VOL.

69

NO.

MARCH 2006

A PUBLICATIONOF THE AMERICAN SCHOOLS OF ORIENTALRESEARCH

S^

y V

VOLUME 69

NO. 1

MARCH2006

Tells, Empires, and Civilizations: 4 Investigating Historical in the Ancient Near East Landscapes
by 0ystein LaBianca
For well over a century now, the "tell" has remained at the center of archaeological research in the Ancient Near East. Our understanding today of what it takes to has tells advanced significantly. investigate adequately There exists, for example, a widely held consensus that the "best archaeological practices" must include problem oriented research design; careful attention to excavation of techniques and in-field processing and documentation finds; surface surveys that explore the site's natural and cultural surroundings; and, as far as is possible, utilization of multi- disciplinary teams of experts to assist with data collection and analysis both in the field and in the laboratory. The vast increase in types and quantities of data resulting from these new and improved field methods has heightened demand for more comprehensive interpretive techniques which can make sense out of the masses of data being produced by today's more advanced approaches. This is especially the case when it comes to projects on sites occupied for thousands of years.

^ 1*2

Mapping the Assyrian Empire in Southeastern Turkey

and Ann Donkin

by Timothy Matney

use ^^^^^^^^^Q^^HI^^^^^^^I techniques ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H archaeology. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^RpPH^^Hisshown ^^^^^^^^H^^B^H^M|^^H survey ^^^^^^^^^^^3^^^^^^^^^| geophysical can our ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^|
understanding ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^1 urban of
large such as fortifications and street systems, as well as providing details on individual buildings and constructions. is The constant interplay between survey and excavation stressed throughout the article, with a discussion of ground structures
truthing as an aid to interpretation.

The Assyrian city of Ziyaret Tepe in southeastern Turkey (c. 610 BCE) presents a case-study for two archaeo survey techniques?magnetic gradiometry geophysical and electrical resistivity. The impact that these new are having on research design is discussed technologies of the results of five and, following a brief presentation seasons of geophysical survey, a few general guidelines are presented on the m^^^^mi^mhhhhh

~\

~J *

Tribal Power

in the

Ottoman Empire

by Eveline J. van der Steen

The society of the southern Levant in the later Ottoman its own tribal power structures and had period maintained its own ways of dealing with the Empire. The relationship between the heartland and hinterland of the Empire was one
sometimes cooperation, and often of conflict.

of coercion,

The "superpower," the Ottoman Empire, was an alien force with little affiliation, cultural, ethnic or otherwise, to the Arab population. The strategies they used to control the

On

the Cover:

Cuneiform

tablets

recording

the purchase

or distribution

of grain

from operation

G at Ziyaret

Tepe.

more

remote regions of the empire, such as Palestine and Transjordan, varied from a policy of "ostracizing" to exploiting the power and influence of local leaders. Two cases have been selected for this study that illustrate these opposite strategies. The first is that of the Kerak Plateau, representing a society that was virtually independent of the Empire until 1893. The second is that of Akila Agha, the self-appointed leader of the Henadi tribe, in 19th century northern Palestine, who spent much of his life in the service of the Empire.

FORUM
45

Capturing at Masada

a Beautiful Woman

by Joseph Zias and A^riel Gorski

Of the many important archaeological sites in Israel, the the Palace-fortress of Masada, built by King Herod in the first century BCE, looms largest and perhaps most important in the consciousness of the country. The site draws hundreds of thousands of visitors and tourists to see the remnants of the last battle in the famousWar of the Jews against the Romans (66-73 CE),which ended with the tragicmass suicide reported by the first century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus (Josephus 1959). Itwas not until 1963-1965 that the renowned Israeli archaeologist, the late Professor Yigael Yadin excavated the site. Since the 1990s much has been written about Yadiris interpretation of the site (Magness 1992; Ben-Yahuda 1995; Zias 2000) as well as the accuracy of Josephus reporting of events (Cohen 1982). Josephus reported that 960 Jews committed suicide; the skeletal remains of 25 found buried in a cave outside the southern wall and 3 found in the northern palace were reported by the excavators. Since Yadin and others had believed these were the human remains of the heroic last defenders ofMasada, they were accorded a state funeral in 1968 with fullmilitary honors and
reburied near the site. As the evidence is re-appraised, however, an

DEPARTMENTS
ARTI-FACTS
37

entirely different the picture is emerging.

A New Incised Scapula from Tel Kinrot

Nimrod Marom, Guy Bax'Oz and Stefan Miinger

A4

REVIEWS
Israel and the

Towns inAncient Southern Levant

M. Ortiz) (Steven

Near Eastern Archaeology:

(Robert MuUins)

A Reader.

Palace and Temple. A Study of Architectural and Verbal Icons

Fritz) (Volkmar

RESEARCH A PUBLICATION OF ORIENTAL OF THE AMERICAN SCHOOLS

From
As a Near

the Editor
Eastern archaeologist who has made a study of trade routes

.NEAR EASTERN ^CHAEOIDGY

Editor Sandra A. Scham Managing Editor Trina Arpin Assistant Editor Camilla Luckey Art Director Monica McLeod Sawyer/McLeod Creative arti-facts Editor Benjamin Porter Review Editor Justin Lev-Tov Editorial Committee Jeff Blakely Lynn Swartz Dodd Ann E. Killebrew Yuval Goren Adel Yahya Denise Neil Asher Silberman Sharon Steadman Bethany Walker Samuel Wolff Richard Zettler Schmandt-Besserat

I am convinced and imperial economies, that the whole phenomenon of in in intentional cultural exchange began the prehistoric period Southwest Asia. The first pastoral nomads who moved sheep and goats from town to town some seven thousand years ago brought with them goods to trade for essential concluded,
cultural

commodities. with goods

As most come

studies of trade have archaeological come ideas and from ideas influences and

exchanges.

it is currently not popular to talk about cultural diffusion in those of us who work in the Ancient Near East know that archaeology, While cultural communication of cyberspace. While
others, the basic

by early travelers was their version accomplished some may have contributed more to the network than
was one of reciprocity?equal exchange, or rather

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structure

exchanges taking place between cultures of more or less equal standing. With the advent of expanding village agriculture, urbanism, monarchies,
and empires, cultural exchanges became more asymmetric and began to

Payments

include people as well as goods. From prisoners of war and foreign laborers to exchange marriages between royal houses, the imperial capitals assailed and were assailed by foreign cultures. One of the goals of Near Eastern Archaeology has been to try and transcend in order to cover and disciplinary specializations cultural, chronological, research of broad archaeological
articles that touch on specific

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themes, we

we often publish issues with

to widen our scope to

attempt

cover as much of the region and its history as possible. In terms of geography and chronology, the articles in this issue extend from the Bronze Age empires of the Ancient Near East to the Ottoman Period in Jordan?with diversions sites inTurkey. They also span the focus of archaeological inquiry from the site to the regional level. The resulting impression gained, I believe, is that of a true exchange of new ideas and techniques within these pages. toAssyrian

Sandra A. Scham Editor

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Title: Near Eastern PublicationNumber 1094-2076.Frequency: Archaeology. Quarterly. Four Issuespublished annually. ASOR at Boston University, SubscriptionPrice: $100 institutions, $35 individuals.Location ofOffice of Publication: 656 Beacon Street, 5th floor, Boston,MA 02215-2010. Headquarters of publisher:ASOR at Boston University, 656 Beacon Street, 5th floor, Boston, MA 02215-2010. Editor: Sandra Sham, 3125Quebec PL,NW, Washington DC 20008. Owner: The American Schools ofOriental Research, 656 Beacon Street, 5th floor,Boston,MA 02215.The purpose,function, and non-profit statusof thisorganization and the tax exempt status forFederal income taxpurposes have not changed during the preceding 12 months. The averagenumberof copies of each issueduring the preceding 12 months are: (A)Total numberof copies printed: 3000; (B)Paid circulation, mail subscriptions: 2745; (C)Total paid circulation: 2745; (D) FreeDistribution: 61; (E)Total distribution: 2806; (F)Copies not distributed: 194; (G)Total: to nearest 3000. The actual numberof copies of single issuepublished filing date: (A)Total numberof copies printed: 2915; (B) Paid circulation,mail subscriptions:2323; (C)Total paid circulation: 2323;D) FreeDistribution: 62; (E) not Total distribution: 2385; (F)Copies distributed: 530; (G)Total: 2915.1 certify that the statementsmade byme above are correct and complete.TrinaArpin, American Schools ofOriental Research.

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LLS.

MP1R

S. AND HISTORICAL ANCIENT

by 0ystein

CIVILIZATIONS: LANDSCAPES EAST

INVESTIGATING IN TH

NEAR
S? LaBianca

For

well center

over

a century

now,

the "tell" has been

the

of archaeological

research

in the ancient Near

East. According toG. ErnestWright

(1972:123), it

is the "basic datum which must be examined carefully for or Proto as Pro to-Urban, the periods we may designate and fully 'urban* and 'civilized'." It is, he opined, Civilization, "the basic unit for reconstructing
eties in the Near East." _^-? . 1-? 1:? ?.5 I 1 1. 1, ?

Investigations of historical landscapes and archaeological tells in the ancient Near East do well to begin with reconstructing changes over time in the local food system (LaBianca 1990) by identifying the component parts of the system, finding out how these parts interact, and discovering the mechanisms that produce change. The component parts of a local food system will normally include available natural resources; religious beliefs relating to food; land ownership and use rights;
traditions ~^^^^^^^ regulating the division of work;

complex

soci

few today would disagree with our understanding of what Wright, a ite it takes to adequately investigate tells has advanced significantly. The adoption of new and improved field methods has increased vastly the While types and quantities of data produced
by excavation and

^pi;|||v

:kv,

:;:'ft^s^

land ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^L for ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^L

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

|dj^M^u^^M?M|^^^

types ?f crops and animals; cultivation ancj husbandry practices; water

use
transport (donkeys
and camels),
recycling refuse

horses
or

(chickens
harvesting,

and pigs);
storage

heightened
for more interpretive works to

demand
adequate frame make

and preservation; and distribution WM i_ A

The consumption; waste management. and

sense of it. This is the case especially

when it comes to sites

Changes B C
and the influence they components

in these
signal

whose archaeological records span multiple

millennia.

model links documented connectivity cycles of intensification expanding interactions in local food systems abatement (B) and (C) to political economy luminous civilizations (A). Civilizations resemble constellations of an enduring configuration by means and works elite cultural traditions values, however, and radiant these

changes along intensification/

abatement continuum

the

of various

because

I In this article,1 build on my previous work on long-term food systems dynamics 1990) in (LaBianca
order to construct a

are distinguishable attitudes, architecture. localized. beliefs,

of component including parts and of art, artisanship somewhat through varied successive and

of food production
the area.

in

Significantly, luminous Very phases.

are always configurations civilizations may metamorphose by Kristy Witzel.

Intensification of food production

is typically accom

distinguishable

Illustrations

and graphics

diachronic multi-period

framework

for studying historical landscapes archaeological tell sites in the Near East.2

and

panied by increased investment tree increased of cereals and crops; production in water collection increased reliance on and distribution; barn-yard and traction animals; build-up of permanent, often
walled, villages and on towns; the expanded other hand, access is usually to markets, accompanied and so on. Abatement,

times, the quest for food, water, shelter, prehistoric and protection has dominated the daily lives of human beings. The complex unity of beliefs and practices that shape this is how food consumed, stored, procured, quest?including and discarded?define the food system (LaBianca 1991).

FoodSystems
Since

by downswings
things as reliance

in the above components

on pasture animals

and upswings
of

in such

by means

transhumance

and

long-distance
with

pastoralism.
sedentarization

Generally,
whereas

intensification
abatement

is associated

accompanies

nomadization

(LaBianca

1990).

NEAR EASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY 69:1 (2006)

that produce long-term oscillations between The mechanisms intensification and abatement are both internal and external. Examples of internal mechanisms are "little traditions" to which local populations cling in the face of unpredictable climatic, political, and economic conditions (more about such traditions below). They may also include initiative and innovations by local populations that enhance their survival. External factors derive from two major streams of influence, empires and civilizations.

Tell Hesban4
Viewed
an

in light of the foregoing

of successive

ideas, tells are more

They

than

accumulation

settlements.

are material

evidence of past interactions among local food systems, empires, and civilizations. Study of the tell and its hinterland from this
perspective can help reconstruct, and so understand, the agents

Empires

to can be linked in local economies Some changes interventions political by external imperial or centralized local food system authorities (Wolf 1997: x-xiv). Unlike research, which relies primarily on empirical evidence generated through fieldwork, tracing changes caused by empires takes the archaeologist to imperial archives in the urban power centers of
states. Texts or other artifacts may provide evidence for

causing change in local culture during the life of the tell. The site of Tell Hesban (also spelled Tall Hisban5) was over thousand several years. It is located in the occupied east the of the Jordan River overlooking highland plateau Madaba Plains, Mount Nebo, the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea. At an altitude of nearly 900 meters, the summit of the site offers a panoramic view of the surrounding landscape including, on a clear day, a faint glimpse of the Dome
in Jerusalem.

of the Rock mosque

other

bureaucracies and imperial projects that influenced economic and political conditions in the general region or specific locality of the project. Such evidence may be inscriptions celebrating specific military
campaigns, vassal annexed states, areas, covenant tax texts records of outlining mentioning forced migrations terms towns or and conditions and villages of in

on Hesban's food system focused on over in settlement, land the millennia documenting changes use, operational facilities and diet. Regional survey data and Previous research

records

conscriptions,

instances of construction or re-building of highways and roads, place names attesting the influence of a ruler or a civilization, evidence for the import of raw materials and food stuffs from annexed regions, appearance in vassal regions of new foods traces of imported or exported works of art, and condiments,
artisanship or architecture; and so on.

Civilizations
Empires are transient products of specific, more enduring cultural entities commonly called civilizations both of which of entire societies and cultures. advance the development can be thought of as a luminous constellation of Civilization radiating beliefs, traditions, technology, art and architecture of that emanate from a particular center.3 The development in technology, science, or the arts all writing or innovations illustrate such influences and can spread far beyond empire boundaries. Thus, the contributions of the ancient Greeks to and natural science were a of philosophy the development major source of influence for the subsequent Roman, Byzantine, and Medieval European civilizations. it is When analyzing the internal workings of civilizations helpful to keep inmind the difference between "great" and "little traditions" (Redfield 1960; Bodley 2005). A civilization's great traditions are normative principles and behaviors propagated by literate elites that reach specific localities (such as towns or villages) by means of empires, dynasties, and sometimes religions which sponsor local projects in order to expand movements, the tradition. The Romans, for example, built aqueducts and roads wherever they went. Little traditions, on the other hand, are the conglomerate
by the common people

east the location of Hesban This map shows and the Dead Sea. Tell Hesban (Tall Hisban)

of the Jordan

River

is a multi-millennial east the of the Jordan Jordan Valley

of local knowledge
of an area.

and customs practiced

in the highland site located archaeological plateau the Madaba River overlooking Nebo, Plains, Mount and the Dead Sea.

69:1 (2006) 5 NEAR EASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY

Modern tell

at Hesban farmers with the archaeological harvesting in the background. At an altitude of nearly 900 m, the summit a of the site offers view of the surrounding historical panoramic landscape, the Rock biblical including, in Jerusalem. on a clear Most day, biblical some and a faint of the Dome of glimpse associate scholars the site with 37 times settlement River. traces This graph in the settlement Based primarily schematic on long-term and food the patterns system of intensification (LaBianca and abatement 236). of Hesban 1990: in the Old of Hebrew Testament tribes in in the

Heshbon, with

mentioned the conquest sides

BClI8g?ggggg

g AD

connection hill country

on both

of the Jordan

in the tell activity data from the excavations occupational on in information settlement and patterns provided changes facilities. of animal bones and carbonized Analysis operational seeds supplied most of the data on changes in land use and dietary patterns (LaBianca 1990). two complementary The investigation followed lines of research. Ethnoarchaeological and ethnohistorical research was conducted in modern Hesban and its surroundings, in of the food system over the patterns documenting change past 150 years. Also, specialized studies of occupational activity data from the tell, regional survey data, animal bones, and carbonized seeds showed changes in the system during the Iron
Age, Greco-Roman, and Islamic eras.

survey data, the graph regional estimation in the intensity of changes highly settlement with the Late Bronze Age system beginning with the present. As can be seen, the graph reveals an of peaks in Iron I, Late and valleys, with peaks pattern II, Byzantine, Late Bronze, Graphics Mamluk, Early and modern times. Iron II,Hellenistic,

a presents of Hesban's and ending oscillating Iron II, Roman during times.

Abassid,

are evident Valleys and Ottoman

by Kristy Witzel.

to summarize One of the simplest means the findings is a graph tracing long-term patterns of intensification and abatement in the settlement system of Hesban. Based primarily
on the regional survey data, the graph presents an estimation

two interactions, the upswings and in the system, and what mechanisms enabled the downswings system to shift in response between sedentary and nomadic their temporal system and understanding arose. What questions pivotal generated
orientations?

of changes
with the

beginning
present and,

with

the Late Bronze Age

be seen, reveals an

and ending
oscillating

as can

these two questions involves both recent studies of of sedentaria ethnoarchaeological examples zation and nomadization and analyzing the interactions of the local food system with historical empires and civilizations. Investigation of

of peaks (in Iron Age I, Late Iron Age II, Roman II, Byzantine, Mamluk, and Modern periods) and valleys (evident during Late Bronze, Early Iron Age II,Hellenistic, Abassid, and pattern
Ottoman times).

The Role of Empires

What, then, are the processes that generate the swings in

activity in Hesban was During peak periods, occupational extensive: the majority of the population probably favored year round settlement at the site; facilities for storing, protecting, and distributing harvested foods were abundant; and the elite classes imported exotic foods from distant regions. As one moves toward the low end of the food production continuum, in the data becomes the patterning increasingly consistent with what one would expect under conditions of nomadic pastoralism, represented by valley periods in the graph. With this progress identifying the parts of Hesban's food

the intensity of the local food system? For most of their history, Jordan's population has had to cope with the interventions succession of foreign powers: the of a nearly uninterrupted Persians, Hellenistic Babylonians, Egyptians, Assyrians, Greeks and Romans, Byzantines, Umayyads, Abassids, Seljuks, and most recently, Crusaders, Ayyubids, Mamluks, Ottomans, the British. At Hesban, there is evidence linking nearly all of these foreign powers to the site. Of special interest are the interventions of the Assyrians (Iron Age II), Romans, and Mamluks; each of these powers link to peak Byzantines, periods inHesban's food system (LaBianca 1990).

ARCHAEOLOGY NEAREASTERN 69:1 (2006)

A good example external intervention comes from Mamluk times (ca. 1260-1600 CE). During this period, the site served as the regional capital of the district known as the Balqa. The Mamluk caliph in Egypt appointed its governor, whose place of residence was located on the summit of Tell Hesban (Walker 2003). The fact that an individual of high rank resided at and the pottery. the site is reflected in both the architecture Excavations have uncovered the standing walls of the governor's residence along with a small bath complex that appears to have been part of the residence. We also found an abundance of so called glazed relief ware, an army-issue kitchenware specially ordered for the commander of the Mamluk citadel in Hesban. investment in the rural These finds attest to Egyptian/Mamluk Hesban. of economy On nearly every possible measure, Hesban reached its highest peak in terms of settlement density during Byzantine times (ca. 350-650 CE). Large agricultural estates graced the slopes ofWadi Hesban and on the plains to the east olives, grapes, and other tree
fruits were produced for export. Not surprisingly, connections

Aqaba to the south with Bostra to the north. This paved road was originally built by Claudius Severus, a local governor under
Emperor Trajan. An east-west section connecting Esbus with

Livias, south The is the

Jericho, and Jerusalem was later added to this north trunk line (Ibach 1987; AvvYonah 1950). latter part of the Iron Age, from about 700 to 530 BCE, instance of a period of food system remaining

at Hesban. During this period there is again intensification evidence of significant external intervention in the region by the Assyrians and successor empires (Gitin 2004; Lipschits 2004). Their projects in Israel, Jordan, Palestine, and Syria included creation of vassal city-states, adoption of the Aramaic language
as the new lingua franca of commerce and communication,

between Hesban and centers of power outside the local region were extensive during this period (Storfjell 1994). This is attested by the fact that Hesban (or Esbus, as the site was called then) center with its own served as an ecclesiastical administrative of Bunnorum One the office Gennadius holders, bishopric. on two occasions Niceaea attended the Council of Arabiae, at ruins 1989: The of least three Christian 14). (Vyhmeister churches date to this period; in two of these, archaeologists uncovered intact mosaic floors typical of the Byzantine period (Lawlor 1990). The for foundation the intense peak reached times during Byzantine was clearly laid during the preceding Roman Period (ca. 50 BCE-350 ce). this period, the During is Roman influence ubiquitous throughout what is now Israel, Jordan, and Palestine in the form of urban planning and as well as architecture
infrastructure roads, market such plazas, as

and introduction of silver as a standard means of exchange. in At Hesban, investment there is evidence of significant wine of olives the and for export during production period (Herr 1995; LaBianca and Younker 1995). is thus considerable There evidence that the peaks in Hesban's local food system were influenced by external powers. Significantly, low intensity periods, such as the Late Bronze Age, Persian-Hellenistic, Abbasid, and Ottoman, were times when the dominant powers were distracted by problems elsewhere in their territories or simply too weak peripheral areas such as Jordan. to exert leadership in

The Role of Civilizations

The question
the empire

that neither
can

the food system perspective

answer involves the signature

nor

perspective

works of artisanship that distinguish each of these peak periods in Hesban's history. For example, why do we find Canaanite on seals iconography dating to the Iron Age II, or Hellenistic alphabet letters on lintel stones times? from Byzantine are Islamic there Why on glazed inscriptions ware from Mamluk times? These questions must be answered by investigating the influence of different
civilizations.

municipal

reservoirs, and

aqueducts (Mitchel 1992). is no exception, Hesban with an acropolis crowned with a small monumental ? a building likely temple?two
reservoirs, plaza. The and

times three churches built at Esbous, such as this one were During Byzantine as Hesban was known during this period. The art, artisanship and architecture at attest associated with these churches the influence of Byzantine civilization the the site. One Roman using arrival of the Byzantines. The clearly signals "temple", art form of the mosaics life scenes and other daily period, depicting which the Christians of the area, by medieval from Picciriilo 1992:251. Image are highlighted in these of the churches was constructed materials robbed from

arrival of new or empires dynasties brings an influx of new The

ideas and styles?great interact traditions?that

municipal
a market also a site was

major Via Nova which connected

intersection

on the

signature themes valued structures.

or indigenous, to traditions little, the produce particular works of artisanship that with distinguish each cultural

NEAREASTERN 69:1 (2006) 7 ARCHAEOLOGY

period. Since Jordan has, throughout history, been a crossroads we can expect that the confluence of civilizations, of great traditions with local culture is the norm rather than the In the Iron Age II period, the Ammonite culture exception. in finds bearing reveals evidence of Canaanite traditions
inscriptions such as ostraca and stamp seals. Assyrian traditions

^-<^"?*-"^>*^3?S*<

come

to the fore in the public works of the period, especially the large water reservoir and the "King's Highway" which ran right by the site (Ibach 1987). Influences from Hellenism (Mitchell 1992) are reflected in the Roman period pottery including the acropolis itself and the Roman
^|B?^ 'V^^y^atffi^ ??Wh June26.200l BrimManley "***?&&*** Teli Hisban Reconstniction MAMLUK ruins.

and architecture,
Temple

one of which The remains of three Byzantine churches, was constructed robbed from the Roman using materials "temple" (Storfjell 1994; Lawlor 1990), signal the arrival of the the signature art form Byzantines. These churches highlight scenes of the period, mosaics depicting of daily life and other themes valued by medieval Christians of the area. the last of the pre-modern intensification During peaks, in Hesban the Mamluk takes on a period, artisanship Islamic character (Walker 2003). This is seen distinctively most clearly in the pottery, but also in the layout of the citadel
town, its architecture, and even in the garbage, which attests

Excavations residence that an

at Hesban

uncovered

this citadel,

which

served

as the

of the Mamluk-appointed governor at the individual of high rank resided in both

of the Balqa. The fact site during this period

is reflected

walls standing which appears of so-called ordered finds

the architecture and the pottery the (including of the governor's residence and a small bath complex to have been part of the complex) and an abundance relief ware?an army issue kitchenware glazed specially commander of the Mamluk citadel in Hesban. in the rural These investment

for the

a notable

preference

for sheep, poultry, and wild game.

to Egyptian/Mamluk clearly attest of Hesban. economy

The Role of Little

Traditions
In 1996 we returned to Tell Hesban
to study more closely the processes of

Umayyads ca 661-750

Mecca and Damascus

Islamization, Professionalization

Military Campaigns

Amman, Jerash Zarqa,Irbid

in sedentarization and nomadization the recent past (LaBianca and Ray interviews 2000). Ethnoarchaeological were carried out with older residents of the village along with ethnohistorical and archaeological studies of the history of Hesban during Ottoman times. From these and Early Modern
investigations, the mechanisms

Fatimids ca. 909-1171

Cairo, Al Qayrawanand AlMahdiyah

Support of Islam and Education

Military Campaigns Mission Work

Dar'a,

Amman,

Sughar

that enabled the local food system to oscillate back and forth between orientations began to emerge. To date, seven such cultural mechanisms have been isolated that help explain how is not only possible, such movement but also essential to survival in this frontier region. Although published elsewhere (LaBianca 1997) they bear repeating here:
LocaUlevel Instead works dams, to water streams, water on management. large-scale reservoirs, secured springs, water and access seasonal

Ayyubids ca. 1173-1250

Damascus and Cairo

Defense ofMam from Crusaders

Hesban

Karak,

Wadi Musa,
Amman, Zarqa

Ottoman ca. 1516-1918

Istanbul and
Greater

Anatolia

Spreading Islam Protecting Islamic Frontier Patrons of holy cities & hajj, Shari'a Law

Military Campaigns

Hesban, Amman,

Madaba, Salt,

Irbid, Jarash

of relying such local

Islamic civilization own political

reached

as aqueducts, populations

from natural and cisterns.

imperial has been distinguish

epicenters, shared agencies documented, each peak

a succession Jordan of universalizing each with their agents, through text each of the various modalities and links. The canonized projects, the Koran. Once the influence of such external was, of course, powers final step is to account for the different and unique flavors that in the multi-millennial history of tells and historical landscapes.

the

and valley

NEAR EASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY 69:1 (2006)

Tribalism. the bedrock Near belong Tribes modern East.

For centuries, of social People

the

tribe has

served

as

relationships belong cities, to tribes nations

in the ancient before or they

to villages,

empires. in

are still the foundation Jordan today.

of social

relations

Such little traditions, embedded local food system, provide the means to adapt to shifting local populace
economic, are a proven and natural set of environments. options for

in the for the social,

They survival

and resiliency
legendary contesting as

in a region that has become

a crossroads and of commerce, civilizations.

armies,

A Hypothesis
The practice options house families maintain residential flexibility, whereby a an is of little tradition. Shelters open, might example a cave overlooking a fertile field in the ancestral village, of animals. families had a variety of sheltering stone include a traditional or orchard, to and shifts a tent back for

It is possible to hypothesize that cycles of in the local and abatement intensification are food system of Hesban heavily influence by empires carrying the great traditions of
their mother civilizations. Strong empires

season or when use during harvest pasturing and sedentary forth between nomadic ways, and a common their was practice while others Artwork to divide would

To accommodate to know would during how

and place near

live in each in houses with

the household and

so some tents

stay

in the region resulted in delocalization of the food supply in preference to cash crops,
increased investment in infrastructure,

croplands of sheep and goats.

in caves camp by Sally Jo Hand.

migrations

herds

expanded bureaucratic control of production and distribution of goods and services, and
construction of monumental works of art, goats with

Mixed practice cultivation emphasis Fluid water, certain

agrO'pastoralism. of mixed of cereals. back and

This

refers of

to the classic Mediterranean and along

production The practice between

sheep preserves

the option

of shifting

forth

animal

and crop

production. that "land, had a

artisanry, and architecture. Similarly, episodes of withdrawal in such activity and of outside influence brought decreases an increase in reliance by local populations on their own little traditions for food and survival.

homeland and pastures amount

territories.

There

is a saying This means

in Hesban that

are from God." to roam was

a family

The Role of the Environmentand Extreme Events

An
what

of freedom again,

in search

of water, open

croplands, options.

important question
extent, environmental

to ask at this point iswhether,

factors such as climate,

and to

and pasture,

which,

a means

of keeping

droughts,

Residential flexibility. To accommodate

between live divide nomadic and sedentary ways, one in a house, a household while in a cave, so that others or in a tent. A some would in caves

shifts back and forth

had to know practice how was to to

to these earthquakes, or epidemics, might have contributed in Hesban's food system. While these factors did oscillations
play a role, it was not predominant. For example, elsewhere

common

remain and

in houses during

near

their

croplands with herds

camped

tents

migrations

of sheep

and goats. of asking one's and

1998) we have demonstrated (LaBianca and Christopherson in the local food system was accompanied by that each upswing significant loss of forests. This was especially true in the case of the Roman-Byzantine peak. Such loss brings increased loss of
water due to evaporation and run-off, which in turn made the

The practice Hospitality. water with another without good manners building also good and and much

sharing

shelter, has little

food,

questions insurance

to do with times by are

to do with

against

bad

landscape less hospitable to people, animals, and plants. Such a situation is reflected in the animal bone evidence, which attests
extinctions over the centuries for a number of species such as

a network sources

of mutual of information

assistance about

in time of need. conditions

Guests

in nearby

regions

the outside

world. institution is an ever action on

fallow deer, and wild boar that lions, ostriches, Mesopotamian in the region. Thus, the gradual drying up of previously lived the landscape due to loss of forests is surely a factor to consider, but it is not a primary factor. Earthquakes (Amiran 1950; Russell 1985) also played a role, especially where elite projects such as aqueducts, municipal
reservoirs, and monumental buildings were concerned, as these

Honor present behalf social of

and

shame.

The

of honor individual

and and

shame social

mechanism of family order

for mobilizing and kin. These

institutions

are a means institutions

of assuring as courts

in the absence legal code,

of state-level and police.

such

law, a written

were

the most vulnerable

to damage or destruction.

Epidemics

ARCHAEOLOGY 69:1 (2006) 9 NEAR EASTERN

wreaked havoc when they struck, killing off large numbers of able-bodied workers and thus reducing to insufficient levels the work pool needed to maintain large agricultural estates and public works. There is evidence that epidemics may have,
on more than one occasion, decimated the rural population of

the Islamic and preparing definitions of "civilization" for researching for help with figures and graphics. civilization chart; and to Kristy Wiztel intertwines 2 The proposed model three existing interpretive perspectives? one single studies?into and civilization food systems, political economy but complementary three different framework. It thus highlights unified ways of looking at multi-millennial in the ancient Near East. projects are not alone in borrowing 3We of civilization. Braudel trait In the illustrates Fernand cultural civilization data sets from historical archaeology to describe the

Jordan during Roman

and Byzantine

times (LaBianca 1990).

images

from

astronomy

Conclusions
Iwould like to hypothesize that successive In conclusion, episodes of intensification and abatement inHesban's local food system were heavily influenced by the presence or absence of
strong, external factors emanating from successive empires and

nature

is transmitted by comparing is one Project.

to A History of Civilization, a specific means of which the process by time and space from a vanished through introduction it to a star whose "light in Jordan sponsor still reaches us"

(Braudel 1993: 14).

4 Tell Hesban Madaba excavation Canadian Jordanian Municipality as a whole Humanities, S. Boraas Plains of three major The tell sites excavated by the lead institutional of project's Hesban in affiliation with Institute of Archaeology and La Sierra University. Walla College, financial National of Jordan, the of Antiquities backers of the project Endowment for the

civilizations. The presence of such influences can be identified by studying changes in the local food system, which will reflect and lifestyle for the tell governance, changes in commerce,
as a whole. This, in turn, may help formulate a conceptual

isAndrews Union partners

University Walla include

College,

cultural change or stasis during framework for understanding tells in the ancient Near East. The the life of multi-millennial in role that empires and civilizations play, and the manner which they connect with the local tell, would need to be an integral part of the framework. between such expanding inter-connectivity Researching local sites and distant empires and civilizations would in volve off-site research to document projects and changes in the local site sponsored by these external entitie s and to identify and
understand the significant characteristics of various civilizations

of Hesban, include

the Department and ACOR. Major University,

Andrews

and National began

archaeological Testament

Society. Siegfried H. Horn and Roger Geographic at Tell Hesban in 1968 with hopes of discovering excavations events of biblical linked to the site in the Old evidence 21:21-31). This original project was known as the

(Numbers are

Heshbon Expedition (BoraasandHorn 1969; 1973a; 1973b; 1975a; 1975b).

5 There promulgated This ruling published, spelling the spelling name recent The most for Hesban. spelling spellings is Hisban. of National the Jordan Society by Geographic came after the Hesban Series started to be Final Publication several used an older spelling of the word. has Another variant

which isHusban.

cast imposed on the local culture in the tell. Please refer to LaBianca and during differing periods Scham (2005) for a fuller discussion of expanding connectivity that form the distinctive
in antiquity.

The National "tell"

for the word

recently changed Society Geographic to "tall," hence Tall Hisban. The biblical

for the site isHesbhon.

research bridges three traditionally Such multi-millennial in the ancient Near East, processual of fields study separate and field research), history, (excavations archaeology
(understanding careers and achievements of kings and empires),

References
Amiran, 1950 D.H.K. A Revised Earthquake-catalogue Journal: 223-246. of Palestine. Israel Exploration Avi-yonah, 1950 M. The Development Journal: of Roman 54-60. Road System in Palestine. Israel

texts and iconography and epigraphy (the study of written which preserve the great traditions and ideas that flavor the distinct art and architecture of civilizations). the research on local sites then becomes Period-focused for studying the historical foundation landscape of a multi of tell as a whole through the added disciplines millennial and epigraphy. Cross-disciplinary teams, providing can raw be a reality with views of data, archaeological multiple and the internet at our the power of computer technology disposal and can fill in many more gaps in our picture and understanding of the past. Most importantly, such sharing will advance theory-building as it relates to the study of historical history landscapes and multi-millennial tells of the ancient Near East.

Exploration Bintliff, 1991 J., ed. The Annales University

School Press.

and Archaeology.

New

York: New

York

BodleyJ.H. 2005 Cultural Toronto: Boraas, 1969 Anthropology: Mayfield S. H. 1968: The First Campaign at Tell Berrien Hesban, Springs, MI: a Tribes, States, Company. and the Global System.

Publishing

R. S. and Horn, Heshbon Preliminary

Report.

Ed. L. T. Geraty. Press.

Notes
1 An earlier version of this paper was of Oriental of the American November History Project, Project 2004.1 at Grand Schools at the Annual presented in San Antonio, Research Walker, Associate Meetings Texas, Professor of the Hesban to our Hesban research assistant, in of 1973b 1973a am grateful to Bethany State University Valley the political to Adam Fenner,

Andrews Heshbon University Heshbon

University 1971. Press. 1971: The

Vol.

VI.

Berrien

Springs,

Mi:

Andrews

Second Berrien

Campaign Springs,

at Tell Hesban, University

and Co-director perspective

Preliminary Press.

Report.

Mi: Andrews

for bringing in Jordan;

economy

undergraduate

69:1 (2006) ARCHAEOLOGY 10 NEAR EASTERN

1975a

Heshbon University

1973. Press. 1973:

Vol.

VIII.

Berrien

Springs,

MI:

Andrews

Labianca, 1998

O. A

and Christopherson, Forest that Refuses

G.

1975b

Heshbon Preliminary Press.

The

Third

Report.

Berrien

at Tell Campaign Springs, Mi: Andrews

Hesban, University

to Disappear: of Environmental Cycles to the in Jordan. Report and Regeneration Degeneration Grant Number National 5758 Society Research Geographic Andrews 96, Institute of Archaeology, University. http://www. casa.arizona.edu/mpp/ngs_report/ngs_rep.html

Braudel, 1993 Gitin, 2004 S.

F. A History of Civilization. New York: Penguin Group. Labianca, 1995 The of the Canaanites, Phoenicians and Neighbors in in 100 Years American of 57-85 Archaeology Pp. the Middle East. Eds. D.R. Clark and V H. Matthews. Boston, Israelites. Schools of Oriental Research. Labianca, 2000 Wine Production in the Hills of Southern Ammon and the J. I. Philistines:

O. And

Younker,

R. W.

The Kingdoms of Ammon, Moab and Edom: The Archaeology in Late Bronze/Iron of Society (ca. 1400-500 Age Transjordan in the Holy in The Archaeology of Society BCE). Pp. 399-415 Land, O. And Madaba ?d. T. E. Levy. London: Ray, P J. Jr. 1998. 2000. Pp. Berrien 9-21 Springs, in Leicester University Press.

Ma: American Herr, 1995 L. G

in the Sixth Century BC. Annual of Tall Al-Umayri Founding of the Department of Antiquities Jordan 39: 121-126. Ibach, R. D. 1987 Jr. Survey of the Hesban Region: Catalogue Archaeological Sites and Characterization of Periods, Vol. 5 Hesban, O. Labianca and L. T Geraty. Press. Berrien Springs, of eds.

Plains Tall Hisban, Project Studies University Seminary MI: Andrews Press. University Andrews

Lawlor, 1990

The

Esbous

North

Church

Context. University. Lipschits, 2004 O. Ammon Province.

Unpublished

in its Stratigraphie and Historical Ph.D. Dissertation, Madison, NJ: Drew

Mi: Andrews

University Labianca, 1990 O.

in Transition Bulletin 335: 37-52. of

from Vassal the American

to Babylonian Kingdom Schools of Oriental

Sedentarization Hesban

and Nomadization: in Transjordan Press. An Overview Food

Food Vol.

and Vicinity University

at System Cycles 1. Berrien Springs,

Research Mitchel, 1992 L. A. Hellenistic University

MI: Andrews 1991

and Roman Press.

Strata.

Berrien

Springs,

Mi: Andrews

Food Systems Research: Madaba Plains, Jordan. Indigenous towards Hardiness a History

and a Case

and Foodways and

Study 4: 221-235. Formation

from

Redfield, R.
in 1960 The Little Community and Peasant of Chicago Press. Society and Culture. Chicago: Russell, 1985 k.W The of Palestine Chronology Earthquake the mid-8th from the 2nd through Schools of Oriental Bulletin of the American 37-59. Ricarillo, 1992 Storfjell, 1994 M. The Mosaics J. B. Byzantine Historical D. Merling University Walker, B. Mamluk Fourteenth Eastern Investment Century: Studies 62(4): in Southern The Case Bilad al-Sham in the Eighth/ of Near Hesban: Context, Press. in Its Archaeological and the Site in Hesban after 25 Years, eds. Pp. 109-119 and L. T Geraty. Berrien Springs, MI: Andrews of Jordan. Amman: ACOR. and Northwest Century Research A.D. 260: University

1997

Structures

State

of Jordan's Resident Arab Population. in Ethnic Encounter and Culture Change, eds. M. Pp. 143-157 H. Sabour and K. S. Vikor. Bergen, Norway: Nordic Society Jordan for Middle labianca.html 2000 in the Shadow in A Life of Empire. Daily Pp. 203-217 Historical of the Ottoman Archaeology Empire: Breaking New Ground, eds. U. Baram and L. Carroll. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers. Eastern Studies, http://www.hf-fak.uib.no/smi/paj/

Arabia

Labianca, O. And
2005 Historical

Scham, S. A., eds.

in Antiquity: Process. London: Globalization Equinox. as a Long Term

Connectivity

ABOUT
0ystein

THE AUTHOR

2003

of Hisban.

Journal

241-261.

S. LaBianca isProfessor of Anthropology and Associate Director at of the Institute of Archaeology Andrews University. He also holds an
appointment as visiting researcher at

Vyhmeister 1989 Historical Hesban Foundations : Studies of Literary References to of

and Vicinity. Berrien the Institute of Archaeology

Springs, MI: and Andrews

Joint Publication Press University

Wolf, 1997

E. R. Europe and of California G. E. The Tell: Societies for Reconstructing Complex in 123-143 Reconstructing Pp. Complex An Archaeological ed. C. B. Moore. Colloquium, Basic Unit East. MA: American Schools of Oriental Research. the People Without Press. History. Berkeley: University

UNIEOB GLOBAL, a development research agency of the University of

Bergen, Norway. He is the senior

Wright, 1974

director ofMPP Hisban and serves as Madaba coordinating director of the Plains Project.

of the Near 0ystein S. LaBianca Societies: Cambridge,

NEAR EASTERN 69:1 (2006) ARCHAEOLOGY

11

mapping ?In Hrchdoogoophusicdl from

Hip

Past: Cdsp Tihkqu Study

SouthQdstern
by Timothy Matncy and Ann Donkin

Geophysical street a tremendous case-study We

surveys systems

can

as well

growth of two archaeogeophysical the that

our understanding structures of large urban such as fortifications and as provide seen details on individual and constructions, and they have buildings over the past two decades. a in popularity Here we present among archaeologists inform survey new techniques?magnetic are having on gradiometry and electrical resistivity?used

at the Assyrian city of Ziyaret Tepe in southeastern Turkey (ca. 610 BC).
discuss impact stress these technologies research design, briefly present the results

of five seasons of geophysical

in archaeology. discuss We ground-truthing

survey, and give a few general guidelines on the use of geophysical

interplay between the results survey and excavation surveys. throughout to interpreting of geophysical

techniques
and

the constant as an aid

the article,

One of the most significant additions to the archaeologist's toolkit in the past decade has been an array of technologies to map buried archaeological remains without designed them. These survey techniques, often described excavating as "geophysical" or "archaeogeophysical" collectively
prospecting, are all variations on a theme. They all measure

Tepe and a statement of the research questions we hope to answer through geophysical survey, we present some of the our results of surveys and subsequent ground-truthing through excavation. weaknesses
contexts

Our
and,

goal here is to show both the strengths and of geophysical survey as applied to archaeological
in our conclusions, we provide some general

local changes in some property of the earth (e.g., the strength of the earth's magnetic field, or the ability of the soil to conduct electricity or to reflect electromagnetic pulses) that are casued
by subsurface or features. each This value measurement can be assigned can a be expressed color in the numerically and presented particular

suggestions to help the field researcher successful geophysical survey.

design and conduct

Ziyaret Tepe: An Assyrian Urban Center on

Ziyaret Tepe sits upon the right bank of the Tigris River in cities of Diyarbakir and Batman between the modern southeastern Turkey. This region of southeastern Turkey has a long and rich prehistory with evidence for some of the worlds earliest human experimentation with settled village life and the domestication of plants and animals. To the north of the site
lie the resource-rich source of Taurus timber, mountains metal ore, of and eastern stone Turkey, in antiquity. an important

as a map.

These

variations,

or anomalies,

the Periphery

physical properties are often the result of geological processes (such as changes to the underlying bedrock) that are of little direct interest to the field archaeologist. Geological variations tend to be very large scale and their effects are often seen as or record. Archaeological gradual shifts in the geophysical
anthropogenic to be much symmetrical features smaller in shape. such in scale, as walls, sharper earthworks, in contrast, and and pits linear tend or

Here we discuss two of the more common geophysical survey field gradiometry techniques used in archaeology?magnetic and electrical resistivity?by presenting a selection of results at Ziyaret Tepe, from a long-term field project we conducted a 32-hectare mounded in southeastern settlement Turkey, 1998 and 2004. The geophysical between survey at Ziyaret Tepe represents only a small part of a very large archaeological and the results from our magnetic undertaking gradiometry and electrical surveys have been confirmed resistivity by at the site between 2000 excavations extensive conducted et al. 2003; Matney and 2004 (Matney et al. 2002; Matney to Ziyaret and Rainville 2005). After a brief introduction

To the south are the broad plains of northern Mesopotamia, well suited to raising grain and herding flocks. Starting around 3000 BC, Ziyaret Tepe was occupied by Early Bronze Age people who founded a small village at the edge of a low river terrace with a commanding view of the Tigris River to the north. Our work suggests that Ziyaret Tepe enjoyed a nearly continuous occupation for 2,400 years from the beginning of the Early Bronze Age (ca. 3000 BC) until around 600 BC. For most of this time Ziyaret Tepe was a small settlement of fewer than five hectares football (about the size of 10 American fields). Our current evidence suggests, however, that late in a the second millennium BC, it underwent (ca. 1300-1070) significant change when the ancient Assyrian kings chose this

ARCHAEOLOGY 69:1 (2006) 12 NEAR EASTERN

Map

of the Near

East.

Ziyaret

Tepe

is on the Tigris

River

in southeastern

Turkey.

?*5fc*ww#

?t^mr*?**i#Nmm?M

i^4^^^0?tm$m^m^

'#4? !$$??>J0$

of Ziyaret Tepe, viewed from Photograph meters to the north the site. hundred

the

south.

The

lower

town

is in the

foreground.

The

present

course

of the Tigris

River

runs several

NEAR EASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY 69:1 (2006)

13

Strategie spot to build a small city during the rapid expansion of their empire. The Assyrian heartland was located in the northern part of (ancient Nineveh). modern-day Iraq, near the city of Mosul During the thirteenth century BC, the Middle Assyrian kings and their armies expanded Assyrian domination over a large a brief period of portion of the ancient Near East. Despite in the mid-eleventh Assyrian weakness and imperial contraction and tenth centuries BC, the Late Assyrian kings (starting in the century BC) again expanded their power base and conquered or annexed much of the land from Egypt to Iran, creating a vast empire. The upper Tigris River Valley was the northernmost extension of Assyrian ambitions for much of this time. Textual sources tell us that the Assyrian kings founded
three cities?Tidu, Sinabu, and Tushhan?as fortresses along

major public buildings

museum-quality artifacts of more artifacts, modest

and on recovering
often structures. ignoring More

cuneiform
the architecture

texts and
and

recently,

large-scale

in the periphery of the Assyrian excavations have continued at world Barsip and Ziyaret Tepe, places like Tell Ahmar/Til where much more careful scientific research projects have been undertaken (Bunnens 1989; 1992; 1994). Excavation provides a wealth of architectural details and artifacts, but it is not
practical to try and excavate an entire city, or even a significant

early ninth

portion

have successfully archaeologists employed sophisticated geophysical prospection devices to aid in the large-scale mapping of their sites. The large horizontal
areas that can be surveyed quickly allow us to ask new questions

of a city. Instead,

that were
alone. Our

impractical with
gradiometry team

traditional
can easily

excavation
map nearly

techniques
a hectare

the Tigris River to guard their interests along the empire's northern boundary. Our archaeological work strongly suggests at one that Ziyaret Tepe was the Assyrian city of Tushhan, point the regional capital and the most important Assyrian city in the north. At Tushhan, the Assyrian king Assurnasirpal II claims to have rebuilt the city wall, founded a palace as his
royal residence, erected other monuments, and restored the

a day under ideal conditions.

archaeologists and seventy

A full excavation
local laborers can

team with season.

ten

excavate

perhaps

five or six 10m by 10m squares in a two month

to the city in 882 BC (Grayson 1991). Assyrian population The Assyrians had previously abandoned the city during a period of weak kings in Assyria, starting in the mid-eleventh in the Upper Tigris area influence century, when Assyrian waned. The historical significance of Ziyaret Tepe during the Assyrian period has been an important factor in setting the
research agenda for our project.

We have used two different geophysical mapping techniques at Ziyaret Tepe, magnetic gradiometry survey (used in 1998, 1999, 2002, and 2003) and electrical resistance survey (used in 2004). Each season has involved a period of experimentation in order to with the surveying protocols and equipment our maximize the quality of data while also allowing for the fastest possible data collection [see sidebars on the basic principles feasibility
parts of the at large-scale

Geophysical Prospecting at Ziyaret Tepe

of these techniques]. We have conducted brief studies using both of these techniques at different
site, to see where collection. we should concentrate our efforts data

Research Agenda of the Ziyaret Tepe Archaeological Project

Since 1997, when we first started work at Ziyaret Tepe, our research agenda has focused around four central objectives: sequence of the upper Tigris 1) to document the occupational River Valley; 2) to understand the urban layout of the Assyrian city at Ziyaret Tepe and explain how it functioned in antiquity; 3) to explore the relationship between the Assyrian imperialists Iron Age populations; and 4) to and the indigenous Anatolian
assess order the environmental this impact ambitious of Assyrian research urbanization. an extensive In to address agenda,

for our research, the Assyrian builders did not Unfortunately use large stones in their construction efforts at Ziyaret Tepe. to make their walls. Rather, they used sun-dried mudbricks rooms are most The floors of often tamped earth, although in some of their more important buildings, the Assyrians employed baked bricks or pebble mosaics in the courtyards and
bathrooms. The nearly exclusive use of mudbrick architecture

presented challenge.
measuring

our geophysical research team with a significant Most geophysical mapping rely on techniques
contrasts created by the activities and materials

array of field projects and specialists studies are on-going at the site. Geophysical survey techniques at Ziyaret Tepe have mostly addressed the second of these goals. It is our intention to map of subsurface the entire ancient city through a combination geophysical
broad-scale

projects. The iron nails, wooden planks, and of modern houses, for example, have very different magnetic and electrical conductivity properties from the soil that surrounds them and can be readily mapped using a variety of geophysical prospecting techniques. Mudbrick (made of earth, water and straw that is shaped into bricks and allowed to sun dry) often has geophysical properties very it decays as part of the similar to the surrounding soil. When formation process of an archaeological site, it decomposes back mudbrick so that many of our deposits comprised rooms filled with decayed mudbrick collapse overlying simple earthen floors. As we will demonstrate in the magnetic and electrical below, there is a difference between each of these of earthen types properties deposits, into mud, walled

used in building concrete floors

survey
excavation.

techniques

combined

with

limited,

but

Our knowledge of the structure of Assyrian cities is based at large Assyrian excavations principally on the broad-scale as in northern such Nineveh, Nimrud, Khorsabad, Iraq capitals and Assur and on the texts found at these centers (Layard 1987; Oates and Oates 2001). 1849; Lloyd 1978; Grayson These early expeditions (many started a century and a half ago), employed hundreds of local laborers and focused on excavating

69:1 (2006) ARCHAEOLOGY 14 NEAR EASTERN

millennia of abandonment have made geophysical survey on the high mound unprofitable. We have tested five areas of in different years and have never had any the high mound satisfactory results there. Hence, our survey is limited to the
expansive lower town.

The Big Picture: OverallSite Mapping

survey data, being digital in nature, can be Geophysical viewed at any scale; the choice of scale determines which features are visible, which are invisible, and the amount of detail that can be discerned in any single view. A map which covers a very broad area, such as our entire 800 m by 600 m

site of Ziyaret Tepe, will show major fortification walls, street systems, and the locations of large monumental buildings while missing the smaller domestic houses. A close up view of a smaller area, such as the 100 m by 100 m map of Operation G presented smaller below, shows more detail including such as and installations permanent buildings, doorways, misses construction of but the overall The kilns, perspective.
an overall site map requires the use of many scales in order to

fully interpret the data. A composite map of all of the magnetic gr adi?me try data recorded at Ziyaret Tepe shows important general trends in the data that only become visible at this broad scale. During four seasons of survey, we recorded 981,800 magnetic gradiometry readings. Each of these readings, after undergoing a complex process designed to eliminate noise (e.g., equipment
design flaws, operator errors, modern human activities, and

has been translated spatially natural geological phenomena), into a two dimensional pixel and its value has been assigned
a color E7?0 800 55o ??Ex) 1100 ?3?? 1300 1400 1500 or grayscale value. Nearly one million data points are

included on the complete

several important features.

gradiometry

map and we can see

Magnetic

data gradiometry topographic plan of Ziyaret

upon the base superimposed as identified Tepe. The city wall, can be seen on the

by the

The city wall appears as a clear linear geophysical anomaly. We are certain that this is the city wall because we have
excavated several sections of it in the eastern and southern

magnetic

survey gradiometry clearly the indicates (lower) map. The light pink shading are marked streets Interior and exterior city wall. the

interpretive area within the in blue. Two gates "quiet" areas fields. The scale

through outside marked

The city wall are shown by black boxes. of the city wall are suggestive of agricultural on the axes is inmeters.

sectors of the city. The wall ismarked by a low rise in topography and by a sudden drop off in pottery density on the surface of the mound. The wall is also broken in two places by gateways. The
magnetic gradiometry survey does not provide an unambiguous

but the geophysical signal is very subtle and requires the to in the collection be archaeologist exceedingly meticulous and processing of data. At Ziyaret Tepe, we have mapped approximately 75 percent of the total area of the site using geophysical techniques. The slopes of the high mound are too steep for survey, and the erosion by annual rainfall over the 2,600 years since the site was abandoned has washed a thick layer of materials down this slope making the use of shallow geophysical prospecting in an area encircling the base of the high mound unproductive for a distance of about 50 m. Here the archaeology of interest to us lies buried under meters of redeposited soil. Likewise, the later disturbances on the top of the mound after two and a half

picture of how the city wall was constructed. The weak signal suggested that the wall or its foundations were not made of stone, although this was only confirmed through excavation. The marked difference between the data collected within the line marking the limits of the ancient city, seen as a pink shaded area, and those data collected outside the limits of site is notable. We deliberately collected data outside of see in to if wall order city Ziyaret Tepe had suburbs or if ancient building activity of the Assyrians was mainly inside the the the the

city wall. The "quiet" area outside the city wall, marked only by very minute and gradual changes in the earth's magnetic field, strongly argue that the extra-mural area of Ziyaret Tepe was uninhabited. While the area outside the city may have been used for agriculture, there appears to have been no substantial
construction within the areas we sampled.

NEAR EASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY 69:1 (2006)

15

N800

N800 E840 N
60m

A. Magnetic gradiometry lower m) in the southern map A, shows walls (negative (strong dipolar

of G). B. An interpretation (Operation streets values); magnetic clearly defined (high positive and kilns values), values) magnetic pits (low positive features).

map town

of a one

hectare

area

(100 m x

100

extrapolate
a narrow

the correlation broadly across a site. In 2004, we cut

trench across one of the linear magnetic features seen

Ground-truthing street lined with

a narrow inOperation M revealed a planned Its architecture. Assyrian layout suggests as a with a well-defined traffic pattern. The street appears settlement band of small stones running across the center of the trench. excavations

A third observation that can be made even at this coarse resolution is the presence of a series of linear features in the southern part of the lower town. These anomalies trend parallel to the edge of the high mound and are spaced roughly 25 to 30 m apart. They are marked marked on the topographic plan as light blue lines. Initially, we interpreted these lines as terrace
walls or even a post-Assyrian field system. There was no way

on the topographic plan in an area we called Operation M. We found a street paved with small stones and river gravels. The street bed was 50-90 cm deep and was flanked on either side by mudbrick walls and packed earth floors. Associated finds suggest that the buildings, which are clearly contemporary with the street, are Late Assyrian in date. These long parallel lines then, are our first glimpses of the Assyrian street system at Ziyaret Tepe. Their length and layout argue for a planned settlement
(at least as far as major thoroughfares are concerned), not one

that grew haphazardly

or organically.

A Close Fitbetween GeophysicalMaps and

Excavated Remains: Operation G
When we examine the geophysical data more closely, we

to tell from the flat, nearly featureless modern ground what these linear anomalies represented
we turned to the shovel.

surface of the and, therefore,

anomalies seen in the geophysical maps against Checking excavated features is one of the essential elements of successfully using geophysical survey for archaeological prospection. Once a correlation has been made between a geophysical anomaly and a specific type of archaeological feature, it is often possible to

see that there is a wealth of detail hidden within the broader panoramic views of the entire site. To illustrate this point, we will examine results from the magnetic gradiometry a G. of Here, magnetic gradiometry Operation compilation in 1998, 1999, and 2002 provide a more surveys executed detailed view of this portion of the lower town. In particular,

ARCHAEOLOGY 69:1 (2006) 16 NEAR EASTERN

iifMte^^^

Magnetic gradiometry
I
|| measures the magnitude

A magnetic field gradiometer isa handheld device that

and direction of the ambient

| magnetic field of the earth. The strength of the earth's -? magnetic field ismeasured in nanoTeslas (nT) and the j | magnitude of the earthsmagnetic field isbetween 35,000
on one's location on the depending $ planet. The gradiometer used in these studies is capable in this magnetic minute % of measuring field on changes the order of O.lnT By taking a series of measurements, ? I and 70,000 nT | evenly spaced on a north-south oriented grid, it is possible
at field gradiometer magnetic sensors at two the has (one Ziyaret Tepe gradiometer the top and one at the bottom of the long tube), the positioning is of fundamental The of the machine and balancing importance. must hold the unit level in all directions while operator perfectly ibrahim Kars uses in 1999. As pace. Readings walking The operator the rate of 8 samples per meter. sources. ferrous metal and other magnetic at a measured are taken via a timer be free at of all must ?K a hand-held R It W B K B R

|
I

tomeasure and plot slight changes (orgradients) caused

and geological subsurface features. by archaeological are areas in Measurements taken that i archaeologically 1 or a will have of zero. uniform gradient geologically When the instrument passes over a deposit on or just | ? below the surface that distorts the earth's magnetic field, ? the is no longer zero and it registers gradient measured ; as either a positive or negative reading in nanoTeslas, 1 depending on the orientation causing of the material interest I the anomaly. Many materials of archaeological \ possess the magnetic properties primarily responsible for or anomalies. These include these non-zero gradients ij as such pieces of iron, fired {{ strongly magnetic materials ? clays, and soils containing Other concentrations of iron particles.

for those grids where dataset was

there were

fewer in order

readings

because

we had surveyed less intensively. Finally, the composite E

further processed to minimize the B

discrepancies inherent in data collected in threedifferent E

years, survey teams using by three different geophysical three different magnetic gradiometer s. m data involves generation of a Interpreting geophysical series of maps using different color and grayscale palettes different data value ranges (and, hence, E

B B B

||
I I I

These signals are often in the range ofWnT

to 200nT

conditions such as compacted soil or depositional wind-blown sediments will sometimes possess magnetic characteristics markedly different than the surrounding

and emphasizing time. From does not

different archaeological and geological features) each B

these, we draw an rely on any single map that B interpretive map as its source. For the M

) soil These typesof features are typicallyfar subtler,often G, we chose to B magnetic gradiometry map of Operation { Iwith changes on the order ofO. I to lOnT use to the 99 shades we had toprocess it; thedata \ of grey represent positive (black) and B After collecting thedata, much weaker positive E 3 from each survey year had to be preliminarily processed negative (white) data. Some of the are now identified and excavated E have been ! independently. The preliminary processing included features m outliers (very high or low values) from the as pits cut into the mosaic floors of the Late Assyrian I removing
I dataset, subjecting the data to algorithms which removed buildings in this area. Perhaps the clearest feature detected E

thediscontinuitiesbetween the edgesof the separate survey by the survey is a thin black line running from north to K II mean gridfunction) and thestripescreatedalong south aboutmidway through the I grids (zero map. It isa lineof stones E
\ 1 the traverses of the survey (zero mean traverse function), and finally smoothing out the gradiometer data using a low for each year into a that were subsequently combined to create In order the composite, however, we composite file. marking modern the boundaries between feature area use stones brought up during plowing on the map. two fields, the only m in the B The Turkish farmers tomark their E

$ pass filter function. This provided relativelyclean dataseis

fi I

field edges.Often ingeophysical prospecting, the strength E

the ancient of the anomalies marking weaker than the strength of the modem remains anomalies. ismuch m ?j

y had to expand thedata throughan interpolation function

69:1 (2006) NEAR EASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY

17

we

focus

on

a one

hectare

area

located

between

grid

points

courtyards
are

in Operation
although

G, Rooms
the mosaic

11 and 20, both of which

patterns differ.

N800

E840 (i.e. at a point 800 m north and 840 m east of an arbitrary datum established off-site in 1997) and N900 E940. Dr. John MacGinnis of Cambridge University directed the excavation in this area in this are between 2001 and 2004. He and his team uncovered 1,450 square meters of Late Assyrian architecture and all or part of 25 rooms within Operation G. a geophysical Because we conducted survey, and excavated extensively, we can directly compare the gradiometry maps with the actual excavated features found on the ground. The processed survey maps for Operation gradiometry G show a number of archaeological features below the largely featureless, modern
collected

contemporary

the size, shape, and placement of the rooms in answer regarding G do not give us a definitive Operation some the function of the buildings here, we did observe striking patterns. First, there are almost no bread ovens in the rooms of Operation G, although they are a common feature elsewhere on the site and a good indicator of domestic While life. Likewise, baked brick was employed as a construction material in a number of cases, for example in a paved ablution as part of the often chamber (Room 15) that functioned elaborate drainage system found in the Operation G. During the excavation we found painted plastered floors, walls, and, judging from the location of some plaster fragments, even painted plaster ceilings. Traces of alternating
concentric rectangles appear in several

surface of the lower town. This

over several seasons and, at a

map

combines

data

level, the process required to compile this map was The data suggest that there are several buildings complex. or building complexes located in this part of the site. Three streets, indicated by relatively high positive magnetic values are visible in the map of Operation G. The wall foundations of the building are made of mudbrick and have slightly negative in the anomalies that are especially noticeable magnetic a series of three areas where parallel white lines delineate technical adjacent rooms. Strongly dipolar features1, are pyrotechnical installations, possibly pottery kilns, indicated by black circles on the map. Through MacGinnis' work, we have been able
to confirm a number of our geophysical observations and

black and white

indicating

places,

that alternating black and white was a popular motif in Late Assyrian Ziyaret Tepe. The Operation G buildings appear to have been abandoned in an orderly fashion, with almost no artifacts left in place, save the many pithoi used for storing large quantities of grain and other goods. Since the pithoi, found in at least half a dozen of the long, narrow chambers of the building, would have held tens or hundreds of thousands of liters of grain, this architectural complex begins to look like a grain storage facility. of Rooms 9 and 10 in 2002 and the excavation During we a of twenty-eight discovered cache unbaked 2003, cuneiform tablets on the floors or in the debris from the collapse of these buildings. The tablets can be dated via to 611 BC2, the year following their eponyms the fall of in the Assyrian heartland. Our project epigrapher, Nineveh Prof. Simo Parp?la of the University of Helsinki, provided
a preliminary assessment of the content and suggests that

improve upon them by noting details of the architecture and the permanent installations situated within the buildings that are visible in the geophysical maps but were uninterpretable
prior to excavation.

The Late Assyrian buildings recovered in Operation G are well built mudbrick buildings forming very regular plans with rooms grouped around a series of courtyards. We predicted the location of a courtyard with a series of rooms ranged around it based on a magnetic gradiometry map detailing a 50 m by 40 m area between grid points N850 E860 and N900 excavations found a large central courtyard E900. MacGinnis' two with ranges of long rooms arranged side by side (Room 2) to the north and one each to the west and east of the courtyard. the magnetic Although gradiometry map did not enable us
to see the doorways or other details eventually recovered

to a Temple of Ishtar of Nineveh these rooms are connected located at Ziyaret Tepe, and that the tablets may relate to the treasury of the temple. This suggestion accords well evidence for a large with the geophysical and archaeological (seen in the building complex made with high-cost materials mosaic courtyards and use of baked brick) and outfitted for the storage of large volumes of goods. seen in the magnetic Several additional anomalies can also be maps gradiometry interpreted. The baked brick as a in Room described 15, pavement above, appeared weak dipolar feature on the magnetic gradiometry maps. A second very strong dipolar anomaly was excavated and turned out to be a well-preserved kiln. updraught pottery This kiln was dug into the Late Assyrian building north of Room 15 and is stratigraphically later than the northern serves as an important of the It excavated part building. reminder that features discovered via magnetic gradiometry cannot be dated without recourse to excavation. Both the on baked brick and the kiln have strong effects the local field because of thermoremanant resulting from the firing of the iron-rich bricks and kiln walls (Herz and Garrison magnetism soils used in the 1998: 134-136).

through excavation, the excavated plans

the correlation is striking. An

between artists'

the map and reconstruction

shows what the larger, eastern courtyard might have looked like in the Assyrian period. This courtyard has been fully excavated and has a beautiful mosaic floor laid in alternating squares of black and white. Each mosaic square comprises hundreds of river pebbles set on edge into a mud mortar in a variety of geometrical patterns. The preservation of the pebble mosaics is excellent and the quality and resources required to make such a floor indicate that we are dealing with either an elite residence or a public buildings of some sort. Similar mosaic floors of Late Assyrian date have been found at Tell and Assur (e.g., Blaylock Ahmar, Arslan Tash, Tille H?y?k, parts of two other large mosaic 1998). We have excavated

magnetic

ARCHAEOLOGY 69:1 (2006) 18 NEAREASTERN

N890

Key
limits of excavation mudbrick mosaic walls pavement Bi El

N880

\_y

metres

Plan of the architecture recovered inOperation architectural the buildings large, open with ranges surrounding are made via excavation G. The layout of shows courtyards of rooms them. The

walls of the buildings

of sun-dried with The of the walls shallow

N860

mudbricks foundations.

preservation ranges from course

a single of mudbricks

(less

than 15cm high) to walls

with a preserved

N850I

approximately

height 50cm.

of

E850

E840

E860

E870 E880

E890

A chamber

(Room

15) in Operation G paved with baked

mudbricks. Note of the presence a drain hole with stone spherical and baked stopper bricks set on edge on the left side of the photograph (the latter may have been to protect mudbrick moisture, placed the wall from a

^?'K|

probably near from splashing the drain itself). are used a waterproof of Tepe. rooms at

Baked mudbricks
to provide

flooring in a limited
number Ziyaret

69:1 (2006) NEAR EASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY

19

?
.^'"*V "2" on the architectural reconstruction of one of the large, open artists' (labeled courtyards plan) The first three treads of a mudbrick light and fresh air to the interior rooms of the buildings. provided G, probably storey. Reconstruction leading to a second by Mary Shepperson. part of Operation inOperation stairway G. This were would have courtyard in the northern

An

preserved

Photograph pebbles set

a general showing into a checkerboard

view

pattern.

of the Operation G courtyard Three mosaic pavements

shown

in the

reconstruction. have been

The mosaic

of this type

recovered

comprises inOperation G.

thousands

of small

river

20

NEAREASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY 69:1 (2006)

Photograph

of cuneiform tablets

tablets record

triangular-shaped

from Operation G. These or distribution the purchase

tablets

were

made

of unbaked

clay

and mostly

represent

economic

documents.

The

of grain.

4 i?

Photograph

of

pottery updraught kiln cut into the Late Assyrian building. There was no associated still the pottery in situ, but

stratigraphie that the it post use of

position of the kiln

shows dates

the main

Operation

G building. The
lower located fire pit, beneath surface to the has not excavated. the

plastered and adjacent vent holes, yet been

NEAREASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY 69:1 (2006)

21

;-j;^#^iMia&;%^fe?^.

Electrical resistivity
The mechanics of electrical resistivity
are relatively simple; the two probes of an resistance meter and probe array electrical are placed at a measured in the ground distance current and electrical from one another. An is passed between the two probes the meter measures the resistance of

???B?M^SMd^BEIIHaar i&^L^LBi^LflL^L^L^L^flL^L^L^LVi

the soil to theflow of electricity. We used a GeoScan Research RM-15 Resistance

$

Meter

and probe array. The probes were set into a standard twin array that requires four separate probes set in two pairs at least set of 20 m distant from one another. One

;ILv^L^Hi^E?B^L^iHBL^^BL^LHia L^L^B^LflL^L^E^H

probes is fixed into the ground, while the

other set ismobile. The mobile probes mounted are

fixed onto a wooden and metal frame with

the electrical resistance meter on
Photograph The mobile resistance showing the GeoScan includes the RM-15 two metal resistance probes meter attached in use by Ann Donkin. to a frame. The

top of the probes. The effective depth of imaging is a function of the spacing of the probes and we established an ideal probe
distance probes the two separate of l m between the mobile array. of

array probe meter sits atop

frame

Unfortunately,

the dry summer

heat

of southeastern

This resistance of the soil to the flow of electricity, Turkey (with absolutely no precipitation during themid to July to early September field season) makes for very poor expressed in ohms (Q), will vary according
several : characteristics surrounding the probes, and by localized of the soil matrix immediately the soil structure and including conditions. For example, will of clay generally to the flow its resistance of sand or higher to is inadequate ground water allow for good contact between the probes and the ground it is impossible either to take a reading, and, consequently or to get an acceptable ratio without adding signal-to-noise survey conditions. There moisture to the ground. During the 2004 field season, we

: ' composition, soils with heavy I retain moisture, other

concentrations thus lowering

of electricity generating readings less than 40Q. On the

hand, c gravel tend soils containing to drain rather large amounts quickly generating

developed a technique for adding sufficientmoisture that

the probes and the ground gave us good contact between rate and to allowed us to collect data at an acceptable a to start the of speed. Prior of surveying each morning,

readingsmore often from 200Q to 1000?1.

As

a final example, we now see that faint negative magnetic anomalies within the area of the courtyard (Room 2) represent floor has been cut by later places where the pebble mosaic for burials. pits, possibly

at Ziyaret Tepe to include range of geophysical techniques an electrical of the southern part of the survey resistivity lower town, near Operation G. Our goal with the electrical
resistivity survey was to produce a complementary dataset to

The Southern CityGate

excavation units in areas

provide more
seen clearly

details on a large gateway

in the magnetic gradiometry

through
survey.

the city wall

While the resolution of detail on the gradiometry maps allow us to recognize major buildings (and helped us place the
of well-preserved architecture), the

Electrical resistivity survey involves inserting two sets of into the ground, running an electrical current between probes
them, and measuring the amount of resistance to the passage

internal features of these buildings are not easily discerned. After fours seasons of gradiometry, we decided to expand the

of electricity established

is well between the probes. This technique in archaeological contexts and has been used

22

NEAREASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY 69:1 (2006)

Ka^V^.^

,lj >$: f,,'??S-*-ii?.--fe?ft:

^-^Vt^f^T?

Ann Donkin allow working

puts water sufficient electrical inside a grid

into the pre-made contact between where the

square

an electrical resistance survey. The water immediately prior to making and the dry earth, and to allow for a good the metal signal-to-noise probes has been removed. topsoil holes

is necessary ratio. Here

to she is

local laborer,armed with an iron duplicate of the frame and probe array, would poke holes in theground to depth of 20-25 cm. The frame allowed theworker to place the
holes exactly Im apart and its iron construction allowed

Somers

of GeoScan

Research,

Inc. who

encouraged

us to B

try this techniqueat Ziyaret Tepe based on his experienceat W

other sites. The After duplicate systematically the survey area and plotting resistivity readings across the measurements software using computer modeling in resistivity. geologically readings was In areas uniform, observed. no that are B iron frame was our innovation. the K and recording measuring B jg

for significantforce to be used inpushing themetal probes

into the hard, dry ground tomake the evenly spaced holes. Working along 10 m long transects spaced Im apart with 10 readings taken per transect, a sufficient number of dry holes were poked data readings with water into the ground per 10 m by 10 m to allow survey us to take 100 square. We then

(GeoPlot 3.0) we created maps of these variations

archaeologically variation significant or in the

p
m wk K B 1| II m

used a borrowed water tanker and hose to fill each hole

using a simple gravity-fed between watering system. The

processes tended to appear geometrical surveying

have

altered

only natural deposition variations soil characteristics, over larger areas in nongradually Where

water quickly dispersed deep into the soil allowing for good
contact While to be made slow, this method rewarded the probes and the ground. provided excellent survey results efforts made in

when On the other hand, patterns. over areas where cultural activity has altered

soil conditions, such as the foundations of buildings or m

the remnants was in resistivity the variation of a city wall, abrupt, and often linear in nature. significant, B

and amply

the time consuming

the field.We acknowledge here the advice of Dr. Lewis

sites in for decades, especially at archaeological extensively we resistance survey map produced Europe. The electrical shows considerably greater detail than the corresponding maps. The city wall can be seen magnetic gradiometry
running from the southeastern corner of the survey area to

the northwest. A gate structure is very clearly composed of an entrance chamber and a second interior chamber just inside the line of the city walls. An area of high resistance at the entrance from the south through the city wall is probably either by soils that were compacted by heavy produced or traffic by a deliberately constructed pavement. Two towers

project out on either side of the gate. This type of structure is well known from other Assyrian sites, such as Khorsabad, m size of the gateway (25 square) is smaller than although the at the imperial capitals in the Assyrian those gateways found heartland. Also clearly visible on the exterior of the city wall are two additional towers to the northwest and southeast of are in size and much smaller do not appear the gateway that
to offer an entrance into the city.

Near a large gate, 15 m by 8 m in extent, a series of rooms runs perpendicular to the city wall. Their shape and orientation to the gate vaguely remind us of the long and narrow rooms

69:1 (2006) 23 NEAR EASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY

A. Electrical the gateway lower town walls show

survey map of at the southern edge of the inOperation K. The mudbrick

resistance

clearly as grey values, while in the soil near the gateway compacted value shown south have a high resistance in red. B. Interpretation resistance of the electrical the major survey showing at the southern constructions edge of the Assyrian city.

Lessons Learned jt k: ." '

???
subsurface geophysical surveys at like similar surveys made Ziyaret Tepe, at hundreds of other archaeological sites The

0 30m

IN
activity. With
course, comes

that these have demonstrated offer archaeologists powerful techniques new tools for documenting past human the increased speed of wide area coverage, of worldwide,
a loss of resolution and, at best, geophysical

grouped around the great courtyards of Fort Shalmaneser (Oates and Oates 2001: Fig. 91), although we cannot say for certain what the Ziyaret Tepe rooms were used for without
excavating a sample. A large, circular, high-resistance feature

survey will provide a rough picture of what lies beneath the can use geophysical survey techniques surface. Archaeologists to dig, in order to to identify where it might be profitable
uncover large areas and to use a non-invasive means of site reconnaissance.

(with

a low resistance
part of the

area
survey

in the center)
remains enigmatic.

found

in the

northeastern

To determine the structure of the city wall that could be seen in both the magnetic clearly gradiometry maps and the electrical resistivity survey, we began excavating inOperation in 2003 and K (Dr. John MacGinnis began these excavations were in Dr. Kemalettin 2004 by K?roglu of they expanded Marmara University). The excavation has been limited to an area of 150 sq m. Initially, a narrow trench through the had built a six meter city wall suggested that the Assyrians
wide casemate structure (two separate mudbrick walls, and

After years of working with geophysical survey techniques in archaeology, we have learned several important lessons that can be used as guidelines for developing an archaeological research methodology. First, the results of a subsurface geophysical survey are usually greatly enhanced by using multiple techniques at a given site. In this report, we have used both magnetic gradiometry and electrical resistivity survey methods at Ziyaret Tepe. As each technique measures different physical properties rather than redundant. of the earth, they are complimentary such as Of course, a host of other geophysical technologies,
ground-penetrating radar, are also available to the researcher

infilled with a compact clay fill) in a shallow foundation trench which itself had been cut into a substantial artificial ridge created along the edge of the ancient city. The material of the city wall, for the ridge was dredged from outside
creating a moat around the city and a raised area that was

then augmented by the wall. We were surprised to discover domestic architecture adjacent to and abutting the interior of the city wall. These structures comprise walls only a single brick in width with very shallow foundations. We excavated five rooms grouped around an open courtyard. Unlike the Operation G building, these rooms were small and rather poorly made. They had numerous internal hearths or bread ovens. Instead of beautiful pebble mosaics, the courtyard was paved with rough cobbles and, in places, with reused, broken and worn baked bricks, probably scavenged from wealthier residences or public buildings. Of particular significance, these Late Assyrian domestic structures were not visible in the magnetic gradiometry maps, nor was it easy to discern their structure from the electrical resistivity maps.

and the choice of which techniques to use in a particular case and depends upon the overall research agenda, geological at environments the and the site, technology depositional that is available. There is no simple cookbook-style recipe for a method. choosing geophysical survey A second lesson we have learned is that these are not point and-shoot technologies. One cannot go into the field, point at the ground and expect to get worthwhile the machine results. It is essential that the machine operator understand the first principles of the physical property being measured (e.g., The physics and the mathematical magnetism, electricity). are principles which govern the properties being measured these both for the complex and it is essential to understand in the field (e.g., for of the techniques practical application the desired and signals representing identifying enhancing noise or while targets avoiding potential archaeological A and for interference) interpretation. thorough knowledge of the machines themselves (e.g., how to balance, calibrate,

24

NEAREASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY 69:1 (2006)

Photograph preserved

showing to a height

the

architectural than

remains 30 cm.

immediately

adjacent

to the

city wall

inOperation

K. The walls

are a single

brick

inwidth

and

of no more

and test them)

software are

and of the data collection

for making sense of

and processing
the data, as well

dozen

essential

as troubleshooting in the field. In particular, it is important for the researcher to understand how each of the processing in the software transforms the data and how algorithms aid interpretation. At the University these transformations of Akron, a fifteen week course team taught by archaeology, serves as geology and geography faculty in these principles a thorough
undergraduate

the lower town, even though we have two of them. This said, we cannot say from only excavated whether the kilns were used for pottery, metal, geophysics alone lime plaster, or bread production, nor can we date the kilns. Finally, it is important to keep inmind that the geophysical kilns across
survey changing. techniques New available techniques are to archaeologists constantly under are constantly development.

introduction
and graduate

to geophysical
students.

survey for advanced

Following these first two points, we also have found that one must be prepared to spend multiple field seasons in order to obtain good results. A period of experimentation with localized site conditions is mandatory to establish appropriate techniques, sample densities, transect spacing, and so forth. Likewise, all is greatly enhanced interpretation through ground-truthing. Our ability to interpret the geophysical maps from Ziyaret Tepe
is based on extensive ground-truthing at several places on

to processing and imaging software Likewise, improvements are being driven by the relentless increase in computing power available to archaeologists, both in the field and laboratory. was often collected manually with data Twenty years ago,
the machine operator calling out readings to an assistant, or

to the survey using heavy, clumsy data recorders connected current via cables. The equipment heavy technology is faster,
more accurate, and much easier to use. Used with care and

the site. Each new geophysical signal must be independently tested. Once we have identified and confirmed the properties of a recurring geophysical anomaly, it is possible to interpret unexcavated features with a greater degree of certainty. For example, at Ziyaret Tepe we can confidently identify several

forethought, subsurface geophysical survey techniques remain powerful tools for the practicing field archaeologist. What have we learned from the on-going geophysical surveys at Ziyaret Tepe? In conjunction with the more traditional excavation techniques employed at the site, we have been able to further develop our understanding of the lower city during the Late Assyrian period. We find that during this time there were scattered large buildings across the western lower town,

NEAR EASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY 69:1 (2006) 25

presumably public buildings of some sort, with intervening spaces that formed open plazas. This area may, in fact, be an administrative district. In the southern lower town, long an area of residential habitation. Two city streets mark parallel are gates, clearly identified; one in south opening towards an overland route and one on the eastern part of the lower town. The latter may have facilitated movement alongside the boat traffic on the Tigris River. Domestic houses clustered around the southern gateway. Our imaging of the city wall itself reveals a series of small towers, in addition to major gateways. When we first arrived at Ziyaret Tepe ten years ago, we assumed that the bulk of the public buildings would have been located on

2 The Assyrians used a dating system an official, called a limmu, selected families. The date many eponyms tablets written

in which from

each year was named their most

after

among allow

of the limmu official during

archaeologists period.

prominent to precisely

the Late Assyrian

References
Blaylock, 1998 S. Rescue Euphrates Years Work Excavations 1979-90. by Pp. the BIAA 111-26 Institute British at Tille in Ancient H?y?k Anatolia: on the Fifty

by the British Ankara:

of Archaeology Institute

at Ankara, at

ed. R. Matthews. Ankara. Bunnens, 1989 G. Tell Ahmar University 1992 Melbourne Euphrates: 79-80: 1994 Ahmar. Journal Grayson, A.K. The Pp. Resurrection 105-14 on

of Archaeology

the high mound and that the lower town would have held domestic residences, orchards, and storage facilities. We have modified this hypothesis significantly as our geophysical surveys progress. Our initial impression that occupation did not extend beyond the city wall, on the other hand, has been confirmed data gathered survey. Additional by broad scale geophysical in the coming years will add detail to our city plan, and our understanding of this important Late Assyrian city.

the Euphrates:

A New 63:

Research 1-11. at Tell

Project

of the

of Melbourne. University Short Report 1-13. In Archaeology of Archaeology 98:

Akkadica Excavations

Ahmar

on

the

on the 1989 -1992

Seasons.

Akkadica

in Syria, 101-58.

ed. Harvey

Weiss.

American

Notes
1A dipole is an anomaly that has both strongly positive and negative the positive and negative The poles of a magnet. and of the and (white and positioning positive negative strength field generated black) readings depends on the strength of the magnetic by and how deeply it is buried. the artifact or feature, its orientation, aspects representing relative

1995

of Ashur:

A History

of Assyrian

Studies.

in Assyria

1995: Proceedings

of the 10th Anniversary Project, Helsinki, eds.

Symposium September Helsinki:

of the Neo-Assyrian 7-11, 1995,

Text Corpus

S. Parp?la

and R. M. Whiting, Project.

The Neo-Assyrian

Text Corpus

1991

Assyrian Rulers of theEarly FirstMillennium BCl(lll4

BC). Royal Inscriptions Toronto E. G. Methods for Archaeology. Oxford: Oxford of Mesopotamia Press. Assyria (RIMA), 2. Toronto: University

-859
Vol.

ABOUT
Dr. Timothy Matney

THE AUTHORS
is an Associate

Herz,

N. 1998

and Garrison, Geological Press.

University

in the of Archaeology Professor Studies, Department of Classical Anthropology and Archaeology at the
University of interest urbanism, survey. the US, Azerbaijan, co-directed He of Akron. His primary areas ancient geophysical research Iraq, Israel, Dr* Timothy Matney are Mesopotamia, and subsurface has conducted

Layard, A. H. 1849 Lloyd, S. The Archaeology Persian Conquest. of Mesopotamia: London: Thames From theOld Stone Age to the Nineveh and its Remains (2 volumes). London: John Murray.

1978

and Hudson.

in

Matney, 2002

T., M. Roaf,

J.MacGinnis,

and H. McDonald at Ziyaret Tepe, 2000 and 2001

Britain,

Syria, and India,

excavations

He Turkey. at the Early

Archaeological Anatolica

Excavations

28: 47-89. H. McDonald, and D. Stein Investigations at Ziyaret Tepe, 2002. Anatolica K. Nicoll, L. Rainville, M. Roaf,

Bronze Age city of Titri H?y?k near the Euphrates from 1994-1999 and
has directed excavations and survey at

Matney,

T., ]. MacGinnis, M.L. Smith

2003

Archaeological 29: 175-221.

the hate Assyrian city of Ziyaret Tepe on theTigris River since 1997. Ann E. Donkin is the Field Director for the Archaeological Geophysics Laboratory at theUniversity of Akron, she has ledgeophysical survey teams on /^nn j? Donkin projects inTurkey, Azerbaijan, Egypt, and India as well as many local projects. Her work has focused
on creating relationships to facilitate the images contexts. in archaeological study of temporospatial

Matney, 2005

T. and L. Rainville Archaeological Anatolica. K?ro_lu, M. Reimann, 31: 19-68. D. An Assyrian of Archaeology Imperial City in Iraq. Revealed. London: British Investigations (with contributions at Ziyaret Tepe, by T. Demko, 2003 and 2004 K.

S. Kayser,

H. McDonald, M. Roaf,

]. MacGinnis, P Schmidt

K. Nicoll,

and ]. Szuchman)

S. Parp?la, Anatolica

Oates, 2001

J. and Oates, Nimrud: School

26

NEAREASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY 69:1 (2006)

In the twelfth fortresses control notorious 1187.

century

program." over southern crusader

the region around Kerak and Baldwin Ibuilt this magnificent castle there as part of his "chain of the Crusaders the control over the Kerak plateau, giving stronghold, just like Shobak gave them never had before. an As of the Crusader it that had The the Transjordan. region acquired part Kingdom, importance was it as a basis from which at Renaud de Chatillon in used he raided trade caravans its foot until he killed by Saladin passing the Crusaders It then became conquered a major Kerak and, because he couldn't take it, starved it into submission. Photo courtesy of Petra Caravan Tours, Amman, Jordan.

Saladin

besieged

jawwBBawaawBHawHBBHwa^

stir- -?^^

-s.***??***-?*?^ &^-&?&%msim*?w&m?m?$,{i%>

Tribes Palestine

and and

Power the
by Eveline

Structures
J. van der Steen

in

Transjordan

Tribal affiliations, alliances, feuds, power struggles?all characterize the culture and society of Palestine and the Transjordan during theOttoman Period. While the his books record the actions of imperial authorities within the tory region, the tribal power structures, though poorly understood, have had a much more profound and lasting effect there. Stories of alliances and rivalries among the tribes have endured inmemory for hundreds of years, even though, in reality, bonds could be the forged and broken, overnight as a brief history concerning tribes of the Beni Amr confederation illustrates. The Beni Amr confederation had their territory on the Kerak Plateau (now in Jordan) and consisted of four tribes. The Ibn Tebet were the leading tribe, and they dwelt on the east flank of the Kerak Plateau. The Ibn Qaisum, another tribe of the lived around Kerak and on the western part of confederation, the Plateau. In the eighteenth century, Sheikh Ibrahim Ibn Tebet and his men went to the town of Kerak to visit the Ibn

Qaisum.

Sheikh Dhiab Ibn Qaisum, leader of the Ibn Qaisum, visitors the of and spying suspected planned an ambush as they left town, but the Ibn Tebet escaped. IbnQaisum was so angered that he made an alliance with the Hameide, a non-related tribe that had its territory on the northern part of the Plateau, and with their help he expelled the residents of Kerak, who fled to the Hebron area. Sheikh Dhiab Ibn Qaisum's alliance with the Hameide soon ended. While he was away from his camp, a chief of the Hameide visited and was entertained by the Sheikh's to rules of the tribal wife, according hospitality. During the night the chief tried to seduce Ibn Qaisum's wife, who secretly sent a slave to her husband with the message: "a common stallion has tried to mount the noble mare (Musil 1908: 78)." According to the tribal notions of honor, Ibn Qaisum had to avenge this insult but his tribe was too weak to take on the Hameide on their own. Ibn Qaisum had no choice but to make peace with the Ibn Tebet since tradition dictated that even when sub-tribes quarreled, they had to support each other against a common enemy. Under the leadership of Sheikh Ibrahim, the Ibn Tebet

NEAR EASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY 69:1 (2006) 27

up paid protection Sardiyeh tried to intervene, but Ibrahim Ibn Tebet considered his tribal bond sacred. A battle was fought inwhich the Hameide were beaten. They fled across theWadi Mujib, where they had to ask protection from the Adwan, the tribe that controlled the land north of theWadi Mujib. The Keraki tribes, still wandering around Hebron, applied to Ibrahim Ibn Tebet to intervene to let them return to their hometown. Dhiab IbnQaisum objected, but Ibrahim took the Kerakis under his protection and they returned. The quixotic temperament of Dhiab Ibn Qaisum and his tribe the did not sit well with other tribes of the Beni Amr
confederation and, seeing an

sources clearly indicate. In fact, from the Middle historical Bronze Age forward, most, if not all, people in this region were organized into tribes. There are many definitions of "tribe" in that the anthropological literature, which only demonstrates it is a very fluid concept, with structures that are adapted to and political specific ecological in the Middle those particularly
have in common, however,

niches. What many tribes, East, have been thought to

structure based on a

is a group

kinship affiliation, a leadership that is partly ascribed and partly and a social and achieved, in organization political which the concept of honor is stressed. The kin-based
structure can be real, but

opportunity to expel the Ibn tribe, they agitated Qaisum against them. In the battle that ensued, the redoubtable Dhiab was killed and his tribe to the Ghor Abu dispersed Obeida (Dissard 1905: 421). As the preceding passage the local people indicates, of Transjordan and Palestine identified with their tribe and with the confederations of tribes to which they belonged. Their relationship with the Ottoman Empire was not always hostile, but they never it?it was with identified a For different world. always tribes on the Kerak Plateau this resulted in a complete between the two was which worlds, recognized and generally by accepted both sides. In other cases, a break
man could rise to power and

The role of the tribal leader,or sheikh, isall-important within the social framework of the tribal society. According toPeterGubser (1973:78) thequalities that
combine to make a person a sheikh include ascribed (such as

TribalLeadership

it is adaptable very in order to and manipulated to the admit new members often
group or to make permanent

qualities
age,

(such as kinship and tribal membership,

race), partly achieved qualities

sex and

wealth and honour), and fully achieved qualities that are fully determined by the personality of the leader
(such as generosity, their tribes bravery, prudence and intelligence,

leadership ability, and in some cases piety). Sheikhs

brought to power through their personal

or temporary alliances (for example, the protection fee or groups that individuals are forced to pay a tribe in order to be safe from raiding is called khawa, which means "brotherhood," indicating a temporary kinship relation to the tribe). There were tribes living in the many
region, each in their own

qualities and theirpolitical skills, particularly theway theymanipulated tribal alliances and relationships.
Once their status as the leading family was established,

the sheikhdom became hereditary, and a sheikh was generally succeeded either by his son or his brother.
The tribe acquired a privileged status, and in the case

territory. Some of these were very large and powerful,

others were smaller and

of the Majali even distinguished themselves by wearing a special headdress (Durley 1910: 135).

larger subjected tribes. The largest "political unit" was that of the tribal
confederation. very close and This was a permanent

to the

BBBBBHBBM^MHBHB
sometimes
of a common

a tribe based on the personal loyalty of his followers. Akila Agha was such a man. Akila belonged to both worlds. in the Ottoman army, but He, like his father, was a mercenary he was also part of the ethnic society that the empire tried to create control. His tribal affiliations were largely self-made, but there were times when he was easily as powerful as any of the sheikhs on the Kerak Plateau. In recovering
accounts of

(but not necessarily)

patriarchal ancestor.

alliance between tribes, that was cemented by the claim

In some cases, such as that

the tribal stories

travellers

of this region,
and explorers

the early
are an

European

invaluable source. Obviously, their perspectives on the people of the region, while for the most part more sympathetic than those of the Ottoman overlords, are not uncolored by their own social and cultural backgrounds. the Nevertheless, sometimes exciting and always intriguing picture is remarkably three-dimensional. they present

of the Beni Amr, they had a leading tribe, but in other cases on a basis of all tribes within the confederation cooperated a would Tribes of confederation help and support equality. each other in times of stress, but they were independent. They could consist of tens of thousands of tents. Tribes, which could into smaller subdivided also be very large, were sometimes referred to as subtribes groups, generally (which had the same status as "tribes", but were smaller). All these tribes and confederations interacted, both in a positive sense, by trading, sharing territories and water wells and creating coalitions and alliances, and in a negative sense, by raiding and robbing. The power structures were complex, with the most powerful tribes such as the Adwan, the Sardiyeh, and tribal confederations

28

NEAREASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY 69:1 (2006)

they subjected sources of income for the tribes were pastoralism (both sheep and goats, and camels), agriculture (the Adwan, north of the Wadi Mujib, were both farmers and pastoralists), and trade. was an source additional of and income, robbing Raiding but was equally important as a means to establish the power in the region. Particularly the large camel-breeding tribes, such as the Beni Sakhr and the Rwala, who lived in the desert during large parts of the year, considered themselves the nobility of the tribes and proudly called themselves bedouin, structures

jobs,

proud

TribalHistories
Plateau was a flourishing region until the of the Ottoman (1517). Immediately beginning period after the Ottoman the town rebelled conquest, against The Kerak
its conquerors. The governors that were sent to restore

order

sided with the rebels and declared the town on was to ignore From then the Empire's policy independent. the town and the Plateau as much as possible; they even instead

wm?????????m???m????a History and Anthropology of Tribes and Tribalism in Jordan

by Sandra Scham

Shryock's compelling analysis (1997), based as it is on a study of the Jordanian tribes people in
both rural and urban that ethnographies basically non-historical in a process that members settings, dismiss discusses tribal traditional accounts situated as (Peters

How
has

to define tribe and tribalism is an issue that

cultural anthropologists for some time.

and presently

engaged

1977), and concludes

engaged

that they have merely been

oral histories'

Evans-Pritchard's classic study of The Nuer

108), provides a categorical analysis of these

(1940:
terms

of "overwriting

(Shryock
explains

1997: 25).

In the Jordanian pasts

case, he

emphasizing

the tribe as a social unit based upon

(or, more upon simply put, lineage and ancestral current

of a "tribe" can be recognized

usegmentary genealogy" social relations based

by their particularistic
from, to some even though takes

that are detached

inform, view, other local to of

they may a similar

myths). Evolutionary models developed later regard tribalism as a precursor to the State (Sahlins 1968; Service 1971). Despite the fact thatmany scholars have grappled unsuccessfully with applying these kinds of basic definitions of tribe to their own fieldwork (cf.
Marx the abrogation 1977), not to mention of these ideas by current anthropological theorists, they are still courses today. taught inmany anthropology

histories

(Shryock 1997: 27). LaBianca

extent, what he considers to be

(1997),

analyze tribal continuity?i.e, and notions of common economy also or political

preferring the elements

in-group flexibility, lineal descent?rather

loyalty, than

Ethnographic perspectives of the past developed primarily from the suspicion held by traditional
anthropologists toward historical approaches. Thus,

His perspective organization. some more the rejects of rigid views of explicitly tribalism that suggest that tribes that are no longer in activities economic traditional (Marx engaged

1977) or that are no longer politically autonomous (Fried 1968), cease to be "tribes."
Disregarding the older ethnographies as, in the words

scholars likeMusil (1928) and Peake (1935), who wrote about tribalism without explicitly defining it,were
once completely disregarded. It is significant, because however,

that these studies have been revived by today's Middle

Eastern anthropologists precisely they are found

of Shryock, "historiographical imperialism" (Shryock 1997: 27; see, also, Faubion 1993) has liberated Middle Eastern scholars from the process of defining the terms "tribe" or "tribalism" in favor of exploring
their roots and models we are their "universal" abrogated, is a relative As manifestations. in anthropology have largely been current

to bemore useful than thework of later ethnographers in the region, many of whom had little or no facility
in Arabic. Preferring to reference the situations and

events inwhich tribalism has played a part, historical scholars provided many details that ethnographers, overly involved as they had been in developing and applying non-specific criteria, had failed tonote.

intrinsically their actions,

that tribalism left with a conclusion as that ismore concept likely understood rather than extrinsically defined?i.e., by of

by their words, and by their narratives the past you will know them.

BBBBBBBBBHflflBflBBHHBBHHB
NEAR EASTERN 69:1 (2006) 29 ARCHAEOLOGY

of the its own quarter. Most inhabitants of tribes, each within of tribes and sections the population of Kerak consisted century were or sections craftsmen or farmers, out in of the tribes the fields. Some half their lives specialists: camping spending pastoralists not services that were or traders. because in the town, but their relationship with the tribes was different, they provided They had a quarter in the Transjordan from the Illustration of a Bedouin and trading facilities. such as certain craft products, available in the countryside, camp 1905. Views of the Holy Land. Courtesy Detroit section. Detroit Detroit, Co., catalogue Michigan: J-foreign Company, Publishing Photographic Division Washington, Prints and Photographs D.C. of the Library of Congress In the nineteenth town were

diverted Medina
autonomous,

to Mecca and the pilgrim's route from Damascus to avoid the area. The Plateau became virtually
with its own power relations and struggles

by the tribal nature of the society. The largely determined most powerful tribes controlled the smaller, dependent ones a and hierarchical power network. This through complex situation was not fixed or even stable; power changed hands the region or small, frequently when new tribes entered previously insignificant tribes rose to power. In the nineteenth into century the tribes of the Kerak Plateau were divided two main groups, called the Eastern and Western alliances (Gubser 1973: map 4). To a large extent, the town of Kerak the Plateau. that governed reflected the power structures The inhabitants consisted of a number of groups, both small tribes and sections of tribes, each with its own quarter. Some of these groups were sections of tribes living on the Plateau; others tribes were entirely based in the town. The town had its own leading tribe, the Majali. Most Kerakis were pastoralists or farmers and spent much of their time camping out in their fields or herding their flocks, and their livelihood was dependent on good relationships with the Plateau tribes.
Other tribes were specialists?craftsmen or traders. They

Jordan up to the Wadi while the Beni Atiyeh 1943: 176-8), Mujib (see Oppenheim the Sinai and who had of tribes confederation (a populated in the wake of the Islamic conquest) southern Palestine the sixteenth the area around Aqaba. During controlled and Beni the confederation century, disintegrated, Atiyeh one of the member tribes, the Uhedat, migrated north into the Kerak area in the course of the seventeenth century. The Uhedat were a semi-nomadic tribe, spending the winter on the controlled the whole of southern in to the the west side of the Arabah Plateau, and migrating the summer. In those days, Kerak was under the control of the 1979: 1943: 52-3; Wallin powerful IbnTurabay (Oppenheim 76-9). The famous Druse leader, Fakhr ed-Din, eager to control the strategic position of Kerak, made a deal with the Sheikh of the Uhedat, the Turabay ed-Din had seventeenth by the Beni
permanently

to conquer Kerak. Eventually, the Uhedat did kill Emir and conquer the town, but by that time Fakhr died (Oppenheim 1943: 99). At the end of the century, the Uhedat were evicted from the Plateau Amr, a new arrival on the stage, and they moved
into their summer territory, eventually taking

had a quarter in the town and provided goods and services that were not available in the countryside. centuries In the thirteenth and fourteenth (before the Beni Ottoman the Okba tribal confederation conquest),

over the territory between Gaza and Beersheba. The Beni Amr extended their power further north until, by 1770, they had control over the entire region between theWadi Hasa and the a member of the Beni Amr confederation, Zerqa. Although the leadership of the contested the Ibn Qaisum continually the town of Kerak. controlled Ibn Tebet. The Ibn Qaisum

30

69:1 (2006) NEAREASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY

inwhich tribal alliances and particularly skills. The ways leaders manipulated upon personal greatly qualities leadership depended political the tribe to power. Once their status as a leading family was established, their sheikhdom became hereditary. originally brought relationships A sheikh was generally succeeded either by his son or his brother. Bedouins of the Jordan District, Publishing Holy Land. Title from the Detroit Prints and section. 1905. Views of the Holy Land Library of Congress Mich: Detroit Detroit, Co., catalogue J-foreign Photographic Company, Tribal and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.

They

were

notorious
the town,

for their cruelty

extracting taxes,

and ruthlessness,
and maltreating the

tyrannizing

inhabitants. Trade caravans, although traveling under the protection of the Beni Amr, were repeatedly preyed upon by the IbnQaisum as an assertion of their independence. The history of the Beni Amr has been recorded separately by the Jesuit historian J.Dissard (1905), and by the Chech ethnographer Alois Musil order of these two (1908). The chronological accounts is often unclear and they occasionally contradict each other, something that is not uncommon in oral tradition. Their main purpose is to illustrate the cruelty of the Ibn Qaisum towards the Kerakis, rather than to recount history.The stories

of IbnQaisum incursions refer to one leader in particular, Dhiab Ibn Qaisum (Dissard 1905). MusiPs sources mention a sheikh Ibrahim Ibn Qaisum but this may, in fact, be the same man (Musil 1908: 70-84).

The Majali inKerak

Kerak was the meeting place of the tribes, their market, the (partly place where they interacted socially and economically and where they created and through their representatives), strengthened economic, commercial, and social bonds. The suq (market) was the trade center in times of peace, and in times of

NEAR EASTERN 69:1 (2006) 31 ARCHAEOLOGY

Although members from all of the tribes in the region came to meet and to market their goods in Kerak, for centuries the town had been subject to the powerful tribes of the Plateau. The rise to power of the Majali family in the eighteenth century, however, completely reversed the power relations. The Majali had emigrated from Hebron and rose to power mainly as a result of the personalities and political skills of their leaders. In the early days of the Ottoman government in the sixteenth century, the Temimiyeh, a powerful tribe in the town, rebelled against the government. The uprising was suppressed, and the Temimiyeh were forced to flee to Hebron, their town of origin. The Turkish janissaries who had been sent in to suppress the revolt stayed and eventually behind, mingled with the local population, became the new leading tribe, the Imamiyeh.1 They stayed in power until the eighteenth century, when a new family took over, the Majali.2 The Majali were descendants of the Temimiyeh. to Musil (1908: 76), the first Majali had come to According Kerak from Hebron and married into a local family.3 They fled to Hebron again when Sheikh Dhiab Ibn Qaisum expelled the Kerakis. Khalil, leader of the Majali married his daughter to the

helped the Kerakis to return to their home town, the Majali had become their leading family, according toMusil (1908: 78). Peake (1958: 189) has a different version of how the Majali came to power. The Temimiyeh had been expelled by the Ottoman government after their rebellion, and fled to Hebron. The first man to return was named Jelal. His grandson, Salim Majali, became the first in the line of the formidable Majali tribal chiefs and cunning political leaders. Around 1700, he played the Beni Amr and the Imamiyeh tribes against each other, and with the help of the Beni Amr managed to extinguish the Imamiyeh completely, killing all the males of the tribe (Peake 1958: 189). This turned the Majali into the leading tribe of Kerak. The town as a whole, however, was still subjected to the IbnQaisum, who controlled the Kerak Plateau. An amusing story tells how Hamed, the grandson of Salim Majali, managed to extend the boundaries of the Majali property outside the town around 1780 (Peake 1958: 189, Abujaber 1989: 73). The Majali owned some land near Mazar, a village south of Kerak. Hamed picked a quarrel with the Beni Amr over the boundaries of that land. The Amr agreed to accept his oath as to

A Short history of the Town of Kerak

The town of Kerak, with its prominent location on

he couldnt Because Kerak

take it, starved

it into submission. position

top of a high promontory overlooking themagnificent Wadi Kerak, has been a landmark throughout the

of its excellent retained a certain retired

Transjordan

as a stronghold, even as most of importance into the shade. It often played a

role in the conflicts around the thrones of theArab the region. Kerak's location on the strategic | history of area in | top of a plateau in the center of the Kerak district and Turkish empires. The Ay yubids ruled the has been instrumental in shaping the history of the the late twelfth and the thirteenth centuries, until it lastAyyubid Mamluk Sultan Baibars?the town. Surveys on and around the castle have revealed fell to the so. to Baibars made Kerak the capital of in the remains from practically stronghold do every period starting Chalcolithic. The Madaba map shows Kerak as a theProvince of Kerak, and it remained underMamluk Ottomans in 1517. The Ottoman fortified town, situated on the hilltop. The strategic rule until itfell to the
. position of the town was, however, greatly in the twelfth century when the Crusaders of a chain of fortresses. the Crusaders giving Plateau. As It became the control a major over enhanced conquered at Kerak, set up a government but rebellion Empire was out broke almost subdued, and immediately. This a new governor was but he immediately installed,

the region and Baldwin I built Kerak Castle as part

stronghold, the Kerak the region dates,

defected to the side of the localArab tribes and, with their support, declared Kerak independent ofOttoman
rule. The government's efforts to bring the district

part of the Crusader it flourished;

Kingdom, sugarcane,

acquired an importance that it had never had before.

j Economically indigo,

back into line had little effect; so instead theymoved

the pilgrimage tribes towards route outside the east, following the territory of the Keraki the same route that

and wine were grown in the region (Oppenheim 1943: 175). The notorious crusader Renaud de Chatillon
used the castle as a base from which he raided trade

later became theHejaz Railway. This diminished the

economic seems importance of the town, and the government to have lost interest from then on. It became a

caravans passing at its foot until he was defeated by , Saladin in 1187. Saladin besiegedKerak and, because
.L~-. . ' ' ..... U^immimW^^^^ih-: o?-,-,; : I--. -.'

pawn in the power play of the Plateau tribes.

'.'"'-?!:yuiu."?.

32

NEAREASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY 69:1 (2006)

;,Xg|||i^^ -,-

^ |

l|^^^^^^^^^^^^^H^^EBBn|?

in the city of Akka, Akila Agha was born visited the city and she describes Rogers (Rogers travelers. 1862:178). At that time 1898,

a son of an who had mercenary Egyptian Akila and his brother Saleh as "the most in the Colony service

come

there

to serve and

under

Suleiman people keeping

Pasha.

powerful

formidable patrol,

in the Pashalic the Library roads

In 1855 Mary of Akka" safe for Prints

post Photograph Division Washington, and Photographs

they were again by the American D.C.

of the government, mainly Photo Department (Jerusalem)

as security photographer.

Courtesy

of Congress

the exact boundaries, and they all set out to mark them. While they were walking, a crow flew over their heads and cawed. Hamed dismounted, picked up some earth, and put it in his boots. They continued on foot, Hamed occasionally setting a boundary stone. Finally the Amr demanded him to take the oath, whereupon Hamed swore that he had been walking on his own land from the moment the crow cawed. The Amr had to admit that they were outwitted, and accepted the boundaries. Hamed was succeeded by his brother Salim, who made alliances with the Hameide, the Hajaja, a tribe south of theWadi Hasa, and the Beni Sakhr,4 who dwelt north and east of the Kerak Plateau, and together they drove out the Beni Amr, who fled to the Jerusalem area (Peake 1958: 189-90).5 J.L. Burckhardt states that "The inhabitants of Kerek have thus become formidable to all the neighboring Arabs; they are complete masters of the district of Kerek, and have great influence over the affairs of the Belka [the region north of theWadi Mujib, which was the territory of the Adwan] (Burckhardt 1822: 383)." In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the Majali headed the Western Alliance, while the Eastern Alliance was headed by the Tarawneh. The Christian tribes generally sided with theWestern Alliance. The Majali were the paramount tribe, with leadership
over the town, the Western Alliance, and, in external relations and

by his brother Khalil, who was succeeded by Yusuf Majali.6 Yusuf invited the Amr, now reduced to a small tribe, back into the area (in 1804), but then provoked them into a battle with the Hameide. After that battle, with the Hameide weakened from fighting, Yusuf gathered his Keraki warriors in the Wadi off at Qaduma, and finished the Hameide Ibn
Hamad, west of Kerak. The Hameide were driven across the

Wadi Mujib,
rivals in the

and the Majali

region were

seized their land. Now

their most recent allies,

their only
the Beni

Sakhr. Opinions about Yusuf Majali differed. Burckhardt, who was tricked by Yusuf Majali into hiring him as his guide on his journey to the south, described him as lazy and greedy and claimed the sheikh tried to cheat him out of everything worth anything. At the same time, he grudgingly admired the sheikh's horsemanship, and cunning. diplomatic qualities, Peake calls Yusuf a "man of exceptional ability." Before Yusuf Majali became sheikh himself, he opposed his brother, the to bring food supplies ruling sheikh, in a famine and managed into Kerak (Peake 1958: 190). Dissard describes him as an
able administrator and a generous, peaceful and extremely

matters involving both the Eastern and the Western Alliances, over the Plateau as a whole. Because they had put themselves in charge of the land divisions among the tribes, they became very wealthy. Apart from that, the ruling Majali sheikh acted as the court of justice, in accordance with the tribal law system (Burckhardt 1822: 396-7). He could also muster the fighting men of a number of subordinated tribes, and in situations of war he could demand support from other tribes on the basis of alliances (although both his own men and the allied tribes retained the right to refuse and on several occasions did so [Jaussen 1908: 420; Peake 1958: 191]). In every practical sense they were the ruling dynasty of an all but formally independent tribal polity. Salim was succeeded

intelligent man (Dissard 1905: 424). Charles Irby and James two officers from the Royal Navy, hired Yusuf as a Mangles, on their trip to Petra. This was a lucky move, because guide to prevent it was Yusuf who, by his diplomacy, just managed a tribal war, instigated by the two officers' wish to visit Petra 1868), a place that was jealously guarded (Irby and Mangles against all foreigners by the local tribe. It was Yusuf Majali's nephew Muhammad, another cunning on Beni and who took the Sakhr. Dissard leader, politician finally
describes Muhammad as an extremely capable and generous man

and a brave general, but some of the travelers that met him were less generous in their judgment. William Lynch, who travelled down the Jordan River with a boat and who met Muhammad before he became the leader of Majali, describes him as insolent

NEAR EASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY 69:1 (2006) 33

stay robbing Saulcy's description Kerak is hardly friendlier. Muhammad tried to squeeze de Saulcy's expedition of its considerable funds and to trick de Saulcy into sending his Beni Sakhr guides away, which would have brought the expedition into serious conflict with the powerful Beni Sakhr tribe (de Saulcy 1854: 363-70). Muhammad actually imprisoned another traveller, the Reverend H.B. Tristram, and his expedition in the Kerak Castle and demanded a ransom. They were rescued by Fendi al-Fayez, a sheikh of the Beni Sakhr (Tristram 1874: 87-90). Muhammed Majali allied himself to the Beni Atiyeh who lived south of Kerak. They provoked the Beni Sakhr into a battle; beat them, and, as a consequence, Muhammad added the Beni Sakhr's territory around Kerak to his own. Now theMajali had to deal with their new allies, the Beni Atiyeh. Muhammad incited the Beni Atiyeh to seize land south of theWadi Hasa belonging to the Howeitat. This resulted in amajor war inwhich all the tribes in the region were involved on one side or the other. The Kerak coalition lost the battle and Muhammad's sonMusleh was killed. Muhammed wanted to take revenge, but this time the tribes of Kerak refused to follow him into battle, with the excuse that it
was sowing time. Muhammed took his revenge on the town, but

Palestine, during occupation but in 1834 he joined the revolt of Palestinian peasants. When Ibrahim Pasha was beaten, Akila went to Nazareth, in the service of a local ruler.Around this time he also began to collect his own band of supporters. However, in 1845 he angered the Ottoman government by interfering in a local struggle among the Christians of Nazareth and had to flee east of the Jordan River with his men. There he received hospitality from the Beni Sakhr. He married a Beni Sakhr woman and spent the following years raiding and robbing the region with his band. His power and influence in the Galilee had already become so great, however, that two years later the Turkish Pasha of Acco summoned him back and made him leader of a band of mercenaries and men of a small local tribe. He settled down inAbelin, a village in the Galilee, and almost government. The immediately rebelled against the Ottoman no to in beat him, again tried to buy him government, position and made him an army colonel. William Lynch, on his way to the Jordan, visited Akila inAbelin, on June 4th, 1848. The village sat on a high hill rising abruptly from the plains and providing an extensive view of the region. Lynch describes it as "an inaccessible lion's hold," even though it consisted only of huts and hovels. Lynch hired Akila as a guide for his journey along the Jordan, informing the Ottoman government. He greatly admired Akila, calling him "the Achilles of our camp" (Lynch 1849: 195). Lynch was well aware that Akila had been (and on occasion still was) a notorious robber, but found that his guide was busier making alliances. Lynch suspected him of wanting to unite the tribes in the region in order to throw off the already nominal Ottoman supremacy and start his own sovereignty (Lynch 1849: 360). Lynch may have been wrong, as there are no records of a without revolt led by Akila after 1848. Still, Akila and his followers soon governed the whole region of northern Palestine, from Shafa Amr to the Ghor Beisan and Nazareth. He abandoned Abelin for the black goat hair tent and a Bedouin lifestyle. Other troops and tribes flocked to his side, his brother Saleh among them. In 1852 the government, in whose service he still officially was, ordered him
to protect northern Palestine against an uprising in the Hauran,

mainly on the Christian tribes in it,7 and it took years to restore the peace. (Jaussen 1908: 420; Peake 1958: 191). in 1886 and again Saleh Majali succeed his father Muhammed attacked the Beni Sakhr, who were still the most powerful tribe his own army and support from the of the region. Mustering was Saleh Hameide, preparing to attack the Beni Sakhr when the Hameide defected at the last moment. This, they told him, was their revenge for their defeat at the hands of Yusuf Majali, two generations earlier. So the Beni Sakhr were left in peace for the moment. However, in the following year, the powerful Rwala tribe raided the Beni Sakhr. Saleh saw his chance and made an alliance with the Rwala. The Beni Sakhr realized that they stood
no chance against this coalition and made an unexpected move:

they called in the help of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans gratefully grabbed this chance to regain their hold in the south, and
made preparations to conquer and enter the town. Once again,

established, the Majali To this day the Ottomans. retained power and ruled alongside the are one most in the country. of the Majali powerful tribes

the Majali showed their political skills. was useless, they stayed one step ahead leaders to formally asked the Ottoman Kerak. So when the new government was

Seeing that resistance of the Beni Sakhr and in form a government

east of the Jordan. Even though he did have some results in the Jaulan, the government accused him of defecting to the other side, arrested him, and imprisoned him in Bulgaria. He escaped a year later and returned to Palestine, but found that his men had been conscripted for the Crimean War. When they heard of his return, to In 1855 Mary Rogers met his side. they deserted and returned Saleh Agha, Akila's brother, and she describes the two brothers as "the most powerful and formidable people in the Pashalic of Akka" (Rogers 1862: 178). At that time they were again in the
service of the government, mainly as a security patrol to keep

A Different Sort of Leader?Akila Agha's Career in Jordan and Palestine

The Majali sheikhs of Kerak owed their position at least partly to their membership in the paramount tribe. There have also been tribal leaders who did not have the advantage of belonging to the leading tribe, who acquired their position purely on their own strength Qaussen 1908:115). One of these was Akila Agha.8 Akila was the youngest son of an Egyptian mercenary who had

the roads safe for travelers. Occasionally Akila also served as a tax collector, apparently for difficult regions, and in this capacity he once went to Kerak (Musil 1908: 89). In the meantime, men, including famous and powerful sheikhs, continued to flock to his banner. The Ottoman Empire, who still feared his increasing power, sent a Druse army to get rid of him. A battle ensued in

34

ARCHAEOLOGY 69:1 (2006) NEAR EASTERN

to employ Akila again to subdue it, but Akila didn't trust the Ottomans and escaped to Kerak. Eventually he was persuaded to return to Palestine, but his story repeated itself: the governor of Nablus tried to arrest him, he escaped, and went to live in Salt. Later he returned to Galilee but failed to regain his former power. He died in 1870 and was buried in his old stronghold of Abelin.

of a David Roberts of Nazereth from 1839 lithograph painting the city as it appeared first to Akila Agha. Akila originally went to Nazareth, in the service of a local ruler. However, in 1845 he in a local struggle to the interfered the Nazareth Christians, among This shows of the government and displeasure from by Louis Haghe, lithographer in The Holy Land, Syria, Published : F.G. Moon, v. London 1842-1845, Prints and Photographs Division was a forced to leave. Illustration Roberts. and Nubia of Congress by David Arabia,

For the most part, the society of the southern Levant its own tribal power structures during the late mttaintained Ottoman Empire and had its own ways of dealing with the imperial government. The relationship between the Empire and the local population was one of coercion, cooperation, and often
of conflict. The Ottomans, the superpower of the time, were an

Conclusion?Ethnic Ottoman Empire

Identity and the

painting

Idumea, 1, pts.

Egypt

1.Library 3-4,p D.C Washington,

alien force with little affiliation (cultural, ethnic, or otherwise) to the Arab population. The strategies they used to control the more remote regions of the empire, such as Palestine and Trans Jordan, varied from a policy of ostracizing to one of exploiting the power and influence of local leaders. The two cases selected for this study illustrate these opposing strategies. The society of the Kerak Plateau, including its leaders, remained virtually independent of the Empire until 1893. Akila Agha's tribal affiliations were largely
self-made. There were times when he was easily as powerful as any

of the Majali sheikhs. However, because his power was based on the personal loyalty of his followers, rather than on his ancestry, it did not have deep, traditional roots. With his charismatic personality and his influence with the tribes (including such tribes as the Beni Sakhr), he seemed the ideal person to bridge the gap between the Empire and the local tribes. At the same time, his checkered career shows that this policy was only partially successful. The Ottoman government was well aware that Akila's loyalties were divided. They needed him and used him, but they did not trust him?feelings that were mutual. They hired him not services as an intermediary between because needed his only they them and the local population, but also because they wanted to keep an eye on him. On several occasions the government tried to get rid of him, by imprisoning him far from his homeland or trying to have him beaten in battle. They failed because they had only control over part of his life?and more importantly part of AkilaAgha settled down in Abelin and almost immediately rebelled
to in no position The government, against the Turkish government. beat him, tried to buy him, and made him an army colonel. W.F. Lynch, on his way to the Jordan, visited Akila inAbelin, in 1848. He describes the place as a natural stronghold. It sat on a high hill, rising abruptly an from the plains. It looked like "an inaccessible lion's hold", providing view of the region, even though the village extensive itself consisted of the only of huts and hovels and there was no fortress. Photograph River Kishon Photo from the American (Jerusalem) Colony G. Eric and Edith Matson photographer. Photograph Prints and Photographs Division Library of Congress D.C. 20540 USA. region near Abelin

his supporters. His bonds with the tribes of the region, both east and west of the Jordan, were his refuge as well as the base of his power. It was these contacts that made him so valuable for the
government, and at the same time, so dangerous.

Notes
1 See Peake 2 The main (1958: sources 188-91) for an extensive overview tribe for the history of the Majali of this early history in Kerak that have

Department

been used areAbujaber (1989), Gubser (1973), Peake (1958),Oppenheim (1943), Durley (1910), Musil (1908, part III),Dissard (1905), Tristram
(1874), 3 Also and Burckhardt Oppenheim (1822). Minor 260), who sources dates are mentioned around in the text. 1700; and (1943: this event

Collection, Washington,

NEAR EASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY 69:1 (2006) 35

references 5 According around 6 The

see Canaan

(1936), Oppenheim to Burckhardt itwas a coalition

1770, different

that expelled the Beni Amr sources disagree as to the exact

(1943), Lewis (1987: chap. 7). of the Majali with the Howeitat, 1822: 381). (Burckhardt relationship cousin, or uncle between Khalil

221-225, 286-291
Marx, 1977 A. Arabia Manners Petraea , 3 vols. Wien: of Society. Oriental R. Crane. Alfred Holder. Bedouins. American 6. New and Studies E. The Tribe as a Unit of Subsistence: Nomadic 79/2: Pastoralism 343-63. in

the Middle Musil,

East. American

Anthropologist

of Khalil. Yusuf was either brother, or second of the sources. See Oppenheim (1943: 262, note 2) for an overview ca .1910) 7 Extensive reports by two missionaries (Forder 1909; Durley of the lives of the Christian tribes in the town in the give a lively account and Yusuf. last decade 8 The main before sources the Ottomans for the history took over. of Akila are Lynch (1849), Oppenheim

1907-1908 1928

and Customs

the Rwala Explorations

Geographical York: Charles Oppenheim, 1943 Peake, EG. History E. Local History M. Die Beduinen,

(1943),Macalister (1906).

band

II. Leipzig:

Harrassowitz.

References
Abujaber, 1989 Burckhardt, 1822 Canaan, 1936 T. The Saqr Bedouin 16:21-32. of Bisan. Journal of the Palestine Oriental R. Pioneers J.L. Travels in Syria and the Holy Land. London: Murray. over Jordan. London: Tauris.

1958 Peters, 1977

and tribes of Jordan. Coral Gables: of Two Arab Communities.

University Bulletin

of Miami.

of the British

SocietyforMiddle East Studies4: 7181.

Rogers, M.E. Domestic 1862-1989 Sahlins, 1968 Saulcy, F. de M. Tribesmen. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall. Life in Palestine. London: Kegan Paul.

Society Dissard, 1905 J.

Les migrations Th. Lethaby ofMoab.

et les vicissitudes

de

la tribu des

"Amer. Revue

1854
Service, 1971 E.

Round the Dead Sea and in theBible Lands; in 1850 and 1851.
London: Bentley. Social Edition. An Evolutionary Organization, New York: Random House.

Biblique 2:410-425.
Durley, Ca. 1910 London: Marshall.

Primitive Second A. Nationalism University H.B. Dead

Perspective,

Evans-Pritchard,

E.E.

Shryock, 1997 of a Nilotic People. Oxford: Oxford Press. Tristram,

1940
Faubion, 1993 J.

The Nuer: A Description of the Modes of Livelihoodand Political

Institutions University

and

of California

the Genealogical Press.

Imagination.

Berkeley:

History 1993: 35-54.

in Anthropology.

Annual

Reviews

of Anthropology,

1874 G.A.

on the East Side of the The Land ofMoab: Travels and Discoveries Sea and the Jordan. London: Murray.

Fried, M. 1968 On in the Concepts of "Tribe" and "Tribal Society." Pp. 3-20 of the Proceedings Essays on the Problem of Tribe, ed. J.Helm. of the American 1967 Annual Spring Meeting Ethnological Society. Forder, A. 2002 Ventures among the Arabs inDesert, Tent and Town. Piscataway,

Wallin,

1979

Travels in Arabia (1845 and 1848). Cambridge: The Oleander

Press.

ABOUT
Eveline in eUKerak, London: Oxford archaeologist Jordan. van der Steen with and Change

THE AUTHOR
is aNear Eastern the a special interest

NJ: Gorgias. Gubser, 1973 P Politics University. Irby, C.L, 1868 and Mangles, Travels J. and Nubia, the Dead Murray. Syria, and the Holy Land, including Sea, and through the country east of the

Levant. Her of the Southern archaeology on the interaction PhD focused between Israel/Palestine Late Bronze and and Transjordan Iron Ages. on Her in the special of the in Eveline van der Steen

in Egypt

a journey round Jordan. London: Jaussen, A. 1908 LaBianca, 1997 O. Coutumes

interest tribal

focuses societies

the development and

in the region, of tribal

des Arabes

au pays de Moab.

Paris: Gabalda.

phenomenon various

state formation periods, based using on Late

archaeological models

in and State Formation Hardiness Structures Indigenous Jordan: Towards a history of Jordan's resident Arab population. in Ethnic Encounter and Culture Change, ed. M. Pp. 143-57 Sabour and K. Vik0r. Eastern on Middle Papers from the Third Nordic Studies. London: Hurst. Conference

ethnohistorical

Ottoman
societies Tell

(18th to early 20th centuryAD) parallel developments

She is presently She working on a monograph the excavation in the east Jordan Project. on tribal in the region. a Late is also preparing site report of Valley.

in the region.

Lynch, W.F. 1849 Narrative to the River Jordan and of the US Expedition Sea. Philadelphia: Lea and Blanchard. the Dead

el-Mazar, is also

Iron / Persian of theWadi

Eveline

co-director

Arabah

36

NEAREASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY 69:1 (2006)

^^

1 artl^IaCIS A New Incised

' ':^^^^^^^^K
surprising

W. Porter edited byBenjamin ^^H

since cattle (Bos taurus) were more ^^H

Scapula

from Tel Kinrot

Scapulae with lineshave (shoulderblades) incised been discovered inBronze and IronAge settle
ments and theNear throughout East. Some the eastern Mediterranean researchers argue that these

common at ancient sites (Reese 2002: 184). The bone has been polished and bears seven deep
incisions. have more cattle of the excavated Many scapulae incisions often than nine spread over

^^H ^^H
^^H ^^H

an area of more than 20 cm in length (Webb 1985: 317), almost three times the length of the Kinrot
fragment.The incisions on the Kinrot scapula are

^^H ^^H
^^H

along the medial part of the bone's posterior border,

the area that would have been closest to the animal's

^^H
^^H

scapulae were used for divination; others think they

functioned as percussion instruments. We recently dis

spine and facing his hind quarters. They are parallel

and 2 cm apart; the spacing varies by only 0.07 cm.

^^H
^^H

covered a highly unusual incisedfragment of a scapula from a deer-sized animal in the IronAge layers at Tel
Kinrot, a site some 11 kilometers north of the modern

The incisions gradually increase in width, with the widest on the distal part of the fragment, where the
bone is thickest. The ends of the bone bear two more

^^H ^^H
^^H

city of Tiberias, Israel We interpret this artifact as a bridge for a stringed instrument, possibly a lute.
The incised a simple scapula belonged
The incised

incisions along which it has been broken, by chance or design. ^^H Although discovered during post^excavation
is Locus 5268 the incised scapula's context cleaning, area on the lower part of the in Area K?a domestic

^^H ^^H
^^H ^^H

Kinrot

is quite different from other scapula we hesitate before and offering scapulae, interpretation of the artifacts cm long and role. The probably is 7.9 fragment to a fallow deer
from Tel Kinrot

(Dama mesopotamica),
and its measurements.

scapula

southeastern slope of the hill (for a short description ^^H of the area, see Fritz and M?nger 2002: 12-16). Locus 5268 is dated to the beginning of the first and belongs to themain phase of the millennium BCE IB horizon at Tel Kinrot. During this early IronAge period, Tel Kinrot?identified with ancient Kinneret

^^H ^^H ^^H ^^H ^^H

Bone Thickness

13.5

13

13

12.5

12

11

10.5

Incision Width

3.5

2.5

0.5

NEAR EASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY 69:1 (2006) 37

^^^H I

Tel Kinrot (Tellel-'Oreimeh) from the Mount of Beatitudes (photo: M. Alanne, ? Kinneret Regional Project). attested in Biblical and Egyptian sources?was a mixture worked of other votive a small, roughly including bowl (the only intact vessel found in in the and numerous bone fragments artifacts, votive bowls for example, The are commonly at the Iron Age bone found site of

city that dominated large, fortified and well-planned Fritz first excavated the region. Volkmar the site between and since 2002 the Kinneret 1982-2001 a joint German-Finish-Swiss Regional Project, directed by Stefan M?nger, Juha Pakkala, expedition has explored the site and its and J?rgen Zangenberg, environs and Zangenberg 2004). (Pakkala, M?nger, was fragment scapula a secondary probably deposit in a large floor accumulation The domestic context making The problematic. units, the found in what was that was courtyard part of a between its a

this courtyard), same deposit. Such in cultic contexts,

Tell Qasile north of modern Tel Aviv

117-118, and teeth 1985:38). retrieved twenty-five from this locus came

(Mazar 1980:
fragments from cattle, evidence elements as

sheep, goats, and a young dog. This was not found associated with other nor do they bear any or burning cut-marks communication,

faunal skeletal

of interpretation also contained deposit

such signs of modification, (Bar-Oz and Raban-Gerstel, 2006).

personal

38

NEAR EASTERNARCHAEOLOGY 69:1 (2006)

Incised common

(usually from cattle) scapulae in Bronze and Iron Age societies world, from Polis, sanctuaries and Athienou

were

quite

should

be patterned,

as they are in modern

stringed

the Mediterranean recovered as Kition, specimens Enkomi,

throughout and archaeologists have at such sites in Cyprus

instruments. Third, the lowest tuned string should be on the thickest part of the incised region of a bone serving as a bridge. The latter expectation stems from the fact that the string producing the lowest
tone resonates across the widest trajectory, and

^^^H

and Tel Miqne and Tel Dor in Israel (e.g. Webb 1985; Karageorghis 1990; Gitin and Dothan 1987,
2002 for references 204; Stern 1994; see Reese to other contexts in Their cultic presence sites). that these items had been suggest to some scholars used a divinatory in scapulomancy, practice which refers to natural features of an animal's shoulder

^^^| ^^^| ^^^| ^^^|

^^^|

thus is liable to hit the finger-board when plucked,

producing an unpleasant sound. Running a string

^^^|
^^^|

through the incision on the thickest part of the bridge, and therefore furthest from the finger-board,
is a common way of circumventing this problem. The

^^^| ^^^|
^^^|

blade (Webb 1985: 325-327,

bones

Gitin

and Dothan

favor the view that these incised 1987: 204). Others or rasps, played by served as bone scrapers, dragging a pick along the incised surface to produce a rhythmic sound during 94, Karageorghis as bone scrapers ethnographic religious rituals (Braun 2001: 1990). The use of incised bones is supported by interesting such as the Malinke tribe of

or rasps

parallels,

Guinea (Rault 2000: 38-39) and the Cheyenne North America (Blades 1975: 40-42).
Considering found at Kinrot that

of

the scapula of the fallow deer is not as long as a cow's and would

width of the incisions is not uniform, a fact which may be attributed to differential wear of the bone caused by the strings* resonation amplitude, that is, the tone they produce. Indeed, the widest incision, caused by the lowest-tuned string, is positioned on the thickest part of the scapula fragment. ^^^| The lute's origin lies inMesopotamia with the earliest evidence dating to the late thirdmillennium BCE (Coll?n and Kilmer 1980: 13). The lute first appeared in the Southern Levant during the sixteenth century BCE and became increasingly popular during the Late Bronze Age. Visual representations of lutes
are known only from coarse bas-reliefs and terra-

^^^^ ^^^H ^^^| ^^^^ ^^^H ^^^H ^^^H ^^M ^^^| ^^^H ^^^H
^^^H

not allow enough trajectory for a pick to move along, we wish to suggest an alternative of interpretation a this object as a bridge, or a mobile of nut, stringed a finger-board. The nut and the in the strings bridge place along the endpoints of the strings. The main purpose of the bridge is to instrument with hold amplify the strings sound by transferring to the soundboard. the vibrations Among in the Near from the various

cotta figurines and constructive details are difficult to discern, although there does seem to be considerable variability in the instruments' shape and the number of strings and frets (Coll?n and Kilmer 1980: 17). Figurines showing stringed instruments very similar
to the lute are evident in Bronze Age sites such as

^^^| ^^^| ^^^| ^^^| ^^^|

^^^H

found East during stringed instruments the Bronze and Iron Age periods, the only stringed to have a nut and a finger-board instrument is the were lute. Lutes made almost entirely of wood except for the nut from bone A bone and bridge or ivory. that were often fashioned

the nearby site of Tel Dan (Biran 1986, 2003) and from Beth-Shean and Tel el-Ajjul (Braun 2001: 80-85). Additionly, epigraphic evidence fromUgarit mentions several types of stringed instruments that served in both religious and courtly entertainment, including the *ud, likely a lute (Caubet 1996:13, Braun 2001:85). The lute eventually migrated from the Levant to Egypt, where four well-preserved
two or three strings and all possessing examples, in funerary contexts survived bridges made of wood,

as a nut or a bridge of a piece serving a fingerboard, instrument such as with stringed a lute, would to exhibit several attributes linked its function. should be almost First, the incisions completely would not neck. so that the vibrating parallel, strings touch each other along the instrument's the distances the incisions between Second,

^^H ^^^| ^^^| ^^^| ^^^H ^^^| ^^^H ^^^H

^^^H ^^^H

dating to the sixteenth century BCE (e.g. at Deir el-Medina, Sheikh Abd el-Qurnah) (Eichmann to the reconstruction 2000:36). Compared proposed of the Kinrot lute, these Egyptian examples would have been smaller in size. ^^^H

^^^H ^^^H ^^^H ^^^H

NEAREASTERN 69:1 (2006) 39 ARCHAEOLOGY

While ^^^H
^^^H ^^^| ^^^H ^^^H scapula rasper,

we think it is unlikely
was used lack

that the Kinrot

Karageorghis, 1990

V Miscellanea XXII: 157-159. from Late Bronze Age Cyprus. Levant

we

or as a bone for scapulamancy construction the exact of details

to seal our Levantine lutes needed contemporary we think the use of the scapula case. Nevertheless,

Mazar,

A. Excavations Architecture at Tell Qasile and Cult I. The Philistine Qedem Sanctuary: 12. Jerusalem:

1980

Objects.

^^^H

as a bridge in a lute is the most likely explanation.

1985

Israel Exploration Excavations Various Qedem Pakkala, 2004 J.,M?nger, Kinneret Proceedings 2/2004. Rauit, L. Musical Prehistory Reese, D. S. On the Incised

Society. II. The Philistine Sanctuary: Appendixes. Society.

at Tell Qasile the Pottery,

^^H
^^^| ^^^H ^^^H ^^^H ^^^H

Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank Noa Raban-Gerstel for studying the faunal assemblage in which the incised scapula was found, and Ayelet Gilboa, Daniel Kaufman, Justin Lev-Tov and Benjamin Porter for their thoughtful comments and critique. References
Biran, A.

Finds,

Conclusions,

20. Jerusalem:

Israel Exploration J. Excavations Institute Institute

S., and Zangenberg, Regional Vantaa: Project: of the Finnish The Finnish

at Tel Kinrot. in the Middle in the Middle East East.

2000

Instruments:

and Traditions Craftsmanship to the Present. New York: Abrams.

from

1986 2003
Blades, J.

The

Dancer

from Dan,

Room. The 128.

Israel Exploration from Dan.

the Empty Tomb and 36: 168-187. Journal Near Eastern

the Altar

2002

Cattle and the Near

Scapulae East.

from Bonner

the

East

Mediterranean 66: Stern, E. 1994 Beitr?ge

zoologische

Dancer

50:183-198.

Archaeology

1975
Braun, J.

Percussion and Faber.

Instruments

and

their History.

London:

Faber Webb, J. 1985

A Phoenician-Cypriote Votive from Tel Dor: Scapula Maritime Scene. Israel Exploration Journal 44:1-12.

The

2001

Music

Written

Israel/Palestine: Archaeological, and Comparative Sources. Trans, by D.W. Stott, from German. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.

in Ancient

in Excavations in Pp. 317-328 Scapulae. the Pre-Phoenician Levels, Appendix IV, eds. V Nicosia: and M. Demas. Karageorghis Cyprus Antiquity Incised Kition,

Authority.

Caubet,

A. La musique Pp. 9-31 in Honour W Watson, 12. M?nster: ? Ougarit: in Ugarit, nouveaux t?moignages mat?riels. of

1996

Nimrod University Guy

Marom of Haifa

Religion

and Culture: on Ugarit: L. Gibson,

Proceedings Essays Presented eds. N. Wyatt, Literatur

the International

Colloquium of Professor John C and J. Lloyd. Verlag.

BaivOz of Haifa

Ugaritisch-Biblische

University

Ugarit

Coll?n, 1980

D.,

and Kilmer, A. The Lute in Ancient 4: 13-28. Mesopotamia. The British Museum

University

Stefan M?nger of Berne

Yearbook Eichmann, 2000 R.

and Frets. Strings in Archaeological Eichmann. Rahden: S. ?ber (Teil die

Pp.

35-46

Context, Leidorf.

eds.

in Stringed Instruments E. Hickmann and R.

Fritz, V, 2002

and M?nger, Vorbericht Kinneret

zweite

Phase

el-'Oreme) des Deutschen

in der Ausgrabungen am See Gennesaret, 1994? Pal?stina-Vereins 118:2

1999. Zeitschrift 32. Gitin, S., and Dothan, T

1987

The Rise and Fall of Ekron of the Philistines. Biblical

Archaeologist 50(4): 197-223.

40

69:1 (2006) NEAREASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY

f (^ V1C\V S Towns in Ancient Israel and the Southern Levant.

By C.H.J. De Geus. Palestina Antiqua 10. Leuven: Peeters Publishers, 2003. Pp. vi+186. Paper, $39.00, ISBN 90-429-1269-3.
The
the novice time, desire or a student this is a useful who

editedby JustinLev-Tov
is being exposed feature. data be to the data The author's for the first goal and to

pedagogical

to have

the archaeological

informative

and useful

nonspecialists ishighlighted by these discussions.

There reviewer One are some major weaknesses of this book that make this hesitant to recommend is an it for use uncritical as a course adoption of textbook. the Low

major

weakness

author's goal is to illustrate towns in the Hebrew Bible

using various archaeological features of ancient reader were of Egypt, and data. The book of is an overview towns aim based on of the the components

Chronology. While the adoption of this theory does not necessarily imply that the book is flawed, the author does not provide a
balanced to become and purpose discussion acquainted of or an alternative with the issues. reference For the point for the reader audience and intended

archaeology modern Bible, cities

Israel. The cities,

underlying as represented cities The

is to teach in the Hebrew

the book,

the overly

simplified

acceptance

that biblical than

use of the Low Chronology makes the data in this book difficult
to incorporate with the majority and standardization in the larger

smaller

the modern and Syria. visitors is worthy can

or contemporary intended audience

Mesopotamia, interested purpose

field. The problem for any instructor using this book is knowing
when the author is using the standard chronology or the Low to

is "students The

and

to the region." and is invaluable and enhance as a tool

author's how

demonstrate

archaeology

inform

the field

Chronology. When the author discusses Megiddo he is using the Low Chronology, when he is discussing Beersheba or Jerusalem
he is using best the standard chronology. The author would issue showing serve his readers in his between Another of context their if he introduced or provided and the chronological an appendix in a section a comparison

of biblical studies and history. The book is designed to be used as a supplementary textbook, particularly for biblical studies
courses, to introduce students to the archaeological data as it

introduction

informs a history of ancient Israel.The book iswritten in a style

for nonspecialists. author and introduces theory Throughout the reader to date the book, to issues a wall, when appropriate, method cultic the of archaeological issues record). chapters. that focus titles After an introductory component The on assigning

the standard weakness in the

low chronology. introduction of various scholars out as to on gates ground Herzog Israel. In

is the

text without in the field. "...Z. Herzog neglecting to the

any background For example distinguishes to tell architecture the

information

(e.g. how

significance states town

in the chapter six different reader who

interpretations The chapter, of book there

to the archaeological consists of fourteen

the author plans of

gates;"

are ten chapters city. These

on a specific

is or his

contributions

of ancient

the ancient

chapter

are: Fortifications,

Town Gate or Gates, Acropolis and Citadel (in this chapter the author discusses palaces), Tripartite Pillared Buildings, Houses,
Sanctuaries Buildings, The last and Temples, Various [sic], Tombs, include Presumed and Fields or Specialized and Gardens. An Watersystems three chapters

another chapter he provides a comment by Ussishkin (p. 51), but does not identify Ussishkin as a co-director of theMegiddo and Jezreel excavations until the following chapter (p. 73). The author
states that he is purposefully avoiding the use of footnotes and an

extensive bibliography (p. 6) but he defeats his purpose if he does

not also properly some identify typographical the scholars and he refers errors to in the text. There (e.g. Early Bronze are Age factual

Patterns

of Settlement,

Israelite Town?,
chapters the most data. The dealing useful

and Town Planning

with for individual introducing chapters provide are students superficial. data

and Population.
are adequate to the

The
and

components

archaeological

Gate Building at Tel Dan instead ofMiddle Bronze Age, p. 31). The author should be commended for his synthetic work and
attempt to bridge More the books gap need between archaeologists and other and disciplines. to be written for nonspecialists

last three does not

This

book

as much

as a standard

textbook

(e.g.Mazar's The Archaeology of theLand of theBible, Ben-Tor's edited The Archaeology ofAncient Israel, and T. Levy (ed.) The Archaeology of Society in the Holy Land), or asmuch information as the recently published Life in Biblical Israel (King and Stager). The plus is that De Geus stays true to his framework and
intended audience and avoids theoretical author often discussions uses various and various examples of the data. The

students in other disciplines such as biblical studies and history. While this book is adequate as a popular introduction to the
archaeology poor candidate of the Israelite town, its shortcomings textbook. An make it a for use as a course edition

updated

removing the weaknesses but keeping the style and goals of De

Geus ismuch needed.

interpretations

and comparisons of the ancient data with modern definitions of

terms; and while these discussions seem trite or annoying, for a

Steven M* Ortiz Southwestern Baptist Seminary

NEAR EASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY 69:1 (2006) 41

Near Eastern Archaeology: A Reader.

Edited by Suzanne Richard. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2003. Pp. xviii + 486; maps, tables, illustrations, photographs. Cloth, $45.00. ISBN 1 57506-083-3.
collection This
trade,

Rosen's

excellent

essay

on

"Paleoenvironments

of

the

(10-6) would probably go over the heads of most and Brian beginners, though the article by Paula Wapnish Hesse on "Archaeozoology" (17-26) is quite accessible. Levant"
Due to the natural tendency of authors to use technical

terms without
from book As each lacks

defining them, it would have been helpful to include a glossary, and perhaps highlight in bold the terms
essay an that index. most of the authors are North American, appear in the glossary. Surprisingly, the

subjects
warfare,

of 62 essays covers related to the discipline

chronology, dress, customs, and key language, religion, peoples,

a diverse of Near

range of Eastern

expected,

followed by Israeli scholars and the occasional

is regrettable are represented, heritage. making noted into were at that no since Even each the Jordanian they so, essay beginning parts, the also or Palestinian have

European.
archaeologists on

It
our

Archaeology:

geography,

economy, writing, theory,

agriculture, ceramics, methods periods of from

a perspective are all experts

architecture, survey and

burial excavation,

shared fields, As divided criteria

authors

in their

archaeological

extremely of but them, this

valuable. review, the always since articles clear some are what could

Paleolithic
articles

times. Each entry includes a through Hellenistic bibliography and varies in length from 3 to 17 pages. All the
have been grouped under two headings: "Theory,

two main used

it is not especially

to group

Method
Topics."

and Context"

and "Cultural Phases and Associated in that the emphasis

so that a more

fit into either section. and Theory is

in Part I, while

John Holladay's
Jesse Long's

article on "Method (33-47)

"Theory in on

in Syro-Palestinian

Archaeology"
essay

The
clearly

title is somewhat misleading

on the Southern Levant;

appears

so much

apt

title might have been Archaeology

I understand the editor's argument

of the Southern Levant.

for the choice here

Archaeology: Culture Change at the End of the Early Bronze section Age" (308-18) is in Part II.More and better-defined headings might have avoided
the essays is not always logical.

this problem. The ordering of

It makes more sense to place

(xv), yet there is nothing

or Mesopotamia, ancient prehistoric This inclusion. mentioned Near East. eras) selectivity Following above are which Some incorporate also the

of substance on Egypt, Anatolia,

most articles data would agree are part of the those

Beth Alpert Nakhai's

after Albert Leonard's

essay on "Canaanite Religion"

article on the "Late Bronze

(343-8)
Age"

(particularly from to of the

stressing

the wider articles

Levant. chosen periods aspects of for

extends survey summaries

(349-58) I found
difficult

rather than before it. the topic of chronology

of this volume. For one

to be one of the more

thing, the "Chronology

archaeological on various

aspects

of the Southern
the cultural each but when

Levant"
The

(82-7)
editor

fits better
is to be his or her

in Part II with
commended own opinion it can for

given the Judaism and Christianity. This is understandable and intended audience Still, it Christian). (mainly Jewish
would have been nice to see at least one entry on Islamic

phases. author

allowing (xiv),

to express to beginners

it comes

in archaeology,

archaeology,
so well

especially during the Umayyad

in the region. Also

period which
are articles

is

represented

missing

on public archaeology, ethics, or how archaeology has been exploited for political means. I realize that such a reader
can't include everything, but considering the stated goals

differences of be distressing to find so many unexplained For Bronze does the opinion. Early Age begin in example, or 3300 3000 in BCE? More the dates or 3500, consistency the use of footnotes might have helped in this regard. Many entries suffered from a lack of illustrations. Barry Beitzel's (3-9) and David "Geography of the Levant" Dorsey's "Roads
map.

of this volume
instructive. The editor

(see below),
describes this

such topics would

volume as "a basic

have been

and Highways"
Gary

(131-4)
Rollefson's

didn't
fine

have
on

reference

a single

Fortunately,

essay

work for students, scholars and the general public alike" and
"a perfect companion reference textbook for college classes

"Prehistoric
an acceptable

Chipped-Stone
number of

Technology"
illustrations;

(254-62)

had

otherwise,

it would

in archaeology, history and biblical studies (xiii)." While this book as highly informative, specialists will welcome I suspect that some of the essays will prove less useful for college students and the general public. Arlene Miller

have been impossible

some who previous plans training this to use preparing

to understand
in book lithics.

his discussion without

For this reason, volume of illustrations. anyone should

as a companion collection

consider

a separate

42

69:1 (2006) NEAREASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY

Closer were minor,

copyediting but a few

might could

have cause

caught confusion.

several

errors.

Most

I list a selection

For his comparison, McCormick borrows from that body in studies of the built environment, of theory developed
the interplay of a structure's form and the society that

here: The chronological chart on p. 85 limits the Egyptian Eighteenth Dynasty to LB Iwhen it clearly lasted through LB ILA (The Amarna Age). Page 83, line 25 should read "1525 1450 BCE;" p. 108, line 25 should read "Sedment;" p. 157, line 20 should read "east of the Jordan River;" p. 177, line 2 should read "Cambrian;" p. 369, line 25 should read "Mycenaean IHClb;" p.370, line 20 should read "Beth-shan (Lower Str.
VI)." On p. 383 the reader must switch place names?line

created
his

and used
usage the

it. He
of the

furthermore
term "icon." key to

follows M. Dick
The the term whole indeed study,

in

technical

becomes

hermeneutical

enabling McCormick
evidence. On one hand,

to compare
the author

his divergent
aims

bodies of

at understanding

"the description of Solomon's temple in I Kings 5-8 as a verbal icon created by the Deuteronomistic historian (p.
41)." As such, the text "embodies the historian's own

23 should read "EnGedi" and line 25 "Nahal Hever." Finally, page 385, line 4 should read "2000-1550 BCE"
Overall this is a well-written and informative collection

ideology regarding proper religious practice and relationship between humanity and the deity (p. 41) ."On the other
hand, an McCormick can "icon" understand which Sennacherib's formed "an element palace of as royal architectural

of essays. No doubt
pleased. I will certainly

the specialist who purchases

value it as a handy

it will be
and

reference

agree that it fills a void (ix). But itmay not serve the needs
of the teacher looking for something to accompany such a general as Amihai introduction to Palestinian

rhetoric
some

second chapter discusses (p. 42)." McCormick's in Nineveh the palace of Sennacherib along these lines in
detail, including its architectural layout and reliefs,

archaeology,

of the Land of the Bible (New Mazar, The Archaeology York: Doubleday For this purpose, instructors may 1990).
have to use this volume more selectively.

and offers a brief interpretation of the reasons behind its design. The third chapter seeks to demonstrate how 1 King
5-8 should be understood as an "icon," representing the

religious Robert Azusa A. Mullins Pacific University

the actual

ideology of its author and not as a description

Solomonic historical structure. contexts presentation understand how these Chapter four analyzes palace temple functioned of Sennacherib's of Solomon's two "icons"

of
the and in

respective

the Deuteronomistic order to better

ideologically

in their time. Finally, in chapter 5, the author

summary of how his theoretical applications

Palace and Temple. A Study of Architectural and Verbal Icons.

By Clifford Mark McCormick. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2002. Pp. Viii + 221. Cloth, $82.00, ISBN 3-11-017277-1.
book,
done McCormick's University chapter, one the under of North McCormick building, presentation the Carolina,

presents

a short

and arguments have shed light on Neo-Assyrian politics and the theological debates contained in 1Kings. Some criticisms may be leveled at this work. To begin
with, mentioned the author buildings, only even discusses though the two previously case for the a stronger

based

on his Ph.D.
of John Van five chapters.

dissertation
Seters at the In the first of with Near

of his theoretical borrowings might have appropriateness been made ifmore buildings had been considered. Since is evidence for the Temple of Solomon archaeological
lacking, the the study of chose in abundance naturally this text focuses to the on 1 Kings 5-8. Despite he text to centrality author's the any riddles arguments, that as the to how

supervision contains

lays the foundations namely the palace

for the comparison of Senacherib, ancient

nevertheless presents

to emphasize without

ancient textual

suggestions

of another

prominent account

solve them. Regarding

author Noth, makes W?rthwein, extensive

the literature for the biblical text, the

use of the famous commentaries However, by and Montgomery.

Eastern

building,

the Deuteronomistic

of Solomon's

temple in Jerusalem. The most detailed

concerning from Layard's the architecture nineteenth century

information available
Palace of the comes complex,

McCarter,

of Sennacherib's excavations

it is regrettable that McCormick relied so heavily on these without analyzing the verses himself. This implies that his
study The is not a state-of-the-art analysis report. of Senacherib's palace seems to be of author's

in addition to the royal annals. On the other hand, the primary

source for information pertaining to the architecture

Solomon's Temple is found in the Biblical text of 1Kings 5-8.

his primary attempt to apply built environment

theory to his

NEAREASTERN 69:1 (2006) 43 ARCHAEOLOGY

Closer were minor,

copyediting but a few

might could

have cause

caught confusion.

several

errors.

Most

I list a selection

For his comparison, McCormick borrows from that body in studies of the built environment, of theory developed
the interplay of a structure's form and the society that

here: The chronological chart on p. 85 limits the Egyptian Eighteenth Dynasty to LB Iwhen it clearly lasted through LB ILA (The Amarna Age). Page 83, line 25 should read "1525 1450 BCE;" p. 108, line 25 should read "Sedment;" p. 157, line 20 should read "east of the Jordan River;" p. 177, line 2 should read "Cambrian;" p. 369, line 25 should read "Mycenaean IHClb;" p.370, line 20 should read "Beth-shan (Lower Str.
VI)." On p. 383 the reader must switch place names?line

created
his

and used
usage the

it. He
of the

furthermore
term "icon." key to

follows M. Dick
The the term whole indeed study,

in

technical

becomes

hermeneutical

enabling McCormick
evidence. On one hand,

to compare
the author

his divergent
aims

bodies of

at understanding

"the description of Solomon's temple in I Kings 5-8 as a verbal icon created by the Deuteronomistic historian (p.
41)." As such, the text "embodies the historian's own

23 should read "EnGedi" and line 25 "Nahal Hever." Finally, page 385, line 4 should read "2000-1550 BCE"
Overall this is a well-written and informative collection

ideology regarding proper religious practice and relationship between humanity and the deity (p. 41) ."On the other
hand, an McCormick can "icon" understand which Sennacherib's formed "an element palace of as royal architectural

of essays. No doubt
pleased. I will certainly

the specialist who purchases

value it as a handy

it will be
and

reference

agree that it fills a void (ix). But itmay not serve the needs
of the teacher looking for something to accompany such a general as Amihai introduction to Palestinian

rhetoric
some

second chapter discusses (p. 42)." McCormick's in Nineveh the palace of Sennacherib along these lines in
detail, including its architectural layout and reliefs,

archaeology,

of the Land of the Bible (New Mazar, The Archaeology York: Doubleday For this purpose, instructors may 1990).
have to use this volume more selectively.

and offers a brief interpretation of the reasons behind its design. The third chapter seeks to demonstrate how 1 King
5-8 should be understood as an "icon," representing the

religious Robert Azusa A. Mullins Pacific University

the actual

ideology of its author and not as a description

Solomonic historical structure. contexts presentation understand how these Chapter four analyzes palace temple functioned of Sennacherib's of Solomon's two "icons"

of
the and in

respective

the Deuteronomistic order to better

ideologically

in their time. Finally, in chapter 5, the author

summary of how his theoretical applications

Palace and Temple. A Study of Architectural and Verbal Icons.

By Clifford Mark McCormick. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2002. Pp. Viii + 221. Cloth, $82.00, ISBN 3-11-017277-1.
book,
done McCormick's University chapter, one the under of North McCormick building, presentation the Carolina,

presents

a short

and arguments have shed light on Neo-Assyrian politics and the theological debates contained in 1Kings. Some criticisms may be leveled at this work. To begin
with, mentioned the author buildings, only even discusses though the two previously case for the a stronger

based

on his Ph.D.
of John Van five chapters.

dissertation
Seters at the In the first of with Near

of his theoretical borrowings might have appropriateness been made ifmore buildings had been considered. Since is evidence for the Temple of Solomon archaeological
lacking, the the study of chose in abundance naturally this text focuses to the on 1 Kings 5-8. Despite he text to centrality author's the any riddles arguments, that as the to how

supervision contains

lays the foundations namely the palace

for the comparison of Senacherib, ancient

nevertheless presents

to emphasize without

ancient textual

suggestions

of another

prominent account

solve them. Regarding

author Noth, makes W?rthwein, extensive

the literature for the biblical text, the

use of the famous commentaries However, by and Montgomery.

Eastern

building,

the Deuteronomistic

of Solomon's

temple in Jerusalem. The most detailed

concerning from Layard's the architecture nineteenth century

information available
Palace of the comes complex,

McCarter,

of Sennacherib's excavations

it is regrettable that McCormick relied so heavily on these without analyzing the verses himself. This implies that his
study The is not a state-of-the-art analysis report. of Senacherib's palace seems to be of author's

in addition to the royal annals. On the other hand, the primary

source for information pertaining to the architecture

Solomon's Temple is found in the Biblical text of 1Kings 5-8.

his primary attempt to apply built environment

theory to his

NEAREASTERN 69:1 (2006) 43 ARCHAEOLOGY

I case studies. To build a case for the relevancy of that body of theory, McCormick critiques art historical approaches to
the he palace, argues, in particular focus messages on the about those building's royal of Winter reliefs ideology, and and using Russell. These, as One to aid a

to Launch ASOR Two New Initiatives

hundred junior that years scholars of research have been coupled with brought to maintain mission ASOR's highlights new perspectives. at the same time as welcoming a program in one together its

inscriptions the metaphor

ordered

of understanding
that these studies

the building as a text. McCormick

"do not address the obvious fact

believes
that

campaign

traditions

palace is not a text (p. 23)," that they appear to go beyond the
text metaphor Whether later or not appears and this equate is the the case structure with an but that of the actual the his text. author "built of is debatable, stating the study

Endowment In order to apply for funding from the National is planning to begin an assessment for the Humanities, ASOR its and digitalizing of the costs for preserving, restoring, in in the ASOR Office, Institute housed the Albright the support Semitic Museum. With and the Harvard Jerusalem, we will be in a position to make of the NEH, these valuable but the initial assessment for records available for researchers archives, this project These will have to be paid offer for from ASOR funds.

to accept analysis

such

studies,

environment

incorporates

effect

spatial layout and the decorative elements on human behavior in order to understand more fully how the palace functioned as a building (p. 67)." McCormick limits his analysis to two areas of the palace, Courtyard VI and the Lachish Room. There he utilizes his theoretical
in the they they visitors building gained the had passed to follow, by, etc.,

documents

approach
access

to focus on how people

rooms, decorative means the paths and elements of having king

early days of Biblical from letters such archaeological sites and of their excavators, of the Dead With at most Sea Scrolls. I past, have

an unprecedented into the insight and include Archaeology unpublished luminaries as P?trie,

to various

Albright, Glueck andWright, field notes and photographs of

and documents on the discovery

I
i

architecture

as precisely message

engineered about

receive

a particular

the Assyrian

an eye on our ahead. assets

and his might. One difficulty in following his arguments is that the book reproduces neither illustrations of the wall reliefs
nor Layard's plans the of the palace. of Thus the the reader, in order must or to significance picture the arrangement, describes,

the years valuable

Junior

the organization who scholars for some time

is also are been some

looking of our

j j j j ] \ I

interested

comprehend either mentally

spatial

a workshop on research, in establishing and other writing ASOR has always skills at the Annual Meeting. important an open and hospitable forum for new professionals offered to present their research. Now is the time for us to insure relevance and the continuing our newest members by helping with this career-building of the organization viability to become lifetime members

rooms

McCormick

else have on hand the original plans contained

excavation In the volume. end, the book's most interesting

in Layard's

program.

contribution,

if not all that groundbreaking,

understood as an icon; on the

is that 1 Kings 5-8 may be

surface it presents itself as a

kind of architectural description or report of construction, but beneath this lies a world of social ideas and royal propaganda embedded within the text and the building's architecture.
McCormick's understanding of programmed messages within

a part of ASOR's and future by con past, present, to this important archival effort. Support the ASOR The and Junior Scholars' annual meeting workshop. project is a guide to the giving levels for this campaign: following Become tributing

j \

Friends: $1 to $99.99 Leaders: $100 - $499.99 Student leaders: $50 - $ 100 Sustainers: $500.00 - $999.99 Founders: $ 1,000.00 and higher
Please make Research, Workshop" of Oriental checks out to The American Schools of Oriental ; i i ; \ \ I i | j

the spatial layout of Senacherib's palace, while hard to follow,

is also an interesting and worthwhile contribution.

Prof. Dr. Volkmar Bad Schwartau,

Fritz

Germany

or "Junior Scholars' "Archival indicating Project" in the memo Schools line, and mail to The American at Boston University, 656 Beacon St., 5th Research,

to donate It is also possible online MA 02215. with a Visa or Mastercard. (https://www.bu.edu/asor/gift.html) that your gift should be Please mark under donation designation to the Archival directed Project or Junior Scholars' Workshop, Floor, Boston, You will that this tax-deductible confirming will be acknowledged and all contributors donation by name in a future issue o? Near Eastern Archaeology. ; receive a letter

* J

;<>:>, ;c-v

;<*;>

Capturing

a Beautiful

Woman

at Masada

by Joseph Zias and Azriel Gorski

Masada represents for all of us in Israel and for many elsewhere, archaeologists to our great national figures, and laymen, a symbol of courage, a monument Masada. heroes who chose death over a life of physical and mortal serfdom -YigaeiYadin,
Of the many important archaeological sites in Israel, the the Palace-fortress of Masada, built by King Herod most in the first century BCE, looms largest and perhaps of the country. The site important in the consciousness draws hundreds of thousands of visitors and tourists to see the remnants of the last battle in the famous War of the Jews ended with the tragic Jewish historian the end of the siege, Josephus Describing Jewish rebels chose suicide over the miseries man dispatched his family and was in turn comrade-in-arms (Josephus 1885: 7.8.6-7). a poignant find of text, Yadin interpreted wrote that the of slavery; each slain by a fellow Based on this a man, woman,

(66-73 CE), which against the Romans mass suicide reported by the first century that the renowned

Flavius Josephus (Josephus1959). Itwas not until 1963-1965

Yigael Yadin been written about Yadin's interpretation of the site (Magness 1995; Zias 2000) as well as the accuracy of 1992; Ben-Yahuda Josephus reporting of events (Cohen 1982). Josephus reported that 960 Jews committed suicide; the skeletal remains of 25 a cave found buried in outside the southern wall1 and 3 found in the northern palace were reported by the excavators. Since Yadin and others had believed these were the human remains of the heroic state funeral last defenders in 1968 with of Masada, they were accorded a full military honors and reburied is re-appraised, however, an the evidence is emerging. Israeli archaeologist, the late Professor excavated the site. Since the 1990s much has

and child2 lying unburied in the bathhouse of the Northern as palace (where Josephus claimed the suicides occurred) those of the the Jewish commander of Masada, possibly Elazar ben Ya'ir, and his family (Yadin 1966: 54). Three decades later, closer perusal of the field diaries of Yadin and his staff by the present authors revealed some serious flaws in this explanation. Surprisingly, Yadin and his team had not found any skeletal evidence of a woman, only a complete head of hair, including braids, remarkably preserved aridity of the Dead Sea.3 This hair was subsequently to the Forensic Science Division of the Israel National
for analysis.

by the taken Police

near the site. As entirely different

the picture

The forensic analysis revealed the braided plaits of the hair had been severed by a sharp instrument. Further, the length of the hair and curvature formed by the proximal ends of the plaits indicates that they were severed close to the scalp. The cut ends of some tresses exhibited a step-like pattern. The random pattern of the cut locks and the "steps" are consistent of the head in relation to the cutting with erratic movement instrument. In other words, the head was probably in motion while the hair was being sheared. What could account for the presence
from

in the Northern

Palace of an entire head of hair shorn

a woman?

can be found in ancient texts One possible explanation relating to permissible and required conduct during warfare under Jewish law. Deuteronomy (21:10-14) explicitly states that foreign women taken captive during battle by Israelites must
No

shave

their heads,

pare their nails,

was found with

change
the

their garb,
head

skeletal

evidence

of a woman

complete

of hair,

shown above. The hair was including braids, the of the Dead Sea and, when by aridity preserved found with the skeletal remains of two males, Yadin

remarkably itwas originally

the interpreted to the Jewish find as belonging of Masada commander with his wife an altogether and son. The authors different present interpretation. of the Israel (Photo courtesy Antiquities Authority.)

NEAR EASTERN

ARCHAEOLOGY

69:1

(2006)4

~~U

~~~ N.

~~~~r

yr w~miIU-

L MA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~i

js wI-io r ""wis-ss UI~~ili ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~i --w

.4

(and by the Jews at Masada to be in perhaps elsewhere) effect. It should be noted that the Deuteronomic law (XXI) applied specifically to captive women from distant cities and
not local Cannanite to the women, latter was as marriage

to discouraged according law (Christensen 2002) Jewish If local women were taken they along with and children were simply regarded as spoils of war and subject to the laws of
slavery.

in battle, the males

In the original version from Deuteronomy, the woman to is mandated shave her head, whereas in the later Temple Scroll (as well in the Septuagint) to is ordered her captor carry out these duties. The
The Palace-fortress visited of the of Masada, sites famous in the first century BC, by King Herod to the first century in Israel. Here, according Jewish built War of the Jews and women is one of the most Flavius popular and the suicide This

Biblical
commandment,

Deuteronomic
which

frequently last battle of over photo

historian

nine shows

hundred

men,

the Romans (66-73 CE) ended with the against children who chose death over the prospect of Roman Palace. (Photo courtesy of Todd

Josephus, tragic mass slavery.

eventually became Halachic this whole law, viewed

procedure as a concession

the entrance

to the Northern

Bolen/BiblePlaces.com.)

to male moral and mourn the Temple

When them into

for 30 days. Echoing Scroll, says:

you our go forth to war and you

this biblical

commandment,

assuming that the soldier might be overpowered

therefore have sexual relations with the

by by passion and
woman

weakness

non-Israelite

against take and

your them you then

enemies, and desire shall

and see

I give among and to

hands

captive have you

the captives would take

a beautiful her

woman,

for her bring her

for yourself

as wife,

your house, and you shall shave her head [Italics added] and pare
her nails. And in your after you house that shall put off her her captives father garb, and she shall a full remain month: and bewail go and her mother (and) be her

you may

in to her,

husband,

taken captive during the conflict. This moral and legalistic perspective later assumed the opposite by presuming the soldiers were pure and that he intentions under battle conditions intended tomarry her from the beginning, consequently this new procedure is now intended to purify the wife before marriage, (Weinfeld 1993) if it should occur. However, according to Tigay (1996), the Rabbis discouraged marriage to foreign women, particularly when it was motivated by lust. Therefore, shaving the head, paring the nails, changing the garb and waiting 30 days would not only reduce the lust, but hopefully would discourage
such a union.

and she shall be your wife.

col. 163:10-15. Vol.2 Israel

(Yadin, Y. 1983. The Temple Scroll,

Exploration Society, Jerusalem.)

Most scholars believe the Temple Scroll was composed by the Essenes between 150 and 180 BCE (Wise 1997), well before the passage. siege of Masada and centuries after the Deuteronomy Documents belonging to the Essenes were discovered at Masada, indicating a link between the Essenes who wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls and the refugees at Masada. Therefore it appears likely that the Biblical commandments governing foreign women taken were still considered captive first recorded in Deuternomomy

Although the anthropological evidence found in the Northern Palace is critical to the historicity of Josephus' story, interpreting past events on the basis of fragmentary and somewhat contradictory literary evidence is always problematic. One can say little, about the human skeletal remains found in the bathhouse, since they lay unburied, fragmentary, and scattered for nearly 2,000 years, except that no skeletal remains of the woman were found, only her hair, a fact totally ignored by Yadin.

EASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY (2006) ^^H 46 NEAR ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^M

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the bathhouse, the area would be of a captive woman?into considered a cemetery according to Jewish law. Since cemeteries must lie outside of the confines of the city, the Northern Palace, separated from the other buildings on Masada by walls, would become uninhabitable for the Jewish rebels, who were known for their religious fanaticism. Josephus, no great fan of the zealots4, in fact severely castigated their behavior regarding those fallen in battle, citing the ancient law, "let our enemies that fall in battle be also buried, nor let any one dead body lie above the 1885: 4.202-260)." The zealots apparently ground...(Josephus as accuses of proceeding "with this them law; ignored Josephus that degree of impiety, as to cast away their dead bodies without burial (Josephus 1885: 4.317)." Such appears to be the case in the Northern Palace atMasada. While we have a possible explanation for the skeletal remains of the two men found in the Northern Palace, we must account for the shorn hair of the woman. Shaving the heads of foreign women captured during conflict was a specifically Jewish practice and would not have been done by Roman soldiers in the recapture of the fortress in 73 CE. Therefore, the Biblical in woman" scenario of the historical appears, light "captive
evidence, This Model how of the Masada Palace Fortress Roman gives Times. an indication The Northern of Tod Bolen/ of to be the most persuasive .

the buildings is depicted Palace Bibleplaces.com.)

during appeared in the foreground.

(Photo

courtesy

according to Josephus, the Jews destroyed their suicide lest they personal possessions prior to the collective fall into the hands of the Roman forces but there are few if any direct archaeological finds from the excavations to support this. Yadin believed that scale armor and arrows which he found Moreover, spread about the bathhouse and the rest of the palace (although he implied they were found only in the vicininty of the bodies) indicated that the two male skeletons were those of Jewish defenders. A specialist in Roman military equipment who later analyzed the armor concluded that it was simply a collection of spare scales with no visible signs of usage. (Stiebel 2005). In fact, the archaeological evidence indicates that the Jewish rebels did not reinhabit the Northern Palace after they captured Masada in 66 CEfrom the Roman forces garrisoned there. This is unusual and demands explanation since the palace (one of two is the most desirable living built by King Herod atop Masada) quarters atop the summit. Why would the rebels, following their conquest, neglect this spectacular palace in the intervening years? One possibility is that the human remains found in the palace bathhouse were not those of Jewish rebels, as Yadin had believed, but Roman military personnel garrisoned at Masada until its overthrow by Jewish rebels. If the conquering Jewish rebels killed two Roman soldiers and then threw their remains and weapons?along with the hair

to the inevitable of a woman question garrisoned to its Masada capture by the Zealots, a cache of atop prior documents found preserved in a Roman period fort in northern Britain reveal that higher-level Roman officers and soldiers often brought women with them during military campaigns Therefore the shorn woman may (Bowman 1994: 51-65). have been married or at least related to one of the two males Palace bathhouse. Her killed and thrown into the Northern was married, since braided hair however that she suggests a woman in the Greco-Roman world changed her hairstyle to any man but after marriage to symbolize her unavailability she her husband Whoever was, she was (Cosgrove 2005). As probably connected with the opposing, foreign Roman forces (War 2:408) by the zealots in 66 CE and most slaughtered a not wife as Yadin had led one commanders Jewish certainly to believe. Thus the dramatic image of a Jewish rebel family committing suicide in the ruins of the northern palace, just as Josephus had described it, which had become a central element in the modern legend of Masada's archaeological rediscovery (Silberman 1993) has now come into further question.

Notes
unpublished of North University indicated and Goren" cave author however 1. The anthropological Carolina, Charlotte, report found by Professor in the files of Professor J. Tabor, N. Haas that pig bones, Jerusalem the later confirmed "Rabin by Yadin, (Benny Morris, 16, 1982) were found in the burial led to an erroneous conclusion by the present here were from the Byzantine indeed from indicated they were period, the 1st

Post, November This

locus 2001-2002) that

remains C-14

found tests

subsequent

NEAR

EASTERN

ARCHAEOLOGY

69:1

(2006

) 4

U~~~~~~~~~~~~klq'k U~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~OFSP

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,Pl

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chris 2002 Cohen, 1982 tensen, D.L. Biblical Vol. 6B T. Nashville: Nelson.

it reads "northern" century CE. (Zias, et al. 1994, the title has a misprint, cave but should and arguments, be "southern). Further evidence caves were ethnically in the southern whether the burials questioning (Zias 2000). Jewish were subsequently published 2. There is a certain amount of confusion here over material describes in the Northern one man Palace. N. Haas, the age of the skeletal

Word S.J.D.

Masada: Credibility

Literary

Tradition,

Archaeological

Remains

and

the

as 40 years

of age and

the other

in an unpublished report 22 (with one being

of Josephus.

Journal

of Jewish Studies

33, 385-405.

Cosgrove, 2005

C.H. A woman's special unbound hair in the Greco-Roman world, with in Luke

cranial photos of by his lower limb and feet only). However represented one of the skeletons author showed that dental obtained by the present In Yadin's age of one of the two men was 16-18 years at time of death. to Haas the remains of 1965, he writes that according publication are those of a young woman of 18, a man of 22, and a child of 11. It's clear scientific that confusion Nagar 3. The now reigns regarding indicates the age of the Authority that it was individuals. Thanks to Y. for providing me these photos. from a woman. The color its original shade can not

reference

to the story of the "Sinful Woman'

7:36-50. SBJJournalof BiblicalLiterature 124: 675-692.

Josephus, 1959 Flavius The Jewish War. New Magness, 1992 Silberman, J. Arms N.A. A Prophet from amongst You G.D. 'Dust to dust, ashes to ashes'?Military equipment from destruction . Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley. and the Man. Biblical Archaeology Review 18/4, 58-67. (Penguin Classics.) Books. Trans, by G. A. Williamson.

of the Israel Antiquities length of the hair dark, but

York: Penguin

is

quite

since hair darkens

as it ages

be determined. and public mind, literature 4. In the popular as the zealots, site are referred to collectively them as the Sacarii, fanatical one of the many The sects of the more suggests therefore to several those whereas at the last defenders Josephus time and perhaps evidence, of the refers to

1993 Stiebel 2005

one

groupings.

archaeological

however,

that other

the Essenes, were present, groups of refugees, including inclusive and correct as it refers the term zealot is perhaps more at the site from 66-73/4 CE. groupings religious/political Tigay, J.H. 1996

der Schlachtfelder?Militar?a layers in Palestine. Arch?ologie aus Zerst?rungshorizonten, der 14. ROMEC Tagungsakten Konferenz Wien 2003, Carnuntum Jahrbuch 99-108.

References
Ben-Yehuda, 1995 Bowman, 1994 N. The Masada A. K. Life and Letters on the Roman Frontier: Press. Vindolanda and It's Myth. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.

"Conversion

and Marriage

in Deuteronomy" Society.

Pp.479-80

in JPS

Torah Commentary.

Jewish Publication

Philadelphia.

Weinfeld, M. (ed)
1993 Wise, 1997 M. The Temple Scroll. Pp. 163-4 in The Oxford Encyclopedia Deuteronomy inWorld of the Bible. Tel Aviv :

People. London:

British Museum

of Archaeology Oxford: Yadin, Y Oxford

in the Near University.

East, Volume

5, ed. E. M Meyers.

0~~~~~

1965

The

Excavation

of Masada

1963/64 Society. House.

(Preliminary

Report).

Jerusalem: 1966 Zias, 1994 Masada.

Israel Exploration York: Random I. Skeletal Second Remains Look, A.

New

J.E, Segal, D., Carmi, The Human A

from

the Northern IV, ed.

Cave

at G.

Masada-

in Masada Pp. 366-7

J. Aviram,

-I
Zias, 2000 J.E.

Foerster, Exploration

E. Netzer, Society.

Paris.

Jerusalem:

Israel

Human and of

Skeletal

Remains

from

the Southern Pp. 732-739 Sea

cave

at Masada

I~I

the Question the 50th

of Ethnicity. of

in Proceedings Scrolls, ed. L.H.

Anniversary E. Tov, and Society.

the Dead

Schiffman,

J. Vanderkam.

732-739

Jerusalem:

Israel Exploration

in4

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