Yigael Yadin Research Articles

Fire at the gate of Hazor: A micro-geoarchaeological study of the depositional history of a Bronze Age City gate

The City of Hazor is one of the most significant archaeological sites from the biblical period in Israel. Studies on destruction have received much attention in archaeology in recent years. Previous excavations in Hazor have suggested a major conflagration event that destroyed the entire tell site at the end of the Late Bronze Age. The present study re-examines the sedimentary sequence of one of the city’s gates located in Area K by applying a suite of micro-geoarchaeological analyses to understand the stratigraphy previously documented by Yigael Yadin (1972) and later also interpreted by Amnon Ben-Tor et al. (1989); Ben-Tor (1993, 2016); Bechar et al. (2021). In the summer of 2019, 89 bulk sediment samples were taken within squares K5 and K7 in the gate’s passage. This study aimed to understand the archaeological formation processes at the gate and interpret human activities in the Lower City gate of Hazor based on the micro-archaeological record. Laboratory work included Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy to analyze sediment samples’ composition and quantify phytoliths, wood ash, and dung spherulite concentrations. The major goals of this study are: a) to study the site formation processes, based on mineralogical assemblages and activity micro-residues, of a Middle Bronze to Late Bronze Age city gate; b) to identify mineralogical- and micro-remains, as indicators for fire and destruction of the gate; c) to identify occupation surfaces within the gate and their associated micro-residues; and d) to re-examine previous interpretations of the history of the gate and Hazor in light of the micro-archaeological record.The results confirmed Yadin’s interpretation of the occupation levels at stratum 3 (MB II-C) and 2 (LB I), but with no evidence for destruction between the strata. Those strata showed typical tell site remains, such as anthropogenic input of ash and phytoliths, indicating more or less continuous urban activity. For Yadin’s stratum 1B gate, we identified the floor, the roof, which was the main element that burnt, overlain by a thick unburnt accumulation of the second floor and final burnt debris atop. Our study also suggested a sequence of events for the fiery destruction of the gate and its collapse. The distribution of phytoliths and wood ash combined with the sediments’ composition proposes a single collapse event caused by fire from within the gate. The minimal anthropogenic record above the destruction horizon indicates possible disuse of the gate area following this major destruction event. The conclusions of this study offer new and direct evidence for the history of the gate at Hazor’s Lower City with continuous activity from the Middle Bronze into the Late Bronze Age, ending with a major and single event of destruction of the site at the end of the Late Bronze Age which was followed by its abandonment.

‘Cast thy bread’: Israeli biological warfare during the 1948 War

This article describes Israel's bacteriological warfare campaign during the first Arab-Israeli war of 1948. Over the decades following that war rumours circulated that Israel had used bacteria, alongside conventional weaponry, in its battle against Palestine's Arabs and the surrounding Arab states. The declassification of files in the Israeli military archives, our discovery of a crucial letter in private hands, and the publication of a handful of memoirs relating to 1948 have enabled us to bridge the divide between rumour and fact; to explain the campaign's origins; to reconstruct its stages, beginning in April 1948; to identify who was involved – including Israel's prime minister, David Ben-Gurion and the Israeli army's de facto chief of general staff, Yigael Yadin, as well as leading Israeli scientists – and who actively opposed it; and to delineate and assess what the campaign actually achieved or failed to achieve. In sum, this study helps to understand various aspects of the 1948 War.

Dan Shall Judge: The Danites and Iron Age Israel’s Connection with the Denyen Sea People

The Tribe of Dan has always appeared to biblical scholars and archaeologists as something of an enigma. For decades, certain scholars, beginning with Yigael Yadin, have proposed a connection between the Denyen/Danaoi Sea People and the Danites of Ancient Israel, arguing that the former became the latter and were adopted into Israel at a later date than the other 11 tribes. Focusing on recent archaeological excavations at Tel Dan and the connections between Samson and Hercules, with special attention specifically given to Dan’s traditional paired imagery with serpents, this study seeks to present a coherent case for the possibility that Yadin’s theory may soon carry weight.

Elusive destructions: reconsidering the Hazor Iron Age II sequence and its chronological and historical implications

Hazor, a key Iron Age II site in the southern Levant, was excavated by Yigael Yadin in the 1950s and subsequently by Amnon Ben-Tor. The Iron Age II stratigraphic sequence established proved very influential and nearly canonical; it was interpreted as representing periodic building-and-destruction cycles. The three superimposed ‘cities’ thus reconstructed were inter-alia understood to reflect alternating Israelite/Aramean domination in this conflict-prone border area before the final Assyrian destruction in the late 8th century BCE. Here we offer an alternative reconstruction for Hazor’s stratigraphic/architectural development, with repercussions for several chronological and political-historic aspects of the Kingdom of Israel and the greater Levant.

Three Stones Make a Wall: The Story of Archaeology

Three Stones Make a Wall: The Story of Archaeology

Hazor in the Tenth Century B.C.E.

Previous articleNext article No AccessARTICLESHazor in the Tenth Century B.C.E.Amnon Ben-TorAmnon Ben-Tor Search for more articles by this author Amnon Ben-Tor is the Yigael Yadin Professor (Emeritus) for the Archaeology of the Land of Israel. Between the years 1968 and 2008 he taught ancient Near Eastern archaeology at the Institute of Archaeology of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. During those years he spent several sabbatical years at universities in Europe and the U.S. He took part in excavations in the Land of Israel such as at Arad, Azor, Masada, and Yarmuth; together with Trude Dothan he directed the excavation at the site of Athienou, Cyprus. He directed the excavations at the sites of Tel Qiri, Yoqne'am, and Qashish, entitled “The Yoqne'am Regional Project.” Since 1990 he has directed the “Selz Foundation Hazor Excavations in Memory of Yigael Yadin,” and in 2006 he was joined by Dr. Sharon Zuckerman as co-director.PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Near Eastern Archaeology Volume 76, Number 2June 2013 A journal of ASOR Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.5615/neareastarch.76.2.0105 Views: 41Total views on this site Citations: 1Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 2013 American Schools of Oriental ResearchPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Eli Itkin Post-Destruction Squatter Phases in the Iron Age IIB–C Southern Levant, Bulletin of the American Society of Overseas Research 388 (Jul 2022): 51–72.https://doi.org/10.1086/720559

Area S: Renewed Excavations in the Lower City of Hazor

Previous articleNext article No AccessARTICLESArea S: Renewed Excavations in the Lower City of HazorSharon ZuckermanSharon Zuckerman Search for more articles by this author Sharon Zuckerman is a senior lecturer at the Institute of Archaeology, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She received her PhD in Archaeology from the Hebrew University and spent one year of postdoctoral research at Harvard University as a Rothschild and Fulbright fellow. Since 2006 she has been co-director (with Prof. Amnon Ben-Tor) of the “Selz Foundation Hazor Excavations in Memory of Yigael Yadin” and directed the renewed excavations at the Lower City of Hazor (2008–2010). Her research interests include the archaeology of the Bronze Age in the Levant, archaeology of religion and ritual, destruction and abandonment in the archaeological record, and the archaeology of memory.PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Near Eastern Archaeology Volume 76, Number 2June 2013 A journal of ASOR Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.5615/neareastarch.76.2.0094 Views: 21Total views on this site Copyright 2013 American Schools of Oriental ResearchPDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Hazor in the Early Bronze Age

Previous articleNext article No AccessARTICLESHazor in the Early Bronze AgeSharon ZuckermanSharon Zuckerman Search for more articles by this author Sharon Zuckerman is a senior lecturer at the Institute of Archaeology, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She received her PhD in Archaeology from the Hebrew University and spent one year of postdoctoral research at Harvard University as a Rothschild and Fulbright fellow. Since 2006 she has been co-director (with Prof. Amnon Ben-Tor) of the “Selz Foundation Hazor Excavations in Memory of Yigael Yadin” and directed the renewed excavations at the Lower City of Hazor (2008–2010). Her research interests include the archaeology of the Bronze Age in the Levant, archaeology of religion and ritual, destruction and abandonment in the archaeological record, and the archaeology of memory.PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Near Eastern Archaeology Volume 76, Number 2June 2013 A journal of ASOR Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.5615/neareastarch.76.2.0068 Views: 44Total views on this site Citations: 1Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 2013 American Schools of Oriental ResearchPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Yael Rotem, Mark Iserlis, Felix Höflmayer, and Yorke M. Rowan Tel Yaqush—An Early Bronze Age Village in the Central Jordan Valley, Israel, Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 381 (May 2019): 107–144.https://doi.org/10.1086/703393

National parks in the service of nation building: the pioneering work of Lipa Yahalom and Dan Zur in Israel

… From the slopes of the Lebanon to the Dead Sea,we will worship you with plowsWe will plant thee and build thee,we will make thee very beautiful.(Morning Song by Natan Alterman) In 1998, on the ce...

Where Have You Gone, Father Roland de Vaux?

Abstract In 1960 a bundle of letters, written by Shimon Bar-Kosibah (Bar-Kokhba), was discovered during an archaeological dig in Nahal Hever. This archaeological dig was led by Professor Yigael Yadin, former Israel Defense Forces’ chief of staff and an archaeologist at the Hebrew University. In order to comprehend the cultural meaning of this event I would like to mention another figure, Father Roland de Vaux, an archaeologist and Dominican priest who was the first to find scrolls sent by Bar-Kosibah, and who Yadin chose not to mention. I believe that this omission sheds profound light on Yigael Yadin’s role as mythmaker.

Book Reviews

MankindVolume 6, Issue 11 p. 601-613 Book Reviews First published: June 1968 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1835-9310.1968.tb00338.xAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Abstract Book reviewed in this article: The Many Faces of Primitive Art: A Critical Anthology. By Douglas Fraser The Administration of the White Australia Policy. By A. C. Palfreeman The Territorial Imperative. By Robert Ardrey Collection of Specimens for Radiocarbon Dating and Interpretation of Results. By H. A. Landform Studies From Australia and New Guinea. Edited by J. N. Jennings and J. A. Mabbutt New Roads To Yesterday. Edited by Joseph R. Caldwell An Introduction to Human Geography. By J. H. G. Lebon Archaeology: An Illustrated Introduction. By Liam de Paor The Discovery of Egypt. By Leslie Greener. Cassell Masada. By Yigael Yadin. Weidenfeld and Nicolson Industrial Archaeology: An Introduction. By Kenneth Hudson Classical Greece. By C. M. Bowra. Time Inc. Archaeology of the Point St George Site, and Tolowa Prehistory. By Richard A The Prehistoric Animal Ecology and Ethno-zoology of the Upper Great Lakes Region. By Charles Edward Cleland Southern Africa. By Brian Fagan. Thames and Hudson Late Woodland Cultures of Southeastern Michigan. By James E. Fitting Australian Aboriginal Stone Implements. By F. D. McCarthy Ethnographic Atlas. By George Peter Murdock Glossa. A Journal of Linguistics Mathinna's People. By Nan Chauncey Volume6, Issue11June 1968Pages 601-613 RelatedInformation

Sacrificing Truth: Archaeology and the Myth of Masada (review)

Reviewed by: Sacrificing Truth: Archaeology and the Myth of Masada Louis H. Feldman Sacrificing Truth: Archaeology and the Myth of Masada, by Nachman Ben-Yehuda. Amherst, NY: Humanity Books, 2002. 275 pp. $29.95. This book, which reads almost like a detective novel, documents the falsifications and concealed facts in Yigael Yadin’s report of his excavations at Masada (1963–1965) and speculates as to why and how Yadin did so. It is a sequel to Ben-Yehuda’s The Masada Myth: Collective Memory and Mythmaking in Israel (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1995) and repeats much of the argument found in the earlier book but then views these misrepresentations against sociological theory of truth and falsehood. According to Ben-Yehuda, Yadin, while professing admiration for Josephus’ account, has actually transformed a tragic historical event into a heroic fable, calculated to appeal to patriotic feelings. This is a case, he says, where archaeology became mixed up with politics. The revolt is transformed into a heroic war waged for three years by soldiers, who are referred to as Zealots rather than by Josephus’ term of Sicarii, engaged in battle. The suicide at Masada is transformed into a brave last stand of the heroic few against the many Roman troops. On these matters Ben-Yehuda generally trusts Josephus, who, to be sure, was not present at Masada. Ben-Yehuda is surely right in denying that there is any evidence that the Sicarii at Masada fought against the Romans for three years. He is right in criticizing Yadin for referring to the defenders as Zealots; but, in Yadin’s defense, we may remark that Yadin looked upon them as zealous revolutionaries and, as such, did not see too much of a difference among the various revolutionary groups, including the Zealots and the Sicarii, all of whom Josephus condemns in the strongest terms (War 7.262–274). He is surely right in calling attention to Yadin’s omission of the fact that pig bones were found together with the human remains at Masada, which raises the crucial question of whether these remains were of Jews at all. On a major point Ben-Yehuda is surely justified in criticizing Yadin for omitting mention, presumably since it would not redound to the heroism of the heroes of Masada, of Josephus’ account (War 4.402–405) of a raid by the Sicarii of Masada during Passover on the nearby town of Ein Gedi. According to Josephus, they massacred those unable to flee, women and children numbering upwards of 700. We may remark that excavations by the archaeologist Gideon Hadas at Ein Gedi (see Avichai Becker, “Massacre at Ein Gedi,” Ha’aretz Magazine, April 13, 2001) have revealed the remains of 260 individuals, which an anatomist, Professor Israel Hershkovitz, examined and concluded (“the proof is incontestable”) that ten men, whose skulls were piled up in a grave, had died in a grisly massacre. The date of the remains, from the first century B.C.E. to the first century C.E., accords with the massacre mentioned by Josephus, but, admittedly, there is much dispute among scholars as to whether this find refers to that incident. Why should Josephus, who so despised the Sicarii, write that the Romans, when they climbed to the top of the mountain at Masada, admired the amazing courage (War 7.405) of the Sicarii? That seems to be in accord with the Masada “myth.” On the other [End Page 156] hand, the Roman commander, Flavius Silva, did not begin his siege until 73 (or 74, as a recent inscription would seem to indicate, though the matter is disputed). What were the defenders doing between 70 and 73 (74)? Why did Silva wait so long? Apparently, the Sicarii were not causing him much trouble. But, if so, why did Silva have to bring a legion of perhaps 6,000 men? Shortly after Yadin’s book on Masada appeared in 1966, Trude Weiss-Rosmarin, in an article noted by Ben-Yehuda, wrote in the Jewish Spectator (32.8 [October, 1967], pp. 2–8, 30) that she could not believe that the defenders committed mutual suicide when they had an opportunity to fight heroically to the last...

INTERPRETATIVE AUTHORITY IN THE COMMUNITY RULE TRADITION

* A version of this paper was presented at the Annual Mid-Atlantic SBL Meeting in Baltimore on 14 March 2002. I am grateful to Profs John Yieh and Jin Hee Han for their constructive comments in response to my paper and to S. Metso for an update of her own bibliography on the Serekh. I It is not possible to list a comprehensive bibliography here, but the subject has been dealt with by, among others, M.J. Bernstein, of Scriptures, Encyclopedia of the Dead Sea Scrolls (eds L.H. Schiffman and J.C. VanderKam; New York: Oxford University Press, 2000) 1.376-83; idem, Pentateuchal Interpretation at Qumran, The Dead Sea Scrolls After Fifty Years: A Comprehensive Assessment (eds P.W. Flint and J.C. VanderKam; Leiden: Brill, 1998) 1.128-59; 0. Betz, Offenbarung und Schriftforschung in der Qumransekte (WUNT 6; TUbingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1960); G.J. Brooke, Interpretation in the Scrolls and the New Testament, The Dead Sea Scrolls: Fifty Years After Their Discovery. Proceedings of the Jerusalem Congress, July 20-25, 1997 (eds L.H. Schiffman, E. Tov, and J.C. VanderKam; Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society in cooperation with the Shrine of the Book, Israel Museum, 2000) 60-73; D. Dimant, Qumran Sectarian Literature, Jewish Writings of the Second Temple Period: Apocrypha, Pseudepigrapha, Sectarian Writings, Philo, Josephus (ed. M.E. Stone; CRINT 11.2; Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1984) 483-550, esp. 503-14; M. Fishbane, Use, Authority and Interpretation of Mikra at Qumran, Mikra: Text, Translation, Reading and Interpretation of the Hebrew in Ancient Judaism and Christianity (ed. M.J. Mulder; CRINT 11.1; Assen: Van Gorcum, 1988) 339-77; J. Maier, Early Jewish Biblical Interpretation in the Literature, Hebrew BiblelOld Testament: The History of Its Interpretation, vol. 1: From the Beginnings to the Middle Ages (Until 1300) (ed. M. Seb0; Gottingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1996) 108-29; M.E. Stone and E.G. Chazon (eds), Biblical Perspectives: Use and Interpretation of the in Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls: Proceedings of the First International Symposium of the Orion Center, 12-14 March 1996 (STDJ 28; Leiden: Brill, 1998); G. Vermes, Bible Interpretation at Qumran, Yigael Yadin Memorial Volume (eds A. Ben-Tor, J.C. Greenfield, and A. Malamat; Erlsr 20; Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society, 1989) 184'-91*.

The Date of the Psalms Scroll from the Cave of Letters (5/6HEVPS) Reconsidered

The most recent investigation of the Cave of has done more than produce additional artifacts to supplement the historical collection gathered in the 1960's under the direction of Professor Yigael Yadin. A new hypothesis about many of the previously known artifacts was unearthed in the cave as well. Professor Richard Freund, co-director of the 2000 Return to the Cave of Letters expedition has now published his view that, pace Yadin, not all of the artifacts recovered in previous expeditions and associated by Yadin with Bar Kokhba are properly associated with that second-century revolt. Drawing upon evidence from the Copper Scroll, numismatic materials from the Cave of Letters, and an array of other evidence, Freund proposes that

THREE NEW FRAGMENTS FROM QUMRAN CAVE 11

S. Talmon recently published three fragments of scrolls that had been kept in Yigael Yadin's desk drawer.' Although Talmon could not identify the scrolls from which these fragments came, he speculated that they might have been discovered in Qumran or in Nahal Hever.2 We know that Yadin succeeded in purchasing several important scroll fragments from Khalil Iskander Shahin (Kando) that had been found in Qumran Cave 11.3 Documents from the period of the Bar Kokhba revolt that Yadin had acquired in the antiquities market and kept in his desk drawer were published after his death.4 The new fragments

Booths or Succoth? A Response to Yigael Yadin

Research Article| December 01 1999 Booths or Succoth? A Response to Yigael Yadin Michael M. Homan Michael M. Homan Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Journal of Biblical Literature (1999) 118 (4): 691–697. https://doi.org/10.2307/3268111 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Permissions Search Site Citation Michael M. Homan; Booths or Succoth? A Response to Yigael Yadin. Journal of Biblical Literature 1 January 1999; 118 (4): 691–697. doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/3268111 Download citation file: Zotero Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All Scholarly Publishing CollectiveSBL PressJournal of Biblical Literature Search Advanced Search The text of this article is only available as a PDF. Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

Fragments of Hebrew Writings Without Identifying Sigla of Provenance From the Literary Legacy of Yigael Yadin

After the death of Yigael Yadin, three small parchment fragments, with no classification marks, were found in the drawer of his desk. Each one has partial lines in Hebrew letters.' The absence of classification sigla leads to the assumption that these fragments were not discovered at Masada, because Yadin was most careful about the meticulous registration of all items discovered there.2 It is probable that the source of all three fragments-or at least of two-is Qumran, and that they found their way into the hands of an antique dealer, from whom-or from an intermediary-Yadin purchased them.3 I am publishing these small items so that scholars may try to identify them, and possibly attribute them to known works.4

Masada IV: The Yigael Yadin Excavations 1963-1965, Final Reports: Lamps; Textiles, Basketry, Cordage and Related Artifacts; Wood Remains; Ballista Balls; Addendum: Human Skeletal Remains

Masada IV: The Yigael Yadin Excavations 1963-1965, Final Reports: Lamps; Textiles, Basketry, Cordage and Related Artifacts; Wood Remains; Ballista Balls; Addendum: Human Skeletal Remains

The Contribution of Jonas Greenfield To the Study of Dead Sea Literature

I am thankful for the occasion to discuss Jonas Greenfield's contribution to the study of Dead Sea Literature. His untimely passing has left a great void in this, as in other scholarly fields. The loss was also personal: Jonas was a close colleague and dear friend for more than thirty years. I simply cannot refer to him as Greenfield; it is too impersonal. I will either give his full name, or identify him as Jonas. For me, there is special significance to the present undertaking: Before Jonas passed away, he had been editing a collection of documents from Nahal Hever, written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and NabateanAramaic, and originally discovered by Yigael Yadin. These documents, which date to the Bar Kochba Period and before, had become his central project, and he had been moving ahead with it at a rapid pace in recent years. After Jonas' death, I accepted the assignment of bringing his project to completion, and will continue to work together with Ada Yardeni, who had been Jonas' collaborator on the Nahal Hever documents for some years. Late in 1994, Jonas, together with Ada Yardeni, published one of the major Aramaic, legal documents from Nahal Hever, with extensive notes and commentary, and with Ada Yardeni's exceptional hand copies, which have been drawn of all of the Nahal Hever documents. A similar study of yet another Aramaic document, also with Ada Yardeni, is soon to appear in Hebrew.' It should also be noted that Jonas edited the Aramaic signatures of the Greek documents from Nahal Hever, published by Naphtali Lewis in 1989.2 These publications were preceded and have been accompanied by a series of articles on particular aspects of the Nahal Hever documents appearing between the years 1988 and Jonas' death in March, 1995, and there are additional manuscripts awaiting publication. As I

Hebrew Written Fragments From Masada

The excavations of Masada, led by the late Yigael Yadin, yielded a considerable number of inscribed materials,' among them remains of 15 parchment fragments written in Hebrew square characters and one papyrus fragment penned in the ancient Hebrew alphabet. Yadin published in full the extant fragments of a Ben-Sira Scroll2 and a fragment of nDr nAl ni-r,3 a work known from more extensive finds in the Qumran Caves.4 Seven further items stem from copies of biblical books: Genesis, Deuteronomy, Ezekiel, Leviticus and Psalms (two scrolls each). Six other small pieces come from evidently non-biblical compositions.5 Some of these can be identified with a measure of confidence, while others escape identification.6 It was not given to Yadin to publish these items.7