Gen 50:10). A period of as long as 30 days is mentioned only in connection with the death of Moses (Deut 34:8). Forbidden were contemporary pagan mourning rites such as self-infliction of wounds and shaving of the head (Deut 14:1; cf. Lev 19:27-28), as well as

174 BIBLICALARCHEOLOGIST/SUMMER1981

sacrifices to the dead (Deut 26:14; Ps 106:28) and necromancy (Deut 18:11). From Maccabean times forward, we encounter new trends of thought concerning afterlife as exemplified in Dan 12:2. We find here the beginning of eschatological thinking, well-adapted to times of great disasters and great expectations; it is in this framework that we encounter the belief in individual, physical resurrection. This concept is expressed very clearly in 2 Maccabees 7, where we have the seven brethren and their mother enduring every torture commanded by the wicked king, proudly declaring their belief "thatthe King of the World shall raise us up, who have died for His laws, unto an eternal renewal of life." In another incident of the same period, Razis, an elder of Jerusalem, who took his own life to avoid capture by the Seleucid general Nicanor, exposed his bowels to the crowds before he died, and called "upon Him who is Lord of life and Spirit to restore him these again" (2 Macc 14:46). Such resurrection, however, was considered to be reserved only for the righteous who were in a sinless state. Should this state be in doubt, even with

those who had given their lives for their faith, a prayer and a sin offering might still assure the deceased of their resurrection (2 Macc 12:38-45). There seems no reason to seek the sources of this belief outside the boundaries of Judah. The sociopolitical situation in the country would well lend itself to the growth of eschatological ideas such as individual, physical resurrection. We shall not maintain that ideas do not travel, intermingle, and trigger chains of thought both in ancient and modern times. We cannot point to any definite place, however, from which such ideas of resurrection might have been brought into Jerusalem at the period concerning us here. At any rate, to become locally accepted by a large body of people, ideas must answer real social, political, and psychological needs of the whole group as well as of its individual members. Such was the case of the Hassidim, the righteous of early Maccabean times, who accepted individual physical resurrection,which later became a fundamental belief of the Pharisees as well. This belief was well attuned to their social status. The scribes, rabbis, and artisans, who were mostly city-dwellers (cf. Josephus Ant. 18.1.3) who found themselves unable to assure sustenance and security upon earth for their own immediate offspring for any length of time, and who could not expect such aid from their parents, fostered this eschatological hope against the backdrop of increasingly harsh conditions. Of an opposite belief were the Sadducees, who denied the biblical origin of the belief in a physical resurrection, a denial most natural to their social status: a very wealthy temple aristocracy, landed gentry, and great merchants, all still organized in large family groups. They could well afford food, dress, and security to all their members, both upon the earth and below, in the netherworld. The stand of the Pharisees, who professed biblical origins and thus divine sanction for their belief, prevailed, however. Thus, belief in a personal and physical resurrection eventually evolved into a fundamental principle of Jewish faith. Among most of the Pharisees, a sinless state seems to have been considered a prerequisite to resurrection (Josephus Ant. 18.1.3; B.J. 2.8.14).

Parallel ideas of the resurrection of the just and the unjust existed (cf. Acts 24:14), again with variations, affirming that those who had done good would rise to inherit everlasting life, while those who had done evil would rise to inherit damnation (John 5:28-29). Such variations in thought are to be expected immediately preceding and following A.D. 70 around Jerusalem. Into this framework fits the ruling of Pharisaic circles, even before the destruction of the Temple, that executed criminals must be denied burial in their fathers' tombs until the flesh had wasted away, after which time the bones were gathered together and buried in the family tomb (m. Sanh. 6:5-6, t. Sanh. 9:8; Zuck. 429). This was based upon the belief that the painful process of the decomposition of the flesh atoned for the sins. Such thoughts of expiation seemingly appealed to certain of the most pious of the Pharisees, who well might have considered all and sundry as sinners, including themselves, in need of such an expiation as precondition to their resurrection. Later mourning customs in the main continued the earlier ones. However, a differentiation of the length of the state of mourning was now introduced. This included the concept of aninuth-the sorrow appropriate to the next of kin between the moment of death and time of burial, calling for refraining from daily prayer and all other occupations unsuitable to the state of the mourners. The shivcah, the seven-day period of mourning, started with burial. It was especially stringent on the day of burial and for the next two days (for an earlier mourning period of two to three days only, see Ben Sira 38:17). Duringshivcah mourners stayed away from work, sitting at home upon (low) couches, heads covered, receiving the condolences of relatives and friends. The shloshim, the 30-day period, forbade mourners to leave town, cut their hair, or attend social gatherings. Thus, the Work of Mourning, which previously had been as short as two to seven days, was now prolonged to 30 days and eventually to 12 months. At the end of this period, the family member gathered his forbear's bones into a stone cist, today called an ossuary, which then was left in the family vault. This custom, first encountered in Jerusalem from about the time

of King Herod's rule, was practiced by Jerusalemite Jews in different parts of the country and in rare cases even beyond its borders, and died out in the first part of the 3rd century A.D. In its ossuary, the whole skeleton of the deceased, now assured of a sinless state, was thus reserved for an individual and physical resurrection, which was believed to be near at hand. Interestingly enough, both this belief and the practice of this custom are absent among the Essenes, who conceived only of an immortality of the soul (Josephus Ant. 18.1.3; B.J. 2.8.11). In the Pharisaic tradition, before the destruction of the Temple, we find texts that give us details of this custom and its motivations: And further said Rabbi Meir: "A man collects the bones of his father and mother, because it is a gladness unto him .... when the flesh had decayed, they collected the bones and buried them in an ossuary. That day (the son) kept (again) full mourning rites, but the following day he was glad, because his forbears rested from judgment" (y. Moced Qat. 1.80 c).

And further: Rabbi Eleazar bar Zadok (ca. A.D.80-110) said: "Thus spoke father at the time of his death: 'My son, bury me at first in a pit. In the course of time, collect my bones and put them in an ossuary; but do not gather them with your own hands.' And thus did I attend him: Johanan entered, collected the bones and spread a sheet over them. I then came in, rent my clothes for them and sprinkled dried herbs over them. Just as he attended his father, so I attended him." (Tractate "Mourning," 12:9).

These passages, which refer to customs in Jerusalem before its destruction in A.D. 70, through the time of Rabbi Meir, the famous pupil of Rabbi Akiva (ca. A.D. 135-70), illustrate the historical setting and ideological motivation of this custom, called ossilegium, or secondary burial (Likkut Casamot); furthermore, they show that with the day of bone gathering, the bereaved had completed his Work of Mourning. It seems likely that this prolongation of the Work of Mourning helped the bereaved to cope with the demands of this work. In the accounts quoted, we find great significance in the repeating of basic rites customary at theall time of mourning the primary burial, such as the rending of the garment. This should

BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST/ SUMMER 1981

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be interpreted as expressing identification with the dead who has been assured of resurrection after the termination of ossilegium. Furthermore, the words "just as he attended his father, so I attended him "(Tractate "Mourning," 12:9) express most aptly the remedy against the fear of death in the heart of the mourner himself. In this act of filial piety, the mourner finds the implied assurance that his son will attend to his need in a similar fashion, thus assuring him of resurrection.Tending to the need of the individual, the rite of ossilegium at the same time strengthened the eschatological hopes of the community as a whole. One may surmise that in this matter, as in other spheres, even some of the Sadducees might "addictthemselves to the notions of the Pharisees" (Josephus Ant. 18.1.4). Both in the psychological and in the sociological sense, this ossilegium was thus an individual, nonrecurring rite of passage, concluding the Work of Mourning. Concurrently, it established relations between the deceased and his bereaved relative appropriate to the changed situation and reestablished the equilibrium between the bereaved and the community, which he could now rejoin, unimpeded by any further mourning. Moreover, the hope that the deceased and the community of the righteous would meet again at a resurrection, believed to be near at hand, went a long way to compensate for feelings engendered by the harsh conditions prevailing at this time. With this new concept of the resurrection, one finds still older concepts of the "tomb of the Fathers" and even of the deposition of nourishment for the deceased prevailing. But then one may not expect either quick change or logical thought in such rites of passage, often motivated by conflicting concepts. However, changes of the

social and political conditions caused a change of customs. Martyrdom tended to make nonsense of the idea that the existence of the whole skeleton, often lost in the act of faith, was a prerequisite of resurrection. Thus we find a change in this concept about A.D. 400, when it is affirmed that a certain small bone of the spine, called "Luz," would suffice for the resurrection of the dead (Midr. Lev. Rab. 18:1). Others held that the Lord might resurrect even those devoured by lions or drowned at sea-a resurrection

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Catacomb14 of the Necropolisat BethShecarimin Galilee.Thistombwas theburial placeof RabbiShimconand RabbiGamaliel.the sons of RabbiJudahHa-Nassi,the headof the Sanhedrinin the 3rdcenturyA.D. Afterthe BarKochbarevoltinA.D. 13235, massesof Jews fromJudahfled to Galilee,and Beth Shecarim becamethe new centerforPalestinianJewsandthemaincemeteryforDiasporaJewswhowishedto be buriedin the Holy Land. conceived even when none of the bones remained (Midr. Lam. Rab. 1:16). These concepts and their ensuing customs, which are continually changing and adapting, should be understood as trends, developing along different lines, sometimes concurrent and often conflicting. We have followed some of

BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST/ SUMMER 1981

these trends from Hassidic circles in the Maccabean period to Pharisaic and early Rabbinic circles through the early 3rd century A.D. In the latter period, the belief in a physical, individual resurrection was expressed and practiced by means of the ossilegium rite of placing the complete skeleton into an ossuary.

This practice, however, was abandoned after the early 3rd century. It was unsuited to the new conditions of life and out of tune with a generally more spiritual attitude toward death and the afterlife. We find this attitude demonstrated in the sharply diminished number of grave goods, which dwindled in the 3rd century to lamps and an occasional small vessel which likely contained nothing beyond some perfumed oil or fragrant herbs. It is an attitude typified by Ray, the early 3rd-

century founder of the first Babylonian practical, the ancient burial places on Yeshiva at Sura, who affirmed that in the slopes of the Mount of Olives might the other world there was no eating or be preferred, where all would await envy, hate, or competition; instead, the resurrection in the Valley of Jehoshacrowned righteous rested there and phat. The new motivation for this enjoyed the splendor of the Lord (y. transfer of remains from abroad was Ber. 17 a). concerned with the desire to rest in Any gathering of bones still under- hallowed earth until the Day of Last taken from that time on concerned itself Judgment. These, however, are conwith the transfer of the mortal remains cepts beyond the scope of our present of Jews who had died abroad and were inquiry. brought to rest in the Holy Land. Eventually, when this again became

Bibliography Barrois, A. G. 1953 Manuel d'archdologie biblique, II. Paris: Picard. (Pp. 317-23.) Bendann, E. 1930 Death Customs, An Analytic Study of Burial Rites. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. Chapple, E. D., and Coon, C. S. 1947 Principles ofAnthropology. London: Cape. (Pp. 484-528.) Deutsch, H. 1937 Absence of Grief. Psychoanalytic Quarterly 6: 12-22. Durkheim, E. 1965 The Elementary Forms of Religious Life (1915). New York: Free Press. (Pp. 390-403.) Eichrodt, W. 1967 Theology of the Old Testament (1964). London: SCM. (Pp. 496-529.) Fenichel, O. 1977 The Psychoanalytic Theory of Neurosis (1946). London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. (Pp. 393-96.) Finkelstein, L. 1946 The Pharisees, The Sociological Background of their Faith. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society. (Esp. pp. 145-59). Fohrer, S. 1972 History of Israelite Religion (1968). Nashville: Abingdon. (Pp. 214-22; 385-90.) Frazer, J. G. 1968 The Belief in Immortality and the Worship of the Dead 1-3 (19131922). London: Dawsons. Freud, S. 1957a Thoughts for the Time of War and Death (1915), Standard Edition XIV. London: Hogart. (Esp. pp. 289-350.) 1957b Mourning and Melancholia (1916), Standard Edition XIV. London: Hogart. (Pp. 243-58.)

Gennep, A. van 1960 The Rites ofPassage (1908). London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. Habenstein, R. W. 1968 The Social Organization of Death. Pp. 26-28 in International Encyclopaedia of Social Sciences, s.v. Death. London: Macmillan. Hengel, M. 1974 Judaism and Hellenism (1973). London: SCM. (Pp. 196-202.) 1978 Qumran und der Hellenismus. Pp. 365-67 in Qumran, sa pietY, sa theologie et son milieu; Bibliotheca Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium XLVI. Paris: Leuven. Hocart, A. M. 1931 Death Customs. Pp. 21-27 in Encyclopaedia of Social Sciences. New York: Macmillan. Kenyon, K. M. 1957 Digging Up Jericho. London: Benn. (Pp. 60-64.) Klein, S. 1908 Tod und Begrdbnis in Palistina zur Zeit der Tanaiten. (Ph.D dissertation at the Albert-Ludwigs-Universitit, Frieburg. Br.). Berlin. Lieberman, S. Some Aspects of Afterlife in Early 1965 Rabbinic Literature, Harry Austryn Wolfson Jubilee Volume (English Section, II). Jerusalem: American Academy for Jewish Research. (Pp. 495-532.) Malinowski, B. 1954 Magic, Science and Religion (1925). New York: Doubleday. (Pp. 47-53). Meyers, E. M. 1970 Secondary Burials in Palestine. The Biblical Archaeologist 33: 2-29; reprinted in The Biblical Archeologist Reader 4, ed. D. N. Freedman and E. F. Campbell, Jr. Cambridge, MA: American Schools of Oriental Research, 1981.

Mourning, Tractate (see Zlotnick, D.) Palgi, P. 1973

The Socio-cultural Expressions and Implications of Death, Mourning and Bereavementarising out of a War Situation in Israel. Israel Annals of Psychiatry 11: 301-29. Pollock, G. H. 1972 On Mourning and Anniversaries: The Relationship of Culturally Constituted Defensive Systems to IntraPsychic Adaptive Processes. Israel Annals of Psychiatry 10: 9-40. Rivers, W. H. 1926 The Primitive Conception of Death (1911-12). Pp. 36-50 in Psychology and Ethnology. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. Spiro, J. D. 1967 A Time to Mourn. Pp. 56-57 in Judaism and the Psychology of Bereavement. New York: Bloch. Vaux, R. de Les Institutions de lAncien Testa1958 ment I. Paris: Cerf. (Pp. 93-106.) Werblowski, R. J. Z. 1973 s.v. Funerary Rites and Customs. Pp. 1011-17 in Encyclopaedia Britannica. Zlotnick, D. The Tractate "Mourning" (Sf ma1966 hot). New Haven, London: Yale University.

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177

FranlK Thomas MEMORIAM1933-1980

Harry IN

Tom Frank, teacher and friend, died of a pulmonary embolism on October 8, 1980, a few days after surgery. His work as Associate Editor of BA was only the most recent of his extraordinary contributions to biblical archeology and a logical continuation of his academic, professional, and personal enthusiasm for our discipline. His active fieldwork began with his participation as a staff member in the Taanach excavations, and it ended there because of the discovery that he had cancer. But Tom will not be remembered for his contributions to biblical studies in a narrow scholarly sense. Rather, for more than two decades, as minister, teacher, writer, and lecturer, he achieved what few of us have attempted and fewer still can claim. This achievement is the aim of BA and an eloquent summary of Tom's career: "to provide the general reader with an accurate, scholarly, yet easily understandable account of archeological discoveries and their bearing on the biblical heritage." After completing his B.D. at Yale (1959) and his Ph.D. at Duke (1963), "Mr. Frank" taught for a year at

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Randolph-Macon Woman's College and then moved to Oberlin, where at the time of his death he was Professor of Religion and chairman of the department. His courses there in Old and New Testament epitomized his gifts, for to hundreds of Oberlin undergraduates he opened up the Bible and its world. Whether "Hebrew Religion" or "Life and Teachings of Jesus" or "Archeology of the Holy Land," every course he taught was crowded with students whose enthusiasm grew and grew; one measure is the large number of Oberlin alumni and alumnae who have gone on to graduate work and productive careers in biblical studies, religion, and archeology. As a core-staff member of the Hesi expedition from its inception in 1970, he was principally responsible for having shaped its volunteer program into the best educational experience for budding archeologists offered by any dig in the Near East. Although he could not spend much time at the site because of his health, his orientation programs for volunteers in Jerusalem (to say nothing of his work during the year and behind the scenes) set a high

BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST/ SUMMER 1981

standard and a daunting pace for staff and participants. Tom was an active ASOR Trustee and a prolific author. His books were an extension of his teaching vocation: he was co-author of The Bible Through the Ages (1967) and The Oxford Bible Atlas (2nd ed., 1974), and author of Discovering the Biblical World (1975). Perhaps the title that best summarizes his professional and personal commitments is Bible, Archaeology and Faith (1971), for he, in a rare way, combined expertise in biblical studies and archeology, such that he earned the appellation "biblical archeologist," and a mature, tough faith, with a passion for sharing both. Bible, archeology, and faith: these were synthesized in Tom Frank-respected teacher, treasured friend, and companion of the Way. We miss him dearly. Michael David Coogan (Michael David Coogan is Associate Professor of Old Testament at Harvard University and was a staff member of the Joint Expedition to Tell el-Hesi from 1970 to 1975.)

Notes

&

-News 1980 Surveyof Abila of the Decapolis An archeologicalsurveyof one of the ancientDecapoliscities, Abila, in the Wadi Quailibah,north of Irbid, Jordan, was conducted 9 July to 5 August 1980, cosponsored by the Departmentof Antiquitiesof Jordanand CovenantTheological Seminary.This surveywas underthe supervisionof Dr. Adnan Hadidi, Director of the Departmentof Antiquities. Sultan Shureidah,DistrictInspectorin Irbid,was assignedto overseeand assist in the work at the site.

Domoscus

Raphana Mediterranean

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The site of ancient Abila, located at the Wadi Quailibah, about 13 km north of Irbid, was one of the ancient cities of the Decapolis, along with Gadara (Um Qeis), Pella (Tabaqat Fahl), Gerasa (Jerash), Philadelphia (Amman), and others. The earliest list of the Decapolis cities is provided by Pliny in his Natural History (1st century A.D.), but it is the 2nd-century A.D. geographer, Ptolemy, in his Geography (5.14.22) who first mentioned Abila as one of the cities of the Decapolis. These cities flourished in the Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine periods (from about 200 B.C. to A.D. 640). The site of Abila is large, some 780 m long and 480 m wide, embracing the north and south tells of Tell Abila and Khirbet Umm el cAmad, respectively, with a saddle in between. Abila on its east was blessed with a substantial stream of water, presently supporting a large grove of trees. The stream issues from Ain Quailibah, which is south of the site of Abila. An arched bridge supports the road that proceeds from the east into the ancient city. There are cave tombs in the southern area along the wadi edge between Abila and Ain Quailibah, at Wadi Abila to the north of the site, and Wadi Quailibah on the east.

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The saddlebetweenTell Abila(right)and KhirbetUmmel CAmad(left).

The survey team consisted of Dr. W. Harold Mare, Director; Michael J. Fuller, Springfield, Missouri, ArchitectSurveyor; Cherie Lenzen, Washington Cove, Maryland, Pottery Specialist; Myra A. Mare, St. Louis, Missouri, Pottery and Objects Registrar; Dr. James A. Sauer, Director of ACOR, Amman, Jordan, Advisor to the Pottery Specialist; Dr. David F. Graf, NEH Fellow of ASOR at Amman, Epigraphic Consultant; and two assistant workers, Anne Undeland, Damascus, Syria, and Erik Harrell, Amman. Dr. Abraham Terian, Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Michigan, Numismatic Consultant, stood ready in the United States to advise on any coins found at the site.

Theobjectivesof thesurveywereto do a systematicsurface sherdingof the siteof Abilaandmakearchitectural drawingsof the majorremainsvisibleabove ground,fromwhichtherewas drawn a tentative plan of the site. These drawings were compared with an earlier sketch of Tell Abila by G. Schumacherwho visitedthe site in 1889.Theimmensityof the site and the largequantityof sherdsfound(33,432)in the 1980 surveyprohibitedanyfurtherinvestigationbeyondtheconfines of Abila.About 1959,the Departmentof Antiquitiesof Jordan excavateda numberof chambertombsand shafttombsabout 500 m northeast of the ancient ruins of Abila, but no archeologicalexcavationshaveeverbeenconductedat the site itself. The methodin surveyingAbilaconsistedof layingout, by meansof a TeledyneGurneytransit,fournorth-southtransects BIBLICAL SUMMER1981 179 ARCHEOLOGIST/

with 20 m-square cells in each transect. These transects were laid out at 100-m intervals in a north-south pattern across the site. At one point two north-south transects were connected by an east-west transect. Sherds were then collected from these transect cells and were tabulated and dated as to their archeological periods. A total of 17.6%of the site was covered in this way. Through this process a helpful understanding of the archeological history of ancient Abila was obtained, leading to the conclusion that the site was inhabited to a larger or smaller degree in the EB, Iron I-II, Roman, Byzantine, and Umayyad periods. Occasionally, sherds were also found representingthe MB I, LB, and Hellenistic periods. The architectural drawings aided in giving a better understandingof the settlement patterns at the site in some of the archeological periods and enabled the drawing of an integrated plan for the site. Schumacher's earlier plan was checked against these present drawings, and although his plan contained a good many of the architectural features, it was laid out on much too small a scale.

ANCIENT

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Colloquiumon the Historyand Archaeologyof Late Bronze and Iron Age Jordanand N.W. Arabia

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dimensions of the inner court of the temple were 36.50 m by 20.0 m. The remains of the so-called Public Building on the crown of the north tell, Tell Abila, show a building 34.50 m by 19.0 m with remains of columns and capitals strewn within it. There are also many more ruins of ancient buildings and walls discernible. In the forthcoming season of work at Abila, in the summer of 1982, the survey of the site and its environs will continue, and an archeological probe will be conducted to shed more light on the archeological history, culture, and settlement patterns of the site. The extension of the survey and the surface sherding to the area some 5 kms around Abila should give further indication of the occupational history of the site. The excavation probe, projected for a sector of the north tell where the 1980 surface sherding showed a good representationof various archeological periods, will help establish the stratigraphic sequence of the discoveries.

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1

Of the major architectural features visible above ground, the theater cavea facing northeast and located on the north edge of the south tell, Khirbet Umm el cAmad evidenced a large structure, with a diameter across the seating area of 80 m. The ruins of the basilica, located on a plain just east of the theater, point to a building that had a central chamber about 24.80 m by 18.70 m and an apse on the east about 4.85 m deep by 10.60 m wide. The temple remains, located on the crown of Khirbet Umm el cAmad about 110 m southwest of the theater, consist of a substantial group of broken column drums and Corinthian capitals oriented basically east-west, which suggest that the

180 BIBLICALARCHEOLOGIST/SUMMER1981

A Colloquium on the History and Archaeology of Late Bronze and Iron Age Jordan and N.W. Arabia was held at the University of Loadon's Institute of Archaeology on April 3-4, 1981. The Colloquium originated from discussions at the "First International Conference on the History and Archaeology of Jordan" held at Oxford University, March 25-31, 1980 (cf. BA 43 [1980] 190-91). It was organized by John F. A. Sawyer of the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne and Peter Parr of the University of London. Representatives of ten countries took part in the Colloquium. In the section on Sites and Surveys, Burton MacDonald reported on "The Late Bronze and Iron Age Sites of the 1979 Wadi el Hasd Survey, Southern Jordan." He concluded that there is evidence for occupation along the south bank of the Wadi el Hasd during the latter part of the Late Bronze Age. Moreover, there is ample evidence for occupation in both the Iron I and II periods in the same area. He pointed out, however, that the painted Edomite pottery found at such sites as Buseira and Tawilan was not found in the area. Garth Bawden, Harvard University, reported on recent excavations at Tayma' in N.W. Arabia. He stated that the site was occupied during most of the first millennium B.C.and was especially important in the eighth century B.C. It was emphasized that the date when this painted pottery, called by some "Midianite" pottery, first appeared at Taymd' is not precisely known. Michael L. Ingraham, University of Toronto, reported on "More Recent Investigations in N.W. Arabia: A Survey of Problems and Their Solutions." He surveyed 188 sites which range in date from Middle Paleolithic to Islamic. He emphasized that his work at Qurayyah, which he called a Midianite-Nabatean-Roman site, confirmed the previous findings of Parr. Furthermore, it was pointed out that the late second millennium and first millennium B.C.are archeologically rich in the Hejaz. Benno Rothenberg, University of London, opened the section on Pottery by addressing the question of "The Midianite Pottery." He spoke of his excavations at Timna and the discovery there of a decorated multi-colored, cream-slipped pottery which he dates to the 13th-12th centuries B.C.on the basis of stratigraphy and two New Kingdom scarabs. Consequently, he called this ware "Midianite pottery." He pointed out that his "Midianite"corpus from Timna fits in well with the pottery of Qurayyah and Taymi'. His recent

petrographic investigations have led him to the conclusion that among people of a society, the rate of infant mortality and life this pottery was produced in the region of Qurayyah and expectancy, incidence of death in child-bearing, paleonowhere else. When speaking of "Midianite"pottery we ought, pathology, and so forth. he stressed, to restrict our remarks to the decorated ware, In further discussion, it was pointed out by Peter Parr that otherwise the situation is too confusing. John Dayton, perhaps we ought to speak of Qurayyah ware rather than however, disagreed with Rothenberg and indicated that a lot "Midianite pottery." Manfred Weippert, of the University of more work must be done before we can say that the "Midianite" Utrecht, said that he has always referred to such pottery as corpus is homogeneous. Marion Oakeshott, University of Hejaz pottery. It seemed to be the general opinion of the London, spoke of "The Edomite Pottery" of Buseira, Tawilan, meeting that the pottery of Tell el Kheleifeh is Edomite and Umm el Biyarra-sites excavated by Crystal M. Bennett-and dates from the Iron II period. Thus, this site ought not to be Tell el Kheleifeh. She said that the painted pottery found at all associated with Solomon's Ezion-geber. Peter Ackroyd, King's these sites is to be dated to Iron II and pointed out similarities College, wondered whether or not the Midianites of the north between Buseira ware and Assyrian forms. and those of the south ought to be separated. The proceedings of the Colloquium will be published. John F. Merkel, University of London, opened the section on Metallurgy by describing "A Laboratory Reconstruction of Burton MacDonald Late Bronze-Early Iron Age Copper Smelting in the Arabah." St. Francis Xavier University His experiments are being carried out at the Institute of Antigonish, Nova Scotia B2G ICO Archaeometallurgy of the University of London in an attempt to duplicate the ancient smelting techniques used at Timna, which, he observed, are the nearest we have gotten to the ancient craft of metallurgy. John F. A. Sawyer dealt with "The Bab edh-Dhra Tomb Groups on Display Meaning of barzel in the Biblical Expressions 'chariots of iron,' Tomb groups from the Bab edh-Dhra cemetery on the of in the of Recent 'yoke iron,'etc., Light Archaeometallurgy." His studies of the word barzel ("iron") have led him to the southeast shores of the Dead Sea are on display or available for conclusion that it is an emotive term, suggesting in almost all its study at over 20 American, Canadian, and Australian occurrences foreign oppression and brutality. He went on to institutions. In 1978the Jordan Department of Antiquities gave describe how investigations in the light of recent archeo- permission for the export of pottery from the 24 shaft tombs and three charnel houses from Paul W. Lapp's excavations of metallurgy now provide striking confirmation of that sug1965 and 1967. An ad hoc committee of the American Schools gestion. of Oriental Research was formed to make arrangements for the The final segment of the Colloquium dealt with Social and Political History. John R. Bartlett, University of Dublin, distribution of the material under the chairmanship of Nancy L. treated "The 'United' Campaign Against Moab in II Kings 3:4- Lapp with the help of David and Linda McCreery in Amman, 27." This "united"campaign against Moab supposedly involved Jordan. In addition, for the 1977 campaign two shaft tombs have been reconstructed at the Smithsonian Institution, and an the states of Israel, Judah, and Edom in the mid 9th century B.c. He concluded that the King of Edom was originally not exact duplication of a tomb chamber is on display at St. John's involved in the tale since it was probably a non-historical University, Collegeville, Minnesota. Institutions where tomb groups are displayed to the public prophetic story. Ernest A. Knauf, University of Kiel, spoke of "Midianites and Ishmaelites." He first referred to biblical or available by appointment are given below. passages where these two groups are mentioned and stated that there is no basis from the biblical text to accept Ishmaelites in Anderson College, Museum of Bible and Near Eastern Studies the second millennium B.c. He rather dates them to the 8th Anderson School of Theology Building, Anderson, IN 46012. Gustav D. Jeeninga, Director. century B.c. and sees them flourishing in the 7th century s.c. The Midianites of Judg 6:1-5 are then viewed as being in fact Andrews University, Horn Archaeological Museum Ishmaelites and the story as being written during the Exilic or Berrien Springs, MI 49104; tel. (616) 471-3273. Prof. post-Exilic period. He concluded that the Midianites and Larry Geraty. On display 5 days a week and on weekends Ishmaelites had originally nothing to do with each other. by special arrangement. Elizabeth J. Payne, University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, spoke Institute of Archaeology Baylor University, of "The Midianite Arc in Joshua and Judges." In her opinion, in Tidwell Building, Waco, TX 76798. Bruce C. Cresson, the period prior to Israel's bid for domination in Palestine, Director. Displayed and identified; available to general Midianites were sedentary in an arc of territory almost and students. public the southern of Canaanite-held lands. surrounding portion Specifically, she said, they occupied the region of the Negeb, Bethel Theological Seminary 3949 Bethel Drive, St. Paul, MN 55112. Prof. Gordon Edom, Moab, the Amorite kingdom south of Wadi Zerqa, the Jordan Valley west of Gilead, the plain of Jezreel and the hills of Johnson. southern Galilee. The purpose of her paper was to demonstrate Christ Seminary, Seminex the extent to which relevant passages of the Books of Joshua Reading Room of Library, 13th floor, 607 N. Grand, St. and Judges contribute to our picture of the northern section of Louis, MO 63103. Prof. Carl Graesser. Open to general the Midianite Arc. Khair Yassine, University of Amman, public, ask at library desk. Typical shaft tomb addressed the topic of "Social-Religious Distinctions of the reconstructed. Visual aids include a slide and tape Iron Age II Burial Practice"in Jordan. Since very little written presentation. material has been found from the periods under discussion, he stated that we must depend upon the artifactual remains to School of Theology at Claremont reconstruct the religious beliefs and social behavior of the Dead Sea Scrolls Project Center, West Foothill Blvd. at people of the time. It was stressed that the material remains College Ave., Claremont, CA 91711. John C. Trever, from the burials excavated in Jordan to date can tell us Director. Display open to visitors; contact the Director something about belief in an afterlife, social differentiation (714) 626-3521.

BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST/ SUMMER 1981

181

w-;i; Aiik

...

Above left: A reconstructed tomb at the Smithsonian with pots and skeletal material from the 1977 campaign. Above right: Reconstructed Tomb A 68N from Bab edh-Dhra with 23 vessels and 1 basalt base, now on display at Anderson College, Anderson, Indiana. Below left: Reconstruction of a typical tomb at Christ Seminary. Pots are from Tomb A 66. Below right: Charnel house and tomb pottery on display in the Palestine Hall, Oriental Institute Museum, Chicago. Jesuit School of Theology Administration Building, 1735 Leroy Ave., Berkeley, CA 94709. Prof. W. J. Fulco, S.J. Displayed with commentary inside main entrance; open MondayFriday, 9 to 5 to the public. University of Kansas Department of History, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045. Prof. James E. Seaver. McCormick Theological Seminary 5555 South Woodlawn Ave., Chicago, IL 60637. Prof. Edward F. Campbell. McGill University, Redpath Museum Main Campus, Montreal, PQ, Canada H3A 2A7. Miss Kathleen Zahn or Prof. Donna Runnals, William and Henry Birks Building. Temporary displays and available for study. University of Melbourne Parkville, Victoria, Australia, 3052. Prof. A. D. Hallam. New display pending.

182 BIBLICALARCHEOLOGIST/SUMMER1981

Metropolitan Museum of Art 5th Ave. at 82nd St., New York, NY 10028. Vaughn E. Crawford, Curator, Ancient Near Eastern Art. Available to see; contact V. B. Crawford. Museum of Art and Archaeology, University of MissouriColumbia 1 Pickard Hall, Columbia, MO 65211. Jane C. Biers, Curator of Ancient Art. Available for study purposes. Oberlin College Oberlin, OH 44074. Prof. Grover A. Zinn. Oriental Institute Palestine Hall, Oriental Institute Museum, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637. John Carswell, Curator. Pittsburgh Theological Seminary James L. Kelso Bible Lands Museum, 616 N. Highland, Pittsburgh, PA 15206. Nancy L. Lapp, Curator. *Reconstructed Tomb A 75; additional vessels, artifacts, and photographs.

Rochester Institute of Technology One Lamb Memorial Drive, Rochester, NY 14623. Robert H. Johnston, Dean, College of Fine and Applied Arts. Displayed Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester Jewish Community Center; contact R. H. Johnston for current availability. Royal Ontario Museum 100 Queen's Park, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 206. Louis D. Levine, Curator, West Asian Department. Display pending museum renovation. Trinity Lutheran Seminary Library, 2199 East Main Street, Columbus, OH 43209. Prof. Ralph W. Doermann. Display open to public and available for study purposes. Wartburg Theological Seminary 333 Wartburg Place, Dubuque, IA 52001. Prof. Frank Benz.

IIIw

Aerial view of Tell Halif from the north showing major excavationfinds.

Wesley Theological Seminary Room A-9, Kresge Academic Center, 4500 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20016. Prof. Dewey M. Beegle. Museum display pending; available to see; contact D. M. Beegle. Western Theological Seminary Holland, MI 49243. Prof. Robert A. Coughenour. Display pending in new library, 6th floor.

In Field I1onthemound'scentralsummittheinvestigation of a majorStratumV buildingalreadywellexposedin 1979was continued. In Areas F6/14 and F6/24 probes along wall foundationsprovidedfirm ceramicevidencedatingconstruction to the earlyPersianperiodof the late 6th-5thcenturyB.C. In these areas the ambitiousPersianbuildingeffort had cut deeplyinto the earlier,StratumVI and VII, Iron Age levels. In adjacentAreaF6/4, however,excavationsin 1977had Smithsonian Institution revealedwell-preserved IronII materialsof the late 8thcentury National Museum of Natural History, Washington, B.C.Here,belowthe levelof this final,StratumVI, occupation, DC 20569. Donald J. Ortner, Curator, Department of 1980workclearedtwo earliersubphasesof construction.These Anthropology. *Reconstructed shaft tomb chambers wereassociatedwithreuseof a StratumVIIstone-linedpit and and visual aids, including 5-minute film. its subsequentconversioninto a sumpthroughtheadditionof a drain. Aside from the pit and some surface well-prepared St. John's University associated with it, Stratum VII remains had been Alcuin Library, Collegeville, MN 56321. Prof. Alberic patches largely displaced by this Stratum VI construction work. Culhane, O.S.B. Duplicated tomb chamber with pottery However,ceramicindicators providea clearlate II1th-to early for artifacts; photographic and explanatory display. 10th-centurydate. In Area F6/ 1, at the northend of the field,a morecertain look at the LB II to Iron I sequencewas provided. Here L. Nancy Lapp evidence likewise indicated that Stratum VI builders had Pittsburgh Theological Seminary intrudedwellintoStratumVIIremains.Thereuseof majorwall PA 15206 Pittsburgh, elements again suggesteda close continuity of occupation. However,severalclear levels of StratumVII settlementwere isolated. The earliestof these includeduse of a large tabun (oven)apparentlyin associationwitha widebutshallowstonelined pit. The latterwas filled with ash debriswhichincluded LahavResearchProject: Excavationsat Tell Halif, 1980 manyanimalbones. Fromthis debriscamea most interesting ceramicfertilityfigurinewithpunctateornamentation.Rippled The Lahav ResearchProject conductedits fourth field incisionsdown the backsuggestlong flowinghair.Thepieceis campaignat Tell Halif between15June and 25 July 1980.Tell unusualandparallelsfor it havenotyet beenfound.Associated Halif (Tell Khuweilifehin Arabic)is located in the western ceramicindicatorsincludedsherdsof degenerate,1Ith-century foothills of Mount Hebron,along the northernfringesof the Philistineware.Subsequentlythe tabunand pit wereseparated Negev desert. The ancient settlement commanded a strategic by the carefulconstructionof a largecorneringwall builtwith position overlooking the coastal plain and trade routes sizeable field stones. Elementsof this wall remainedin use stretching from Egypt to the Judean hills and Jerusalem. A through Stratum VI. Below the Stratum VII pit, probes 27-member staff and 43 field school students and volunteers revealedtraces of several still earlier stone-linedpit or bin structures.Thesedateto the late LB II periodof settlementand participated in the past season's work at the site. The season's strategy involved continued excavation in seem clearly associated with similarlydated Stratum VIII each of the three major fields on the mound itself and some storagestructuresin Field I. additional probes in the areas on the Site 101 terrace to the In FieldIll excavationsin 1980continuedinvestigationof northeast. The main goal was to establish clear stratigraphic the well-preserved StratumVI occupationalong the mound's links between the several fields and excavation areas and thus to western fortification line. In Areas B3 and B4 additional provide a complete sequence through all of the site's occupasegmentsof the parallelcasematelikeouter city walls were tional levels. An outline of the results of these efforts is tracedto the north.The cornerof a pillaredroom was cleared indicated in the chart below. A summary of the 1980excavation revealing a stone vat and shallow bin construction.Here work in the major fields also follows. furtherevidenceof themajorlate-8th-century destructionof the

BIBLICALARCHEOLOGIST/SUMMER1981 183

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site was recovered. In Area B3, in the bin, and beneath a cover of mudbrick and ash debris, another collection of over 100 unfired loom weights was recovered. Nearby were more than a dozen whole and restorable vessels, mainly cooking pots and bowls. This same area provided a generous sample of floral remains including gramins,olive pits, grape seeds and even charred fragments of whole pomegranates. Special finds included one half of a fine decorated stone cosmetic palette and a fairly well preservedivory comb. By the season's end probes in this area reached the earlier, founding phase for the pillared structures. Surfaces identifying two earlier Stratum VI subphases were also found in Areas A3 and A4 to the south. In these areas the foundations of major Stratum VI walls were reached. Related ceramic indicators show an early 9th-century date for the initial Stratum VI construction effort. This 9th-century development of the city was very ambitious. Downslope in Areas A5 and A6, along the main east-west section through the field, the massive fills imported to preparean outlying defensive glacis were probed. These fills, consolidated by stone piles and crushed limestone buttresses, were laid over and against earlier EB and late Iron I structures. At points they reached over 2.5 m in depth. In Area A6 a remnant section of the well-prepared

184

BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST/ SUMMER 1981

flagstone glacis facing was cleared. Originally, such a stone facing obviously sealed the glacis fills upslope as well. Iron I period remains were identified only in Area A4. Here, nested within the socle of an earlier EB period stone wall, a silo structure was found. The pottery recovered from this silo clearly dates it to the late I Ith/early 10th century. Downslope, immediately below the Iron II period glacis fills, evidence of much earlier EB occupation of the western end of the tell was found. In the lower end of Area A5, a 3.5-m-wide stone wall socle was found, comparable in size to the Stratum XIII defensive wall found on the northeastern side of the mound in Field I. Pottery from associated surfaces and ash debris levels clearly date the structure to the EB II-III, Stratum XII-XIII city levels. These same surfaces also confirm its association with a second EB wall socle located 8 m farther to the east and into which the Iron I silo had been cut. While the foundations of this second structure have not been reached, its outer face is still preserved some 2.5 m in height above the Stratum XII-XIII surfaces. It apparently existed as the western perimeter wall of the site through the Iron I period, until it was buried by the 9th-century, Stratum VI glacis builders. The season's excavation work in Field I also provided significant links connecting the overall stratigraphy of the site.

Tell Halif Major Tell Strata Stratum I II III IV V VIA

Era

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Date

Modern Arab Islamic Roman/Byzantine Hellenistic Persian Iron II

1800-1940 A.D. 700-1300 A.D. 200-600 A.D. 300-100 B.c. 500-300 B.c. 700-650 B.c.

destruction VIB VII VIII IXA

Iron II Iron I LB IIB LB IIA

900-700 B.C. 1200-900 s.c. 1300-1200 B.C. 1400-1300 B.C.

Stratum VIII-VII transition at this point. Below, two earlier surfaces were identified, both still associated with LB IIB period

use.

destruction IXB X XI XII

LB IB MB IIC-LB IA EB III EB III

1475-1400 B.C. 1600-1475 B.C. 2400-??? B.c. 2500-2400 B.c.

destruction XIII XIV XV

EB II-III EB I Chalcolithic

Left: Front view of ceramicfemalefigurinefrom Field II, Area 1, StratumVII. Right:Backview of figurine.

2900-2500 s.c. 3200-2900 s.c. 3500-3200 s.c.

Expansion to the north into Area B 10 produced a tight sequence of phases through Strata V-VIII. Here, along the crest of the mound and just below disturbed upper-tell debris, a section of a Stratum V Persian period wall with outlying buttresses was cleared. Beneath these structures several earlier subphases of pits and fills were detected. These suggest that some gap existed in occupation following disruptions at the end of the life of the Stratum VI city and before preparation efforts for the Persian building got under way. Below this settlement level, substantial elements of Iron II Stratum VI occupation remained. These included the walls and surfaces of a domestic complex with an associated tabun (oven) and ash pit. Of most significance in this area, however, was the sequence of Stratum VII-VIII levels that was recovered. By season's end a series of seven clear subphases of LB IIB and Iron I occupation had been identified. All were associated with the use of a common wall, L. B 10032. The upper four subphases belong clearly to the Stratum VII, Iron I period. All are marked by separate resurfacings connecting walls B 10032 and B 10045. Fills below the uppermost surfaces contained additional samples of degenerate Philistine ware like those from Area F6/ 1 in Field II. From the lowest surface a complete pixis vase with monochrome painted decoration was recovered. In form this vessel represents a transitional LB/Iron I type. The lower three subphases of occupation are clearly LB IIB in date and relate to Stratum VIII. At this point, new wall elements related to L. B 10032 were encountered, and an almost complete room was exposed within the excavated area. Pottery on the uppermost surface of this room was exclusively LB IIB in date. Significantly, no evidence of a destruction marks the

Wall L. 10032 also served as the northern perimeterfor the previously excavated LB IIB storage complex which spread across the whole upper part of the field to the south. This complex consisted of a series of stone-lined storage pits set within a loess clay platform. Below this platform excavations in 1979 had already reached Stratum IX LB IIA remains. The 1980 work in Areas 10, A10, A9 and B9 continued these excavations. Baulks were removed, clearing a major LB IB-LB IIA building complex, including a courtyard 5.5 by 6 m in dimension. Five separate phases of use were identified, only the latest two of which were clearly LB IIA in date (Stratum IXA). Further work in 1980 concentrated on the clearance of a third phase within the complex which was associated with courtyard surface L. 10042. A heavy layer of destruction debris covered this surface, sealing a large assemblage of LB IB artifacts and domestic structures. Included were a number of large storage jars, jugs, and cooking vessels. A similar complement of ceramic and stone artifacts was also recovered from adjacent rooms to the east. Of special architectural interest were a low stone bench located along the southern and eastern walls of the courtyard, and the series of 6 socles for wooden roof supports prepared within the stone work of the northern wall foundations. In Area 10, beneath the 10042 surface, elements of two still earlier, Stratum IXB, surfaces were cleared before founding levels for the main walls of the complex were reached. Below these levels remnants of walls and surfaces from Stratum X, MB IIC-LB IA, occupation were encountered. These remains had been considerably disturbed by the subsequent Stratum IX builders. Of special significance, however, was the discovery on one of the remnant surface patches of the in situ chert debitage and striking tools left by an ancient flintknapper. Excavation into earlier, Stratum XI and XII, EB III levels was limited to downslope Areas 9 and A8. In Area 9, Stratum

XI walls with several associated surfaces were cleared. Associatedwith thesewereseveralfineexamplesof chertcores flintblades.In preparedfor the strikingof EB,Canaanean-type this area at season'send StratumXII levels werejust being probed. In Area A8 efforts to connect related Stratum XII levels were frustrated by the presence of pits and by downslope erosion. However, elements of terrace walls and tragments of a cobbled surface remained to document the Stratum XII-XI transition. Below this, mudbrick structures associated with the major Stratum XIII, EB II fortification walls were reached.

BIBLICALARCHEOLOGIST/SUMMER1981 185

:::

Left: LB IB jugs from Surface L. 10042 in Field I. Right: Restored artifacts in situ of LB IB courtyard. Surface L. 10042 in Field I. In Areas 7 and 6, against the outer foundations of the major, Stratum XIII, wall tower L. 8015, a narrow section was cut through the chalk and marl EB glacis. This effort revealed that the tower's outer foundations were placed on bedrock, and that a massive fill of sterile earth and crushed chalk had been imported to prepare the outlying glacis slope. This fill was over 4 m deep and reached to the uppermost course of the stone tower foundations. The 1980 season's work also included limited excavations on the Site 101 lower terrace. Here, elements of a Stratum II, Byzantine period cave complex in bedrock was probed. In addition, site survey work included probes at several wadi dam sites in the region, as well as investigation of a Byzantine press

installation at Site 4, just east of the Site 101 terrace. Ethnographic research associated with the Stratum I cave complexes of Khirbet Khuweilifeh was likewise continued. These 1980 efforts brought the first major phase of the Project's work to a most successful conclusion. The principal phases of the stratigraphic history on Tell Halif are now well documented. Energies for the next two years will be concentrated on efforts to complete published reports on the results of the first four field seasons. Excavation work will resume in 1983. Joe D. Seger University of Nebraska at Omaha

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Book.

SReviews

Student Map Manual: Historical Geography of the Bible Lands. 168 pp. + 4 sheet maps. Jerusalem: Pictorial Archive (Near Eastern History) Est., 1979; $29.95. This excellent manual forms part of The Wide Screen Project with the same title and is designed, therefore, to be used in connection with the now celebrated slides of Dr. Richard Cleave. The manual alone, however, could be profitably used by both students and scholars. It consists of 107 maps, of which the first 16 are regional maps in full color of the area between Dan and Beer-sheba, 10 illustrate the most important archeological sites from the Chalcolithic to the Byzantine periods, and the remainder, i.e., the great majority, are historical, illustrating 13 periods, from the Canaanite (EB) to the 4th century A.D. Section 14, with 3 maps, shows Jerusalem in the First Temple, Second Temple, and Byzantine periods. Extremely helpful features are the frequent provision of blank lined pages for the user's own notes, the list of biblical passages with cross-reference to the maps, and the three indexes. The Index of Main Names gives also the modern equivalents in Arabic and/ or Hebrew, the grid reference of the Israel/ Palestine Grid, the reference number in the Mini-Archive slide collection, and the appropriate page numbers in the Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavation in the Holy Land The references to the maps in the Manual are effectively shown by squares on a grid, certainly much easier to read than a list of numbers. Here and on the maps themselves red is used for places mentioned in the primary sources and black for other names. The other indexes are of Alternative Names and of Grid References. Both are useful, but the first is placed somewhat oddly ahead of the main index, though listed in the introduction after it, and the second would probably have been improved if the order of the columns had been reversed. Each of the Historical Sections is preceded by an introductory Summary, listing in some detail the material covered, the references to the primary sources, the relevant regional map numbers in the first section, and the appropriate maps in the Macmillan Bible Atlas. Two more irritating features are the absence of any page numbers and the positioning of the sectional summaries. Since, for reasons considered below, the book has to be read "sideways," so to speak, it is far from easy to move backward and forward between a map and the Summary of Contents and Sources. The maps themselves are based upon the Survey of Israel and are printed with quite admirable clarity. Even though the type used is small, they are a pleasure to read. The regional maps and the four sheet maps have both hill shading and altitude coloring, though the use of yellow for the highest altitudes is confusing. Those to whom I have shown the maps have had difficulty in grasping the different elevations. All the other maps have hill shading only and are notably successful, although, as always with this method of indicating relief, it is well-nigh impossible to show the great height of the eastern plateau, especially in the south. Very much less satisfactory is the intrusion of modern elements into historical maps. It is useful to have the maps of Jerusalem superimposed upon a map of the present Old City, but it is altogether misleading to have a

series of maps lacking Lake Huleh, but with all the modern fishponds and with also, though discreetly, the great conurbations of Haifa, Tel Aviv, and Jerusalem. The positioning of the ancient sites is exceedingly careful, and the identifications take full account of recent research. There are, perhaps inevitably, certain questions. It is very doubtful now whether Teman should be identified with Tawilan, rather than with the southern region. The use of "Jebus"as a name for the city of Jerusalem has no justification, despite the Jebusites. The spelling of the Lisan peninsula as "Lissan" is surprising and without any support in Arabic. Two more serious questions concern the area covered and the orientation. The title of the Manual is misleading, for it does not deal with the "Bible Lands" in the plural, but with one small part, albeit a very important part: the area from Dan to Elath and extending eastward only just far enough to include Amman. Excluded completely are even such important cities as Tyre, Sidon, and Damascus, a vast part of the territory of Herod the Great and the Tetrarchy of Philip, and, of course very much of the Nabatean realm. It is of minimal value to have many essential sites indicated only by an arrow pointing off the maps. The orientation of the maps has the east at the top (hence the "sideways"reading). This has certain conveniences, though it by no means fulfills all the claims made for it in the introduction. Certainly, it is highly desirable to cleanse students' minds of the common misapprehension that north is somehow "up," and that south is therefore "down," but this orientation encourages a yet more dangerous misunderstanding-that the Palestinian world can be understood when perceived from a western viewpoint, which banishes the eastern lands to a remote and irrelevant distance. Most Western minds are already victims of this deceptive "Western outlook," which, among other things, has seriously discouraged the provision of funds for archeological and other research east of the Jordan, and has imposed upon us a still-lopsided picture of the biblical world. If there is to be a reorientation of the map, we should surely encourage students to look at Palestine from either the north or the east. The Israelites themselves did not really visualize the country from a western position, any more than do the Arabs, who also speak of north as "left" and south as "right," a terminology deriving from the rising sun. Despite these criticisms, however, the manual remains a superior and extremely valuable tool, and every student of biblical history would profit by owning it and using it assiduously. Denis Baly Kenyon College Introduction to the Old Testament as Scripture, by Brevard S. Childs. 688 pp. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1980; $28.50. The title of this volume is important. While cast in the imposing format of a classical introduction to the OT, it focuses on the OT as scripture, as authoritative religious literature in relation

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to the community of faith and practice which shaped and preserved it. Professor Childs argues that, since historicalcritical study of the Bible has failed to deal adequately with its nature as scripture, the time has come to present an introduction intended to do so more effectively. This is a bold new venture that will have a major influence on subsequent OT study. Part One, a "general introduction" to the OT, has four chapters that discuss successively the discipline of OT Introduction, the problem of the canon, canon and criticism, and text and canon. Parts Two through Five constitute a "special introduction" to the Pentateuch (chaps. 5-10), the Former Prophets (chaps. 11-15), the Latter Prophets (chaps. 16-31), and the Writings (chaps. 32-43). The conclusion, Part Six, contains a single chapter on "The Hebrew Scriptures and the Christian Bible," followed by a 17-page index of authors cited. Every chapter begins with a bibliography of pertinent works, and the chapters in Parts Two to Five on particular biblical books end with further brief bibliographies on the history of exegesis. Childs writes well, reviews diverse opinions clearly and crisply, and exhibits a wide control of the history of OT scholarship. Since he is explicitly presenting his method of canonical criticism as an alternative to the historical-critical method (even while also drawing on it), there is a somewhat polemical tone to his presentation at times, especially in the chapters on individual OT books, each of which has a section on historical-critical problems that tries to show the impasse or the limitations of previous scholarship. Succeeding sections then discuss the canonical shape of the book and suggest theological and hermeneutical implications. Since each chapter was apparently planned as a unit that could be read separately, there is an increasingly repetitious quality for the reader who moves steadily through them. Moreover, the readership for which especially Parts Two to Five are intended is not clear. Since the summaries and arguments presuppose a fair knowledge of biblical criticism already, the volume could serve only with difficulty as the basic text for an introductory course on the college level or in divinity school. Perhaps it would be appropriate as the basis of a review seminar in preparation for M. Div. comprehensives or in the first year of an OT graduate program. The experienced scholar will find the summaries helpful and the arguments provocative, but will look for more detailed application of the position argued so strongly. Part One is the focal point of the volume for those who wish to wrestle with the theory and implications of Childs' approach. While historical-critical scholars often found no place for a concept of canon, and while scholars committed to the importance of the canon often resisted historical criticism, Childs wants to take the OT seriously as canonical scriptureand yet make consistent use of the historical-critical tools. Thus he describes the canonical process as extending through the various stages in the transmission and elaboration of the present received text (pp. 58-59): thegrowthof thecanonis to seethis Essentialto understanding interaction between a developing corpus of authoritative literature and the community which treasured it. The authoritative Word gave the community its form and content in obedience to the divine imperative, yet conversely the reception of the authoritative tradition by its hearers gave shape to the same writings through a historical and theological process of selecting, collecting, and ordering. The formation of the canon was not a late extrinsic validation of a corpus of writings, but involved a series of decisions deeply affecting the shape of the books. Although it is possible to distinguish different phases within the canonical process-the term canonization would then

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be reservedfor the final fixing of the limits of scripture-the earlierdecisionswerenot qualitativelydifferentfromthe later. When scriptureand canon are too sharplydistinguished,the essentialelementin the processis easily lost. While admitting the importance of understanding the influences on this process at all stages, Childs is primarily interested in the final form of the text, since it was accepted as canon by the community and proved "suitable to function as scripture for a generation which had not participated in the original events of revelation"(p. 60). To be interested in the OT as scripture is to be interested in it as the end-product of a closed process, as decisively fixed in and for a community at a specific point in time, as having a precise shape that can be identified or recovered. Childs finds these qualities characterizing the Hebrew text adopted by the Jewish community at the close of the 1st century A.D. as the result of a complex historical development no longer fully accessible to critical reconstruction. While the present Masoretic text is not identical with that canonical OT text, it does serve as "the vehicle both for recovering and for understanding"it (p. 97). Childs argues that, since the Greek Bible was continually revised to the Hebrew, only the Hebrew Bible functioned as scripture for the Jewish community. However, since various distinct Hebrew versions were available in the first centuries B.C. and A.D., and since more than one such Hebrew version served as the target for Greek revisional activity, it remains difficult to absolutize the canonical authority of the Hebrew version ultimately chosen by the Jewish community. Even granted that the decision resulted from careful deliberation, why must we regard it as unquestionable? Why does the endpoint in the complex process have to be granted exclusive primacy? Childs wants to see a deliberateness throughout and especially at the conclusion of the process that led to the canonical text, and he may be right, but many will wonder with this reviewer whether this option is viable for scholar or believer in the light of modern historical-critical scholarship. If this scholarship has often made the biblical texts less obviously "scriptural" for communities of faith once shaped by them, perhaps the category of "scripture"itself needs to be rethought. A more nuanced understanding of textual history may mean that the biblical texts must be approached in new and equally nuanced ways, with older categories of scriptural authority however reluctantly laid aside. This is an alternative that does not seem to have been seriously considered by Childs in his otherwise provocative and useful volume. Kevin G. O'Connell, S.J. Weston School of Theology Yahweh is a Warrior: The Theology of Warfare in Ancient Israel, by Millard C. Lind. 236pp. Scottdale, Pennsylvania and Kitchener, Ontario: Herald Press, 1980. $9.95. In Canada $11.55. A 1964 dissertation under David Noel Freedman that has been thoroughly revised and up-dated by its author, this study is an important contribution to a subject that has received much attention in the last two decades. It is a surprisingsubject from a scholar in one of the peace churches, but Lind has approached it "aggressively,"arguing in great detail a thesis that he states at the beginning: The threethemesto be developedin thesechaptersare:(1) that Yahwehas God of warfoughtfor his peopleby miracle,not by sword and spear;(2) that this method of Yahweh'sfighting affectedIsrael'stheo-politicalstructurein a fundamentalway;

and (3) that Yahweh'swarfarewas directednot only against Israel'senemiesbut at timesagainstIsraelherself,in suchcases not by meansof miraclebut by the armiesof Israel'senemies. Lind begins with the Exodus as the fundamental paradigm of holy war in the Old Testament (though he deals briefly with the patriarchal stories), Exodus 15 being the chief clue to the fact that Yahweh alone fights and it is by nature-miracleratherthan weapons. That is confirmed by Judges 5 and the conquest narratives, which depend upon ruse and surprise, in contrast to later strata where the armies of Israel are more to the fore. There is a disproportionate emphasis on Joshua as war leader (for some reason Lind takes his clues from the number of times a name is mentioned), but that is probably a later reading back from the era of kingship. In any event the office of war leader has no continuing place in Israel's early political structure, and Joshua probably played more of a prophetic role, like Moses, Deborah, and Samuel. The most warlike period was under the kings, and this reflected the effort to move Israel from a community where power was vested in Yahweh to one where power rested in the coercive structuresof kingship on the model of other Near Eastern states. The Deuteronomistic History and Deuteronomy itself confirm this perspective. There is no treatment of the prophets. A four-page chapter entitled "A Theology of Defeat" introduces rather awkwardly the treatment of the kings. This immediately raises some rather basic questions that reach back to Lind's third thesis, for it is in the prophetic books that one encounters some of the most vigorous theological understanding of Yahweh as warrior. Yahweh's sword is directed against Israel and her enemies. Human armies will be the means of his victory against both sides. Lind seems to acknowledge this on his first page, but it does not impact his analysis of Yahweh's warfare even in the brief chapter on defeat. There is a clear selectivity of data in the way in which Lind reaches his conclusions. Frequently he argues that the references to Israel'swarfare do not reflect the basic structure of Israel's faith vis ia vis Yahweh's rule. But the criteria for making that discrimination and discounting materials contrary to this thesis are by no means clear. The Song of Deborah is ambiguous, at one point minimizing human involvement, at other points acknowledging it freely. The judges of Israel are military leaders-as is Joshua-as well as prophetic precursors in some instances, and the Deuteronomistic structure affirms, that role and Yahweh's assistance (e.g., Judg 3:10). The value of Lind's book is in his vigorous effort to demonstrate the priority of Yahweh's miraculous deliverance from the earliest time on. He has properly criticized the reviewer and others for speaking of this as a late development. Occasional statements-which should have been put more carefully-about a later heightening of the miraculous have obscured for Lind the effort on the part of the reviewer to join with him in signaling the characterand importance of Yahweh's involvement in Israel's victories. But that emphasis does not preclude the presence in the battles of the earthly as well as heavenly hosts of Israel. A final question which the reviewerfeels compelled to raise is about the validity of the attitude of Lind and an increasing number of Old Testament scholars (e.g., Mendenhall, Gottwald, and others) that the monarchy must be viewed solely in negative terms, as a pagan intrusion that pulled Israel away from her true Lord and his direction. The negative actions of many kings and the negative judgments of the Old Testament are clear and obvious, but they do not provide the whole picture when one looks at David, Hezekiah, Josiah, and the royal psalms. One may make historical judgments about the monarchy and its failures, but its history is not unambiguously

one of failure. Furthermore, when one seeks a theological interpretation of the monarchy, it must be taken much more seriously as a part of that which is constitutive for Old Testament faith. This Lind seems to be reluctant to do except in a fairly superficial way. The book is a very important one and should receive careful attention on the part of anyone working on the subject. The reviewer received fresh light on very familiar material. Other readers will benefit in a similar fashion. Patrick D. Miller, Jr. Union Theological Seminary Prophecy and Society in Ancient Israel, by Robert R. Wilson. xiii + 322 pp. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1980. $15.95. With this work the "social scientizing" of biblical studies marches on. Wilson has read some anthropological works that deal with "spirit possession" in modern primitive (a no-no word!) African societies and has reached the conclusion that this body of modern "parallels"can be utilized to explain nearly everything that remains to be explained about the ancient Israelite prophets. After a quite useful summary of previous scholarly discussion concerning the social dimensions of Israelite prophecy, well over a third of the book deals first with the phenomenon of "intermediaries"in the modern societies, as observed by modern anthropologists who have not been particularly noteworthy for their understanding of "religious" phenomena until very recently when some of them have discovered the social utility of ritual. Next, Wilson applies these insights to the extrabiblical phenomena of "intermediaries"in the extrabiblical world, which consists very largely of the wellknown Mari occurrences plus the rather sudden emergence (into written preservation at least) of such personages or functions at the end of the Assyrian Empire. The entire prophetic phenomenon in the Bible is then similarly pressed into a preconceived mold that supplies the questions to which Wilson then attempts to provide the answers. In view of the unquestioned fact that prophecy and prophetic phenomena cover many centuries within quite a range of historical contexts, Wilson comes up with a two-fold bipolarization into which the prophets, in his opinion, neatly fit. The first is a radical distinction between the "Ephraimite" prophetic tradition, on the one hand, and the Judean on the other. This distinction derives, of course, from the contemporary situation in literary and tradition criticism that seemingly attributes to the late "Deuteronomist" everything that is not the "royal theology" of the Jerusalem syncretistic tradition. The absurdity of this position is illustrated by the fact that the simplistic naivete of the Deuteronomic historian is well illustrated in some of the Amarna letters, where also obedience and disobedience to the great god Pharaoh has consequences of well-being or catastrophe. What Wilson terms "Ephraimite"is simply the continuity of the old Sinaitic, Federation theology, and the Deuteronomic school was simply a late, baroque attempt to revive a theology that they clearly did not themselves understand. The result was a cliche-ridden and simplistic rewriting of history that scholars have consistently misinterpreted as a creative work of historiography, whereas it was simply a propagandistic attempt to legitimize a superficial formalistic return to a largely fictitious past that they no longer understood. In contrast, the so-called Judean prophetic tradition consists largely of Isaiah who alone, in the Messianic prophecies, held out hope for the merger of the Sinaitic and the Jerusalemite royal theologies. What came instead was Manasseh. The idea of two "schools" of prophecy is simply a function

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of differing social and cultural contexts, if not differing historical contexts, for the prophets from the beginning to the Dead Sea of postexilic prophecy were marvelously sensitive to such changes in the historical situation. The second polarization that Wilson finds everywhere is one drawn from the modern ethnography. This consists of the fact that the intermediaries are either part of the "central" establishment whose function is to support and legitimize that establishment (even though they may at times be mildly critical, and therefore tolerated); or the intermediariesare "peripheral," no part of the power center, and therefore are radically critical and call for similarly radical change. The grounds for forcing all the biblical prophets into this mold is the axiom, again derived from the modern anthropologist, that "Intermediaries do not operate in a vacuum. They are integral parts of their societies and cannot exist without social guidance and support. This support need not come from the whole society, but it must be present in some form, or the intermediarieswill disappear .... In addition to providing the necessary support groups for intermediaries, societies also regulate the various processes by which people become intermediaries" (p. 51). This social-scientific "law" may well place into perspective such phenomena as the radical student activist groups of the late 1960s or modern terrorist gangs on the one hand, and perhaps the much beleaguered theological faculties on the other. But it can be used to "explain" the canonical prophets only by a systematic ignoring of everything they said, and it is this that constitutes the most dramatic contrast to the "intermediaries"whether of ancient Assyria or of modern primitives, Shamans or sophomores. It is almost comic to follow the careers of some prophets as Wilson sees them, being alternatively "outs" and "ins," like the fate of modern schools of economists following every presidential election. Perhaps the kindest judgment that can be made about this work is that it violates one of the fundamental principles of social science, namely, that aggregates of events may obey laws even when individuals do not. If we had sufficient historical evidence concerning every "prophet"who was active during the period of the monarchy, including especially the "false prophets," it would be in all likelihood that the aggregate of such activities would fit Wilson's thesis. The problem is that biblical scholarship has been so obsessed with problems of authority that it has not been able to permit the prophets to be individuals. A major part of the problem is sheer linguistic confusion-between ancient words as classificatory labels (nabP, hozeh), as terms of respect, and as names of socially created offices. Thus, as a previous generation of scholars attemped a posthumous ordination of the prophets, the contemporary generation, obsessed with secular political legitimacy and power, makes out of them important political authority figures, if not "radical revolutionaries." It is conceivable that the "activist prophets" before Amos might fit Wilson's categories, but it is hardly a historically useful approach simply because of the radical ideological contrasts involved that only accidentally corresponded to social contrasts, particularly between the urban and village populations. Wilson barely notices the fact that, except for Isaiah, all of the prophets of whom we know relevant facts stem from the villages, but by the time of Amos there is every reason to believe that the village population no longer per se constituted such a support group for the canonical prophets, for most of them condemn also the bucolic bawdry that passed for "worship" among the village populations, no doubt presided over by the country Levites that Wilson attempts to identify as the "support group" for the canonical prophets. The problem for ancient as well as modern prestige groups is simply the fact that when the supreme deity is merely

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identified as the legitimizing bacal of the political establishment, it is a virtual impossibility to convince the elite that there may be another factor operative in human history of which they are unaware. Spokesmen for that transcendent factor are then identified as mere "trouble-makers"ambitious themselves for power, and engaging in conspiracy to that end. Jesus of Nazareth had the same problem a half-millennium later. Surely the canonical prophets were not isolated individuals, but the seven thousand who had not bowed the knee to Baal were not evident or vocal at the contest on Mt. Carmel, nor was the deity who possessed the prophets a mere ghost of a deceased ancestor after the fashion of the African intermediaries. Somewhere Aristotle makes the statement that the height of injustice is to classify together things that do not belong together, and this procedure does not cease to be unjust simply because it has become fashionable in contemporary intellectual circles to engage in the denigration of the prophets and what they risked their lives for. Their support group lay in their cultural and religious past-and in the future which they predicted with a sad success, for they had a vision of a Transcendent deity whose governance over the historical process made inevitable the destruction of a petty political power that regardedthat deity as a mere security blanket with which to cover up the oppression and corruption that constituted their real value system (cf. Jer 7:9-10). It is a sad commentary on the confusion epidemic in contemporary culture when biblical scholarship abandons the attempt to understand the operational functioning of the biblical value system (and "value"is the semantic equivalent of "worth," whence "worship"), precisely at the time when scholars in all sorts of academic fields are beginning to engage in an amateurish search for "values." George E. Mendenhall The University of Michigan

Judaism in Stone: The Archaeology of Ancient Synagogues, by Hershel Shanks. 192 pp. New York: Harper and Row; Washington, D.C.: The Biblical Archaeology Society, 1979; $27.95. Masada, Capernaum, Dura, Sardis, Khirbet Shemac, Beth Alpha, En-Gedi, Ostia, Khirbet Susiya-the number of excavated synagogues familiar to the Biblical Archeologist reader steadily increases. They date from the first five centuries of the Common Era; those unfamiliar with them may not claim to understand the Judaism of this period-and their picture of the gentile religions of the time, Christianity included, will also be incomplete. Hershel Shanks, editor of the Biblical Archaeology Review (and lawyer in Washington, D.C.), covers the major sites and some of the minor ones, with over 100 illustrations, many in color. The book's layout is engaging, the prose smooth and informal; no one displays the evidence more attractively than Shanks. A dozen chapters describe typical building plans (the basilica, the "broad" house, and the apse synagogue), the early buildings at Herodium and Masada, excavation practices, the spectacular Diaspora synagogues, and ancient Jewish symbolism. But generally when Shanks goes beyond realia to questions of method and interpretation, the reader risks being led astray: (1) The material is frequently organized by means of overly broad and out-dated categories, such as "Normative Judaism." Neither "Christianity" nor "Judaism," however, have been monolithic, nor did they possess the degree of universal

authority over visual expression in ancient times which Shanks suggests. Moreover, "Hellenized" may refer to a Jew who speaks and writes Greek-which was often only practical-or to one who has adopted a gentile worldview wholesale, something close to apostasy or cultural assimilation. Shanks should either dispense with the term or tell us precisely what he means by it. Certainly, the explanation and categories provided for ancient Palestine cannot be transferred directly to the Diaspora, where gentile influence on Jewish architecturalforms and details was substantial. (2) The promising subtitle "Excavating a Synagogue in Layers" of chapter 9 is followed only by a disappointing, superficial treatment of stratigraphy and field methods. For example, the excavation methods used in the En-Gedi synagogue are related in such lines as "proceeding on a hunch... Barag and Porad sunk a trench .... In a few weeks, a beautiful Torah shrine appeared . . . ." (3) The many pages on religious symbolism are only a beginning, though they give the appearance of coming to a real conclusion, a solution to the problem raised for the traditional view of Judaism by the identification of many Jewish and gentile symbols in the excavated tombs and buildings. The place of visual images in Judaism in light of the Second Commandment's prohibition of"graven images"and-more specificallythe occurrence of pagan figures (Helios, Medusa, Orpheus, an entire zodiac) in synagogue decoration are important matters to be resolved. Shanks does open up the question in a fascinating way by sketching the old view of the Jews as a people without visual arts, which assumed a link between the Second Commandment and the "fact"that "theJew" suffers from some innate artistic deficiency, e.g., "a defective sense of color" so that he "does not see as clearly as he hears"(in the words of the 1901 Jewish Encyclopedia). The significant work of E. R. Goodenough is also taken up by Shanks in a discussion of "pagan" symbols. Nonetheless, several important issues are blurred and readers are not directed to the substantial studies available elsewhere, e.g., the several articles published by Jacob Neusner on the subject in the 1960s and reprinted in his Early Rabbinic Judaism in 1975. (4) The section on the Sardis synagogue (in most respects the Diaspora's most important) is the least satisfactory, in part because the latest BASOR Sardis report cited is 1967, although the notes for other sites list publications as late as 1977. Errors abound: despite Shanks, no inscription reads "Peace unto Israel." The carved eagles reused to support the "Eagle Table" are not "many hundreds of years" earlier than the synagogue. The building is not located in "a Jewish commercial area"(there is no evidence that Sardis had such) but in the center of the gentile city. And the inscriptions designate a number of Jews (not just "one man") as "citizens of Sardis." One leaves this book with a final dis-ease. Its author should make a great deal of money. Are archeologists being exploited? Perhaps we deserve it. On some of these pages I recognize our footnotes, our unpublished talks and informal conversations, perhaps even our prose cadences. At least one important sequence of pictures, obtained from an expedition, was printed without the excavator's knowledge; and no publication fee has been paid. But when it comes to competent writing for the educated lay audience, few of us have the flair of Ernest Wright (Biblical Archaeology), G. M. A. Hanfmann (Lettersfrom Sardis) or Yigael Yadin (Masada, Hazor, and Bar Kochba). For the present we need Hershel Shanks. And despite its failings, we need his book. A. T. Kraabel Department of Classics University of Minnesota

The Discovery of Dura-Europos, by Clark Hopkins. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1979. xxiv + 309 pp. $19.95. This is not a book about the Bible or about biblical archeology, nor about archeological approaches and methods in general. There is little in Hopkins' narrative that will attract (and much that may astonish) the analytic archeologist: little, in short, that the editors of the Journal of Field Archaeology would find exemplary. The book itself is an artifact, a memoire of an archeological world and time that we have lost (or surrendered) in our effort to refine field techniques. It is an idiosyncratic account of one of the most important archeological activities of the 20th century, the excavation of Dura-Europos, the walled city in the Syrian desert on the western bank of the Euphrates, that each of the super-powers of the day, the Persians and Romans, considered a vital frontier outpost. One can imagine the late Clark Hopkins, an accomplished performer on the podium and on television, presenting the chapters as lectures to a large and appreciative audience. The title is altogether appropriate-Hopkins' emphasis throughout is on the "discoveries" that each season, and each successive director, produced. He discusses the principal finds of each season-from the first preliminary "campaign" under the direction of Franz Cumont to the final "cleaning-up" operation (the tenth season) supervised by Frank Brown-and offers a synoptic assessment of their significance in the overall history of the site. Hopkins, in fact, served his archeological apprenticeship at Dura, arrivingfor the beginning of the second season (1928) and staying on as assistant to the "difficult" French director, Maurice Pillet. With the exception of the third and fourth seasons, during which he remained at Yale, Hopkins was present when most of the great discoveries were made. Indeed, as director for four seasons (the fifth through the eighth) Hopkins was responsible for the excavation of both the Christian Chapel and the Synagogue, unquestionably the most spectacular structures unearthed at Dura. His remarkson these buildings, and on the remarkablepaintings they contained, thus constitute the final and definitive word on the circumstances of discovery. In his narrative Hopkins vividly recounts the excitement that these and other discoveries occasioned and traces with humor and judgment the history of work at Dura from the initial visits by scholars at the end of the 19thcentury to the final season in 1936-37. Through it all there is Clark Hopkins, coming of age, as it were, in Dura, developing his life-long interest in the interaction of Persian and Hellenistic-Roman culture, establishing himself as an authority on the artistic traditions that developed at this cultural intersection, and gaining in the process the field experience that would secure for him an archeological post at The University of Michigan, which he held from 1935 until 1965, and later the directorship of the excavations at Seleucia-on-the-Tigris in Iraq. It is this autobiographical thread that gives the book its unity and much of its appeal. One may question some of the interpretations that Hopkins proposed, and others have pointed to issues that remain problematic, but this in no way diminishes Hopkins' achievement. One should always seek a second opinion, above all in the magisterial series of preliminaryand final reports that Yale has published, but I doubt that one will find another that captures more effectively or accurately the context and dramatis personae of the Dura excavations. All those who assisted in the publication of this book-and especially Bernard Goldman, who edited the manuscript-are to be congratulated for ensuring the survival of a remarkable archeological narrative, one that preserves and celebrates the human dimensions of scholarship. It is unlikely to satisfy the strict

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practitioner of the "newarcheology," but those who prefertheir archeology laced with a little romance will find this a very good book to read. For that reason alone the book is worth the price of admission charged by the Yale University Press (whose decision to publish this book posthumously deserves our applause). John W. Eadie The University of Michigan

Miscellany On 24 August 1978, Dame Kathleen Kenyon, one of the most influential and significant figures in Palestinian archeology, died at the age of 72 (see BA 42 [1979]: 122-25). Archaeology in the Levant, edited by R. Moorey and Peter Parr (xix + 296 pp. Warminster, England: Aris & Phillips, Ltd., 1978; U.S. Distributor: OSBS, Inc., P.O. Box 555, Forest Grove, OR 97116; $51.00) was originally planned to commemorate her achievements on her 70th birthday in 1976, but the publication of the Festschrift was unfortunately delayed and appeared posthumously. The 28 well-illustrated essays which comprise the volume represent contributions from an international host of her closest colleagues and students, supplemented by a personal appreciation from A. D. and M. M. Tushingham and a bibliography of Dame Kathleen's work up to 1975. These articles are organized chronologically (although it is not clear why G. L. Harding's discussion of the Cairn of Sa'd, dated to "not later than the 3rd century A.D.," was included in the Islamic section) and range from Diana Kirkbride'sstudy of the Neolithic remains at Wadi Ramm to John Carswell's analysis of Syrian tiles from the Sinai and Damascus in the Ottoman period. Their breadth and quality form a fitting tribute to the late Dame Kathleen, who cut her own archeological teeth on the ruins at Zimbabwe, Rhodesia with Gertrude Caton-Thompson and at the Roman site of Verulamium north of London with Sir Mortimer Wheeler. Among the contributions of special interest is P. Parr's essay on "Pottery, People and Politics," in which he warns of the dangers of associating too closely pottery workshops with political processes. Using the Nabateans as his example, he illustrates the problems in assuming that pottery distribution is coterminous with spheres or cultural and political influence. That his argument is of general import is demonstrated by M. Ibrahim'sdiscussion of "The Collared-rim Jar of the Early Iron Age." These storage vessels or pithoi have generally been regarded as evidence of Israelite occupation of sites, but their presence in some quantity at Sahab, east of the Jordan in Ammonite territory, suggests that they must be placed in a larger socio-economic context. These carefully reasoned essays should promote caution in assigning a particular ceramic topology to an ethnic group and viewing it as contiguous with their activities and movements. Similar implications exist for domestic architecture and the so-called "four-room Israelite house" discussed by G. Ernest Wright. The recent Moab Survey directed by Max Miller has revealed structures of the same ground plan and period, which militates against their acceptance as evidence of the Israelite settlement pattern. Other contributions in the Festschrift involve discussions of Hyksos tombs at Tell el-Yehudiyeh (20 miles n. of Cairo), LB Egyptian chariot fittings at Beth Shan (F. James), 9th-century B.C. Bacal temples in Samaria and Judah (Y. Yadin), 7thcentury Hebrew ostraca from Jerusalem (J. Prignaud), ivories from Samariaand Calah Nimrud (M. Mallowan), Neo-Assyrian influence in Transjordan (C.-M. Bennett), Assyrian jewelry (R. D. Barnett), the dual Yeri2shiJlvim (which A. D. Tushingham

192 BIBLICALARCHEOLOGIST/SUMMER1981

argues is a Masoretic form used to designate Jerusalem in the Hasmonean period when the city consisted of two independently walled communities, i.e., an actual double city), Roman Amman (A. Hadidi), and Caesarea Maritima (L. E. Toombs). This array of outstanding scholars and subject matter is testimony enough of the value of the volume and evidence that Dame Kathleen's legacy far exceeds the famous "WheelerKenyon stratigraphical method of excavation." Outside of the Levant, two other volumes focusing on important cultural centers of the Mediterranean are also worthy of mention. New Light on Ancient Carthage edited by John G. Pedley (xiv + 152 pp. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan, 1980; $20.00) presents 7 papers from a symposium in Ann Arbor on 23 and 24 March 1979,commemorating the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the Kelsey Museum. These studies report on the recent international UNESCO-sponsored excavations at the site and their implications for the development of the North African town from the Punic to the Byzantine era. In addition, a stimulating essay by Lawrence E. Stager indicates that the archeological evidence suggests that the elite of the city were among the most active participants in child sacrifice and that the perplexing rite actually appears to have flourished in the 4th and 3rd centuries B.c., when Carthage was at its urbane height. These disconcerting facts undermine any theory of cultural evolution in which the "barbaric"practice of human sacrifice was finally replaced by the more "civilized"practice of animal substitution. Although perhaps chronologically outside of the purview of many readers, but of value for those interested in church history, Ephesus after Antiquity: A Late Antique, Byzantine and Turkish city by Clive Foss (x + 218 pp. New York:Cambridge University, 1980; $34.50) traces the historical fortunes under Byzantine and Turkish rule of the largest city and most important commercial center in Asia Minor during the time of St. Paul. Some new editions of classic volumes and discussions of current interest have also recently appeared. An attractive revision of Seton Lloyd's Foundations in the Dust: The Story of Mesopotamian Exploration (216 pp. New York: Thames and Hudson, Inc., 1981; $19.95), first published in 1947, has just been released, which includes a new chapter on "The Modern Era," bringing the survey of the western world's discovery of the ancient Near East up to the present. In addition, Frank Moore Cross, Jr., The Ancient Libraryof Qumranand Modern Biblical Studies (xxvii + 260 pp. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1980 $5.95) has just been reprinted with a bibliographical supplement up to 1967. Finally, Paolo Matthiae's Ebla: An Empire Discovered (237 pp. Garden City, NY: Doubleday and Co., 1981; $14.95) provides an English version of the Italian edition, which was reviewed earlier by P. J. MacDonald (BA 42 [1979]: 62-63). Other volumes of interest are Volume IV (ZeYbh-hms) of the Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, edited by G. J. Botterweck and H. Ringgren (trans. D. E. Green;xviii + 493 pp. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1981;$22.50), and Come See the Place: The Holy Land Jesus Knew (144 pp. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1978; $12.95), a pictorial representation of New Testament sites and scenes illustrating biblical texts, with photos by Gordon N. Converse of the Christian Science Monitor and text by Robert J. Bull, Director of the Drew University Institute for Archaeological Research and Excavations at Caesarea Maritima, and B. Cobbey Crisler. David F. Graf Book Review Editor

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BRUCE M. METZGER, Princeton Theological Seminary This absorbing and authoritativeaccount of the making and copying of biblical manuscriptsis illustratedwith 45 plates of important Greek codices, most in actual size. In Part One, ProfessorMetzger deals with the work of scribes, styles of Greek handwriting,and the special featuresof biblical manuscripts.Part Two consists of plates, descriptions, and analyses of 13 manuscriptsof the Old Testament and 32 manuscriptsof the New Testament, illustratingscribal corrections, artisticminiatures, musical neums, lectionaryequipment, and noteworthyvariant readings. Each plate is accompanied by a brief description, analysis, and bibliographyon the facing page. July 1981 160 pp.; 10 line drawings, 45 halftones $17.95 Also by BruceM. Metzger.:

The Text of the New Testament Its Transmission, Corruption, and Restoration Second Edition 1968 296 pp.; 16 plates, 4 figs. $9.95

The Early Versions of the New Testament Their Origin, Transmission,and Limitations 1977 518 pp. $18.50

An Introduction to the Apocrypha 1977 286 pp.

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