blicaAl rcaeo is AP ublicatioonf theA mericaSnc hoolso f OrientaRl esearch Volum5e 0 Numbe4r Decembe1r 987 Mosaics of Ancient Sepphoris Biblical Archaeologist A Publication of the American Schools of Oriental Research Volume 50 Number 4 December 1987 The Risea ndF allo f Ekrono f the Philistines: 197 RecentE xcavationsa t an UrbanB orderS ite Seymour Gitin and 7TudeD othan Worka t Tel Miqneh as providedu s with new insight into hun- 04 dredso f yearso f the history of ancient Ekron- from its perioda s a Canaanitec ity-statei n the fourteenthc entury to the arrival B.C.E., of the Philistines in the thirteenth century throughi ts ap- B.C.E., parentd estructioni n 603 B.C.E.b y Nebuchadnezzar. Artistryi n Stone:T he Mosaicso f Ancient Sepphoris 223 Eric M. Meyers, Ehud Netzer, and Carol L. Meyers During the 1987e xcavations eason at this site in Galilee, a start- Page2 23 ling discoveryw as made:a beautifullyp reservedm osaic floor datingt o aroundt he third centuryc .E.T he excavatorsi ntroduce us to what has been hailed as the finest exampleo f mosaic art from ancient Palestine. The LionB owl fromK inneret 232 VolkmarF ritz / ,' In 1984,n eart he northwesterns horeo f the Sea of Galilee,e xcava- tions uncovereda bowl madeo f a rarea ndb eautifulm aterialk nown as Egyptianb lue. By comparingit to similaro bjectsf oundt hrough- out the ancient Near East,t he excavatord iscussesi ts functiona nd artistici nfluence. Yahweho f Samariaa ndH is Asherah 241 David Noel Freedman A scrutinyo f biblicalt exts anda groupo f inscriptionsf ound recentlya t Quntillet cAjrudo, n the borderb etweent he southern a 24 Negeb andt he Sinaip eninsula,s uggestst hat the worshipo f a god- dess, a consorto f Yahwehw, as deeplyr ootedi n both Israela nd Judahd uringp reexilict imes. Introducingth e Authors 195 In MemoriamY: igalS hiloh 196 BookR eviews 252 Page2 41 Front cover: This haunting portraiti s part of the mosaic floor uncoveredt his summer at Sepphoris.B ack cover:L ion-headedr hyton found in a Philistine shrine at Ekron. Biblical Archaeologist is published with the financial assistance of the Endowmenfto rB iblicalR esearcha, nonsectarianfo undationf or the study of the Bible and the history of the Christian Church. Biblical Archaeologist, December 1987 193 AMERICAN SCHOOLS OF ORIENTAL RESEARCH ADMINISTRATIVOEF FICEA, SOR,4 243 SPRUCES TREETP, HILADELPHIAP,A 19104 (215)222-4643 JamesA . Sauer,P resident W.E AlbrightI nstitute of Eric M. Meyers,F irst Vice Presidentf or ArchaeologicalR esearch( AIAR). o VOF Publications P. O. Box 19096, 91 190 Jerusalem,I srael. William G. Dever, Second Vice President SeymourG itin, Director for Archaeological Policy JosephA . Callaway,P resident tI 713 GeorgeM . Landes,S ecretary JoyU ngerleider-MayersonF, irst Vice d0 rry Kevin G. O'Connell,A ssistant Secretary President OO Anne Ogilvy, Treasurer Carol Meyers,S econd Vice President UI 4',> ~ Gough W Thompson, Jr.,C hairmano f the KevinG . O'Connell, Secretary-Treasurer Boardo f Trustees Norma Kershaw,D irectoro f Tours BaghdadC ommitteef ort he Baghdad Catherine Felix, StaffA ssistant School. Ann Norford,C oordinatoro f Academic JerroldS . Cooper, Chairman Programs Near EasternS tudies,T he Johns CyprusA merican Archaeological SStuespahna WniienP gi,n Btoeork, Skeecerpeetar ry H21o2p1k8i.n s University,B altimore,M D 41R Keisnega PrcahuI ln Ssttrietuett,e N (CicAosAiaR, IC).y prus. Stuart Swiny,D irector Charles U. Harris,P resident American Center of Oriental Research LydieS hufro,V ice President ASORN ewsletter; JamesA . Sauer,E ditor (ACOR). Ellen Herscher,S ecretary Biblical Archaeologist;E ric M. Meyers, P. O. Box 2470, JebelA mman, Amman, AndrewO liver,J r.,T reasurer Editor Jordan. Bulletin of the American Schools of David W McCreery,D irector Damascus Committee. Oriental Research;W alterE . Rast, EdgarH arrell,P resident GiorgioB uccellati, Chairman Editor LawrenceT . Geraty,V ice President Center for MesopotamianS tudies, Journalo f Cuneiform Studies;E rle Bert DeVries,S ecretary University of California,4 05 Hilgard Leichty,E ditor Anne Ogilvy, Treasurer Avenue,L os Angeles, CA 90024. Biblical Archaeologist P. O. BOXH .M., DUKES TATIOND, URHAM,N C 27706 (919)6 84-3075 Biblical Archaeologist (ISSN0 006-0895)i s Editor Eric M. Meyers Advertising.C orrespondences hould be published quarterly( March,J une,S eptem- Associate Editor LawrenceT . Geraty addressedt o the JohnsH opkins University ber, December)b y the JohnsH opkins Uni- ExecutiveE ditor MartinW ilcox Press,7 01 W.4 0th Street,S uite 275, Balti- versity Press for the American Schools of Book Review Editor PeterB . Machinist more, MD 21211( telephone:3 01-338-6982). 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Michael White Outside the U.S., U.S. possessions, and BaruchL evine JohnW ilkinson Manuscriptsm ust conformt o the format Canadn faodra s,ia ndgdle $ 2is fsoure as.n nual subscriptions buisbeldio ing rBaipbhliiccra elf Aerrecnhcaeesoa lnodg ais mt,w initihm fuumll of endnotes. See recent issues for examples Second-classp ostagep aid at Philadelphia, Publisher of the propers tyle. PA 19104a nd additionalo ffices. The JohnsH opkinsU niversityP ress Manuscriptsm ust also include appropriate Postmaster:S end addressc hanges to the illustrationsa nd legends.A uthorsa re JohnsH opkinsU niversityP ress,7 01 W 40th Copyright? 1987 by the AmericanS chools responsiblef or obtainingp ermissiont o use Street, Suite 275, Baltimore,M D 21211. of OrientalR esearch. illustrations. 194 Biblical Archaeologist, December 1987 the Authors Introducing Since 1980 Seymour Gitin has been the Director and Professoro f Archaeologya t the W.F Albright Institute of ArchaeologicalR esearch,o ne of the American Schools of Oriental Research, in Jerusalem. He has excavated at numerous sites in Israel, including Gezer, JebelQ acaqir, Tel Dor, and, most recently, Tel Miqne-Ekron. He also has been very active in promotingt he publication of exca- vations, serving on the editorial boardo f BA, as Associate Editor of the ASOR Dissertation Series, as initiator and ProjectD irector of Excavations and Surveysi n Israel, the English-languagev ersion of Hadashot Arkeologiyot (the archaeological newsletter of the Israel Department of Antiquities), and as Editor of the forthcoming ASOR annual number 49 on recent excavations in Israel. Seymour Gitin and TRudDe othan Trude Dothan is the E. L. Sukenik Professor of Archae- I m m = ology of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She has excavateda t Athienou on Cyprus and at Hazor, En-gedi, Tel Qasile, Tel Eitun, and Tel Miqne-Ekron-where she is Codirector of the dig with Seymour Gitin-in Israel. Professor Dothan has published many studies on the Philistine period in ancient Israel, including the seminal work The Philistines and Their Material Culture (New Haven:Y aleU niversity Press, 1982). Prior to becoming a Codirector of the Joint Sepphoris DavidN oel Freedman Project,E ricM . Meyersc onducted excavationsa t Khirbet Shemac, Meiron, Gush Halav, and Nabratein in Upper Galilee. A Professoro f Religion at Duke University, he is also currently FirstV ice Presidentf or Publications of the American Schools of Oriental Researcha nd Editoro f BA. Ehud Netzer, a member of the faculty of the Institute of Archaeology at the Hebrew University, is an expert on Herodian architecture and remains. His digs at Herod- ium and Jerichoh ave attractedw orldwide attention, and he is presently a Codirectoro f the JointS epphorisP roject. Carol L. Meyers is an Associate Professor of Religion and Associate Director of Women's Studies at Duke VolkmarF ritz University. She is also a Codirector of the Joint Sepphoris Project, as well as Vice President of the W. E Albright Palestine and has published many articles on the topic in Institute of Archaeological Research. She has excavated scholarly journals. for over twenty years at sites in Israel and in North America. David Noel Freedmani s Professoro f Biblical Studies and Director of the Program on Studies in Religion at the Volkmar Fritz is Professor of Old Testament and Biblical University of Michigan;h e also holds an appointment in Archaeology at the Justus Liebig Universitiit Giessen in biblical studies at the University of California at San West Germany. A former Codirector of the excavations at Diego. A former Editor of BA, Dr. Freedman is Editor of Tel Masos, Dr. Fritz has directed the excavations at Kin- the Anchor Bible critical commentary series, a com- neret since 1982. He is an authority on the Iron Age in pendium of in-depth studies on each book of the Bible. Biblical Archaeologist, December 1987 195 In Memoriam style of Iron Age Israel, from proto-Aeolic capitals to water tunnels, from four-room houses to Israelite masonry.W hat capturedh is heart, however,a nd won the attention of the world, was his pioneering excavation on a massive scale in the City of David. Fully computerized, with an international team of distinction, the City of David Excavations howcasedo ne of Israel'sf inest younger scholars prosecuting the stratigraphicm ethod on a scale that suited so enormous a site. Most balks were drawn; stone-by-stone drawings were always accompanied by first-rate reconstruction drawings, often color-coded to facilitate the visual understanding; and every artifact assemblage was carefully recordeda nd preparedf or final publication. In recognition of his tremendous achieve- ment in the Jerusalem excavation, he was awardedt he JerusalemP rize only days before his death. He struggled valiantly but in vain to regainh is vitality for the moment he would receive the prize he so coveted and for which he and his entire staff, and especially his field adjutant and wife, Tami, had invested so much of their physical and emotional energies. The City of David Excavationsw ill also be remem- beredb ecause of areaG and Yigal Shiloh'sh eroic struggle with the haredim, the religious extremists who tried to a~ close down the excavation on the pretense that the exca- - vators were digging Jewish graves in violation of Jewish Yigal Shiloh, age 50, noted archaeologista nd excavatoro f religious law. There was no tomb excavation nor viola- the City of David, passed awayo n November 14, 1987, at tion of Jewish law and yet the extremists physically HadassahH ospital in Jerusalem.U ntil two weeks before, attacked, at one time knocking Yigal Shiloh down into a Professor Shiloh was at Duke University, where he had trench and injuring his back. The incident and subse- served as the first Smart Family FoundationP rofessoro f quent struggle received such wide publicity there was Judaic Studies. His many students at Duke and col- talk of Yigal Shiloh running for Knesset. His own mentor, leagues there join in mourning the passing of a dear the late ProfessorY igael Yadin,a lso became involved in friend, teacher, and scholar. Despite a virulent cancer the defense of the City of David Excavation as did all that sacked much of his physical strength and energy, Israelia rchaeologistsa nd friends worldwide. Yigal saw in Dr. Shiloh taught his classes up to several weeks before these attacks a threat to academic freedom and a danger his death, and the impression this feat made on all con- to the welfare of the state of Israel. In both regardsh e was cerned was unforgettable. prescient, as the struggle against extremism and reli- Yigal Shiloh will alwaysb e rememberedf or his intel- gious fundamentalism in Israel, as in many other places lectual rigor and physical vigor. He was a man of deep today,r emains very much in vogue. conviction. He lived and breathed archaeology and Yigal Shiloh would want to be remembered as a nothing excited him more than a detailed stratigraphic fighter,a nd we are all grateful to him for having stood his discussion on a field trip, especially at the City of David, ground and for having made us all awarea t a new level of around which he personally guided thousands of dis- meaning the high stakes in the Israeli archaeologial tinguished visitors. Strongly committed to his views, he community's continuing struggle with religious extrem- was always open to intellectual challenges that were ism. He may have lost his struggle with cancer but the groundedi n data and well reasoned. fight he waged made all who observedh im these past two One of his earliest published articles was on ancient years admireh is courage,w ill, and love of life. All of us at synagogues and Jewish art, a subject that continued to BA, at Duke, and in the American Schools of Oriental attract him his entire life. Most of his scholarly career Research join with all who mourn him in saying thank was then devoted to the architecture and architectural you for all you have left to future generations. 196 Biblical Archaeologist, December 1987 I)I ab shall de o ur .n her i+t stwro, c ill olds I "owlvna? Its-* I _% I&. P.-? turn agains my hnd l~rekm rd~n;-ad the nPantof ilisines*te I shall~psays erish"' These sherds of Anatolian Grey Polished Warew ith wavy incised decoration were The RIse and found in field I in stratum VIIIA( which has been dated to around the late thir- teenth century B.C.E.). This ware is not widely encounteredi n Canaan, and the dis- coveryo f these fragments thus hints at the establishment of new cultural connec- tions for Ekrona t the verye nd of the Late Bronzep eriod. Fall oEkron ofthe Phikti"nebysS e ymouGri tina ndT rudDe othan kronw aso neo f the fivem ajorc ities( oftenr eferretdo as Recent Excavations the Pentapolis) of the Philistines. It is well known from biblical texts, where its political status as a Philistine capital city is clearly delineated in the Book of Joshua atan Urban (13:2-3):" This is the land that yet remains: all the regions of the Philistines ... northwardt o the boundaryo f Ekron, it is reckoned as Canaanite;t here are five rulers of the Philistines, those of Gaza, Border Site Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron."T he city is also referredt o as a focal point for events reputed to have taken place during the Iron I period-the story concerning the capture of the ark (1 Samuel 5:10), Biblical Archaeologist, December 1987 197 Tel Miqne and the Identification of Ekron T Mmd el Miqne (Khirbete l-Muqannac)i s about 22 miles southwest of Jeru- salem. Rising 7 meters above the plain and covering 50 acres, it is the largest mound associated with the inner coastal plain and one of the largest Iron Age sites in Israel. It overlooks an ancient network of highways and is situated on the western edge of the natural and historical frontier zone that separatedP hilistia and Judah. William F. Albright was the first to survey this site in modem times. In 1924, based on ceramic evidence, he identified it with biblical Eltekeh Af (Albright1 924, 1925).H is identification was influenced by three factors. First,h e had alreadyi dentified Qatraa s Ekron( Albright1 923:5).W hen he came to Khirbete l-Muqannach, e was looking for a site to fit the historical and geographicald escription of Eltekeh. Second, while he recognizedt hat Muqannacw as a large site -estimating that in one section it was a quartero f a mile long-he did not comprehendi ts full dimensions. He did not recognize that the 40 acres of the lower tell and a second mound (the Northwest Acropolis),w hich he subsequently identified (correctly)a s the later village of the Byzantine and Islamic periods, were integral parts of the site. Even after the survey by the Israel Department of Antiquities in 1957, in which JosephN aveh mapped the true size of the site and outlined its extensive Iron Age fortifications, he did not accept the identification of the site with Ekron (Albright 1975: 509, note 3). What Albright identified as Eltekeh is what is now known as the Northeast Acropolis, or upper city, of Ekron;t his area has the appearanceo f a Khirbeh and the David and Goliath epic (ruin).F itting in with his identification of a Khirbehw as the site's slight depth (1 Samuel 17:52). The references to of debris, which he noted in his report. He did not know, however,a s we do it in the Bible often reflect the an- today,t hat at least one-thirdo f the height of the tell was maskedb y the buildup tagonism that existed between the of alluvial sediment from the downflow of the Nahal Soreq. The terminus ante quem (the earliest possible date) of this accumulation of alluvial Philistines and the Israelites. Amos sediment falls in the Byzantine period, a calculation based on its latest (1:8), Jeremiah (25:20), Zephaniah ceramic evidence. (2:4), and Zechariah (9:5 and 7) Third, his failure to find any evidence of Late Bronze Age occupation denounce it as a symbol of evil to be strengthenedh is belief that the site was Eltekeh, which is only mentioned in destroyed. In 2 Kings 1:2-16 its god texts from the first half of the first millennium B.C.E. is several times referred to as Bacal- Almost three decades later the researchersf rom the Circle for Historical zebub -that is, "Lordo f the Geography,u sing a set of factors similar to his, reaffirmedA lbright'si denti- Flies'-- a mocking distortion of Baal-zebul, fication of Muqannacw ith Eltekeh (Kallai-Kleinmann1 951, 1952).B y 1953, "Exalted Lord."T hese references however,h is identification of Qatraw ith Ekronw as coming under question. suggest, albeit in a backhanded way, Benjamin Mazar (Maisler 1953) suggested that Ti1 Batash be identified as the importance of the city. Ekronb ecause of historical and geographicf actors.S oon after this, the subject Until recently it was believed was reinvestigatedb y Kallai (Kallai-Kleinmann1 958)i n his work on the town lists of Judah,S imeon, Bejamin, and Dan. Influenced by Mazar,a shift was that Ekron, which most scholars made. Tel Batashw as identified with Timnah and Khirbete l-Muqannacw ith identify with Tel Miqne (Khirbet Ekron.K allaib asedh is new identificationp artly on his reinterpretationo f the el-Muqannac), was founded by the northwest boundaryl ine of Judaha nd the then-recent researcha t Muqannac Philistines. Our excavations now by Naveh, whose 1957 surveyf or the Department of Antiquities really formed show that this is not the case. They the basis of the identification (Naveh 1958: 166-70). It was Natan Aidlin, have also supplied much informa- a member of the nearby Kibbutz Revadim,w ho alerted the Department of tion about a long period in the life of Antiquities to the fact that the site had a huge lower section of 40 acres (Naveh the city. In this paper we would like 1958:9 1). to report what six seasons of excava- Subsequent discussion in the literature has supportedt he identification tion' at Tel Miqne have revealed of T1iM iqne with Ekron,e specially in view of our new perception of the size and strategic location of the tell as we look at biblical and extrabiblicalt exts about Ekron during the Late Bronze (Wright1 966: 76, note 14;A haroni 1979: 270-73). and early Iron periods (part 1) and during the Iron II period (part 2). But, 198 Biblical Archaeologist, December 1987 center of the south face of the lower The Philistines were among the Sea Peoples that first appearedi n the tell. These were opened in order to eastern Mediterraneani n the second half of the thirteenth century B.C.E., plan and date the fortification system and they emerge from biblical and Egyptianh istorical accounts as a strong and the gate of the lower city. Field influence on the history and culture of Palestine. At that time the two major IV is made up of four soundings stra- powers,E gypta nd the Hittites, were politically weak and militarily impotent, and the Sea Peoples exploited the powerv acuum thus createdi n the region by tegically located along a 192-meter invadinga reasp reviouslys ubjectt o Egyptiana ndH ittite control. In wavea fter section line extending from field III wave of land and sea assaults they attacked Syria,P alestine, and even Egypt; across the center of the lower tell the last and mightiest wave, in which the Philistines took part, stormed the to the base of the Northwest Acrop- coast of Palestine at the beginning of the reign of Ramesses III (around olis. In 1986 the sounding in the 1198-1166 B.C.E.)A. ccordingt o Egyptians ources, Ramesses defeated the in- northwest quadrant of field IV was vaders after fierce naval and land battles. Subsequently, according to the expanded horizontally to include an Egyptiana ccount, Ramesses gave them permission to settle on the southern area of 120 square meters. The main coastal plain of Palestine. There they developedi nto an independentp olitical objective in this field was to deter- factor of major importance and constituted a threat to the disunited mine the character of the occupation Canaanite city-states. of the inner city. Field V is a sound- During the same periodt he Israelites,w ho had invadedP alestinef rom the east, were settling in the hill country. From the middle of the twelfth to the ing on the Northwest Acropolis. It end of the eleventh century, they fought with the Philistines for the cultural was done to establish the occupation and political domination of the country.B oth historically and culturally this sequence of the Iron II city. A survey was the Philistines' most flourishing era. Fromt he early tenth century on, the of the tell and adjacent areas was also Philistines steadily declined in importance until they playedn o more than a conducted, for the purpose of map- minor part in the history of Palestine. ping the remains of the oil installa- Note:T hea boveis excerptefdr omD othan( 19821: ).I ti s nowk nownt hati n theI ronI IC tion buildings. period (the seventh century B.C.Et.)h ere was a resurgenceo f Philistine influence, and The sondage of field I indicates Ekron,t ogether with other Philistine cities againb ecame prominent. that the history of Ekron stretches well back beyond the Iron Age. This trench, which has provided the most complete stratified profile of the tell, has yielded pottery of the late Chalcolithic, Early Bronze I-II, and Middle Bronze IIA-C periods in mixed fills and mudbricks from occu- pied phases dating to Late Bronze and Iron I. In general, the site witnessed the following stages. During Late Bronze, Miqne was the site of a Canaanite city-state. Then in the twelfth century B.C.Et.h e Philistines (one of the Sea Peoples) turned it into a large fortified city that en- compassed the entire 50 acres of the tell. Around the tenth century, a dramatic change took place, as the TelM iqne-Ekrona s viewed from the south. city, still fortified, shrank to about 48-meter-long sondage (trench) on 10 acres, concentrated in the North- the slope of the Northeast Acropolis east Acropolis, or upper tell. In the and additional soundings in immedi- seventh century B.C.Et.h e city was ately adjacent areas. Their purpose expanded to include both the upper first, a brief overview of the areas of was to establish the stratigraphic and lower tells, as it became a large excavation and the history of the site profile and occupational history of urban industrial center. Finally, in is in order. the site. Field II is a sounding in the the sixth century B.C.E.M, iqne was Thus far at Tel Miqne evidence southeast corner of the lower tell. the site of a random, unfortified has been gathered in five fields. Field Field III is a large horizontal expo- settlement, with a small occupation I, on the upper tell, is comprised of a sure of 1,080 square meters in the area on the lower tell. Biblical Archaeologist, December 1987 199 Part 1 The Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages TrudeD othan by T he LateB ronzeA ge at Ekron, unknownp riort o the current excavationsh, ase mergeda s ani mpor- tant periodo f occupation.S tratum IX (thee arliests tratifiede videncef or the tell) includesi n its finalp hase a two-rooms tructuret hat clearly hada n industriafl unction.D estroyed by fire,i ts floorw as coveredw ith mudbrickd estructiond ebris.I n its northr oomw e founda n installation consistingo f an inverteds torej ar with a hole in its base;i t was sunken into a white plasterf loora ndc overed with a heavyl ayero f graya sh.B ased Topographicaml ap of TelM iqne-Ekron on ceramicf indst hat includem any showing the five fields currentlyu nder ex- importsf romC yprus( black-on-red cavation, designated with roman numerals. ware,a BaseR ingI Bilbil,M ono- chromeb owls,a ndW hiteS lipI I milk bowls),t his industriali nstal- lationh as been datedt o the fif- teenth-fourteencthen turies B.C.E. Abovet he heavyd estruction 100 layero f stratumI Xi s a sequenceo f threea rchitecturapl hases( stratum VIIIBd) atingt o the fourteenth- thirteenthc enturiesB .C.E.T he earli- S995 est phasec onsistso f a serieso f floors. ' Abovet his, in the next phase,a re "'' architecturafle aturesi, ncludingt wo largea reass eparatedb y a stonew all. Oneo f these is a roomw ith a cobbled floora ndb eatene arths urfacesT. he I Be otheri s a courtyardw, ith a large well-builtp lasteredv at that has a sumpi n its base.T he finalp hase consistso f a roomd ividedb y a mud- I IB-III lOth-7th brickw all.I t was coveredb y a thick ceramicI V Ilth/lOth S V Ilth layer of graya sh and destruction VI 12th debris. This complex yielded Myce- m VII 12th naean IIIBa nd Cypriote imports, as vI VIII 13th well as two Egyptian-stylev essels - o 5 200 Biblical Archaeologist, December 1987 a beer bottle and a bowl. (Such The history of the Canaanite INE and associated exclusively with Egyptian-stylev essels are rarea t city-state at Ekrond uring the Late Mycenaean IIIC:lbp ottery, and the Ekron.)T he pottery assemblage was Bronze, especially as it is repre- second- a reinforcement of the found together with a typical array sented by the diverse group of first- attested in fields I and IIIa nd of plain and painted Canaanite coarse ceramic imports, reflects the inter- associated with the first appearance ware, including an example with the national charactero f the period. Al- of Philistine Bichrome pottery. ibex-and-palm-treem otif. This phase though the sequence of the Late A number of kilns of different also included a single burial; the Bronze city has been exposed only in types (which suggests a large indus- skeleton was lying on its side, with a the field INE sondage, ceramic finds trial area)w as excavatedi n the area large storage jar at its head. Burial from this period are attested in every immediately adjacentt o the city- gifts included a faience seal and a field on the tell, suggesting that this wall in field INE. The best preserved scarabo f Egypt'sN ineteenth Dynasty city may have extended over most of of these was associated with the that were placed on the skull and a its area.T he circumferenceo f the city second-to-the-lastp hase of stratum calcite tazza of Egyptian style that could not be determined from the VII. It is a unique square kiln that was placed near the head. The dis- trial trench alone. To date, no trace has a lower firing box with flues; covery of a burial in this location of fortifications has been found. this is separatedf rom the firing may indicate that the eastern sec- chamber by a mudbrick platform; tion of field INE lies on the periphery The EarlyI ron Age a stoking hole leads into its lower of the Late Bronze city. A major change in the occupation of chamber. Stratum VIIIA,w hich includes a the site is seen in stratum VII.T he An enormous quantity of Myce- sequence of four primarily mudbrick absence of Aegean and Cypriote im- naean IIIC:lbp ottery was found structures, is associated with the ports signals the end of the Canaanite in this area, and neutron activation culmination of the Late Bronze Age settlement. (The cessation of such analysis has shown that it was locally (aroundt he end of the thirteenth imports is generally recognized as a made (Gunneweg,P erlman, Dothan, century B.C.E.T). he final, or highest, hallmark of the termination of the and Gitin 1986). Locally made pot- phase of this stratum has a main Late BronzeA ge in Canaan and tery of this type, associated with room with a cornering of two mud- throughout the eastern Mediterra- kilns of the early Iron Age, has also brick walls and two stone socles nean.) A new pottery type appears- been noted elsewhere in the coastal with mudbrick superstructures. locally made Mycenaean IIIC:lb- Tuyeresi ndicate that there was marking the beginning of Iron I. The bronze-relatedi ndustrial activity stratum is also distinguished by the during this period. On the floor we establishment of industrial kilns found fragments of two large kraters and a well-planned, fortified city in of Anatolian Grey Polished Ware. the first third of the twelfth century These belong to the second-to-last B.C.E. It is possiblet o identify, on the phase of the stratum, and, since this basis of the changes in material cul- ware is not widely encountered in ture, industrial activity, cult prac- Canaan, they hint at the establish- tices, and city planning, a new ethnic ment of new cultural connections group with strong Aegean ties -the for Ekron at the very end of Late Philistines, one of the Sea Peoples. Bronze. (Fora full treatment of the These changes show a strong incli- Anatolian Grey Polished Ware,s ee nation on the part of this group to re- Buchholz 1974.) create as much as possible its home environment in the Aegean world. The city of this period was for- Isometricp lan of field I (on the Northeast tified by a mudbrick wall that was Acropolis).C omparet he selected reference features (indicated by lowercase roman let- 3.25 meters thick. The mudbricks of ters) with those shown in the photograph:( a) the wall contained pottery whose ashlar-facedm udbrick tower;( b)m udbrick latest date is Late Bronze II. Exten- A new pottery type appearsi n stratum VII, city-wall; (c) stone wall separatingr oom with marking the beginning of the Iron I period cobbled floor and beaten earth surfaces from sions of the wall were found along (about 1200 B.C.E.). Locally made and of the courtyardw ith plastered vat; (d) wall line, the tell's northeast and southern form known as Mycenaean mIC:lb, this possibly inner wall of double-wall system; (e) crests, indicating that the Iron I city pottery suggests the appearancea t Ekrono f a plastered vat; (f)s tone socle; (g)s quare kiln; new ethnic group with strongA egean ties- (h)p art of citadel tower;a nd (i) shrine. (See occupied the entire 50 acres of the the Philistines, one of the Sea Peoples.N ote part 2 of this article for discussion of features tell. Two fortification phases were the distinctive decoration on these sherds, in strata IB-III.) observed:t he earliest attested in field which were found in field INE. Biblical Archaeologist, December 1987 201