Eight cuneiform tablets, two Egyptian inscriptions two of us usinS microarchaeological (petrograph and a Hittite fragment of a bulla were found in ic Goren> and elemental (neutron activation the excavations of Building 1104 at Tel Aphek, MomnlSen) methods' su^ new data that neces dated to the 13* century BCE and interpreted by sitates some revaluation and new interpretations the excavators as an Egyptian residency (for sum- of the documents, and of the role of the site in mary discussions, see Kochavi 1990, esp. xiv-xix t'ie Gate ®ronze and plates 29-31; Singer 1983a; for references, see Horowitz et al. 2006:29-38; for the archaeol- Method ogy of the site see Beck and Kochavi 1993; Gadot ciaao ti, a ' *, • . r t A. Microarchaeological Analysis 2003). I he diversity in the types of documents ° 3 (lexical and administrative tablets, letters, a bulla, The microarchaeological examination of five of a faience seal and a faience plaque) and lan- the eight cuneiform tablets and the Hittite bulla guages (Sumerian, Akkadian, Canaanite, Egypt- followed the method and preparation processes ian, and Hittite) uncovered at Aphek is unique in advocated elsewhere (Goren, Finkelstein and Late Bronze Canaan. This is remarkable since the Na'aman 2004: 4-22).' residency of Aphek is quite small (about 400 In terms of the local availability of clays, Tel square meters), compared to other, much larger Aphek is located in an area dominated by brown Late Bronze Canaanite palaces, which yielded no alluvial soils, or vertisols. These are brown soils of more than a few cuneiform texts. An exception is valleys and plains that developed on ancient allu Kamid el-Loz, where nine cuneiform tablets have vium of Terra Rossa in the Mediterranean climat been discovered. However, the latter site was the ic zones. Their typical color is dark tan, often with main Egyptian centre of northern Canaan and its reddish or dark gray shade due to the high iron prominent place in the Egyptian administrative contents (Rabikovitch 1981: 153-174). In the system is well documented, unlike the residency hilly area to the east of Aphek, hard limestone of Aphek that is not mentioned in any document. and dolomite of the Bina Formation (Turonian) The documents from Aphek were found scat- is exposed. This lithology is typically represented tered throughout the building. This could have by Terra Rossa soils. The petrographic study of been done by whoever assaulted the building, selected pottery vessels from Aphek (undertaken before it was put to the torch, or, the documents by Goren) indicates that brown alluvial or Terra could have been stored in the residency's upper Rossa soils, which cannot be differentiated in pet storey and scattered when the building collapsed rographic thin sections of ceramics, were con as a result of the conflagration. The docu- stantly used as the raw material for ceramic pro ments were all published and discussed in detail, duction at the site. The matrix of these ceramics so that only a short presentation is necessary. contains high proportions of quartzitic silt, with However, provenance studies carried out on five high contents of heavy minerals including horn
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Jul 3, 2019
Baruch Brandl + 1
