Pub Date : 2022-09-02DOI: 10.1080/00758914.2022.2115697
Ali Al‐Manaser, Jérôme Norris
This paper publishes six new inscriptions discovered at three different sites within the Ḥarrah desert in north-eastern Jordan during the 2017 and 2018 seasons of the BES (Badia Epigraphic Survey). The first text is a five-line Greek inscription referring to the god Zeus Kyrios ‘Zeus the Lord’ a form of Zeus whose cult was popular in the Ḥawrān and whose name is recognized as masking that of Baalshamin. The text is authored by a person bearing the Arabic theophoric name of Amrosamsos (Mrʾs²ms¹), who describes himself as ‘the Goareian’, in reference to a district of ‘Arabia’ mentioned in Greek literary sources. The five Safaitic inscriptions are by nomadic tribesmen from the kin groups of the ʿwḏ and Qmr, some of whom are already known from other Safaitic inscriptions. These texts provide us with two new Safaitic verbs (ytm ‘to become an orphan’ and ndy ‘to invoke’), as well as with the first example of a member of the ʿwḏ tribe who refers to his service in a ms¹rt ‘military unit’.
{"title":"The Ḥarrah’s epigraphic heritage: new safaitic inscriptions from the Black Desert in north-eastern Jordan and a Greek inscription referring to Zeus Kyrios","authors":"Ali Al‐Manaser, Jérôme Norris","doi":"10.1080/00758914.2022.2115697","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/00758914.2022.2115697","url":null,"abstract":"This paper publishes six new inscriptions discovered at three different sites within the Ḥarrah desert in north-eastern Jordan during the 2017 and 2018 seasons of the BES (Badia Epigraphic Survey). The first text is a five-line Greek inscription referring to the god Zeus Kyrios ‘Zeus the Lord’ a form of Zeus whose cult was popular in the Ḥawrān and whose name is recognized as masking that of Baalshamin. The text is authored by a person bearing the Arabic theophoric name of Amrosamsos (Mrʾs²ms¹), who describes himself as ‘the Goareian’, in reference to a district of ‘Arabia’ mentioned in Greek literary sources. The five Safaitic inscriptions are by nomadic tribesmen from the kin groups of the ʿwḏ and Qmr, some of whom are already known from other Safaitic inscriptions. These texts provide us with two new Safaitic verbs (ytm ‘to become an orphan’ and ndy ‘to invoke’), as well as with the first example of a member of the ʿwḏ tribe who refers to his service in a ms¹rt ‘military unit’.","PeriodicalId":45348,"journal":{"name":"Levant","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45558447","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-05-04DOI: 10.1080/00758914.2022.2068875
K. Al-Bashaireh
This research investigates the archaeometric characteristics of the marble sarcophagus displayed in the Umm Qeis Museum of Antiquities, Gadara (Umm Qais), north Jordan. Marble sarcophagi are very rarely found at archaeological sites in Jordan; the Gadara marble sarcophagus is, therefore, unique. This sarcophagus, dated to the 3rd century AD, presents only the base and the lid; the lid shows remnants and traces of the chiton and himation of two effigies, while the pedestal shows remnants of a foot and a weapon, both probably indicate an Attic sarcophagus. The research undertaken aims to determine the quarry origins of the box and the lid, while also considering the notion of some scholars that the boxes of Attic sarcophagi were carved of Pentelic marble, while the lids were carved of Hymettian marble. The results of the mineralogical, petrographic, chemical and isotopic analyses showed that the most likely quarry origin of the two marble parts is Pentelikon Mountain, Athens, Greece. The sarcophagus’s high quality, elaborate decorations, large volume and heavy weight, along with the inland location of Gadara, suggest that it was ordered by a wealthy and/or a high-status Gadarene citizen.
{"title":"A marble Sarcophagus of Gadara (Umm Qais), Jordan: insights on its provenance","authors":"K. Al-Bashaireh","doi":"10.1080/00758914.2022.2068875","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/00758914.2022.2068875","url":null,"abstract":"This research investigates the archaeometric characteristics of the marble sarcophagus displayed in the Umm Qeis Museum of Antiquities, Gadara (Umm Qais), north Jordan. Marble sarcophagi are very rarely found at archaeological sites in Jordan; the Gadara marble sarcophagus is, therefore, unique. This sarcophagus, dated to the 3rd century AD, presents only the base and the lid; the lid shows remnants and traces of the chiton and himation of two effigies, while the pedestal shows remnants of a foot and a weapon, both probably indicate an Attic sarcophagus. The research undertaken aims to determine the quarry origins of the box and the lid, while also considering the notion of some scholars that the boxes of Attic sarcophagi were carved of Pentelic marble, while the lids were carved of Hymettian marble. The results of the mineralogical, petrographic, chemical and isotopic analyses showed that the most likely quarry origin of the two marble parts is Pentelikon Mountain, Athens, Greece. The sarcophagus’s high quality, elaborate decorations, large volume and heavy weight, along with the inland location of Gadara, suggest that it was ordered by a wealthy and/or a high-status Gadarene citizen.","PeriodicalId":45348,"journal":{"name":"Levant","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49411292","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-05-04DOI: 10.1080/00758914.2022.2104559
S. Mithen
Shamanism is a pervasive form of ritual practice documented within hunter-gathering and farming societies throughout the world, and continuing within some present-day urban communities. Despite exhibiting considerable variation, shamanism has several recurrent features, notably the role of the shaman as a mediator between the spirit and human worlds. Shamanism has been cited to explain aspects of the Epipalaeolithic and Neolithic archaeological records in Southwest Asia and Anatolia. Building on that work, this contribution explores whether shamanism might account for intriguing finds from the early Neolithic settlement of WF16 in southern Jordan, notably a large quantity of bird bones, zoomorphic artefacts and architectural features. A range of interpretations for the evidence are considered with shamanism emerging as the most compelling, suggesting that shamanic thought and practice pervaded daily life at WF16. The paper concludes by proposing that shamanism played a key role in the Early Holocene transition from hunting and gathering to farming in Southwest Asia, as it provided a means for coping with the uncertainty arising from climate and economic change.
{"title":"Shamanism at the transition from foraging to farming in Southwest Asia: sacra, ritual, and performance at Neolithic WF16 (southern Jordan)","authors":"S. Mithen","doi":"10.1080/00758914.2022.2104559","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/00758914.2022.2104559","url":null,"abstract":"Shamanism is a pervasive form of ritual practice documented within hunter-gathering and farming societies throughout the world, and continuing within some present-day urban communities. Despite exhibiting considerable variation, shamanism has several recurrent features, notably the role of the shaman as a mediator between the spirit and human worlds. Shamanism has been cited to explain aspects of the Epipalaeolithic and Neolithic archaeological records in Southwest Asia and Anatolia. Building on that work, this contribution explores whether shamanism might account for intriguing finds from the early Neolithic settlement of WF16 in southern Jordan, notably a large quantity of bird bones, zoomorphic artefacts and architectural features. A range of interpretations for the evidence are considered with shamanism emerging as the most compelling, suggesting that shamanic thought and practice pervaded daily life at WF16. The paper concludes by proposing that shamanism played a key role in the Early Holocene transition from hunting and gathering to farming in Southwest Asia, as it provided a means for coping with the uncertainty arising from climate and economic change.","PeriodicalId":45348,"journal":{"name":"Levant","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46246267","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-05-04DOI: 10.1080/00758914.2022.2070233
Shatha Mubaideen, Pascal Flohr, J. Smithies, F. Bala'awi, Carol Palmer, Sahar Idwan, Alessandra Esposito
MaDiH (Mapping Digital Cultural Heritage in Jordan) was a two-year UK-Jordanian project that aimed to identify essential systems, datasets and standards to contribute to the long-term sustainable development of Jordan’s digital cultural heritage. The project launched an online catalogue and prototype repository using the Comprehensive Knowledge Archive Network (CKAN) platform to present the collected data that was produced by the local and international research community on Jordan’s cultural heritage. This paper assesses the usability of the MaDiH CKAN catalogue using qualitative and quantitative methods. A thorough analysis of the project’s user engagement activities and online presence was undertaken to identify current and potential future uses of the CKAN catalogue by its research community. The preliminary analysis indicated that the largest user group were mid-senior to senior academics/professionals from the cultural heritage sector. Therefore, representatives of this group were selected for further usability analysis through semi-structured online interviews, in order to validate the research outcomes and get deeper insights into the research domain. The findings offer significant insights for similar digital cultural heritage initiatives in Jordan, as well as recommendations for the future development of the MaDiH CKAN catalogue as a National Heritage Portal repository.
{"title":"Assessing the MaDiH CKAN catalogue as an engagement tool for the Jordanian cultural heritage community","authors":"Shatha Mubaideen, Pascal Flohr, J. Smithies, F. Bala'awi, Carol Palmer, Sahar Idwan, Alessandra Esposito","doi":"10.1080/00758914.2022.2070233","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/00758914.2022.2070233","url":null,"abstract":"MaDiH (Mapping Digital Cultural Heritage in Jordan) was a two-year UK-Jordanian project that aimed to identify essential systems, datasets and standards to contribute to the long-term sustainable development of Jordan’s digital cultural heritage. The project launched an online catalogue and prototype repository using the Comprehensive Knowledge Archive Network (CKAN) platform to present the collected data that was produced by the local and international research community on Jordan’s cultural heritage. This paper assesses the usability of the MaDiH CKAN catalogue using qualitative and quantitative methods. A thorough analysis of the project’s user engagement activities and online presence was undertaken to identify current and potential future uses of the CKAN catalogue by its research community. The preliminary analysis indicated that the largest user group were mid-senior to senior academics/professionals from the cultural heritage sector. Therefore, representatives of this group were selected for further usability analysis through semi-structured online interviews, in order to validate the research outcomes and get deeper insights into the research domain. The findings offer significant insights for similar digital cultural heritage initiatives in Jordan, as well as recommendations for the future development of the MaDiH CKAN catalogue as a National Heritage Portal repository.","PeriodicalId":45348,"journal":{"name":"Levant","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45118893","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-05-04DOI: 10.1080/00758914.2022.2104525
G. Shalvi, A. Gilboa
The 7th century in the southern Levant is characterized by Assyrian rule and subsequent Egyptian domination. Despite the relatively violent nature of this century, and abundant historical documentation, occupations both in the southern Levant and Lebanon are dated with low resolution. This deficiency was mainly created by a lack of destruction layers within this century, resulting in a dearth of chronological anchors for ceramic developments. At Tel Shiqmona, a unique purple-production centre that had been frequently destroyed, an unparalleled sequence of five layers of late Iron Age destructions/abandonments has been preserved, spanning a little over 100 years. These enable the definition of detailed typological developments of Phoenician transport jars. Being a widely distributed commercial vessel, exhibiting frequent typological changes and originating from a limited number of workshops, these jars constitute the best chronological index yet for the late Iron Age Levant. This paper presents the Tel Shiqmona sequence, outlines the typological development of the jars and explains their chronological designations. The benefits of defining archaeological sub-divisions within the 7th century BCE are highlighted by two examples: the chronology of Tyre; and settlement/geopolitical dynamics in the Assyrian province of Megiddo. It is argued that this chronological tool can be applied broadly around the Mediterranean.
{"title":"The long 7th century BCE at Tel Shiqmona (Israel): a high resolution chronological tool for the Levant and the Mediterranean","authors":"G. Shalvi, A. Gilboa","doi":"10.1080/00758914.2022.2104525","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/00758914.2022.2104525","url":null,"abstract":"The 7th century in the southern Levant is characterized by Assyrian rule and subsequent Egyptian domination. Despite the relatively violent nature of this century, and abundant historical documentation, occupations both in the southern Levant and Lebanon are dated with low resolution. This deficiency was mainly created by a lack of destruction layers within this century, resulting in a dearth of chronological anchors for ceramic developments. At Tel Shiqmona, a unique purple-production centre that had been frequently destroyed, an unparalleled sequence of five layers of late Iron Age destructions/abandonments has been preserved, spanning a little over 100 years. These enable the definition of detailed typological developments of Phoenician transport jars. Being a widely distributed commercial vessel, exhibiting frequent typological changes and originating from a limited number of workshops, these jars constitute the best chronological index yet for the late Iron Age Levant. This paper presents the Tel Shiqmona sequence, outlines the typological development of the jars and explains their chronological designations. The benefits of defining archaeological sub-divisions within the 7th century BCE are highlighted by two examples: the chronology of Tyre; and settlement/geopolitical dynamics in the Assyrian province of Megiddo. It is argued that this chronological tool can be applied broadly around the Mediterranean.","PeriodicalId":45348,"journal":{"name":"Levant","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42489121","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-05-04DOI: 10.1080/00758914.2022.2093029
Dennis J. Mizzi, J. Magness
Excavations at Ḥorvat Ḥuqoq (Yaquq) in Israel’s eastern Lower Galilee have brought to light a monumental public building that sheds new light on the history of the Jews in late medieval Palestine, about whom we know very little. We interpret this building as a late medieval synagogue — the first such synagogue to be unearthed in Israel — and argue that its construction was precipitated by the establishment of the Mamluk barīd, which passed by Yaquq, and by the tradition locating the tomb of Habakkuk at the site. In the late medieval period, Yaquq experienced a brief economic boom owing to the increasing number of travellers, including pilgrims, passing through the village. This wealth is reflected in the construction of this monumental synagogue and the discovery of a large gold and silver coin hoard to its south. In addition to serving the local community, the synagogue would have served the many pilgrims who visited Habakkuk’s tomb and nearby holy shrines.
{"title":"A late medieval synagogue at Ḥuqoq/Yaquq in Galilee?","authors":"Dennis J. Mizzi, J. Magness","doi":"10.1080/00758914.2022.2093029","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/00758914.2022.2093029","url":null,"abstract":"Excavations at Ḥorvat Ḥuqoq (Yaquq) in Israel’s eastern Lower Galilee have brought to light a monumental public building that sheds new light on the history of the Jews in late medieval Palestine, about whom we know very little. We interpret this building as a late medieval synagogue — the first such synagogue to be unearthed in Israel — and argue that its construction was precipitated by the establishment of the Mamluk barīd, which passed by Yaquq, and by the tradition locating the tomb of Habakkuk at the site. In the late medieval period, Yaquq experienced a brief economic boom owing to the increasing number of travellers, including pilgrims, passing through the village. This wealth is reflected in the construction of this monumental synagogue and the discovery of a large gold and silver coin hoard to its south. In addition to serving the local community, the synagogue would have served the many pilgrims who visited Habakkuk’s tomb and nearby holy shrines.","PeriodicalId":45348,"journal":{"name":"Levant","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43695612","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-05-04DOI: 10.1080/00758914.2022.2091830
Rafael Laoutari
CHOVANEC, Z. and CRIST, W. (eds) (2021) All Things Cypriot. Studies on Ancient Environment, Technology, and Society in Honor of Stuart Swiny. American Society of Overseas Research Archaeological Reports 28, Cyprus American Archaeological Research Institute Monograph Series 6. Alexandria, VA: American Society of Overseas Research. ISBN: 978-0-89757-116-6. Pp. xx+ 272. 90 figs; 3 tables. Hardback £60.
{"title":"All Things Cypriot. Studies on Ancient Environment, Technology, and Society in Honor of Stuart Swiny","authors":"Rafael Laoutari","doi":"10.1080/00758914.2022.2091830","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/00758914.2022.2091830","url":null,"abstract":"CHOVANEC, Z. and CRIST, W. (eds) (2021) All Things Cypriot. Studies on Ancient Environment, Technology, and Society in Honor of Stuart Swiny. American Society of Overseas Research Archaeological Reports 28, Cyprus American Archaeological Research Institute Monograph Series 6. Alexandria, VA: American Society of Overseas Research. ISBN: 978-0-89757-116-6. Pp. xx+ 272. 90 figs; 3 tables. Hardback £60.","PeriodicalId":45348,"journal":{"name":"Levant","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42621991","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-05-04DOI: 10.1080/00758914.2022.2112866
M. Pucci
cal and production-oriented analysis of the textile tools from Episkopi-Bamboula, while Artzy (Chapter 11) offers a discussion on the ceramic wares of the Middle and Late Bronze Age, concerning especially the Cypriot Bichrome ware. Chovanec and Fourentzos (Chapter 12) provide a thorough review on the study of opium poppy in the Late Bronze Age Eastern Mediterranean and new insights for the Cypriot Iron Age, while London (Chapter 13) explores the benefits of an ethnoarchaeological approach in the investigation of diverse ceramic markings coupled with the technological and social world of pithos making. Turning to the theme of regional connectivity (Section V), Bergoffen (Chapter 14) uses a fragmentary White Painted Hand-made crater from Enkomi for reviewing issues of style, cross-cultural interactions, inter-media inspirations and symbolic appropriation during the early Late Cypriot. By taking a leap of about a millennium, Kushnet (Chapter 15) uses diverse statistical techniques on coinage and ceramics for revealing patterns of connectivity, trade, economy and politics among the 6th–4th century BC Cypriot city-kingdoms. Moving further forward in time, Leonard (Chapter 16) offers a stimulating article rooted in multiple data strands (surveys, written and ethnographic sources, geographical and topographical information) for locating the island’s roman harbours and elucidating their maritime trade activity. The meticulous description of the exchange networks of the 20th century Cypriot carob industry, presented here as an analogy for the diverse roman trade networks, provokes the rethinking of the role of the Cypriot landscape in connectivity, mobility and prosperity. The last two chapters (Section VI) discuss future directions for Cypriot Archaeology within the framework of past and present research. Swantek and Weir (Chapter 17) embrace Swiny’s project at SotiraKaminoudhia and reveal their research agenda for its future, with more excavations, science-based methodologies, coupledwith ethnographic work and landscape development formaking the area attractive to locals and tourists. Lastly, Knapp (Chapter 18) concludes the volume by reviewing the trends of Cypriot prehistory over the last 40 years.Despite his rather festive acknowledgement of people and projects impacting the discipline, he highlights that much of the current research, regardless of its advance science-based nature, is still relatively under-theorized and ‘firmly grounded in the data’ (p. 237); a pattern also reflected in this volume. Overall, despite the aforementioned diversity, the editors successfully group the articles in meaningful sections, thus, offering multiple pathways for approaching similar concepts. The multiplicity of topics, periods, methodologies and datasets make this volume an asset for anyone working on Cypriot archaeology. The articles on Swiny’s legacy (1–3) indirectly enrich the history of the discipline by revealing diverse aspects of CAARI’s past, while the nu
{"title":"Dan IV: The Iron Age I Settlement. The Avraham Biran Excavations (1966–1999)","authors":"M. Pucci","doi":"10.1080/00758914.2022.2112866","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/00758914.2022.2112866","url":null,"abstract":"cal and production-oriented analysis of the textile tools from Episkopi-Bamboula, while Artzy (Chapter 11) offers a discussion on the ceramic wares of the Middle and Late Bronze Age, concerning especially the Cypriot Bichrome ware. Chovanec and Fourentzos (Chapter 12) provide a thorough review on the study of opium poppy in the Late Bronze Age Eastern Mediterranean and new insights for the Cypriot Iron Age, while London (Chapter 13) explores the benefits of an ethnoarchaeological approach in the investigation of diverse ceramic markings coupled with the technological and social world of pithos making. Turning to the theme of regional connectivity (Section V), Bergoffen (Chapter 14) uses a fragmentary White Painted Hand-made crater from Enkomi for reviewing issues of style, cross-cultural interactions, inter-media inspirations and symbolic appropriation during the early Late Cypriot. By taking a leap of about a millennium, Kushnet (Chapter 15) uses diverse statistical techniques on coinage and ceramics for revealing patterns of connectivity, trade, economy and politics among the 6th–4th century BC Cypriot city-kingdoms. Moving further forward in time, Leonard (Chapter 16) offers a stimulating article rooted in multiple data strands (surveys, written and ethnographic sources, geographical and topographical information) for locating the island’s roman harbours and elucidating their maritime trade activity. The meticulous description of the exchange networks of the 20th century Cypriot carob industry, presented here as an analogy for the diverse roman trade networks, provokes the rethinking of the role of the Cypriot landscape in connectivity, mobility and prosperity. The last two chapters (Section VI) discuss future directions for Cypriot Archaeology within the framework of past and present research. Swantek and Weir (Chapter 17) embrace Swiny’s project at SotiraKaminoudhia and reveal their research agenda for its future, with more excavations, science-based methodologies, coupledwith ethnographic work and landscape development formaking the area attractive to locals and tourists. Lastly, Knapp (Chapter 18) concludes the volume by reviewing the trends of Cypriot prehistory over the last 40 years.Despite his rather festive acknowledgement of people and projects impacting the discipline, he highlights that much of the current research, regardless of its advance science-based nature, is still relatively under-theorized and ‘firmly grounded in the data’ (p. 237); a pattern also reflected in this volume. Overall, despite the aforementioned diversity, the editors successfully group the articles in meaningful sections, thus, offering multiple pathways for approaching similar concepts. The multiplicity of topics, periods, methodologies and datasets make this volume an asset for anyone working on Cypriot archaeology. The articles on Swiny’s legacy (1–3) indirectly enrich the history of the discipline by revealing diverse aspects of CAARI’s past, while the nu","PeriodicalId":45348,"journal":{"name":"Levant","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46325064","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-05-04DOI: 10.1080/00758914.2022.2061814
G. Wightman
Though the fortifications and waterworks of Jerusalem’s south-east hill (aka City of David) in the Bronze and Iron Ages have received a great deal of attention over the years, debate continues concerning the nature and evolution of the fortifications and how these functioned in tandem with the complex elements of the Gihon water systems. The present paper evaluates some key issues in this regard, including the date and function of the mid-slope walls, the relationship between the mid-slope walls and the Gihon fortifications, the fate of the Middle Bronze Age (MBA) fortifications in the Late Bronze Age (LBA), the date and function of the large rock-cut basin and Cave N (aka ‘Round Chamber’), the question of a possible lower-slope city wall of the MBA, and the date and nature of the Warren’s Shaft System. In distinction to some recent reassessments, the paper affirms that Jerusalem was an important and strongly fortified centre during MB II and throughout the Iron Age (IA).
{"title":"The disappearing walls of Jerusalem? Observations on the Bronze and Iron Age fortifications and waterworks on the east slope of the City of David","authors":"G. Wightman","doi":"10.1080/00758914.2022.2061814","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/00758914.2022.2061814","url":null,"abstract":"Though the fortifications and waterworks of Jerusalem’s south-east hill (aka City of David) in the Bronze and Iron Ages have received a great deal of attention over the years, debate continues concerning the nature and evolution of the fortifications and how these functioned in tandem with the complex elements of the Gihon water systems. The present paper evaluates some key issues in this regard, including the date and function of the mid-slope walls, the relationship between the mid-slope walls and the Gihon fortifications, the fate of the Middle Bronze Age (MBA) fortifications in the Late Bronze Age (LBA), the date and function of the large rock-cut basin and Cave N (aka ‘Round Chamber’), the question of a possible lower-slope city wall of the MBA, and the date and nature of the Warren’s Shaft System. In distinction to some recent reassessments, the paper affirms that Jerusalem was an important and strongly fortified centre during MB II and throughout the Iron Age (IA).","PeriodicalId":45348,"journal":{"name":"Levant","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44880023","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}