Archaeology, Epigraphy, Philology

Abstract

Archaeology, Epigraphy, Philology William J. Urbrock, Christopher T. Begg, John R. Spencer, and Victor H. Matthews William J. Urbrock University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Christopher T. Begg Catholic University of America John R. Spencer John Carroll University Victor H. Matthews Missouri State University 1903. [Arad Altars] Anonymous, "High Offerings," BARev 46 (5, 2020) 16. A recent residue analysis of two incense altars found at the site of the 8th-cent. b.c.e. temple at Arad has revealed traces of frankincense mixed with animal fat on the larger altar [End Page 709] and cannabis and animal dung on the smaller. This is the first discovery of frankincense in an archaeological context in ancient Israel or Judah and an unexpected find of cannabis, which is not mentioned in the Bible. Photo-illustrated. See also #1907.—W.J.U. Google Scholar 1904. [Oil Lamps, Pit Burial Caves; Hasmonean Period Judean Ethnic Identity] Omri Y. Abadi and Eyal Regev, "Folded wheel-made oil lamps, standing pit burial caves and Judean ethnic identity in the Hasmonean period," PEQ 152 (3, 2020) 248-72. Two distinct archaeological phenomena emerged between the middle of the 2nd cent. b.c.e. and the middle of the first cent. b.c.e.: the Hasmonean folded wheel-made lamp and the standing pit burial cave. Following an examination of the dating, distribution, and social significance of these phenomena, we suggest that these items of material culture were characteristic of Judean Jews during the above period and reflect the process of ethnic identity formation. The fact that the Hasmonean wheel-made lamp and the standing pit burial cave were typical of Jews in Judea in this time indicates that these phenomena constituted ethnic features of Jewish society. In their use of these items, Jews emphasized their dissimilarity from the rest of the population. The archaic appearance of the lamps and the burial caves, which replicate the cultural characteristics of the Kingdom of Judah during the monarchic/First Temple period, indicates that Jewish society in the Hasmonean period sought to legitimize its existence through the use of earlier culture and the memory of this. [Adapted from published abstract—C.T.B.] Google Scholar 1905. [Kāmid el-Lōz] Jihad Al-Daire, "Kāmid el-Lōz: Typology of Iron Age Cooking Pots in the Perspective of R. Hachmann's Excavations 1963–1981," ZDPV 136 (1, 2020) 21-49. This study focuses on the cooking pots that have been found in the Iron Age levels at the site of its title. In particular, the study explores the typology of these cooking pots and seeks to shed light on the development of the cooking pot tradition in the eight Iron Age levels at the site. In addition, I review the dating of the Building Periods at the site suggested by the site's excavator, R. Hachmann. In so doing, I adduce archaeological parallels from various sites in the southern Levant which highlight the technological and morphological similarities of cooking pots throughout the southern Levant during the Iron Age. Finally, I argue that the cooking pots from the above site should be dated to the Iron Age I and II periods. [Adapted from published abstract—C.T.B.] Google Scholar 1906. [Digital Methods for the Study of Flat Archaeological Sites] Mark Altaweel, "The importance of flat archaeological sites in the Age of Empires and new digital methods for their identification and analysis," The Reach of the Assyrian and Babylonian Empires, 7-23 [see #2534]. In the Age of Empires of the first millennium b.c.e. when large, major urban centers dominated the plains of Mesopotamia and the coastal regions of the Mediterranean, the rural landscape began to transform as well, with settlements often located away from traditional, mounded sites. Finding these sites can be challenging, but it is not impossible. However, the mountainous regions in Iraq and its neighboring areas present special methodological challenges in this regard. Many of the sites occupied in the above period were flat and low, making them less visible in surveys and even in satellite-based remote sensing data. Machine-learning techniques and the use of point pattern...