Table of Contents for Near Eastern Archaeology 81.4 (December 2018)

You can receive NEA (and other ASOR publications) through an ASOR Membership. Please e-mail the Membership office if you have any questions.

Pp. 228–237: “Reuse and Recycling in the Temple of Millions of Years of Thutmosis III (Luxor, Egypt): Archaeological Evidence of a Pottery Workshop,” by Juan Jesús Padilla Fernández, Linda Chapon, and Francisco Contreras Cortés

Archaeological excavations carried out during seasons 2013 and 2014 in the Temple of Millions of Years of Thutmosis III shed light on a set of material elements linked to the production process of ceramics. Among these elements are a kiln and possible decanting sink structures. Long after the sacred precinct had been abandoned, changes seem to have occurred in the ideological and ritual conceptions of the Theban Mountain situated on the west bank of Luxor. These changes led to the reutilization in more recent times of still-visible mud-brick structures, but with different functions and uses.

Click here to access the above article on The University of Chicago Press Journals (ASOR membership with online access and/or subscription to UCP Current Content required).

Pp. 239–243: “New Fragments of “Nectanebo the Falcon” from the Temple of Behbeit el-Hagar,” by Mahmoud A. Emam and Ehab Abd el-Zaher

Two new fragments (no. 456 and Hor.Behbeit.4) presenting the lower part of two unfinished Horus statues in the form of a falcon embracing the king between his claws were discovered recently during irrigation works in the western side of the temple of Behbeit el-Hagar in 2009. The authors present a full description of the two newly discovered fragments and propose their dating to the reign of King Nectanebo II (360–342 B.C.E.) by comparing them with two other statue bases of the falcon Horus dated to the same king that are apparently from Behbeit el-Hagar. The strong relations between King Nectanebo II and the god Horus in Behbeit are in evidence.

The author describes the recent, renewed vandalizing of the site of Khirbet el-Lauz in the West Bank. In doing so, he stresses the role of the general public in protecting the archaeological resources located in Area C, as well as the importance of raising awareness among the school students to engage them in safeguarding the archaeological sites, and offers some recommendations for reducing the looting of antiquities in the Palestinian Territories.

Click here to access the above article on The University of Chicago Press Journals (ASOR membership with online access and/or subscription to UCP Current Content required).

Pp. 244–249: “Khirbet el-Lauz Revisited: Lessons from the Renewed Destruction of a Vulnerable Heritage Site,” by Salah Hussein Al-Houdalieh

Click here to access the above article on The University of Chicago Press Journals (ASOR membership with online access and/or subscription to UCP Current Content required).

Pp. 250–258: “Archaeological Excavations at Khirbet Beit Bassa, Palestine,” by Ibrahim Mohammad Abu Aemar

Khirbet Beit Bassa is located about three kilometers southeast of Bethlehem city on a hilltop that in every direction overlooks other archaeological sites.The results of surveys and archaeological excavations conducted at the site indicate that it was inhabited during the Roman, Byzantine, and early Islamic periods, and for a time in the Ottoman period. The architectural remains that have been discovered during various archaeological activities at the site include a subterranean rock-cut tomb, ground graves, a wine press, residential structures, cisterns, and a khan. Over recent decades, many parts of the site have been exposed to destruction and vandalism resulting mainly from the looting of antiquities by local groups, by urban development such as the construction of new roads and houses, and through agricultural activities in which tractors were used for plowing. This study focuses on presenting the results of archaeological excavations that the author conducted at the site, mainly in 2009 and 2010.

Click here to access the above article on The University of Chicago Press Journals (ASOR membership with online access and/or subscription to UCP Current Content required).

Pp. 259–268: “Between Destruction and Diplomacy in Canaan: The Austrian-Israeli Expedition to Tel Lachish,” by Katharina Streit, Lyndelle Webster, Vanessa Becker, Ann-Kathrin Jeske, Hadas Misgav, and Felix Höflmayer

The transition from the Middle to the Late Bronze Age in the southern Levant is marked by violent destructions of most major cities. The prevalent historical narrative connects these events with the expulsion of the Hyksos, the reunification of Egypt, and the end of the Second Intermediate period. However, current radiocarbon evidence indicates that the destruction of the Middle Bronze Age cities began around 1600 B.C.E., about half a century before the defeat of the Hyksos under King Ahmose. Aiming to test this chronological question, which could again open up the discussion regarding the underlying cause for the Middle Bronze Age destruction layers, excavations have been renewed at Tel Lachish. In the course of the first two seasons by the Austrian-Israeli Expedition, substantial remains from the Middle and Late Bronze Age have been uncovered. This report highlights the potential of further excavations at Lachish and summarizes the preliminary results of the project and its excavation strategies.

Click here to access the above article on The University of Chicago Press Journals (ASOR membership with online access and/or subscription to UCP Current Content required).

Pp. 269–275: “A Second Cult Room at the Lachish Gate?,” by Elad Liraz

Recently, a cult room was excavated in the southern side of the Level III gate structure of Tel Lachish. Within it, a desecrated double four-horned altar was found together with a stone privy, which led the excavators to suggest that this cult room was canceled during the religious reforms of King Hezekiah. The author proposes that a second, twin cult room existed in a parallel location on the northern side of the gate structure, containing similar elements, and that this room underwent the same process of desecration, probably during King Hezekiah’s reforms.

Click here to access the above article on The University of Chicago Press Journals (ASOR membership with online access and/or subscription to UCP Current Content required).

Pp. 276–299: “Pigs in Space (and Time): Pork Consumption and Identity Negotiations in the Late Bronze and Iron Ages of Ancient Israel,” by Avraham Faust

Pork consumption and avoidance became a major issue in the study of ancient Israel in the 1980s. Initial works associated massive consumption of pork with the Philistines and its avoidance with the Israelites, and despite the doubts cast by some later studies, the topic is still closely associated with the study of Iron Age ethnic identities. The extensive data that has accumulated over the years, however, show that the distribution of pork-consuming communities in space and time is not random and, when examined in tandem with the wider social background of this era, can reveal a great deal about Iron Age group interactions and boundary maintenance. It appears that the arrival of the Philistines was a watershed as far as pork consumption was concerned, and in subsequent centuries pork consumption and avoidance correlate closely with the changing strategies of boundary maintenance used by the different groups residing in the region.

Click here to access the above article on The University of Chicago Press Journals (ASOR membership with online access and/or subscription to UCP Current Content required).