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Archaeologists and historians have routinely attributed "branded" goods to particular regions and cultural groups, often without rigorous analysis. Phoenician cedar oil is perhaps one of the best-known examples from antiquity. Hellenistic Tel Kedesh in the Upper Galilee region of the Levant is particularly relevant for these discussions by virtue of its strategic role as a border settlement in Phoenicia during one of the most dynamic periods in ancient history. As a concise contribution to these discussions, we present here an interdisciplinary analysis of amphoriskoi found with ca. 2,000 impressed sealings from the archive complex of the Persian-Hellenistic Administrative Building. While the building was constructed under the Achaemenids and occupied in both the Ptolemaic and Seleucid eras, the archive was in use only under the Seleucids in the first half of the of the 2nd century b.c.e. Blending organic residue analysis with archaeological and textual data has allowed us to identify with certainty one of the value-added goods most closely attached to ancient Phoenicia, true cedar oil from Cedrus libani. This discovery not only empirically verifies this well-known association for the first time, but also provides a rich context in which to test our assumptions about culturally-branded goods, the role they played in participant societies, and the mechanisms and systems in place that facilitated their production, use, and export. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article outlines excavations initiated by Professors Sharon Herbert, Andrea Berlin, D. Ariel and colleagues at Tel Kedesh, Upper Galilee in Israel. It was directed by Andrea Berlin and the field work was supervised by graduate students of the University of Michigan and the University of Minnesota. The 1997 and 1998 undertaking was funded by universities involved while the 1999 season was supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, together with the funds from the two universities. Researchers uncovered remains ranging the Early Bronze Age to modern times. Aside from ancient art works, researchers also uncovered architecture from the Byzantine period including a monastery and a church. presented are the details of the excavation.

The article discusses a variety of issues concerning the orientation of Greek temples. According to the author, the sun plays a significant role in the orientation of Greek temples, as well as in Greek religion and ritual. It can be observed that most of the Greek temples were constructed facing the sunrise on the actual day of their foundation. The article also examines whether geographical, topographical or ritual influence Greek temple orientation.