Antiquities Authority Research Articles

Bethsaida: A City by the North Shore of the Sea of Galilee, Volume 4, by Rami Arav, edited by Richard A. Freund. Kirksville, MO: Truman State University Press, 2009. xxiv + 338 pp., 179 figures, 21 tables, 1 graph, 14 catalog entries. Paper. $49.00.

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook ReviewsBethsaida: A City by the North Shore of the Sea of Galilee, Volume 4, by Rami Arav, edited by Richard A. Freund. Kirksville, MO: Truman State University Press, 2009. xxiv + 338 pp., 179 figures, 21 tables, 1 graph, 14 catalog entries. Paper. $49.00.Samuel R. WolffSamuel R. WolffIsrael Antiquities Authority, [email protected] Search for more articles by this author Israel Antiquities Authority, [email protected] PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Bulletin of the American Society of Overseas Research Volume 368November 2012 A journal of the American Schools of Oriental Research Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.5615/bullamerschoorie.368.0116 Views: 3Total views on this site Journal History This article was published in the Bulletin of the American School of Oriental Research (1921-2021), which is continued by the Bulletin of the American Schools of Overseas Research (2022-present). Copyright 2012 American Schools of Oriental ResearchPDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Dating the agricultural terraces in the southern Levantine deserts—The spatial-contextual argument

Despite the arid desert condition of the southern periphery of Israel, the entire area has an abundance of remnants from ancient agriculture of which a massive system of terraced wadis constitutes the main component. The goal of this paper is to date the agriculture terraces based on the high-resolution data collected during the 1980’s in the frame of the Negev emergency survey (conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority) and later studies.Analysis of the distribution areas of the terraced wadis shows a constant correlation only with farmhouses of the Byzantine and Early Islamic periods. Excavations conducted in hundreds of sites yielded finds of the 6–8th centuries CE only. It was found that the distribution areas of the desert agriculture spanned both the Northern Negev, located within the range of dry farming of the sedentary land, and the extreme desert of the Sinai Peninsula. The correlation of the terraces and settlements with the boundaries of the Byzantine desert province Palestina Tertia, raises the possibility that the enormous effort needed to pave the desert with water management facilities reflects an imperial initiative. It is assumed that the agriculture practiced in all other periods was a simple, spontaneous agriculture of the kind that is practiced in the desert by present-day Bedouin, and constitutes only a secondary element of their economy.

The Caiaphas Family

In June 2011 the Israel Antiquities Authority announced details of an ossuary that they acquired c. 2008 and which bears the inscription: ‘Mariam daughter of Yeshua‘ bar Qayafa, priest from Ma‘aziah from Bet ’Imri’. The ossuary is unprovenanced but was reported to have come from the vicinity of the Elah valley. This is the first time that the name Qayafa (Caiaphas) has been found on an inscription other than those on ossuaries in the ‘Caiaphas’ tomb in North Talpiyot, Jerusalem, thought to be the tomb of the high priest Joseph Caiaphas and members of his family. The new inscription offers an opportunity to correlate its information about the Caiaphas family with that from the ‘Caiaphas’ tomb and with references to the high priest Caiaphas and the Caiaphas family in Josephus and rabbinic literature. This article argues that the epithet ‘bar Qayafa’ attached to Yehosef on the ‘Caiaphas’ ossuary and to Yeshua on the ‘Mariam’ ossuary, is not used as a true patronymic but as a family name, equivalent to Josephus’ use of ‘Caiaphas’ as the quasi-surname of the high priest. Caiaphas is a nickname, probably originally borne by the progenitor of the family and then used as the family name. The most obvious meaning in Aramaic of the name Caiaphas (‘the jelly or crust that forms on boiled meat’) may well be the actual meaning, comparable with some other derogatory nicknames of the period. The ‘Mariam’ inscription informs us that the family belonged to the Ma‘aziah priestly course and to the sub-division (‘fathers’ house’) Bet ’Imri. If the reported place of origin of the ‘Mariam’ ossuary is correct, it helps us to locate the family home, which the Tosefta records as Bet Maqoshesh. It may well be modern Khirbet Qeiyafa (the settlement would later have been named after its powerful local family). The discovery that the family had a burial place near its home in the country, as well as the ‘Caiaphas’ tomb near Jerusalem, may help to explain why the latter is relatively small and overcrowded. These conclusions help to fill out our increasingly accurate picture of the powerful priestly aristocracy of the late Second Temple period.

The Necropolis of Bet Guvrin-Eleutheropolis, IAA Reports, No. 36. Jerusalem: Israel Antiquities Authority, 2008. v + 232 pp., 147 figures, 89 plans, 4 tables, 3 color plates. Paper. $37.00. [Distributed in North America by Eisenbrauns] Gideon Avni, Uzi Dahari, and Amos Kloner.

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook ReviewsThe Necropolis of Bet Guvrin-Eleutheropolis, IAA Reports, No. 36. Jerusalem: Israel Antiquities Authority, 2008. v + 232 pp., 147 figures, 89 plans, 4 tables, 3 color plates. Paper. $37.00. [Distributed in North America by Eisenbrauns] Gideon Avni, Uzi Dahari, and Amos Kloner.Eric C. LappEric C. Lapp [email protected] Search for more articles by this author [email protected] PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Bulletin of the American Society of Overseas Research Volume 364November 2011 A journal of the American Schools of Oriental Research Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.5615/bullamerschoorie.364.0097 Views: 9Total views on this site Journal History This article was published in the Bulletin of the American School of Oriental Research (1921-2021), which is continued by the Bulletin of the American Schools of Overseas Research (2022-present). Copyright 2011 American Schools of Oriental ResearchPDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Development of a technique based on multi-spectral imaging for monitoring the conservation of cultural heritage objects

A new approach for monitoring the state of conservation of cultural heritage objects surfaces is being developed. The technique utilizes multi-spectral imaging, multivariate analysis and statistical process control theory for the automatic detection of a possible deterioration process, its localization and identification, and the wavelengths most sensitive to detecting this before the human eye can detect the damage or potential degradation changes occur. A series of virtual degradation analyses were performed on images of parchment in order to test the proposed algorithm in controlled conditions. The spectral image of a Dead Sea Scroll (DSS) parchment, IAA (Israel Antiquities Authority) inventory plate # 279, 4Q501 Apocryphal Lamentations B, taken during the 2008 Pilot of the DSS Digitization Project, was chosen for the simulation.

Rabbinization and the Making of Early Jewish Mysticism

Hekhalot literature testifies to the heterogeneous nature of Jewish religious practice and authority at and across the boundaries of rabbinic Judaism. Yet, Hekhalot and rabbinic literatures do not reflect clear-cut social, cultural, and institutional divisions within Jewish society, nor are they complementary facets of a single, coherent religious system. Both of these options oversimplify the complex relationship between these rapidly evolving sites of Jewish literary culture. Rather, Hekhalot literature and the social groups that produced it were subject to the same institutional, technological, linguistic, and demographic transformations that reshaped Jewish society and culture more broadly toward the end of Late Antiquity (500–800 C.E.). The relationship between Hekhalot and rabbinic literatures can thus shed light on the dialectical process by which rabbinic authority was gradually extended into new areas of Jewish life, while itself being transformed in the process.

The Letters of Jerome: Asceticism, Biblical Exegesis, and the Construction of Christian Authority in Late Antiquity – Andrew Cain

The Letters of Jerome: Asceticism, Biblical Exegesis, and the Construction of Christian Authority in Late Antiquity – Andrew Cain

The Letters of Jerome: Asceticism, Biblical Exegesis, and the Construction of Christian Authority in Late Antiquity (review)

The Letters of Jerome: Asceticism, Biblical Exegesis, and the Construction of Christian Authority in Late Antiquity (review)

The Letters of Jerome: Asceticism, Biblical Exegesis, and the Construction of Christian Authority in Late Antiquity. By Andrew Cain. Oxford Early Christian Studies. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. xiv + 286 pp. $99.00 cloth.

The Letters of Jerome: Asceticism, Biblical Exegesis, and the Construction of Christian Authority in Late Antiquity. By Andrew Cain. Oxford Early Christian Studies. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. xiv + 286 pp. $99.00 cloth.

Ras Abu Dahud (North)

During May 2008, a salvage excavation was conducted in the Nahalat Yehuda quarter of Rishon Le-Ziyyon (Permit No. A-5433; map ref. 181947–72/655055–71), after ancient remains were discovered during an antiquities inspection prior to construction. The excavation, undertaken on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority and underwritten by the Aviv Family, was directed by A Bouchenino, with the assistance of A. Hajian (surveying and drafting), T. Sagiv (field photography), L. Yihye (preliminary inspections), B. Antin (final plans), C. Amit (studio photography), Y. Kupershmidt (metallurgical laboratory), Y. Bukengolts (pottery restoration), M. Shuiskaya (pottery drawing), N. Katsnelson (glass), O. Shorr (glass restoration), C. Hersch (drawing of glass vessels), G. Bijovsky (numismatics) and P. Gendelman (seal impressions). Special thanks are due to the Aviv and Shalom families for their kindness and hospitality.

Ras Abu Dahud (North)

During May 2008, a salvage excavation was conducted in the Nahalat Yehuda quarter of Rishon Le-Ziyyon (Permit No. A-5433; map ref. 181947–72/655055–71), after ancient remains were discovered during an antiquities inspection prior to construction. The excavation, undertaken on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority and underwritten by the Aviv Family, was directed by A Bouchenino, with the assistance of A. Hajian (surveying and drafting), T. Sagiv (field photography), L. Yihye (preliminary inspections), B. Antin (final plans), C. Amit (studio photography), Y. Kupershmidt (metallurgical laboratory), Y. Bukengolts (pottery restoration), M. Shuiskaya (pottery drawing), N. Katsnelson (glass), O. Shorr (glass restoration), C. Hersch (drawing of glass vessels), G. Bijovsky (numismatics) and P. Gendelman (seal impressions). Special thanks are due to the Aviv and Shalom families for their kindness and hospitality.

Oil-Lamps in the Holy Land: Saucer Lamps: From the Beginning to the Hellenistic Period: Collections of the Israel Antiquities Authority, BAR International Series 1598. Varda Sussman.

<i>Oil-Lamps in the Holy Land: Saucer Lamps: From the Beginning to the Hellenistic Period: Collections of the Israel Antiquities Authority, BAR International Series 1598</i>. Varda Sussman.

The letters of Jerome. Asceticism, biblical exegesis, and the construction of Christian authority in late antiquity. By Andrew Cain. (Oxford Early Christian Studies.) Pp. xiv+286. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. £55. 978 0 19 956355 5

The letters of Jerome. Asceticism, biblical exegesis, and the construction of Christian authority in late antiquity. By Andrew Cain. (Oxford Early Christian Studies.) Pp. xiv+286. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. £55. 978 0 19 956355 5 - Volume 61 Issue 2

Andrew Cain.The Letters of Jerome: Asceticism, Biblical Exegesis, and the Construction of Christian Authority in Late Antiquity

Andrew Cain.<i>The Letters of Jerome: Asceticism, Biblical Exegesis, and the Construction of Christian Authority in Late Antiquity</i>

A Qorbān-Vow Inscription on an Ossuary from Jerusalem

Previous articleNext article No AccessA Qorbān-Vow Inscription on an Ossuary from JerusalemBoaz Zissu and Amir GanorBoaz ZissuBar-Ilan University Search for more articles by this author and Amir GanorIsrael Antiquities Authority Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Volume 17, Number 12010 A journal of ASOR Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/MAR201017103 Citations: 1Citations are reported from Crossref © 2012 American Society of Overseas Research. All rights reserved.PDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Eyal Regev and Omri Y. Abadi Pit, Loculus, and Ossuary: The Family and the Individual in Late Second Temple Judean Burial Caves, Bulletin of the American Society of Overseas Research 388 (Jul 2022): 211–233.https://doi.org/10.1086/720557

Ramat Gan

During August–September 2005, a salvage excavation was conducted on Ha-Tayyasim Road in Ramat Gan (Permit No. A-4571; map ref. NIG 18259–63/66160–3; OIG 13259–63/16160–3), prior to the construction of a community center. The excavation, undertaken on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority and underwritten by the Ramat Gan municipality, was directed by F. Volynsky, with the assistance of E. Bachar (administration), A. Hajian (surveying), T. Sagiv (field photography), C. Amit (studio photography), P. Gendelman (pottery reading), C. Hersch (pottery drawing), D.T. Ariel (numismatics), and M. Ajami, D. Barkan and E. Yannai (IAA Central district) and workmen from Tel Aviv.

Roman Byzantine Amphorae from a Terrestrial Site and its Underwater Environs: Horbat Castra and Kfar Samir (Southern Levant) as a Case Study

This study deals with storage jars/amphorae from the Late Roman and Byzantine periods found in the salvage excavations at the site of Horbat Castra, located at the foot of the Carmel Ridge across from Kfar Samir. The excavation was carried out by the Israel Antiquities Authority and directed by Z. Yeivin and G. Finkielsztejn. Numerous storage jars/amphorae were found at the site. Horbat Castra functioned mostly in the Byzantine period (4th–6th centuries AD) and seems to have been a main centre for wine and oil production, supplying its immediate neighbourhood, the general region and overseas destinations. Following the analysis of the amphorae types at Horbat Castra, an interesting quantitative picture emerges. From among the imported amphorae there are a number of the LRA 1, LRA 2 and LRA 10 types. There are also Tunisian amphorae. For the closed regional forms we have the Bag-shaped Jar, which is the most common jar in the region. The ceramics are then compared to the storage jars/amphorae found in the sea along the coast of Kfar Samir, in underwater surveys carried out on behalf of the marine unit of the Israel Antiquities Authority under the direction of E. Galili and Y. Sharvit. The finds from the sea are mostly local jar types. An effort is made to understand the nature of the trade and economy of the northern coast of the Carmel Ridge, and the sea transport of the Roman-Byzantine period in the Southern Levant. The varied types of imported goods found at Horbat Castra bear witness to trade which encompassed much of the Mediterranean basin.

Ancient Sounding-Weights and Navigation along the Mediterranean Coast of Israel

Underwater archaeological investigations in Israel have recovered scores of sounding-weights of varying shapes, weights and ages. Sixty-three examples kept in Israel Antiquities Authority collections are described in detail, discussed, and placed in a tentative typology of sounding-weight types from the Israeli coast. Finds from shipwreck assemblages enabled dating of some types. Integration of the topography and hydrography of the Israeli coast with site-formation processes provides a theoretical explanation for the high number of weights recovered from Israeli underwater sites. © 2009 The Authors

Andrew Cain, The Letters of Jerome: Asceticism, Biblical Exegesis, and the Construction of Christian Authority in Late Antiquity

Andrew Cain, The Letters of Jerome: Asceticism, Biblical Exegesis, and the Construction of Christian Authority in Late Antiquity

Digitizing the Dead Sea Scrolls

The Dead Sea Scrolls are objects of unrivalled importance and fragility. The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) invited a number of experts to provide advice to them regarding the possibility of digitising the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS). This led to a Pilot of the imaging technology in August 2008. This paper will describe the innovative workflows and technology used in the Pilot, and further developed since then, to deliver unique perspectives on the Dead Sea Scrolls. Of particular interest is the spectral imaging of selected fragments between 650-1000 nm with a nominal bandwidth of 10 nm. This technique and the experience of the Pilot offer many lessons for other such imaging and conservation projects.