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This study investigates the effects that an encounter with a foreign object can have on local traditions. Notions of object agency and object biographies will be utilized to address what happens when people become entangled with new things: the new context can have an impact on the newly introduced object, and those newly introduced objects can similarly impact locals and their traditions. The Late Bronze Age southern Levantine site of Tel Burna will serve as a case study, where a number of imported Cypriot pithoi were found alongside locally produced pithoi. It will be demonstrated that in their new context, the Cypriot pithoi were given new meaning and function. At the same time, the imported pithoi played active roles in the local potters of Tel Burna making pithoi. However, the local pithoi resemble local storage jars, so while the potters mimicked the concept of the Cypriot pithoi, they did so according to local normative forms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Royal Steward Inscription is one of the more famous artifacts in biblical archaeology, but its original context and setting is less-known due to the circumstances following Charles Clermont-Ganneau's discovery in 1870. The acquisition and removal of the inscriptions from Silwan resulted in the fragmentation of the once prominent monolithic sepulcher of an important official. Today, the inscriptions are in the British Museum separated from the tomb they once adorned. The tomb in Jerusalem is surrounded by the modern residences of Silwan. The visible nature of the inscribed monument is lost. Recently identified nineteenth-century photographs of the Royal Steward Inscription in situ, however, shed light on the inscription's context and offer a rare window into the viewshed of the tomb. The photographs provide the impetus for a history of research that reveals many ironies surrounding the Tomb of the Royal Steward and the inscriptions it once bore. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses a krater recently discovered in a cultic building at Tel Burna in the Shephelah. Of special interest is the krater's relatively well-preserved decoration containing multiple nature scenes related to the so-called tree of life or sacred tree motif. The krater's physical description and archaeological context and the decoration's relationship to relevant comparanda are explored in order to elucidate the significance of its iconography. In light of this discussion, we conclude that the decoration includes an abstract representation of a Canaanite goddess as a "pubis of life" variation of the "tree of life" motif on the krater as a votive vessel in the Late Bronze Age cult. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the discussion on recent excavations in the city of David with accompanying radiocarbon analyses. Topics include Joash's reign occurring in an era marked by a significant number of extrabiblical texts mentioning biblical kings and events; symbolizing the prestige of the book's most powerful monarch and builder.

As our project at Tel Burna enters the tenth season of excavations, we have compiled a summary of the archaeological finds from 2009–2018. Tel Burna is located in the southern Shephelah in modern-day southern Israel. The Judean Shephelah is comprised of foothills above several east–west valleys that drain the Judean incline in the east to the coastal plain in the west. These valleys were strategic agricultural zones and trade routes throughout history, and in particular during the Late Bronze and Iron Ages. Tel Burna is situated on a natural hill in the middle of Nahal Guvrin, one of the main roads through the Judean Shephelah. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bronze Age trade in the Eastern Mediterranean is well attested in south Levantine archaeological research, with imported vessels generally playing a significant role in the ceramic assemblage. While the majority of these vessels are found repeatedly at many different sites, there are cases where a rare find sheds new light on the way in which trade patterns are perceived. Such is the case with two fully restored pithoi found in a Late Bronze IIB building at Tel Burna. This paper presents the context in which the pithoi were uncovered, followed by a study of the vessels themselves, including their typology, provenance, volume and contents, as well as the nature of Late Bronze Age trade in the Eastern Mediterranean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Excavations at Tel Burna, Israel, have uncovered portions of a large structure from the Late Bronze Age IIB, yielding numerous finds that suggest ritual and cultic practices occurred in the building, particularly in its central courtyard. This article presents the finds from the excavations, examining the meaning of the cultic artifacts discovered and comparing the building with the nearby Fosse Temple at Lachish. It is hoped that the discovery and presentation of the finds will help yield important information on cultic practices occurring in the 13th-century B.C.E. Shephelah. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Four figurines were discovered in Late Bronze Age IIB Tel Burna in the Judean Shephelah. The figurines come from a large public building that probably had a cultic function. These include a rare Revadim-type plaque figurine, a nude female plaque figurine, a Mycenaeanstyle bull figurine, and the head of an equine figurine. Their iconography represents a cross section of Egyptian, Mycenaean, Mesopotamian, and local traditions, illustrating the syncretism of Canaanite religion at the site. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]