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This paper presents two brief alphabetic inscriptions from Area D in the lower city of Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath, both deriving from Iron Age IIA contexts. The first is written in an Early Alphabetic script similar to an inscription previously published from the site (Maeir et al. 2008) and is interpreted as being related to the storage of wine. The second, written in later, "formalized" alphabetic script, is quite fragmentary and difficult to decipher, for which several possible interpretations are suggested. These two new inscriptions join the relatively large number of alphabetic inscriptions from Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath, second only in number to contemporaneous Tel Rehov, and provide additional evidence to the outstanding role of the site during the early Iron Age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper I suggest that the evolution of the control of natural resources and trade routes in the Arabah Valley and its environs was the basis for the formation of Edomite identity in the early Iron Age. Building on insights on ethnogenesis in Southeast Asia in the studies of Joseph Scott and James Warren, I attempt to align this with recent discussions on early Edom, and the role that this group played in the regional economic web of the Iron Age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although not as old as artifacts made of stone, the manufacture and use of bone tools is of great antiquity, with the earliest known bone artifacts from Lower Paleolithic sites in Africa: Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania) dating to 2.1–1.1 Ma and the sites of Swartkrans, Sterkfontein, Drimolen (South Africa), dated to around 1.8/1.7 Ma to 1.4/1.0 Ma (Bradfield and Choyke 2016). From this point on in time, alongside stone and metal artifacts, universally, people continued to manufacture and use bone tools. This practice continued even into recent times, as attested by innumerable ethnographic examples of bone artifacts and ornaments (e.g., Stordeur 1980 ; Ayalon and Sorek 1999 ; Walshe 2008 ; Legrand-Pineau et al. 2010 ; Stone 2011 ; Bradfield 2012). Often, lithic and metal tools were used for bone working, illustrating the continued value of bone even in historic periods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The origin of domestic donkeys (Equus asinus dom.) appears to lie in northeastern Africa, somewhere in the region of Somalia, Sudan, and Ethiopia. They were domesticated from the Nubian ass (Equus asinus fer.) sometime early in fourth millennium b.c.e., or around the end of the Chalcolithic (Kimura et al. 2010; Milevski 2009: 251; Rossel et al. 2008). The donkey rapidly spread into Egypt where it was considered a valuable animal and incorporated into the royal grave goods during the First Dynasty (Rossel et al. 2008). Subsequently, domesticated donkeys spread across the southern Levant (as early as the Chalcolithic) and the rest of the Near East during the Early Bronze Age (Grigson 1993, 1995; Hesse and Wapnish 2002). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After Philistine Gath fell to the Arameans in the late ninth century B.C.E. (Maeir 2008; 2012: 47-48) the huge city atop Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath was a ghost town for several decades. Some structures had been burnt or otherwise destroyed, but many were simply abandoned to the elements. As years passed, winter storms and the processes of nature eroded the roofs and walls of hundreds of ownerless houses and other buildings. The devastation was alluded to by the Judahite prophet Amos when he predicted the eventual demise of Samaria: "Go down to Gath of the Philistines," he challenged the Israelites, to behold what complete desolation is like (Amost 6:2; Maeir 2004). Aside from the presence of a few squatters who settled in the north lower-city ruins near the Elah riverbed, the forlorn ghost town of Gath slowly decayed away, until a cataclysmic earthquake shook the entire region somewhere around 760 B.C.E. (Chadwick and Maeir, forthcoming; Maeir 2012: 49-50). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The widespread signs of destruction and fire seen at Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath in the upper and lower parts of the city (Namdar et al. 2011; Zukerman and Maeir 2012) include the charred skeletal remains of three women found in Area D, Stratum D3, and five individuals found in Area A, Stratum A3. All appear to have been victims of the same event, namely, the destruction of the city at the end of the ninth century b.c.e. by Hazael of Aram (Maeir 2012). We provide here a detailed description of these remains and the circumstances surrounding their deaths using standards published in Bass 1995 to determine their age and sex, and the Munsell color chart (Ellingham et al. 2015) to estimate the extent and pattern of burning on the bodies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite over a century of research conducted on the Philistines and their material culture, a very small quantity of finds relating to their burial customs has been reported. This has led to quite a lot of speculation on Philistine mortuary customs, with little evidence in support. At a number of sites, suggestions to distinguish "Philistine" burials were attempted, most notably, the erroneous attribution of the anthropoid coffins to the Philistines (Dothan 1982), the suggested cremation burials found at Azor (Dothan and Dothan 1992; Ben-Shlomo 2008, 2012; Buchennino and Yannai 2010), and the burial caves yielding Philistine bichrome pottery at Tel Eton (Edelstein and Aurant 1992). However, the problematic interpretations of these finds, coupled with the fact that none of this evidence was found at the main urban sites of the Philistines, calls into question their centrality within the Philistine realm, and their attribution on a whole to the ethnic group that populated the southern Coastal Plain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Even though the arrival of the Philistines in the southern Levant is an event that happens "off camera," that is, before the appearance of their settlement remains, it is an event that was narrativized in the recent past by archaeologists working in Philistia who interpreted the local production of Aegean style pottery as evidence of a massive colonization by Mycenaean migrants (Hitchcock and Maeir 2016a). By and large, the understanding of the Philistines and their culture was centered around the biblical and Egyptian images of the Philistines, and their continued reception and interpretation until modern times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Referring to the dearth of historical archaeological research in Israel, in Between Past and Present: Archaeology, Ideology, and Nationalism in the Modern Middle East, author Neil Silberman states: "Just as the story was beginning to get interesting--when the modern cultures of the region were in the process of formation--the archaeological picture went blank" (1989: 233). Since Silberman published his book, the status of historical-archaeological research--notably of the Islamic and Ottoman periods in Israel--has certainly improved. To a large extent, the same cannot be said of archaeological research--either on objects, sites, or historic landscapes--relating to the British Mandate and the early years of the State of Israel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the first decade of the Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath Excavation Project, various areas in the upper city were excavated. Based on the results of the surface survey, however, it was clear that there was extensive settlement in the area to the north of the upper city up until the Elah Valley riverbed. Ten years ago, the excavations were expanded to the lower city, commencing with Area D (fig. 1). Since then, Area D has been extensively excavated, with a broad range of finds mainly from the Iron Age (for additional excavations in Area K of the lower city, see Welch in this issue). Here we will describe some of these finds, with a particular focus on the Philistine cultic remains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath Archaeological Project commenced in 1996 and is one of the largest and longest continuously running archaeological projects in Israel. As the year 2017 marks twenty-two years of research and excavations, it is an apt opportunity to present an overview and reflection on the project in general, and various aspects of the research in particular. The opportunity to do this in two special issues of NEA is an excellent occasion, as this provides an expertly produced medium, read by many interested in the field of ancient Near Eastern history, archaeology, and culture.1 In this, first article of this special issue, I would like to provide an overview of the project and its primary accomplishments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The story of Canaanite Gath begins with the el-Amarna texts (Na'aman 1979; Rainey 2012; Levin, this issue), where it appears that the city was a major contender in the Shephelah power plays of the fourteenth century b.c.e.. While some have contended the connection between Gath, Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath and the Amarna period ruler Šuwardatu (Moran 1992: 384), the petrographic examination conducted on the tablets create a strong link between them (Goren, Finkelstein, and Na'aman 2004: 280-86). In this light, the results of the surface survey prior to the onset of the excavations noted the existence of a large settlement at Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath (ca. 27 ha; see:Uziel and Maeir 2005: 56). Yet, the survey results did not allow identification of differences within the Late Bronze Age (LB) between the subphases of the period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Early Bronze Age city at Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath was among the largest urban centers in Canaan, or whatever they called their land at that time (Maeir 2012b: 13; Shai et al. 2016). The city and its people are still mostly a mystery to us. We do not know what they called themselves, or their city (but it was almost surely not "Gath"). They did not write, and we are not sure what language they spoke--perhaps an early Canaanite dialect. We do not know the names of any of their kings, as we do in most other periods at the site. But our excavations have taught us some things about them, their architecture, their pottery, and their diet. And we also know a good deal about the massive and extensive fortification wall that they built around their city, and that it must have taken a remarkable amount of organization and resources to accomplish it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1899, Bliss and Macalister launched a brief but intensive campaign of excavation at the site of Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath and uncovered evidence for a large-scale fortification system and thick deposits from various time periods. While they argued that the majority of remains, including the fortifications, were of Iron Age or later origin, some Early Bronze Age remains also appeared in their reports and collections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since its infancy, archaeological research has used survey as a major tool in both regional studies (see, e.g., Conder and Kitchener 1881) and as a tool for project planning. In the former, survey flourished--despite certain critiques as to the validity of the data collected (e.g., Waelkens and Poblome 2004)--whereas the latter was often used minimally in the interpretation of an individual site's history. In this sense, the survey at Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath was groundbreaking in its approach-- not only as a tool for planning the project, but as the basis for determining aspects of the history of the site (Uziel and Maeir 2005, 2012). The survey was planned by the division of the site into separate fields, based on discrete micro-topographical features. As opposed to an arbitrary grid, the use of the topography of the site considered that these features may have been formed by the changing settlement of the site over time. For example, the eastern slopes (Areas A and E), which have been extensively excavated, each had its own local phasing, which was determined through their separate survey. Had we used a random grid, it is likely the parts of each of these terraced steps would have been lumped together, making the survey a tool for overall evaluation of the site, but not determining differences in the various areas. This proved critical in the planning of the project, which later, through the implementation of the survey results, managed to determine excavation areas according to the research design of the project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By 1899, Frederick J. Bliss was already a wellknown archaeologist when he was asked by the Palestine Exploration Fund (PEF) to excavate the Shephelah mounds. Previously, he dug with William Flinders Petrie at Maidon and then replaced Petrie at Tell el-Hesi (1891-1893). Subsequently, Bliss excavated with Archibald Dickie in Jerusalem on behalf of the PEF (1894-1897). R. A. Stewart Macalister served as Bliss's assistant field director. He had some experience in archaeological excavations in England, considered himself a photographer, and was "engaged with the architectural profession" as he claimed (Bliss 1894: 2; Albright 1956: 24; Moorey 1991: 26-27; Tubb 2015: 6-7). The site of Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath had been known to scholars for many years prior to the three seasons of excavations conducted by Bliss and Macalister from 1899 as part of the Shephelah mounds (Smith 1894: 142-43; Rey 1871: 123-25; Conder 1879: 153; Petrie 1891: 62; Waston 1915: 117). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports that more than two hundred vessels with pot marks were found in the Early Bronze Age Strata E5 and E6 at Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath Area E. It mentions that recreation and leisure were a regular part of everyday life at Early Bronze Age. It states that other possible evidence for leisure activities comes from the many polished sheep and goat astragali recovered in Area E.

An archaeological site is an integral part of its surrounding landscape. This is one of the main novel approaches in the long-term archaeological project of Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath. The site has interacted with its surrounding for more than three thousand years. It was impacted by the ancient environment, but also had an impact on both the ancient environment and current conditions. The following is a summary of environmental research that has been carried out at the Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath environs from 1999 through 2012. This case study provides important information regarding the ancient landscape and interactions between climate, the environment, and humans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This contribution offers comparative evidence to the previous contribution on Philistine feasting. During a visit to Papua New Guinea, I documented and participated in a traditional feast in a remote village in the Finisterre Mountain Range. Although the cultural manifestations seen were very different from those of ancient Near Eastern cultures, various aspects which I witnessed provide interesting analogies for understanding ancient feasting in general, and archaeological evidence of feasting from the ancient Near East in particular. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents evidence for feasting in the late Iron Age I Philistine culture from a circumscribed locale in Area A at the site of Tell es-Safi/Gath. The remains are characterized by architectural features, installations and rubbish dumps containing a rich array of animal bones, symbolic objects, and a series of unique installations all dating to the tenth and eleventh centuries B.C.E. These activities are informed by parallels from Mycenaean Late Bronze Age feasting events, though at Tell es-Safi/Gath they may have served a different purpose, specifically, the maintenance and promotion of Philistine cultural identity through the adoption of behaviors and symbols from the Aegean past by portions of the Philistine population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents the preliminary results of the analysis of the Iron Age finds from Tel Nagila. The excavations, which took place in the early 1960s under the direction of R. Amiran and A. Eitan, revealed three Iron Age strata. Through the lens of these finds, we reflect on Tel Nagila as an Iron Age settlement on the border between Judah and Philistia, on the ethnic and political affiliations of its population, and how these affiliations may have changed over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a late Iron Age I/early Iron Age II Old Canaanite inscription from Tell eṣ - Ṥâfī /Gath is presented and discussed. The inscription derives from a clear archaeological context and is written on a fragment of a chronologically indicative, red-slipped and hand-burnished ceramic bowl. We suggest reading the inscription as two personal names, 'alwt and wlt[…], which we believe are Philistine names of Greek or Anatolian origin. The significance of this inscription is discussed with several points in mind, including the ramifications for dating the typological development and sequence of the alphabet during the early Iron Age; the implications for understanding the origin and development of the Philistine culture; and the problem of the relationship of the personal names in question to the onomasticon of the biblical Philistines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Notched animal scapulae (shoulder blades) are one of the most enigmatic aspects of the material culture of the Iron Age Levant. Discussions of their chronology, regional distribution, function, and cultural significance appear frequently in studies concerning the culture of the Sea Peoples in Cyprus and the southern Levant. How- ever, the available data has never been analyzed in a comprehensive manner, and many of its aspects remain obscure. This article was prompted by the recent discovery of a group of these objects in a ninth-century B.C.E. level at Tell eṢ-ṣâfiï/Gath, Israel. Alongside the detailed description of the objects and their findspots, they are discussed in relation to the above-mentioned topics, and a new hypothesis concerning their function and place in the Philistine cultural assemblage is proposed. We further conclude that the notched scapulae from Tell eṣ-Sâfï/Gath shed valuable light on the evolution of Philistine culture, especially with regard to the retention of its Iron Age I characteristics during the early Iron Age II. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides information on the Iron Age IIA bone workshop during the 2006 excavation archaeological project season in Israel. The remains of the workshop site presents a structural room with contemporary stratues in the entire site that are damaged by the Gath explorations. The sites altered remains maintain a huge variety of domestic animal resources elements, as well as comprises the homogeneous bone materials groupings. The bone production process involve the uniform corpus selection of bones, division of bone cylinder and whittling of none flakes and fragments to the desired shapes. The author adds that the discovery of the workshop site and its products provides a narrow research opportunity on the technological and production method of Iron Age.

Following the excavations at Tel Ashdod, a class of Iron Age II decorated pottery was identified that became known as "Ashdod Ware." In the present study, this pottery is defined as Late Philistine Decorated Ware. Based on its typology, decoration, distribution, chronology, and provenience, it is suggested that this class of vessels, which first appears in Iron IIA and continues through at least the Iron IIB period, is typical of Philistia and was most probably produced at a limited number of Philistine sites (e.g., at Ashdod and Tell e...-...âfi/Gath). It is also demonstrated that the decorative style of this group represents a development of Iron I Philistine decorative traditions and the influence of late Iron I/early Iron IIA Phoenician decorated ceramics. Although the overall function and significance of this group cannot be definitively determined, it appears to have served as local "prestige ware" in Iron II Philistine culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author reflects on the famous adage of the Hassidic Rabbi, Menachem Mendel of Kotzk, known as the Kotzker Rebbe, on the practice of repairing vessels in ancient Egypt. Author Julia Hsieh and other scholars explained the custom of ancient pottery mending using several techniques. The author believes that the reasons behind the repair of vessels is nothing so whole as a broken heart.

An introduction is presented, in which the author discusses various topics within the issue on topics including study of the Philistine material culture, glyptics from the Bronze and Iron Age, and overall effect on planning and results of the project Uziel and Maeir.

The article discusses the theme of the journal which is Tell es-Safi/Gath Archaeological Project that turned into largest excavation project.

This study presents an analysis of various aspects relat- ing to the changes in cooking vessels during the Iron Age in Philistia and the southern Levant, with particular em- phasis on the morphology, manufacturing technology, and regional distribution of cookingjugs. We have combined archaeological data and petrographic analyses to evaluate the technological aspects of these vessels. It is argued that cookingjugs, while first appearing in Philistia, subsequent- ly spread to other regions and cultures. The relationship of this process of dissemination to other factors, such as economic and social changes in the southern Levant, is discussed, and it is argued that the possible incorporation of Philistine cooking practices into the neighboring Iron Age cultures may have implications for understanding the multifaceted, ifat times ambiguous, relationships between the Philistines and their neighbors.* [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]