The Smithsonian Institution Excavation at Tell Jemmeh, Israel, 1970–1990

The Smithsonian Institution Excavation at Tell Jemmeh, Israel, 1970–1990

David Ben-Shlomo, Gus W. Van Beek (Volume editor), 1087 p., 22,5cm X 28,5cm, Smithsonian Contributions to Anthropology ISSN: 0081-0223 (print); 1943-6661 (The Smithsonian Institution, Washington 2014)

 

This monograph describes the results of the archaeological excavation at the site of Tell Jemmeh, Israel, undertaken by the Smithsonian Institution and directed by Gus W. Van Beek during the years 1970–1990. All the artifacts from the excavations were shipped from Israel to Washington, D.C., and have been restored, studied, and analyzed in the National Museum of Natural History for the past four decades. The site is a strategic and large mound located near Gaza and the Mediterranean coast. It was inhabited continuously for at least 1,400 years during the Middle and Late Bronze Age, the Iron Age, and the Persian period. The highlights of this excavation are the findings of a large and affluent courtyard house from the Late Bronze Age, a sophisticated well-preserved pottery kiln from the early Iron Age, a complex of Assyrian-related administrative buildings during the late Iron Age, and a complete granary of the Persian period. This is a detailed and final report on all of the excavation results, including the architectural remains, stratigraphy, pottery, and other finds. In addition, several more detailed and focused studies of certain aspects of the site’s material include (among others) chapters on imported, decorated, Philistine, Assyrian-style and Greek pottery and chapters on figurines, sealings, jewelry, amulets, scarabs, cylinder seals, flint, coins, ostraca, and fauna. The volume is richly illustrated with nearly 1,000 figures showing field photographs, plans, sections, and drawings and photographs of artifacts. The significance of the results is summarized and discussed in the final chapter.

Table of contents

List of Figures --ix
List of Tables --xxvii
Preface and Acknowledgments --xxiv
Introduction and Background.
1. Introduction / David Ben-Shlomo and Gus W.Van Beek --1
2. Environmental background of Tell Jemmeh / Gus W. Van Beek --16
The Architecture, Stratigraphy and Finds from the Different Excavation
Fields.
3. Field III: The Southeastern Step Trench / David Ben-Shlomo -- 21
4. Field II: The Northwestern Stepped Trench / David Ben-Shlomo --162
5. The South Trench (ST1) / David Ben-Shlomo --198
6. Field I: The Late Bronze Age /David Ben-Shlomo --209
7. Field I Furnace (the Kiln), Square KB, and FUR 2-FUR 3 / David Ben-Shlomo --337
8. Results from Field IV: The Iron II and Later Periods / David Ben-Shlomo --403
9. Bread Ovens and Related Installations /Alexander Zukerman --642

Pottery Studies
10. Decorated Canaanite pottery / Gwanghyun Choi -- 651
11. Imported Cypriot and Mycenaean wares and derivative wares / Celia J. Bergoffen –657
 12. Decorated Philistine pottery / David Ben-Shlomo --721
13. Assyrian-Style Pottery (Palace Ware) / David Ben-Shlomo --732
14. "East-Greek" and Greek imported pottery of the first millennium BCE / S. Rebecca Martin --749
15. Petrographic Analysis of Pottery: Chalcolithic to Persian period /David Ben-Shlomo --776
16. Computerized Documentation and Analysis of Pottery Vessels / Avshalom Karasik --795

Small Finds Studies.
17. Ceramic Figurines and Figurative Terra-cottas /David Ben-Shlomo, Ron Gardiner, and Gus Van Beek--804
18. Worked Sherds /David Ben-Shlomo and Ron Gardiner --828
19. Ceramic Objects: Marked Pottery,Mud Objects, and Various Ceramic Artifacts / David Ben-Shlomo --838
20. Clay Sealings and Seal Impressions / David Ben-Shlomo and Othmar Keel --857
21. Non-jewelry Metal Objects / David Ben-Shlomo and Ron Gardiner --876
22. Metallic and Nonmetallic Jewelry Objects / Amir Golani --889
23. Stone Artifacts Assemblage from Tel Jemmeh / Yorke M. Rowan –917
24. Egyptian Amulets from Tell Jemmeh / Christian Herrmann -- 970
25. Various Finds: Faience, Glass, Bone, Ivory, and Pumice / David Ben-Shlomo --977
26. Chipped Stone Assemblage from Tell Jemmeh / Steven A. Rosen and Jalob Vardi --987
27. Scarabs and Stamp Seals / Othmar Keel --1004
 28. Cylinder Seals: A Clay Cylinder with Cuneiform Signs / Wayne Horowitz and Tallay Ornan --1017
29. Cylinder Seals: A Mitannian Cylinder Seal with a Worshipper and Divine Images / Tallay Ornan -- 1020
30. Coins: Coins from the 1970-1990 Excavation Seasons at Tell Jemmeh / Donald T. Ariel --1023
31. Coins: The Crusader Purse from Tell Jemmeh / Robert Kool --1026
32. Ostraca from Tell Jemmeh / Haggai Misgav --1031

Subsistence Studies
33. Temporal Trends in Animal Exploitation: Faunal Analysis from Tell Jemmeh / Edward F. Maher --1038
34. Synthesis and Conclusions. The Significance of Tell Jemmeh / David Ben-Shlomo --1054

References --1067