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This paper deals with aging of a remarkable woman from Florida, Wilma E. Davis. After ministering in the Methodist church for over 30 years as the first ordained Methodist minister in the state of Florida, Davis retired and began a PhD program at Boston University at the age of 63. Davis completed her PhD at the age of 68. The pursuit of her education took her to the Middle East where she studied for a year at the American School of Oriental Research in Jerusalem and participated in archaeological digs. Davis will forever remain an educational tribute to the vision and leadership she exhibited in everything she nobly undertook over the 102 years of her fruitful, intriguing, and fascinating life.

Several artifacts found at the Gesher Benot Ya'aqov, or Daughters of Jacob Bridge, archaeological site in Israel provide a picture of ancient human ancestors that is different from the once accepted by most scholars. The discoveries by Israeli archaeologist Naama Goren-Inbar suggest that humans developed language and other key abilities far earlier in their evolution than previously believed.

The tension surrounding Barnard College's determination of whether to grant tenure to anthropologist Nadia Abu El-Haj was resolved this fall. Barnard reached a positive decision. The affair, however, leaves a number of important issues open. At the center of this controversy stands Abu El-Haj's first book, "Facts on the Ground: Archaeological Practice and Territorial Self-Fashioning in Israeli Society." Published in 2001, it explores the relationship between archaeology and Zionist nation building. In this article, the authors discuss the relationship of context to content, about issues like who and where. The who has to do with the ethnic identity of the scholar under public scrutiny; the where has to do with the prevailing mood in the United States of America. In Abu El-Haj's case, the scholar is of Arab descent. Her sin is to probe into a social scientific domain--the history, historiography, and anthropology of Israel--that is normally defined by Jewish Israeli scholars whose tendency has always been to position Palestinians as objects of inquiry. Abu El-Haj's work thus perpetrates the faux pas of inverting the "proper" way of studying Israel-Palestine. Her violation of the norms is particularly pertinent when it comes to the scientific gaze of anthropology, a predominantly Western discipline that created and objectified a pristine effigy of the exotic native as seen by westerners, an approach that literary theorist Edward Said called Orientalizing. Abu El-Haj belongs to a new generation of scholars--many of them Palestinians--who, inspired by Said's legacy, insist on reversing the Orientalizing gaze and turning Israel and Israelis into objects of inquiry.

Israeli, Palestinian, and American archaeologists unveiled a draft agreement on archaeological and cultural heritage that they hope to see included in a future Middle East peace agreement. Presenting their proposal to an audience of archaeologists at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, they said it was the first time that Israelis and Palestinians had discussed the fate of thousands of artifacts discovered in the West Bank and Gaza since Israel occupied those territories, in 1967. The proposal was presented to Palestinian archaeologists last summer. The draft is the result of five years of secret work by the Israeli-Palestinian Archaeology Working Group, comprising Israeli and Palestinian archaeologists who met for talks in London, Vienna, and Jerusalem. The issue is so sensitive that of the nine participants, two remain anonymous. The five-page draft agreement has been presented to Israeli and Palestinian leaders, United Nations officials, and the former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who is now a Middle East peace envoy. It calls for Israel to repatriate all items excavated in the West Bank and Gaza to the Palestinians except for those with "deep symbolic value," which should remain on loan to Israel. The group also urges both sides to respect and preserve archaeological sites on both sides of any new border.

This review considers the state of historical studies of ancient Israel in light of the publication of two recent books on the subject. While this recent scholarship nuances and advances our understanding of the history of the southern Levant, it also reveals ongoing methodological tensions due to the field's long-running commitments to post-Enlightenment, European (especially German) approaches to the historical analysis of biblical texts. Simultaneously, these two histories point towards some productive ways in which we might move forward in the study of the history of ancient Israel. These productive potentials include reevaluating our historical methods across specialties and approaches and seeking alternative approaches to history writing that make space for fragmentation, multiplicity, and irresolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most significant aspects of cultural variation that world archaeology has revealed is the many different forms of social complexity among ancient and more recent premodern societies. Although this exposes the shortcomings of older evolutionary approaches, Levantine and broader Near Eastern archaeology remains relatively inflexible and conservative in the perception of social complexity in the archaeological record. A necessary association between complexity and monumentality remains prevalent, whereby monumentality is understood as an important operative cog in the complexity machine. Conversely, complexity can only be read in the archaeological record where monumentality is present. This paper seeks to untie this necessary association by demonstrating that complexity without monumentality occurred in societies of the biblical period that were fully or partly nomadic and otherwise lacked a clear cultural conception of monumentality as central to the ideology of political authority and structure. This is done through the presentation of early Iron Age Edom and its implications for the understanding of the neighboring United Monarchy of ancient Israel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The book "Archaeology, Nation, and Race: Confronting the Past, Decolonizing the Future in Greece and Israel" by Raphael Greenberg and Yannis Hamilakis explores the role of archaeology in the construction of national identity in Greece and Israel. The authors argue that this archaeology contributes to the crypto-colonization of these states. The book raises questions about the potential crypto-colonialism of Establishment Science and calls for a critical examination of scientific practices. The review highlights fifteen key concepts discussed in the book that shed light on the possibility of adopting a critical approach to crypto-colonial science. The review concludes by praising the book's format as a genuine and engaging dialogue between the authors. [Extracted from the article]

The prefix "proto", originally from the Greek, carries several meanings, including first, earliest, original and primitive. A "prototype" is the first or original type, and "proto" may indicate something in the way of becoming. In this article we offer a critical review of the history and uses of the term "proto-Israelites" in biblical and archaeological studies since 1943. The prehistory of 'early Israel' has shrunk from the Early Bronze to the Iron Age, but the use of "proto-Israel" has grown since the 1990s, tied to issues of historicity and ethnicity. "Proto-Israelite" is a misleading term. It enables scholars to re-find a united, ethnic Israel, by projecting it onto the past in disguise, as "proto-Israel". There are no "proto-people" that carry "proto-ethnicity". The use of "proto-Israelites" serves modern ideologies. We suggest more neutral terms, which do not beg the question whether an Israelite ethnic community existed, or can be identified in material remains of the Iron Age I. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ruth's decision to glean in a field where she might find favor (Ruth 2:2) sets in motion a transformation of Ruth from Moabite outsider to Judean insider. When Ruth happens upon the "field belonging to Boaz," a servant identifies her as a nameless foreigner: "a Moabite woman... from the fields of Moab" (2:6). By the end of the book, the village elders compare her to "Rachel and Leah who together built up the house of Israel" (4:11). Crucial to Ruth's incremental transformation are three directives that Boaz gives Ruth when he meets her in his field and greets her as "my daughter" (2:8): stay in my field; drink water from my vessels; and sit with my reapers and eat bread. Anthropological and archaeological studies of agriculture, foodways, and the materiality of food-related objects shed light on the kinship dimensions of each of these three directives. The back-and-forth interactions between Ruth, Boaz, the land, and its produce over two months of harvesting gradually lace Ruth into the "clan of Elimelech," the father of her dead husband, and place her under the protective "cloak" of the Israelite god. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dealing with biblical prophetism invariably involves approaching the contingent relationship between religious experience and history. Thus, when approaching the book of Hosea, this article recognizes the need to see the historical, social and political confluences that permeate its texts. However, when the apparent impossibility of treating such a work as if it were circumscribed in a single context becomes apparent, the task of examining the characteristics of the different moments that are latent in his pericopes and that marked his editorial process. Therefore, a critical reading of the so-called Deutoronomist History was adopted as a method, in constant dialogue with recent advances in archeology. At first, the beginnings of the monarchy in Israel are resumed, focusing on the rise, governmental peak and decline of the omrids. In sequence, the monarchical apex experienced by Jeroboam II and the weakening of the state with his successors were analyzed, in parallel with the development of the Jewish royalty, with emphasis on Josiah. Finally, specific attention was directed to the concreteness of social life during the reigns of these two monarchs. From this perspective, the prophetism in Hosea was seen in the complexity of its relationship with the different dimensions of the history that surrounded it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revue Académique des Études Sociales et Humaines is the property of Hassif Benbouali University of Chlef and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

'The wheel and axle' revolutionized human technological history by transforming linear to rotary motion and causing parts of devices to move. While its ancient origins are commonly associated with the appearance of carts during the Bronze Age, we focus on much earlier wheel-shaped find-an exceptional assemblage of over a hundred perforated pebbles from the 12,000-year-old Natufian village of Nahal Ein-Gev II, Israel. We analyze the assemblage using 3D methodologies, incorporating novel study applications to both the pebbles and their perforations and explore the functional implications. We conclude that these items could have served as spindle whorls to spin fibres. In a cumulative evolutionary trend, they manifest early phases of the development of rotational technologies by laying the mechanical principle of the wheel and axle. All in all, it reflects on the technological innovations that played an important part in the Neolithization processes of the Southern Levant., Competing Interests: NO authors have competing interests, (Copyright: © 2024 Yashuv, Grosman. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

This study explores changes in pastoral practices in the Jerusalem region (Iron Age II - Late Hellenistic) through a multi-isotope approach (strontium, carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen). Based on the analysis of 135 sheep, goat, and cattle teeth and bone samples from Givati Parking Lot we demonstrate the value of this method in reconstructing past animal husbandry, revealing adaptation and resilience of pastoral communities amidst environmental and socio-political changes. Isotopic analysis indicates local sourcing for most animals, with intriguing outliers from distant regions up to 150 km away, suggesting regional exchange networks. Notably, the Persian period (5th century BCE) exhibits a wider isotope range, implying increased flexibility and exploitation of diverse grazing lands, potentially driven by climate shifts and political upheavals. Conversely, Late Hellenistic (2nd century BCE) livestock display restricted movement, while showcasing a rise in desert caprines, indicative of increased import compared to the Persian era. These findings highlight the dynamism and adaptability of past pastoral communities, adjusting their strategies in response to various pressures. This study opens new avenues for understanding human-environment interactions in the Levant and underscores the power of multi-isotope approaches in unraveling intricate socio-economic and ecological dynamics of the past., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

The recently published Langgut et al. article claims that there was over-exploitation of the Byzantine Negev Desert. They suggest that the over-exploitation worked in conjunction with the Justinianic Plague and the Late Antique Little Ice Age (LALIA), and caused the decline of the Negev settlements in the middle of the 6th century CE. The current article wishes to respond to Langgut et al. article and show that what they found cannot be used to claim that there was an over-exploitation of the land. Moreover, contrary to what they suggest, their finds indicate and support the fact that the decline occurred later. As part of this rebuttal, we will also show that the dating used in this article, like the other articles published by the project titled "NEGEVBYZ," is incorrect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Teología y Vida is the property of Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Facultad de Teologia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Fifty years later, Raphael Greenberg and Yannis Hamilakis present a discussion of a new loss of innocence (161) and a new horizon in archaeology's development, one that promises to be fertile ground for future exploration. Raphael Greenberg and Yannis Hamilakis, Archaeology, Nation, and Race: Confronting the Past, Decolonizing the Future in Greece and Israel. [Extracted from the article]

This essay examines the connection between politics, archaeology, and biblical historiography by focusing on a specific archaeological site, Tel Shiloh, centrally located in the West Bank. Tel Shiloh illustrates the popular conviction that the contested contemporary ethno-religious and socio-political situation of the West Bank originates from the Bible. The four excavations at Tel Shiloh have contributed in sometimes subtle but often in explicit ways to the massive effort of linking the biblical mention of Shiloh with today's geopolitical ambitions of the state of Israel in the militarily occupied West Bank. The most recent link includes ambitious plans for building Tel Shiloh into an enormous tourism attraction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1967 the Golan Heights saw a dramatic change: a hundred villages were destroyed and replaced by new Israeli settlements. We study the beginning of this settlement through the lens of settler-colonialism, using documents of the time. The settlers claim to be 'original natives', 'returning' to the land and, like other colonial settlers elsewhere, bringing culture and civilisation to a terra nullius. To justify the settlement, they create a 'deep' narrative that combines the ancient past and the new settlement, erasing the in-between Arab past. The settlement — and the destruction — are on-going processes. The settler appears as a young, heroic figure, who patronises the 'Others' as weaklings (tourists, women, etc.) and is oblivious to the tragedy of the displaced Syrian inhabitants of the Golan Heights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The question of how to approach the Hebrew Bible as a source for the histories we write of ancient Israel continues to divide scholars. This study responds to such concerns by pursuing an approach informed by a historicized view of knowledge, or a framework in which the claims we make are understood to be reflective of the eras in which they are realized. What this line of research encourages, I argue, are historical investigations into the underlying modes of knowing that would have contributed to the stories told in the biblical writings. Since knowledge about the past is itself historical, this study contends that it is necessary to situate such claims in time, examining the normative assumptions of an era that establish the parameters by which this knowledge is organized and granted credibility. The epistemic conditions that gave rise to the stories recounted in the Hebrew Bible are as much an object of historical interest, on this view, as the stories themselves for assessments of what evidence they might offer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A longstanding debate concerns the function of carinated elements in both, the Levantine, and European Aurignacian. The present study aims to contribute to this topic with the evaluation of the carinated assemblage from layer D in Hayonim Cave, Western Galilee, Israel, one of the type sites of the Levantine Aurignacian. An operational chain reconstruction with an attribute analysis is paired with a typological approach to the preparation and maintenance products based on artefacts defined as West European Aurignacian. The results of this study are investigated with multivariate statistics offering a methodological contribution. The data is subjected to a transformation into a distance matrix using the Gower distance and tested with the adonis-algorithm for significance. The results clearly indicate that the carinated items in Hayonim Cave did fully or partially function as cores. They are accompanied by diagnostic preparation- and- maintenance products known from the literature e.g. Thèmes bladelets. The statistical analysis indicates only a minor correlation with stratigraphy yet supports the techno-typological criteria applied for defining artefact categories (cores, debitage, tools), as well as the proposed differentiation of carinated 'core' types. The non-carinated cores in Hayonim Cave are characterised by a high variability in typology and reduction concepts. A curious similarity to the Levallois-concept is observed on some of the flake cores. It is therefore suggested that the frequent recycling of Middle Palaeolithic artefacts in the Levantine Aurignacian might have given the Aurignacian flint-knappers the opportunity to study the Levallois concept and apply an approximation of it in their own core reduction strategies. The notion that Palaeolithic flint-knappers actively observed former technological systems through the discarded artefacts directly opens up a new trajectory for the understanding of lithic reduction concept permanence. The conceptual diversification and variability in Hayonim Cave D indicate a highly dynamic period in the Levantine Upper Palaeolithic which increased the adaptive potential and promoted a rapid cultural change., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Parow-Souchon, Belfer-Cohen. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

The State has long been the dominant socio-political concept in the scholarly debate over the biblical early monarchy in Israel and the archaeology of the 10th century bce. It has been assumed that if Israel had indeed become a kingdom already at this time that it would have adhered to the form of a State as conceived in modern scholarship, and that the material correlates of the State would appear in the archaeological record. This essay argues that this is a methodologically false approach and that the concept of the State is quite inappropriate to the context of socio-political relations in the ancient Near East on a theoretical and conceptual level. As such, the search for archaeological correlates to a State in 10th century Israel is an unnecessary one. Instead, the question of socio-political form can be approach emically from within Israel's context, beginning with the native concepts and terminology that actually appear in the Hebrew Bible, which can then be linked to larger patterns of socio-political organisation in the Near East and to sociological conceptualisations, namely Max Weber's idea of household-based patrimonial structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An on‐land frequency domain electromagnetic geophysical survey was conducted across a tombolo delimiting the southern bay of Tel Dor (northern Israel) to the south. It was accompanied by a marine archaeological survey adjacent to its northern edge. Results indicate a deep channel connecting the bay and the Tantura Lagoon to the south. At its northern exit, an NW–SE trending square anomaly is visible in the geophysical data, buried underneath centuries of sand accumulation. It is parallel and similar in shape and scale to a Hellenistic feature observed in satellite data and excavated during the underwater archaeological survey. It seems that during the beginning/Middle Bronze Age, a natural or manmade channel was utilized as an entrance to the bay. As sea levels rose and sand began to accumulate, the channel was periodically filled in and would have needed to have been cleared. Eventually, it became too expensive or inconvenient to maintain, probably during the Byzantine period. The southern anchorage was abandoned for more favorable conditions to the north of the Tel. The sequence of events shows how ancient builders first utilized a natural channel, maintained it as sea levels rose, and abandoned it when it became too problematic to maintain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ancient city of Magdala, on the edge of the Sea of Galilee, represents the most significant archaeological site discovered in recent decades in Israel, mainly because it houses one of the few known synagogues from the period of the Second Temple of Jerusalem. The excavation of the site recently completed ten years and to find out about the scientific advances resulting from this work, we invited the expert responsible for the excavation, the archeologist Marcela Zapata-Meza, to this interview. The main objective of this interview is to present the alterations provided by Archeology after the contrast with known written records from Antiquity. It is hoped, with this, that it will be possible to know more about the challenges found in a Biblical Archeology work and that the knowledge about the context of formation of Judaism and Christianity will be expanded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biased skeletal part representation is a key element for making inferences about transport decisions, carcass procurement, and use patterns in anthropogenic accumulations. In the absence of destructive taphonomic processes, it is often assumed that the abundance of different anatomical portions represents selective transport and discard patterns of human groups. Because body parts may be transported for specific products such as meat, marrow or grease, a pattern that usually attracts attention in many archaeological sites is the low proportions of appendicular epiphyses. Here we present the case of faunal assemblages from the lower stratigraphic sequence of Qesem Cave, Israel, dated to ca. 430 to 300 ka. All bone accumulations are characterized by a biased skeletal profile including mainly long-limb bones and a virtual absence of epiphyses. The assemblages also show density-mediated attrition not linked to fossil-diagenetic processes, a targeted specific destruction to the most greasy articular ends and an almost total absence of carnivore intervention. Our goal here is to explore the processes that entail the destruction of appendicular epiphyses at Qesem Cave, as well as propose viable hypotheses to explain their underrepresentation on-site. Our results shed light on the domestic activities linked to the processing of bones at the site and support the importance of animal grease in the caloric intake of Middle Pleistocene humans., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

The article presents a speech by Margalit Finkelberg, delivered at the Fifty Years of the Israel Society for the Promotion of Classical Studies. Topics included Classical Studies in Israel; Competent and dedicated tutors taught Greek and Latin to the students of Classics and other discipline, and Scholars trained in Classics were also employed at the departments of History, Archaeology, Jewish Studies, Philosophy, Linguistics, Comparative Literature.

This article evaluates the historicity of 1 Sam 7:2-17 in light of renewed analysis of the archaeological remains from Tell en-Nasbeh, other Iron Age I sites in the region of Benjamin, broader literary considerations in 1 Sam 1-10, and the geography of the Central Hill Country. In so doing, a case is made that there is far more going on in vv. 6-7 than what appears to be a miscommunication between the Israelites, who have gathered at the site of Mizpah, and the Philistines, who send troops against the Israelites. A historical reconstruction that considers the narrative form of 1 Sam 7:2-17 and the archaeological remains is offered, as is a new proposal for the identification of the site of Gibeath-elohim. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the latest arrangements regarding the identification of the monumental platform on the Kiriath-jearim hill near Jerusalem, based primarily on the analysis of archaeological data collected during the excavations in the 2017 season and the guidelines contained in the Bible. The results of the research suggest that this monumental structure was erected by Jeroboam II, the ruler of the Northern Kingdom, and most likely constituted a kind of fortress, which allowed Israel to control Jerusalem belonged to Judah. Presumably within this fortress the sanctuary of the Ark of the Covenant was there. The Ark was moved from Kiriath-jearim to Jerusalem not by David, but much later, at the initiative of king Josiah, as part of his policy of worship centralization. Archaeological research also seems to confirm that this place can be identified with the biblical Emmaus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the help of current archaeological results and by means of the reinterpretation of core textual traditions relating to the issue of cult, centralization, and monotheism, this study analyses the development of Jahvistic religion in Southern Levant with particular emphasis laid on interactions between Judah and its neighbouring territorial entities, Israel, Philistia and Moab. The author points out that a demonstrably aniconic form of monotheism was a reality only from the very final phasis of the existence of the Kingdom of Judah at the earliest and that the very concept of monotheism had been preceded by the idea of centralization adopted from the north, from the Omride dynasty ruling in the 9th and early 8th centuries BCE in Samaria. Though the close relation between Israel and Judah are concealed in a conventional reading and understanding of biblical texts, detailed analysis focused on the ideological decoding of these texts along with the use of archaeological data and the reading of other ancient textual sources results in a more complex image of religion in the region under consideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Tarih İncelemeleri Dergisi is the property of Tarih Incelemeleri Dergisi and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Summary: The cultivation of yeasts from up to 5000‐year‐old beer vessels in Israel allows insights into early domestication of microbes for food production, but also raises questions about long‐term survival of microbes under dormancy or slow growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An interview with Heidi Grunebaum a scholar, activist, and poet, on her views on identity and citizenship in a global world that is increasingly reproducing systems of violence that it was assumed belonged to humanity's past. Researching the answer of why that is, Grunebaum shares the lessons learned from her personal identity and work moving between Germany, South Africa, and Palestine-Israel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses a recently discovered coin hoard in the German-Israeli Tell IẒṭabba Excavation Project whose copper-alloyed coins belong to the days of Alexander II Zabinas (129/8-124/3 BCE). The hoard is discussed in light of Tell Iẓṭabba's history and archaeology -- as a settlement founded in the Seleucid period and destroyed by John Hyrcanus in 108/7 BCE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Difusionist model has been used to explain cultural similarities in many felds of the humanities including anthropology, archaeology and ancient history. Difusionism has often formed the presuppositions of those who have attempted to explain the similarities between certain elements of the Hebrew Bible and texts from other cultures of the Ancient Near East. This paper questions the appropriateness of Difusionism as an explanation for common features found in ancient Israel and the Near East. Four particular cases of similarity are examined to test the merits of Difusionism: accounts of the Flood, laws concerning the 'goring ox', biblical covenants and Near Eastern treaties, and creation accounts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metalwork was a major technological innovation that displaced stone-tool technologies and transformed human society and the environment. However, our understanding of these processes remains partial. In this paper, we approach the stone-to-metal transition from a novel angle-the presence of flint knapping at metal production sites. Drawing on excavations at the Late Bronze and Iron Age copper smelting sites in Timna Valley, Israel, we demonstrate that systematic production of expedient stone tools was integral to these sites' industrial operations, placing it at the heart of the very same metal circulation networks that were presumably responsible for its displacement. The observations from Timna, coupled with evidence for the use of chipped stone technology in other early Iron Age metallurgical contexts, support the hypothesis that it was probably both the high accessibility of iron and its qualities that put an end to the stone tool industry. Copper and bronze could not easily fulfill the function of the ad hoc stone tools and were not used to replace stone tools even if they were available and accessible., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2023 Shimelmitz, Ben-Yosef. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

The origin of the tin used for the production of bronze in the Eurasian Bronze Age is still one of the mysteries in prehistoric archaeology. In the past, numerous studies were carried out on archaeological bronze and tin objects with the aim of determining the sources of tin, but all failed to find suitable fingerprints. In this paper we investigate a set of 27 tin ingots from well-known sites in the eastern Mediterranean Sea (Mochlos, Uluburun, Hishuley Carmel, Kfar Samir south, Haifa) that had been the subject of previous archaeological and archaeometallurgical research. By using a combined approach of tin and lead isotopes together with trace elements it is possible to narrow down the potential sources of tin for the first time. The strongly radiogenic composition of lead in the tin ingots from Israel allows the calculation of a geological model age of the parental tin ores of 291 ± 17 Ma. This theoretical formation age excludes Anatolian, central Asian and Egyptian tin deposits as tin sources since they formed either much earlier or later. On the other hand, European tin deposits of the Variscan orogeny agree well with this time span so that an origin from European deposits is suggested. With the help of the tin isotope composition and the trace elements of the objects it is further possible to exclude many tin resources from the European continent and, considering the current state of knowledge and the available data, to conclude that Cornish tin mines are the most likely suppliers for the 13th–12th centuries tin ingots from Israel. Even though a different provenance seems to be suggested for the tin from Mochlos and Uluburun by the actual data, these findings are of great importance for the archaeological interpretation of the trade routes and the circulation of tin during the Late Bronze Age. They demonstrate that the trade networks between the eastern Mediterranean and some place in the east that are assumed for the first half of the 2nd millennium BCE (as indicated by textual evidence from Kültepe/Kaneš and Mari) did not exist in the same way towards the last quarter of the millennium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last two decades, much of the recent efforts dedicated to the Levantine Middle Paleolithic has concentrated on the role of open-air sites in the settlement system in the region. Here focus on the site of ‘Ein Qashish as a cases study. Located in present-day northern Israel, the area of this site is estimated to have been >1300 m2, of which ca. 670 were excavated. The site is located at the confluence of the Qishon stream with a small tributary running off the eastern flanks of the Mt. Carmel. At the area of this confluence, water channels and alluvial deposits created a dynamic depositional environment. Four Archaeological Units were identified in a 4.5-m thick stratigraphic sequence were dated by Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) to between—71 and 54 ka, and probably shorter time span–~70-~60 ka. Here we present the diverse material culture remains from the site (lithics, including refitted sequences; modified limestone pieces; molluscs; faunal remains) against their changing paleogeographic backdrop. Skeletal evidence suggests that these remains were associated with Neanderthals. The large-scale repeated accumulation of late Middle Paleolithic remains in the same place on the landscape provides a unique opportunity to address questions of occupation duration and intensity in open-air sites. We find that each occupation was of ephemeral nature, yet presents a range of activities, suggesting that the locale has been used as a generalized residential site rather than specialized task-specific ones. This role of ‘Ein Qashish did not change through time, suggesting that during the late Middle Paleolithic settlement system in this part of the southern Levant were stable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses the development and progress of conflicts at the "City of David" heritage-tourism site in Jerusalem, Israel and the reciprocal relations between heritage sites and conflicts. It offers a comprehensive examination of the development of a major tourist attraction in Israel. Our research is based on the following two methods of qualitative research: (1) in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 43 key stakeholders; (2) textual analysis of current written materials and historical documents. The study investigates the relevant processes and decisions, stakeholder perceptions, the role of the archaeological excavations, and their relationship to the development of conflict. On a broader level, this study formulates a theoretical and practical framework for analysing the development of heritage tourism sites in conflict zones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A multidisciplinary study was conducted in a newly discovered Paleolithic locality, named 'Evron Landfill. This locality is a part of the Lower Paleolithic complex of 'Evron located at the western Galilee, Israel. Examination of artifacts has enabled the cultural attribution of 'Evron Landfill to the Early Acheulian, while detailed paleomagnetic stratigraphy places the hominin occupations near the Brunhes–Matuyama transition ~0.77 Ma. This age is constrained by cosmogenic isotope burial dating of the sediments overlying the Paleolithic finds, providing a minimum age of ~0.66±0.11 Ma for hominin activity at the site. These results are further supported by the biochronological information derived from the faunal assemblage. Comparative analyses of faunal remains and lithic artifacts from 'Evron Landfill demonstrate similarities to the assemblages from the Early Acheulian site of Evron Quarry, located ~300 m to the south. Pedo-sedimentological analyses indicate that hominin activity took place in a marsh environment in proximity to the Mediterranean coast, which probably fluctuated in both space and time with a fluvial environment. In addition, this study provides important data about ancient coastal activity during the early to middle Pleistocene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decorating the living space, objects, body and clothes with colour is a widespread human practice. While the habitual use of red mineral pigments (such as iron-oxide, e.g., ochre) by anatomically modern humans started in Africa about 140,000 years ago, the earliest documentation of the use of organic plant or animal-based red pigments is known from only 6,000 years ago. Here, we report the oldest reliable evidence of organic red pigment use 15,000 years ago by the first sedentary hunter-gatherers in the Levant. SEM-EDS and Raman Spectroscopy analyses of 10 red-stained shell beads enabled us to detect and describe the use of a colourant made of Rubiaceae plants roots (Rubia spp., Asperula spp., Gallium spp.) to colour personal adornments from the Early Natufian of Kebara cave, Mount Carmel, Israel. This adds a previously unknown behavioural aspect of Natufian societies, namely a well-established tradition of non-dietary plant processing at the beginning of the sedentary lifestyle. Through a combined multidisciplinary approach, our study broadens the perspectives on the ornamental practices and the chaînes opératoires of pigmenting materials during a crucial period in human history., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2023 Davin et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

The article discusses the Jewish holy places in Israel that served as pilgrimage venues and as historical-antiquity sites after the country was founded in 1948. Topics discussed include the background of phenomenon of holy places and historical-archaeological sites in the late Ottoman period and under the British mandate and the tension in the relations between the Ministry of Religions and the Department of Antiquities.

Recent inspection by the Israel Antiquities Authority has shed light on several issues related to the history of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem:important data has been gathered regarding the character of the rock at the summit of the hill; knowledge of the drainage systems and the cisterns that have served the Temple Mount has been augmented; in several places ancient structures buried beneath layers of soil have been recorded; and several previously concealed architectural elements probably associated with the Second Temple period have been detected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conventional theory described two settlement waves in the Negev Highlands in the third millennium BCE—in the EB II and the Intermediate Bronze Age— and a period with no evidence for stone architecture between them in the EB III. Arad in the Beer-sheba Valley was presented as an EB I-II site, which lay deserted in the EB III. Old and new radiocarbon dates and other lines of evidence from the copper mining districts in the Arabah, Arad and the Negev Highlands make this scenario obsolete. The new data indicate a long period of activity in the south—throughout the Early Bronze and the first half of the Intermediate Bronze Age. Certain changes in the settlement patterns took place in the transition from the EB III to the Intermediate Bronze Age— abandonment of Arad and the rise of central trading sites within the Negev Highlands. Activity in the Negev Highlands was related to the copper industry in the Arabah and transportation of copper to the north and west. Demand for copper in Egypt played an important role in the settlement history of the arid regions: the peak prosperity in the EB III and first half of the Intermediate Bronze Age corresponds to the time of the Old Kingdom in Egypt and deterioration of the Negev system tallies with the collapse of the Old Kingdom ca. 2200 BCE. The data for the third millennium BCE enables the structuring and presentation of a broader model of human activity in the Negev Highlands and neighbouring regions in the Bronze and Iron Ages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metric data of 6th century CE pigeons from the Negev Desert, Israel, are employed to test competing hypotheses on flock management strategies: that directed selection for size or shape took place under intensive management; or, alternatively, that stabilizing selection was a stronger determinant of size and shape under extensive management conditions. The results of the analysis support the second hypothesis by demonstrating that the Byzantine Negev pigeons were like wild pigeon (Columba livia) in shape, albeit small-sized. The inferred extensive management system is then discussed in the context of pigeon domestication and human micro-ecologies in marginal regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional views on Middle Bronze Age (MBA) palatial function have been challenged by recent work at Tel Kabri, where the excavators have argued against the common identification of southern Levantine palaces as redistributive centres staffed with literate administrators. These innovative ideas surrounding palace function were first developed by Flinders Petrie during excavations at Tell el-'Ajjul in 1931-32. Here he uncovered a series of elaborately constructed elite residences that he identified as 'palaces'. However, when reconsidering Petrie's finds, the results from 'Ajjul are largely supportive of the Kabri observations. A lack of evidence for key functional attributes of palaces--large-scale storage, administrative paraphernalia and redistributive function - is comparable to that reported at Kabri. A short consideration of similar MBA 'palaces' elsewhere in the southern Levant is supportive of the aforementioned trend, and therefore calls into question the traditionally held views on the function of these elaborate architectural complexes. Either the function generally attributed to these structures is incorrect, or administration and rulership in MBA Canaan leaves no unambiguous residues in the archaeological record. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many archaeological remains of runoff harvesting agricultural systems have been discovered throughout the hyper-arid central Arava Valley in southern Israel. The remains include stone terraces and conduits in 12 wadis (ephemeral stream channels). Other agriculture-related stone-made infrastructures included a rounded threshing floor and many livestock enclosures. Additionally, many farming-related hand tools and pottery fragments were also found. The pottery and tools were dated to a chronological sequence, ranging between the Late Neolithic (6450–4550 BCE) and recent Bedouin (until the mid-20th century) ages. Some of the archaeological findings suggest that barley and wheat were the dominant crops. This highlights the importance of runoff farming for the subsistence economy of ancient populations, playing a central role in the smallholder, mixed crop-livestock system's adaptation strategy. Agro-hydrological assessment of runoff harvesting potential under the current climatic conditions was conducted for selected six terraced fields. For conducting this, data on precipitation for a 16-year period (1999/00 to 2015/16) was obtained from two meteorological stations. Then, modeling of both alluvial- and fluvial- runoff processes was performed for each of the six terraced fields. Combining the alluvial and fluvial processes revealed that either 6-mm rainstorms, which occur on an average of once every year, or 10-mm rainstorms, which take place on an average of once every 1.8–3.2 years, would allow cereal production in only one of the terraced fields. Rainstorms of 20 mm, which took place only once during the 16-year period, would allow successful cropping in five of the terraced fields. Insights of this study concur with other studies, which revealed the considerably drier regional conditions at present compared to those in ancient times, and even compared to those in the mid-20th century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]