Archaeological Sources for the History of Palestine: Between Large Forces: Palestine in the

Hellenistic Period
Author(s): Andrea M. Berlin
Source: The Biblical Archaeologist, Vol. 60, No. 1, Hellenistic Palestine: Between Large Forces
(Mar., 1997), pp. 2-51
Published by: The American Schools of Oriental Research
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3210581
Accessed: 11/08/2009 18:00
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p
p
a b
A
U
a b
S
Al
0
Ik
,l s
stI-...
4 s .
The S idonia n tomb a t Ma resha h: the interior of the centra l ha l l of
the
l a rgest
a nd most
el a b ora tel y
decora ted of the
p a inted
tomb s
found a t Ma resha h. The
doorwa y
a t the rea r l ea ds to three
individua l
l a rge cha mb ers; the l intel of the southern one ca rries the
ep ita p h
of
Ap ol l op ha nes,
who l ed the town's S idonia n
col ony.
The
tomb 's
p a inted
friezes incl ude b oth rea l a nd fa nta stic a nima l s, some
of which a re na med
("l eop a rd," "ib is"), wrea ths, ea gl es,
a nd ta b l es
ca rrying p rize oil -a mp hora s-these
l a st a re model ed on the fa mous
Pa na thena ic
a mp hora s
of Athens. Photo
b y
Richa rd T. Nowitz.
?i` 4
9
i'
...
*' A
r
r
? ?
I
Ifj
r?r
in the Hel l enistic Period
By Andrea M. Berl in
IN 332 BCEALEXANDERTHEGREATLEDHIS ARMYS OUTHFROM
Cil icia towa rds
Egyp t. Al though
his ul tima te
goa l
wa s
Persep ol is,
the
ca p ita l
of the Persia n
emp ire,
he rea l ized
tha t
p roceeding
there
directl y
woul d
op en
his fl a nk to
a tta ck from the southwestern Persia n
sa tra p ies. Egyp t
wa s
the
strongest
of
these,
from b oth a
mil ita ry
a nd a n economic
sta ndp oint,
a nd its
conquest
coul d not b e
del a yed.
Al exa n-
der thus turned down the Via Ma risa nd l ed his Ma cedonia n
forces
through
Phoenicia ,
the coa sta l
p l a in
of
Pa l estine,
a nd the northern stretchesof
S ina i. With this
juncture
of Pa l estine
p ossesses
a l so
mil ita ry
a nd
top ogra p hica l
ha rb ors, wel l -situa ted,
coincidence,
the Persia n which
sup p l y
its
needs,
tha t
p eriod
in Pa l estineended a nd a t Asca l on a nd
Jop p a ,
a nd
the Hel l enistic
p eriod b ega n.
Ga za a s wel l a s
Ptol ema is,
An historica l
p eriod
is founded
b y
the
king....
usua l l y
del inea ted
b y sp e-
cific
p ol itica l
events,
which Letterof Aristea s 115
often do not a ffect or coin-
cidewith thecontinua l eddies
a nd swirl s of
ordina ry
l ife. In
the ca se of the Hel l enistic
p eriod,
its
ina ugura l
a nd sub se-
quent mil ita ry
cl a shes
comp rise
the b ul k of most historica l
reconstructions. In orderto a ssess wha t l ife wa s
a ctua l l y
l ike
in Hel l enistic
Pa l estine, however,
the ful l
ra nge
of the a rcha e-
ol ogica l
evidence a l so needs to b e
incorp ora ted.
This
study
p resents
the
p eriod's
ma teria l a nd a rchitectura l
rema ins,
a na -
l yzes cha nges
in settl ement
p a tterns,
a nd eva l ua tes ea ch
region's
ma teria l
cul ture,
in order to understa nd how the
inha b ita nts in va rious
p a rts
of the
country
l ived,
a nd how
their l ives
cha nged. Looking
outside of the historia n's
a go-
nistic
fil ter,
the
country a p p ea rs
to ha ve b een
l a rgel y p ea ceful .
Up
until theend of this
p eriod,
most residentsb eca meincrea s-
ingl y wea l thy
a nd
cosmop ol ita n.
The most common effect
of the
ma ny ca mp a igns fought
in a nd over the
region
wa s
simp l y
the a b a ndonment or
rep op ul a tion
of certa in a rea s.
Lifestyl es
a nd routes of
excha nge
continued in the
p a tterns
of
p revious
centuries,
b eca use
they
were ordered
b y
two
forces more funda menta l a nd
l ong-l ived
tha n b a ttl e forma -
tions: commercia l
op p ortunity
a nd
rel igious
a ffil ia tion.
Ba ckground:
Deva sta tion a nd
Recovery
(586-30 1 BCE)
Al exa nder the Grea t woul d
p rob a b l y
ta ke
p oorl y
to the
notion tha t his werenot thedecisive
ca mp a igns
in this
region's
history.
Neverthel ess,
the
a rcha eol ogica l
record is
unequiv-
oca l : the era 's most
deva sta ting
events were the
Assyria n
a nd
Ba b yl onia n conquests
of Isra el a nd
Juda h
in the l a te
eighth
a nd
ea rl y
sixth centuriesBCE. Theirb a ttl es l eft a swa th
of ma teria l effl uvium in the form of ma ssive destruction
dep osits (e.g., La chish)
a nd
Wel l ,
ours is not a ma r- col l ectionsof
wea p onry (e.g.,
itime
country;
neither
Jerusa l em).
The
b roa dl y
commerce nor the inter-
dep op ul a ted
zonesof S a ma ria
course which it
p romotes
a nd
Judea
refl ect the conse-
with the outside worl d ha s quent exil es of thousa nds of
a ny
a ttra ction for us.
p eop l e.
These two huma n-
ma de events ca rried theforce
Josep hus,
Contra of na tura l
disa ster,
a t l ea st
Ap ionem
1.60
p a rtia l l y severing
the devel -
op menta l
continuum of the
p receding
centuries. The
p a t-
terns of the next centuries woul d b e determined
b y
the form
a nd direction of the eventua l
recovery.
Tha t
recovery
ca me from two different
sources,
for two
different rea sons. Tra dersa nd col onizerswere the first
source,
coming b y
sea ,
some from the Greek
worl d,
b ut most from
Phoenicia . The entire
l ength
of the Pa l estinia n coa st wa s in
fa ct divied
up
b etween the southern Phoenicia n cities of
Tyre
a nd
S idon,
a
p ol itica l l y
cl ever ma china tion on the
p a rt
of the
Persia n
king.
S o the
jurisdiction
of
Tyre
extended a s fa rsouth
a s Akko (a nd its
hinterl a nd),
whil e the
p l a in
b etween Dor
a nd
Jop p a
wa s
S idonia n,
a nd Ashkel on wa s
a ga in
under
Tyr-
ia n control
(E.
S tern
1982:238-43; 1995a :432).
In this
ma nner,
the Pa l estinia n coa sta l
p l a in
wa s
rep op ul a ted,
turn-
ing
itsfa cea nd
tying
itsfa teto thecurrentsof theMediterra nea n.
The cities
dep ended
on the
a gricul tura l
hea l th of their ter-
ritories for
sub sistence,
b ut
up on
sma l l
industry
a nd tra de
for their
p rosp erity.
The Persia n a dministra tion in the ea st
p rovided
the
second source of
recovery.
Benificent a nd tol era nt rul ers
Bib l ica l
Archa eol ogist
60 :1 (1997) 3
singl ed
out the
Jews
for
rep a tria tion, a l l owing
the exil es to
return to
Juda h
a nd
Jerusa l em.
There
they
reb uil t not
onl y
the
temp l e,
b ut
significa ntl y
a l so the
city
wa l l s. The
Jews
con-
stituted a
rel igious
encl a ve,
with theirl ives centered a round
the reb uil t
temp l e
a nd its
p rescrib ed
ritesa nd duties.
Beyond
sub sistence
fa rming, they p ursued onl y
those cra ftswhose
p roducts
were of ritua l use
(see
l ist of
p rofessions
in Neh
3).
The
a rcha eol ogica l
rema insof the Persia n
p eriod
a rethus
understa nda b l y
of two sorts. On the
coa st,
settl ement con-
centra ted in cities a nd
l a rge vil l a ges, incl uding Na ha riya ,
Akko,
S hiqmona ,
Dor,
Tel
Mikhmoret,
Tel
Micha l ,
Jop p a ,
Ya vneh-Ya m,
Tel
Mor, Ashdod, Ashkel on,
a nd Ga za . These
were
b ustl ing
with va rious sma l l
industries,
incl uding dye
insta l l a tions
(found
a t
Dor,
Tel
Micha l ,
Ap ol l onia -Arsuf,
a nd
Tel
Mor),
wine
p resses (found
a t Tel
Micha l ),
a nd commer-
cia l storehouses
(found
a t
Ashkel on).
Mediterra nea n tra ders
ca me a nd
went,
b ringing b ea utiful l y p a inted p ottery
from
Athens a nd ea st
Greece,
scul p ture
from
Cyp rus,
meta l a nd
ivory
ha ndiwork from
Phoenicia -goods
tha t enl ivened the
ma teria l worl d of these coa sta l settl ements
(S ta ger
1991a ;
E. S tem
1993,1995a ).
In the centra l
hil l s,
on the other
ha nd,
there wa s b ut
one
city: Jerusa l em.
S ma l l fa rmstea ds dotted the
region;
set-
tl ement wa s
fra gmented
a nd
disp ersed;
few
vil l a ges
ca n
b e identified. This a rea 's ma teria l rema ins were
p oor
a nd
simp l e,
the
b uil dings l a rgel y
una dorned.
Lifestyl es
were
untouched
b y
the
sop histica ted goods
a va il a b l ein the coa sta l
p l a in (E.
S tem
1981).
Thiswa s the scena rio in the
da ys
b eforeAl exa nder's
a rmy
swep t through
the l a nd. And a fterthe fl a mes died down a nd
the dust ha d
settl ed,
this is the
p a ttern
tha t
l a rgel y
rea sserted
itsel f.
S til l Wa ters: A
S ub ject
La nd
(331-20 0 BCE)
Al exa ndermet his
ob jective
of
sub duing
a nd
ta king Egyp t
in
332/1 BCE.
Reversing
his route of the
p revious yea r,
he
ma de for
Persep ol is
a s
directl y
a s
p ossib l e.
This took him
b a ck
through
Pa l estine,
where he
stop p ed just l ong enough
to
a ssign
a second new
governor
to the formerPersia n sa tra -
p a l
sea t a t S a ma ria .
According
to one a ncient
source,
unha p p y
residents ha d kil l ed his first
a p p ointee,
one Androma chus
(Curtius
Rufus
4.8.9-10 ).
The
reb el s,
who ha d fl ed
up on
Al exa nder's
return,
were hunted down a nd kil l ed in turn.
Thiswe know from
a rcha eol ogica l
finds: their
rema ins,
a l ong
with some
p ottery, l ega l
documents,
a nd two officia l
b ul l a e,
were found
b y
a Bedouin in
1962,
in a ca ve in the Wa di ed-
Da l iyeh,
some mil es north of
Jericho (La p p
a nd
La p p
1974).
Al exa nder took a nd b urned
Persep ol is
within the
yea r,
a nd continued ea st to
India ,
where his
a rmy
refused to
go
a ny
further.
Reversing a ga in,
he
got
a s fa r a s
Ba b yl on.
His
dea th there in 323
ignited
a firestorm of ta ctica l ma neuver-
ing b y
his
genera l s
tha t l a sted for the next
twenty-two yea rs.
Phoenicia a nd Pa l estine were
p a rticul a rl y
coveted,
for
theirrol e a s a
geogra p hica l
b uffera s wel l a s forthe economic
strength
of their coa sta l cities a nd ha rb ors. It wa s not until
An Outstretched Ha nd:
Ptol ema ic Economic Pol icies
For most residents of Pa l estine
during
the third
century
BCE, l ivel ihood wa s a ffected
b y
a t l ea st one of three
a dministra tive
p ol icies:
the
regul a tion
a nd
hea vy
ta xa tion
imp osed
on a l l commercia l
excha nge;
ta x
fa rming;
a nd
roya l
ownership
of
good a gricul tura l
l a nd
("King's La nd").
Whil e
this l a st wa s in
l a rge p a rt
inherited from the
p revious
Persia n
a dministra tion,
the first two were Ptol ema ic innova tions.
Ta xa tion
regul a tions
a re
p a rticul a rl y interesting
for wha t
informa tion
they p rovide
on
regiona l
commercia l a ctivities.
One of the Zenon
p a p yri (P.
Ca iro Zen.
59.0 12)
conta ined a
deta il ed a ccount of
goods imp orted
into
Egyp t
from
S yria ,
a ccording
to the ra tes of ta xes
l evied,
resp ectivel y 50 %, 33h %,
25%, a nd 20 %
(Austin 1981:40 7-10 ).
The l ist
nota b l y
incl uded
items from a round the
Aegea n, imp orted
a nd
reship p ed
from
Phoenicia ,
e.g.,
the
honey
is
sp ecified
a s from
Thea ngel a ,
Rhodes, Attica , Lycia ,
a nd Cora cesia . The
va riety
of
goods
emp ha sizes
the
imp orta nt p osition
of this coa st in the ea stern
Mediterra nea n
economy.
Items ta xed a t 50 %
gra p e syrup
fil tered wine
ordina ry
wine
white oil
Items ta xed a t 33 % %
Chia n wine
Tha sia n wine
dried
figs
Items ta xed a t 25%
Chia n cheese
fish
(dried, p ickl ed, sa l ted)
wil d b oa r mea t
Goa t-mea t
S a mia n ea rth
nuts
(Pontic
a nd
"ha rd")
p omegra na te
seeds
sp onges (ha rd
a nd
soft)
honey
Items ta xed a t 20 %
p ure
wool
30 1 tha t
something
of a settl ement wa s concl uded. Two of
these
genera l s, Ptol emy
a nd
S el eucus,
ha d ta ken
Egyp t
a nd
Asia ,
resp ectivel y. They
divided the intermedia te zone
b etween
them,
with
Ptol emy hol ding
Pa l estine a nd south-
ern/centra l Phoenicia (a s
fa rnorth a s
Ara dus)
a nd S el eucus
control l ing
northern Phoenicia a nd
S yria .
Limited b ut vivid
a rcha eol ogica l
evidence of these skir-
mishes rema insin theform of
confl a gra tion
l evel s a t Ashkel on
a nd Dor. These a ttest to the
imp orta nce
va rious
genera l s
p l a ced up on
coa sta l
hol dings.
More
imp ressive,
however,
is
the a l most immedia te return to comfort a nd
p rosp erity
throughout
this
region.
Commercia l
op p ortunities
resumed,
a fforded
b y
tra de in
imp orted goods
a nd the
p roducts
of
l oca l
a gricul ture(incl uding
whea t a nd
wine)
a nd sma l l indus-
try (e.g., p urp l e dye).
After their
ta keover,
the Ptol emies did
imp ose
a new a nd
rigorous
economic
p ol icy
tha t ta xed most
commercia l
tra nsa ctions,
incl uding
the
excha nge
of a wide
a rra y
of
goods (see
a b ove
b ox).
In
Egyp t
itsel f,
Ptol emy
I
esta b l ished a n officia l
dep ot
for
receiving
Pa l estinia n
4 Bib l ica l
Archa eol ogist
60 :1 (1997)
Coin of
Ptol emy I:
a sil vertetra dra chm
found a t Dor.
Ptol emy's
initia l
coina ge
ca rried
the
ima ge
of Al exa nder
on the
ob verse, a nd the
Ptol ema ic
ea gl e
on the
reverse.
Beginning
in
30 1
BCE, however, he
rep l a ced
Al exa nder's
p rofil e
with hisown,
crea ting
a dra ma tic
sta tement of
indep endent p ower
a nd
imp eria l p osition.
Photo
courtesy
E.
S tern.
V
Dor'sfortifica tion
wa l l
dep icted
in this
gra p hic
reconstruction.
Buil t overa n ea rl ier
wa l l l ine, this thrid-
century
BCEconstruction
wa s
esp ecia l l y
formida b l e, mea suring
two m wide a t its
height.
From S tern
1995b :
fig.
4.3.
p roducts
a t Pel usium a nd sta tioned a
sp ecia l sup ervisor
for "therevenues of
S yria
a nd Phoenicia " in Al exa ndria
(b oth
a rementioned in the Zenon
p a p yri,
which recount a n
Egyp t-
ia n officia l 's "tour of
duty"
in
260 /59
BCE).
In Phoenicia
a nd
Pa l estine,
new customs houses were b uil t a t Akko
(now
rena med
Ptol ema is)
a nd
Ga za ,
a nd Ptol ema ic coins were
minted a t
Ga za ,
Jop p a , Akko-Ptol ema is,
Tyre,
a nd S idon
(Morkhol m 1983:242).
Thenew control sha d l ittl eorno
da mp -
ening
effect on the settl ement a nd
economy
of the coa sta l
region.
At a l most
every
site with Persia n
p eriod
settl e-
ment,
occup a tion continued,
uninterrup ted
in
cha ra cter,
into
the
fol l owing century.
Exca va tions ha ve revea l ed ma teria l
p rosp erity
a nd b roa d
tra ding
connections.
At
Ashkel on,
three
l a rge
b l ocks of vil l a s rose in a n a rea
of former sea side wa rehouses. Exca va tors unea rthed wine
a mp hora s
from Rhodes a nd
Ita l y
a nd fine
gl a zed
ta b l ewa res
from
Greece,
Ita l y,
a nd Chios. At Tel
Mor,
the ha rb orsettl e-
ment forthecoa sta l town of
Ashdod,
a rcha eol ogists
uncovered
a
sump tuous
residentia l a rea with numerous insta l l a tions
for
p urp l e dye
ma nufa cture. Fa rther
up
the
coa zt a t
Dor, res-
idents reb uil t a
huge
residentia l district
p recisel y tra cing
the
orthogona l
street
p l a n
a nd wa l l l ines of the Persia n
p eriod
houses. Construction
a dop ted
a distinctive Phoenicia n
styl e
ca l l ed
"p ier-a nd-rub b l e,"
in which ta l l monol ithic a shl a rs
a l terna ted with
tightl y p a cked
stonefil l s. In a ddition to
houses,
third
century
rema insincl uded streetsof
shop fronts
a nd tool s
a nd insta l l a tions for the ma nufa cture of cl oth a nd of
p ur-
p l e dye.
The
city's
residents
enjoyed
a
p a rticul a rl y
rich ma teria l
cul ture: theirta b l eswere set with fine
imp orted
dishes; their
p a ntries
were fil l ed with wine
a mp hora s
from Rhodes a nd
Knidos;
a nd their
p ersona l
effectsincl uded
--
~ea ea rrings
a nd
rings
of
gol d
a nd sil vera nd
p enda nts
of fa ience a nd b one in a n
=
~~
Egyp to-Phoenicia n styl e.
Dorha d b een a
dep endency
of S idon
ro ^=
m
in
the Persia n
p eriod,
a nd its Phoencia n
connections rema ined
strong
even a fter
^"
" (IJ
8 the
region
ca me under Ptol ema ic rul e.
--~ ~ W y
The city's new fortifica tion wa l l rep re-
sented the
onl y significa nt p hysica l
,*
j/
/ cha nge. Al l p revious defensive l ines ha d
b een of Phoenicia n construction tech-
O e X/ /D
niques,
themost recent
reb uil ding coming
a fter the S idonia n revol t from the Per-
sia ns in 348 BCE. A
century
l a ter,
though
this wa l l wa s stil l
sta nding,
a new one
wa s
b uil t, in a different
technique.
The
Hel l enisticwa l l wa s constructed
entirel y
of
stone,
mostl y
one-meter
l ong
kurka r
b l ocks l a id with their na rrowends fa c-
ing
out
(a styl e
ca l l ed "hea der"
construction).
A series of
l a rge squa re
towers
p rojected
out from the wa l l a t
forty
meterinterva l s. Exca va tionsin one
wa l l sector uncovered ma teria l of the
mid-third
century
BCEsea l ed
b el ow,
Bib l ica l
Archa eol ogist
60 :1 (1997) 5
da ting
its construction
shortl y
therea fter
(E.
S tem 1995:440 -
41).
S outhern Pa l estine
p ossessed
a numb er of settl ements
p rior
to Al exa nder's
conquest, mostl y
in the
S hep hel a h.
S ev-
era l
l a rge
storehouse
sites,
incl uding
Tel l
Jemmeh,
Tel l
Na gil a ,
a nd Tel l el -Hesi
occcup ied
this
region
of l ow hil l s
a dja cent
to the coa sta l
p l a in.
In the course of the
up hea vel s
of the
fourth
century
BCE,
these
sites,
in
conjuction
with
Ashkel on,
then the a rea 's
ma jor
ha rb or,
ha d ta ken on a dditiona l stra te-
gicimp orta nce.
Thea dministra tive
cha nges
of the
Egyp t-b a sed
Ptol emies ca used some shifts in the settl ement
p a tterns
a nd l oca l economies of b oth this a rea a nd the
a dja cent
ones
of the northern
Negev
a nd Iduma ea . The
devel op ment
of
Ga za a s the
region's ma jor
merca ntil e center wa s the most
imp orta nt cha nge.
The
city's
numisma tic record wel l il l us-
tra tes this situa tion: its third
century
BCEissues numb ered
eight
different
typ es (Ra p p a p ort 1970 ).
Ga za 's new-found
sta tusis furtherrefl ected
b y
the Zenon
p a p yri,
in which
every
l ong-dista nce
ca ra va n mentioned comes a nd
goes
from the
site.
Presuma b l y
its wa rehouse fa cil ities woul d ha ve ob vi-
a ted those a t
Jemma h, Na gil a ,
a nd Hesi. Exca va tionsa t ea ch
of these sites ha ve found l ittl e or no evidence of
occup a -
tion l a ter tha n the l a ter fourth
century
(on
Hesi see most
recentl y Betl yon 1991:40 -43).
The Ga za customs house served a s a
p rotected
a nd ded-
ica ted outl et to the l ucra tive
Egyp tia n
ma rket,
in which
dema nd wa s
esp ecia l l y high
for
whea t, oil , wine,
sp ices,
a nd
sl a ves (a s
a mp l y
refl ected in the Zenon
p a p yri).
In
a p p a rent
resp onse
to this
op p ortunity,
a
string
of new settl ements
a p p ea red
a t this time
a l ong
the
Negev's
northern rim. S ur-
veys
a nd exca va tionsha ve identified third
century
BCErema ins
a t
Nessa na , El usa , Ob oda ,
a nd
Moya t
cAwa d
(Mo)a ).
This
l a st wa s a sma l l
fortress,
interp reted
a s a
gua rd
sta tion a nd
stop over
on the route from Petra to Ga za . In
fa ct,
a l l of these
new
Negev
sites were roa d
sta tions,
founded a nd
p eop l ed
b y
Na b a tea ns-a fol k who
just
now entered the historica l
record
(Negev 1977:522-27).
Diodorus
S icul us,
quoting Hierony-
mus of Ca rdia 's
descrip tion
from theend of thefourth
century
BCE,
del inea tes Na b a tea n
territory
a s the ea stern sectorof the
region
b etween
Egyp t
a nd
S yria .
He identifiessome Na b a tea ns
a s
p a stora l ists, ra ising
ca mel s a nd
sheep ,
b ut
ma ny
more
a s
tra ders,
"a ccustomed to
b ring
down to the sea fra nkin-
cense a nd
myrrh
a nd the most va l ua b l e kinds of
sp ices"
(Diodorus
S icul us
19.94.4-5).
In
Iduma ea ,
new or
newl y enl a rged
settl ements
a p p ea red
in the third
century
BCEa s wel l . This a rea wa s
underp op u-
l a ted in the Persia n
p eriod;
the
devel op ment
of Ptol ema ic
ma rketsl ed to its economic tra nsforma tion. At
Aderet,
a sa l -
va ge
exca va tion in 1980 revea l ed a
l a rge
fa rm,
newl y
b uil t
in the third
century
BCE
(the
da te is b a sed on coins a nd
p ot-
tery found).
Insta l l a tionsincl uded
p resses
forb oth wine a nd
ol ive oil . At Khirb et
el -Qom,
a sma l l
vil l a ge
site,
diggers
found six ostra ca from the l a te fourth a nd
ea rl y
third cen-
turies BCEon the
p a cked
ea rth fl oor of a house exca va ted in
a
sa l va ge op era tion
in 1971. Al l were
a p p a rentl y
b usiness
dockets. The
l ongest p ossessed
nine l ines a nd wa s written
k M P- 7'
0
c
I' H 7o(1C0 CqUtA
60 a
o
0 1
fol T
40
C
r
Kh. el -Q6m
b il ingua l
ostra con.
Using
a
l a rge,
fl a ttish
p ottery
fra gment, p rob a b l y
from a
stora geja r,
a third
century
BCEwriter
recorded this l oa n a nd
receip t
in Ara ma ica nd Greek, resp ectivel y.
In
ea ch
l a ngua ge,
the first l ine recordsthe da te
("Yea r6"),
a nd the l a st
l inethe a mount (32 dra chma s).
Themiddl eof the Ara ma icsection
recordstha t "Q6s-Ya da the
money-l ender
l oa ned to Nikera tos"; the
middl eof the Greek
sa ys
tha t "Nikera tosreceived from Koside." Yea r
6 refersto the
reign
of
Ptol emy
II
Phil a del p hus, giving
a da te of 277
BCE.
Dra wing
from
Gera ty
1975:56.
in b oth Ara ma ic a nd Greek in the sixth
yea r
of
Ptol emy
II,
i.e. 277 BCE. It recorded a l oa n of
thirty-two
dra chma s from
a n Iduma ea n
shop keep er/moneyl ender
na med
Qos-ya da
to a Greek na med Nikera tos. Both the
sub ject
a nd the l a n-
gua ge
of thisostra con a re
imp orta nt:
thefirst
p rovidesp rima ry
evidence for the moneta riza tion of the l oca l
economy,
a nd
the second il l ustra testhe
region'smul til ingua l
cha ra cter
(Ger-
a ty 1975).
Themost
imp ressive
settl ement of third
century
Iduma ea
wa s Ma resha h
(Ma risa ). Though
not a new
esta b l ishment,
Ma resha h wa s neither
l a rge
nor of
a ny
economic
imp orta nce
p rior
to the Ptol ema ic settl ement.
By
the mid third
century
BCE, however,
Ma resha h ha d b ecome
thriving
ma rket
town;
in the Zenon
p a p yri
sl a ves,
gra in,
a nd oil were
b ought
a nd
sol d there. This new sta tus resul ted
directl y
from the site's
l oca tion. Ma resha h sa t a b out
forty-five
km from
Ga za ,
a n
ea sy da y's journey
inl a nd-convenient forb oth tra dersa nd
government
officia l s en route to a nd from tha t
ma jorp ort.
Moreover,
a s a n esta b l ished
stop
on the
wa y
to sites fur-
ther
ea st,
it a nchored a n "officia l " ea st-west
roa d,
roughl y
p a ra l l el
to a nd
onl y
a b out
fifty
km north of the Na b a tea n
desert route.
Though
the texts do not mention
it,
a rcha eo-
l ogica l
finds ma ke cl ea rtha t Ma resha h served a l so a s a vita l
6 Bib l ica l
Archa eol ogist
60 :1 (1997)
I)n b
>t>
^
Ma risa , southern house, reconstruction. This
cut-a wa y
reconstruction
dra wing
il l ustra tes
fea turessha red
b y
most of the Hel l enistic
housesa t Ma risa : side-street entra nce
wa y,
centra l ,op en-a ircourtya rd, cl a ssica l -styl e
stucco
p il a sters,ca p a ciousup p erstorey.
Al so
visib l eisthe
op en
sta irwel l
descending
to
the
qua rried-out
ca ve b el owthe house.
Thesesub terra nea n
sp a ces
were used a s
cisterns, a s wel l a s for
stora ge rooms, ol ive
p resses,
a nd col umb a ria
(forra ising
p igeons).
From NEAEHL, s.v.Ma resha h.
Ma risa , underground
col umb a rium. Thisviewinsideone of the
col umb a ria ca rved
underground
a t Ma risa showsthe
nea tl y
sta cked
roosting
hol estha t
p rovided b reeding sp a ce
for
p igeons.
Moretha n
sixty
such col umb a ria ha ve b een found a t
Ma risa ;
the numb erof
nichesis b etween
fifty
a nd
sixty
thousa nd. Exca va tion ha sshown
tha t the
industry
decl ined
a l rea dy
towa rdsthe end of the third
centuryBCE, a nd
b y
the
b eginning
of the second
century
the
col umb a ria were eithera b a ndoned ortra nsformed into sta b l es.
From
NEAEHL,
s.v. Ma resha h.
p oint
in the
country's
southern defensive l ine
(see further,
b el ow).
Ma resha h wa s one of the first Hel l enistic sites to b e exca -
va ted in Pa l estine. Bl iss a nd Ma ca l ister
p a rtia l l y
cl ea red the
a crop ol is
in 190 0 .Afew
yea rs
l a terexca va torsdiscovered a nd
cl ea ned severa l
group s
of Hel l enistic
p a inted
tomb s;
these
rema in b oth the most exotic a nd most
imp orta nt
Hel l enistic
necrop ol i
to ha ve b een found in Pa l estine
(see
further
b el ow).
As with most ol d exca va tion
sites, however,
for
yea rs
a l l tha t
coul d b e seen of this once vita l town were
rol l ing
fiel ds of
wil dfl owers a nd occa siona l
outcrop s
of the
underl ying
soft,
cha l ky
l imestone,
or na ri. Tha t is no
l onger
the ca se: since
1988,
renewed exca va tions ha ve revea l ed a
l a rge
a nd
p ros-
p erous
town,
with a ma teria l
p rosp erity
a nd a b unda nce of
"western"
goods
tha t
p l a ce
its residentson thesa me economic
a nd cul tura l
footing
a s those of Ashkel on a nd Dor.In the third
century,
Ma resha h a nchored a n Iduma ea tha t wa s a n exten-
sion of thecoa sta l
region,
with commercia l
op p ortunitydefining
the
economy
of its settl ements.
Toda y
visitors to Ma resha h ca n
p a ss b y
the wil d fl owers
a nd on into some of the
l a rge,wel l -equip p ed
houses tha t sur-
round thel ower
sl op es
a nd b ottom of the
a crop ol is.
Inha b ita nts
b uil t these houses of b l ocks of the l oca l na ri a nd
a rra nged
them in rows of threeor
four,
with
p a rty
wa l l s b etween them.
Their
p l a ns
a re
typ ica l l y
Leva ntine,
with windowl ess exte-
rior wa l l s a nd a centra l
courtya rd op en
to the
high b right
sun. Thehouses conta ined a n unusua l fea turesitua ted to one
side of the
courtya rd:
a sma l l
step p ed p l a stered
b a sin tha t
ma y
ha ve functioned
simp l y
a s a
semi-p riva te
b a th or ha d
ritua l uses. Other interior
a rra ngements
refl ected Mediter-
ra nea n ta stes: stucco Ionic
p il a sters
a nd b ea ded
moul dings
a dorned
courtya rd
wa l l s,
a nd
p a ntries
were l oa ded with
wine
a mp hora s imp orted
from
Aegea n
isl a nds. A
high
p rop ortion
of the househol d
p ottery, esp ecia l l y
the ta b l e
wa res
(such
a s
p l a tes,
b owl s,
a nd
drinking cup s),
wa s
imp orted
Bib l ica l
Archa eol ogist
60 :1 (1997) 7
a s
wel l ,
p rob a b l y
from
Al exa ndria ,
though good l oca l l y
p roduced
imita tions a l so
a p p ea red.
The most
fa scina ting discovery
of the new exca va tions
wa s the extent a nd
a rra ngement
of the town's
underground
l evel s. Inside ea ch
house,
a sma l l centra l
sta irwa y
descended
into a
va st,
interconnected series of
cha mb ers,
comp rising
a b a sement
l iving system unique
to Ma resha h. Residents
a p p a rentl y
situa ted theirhouses
immedia tel y
over
qua rried-
out
cha mb ers,
which
they
then used for a dditiona l
rooms,
b a thing
insta l l a tions,
a nd ritua l
sp a ces;
a s
sta b l es, cisterns,
a nd
dry stora ge
hol ds;
a nd to house oil
p resses.
Other sub -
terra nea n cha mb ers,
nea rb y
b ut
unconnected,
were used
a s col umb a ria
(dovecotes).
In
fa ct,
much of Ma resha h'sunder-
ground
l evel s wa s
given
over to
workings
for two of the
town's
ma jor
industries-ol ive oil
p roduction
a nd the ra is-
ing
of doves. The sa l e of
p roducts
from the cha mb ers
b el ow a t l ea st
p a rtia l l y sup p orted
the
p rosp erity
evident in
the houses a b ove.
These finds
a ugment
the evidence for the l oca l
economy
given
in theZenon
p a p yri.
Ma resha h ma nufa ctured a tremen-
dous
qua ntity
of ol ive oil : more tha n
twenty
b ea m
p resses
ha ve b een
found,
with a n estima ted a nnua l
outp ut
of 270
tons of oil . In orderto
sup p l y
the
necessa ry
fruit,
most of the
surrounding
hil l s must ha ve b een
p l a nted
in ol ive
trees,
a nd
a
significa nt p rop ortion
of the town's residents must ha ve
b een
occup ied
in va rious
a sp ects
of the
p roduction.
The
ma g-
nitude of dove
b reeding
wa s a l so
a stounding:
more tha n
sixty
col umb a ria ha ve b een
identified,
conta ining
in a l l some
fifty
to
sixty
thousa nd niches in which individua l b irds coul d
roost. Doves were
commonl y
ra ised in
Egyp t
since
Dyna s-
tic times (a nd
the
p ra ctice
continued wel l into the Roma n
p eriod);
a t
Ma resha h,
the
industry
wa s
p rob a b l y devel op ed
under Ptol ema ic
a usp ices.
This woul d
exp l a in why
most
of the dovecotes went out of use a t the end of the third or the
b eginning
of the second
century
BCE,
since it is
p recisel y
a t
thistime tha t control of the
country p a ssed
from thePtol emies
to the S el eucids.
Thenew exca va tionsha ve a l so tra ced the extent a nd cl a r-
ified the
da ting
of the town's fortifica tion
system.
Buil ders
erected a
huge
a nd
deep -founded
tower a t the northwest
corner of the
a crop ol is, p a rt
of a defensive l ine
a l ong
the
entire north
side,
in ca . 30 0 BCE. This
ea rl y
da te,
just
a few
deca des a fterthe dea th of
Al exa nder,
ma kes this one of the
very
first defensive structures b uil t
b y Ptol emy
I. Its con-
struction is understa nda b l e in
l ight
of Ma resha h's
stra tegic
situa tion. The site not
onl y
served a s a southern b ul wa rk
a ga inst p ossib l e
Na b a ta ea n
hostil ity p ushing
north from the
desert,
b ut it
p rotected
ea st-west a ccess from the coa st. The
fortified
a crop ol is
a t Ma resha h l ies a t the western end of a
l ine
l inking
the coa st to the Dea d S ea .
Continuing
ea st,
a tra v-
el er
(or group
of
sol diers)
coul d a rrive next a t Beth Zur
a nd then Ara d. Both sites witnessed new defensive con-
structions in the third
century
BCE.
Throughout
the third
century
BCE,
the centra l hil l s con-
tinued forthemost
p a rt thinl y p op ul a ted.
Thema teria l cul ture
of their few settl ements wa s
l a rgel y
uninfl uenced
b y
the
Pl a n of
Qa l a ndiyeh.
Thesize a nd
a rra ngement
of
b uil dings
a t
Qa l a ndiyeh
revea l a communa l settl ement
orga nized
a round
sp ecific
a ctivities. In theirea rl ier
p ha ses,
Area sCa nd F
(southern
a nd centra l )
were
equip p ed
forthe ma nufa cturea nd
stora ge
of wine. Towa rds
the end of the
p eriod, however, b oth a rea sb eca me
p ens
for
sheep
a nd ca ttl e. Pl a n from NEAEHL, s.v.
Qa l a ndiyeh.
el a b ora te
a rra y
of
goods
a va il a b l e on the coa st
(Ha rrison
1994:10 6-7).
As in the
p receding p eriod, p a tterns
of settl e-
ment a nd
industry dep ended
more on
rel igious
a ffil ia tion
ra ther tha n
simp l e
economic
op p ortunity. Jerusa l em
con-
tinued to b e the
onl y city
in
Judea ,
a nd the
a rcha eol ogica l
evidence shows it to ha ve b een sma l l a nd
ma teria l l y
ra ther
p oor throughout
the third
century (Aviga d 1984:135).
Resi-
dents
occup p ied onl y
the
City
of Da vid
ridge
south of the
Temp l e
Mount. Finds in this a rea incl uded a few
imp orted
sa ucers a nd b owl s
(though
no
exa mp l es
of the fa ncier
ta b l e wa res of
Ita l y,
Greece,
or the
Aegea n),
b ut most of the
p ottery
wa s l oca l in ma nufa cturea nd util ita ria n in function.
In a l etter sent to the council of el ders
shortl y
a fterhe took
Jerusa l em
a t the end of the third
century,
Antiochus IIIcom-
mented twice on the
city's underp op ul a tion.
He enumera ted
a series of
p ensions
a nd ta xa tion
discha rges, disp ensed
so
tha t the citizens
might
"retrievethe condition of their
city."
These b enefits incl uded:
8 Bib l ica l
Archa eol ogist
60 :1 (1997)
for their sa crificesof
a nima l s,...
for
wine a nd
oil ,
a nd
fra nkincense,
the
va l ue of
20 ,0 0 0
p ieces
of
sil ver,
a nd
[six]
sa cred a rta b ra eof fine
fl our,
with 1460 mendimni of
whea t,
a nd
375 mendimni of sa l t...a nd for the
ma teria l s of
wood,
l et it b e
b rought
out of
Judea itsel f,
a nd out of the
other
countries,
a nd out of
Lib a nus,
ta x
free;
a nd the sa me Iwoul d ha ve
ob served a s to those other ma teri-
a l s which wil l b e
necessa ry,
in order
to renderthe
temp l e
more
gl orious;
a nd l et a l l tha t na tion l ive...dis-
cha rged
from
p ol l -money
a nd the
crown
ta x,
a nd otherta xesa l so..
.(Ant.
12.140 -42).
YHD
sta mp ed
ha ndl e.
TI
This
p icture
of
genera l dep riva - onl y
on theha ndl esc
tion refl ected
b y
the
a rcha eol ogica l
finds vessel swoul d ha vecc
a nd further
sup p orted b y
the comments winecol l ected a s"ta )
of Antiochus
p rob a b l y
did not
a p p l y
to from
La p p
1963:25.
every
citizen of
third-century Jerusa l em.
The
rel igious
el ite,
for
exa mp l e,
must ha ve
enjoyed
a
grea ter
ma teria l
p rosp erity.
This,
a t
l ea st,
is
sup p orted b y
the words
of the
third-century
a ristocra tic a uthorof
Eccesia stes(Qohel eth):
Ib uil t houses for
mysel f,
I
p l a nted vineya rds
for
mysel f;
I ma de
ga rdens
a nd
p a rks
for
mysel f,
a nd I
p l a nted
in
them a l l kinds of fruit
trees;
I ma de
p onds
of wa ter for
mysel f
from which to
irriga te
a forest of
growing
trees.
I
b ought
ma l e a nd fema l e
sl a ves,
a nd I ha d homeb orn
sl a ves. Al so I
p ossessed
fl ocks a nd herds
l a rger
tha n a l l
who
p receded
me in
Jerusa l em. Al so,
Icol l ected for
mysel f
sil ver a nd
gol d,
a nd the trea sureof
kings
a nd
p rovinces.
I
p rovided
for
mysel f
ma l e a nd fema l e
singers
a nd the
p l ea sures
of
men-ma ny
concub ines
(Eccl 2:4-8).
Perha p s
the a uthor
enjoyed
his comforts a t some a s-
yet-undiscovered
settl ement in the
countryside.
In
a ny
ca se,
Eccl esia stes's
descrip tion
evidences the
Jerusa l em
a ristoc-
ra cy's ownership
of
l a rge
esta tes worked with sl a ve l a b or.
S uch a situa tion finds further
sup p ort
in a
Judea n a dminis-
tra tive
document,
a l so of themid-third
century,
which describ es
the il l icit
p ossession
of sl a ves
(Ap p l eb a um 1989:31-32).
This
"new cl a ss of l a ndl ords" woul d ha ve resided in
Jerusa l em,
b ut l ived off of sa l es from their
a gricul tura l
esta tes. Liter-
a ry
evidence of their
p ersona l p rosp erity notwithsta nding,
the
a rcha eol ogica l
record indica testha t
grea ter
ma teria l
p ros-
p erity
ca me to
Jerusa l em's
residents
onl y
in the l a ter third
a nd
ea rl y
second centuries BCE.
Outside of
Jerusa l em,
the few third
century
BCEsettl e-
ments tha t ha ve b een found in
Judea ,
such a s Bethel a nd
Qa l a ndiyeh, l a y
within two to three hours wa l k of the
city.
Bethel wa s the site of a sma l l town
during
the Persia n
p eriod;
four sea sons of exca va tion there recovered
onl y
sca ttered
)f I.
)nt
xes
-|
:? third-century
sherds,
b ut no b uil d-
ings (Kel so 1968). Qa l a ndiyeh,
on the
other
ha nd,
wa s
newl y
settl ed in the
third
century
BCE. It wa s a
fa irl y l a rge
esta b l ishment,
devoted
excl usivel y
to
the ma nufa cture of wine. Exca va tions
therein 1978 a nd 1981 recovered exten-
sive
equip ment, incl uding
six
l a rge
b ea m
p resses (simil a r
to the ones found a t
Ma resha h),
severa l
trea ding
fl oors,
refuse
b a sins,
stone
weights,
a nd numerous
stora ge.
Profit rea l ized from this
p ro-
duction did not l ea d to a
ma teria l l y
el a b ora te
l ifestyl e: l oca l l y
ma de,
util i-
u p
fi l
^
-ta ria n
p ottery comp rised
the
grea ter
p a rt
of the residents' househol d
goods.
The
p op ul a tion
of
Qa l a ndiyeh
wa s
Jew-
hese
sta mp s
occur
ish,
a s evidenced
b y
the
discovery
there
a rgerja rs.
S uch of a t l ea st one ritua l b a th.
a ined
gra in, oil , or In
Judea ,
the
sca rcity
of merca ntil e
in kind." Photo
enterp rise
ma de the Ptol ema ic
p ol icy
of
directl y ta xing
commercia l
excha nge
unrenumera tive. The
government
there-
fore
dep ended
for the b ul k of its revenues on two other
p rocedures,
b oth inherited from the
p receding
Persia n a dmin-
istra tion: a
simp l e
a nnua l
ta x,
col l ected
b y
the
High
Priest of
the
temp l e
in
Jerusa l em (Ant. 12.158);
a nd "ta xa tion in
kind,"
whereb y sta p l e goods
such a s
oil , wine,
a nd whea t were a l l o-
ca ted
directl y.
A dua l series of
sta mp ed ja r
ha ndl es refl ect
the a dministra tion of the l a tter
system.
Both series derive
from
third-century stora geja rs
of l oca l ma nufa cture. In
fa ct,
the ha ndl es ca n b e da ted
p recisel y
b eca use
they
a re identi-
ca l in form a nd fa b ric to
unsta mp ed ja r
ha ndl es of the
sa me
p eriod.
Ha ndl es of the first
group
a re
sta mp ed
with a
circul a r
imp ression conta ining
the l etters YHDin
p a l eo-
Heb rew
scrip t.
Ha ndl es of the second
group
a re
simil a r,
b ut
inside the circl e is a sta r with five
sp iked p oints
a nd the
l etters YRS LMb etween the
sp ikes.
YHD
designa tes
Yehud,
the na me of the
p rovince
of
Judea
under b oth the Persia n
a nd the Ptol ema ic a dministra tions. The YHD
sta mp p ossi-
b l y
identified
ja rsconta ining
ta xesin kind forthe
king.
YRS LM
is the
city
of
Jerusa l em (the sp iked
sta r is identified a s the
symb ol
of the
High Priest), suggesting
tha t
ja rs
so
designa ted
were mea nt for
Temp l e
ritua l
(La p p 1963).
Ab out one hun-
dred
sta mp ed
ha ndl es,
evenl y
divided b etween the two
typ es,
ha ve b een
found;
a l l b ut a few ha ve come from exca va ted
contexts in a nd a round
Jerusa l em
itsel f.
Another
ep igra p hic
find from
Jerusa l em
ma y
further
refl ect the col l ection of ta xes in kind. A sma l l ,
fra gmenta ry
ostra con conta insthreeshort l ines of
scrip t
in Ara ma ic: "chick
p ea s,
crushed/sa cks (of) p ine
nuts/fodder" (Cross 1981).
Cl osel y p a ra l l el ing
those of the Khirb et
el -Qom ostra ca ,
the l etterforms indica te a
mid-third-century
BCEda te. Exca -
va torsfound theostra con in a
p ool
south of the
Temp l e
Mount,
together
with YHDa nd YRS LM
sta mp ed
ha ndl es a nd a coin
of Antiochus III(l a te third
century BCE).
Bib l ica l
Archa eol ogist
60 :1 (1997) 9
In the northern
hil l s,
the
onl y
siz-
a b l e third
century
BCEsettl ements of
a ny
size were S a ma ria a nd S hechem.
At the
first,
a Ma cedonia n
ga rrison
ha d
b een
p ut
in
p l a ce a l rea dy
in the l a te
fourth
century
BCE. The sol diers
p rob -
a b l y
b uil t a t l ea st threeround towers to
strengthen
the
a l rea dy existing
fortifi-
ca tion wa l l . As with thenew Hel l enistic
wa l l a t
Dor,
thetowerswere constructed
of
l a rge
a shl a r b l ocks l a id in
hea ders;
this
technique,
which is not
na tive,
com-
p rises
theevidencefor
da ting. La rge-sca l e
exca va tionsconducted a t S a ma ria
(190 8-
1910 , 1935-1938)
uncovered few
third-century
rema ins;
one b ea uti-
ful l y
ca rved
inscrip tion recording
a
dedica tion to
S era p is
a nd Isis
b y Hege-
sa nder, Xena rchis,
a nd their
chil dren,
indica tes the existence
of a
temp l e
somewhere on the site
(Crowfoot, Crowfoot,
a nd
Kenyon
1957:37,
no.
13).
Just south of
S a ma ria ,
S hechem wa s the second
signifi-
ca nt settl ement of thenorthern hil l s. S even exca va tion sea sons
(1957-1968)
recovered evidence for four
p ha ses
of Hel -
l enistic
occup a tion (Toomb s
a nd
Wright 1961).
S ettl ers
reoccup ied
S hechem in the l a te fourth
century
a ftera
p eriod
of a b a ndonment.
They ma y
ha ve b een S a ma rita ns evicted
from S a ma ria a t the time of the esta b l ishment of the
p a ga n
ga rrison
there
(Wright
1962 a nd most schol a rs
since,
b ut see
Isa a c1991:143 a nd n.
46).
S hechem thus
rep resented
a nother,
a l b eit
schisma tic,
rel igious community.
Its
third-century
rema insa renota b l eforthe extent of b oth domestica nd defen-
sive constructions. The l a tterincl uded a new
city
wa l l ma de
from
qua ntities
of soil
p il ed up
on
top
of the cl ea red Middl e
Bronze
Age
circuit. Inside were severa l
courtya rd
houses
with stone wa l l s a nd
fl a gstone
or
p l a stered
fl oors. As a t
Jerusa l em
a nd
Qa l a ndiyeh,
the residents' ma teria l
goods
l a rgel y
consisted of l oca l
p ottery
vessel s.
Imp orted
wa res
were
sca rce,
a nd niceties such a s a rchitectura l or a rtistic
emb el l ishmentswere
l a cking.
No evidence of industria l a ctiv-
ity
turned
up .
Ra ther the
discovery
of a few
a gricul tura l
imp l ements (a p l ow p oint,
a n iron
b ol t)
on one house fl oor
p ointed
to the settl ers'
p rima ry
l ivel ihood.
Beyond
sub sistence
fa rming,
the S a ma rita nsa t S hechem
conducted
rel igious
a ctivities. These focused on the site of
Mt.
Gerizim,
l ooming
five hundred meters a b ove their
newtown. Heretheconstruction of a
temp l e
ha d b een
a p p roved
b y
Al exa nder himsel f
(Ant. 11.321-24).
The mounta in ha d
l ong
b een a sa cred
sp ot
(a s
indica ted
b y
the
p a ra b l e
of
Jotha m
Judg 9:7-15]),
b ut
p rior
to this ha d ha d no
b uil dings up on
it. Exca va tions ca rried out on the
up p er ridge
a nd on the
summit itsel f
(1983-1990 )
uncovered a n
a stonishingl y
wel l -
p reserved
wa l l ed
vil l a ge
a nd sa cred encl osure,
a l l
da ting
to the
reign
of the S el eucid
king
Antiochus III
(223-187
BCE).
Whil e a
third-century
shrine
ma y
ha ve existed
here,
it
is a l so
p ossib l e
tha t
during
this time the
community
wa s
Housesa t Mt. Gerizim. One
three-p a rt b uil ding comp l ex
constructed
within the fortified
comp ound
on the southern
sl op es
of Mt.
Gerizim. Thesouthern a nd western structuresa re b oth residences
b uil t a round a centra l
p a ved courtya rd.
Ea ch is
equip p ed
with a
cistern a nd a
sep a ra te
b a th room. Theea stern structureisa service
b uil ding
with two
l a rge
rooms: a n
up p erp a ved court, a nd a l ower
room with a b ea ten ea rth fl oor, where the
cooking
wa s done. From
NEAEHL, s.v. Gerizim, Mount
simp l y ga thering
its resources.
In
a ny
event,
b y
the
b eginning
of the second
century
BCE
theentiresummit wa s encl osed
b y
a
wa l l ,
with a ccess
through
two
ga tes
on the ea stern side. Theencl osureconta ined b uil d-
ing
stones with Heb rewa nd Ara ma ic
inscrip tions
a nd
ma ny
cha rred
sheep
b ones,
interp reted
a s sa crificia l rema ins. A
10 Bib l ica l
Archa eol ogist
60 :1 (1997)
Areconstruction of the Qa sra l -Ab d a t
cl ra q
el -Emir. TheHel l enistic
Qa sra l -Ab d wa s never
finished; the rema inswere
eventua l l y
reconstructed in the
Byza ntinep eriod, p rob a b l y b y
a mona stic
group .
Exca va tors
dug
trenches
through
the
Byza ntine
l evel sin the ma in
ha l l a nd
a ga inst
the
ea st, west, a nd north
wa l l s; to the
origina l
Hel l enistic
b uil ding they
a ttrib utea sta irwel l in the northwest
tower,
a nd severa l
l a rge
interiorha l f-col umnstha t
sup p orted
a terra ceroof.
Two of the
scul p ted
a nima l
p a nel s
ha d rema ined in situ on the
northea stern
corner, indica ting
the decora tivecha ra cterof the
b uil ding's
entra nce. From
NEAEHL, s.v.
l ra q
el -Emir.
b roa d sta irca seconnected this
p recinct
with the fortified vil -
l a ge
on the mounta in's southern
sl op e.
Here exca va tors
uncovered three
l a rge,
wel l -b uil t houses inside the
wa l l s,
a nd
three more houses of identica l
p l a n
a nd
styl e
outside it. Al l
p ossessed
centra l
courtya rds,
surrounded
b y dwel l ing
a nd
util ity
rooms,
a nd a n occa siona l
connecting
corridor. In
p l a n
they
were
quite
simil a rto the houses a t Ma resha h. Thecourt-
ya rds
a nd some
ha l l wa ys
were
p a rtia l l y p a ved
with
roughl y
hewn
stones;
two of the houses a l so ha d
b a throoms,
with
p l a stered
b a sins
a nd,
in
one,
a stone tub .
Every
house wa s
equip p ed
with a
cistern;
most a l so conta ined
p resses, weights,
b a sins,
a nd
ja rs
for the ma nufa cture a nd
stora ge
of ol ive oil .
Diggers
a l so found iron
tool s,
a nd
b a sa l t, meta l ,
a nd
p ottery
vessel s,
though imp orted
a nd
l uxury goods
were
nota b l y
a b sent. This a b sence is
esp ecia l l y interesting:
da ta from el se-
where indica te tha t the S a ma rita n
community
wa s
b y
no
mea ns isol a ted. Two
b ea utiful l y
ca rved
inscrip tions
from the
Aegea n
isl a nd of Del os refered to
offerings
ma de "to the
hol y
temp l e
a t Mt. Gerizim." One wa s ca rved b etween
250 -175,
the other b etween 150 -50 BCE
(Kra a b el 1984).
No
ea rl y
Hel l enisticsettl ement of
a ny
size ha s b een found
in the northern centra l hil l s outside of those a t
S a ma ria ,
S hechem, a nd Mt. Gerizim. But the a rea wa s not unutil ized.
S urveys
of this
region
ha ve identified a t l ea st twel ve hun-
dred sma l l stone fiel d towers
(Da r 1986:88-10 9).
Ab out
fifty
towers ha ve b een
exca va ted,
a nd
third-century
BCE
p ot-
tery
ha s b een found in a nd under the l ower l evel s of severa l
of these. The towers functioned a s
temp ora ry
shel ter for
workers a nd for occa siona l
stora ge
of
p roduce.
The
region's
top ogra p hy-hil l y, ea sil y
terra ced,
a nd
rea sona b l y
wel l -
wa tered-wa s
highl y
suita b l e forb oth
gra p e
vines a nd ol ive
trees,
a nd sca ttered fiel d finds of
p ressing
stones a nd b a sins
indica te such
industry.
In
Tra nsjorda n,
the
p a ttern
of settl ement a nd the l oca l
economy
wa s
quite
simil a r to tha t of the centra l hil l
country
of
Judea
a nd
S a ma ria ,
with a
sma l l , sca ttered,
ma teria l l y
imp overished p op ul a tion, enga ged whol l y
in sub sistence
a gricul ture.
One of the few sites tha t rema ined
occup ied
a fter
the exil e a nd
throughout
the Persia n
p eriod
wa s Ra b b a th-
Ammon,
which
Ptol emy
II
Phil a del p hos
refounded a s
Phil a del p hia .
Zenon
stop p ed
here in 259 BCE
(P.
Ca iro Zen.
590 11);
he mentions the
(p rob a b l e)
work of
qua rry
men there.
Third-century
BCEconstructions in fa ct incl uded fortifica -
tions, houses,
a nd wa ter cha nnel s.
By p enetra ting
these
cha nnel s a nd
cutting
off the town's wa ter
sup p l y,
Antiochus
III
comp el l ed
the Ptol ema ic
ga rrison
to surrenderto him in
218 BCE
(Pol yb ius
Hist.
V.71.9).
At Aroer
(in Moa b ),
severa l
sma l l fa rmstea ds from this
p eriod
ha ve b een found. Further
south,
a t
Petra , some houses a nd a l ta rsexisted in the second
ha l f of the
century;
this settl ement-founded in
conjunction
with the new Na b a tea n route a cross the northern
Negev-
wa s the
onl y
onewith commercia l l inks. In northern
Tra nsjorda n,
evidence for settl ement is even sca rcer: a t Tel l
es-S a 'idiyeh
a
mudb rick a nd stone
b uil ding
da ted
onl y
"Hel l enistic"
(a nd
so
p erha p s
from the next
century instea d),
a nd a t
Pel l a ,
some sca ttered
p ottery
b ut no structures.
Centra l
Tra nsjorda n
ha d
something
el se in common with
the Pa l estinia n centra l hil l s: some of the sites were settl ed
b y
Jews.
In the Persia n
p eriod, p a rt
of this a rea wa s within the
hol dings
of Tob ia h the
Ammonite,
a ma n referred to
rep ea t-
edl y
in the b ook of
Nehemia h, who wa s
p rob a b l y
the
Persia n-a p p ointed governor
of Ammon. ThePtol emiesma in-
ta ined the Tob ia ds' sta tus: Zenon tra vel ed to "the l a nd of
Tob ia h,"
which incl uded a sma l l
mil ita ry
settl ement.
Tob ia h,
a p p a rentl y
a kind of cl ient-sheikh of the Ptol ema ic
king,
l ived
a t a
p l a ce
ca l l ed "Birtha of the Ammonites." This
"Birtha ,"
or
stronghol d,
ha s b een
found,
twenty-nine
km ea st of
Jeri-
cho a t a site ca l l ed
'Ira q
el -Emir.
S itua ted on a sma l l
p l a in
a t the
edge
of a
deep
wa di,
cra q
el -Emir incl uded a sma l l
mound,
two
l a rge b uil dings
to its
south, some wa ter
cha nnel s, a nd a series of b oth na tura l a nd
hewn ca ves in cl iffs to the north. Ca rved over entra nces to
two of these ca ves a re
inscrip tions rea ding
"Tob ia h"; the l et-
tersha ve b een
va riousl y
da ted on
p a l eogra p hicgrounds
from
the fifth
through
the third centuriesBCE.1
Third-century
finds
incl udePtol ema ic
coins,
the
sta mp ed
ha ndl eof a wine
a mp hora
from
Rhodes, a nd most
imp orta ntl y,
a monumenta l
ga tewa y
nea r the mound
(Gera 1990 :25).
The French tea m who
exca va ted the
ga tewa y
discovered within it two fl oors: on
the
up p er
one were six coins of Antiochus III
(20 8-20 0 BCE).
Thisconstruction wa s
p rob a b l y p a rt
of the "Birtha " of Tob ia h
visited
b y
Zenon.
One of the two
l a rgeb uil dings
to the south of the mound
wa s a
huge
edifice with monol ithic
p il l a rs forming
a win-
dow wa l l on one
side, a nd four monumenta l rel ief
p a nel s
ea ch
dep icting a
l a rge fel ine identified a s either a l ion or a
Bib l ica l
Archa eol ogist
60 :1 (1997) 11
l eop a rd.
Known a s the
Qa sr a l -Ab d,
or Fortress of the S er-
va nt,
the entirestructurewa s reused in the
Byza ntinep eriod
a s a
church,
so its
origina l
interna l
a rra ngements
a re not
entirel y
cl ea r. A series of na rrow corridors
a p p a rentl y
sur-
rounded a
l a rge
centra l
ha l l ,
crea ting
a n environment b oth
imp osing
a nd secure.
Pottery
found within the
Qa sr
a s
wel l a s b enea th its
founding
l evel s da tes its construction to
the
ea rl y
second
century
BCE. This da te a nd the cha ra cter
of the rema ins a l l ow the
Qa sr
to b e further identified via a
story
tol d
b y Josep hus.
It seems tha t
during
the l a ter
p a rt
of the rul e of
Ptol emy
III
Euergetes (246-221 BCE),
the
High
Priest
Onia s,
describ ed
a s "one of l ittl e
soul ,
a nd a
grea t
l over of
money,"
refused to
p a y Jerusa l em's
a nnua l ta x.
Ptol emy
sent a n
envoy,
whom
Onia s
ignored.
The
Jerusa l emites,
fea rful of
retrib ution,
encoura ged
one
Josep h,
the son of Tob ia h a nd a
nep hew
of
Onia s,
to dea l with the
envoy
a nd, l a ter,
the
king. Josep h
went
to
Al exa ndria ,
imp ressed
the
king
with his humor a nd extra v-
a gent p romises,
a nd won the
right
to "fa rm" the ta xes for a l l
of
Coel esyria ,
Phoenicia ,
a nd
Judea
with S a ma ria . In this
sys-
tem,
a s describ ed
b y Josep hus,
...a l l the
p rincip a l
men a nd rul erswent
up
out of thecities
of
S yria
a nd Phoenicia to b id for their
ta xes,
for
every
yea r
the
king
sol d them to the men of the
grea test p ower
in
every city....
And when the
da y
ca me on which the
king
wa s to l et the ta xes of the cities to
fa rm,
those tha t
were the
p rincip a l
men of
dignity
in their severa l coun-
tries b id for them... (Ant. 12.169, 175).
Josep h
reta ined his concession for
twenty-two yea rs,
dur-
ing
which
p eriod,
he
"ga thered grea t
wea l th
together" (Ant.
12.184).
When he
died,
during
the
reign
of S el eucusIV
Phil op a -
tor
(187-175 BCE),
he
b equea thed
much of thiswea l th on
(a l ong
with his
very
va l ua b l e
concession)
to the l a st of his
eight
sons,
Hyrca nus.
Now
shortl y
b efore
Josep h's
dea th,
a seriesof
fa mil y
feuds
ha d ca used
Hyrca nus
to "retire
b eyond
the river
Jorda n,
a nd
a b [i]de there,"
where he b uil t for himsel f a fortress
(S a ris),
which he ca l l ed Turos.
Josep hus
describ es it in deta il :
[Hyrca nus]
b uil t a
strong
fortress,
constructed
entirel y
of
white ma rb l e
up
to the
very
roof,
a nd ha d b ea sts of
giga n-
tic size ca rved on
it,
a nd he encl osed it with a wide a nd
deep
moa t. He introduced a l so a va st
qua ntity
of wa ters
which ra n
a l ong
it,
a nd which were
very del ightful
a nd
orna menta l in the court. He a l so ma de ca ves of
ma ny
fur-
l ongs
in
l ength,...
a nd then he ma de
l a rge
rooms in
it,
some for
fea sting,
a nd some for
sl eep ing
a nd
l iving
in.
But stil l he ma de the entra nces a t the mouth of the ca ve
so
na rrow,
tha t no more tha n one
p erson
coul d enter
b y
them a t once.... Moreover,
he b uil t courtsof
grea terma g-
nitude tha n
ordina ry,
which he a dorned with
va stl y l a rge
ga rdens (Ant. 12.230 -33).
The
congruity
of the finds of the Qa sr a l -Ab d with the
Thefounta in
scul p ture
of the Qa sra l -Ab d a t
Cl ra q
el -Emir. Thisfel ine
wa s ca rved in
high
rel ief on a b l ock of
l oca l l y-qua rried
red a nd white
dol omite. The
op ened
mouth wa s intended a s a founta in
sp out,
though
there is no other evidencefor a
comp l eted
founta in
insta l l a tion here. The
p a nel
wa s discovered in the ea stern wa l l of the
Qa sra l -Ab d
during
the 1962 exca va tions.
Al ong
with the
mega l ithic
scul p ted p a nel s
tha t a dorned the
up p ercourse, this decora tive
a ddition il l ustra testhe
b uil ding's
Hel l enized cha ra cter.
a ccount of
Josep hus
ha ve ma de its identifica tion a s "the
strong
fortress" of
Hyrca nus
incontestib l e.
The
l a rge
a nima l
p a nel s
tha t a dorned the Qa sr a l -Ab d
(a nd so
imp ressed Josep hus)
ha ve
l ong
a ttra cted the
a ttention of schol a rs. Their
very p resence
ra ises
questions,
not
onl y concerning
theira rtistic
herita ge,
b ut
p erha p s
more
interestingl y, concerning
the cul tura l orienta tion of the
p erson
who l ived there. For
though
the
scul p tures
a re not
very distinguished a rtistica l l y, they
a re,
first a nd
foremost,
rep resenta tiona l
a rt in the Greek
tra dition,
a nd
they
a dorn a
b uil ding
constructed
b y
a memb er of the
Jewish
el ite. We
know tha t
b y
this
time,
the
ea rl y
second
century
BCE,
the
Jew-
ish
p op ul a tion
of Judea wa s rent into
fa ctions,
one of
which
a p p roved
most
"Hel l enizing"
customs,
a nother
p a s-
siona tel y op p osed
to them. The
scul p tures
on the
Qa sr
a re
the most
gra p hic
evidence tha t we
p ossess
of the
ta ste,
or
p erfidy,
of one
Jewish
Hel l enizer.
In the third
century
BCE,
northern
Pa l estine-incl uding
theJezreel a nd Beth-S hea n
va l l eys,
the
Ga l il ee,
theHul a
b a sin,
a nd the Gol a n-wa s a l so
thinl y p op ul a ted.
This continued
the situa tion
p rior
to Al exa nder's
conquest,
a nd its ca uses
were a l so identica l . In b oth Persia n a nd Ptol ema ic
times,
l a rge
swa ths of fertil e
a gricul tura l
l a nd were
frequentl y
cl a ssified
a s
"King's
La nd,"
directl y
owned
b y
a nd fa rmed for the
crown
(S mith
1990 does not ta ke this into
a ccount).
Most
(if
not
a l l )
of the
Jezreel Va l l ey
a nd Ga l il ee (a s wel l a s
l a rge
tra cts of S a ma ria a nd northern
Judea )
fel l into this ca te-
gory.
These a rea swere a l l
highl y
suita b l e for
a gricul ture
a nd
horticul ture. S iteswith third
century
BCE
occup a tion
incl uded
Tel l Keisa n a nd Tel l
Qiri
a t the western end of the
Jezreel
Va l -
l ey
a nd Phil oteria
(a ncient
Beth
Yera h)
a nd Kinneret on the
S ea of Ga l il ee. These few third
century
BCEsettl ements were
12 Bib l ica l
Archa eol ogist
60 :1 (1997)
A
Hefzib a h
inscrip tion.
Thisrema rka b l edocument
p rovided
a
p erma ner
Beth-S hea n's
mil ita ry governor'srequests
to the S el eucid
king.
Thefa ct th
wa s written in Greek isevidencetha t some
p eop l e
must ha ve understood
20 0 BCE. Photo from La nda u 1966.
V
TheJezreel
Va l l ey.
This
p hotogra p h
il l ustra tessome of the
excep tiona
the Jezreel
Va l l ey. Wel l -wa tered, temp era te,
a nd covered with rich a l l uvia
fl oor isone of the most fertil ea rea sof the
country.
Itsl evel
top ogra p hy
a
p a ssa ge
b etween the coa st a nd the Jorda n River
Va l l ey.
Author's
p hoto.
a p p a rentl y vil l a ges
of
a gricul tura l
workers;
a t none wa s
a ny
evidence of
industry
found.
The Hefzib a h
inscrip tion
indica tes tha t some
p a rts
of the
Jezreel Va l l ey
were indeed
roya l
l a nd
(La nda u 1966; Bertra nd
1982).
Unea rthed in 1960 seven km northwest of
Beth-S hea n,
the stone is the
l ongest
a nd
p erha p s
the most
imp orta nt
Hel -
l enistic
inscrip tion yet
discovered in Isra el . It recorded six
officia l l etters b eween
Ptol ema ios,
mil ita ry governor
a nd
chief
p riest,
a nd the S el eucid
kings
Antiochus IIIa nd IV. Al l
were written b etween 20 1 a nd 195 BCE
(tha t
is to
sa y,
immedia tel y
a fterthe Fifth
S yria n
Wa r,
in which Antiochus
IIIwon this
region
from the
Ptol emies).
In l etter IV, written
to the
king,
Ptol ema ios
requests
tha t
nob ody
b e a l l owed to
qua rter
or
sup p l y
others from "the
vil l a ges b el onging
to me
a s
p rop erty
a nd
heredita ry
tenure." As Ptol ema ios ha d
orig-
ina l l y
b een a comma nder in the
Egyp tia n a rmy, a p p a rentl y
defecting
to the S el eucid side a t the
b eginning
of the
wa r,
he
ma y
ha ve b een
gra nted
his
vil l a ges b y
the
Egyp tia n king.
Antiochus rewa rded his defection
b y gua ra nteeing
a nd
a ug-
menting
his
p ossessions (La nda u 1966:66,
n.
14,
noting
Woodhea d).
In
a ny
event,
the na ture of the
inscrip tion-a
p erma nent
record
designed
to b e set
up
in a
p ub l ic p l a ce-
a l ong
with the circumsta nce of its
discovery-surel y
cl ose
to its
origina l
l oca tion-confirm the existence in the
vicinity
of Beth-S hea n of
roya l
a nd/or officia l
p rop erties.
The Ptol emies "refounded" Beth-S hea n sometime in the
second ha l f of thethird
century
BCE,
rena ming
the
p l a ceS cyth-
op ol is.
Like the esta b l ishment of
it,
p ub l ic
record of
Phil a del p hia
on the ol d
city
of Ra b b a th-
a t the inscrip tion
Ammon,
the
founding
of
S cythop ol is
the l a ngua ge b y ca .
a l so
consisted of a new na me
b eing
dra p ed
over a n ol d settl ement. In this
ca se, however,
the
p recise
a rea of set-
a gricul tura l l a nd of
tl ement moved. The ol d tel l of
1 soil , the
va l l ey
Beth-S hea n,
site of the Bronzea nd Iron
l so a l l owed for
ea sy
Age cities, wa s a l most
comp l etel y
deserted a fter the
Assyria n conquest.
...iI-- .-S -:- i:
Persia n
p eriod
rema ins from the
top
of
the mound
comp riseonl y
some
cl a y fig-
II;
-::~ ;urines. A coin hoa rd from the time of
E - .1 Ptol emy
II
wa s found here a s
wel l ,
-i:;I
- b ut this is no indica tion of settl ement
(Rowe1930 :45).
Hel l enisticrema insoth-
.i...... .erwise
occur
onl y
on a n
a dja cent ridge
ca l l ed Tel
Ista b a h,
where exca va tors
ha ve found severa l hundred
sta mp ed
ha ndl es from wine
a mp hora simp orted
from Rhodes a nd Knidos (La nda u a nd
Tza feris
1979).
The ea rl iest da te from
the l a tethird
century BCE, indica ting
the
p eriod
of the town's refounda tion. The
new inha b ita nts
cl ea rl y
ha d the ta ste
forsuch
goods
a nd themea nsfor
a cquir-
ing them; their ma rkets were
ea sil y
a ccessib l efrom the
p ort
of Akko-Ptol e-
ma is via the Jezreel va l l ey.
Bib l ica l
Archa eol ogist
60 :1 (1997) 13
I
The b est evidence for
considering
much of the
Ga l il ee,
Hul a
Va l l ey,
a nd Gol a n a s
"King's
La nd" comes from sev-
era l of the Zenon
p a p yri (Tcherikower1937:39-40 ).
In one
(P.
Ca iro Zen.
590 0 4),
Zenon tra vel s north from "Birtha "
((Ira q
el -Emir)
a nd
Phil a del p hia .
He
stop s
a t five
p l a ces
to
p ick up
fl our for his
tra vel l ing p a rty:
Aa Kca ooi
(Aa cKa a oot), NoIl t
(Noei), Etzout (Evtout),
Beth
Ana th,
a nd Kedesh. The l oca -
tions of the first three sites a re
unknown;
they ma y
b e in
the Ha ura n or the Gol a n
(Ha rp er 1928).
Kedesh is
certa inl y
l oca ted in thenorthea stern comerof the
Up p er
Ga l il ee;
a rcha e-
ol ogica l
evidence for Hel l enistic
p eriod occup a tion
there is
so fa rconfined to
p ottery
found when the
high
tel l wa s exca -
va ted in the 1950 s. Beth Ana th is
genera l l y thought
to b e
somewhere in the Ga l il ee
(though
it too coul d b e in the Gol a n
or in the Hul a
va l l ey).
Here Zenon
stop p ed
to
insp ect
a vine-
ya rd,
where
p ea sa nt
l ea sehol ders cul tiva ted the l a nd in
p a rt
for themsel ves a nd in
p a rt
for
Ap ol l onius,
to whom
they
owed a fixed
p ercenta ge
of their
outp ut.
Thesewere the con-
ditions of
"King's
La nd" in
Egyp t, indica ting
the sa me sta tus
for this a rea a s wel l
(Tcherikover1933:39).
Recent exca va tions a t two sites in the northern Hul a Va l -
l ey,
Tel Ana fa a nd
Ba nia s,
p rovide
more evidence for the
cha ra cter of third
century occup a tion
here. Tel Ana fa is a
sma l l mound situa ted a t the foot of the Gol a n
Heights.2
Thecomb ined evidence of the a rchitectura l
rema ins,
the
p ot-
tery,
a nd thea ssocia ted fa una refl ectsa
sma l l ,
p oorcommunity,
whose l ivel ihood
dep ended
on intensive
a gricul ture
a nd the
rea ring
of ca ttl ea nd
goa ts.
Thesettl ersb uil t house wa l l s
using
l a rge, rough,
b a sa l t
b oul ders;
they
l a id fl oors of
p eb b l es
a nd
ta mp ed
dirt. Theirma teria l
p ossessions
consisted
very l a rgel y
of util ita ria n
p ottery
ma de in the Hul a
itsel f,
though
a few
p erfume
b ottl es from southern Phoenicia indica te some con-
ta ct with the coa st.
They a p p a rentl y p roduced
their own
cl oth,
a s exca va tors unea rthed a considera b l e numb er of
wea ving-rel a ted
a rtifa cts,
incl uding sp indl e
whorl s,
b one
wea ving
tool s,
over
twenty-five l oomweights,
a nd a circu-
l a r,
sl udge-fil l ed,
stone structure
p erha p s
used for
dying.
The
inha b ita nts of Tel Ana fa were
unsop histica ted,
insul a r,
a nd
sel f-sufficient-fa r removed in a ttitudea nd
l ifestyl e
from the
residents of such
b ustl ing, cosmop ol ita n
cities a s
Ma resha ,
Ashkel on,
a nd Dor.
The
p eop l e
who l ived a t Tel Ana fa
did, however,
sha re
one funda menta l cha ra cteristicwith
ma ny
residents of the
coa st a nd south:
they
were
p a ga ns.
And
onl y
nine km to their
north,
a t
Ba nia s,
or a s it wa s ca l l ed in
a ntiquity,
Pa nion,
wa s
a
sa nctua ry
dedica ted to the Greek
god
Pa n,
whose cul t must
ha ve dra wn dedica nts from Tel Ana fa . The
imp osing
set-
ting-a huge
na tura l ca ve in the southern fa ceof Mt.
Hermon,
b enea th which
emerged
the
sp rings
of the
Jorda n
River-
wa s idea l for a
rura l ,
na ture
deity.
The cul t wa s esta b l ished
sometime in the third
century
BCE,
a s indica ted
b y
evi-
dencefrom exca va tions
underwa y
heresince1988. No
b uil dings
ca n b e da ted to
ea rl y
Hel l enistic
times;
the finds consist
sol el y
of a b out
thirty
sma l l b owl s a nd
sa ucers,
a l l ma de of a fa b -
ricl oca l to the Hul a
Va l l ey,
a nd a l l identica l to vessel s found
a t Tel Ana fa . In its initia l
p ha se, then, the
sa nctua ry
received
A S p a tterp a inted
wa re vessel sfound a t Tel Ana fa . Asma l l
ja r,
or
ta b l e
a mp hora ,
a nd a
cooking p ot,
b oth ma deof
sp a tterp a inted
wa re. S a ul
Weinb erg,
the first exca va torof Tel Ana fa , identified a nd
na med thisfa b ricb a sed on the wa re'sdistinctivedecora tion,
in
which
p a int
wa s
sp a ttered
a nd drib b l ed overthe l owersection of the
p ot. S p a tterp a inted
wa re
p ottery
isfound a l l overthe Hul a
Va l l ey,
b ut
p ra ctica l l y
nowhereel se, indica ting
its
p rob a b l e
a rea of
ma nufa cture. At Tel Ana fa , vessel sma de of
sp a tterp a inted
wa re
a ccount for 10 %
(b y weight)
of a l l identifia b l ewa resfound in third
century
BCE
dep osits,
a nd 15% in l a te second
century
BCE
dep osits.
Photo
courtesy
of S ha ron Herb ert.
V
The
S a nctua ry
of Pa n a t Ba nia s. The
S a nctua ry
of Pa n wa s
p rob a b l y
esta b l ished here in the third
century
BCE. Thesite incl udes
this
l a rge,
na tura l ca ve in the southern fa ce of Mount Hermon, a
na rrowterra ce
immedia tel y
in
front, a nd severa l
sp rings
tha t feed
into the Jorda n River. Thecomb ina tion of
l ooming mounta in,
ca vernous
grotto,
a nd
rushing
wa ter crea ted a n environment idea l
for a rura l na ture
deity
such a s Pa n. Photo
courtesy
of Zvi Ma Coz.
onl y
these
few,
p oor offerings,
refl ections of the
cul t,
a s wel l
a s its dedica nts.
New Currents: S el eucid Control
(20 0 -160 BCE)
ThePtol emiesa nd S el eucidsrema ined
a nta goniststhrough-
out the third
century, fighting
five wa rs for
hegemony
of
14 Bib l ica l
Archa eol ogist
60 :1 (1997)
TheYa vne-Ya m
inscrip tion:
this b l ock of l oca l l imestoneca rries
fifteen
fra gmenta ry
l ines
recording
a
p etition
from the S idonia n
community l iving
in the "Port of Ja mnia ," a nd AntiochusV
Eup a tor's
resp onse.
Thetexts a re in reverseorderon the
inscrip tion, b eginning
with the
King'sl etter,
in which he
a grees
to
gra nt
the
community
immunity
from some form of ta xa tion. AntiochusVrul ed from 164-
162 BCE, p recisel y contemp ora ry
with the a ctivitiesof Juda h
Ma cca b ee. Photo
courtesy
of the a rchiveof Kib b utzPa l ma him.
Phoenicia a nd Pa l estine. In 20 0 BCEthe S el eucid
king
Anti-
ochus IIIeffected a decisive end to this sta te of a ffa irs
b y
routing
thePtol ema icforcesnea rtheshrinea t Pa nion
(Ba nia s).
One of his first officia l a cts wa s to
gra nt
fina ncia l
cl emency
to
Jerusa l em (see a b ove). Josep hus rep orted
tha t he then
"ma de a
friendship
a nd a
l ea gue
with
Ptol emy," giving
his
da ughter Cl eop a tra
for
Ptol emy's
b ride,
a nd
returning
the
entirety
of his
newl y
won doma ins a s
dowry (Ant. 12.154).
Archa eol ogica l
evidence refl ects this ra ther
surp rising
deci-
sion in the form of the continued circul a tion of Ptol ema ic
coins. At
S hechem,
a hoa rd of
thirty-five
Ptol ema ic sil ver
tetra dra chms found in a
jug
b uried
fifty
cm b el ow a house
wa l l incl uded issues from ca . 30 0 down to 193 BCE. Thea ncient
historia n
Ap p ia n sp ecul a ted
tha t Antiochus ma de his
gift
in
order to b e free to ma ke wa r on the Roma ns
(S yr. 5);
in
fa ct, however,
Antiochus next directed his
mil ita ry
ener-
gies a ga inst
Cil icia
(a s
deta il ed
b y Livy 33.19.8-11),
southern
Asia
Minor,
a nd the
p rincip a l ity
of
Perga mon.
His contin-
ued
a ggressions
did
eventua l l y b ring
him into confl ict
with the
Roma ns,
whose
sup erior
forces
stop p ed
his
a rmy
a t
Ma gnesia -on-the-Mea nder
in 190 BCE. One of the terms of
the
ensuing
settl ement
required
tha t his
younger
son,
Antiochus IV, b e hel d
hosta ge
a t Rome. The
b oy
rema ined
there until
178,
when his
nep hew
Demetrius wa s sent from
Antioch in his
p l a ce.
Antiochus then moved to
Athens,
where
in 175 BCEhe received word tha t his ol der b rother S el eucus
IVha d b een a ssa ssina ted. Within the
yea r,
the new
king,
now
surna med
Ep ip ha nes,
returned to Antioch.
Even b efore the b a ttl e of
Ma gnesia ,
Antiochus IIIha d
rea sserted his
hegemony
over Phoenicia a nd Pa l estine. As
with the
cha nge
of
p ol itica l stewa rdship
from the Persia nsto
the
Ptol emies, however,
the shift to S el eucid dominion ha d
l ittl e
p ercep tib l e
effect on the l oca tions a nd economies of set-
tl ements in Phoenicia a nd Pa l estine. In centra l
Tra nsjorda n,
Hyrca nus
the Tob ia d
enl a rged CIra q
el -Emir;
in the hil l coun-
try
of
S a ma ria ,
the encl a ve a t S hechem
p rosp ered
a nd the
settl ement a t Mt. Gerizim wa s founded. S ettl ementson
roya l
l a nd in the Jezreel
Va l l ey
a nd the Ga l il ee were either
deeded b a ck to the Ptol emies or turned over to the
S el eucids,
a s the Hefzib a h
inscrip tion
ma kes cl ea r. Forsites on the coa st
a nd a cross southern
Pa l estine,
commerce rema ined
p a ra -
mount,
a nd
exp ensiveforeign goods
continued to b e a va il a b l e.
At
Ashkel on,
exca va tors uncovered a cistern fil l ed with sec-
ond
century
BCE
p ottery, incl uding
wine
a mp hora s
from the
Aegea n,
ta b l ewa res from Greece a nd
Ita l y,
a nd sma l l oil
ja rs
from southern Phoenicia
(S ta ger1991b :37).
In fa ct,
through-
out this
region
Phoenicia n
connections,
b oth socia l a nd
economic,
increa sed. A
recentl y p ub l ished inscrip tion
found
a t Ya vne-Ya m documents a S idonia n encl a ve
there,
a p p a r-
entl y
first esta b l ished underAntiochusIm
(Isa a c1991).
S idonia ns
l ived a t inl a nd sites a s wel l . At
Ma resha h,
a tomb
inscrip tion
identified the decea sed a s the l ea der of the town's S idonia n
col ony,
one
Ap ol l op ha nes
son of
S esma ios,
who died a t
seventy-fouryea rs
of
a ge, ha ving
served for
thirty-threeyea rs.
His b uria l is da ted to 196
BCE,
so Ma resha h's S idonia n
p op -
ul a tion must ha ve a rrived a round 230 BCE.
TheS idonia n tomb a t Ma resha h wa s situa ted in thetown's
ea stern
necrop ol is,
a n a rea
conta ining
a b out
twenty-five l a rge
rock-cut tomb -ca ves.3 Al l were simil a r in
p l a n
a nd interna l
a rra ngements, ha ving
a t l ea st two
l ong
cha mb ers l ined
with individua l b uria l niches
(l ocul i).
Theniches were ca rved
b a ck into the
rock,
with their
op enings
fa shioned a s
ga b l ed
doorwa ys.
In the first four tomb -ca ves
found,
this
p seudo-
a rchitecturewa s furtherenha nced
b y p a inted
col umnsb etween
the niches a nd a
p a inted
frieze course a b ove them.
S ub jects
incl uded
wrea ths,
Pa na thena ic
a mp hora s
on
ta b l es,
ea gl es,
musicia ns,
a nd a nima l
p rocessions.
Most
figures
werel a b el l ed-
quite messil y-in
Greek. This
typ e
of
funera ry
a rchitecture
wa s
cl osel y p a ra l l el ed
in Hel l enistic
Al exa ndria ,
where
l a rge,
mul ti-cha mb ered tomb s with
p seudo-a rchitectura l
a dorn-
ment surrounded the
city.
S ome of the
p a inted sub ject
ma tter
a t Ma resha h
ma y
a l so ha ve b een l inked with Ptol ema ic
Egyp t,
esp ecia l l y
the
p a ra ding
a nima l s. But Greek a nd S emitic
sub jects a p p ea red
a s wel l
(e.g.,
the wrea ths a nd
a mp hora s,
the
ea gl e)
a nd the
a rtist(s) p rob a b l y
did not
rel y
on a
singl e
insp ira tion.
The centra l hil l s b eca me home for new
a gricul tura l
set-
tl ements in the
ea rl y
second
century
BCE. S ettl ers founded
six new fa rmstea ds in southern S a ma ria . Their exca va tor
l a b el l ed them
"mil ita ry
fa rms,"
esta b l ished
b y
Greek ex-offi-
cers
(Ap p l eb a um 1986:260 ).
Tira t Yehuda wa s a seventh such
settl ement.4 S imil a r to
Qa l a ndiyeh,
it consisted of a
l a rge
encl osed
a rea ,
with workrooms a nd
dwel l ings.
The ma in
a ctivity
a t Tira t Yehuda seems to ha ve b een oil
p roduction;
exca va tors found
crushing
a nd
p ressing
stones,
a l ong
with
much rel a ted
equip ment,
some in such
good
condition
tha t one entire b ea m
p ress
coul d b e reconstructed (Hestrin
Bib l ica l
Archa eol ogist
60 :1 (1997) 15
a nd Yeivin
1977).
Tira t Yehuda a l so
ma y
ha ve b een a mil i-
ta ry
fa rm,
p rob a b l y
esta b l ished
b y
S el eucid ex-sol diers. Whil e
this
interp reta tion
l a cks direct
sup p ort,
the fa rm's
destruction in the first wa ve of Ha smonea n
exp a nsion
under
Jona tha n
a nd S imon
suggests
tha t its inha b ita nts were not
Jewish.
Jerusa l em
rema ined the
onl y l a rge
settl ement in
Judea ,
a nd the l ives of its inha b ita nts rema ined connected to their
rel igious
a ctivities. But
cha nges
did come to the
city.
The
gen-
erous a l l otments of Antiochus IIIha d theireffects: increa sed
ma teria l
p rosp erity,
a nd more
imp orta ntl y,
a
symp a thetic
a ttitude on the
p a rt
of some of the
city's
el ites towa rds
theirnew
p ol itica l
ma sters. Both
a rcha eol ogica l
a nd
l itera ry
sourcesrefl ect the
p hysica l
a nd
p hil osop hica l cha ngeswrought.
In Eccl esia sticus
(The
Wisdom of Ben
S ira ),
written ca . 190 -
180
BCE,
the a uthor
rep orted
on severa l
imp orta nt
construction
p rojects
overseen
b y
the
high p riest
S imon a t the end of
the third
century:
In his l ifetime the house wa s
rep a ired,
in whose
da ys
the
temp l e
wa s fortified. He l a id the founda tion for the
high
doub l e
wa l l ,
the
high reta ining
wa l l of the
temp l ep recinct.
In his
da y they dug
the
reservoir,
a cistern b roa d a s the
sea
(S ir50 :1-3).
These a re the first
l a rge-sca l e
a rchitectura l a dditions
a ttested in
Jerusa l em
since the time of
Nehemia h,
a fa ct the
a uthorhimsel f
emp ha sizes b y
omission. Whil e no incontro-
vertib l e
p hysica l
evidence for
a ny
of these constructions
rema ins,
one section of the ea stern wa l l of the
Temp l e
Mount
coul d
p ossib l y rep resent
some of S imon's work. This is the
p iece
north of the
"sea m,"
a
stra ight
vertica l l ine
thirty-
two meters north of the southea stern corer. From the sea m
south,
the
ma sonry
is of Herodia n da te a nd wa s
p a rt
of
Herod's
enl a rgement
of the
Temp l e
Mount. The section to
the
north, however,
is b uil t in a
different,
a nd
ea rl ier,
tech-
nique
of a shl a rsdra fted with a
p rojecting
b oss a nd l a id in a n
a l terna ting sequence
of hea ders a nd stretchers. Whil e this
p iece
is
thought b y ma ny
to b e Hel l enistic in da te
(though
some woul d a ttrib uteit to First
Temp l e times),
it ca nnot b e
l inked with
a ny sp ecific
construction
(see
further
b el ow,
in
discussion on the
Akra ).
Jerusa l em's p op ul a tion
wa s now
l a rge enough
to ha ve
exp a nded b eyond
the confines of the
City
of Da vid to the
southwestern hil l
(now
the
Jewish
a nd Armenia n
qua rters
of the Ol d
City, a l ong
with Mt.
Zion). Though
exca va tions
in this a rea ha ve uncovered no structures from this
p eriod,
finds of the
ea rl y
second
century
BCEindica te the existence
of a sma l l settl ement here. These incl ude b oth
Jewish (Yehud)
a nd Greek
(Rhodia n) sta mp ed ja r
ha ndl es a nd coins. The
growth
of this
a rea ,
rea sona b l y
removed a s it is from the
City
of Da vid
hil l ,
ma y
b e rel a ted to the
increa singl y
divisive socia l
a tmosp here
of this
p eriod.
Theconstructionsoverseen
b y
the
High
Priest S imon b en-
efitted a stil l
whol l y
tra ditiona l
community. By
the
ea rl y
second
century
BCE, however,
therea l so existed in
Jerusa l em
Tira t Yehuda
p ressing
insta l l a tion: This
mul ti-sta ge
ol ive oil
p roduction
a rea from the fa rm a t Tira t Yehuda ha s b een
reconstructed
just
b el owthe Isra el Museum in Jerusa l em. The
origina l
situa tion incl uded a stone b ench where b a sketsof ol ives
coul d b e sta cked, a
p l a stered dep ression
in the
ground
for
storing
cra cked, unp ressed ol ives, a nd a
stora ge
a rea for
ja rs
of oil . In the
b a ckground
isthe
crushing
b a sin a nd stone,
in the
foreground
the
b ea m a nd three stone
weights.
Three
p il l a rs
formed roof
sup p orts,
dema rca ting
the a rea sfor ea ch
a ctivity.
BAa rchive
p hoto.
Jerusa l em, sea m in the
ea stern wa l l of the
Temp l e
Mount: deta il
il l ustra ting
two
p ha ses
of construction
within the
Temp l e
Mount
wa l l . To the
right,
the l ess
regul a rl y ca rved, roughl y
finished a shl a rb l ocks
cha ra cteristicof the second
to mid-first centuries BCE. To
the l eft, the
l a rge,
smoothed
a shl a rb l ocks
typ ica l
of the
p eriod
from Herod the Grea t
through
the destruction of
the
city.
Othertha n the
ma sonry technique,
no evidenceexiststo da te the ea rl ierwa l l .
a
community increa singl y op en
to a
Hel l enizing l ifestyl e.
During
the
reign
of S el eucus
IV,
the
city
ma rket
(a gora )
wa s
overseen
b y
a n
a gora nomos(2
Ma cc
3.4),
a
Hel l enistic-styl e
a dminstra tiveofficia l . One funda menta l refl ection of the new
16 Bib l ica l
Archa eol ogist
60 :1 (1997)
Imp orted sta mp ed a mp hora
ha ndl e from Jerusa l em, City
of Da vid.
This
imp ression
wa s
sta mp ed
onto the ha ndl e of a
l a rge
wine
ja r
ma de on the isl a nd of Rhodes b etween 175 a nd 146 BCE. To the l eft is
the hea d of Hel ios, with its distinctive ra dia nt crown; to the
right,
the
na me of the officia l Peisistra tos, who wa s
p residing
in the
yea r
tha t
this vessel wa s fil l ed a nd/or
ship p ed.
Photo
courtesy
of Dona l d Ariel .
a ttitude wa s the
growing
use of the Greek
l a ngua ge.
Greek
ha d
a l rea dy
b ecome the
l a ngua ge
of b oth commerce a nd
a dministra tion for the cities of the coa st a nd Iduma ea in
the third
century
BCE. Itsuse is a ttested in Jerusa l em itsel f
b y
two
l ong
Greek
inscrip tions
from the time of Antiochus IV
(Ra p p a p ort
1981:175;
Ap p l eb a um
1980 ;
a
p ossib l e
third is
the Greek ta riff
inscrip tion p ub l ished b y
Merker
1975).
In
175
BCE,
the size a nd
strength
of the
Hel l enizing Jewish
com-
munity
wa s such tha t one of theirown wa s
a ssigned
the rol e
of
High
Priest.
According
to 2
Ma cca b ees,
when this
ma n,
Ja son,
ca me into office:
he a t once shifted his
countrymen
over to the Greek
wa y
of l ife. He set a side the
existing roya l
concessions to the
Jews,...
a nd he
destroyed
the l a wful
wa ys
of
l iving
a nd
introduced new customs
contra ry
to the l a w. For with
a l a crity
he founded a
gymna sium right
under the
cita del ,
a nd he induced the nob l est of the
young
men to wea r the
Greek ha t. There wa s a n extreme of Hel l eniza tion a nd
increa se in the
a dop tion
of
foreign wa ys...(4:10 -13).
Al ong
with the
scul p ted
a nima l rel iefs of the Qa sra l -a b d
a t
Ira q
el -Emir,
theesta b l ishment of a
gymna sium
in
Jerusa l em
comp rises
the most vivid
p hysica l
refl ection of the "Hel l -
enizing" wa ys
of a t l ea st some
Jews.
In the col onna ded
encl osures of the
gymna sium, tra ining
in b oth Greek
sp orts
a nd Greek
p hil osop hy
occured. S uch infl uences
a cted,
in the words of El ia s
Bickerma n,
"a s a
p owerful
dissol vent
[on]
the tra ditiona l
discip l ine
of l ife"
(1962:59).
Ma teria l evidenceforthe
"a dop tion
of
foreign wa ys"
exists
in the
cop ious p resence
a t
just
this time of
foreign
wine
a mp hora s.
Over one thousa nd
sta mp ed
ha ndl es of
imp orted
a mp hora s, mostl y
from
Rhodes,
ha ve b een found
b y
a rcha e-
ol ogists
in
Jersua l em since the l a ter nineteenth
century.
Of
these,
the 477 found in the
City
of Da vid exca va tions ha ve
b een the most
thoroughl y
studied
(Ariel 1990 ).
These incl ude
450 Rhodia n ha ndl es of which
onl y
10
ma y
b e da ted ea rl ier
I Temp l e
Mount
\
i,2*
__ _ _ _ _ _ _
-_11
Cita del
\
I
I3 3
Z' Zion 3^
First
I
~~~, ~"?b
/
I I
IMount
/
,
Zion
-..
Wa l l Circuit ,
Va l l ey of
Hinnom
Possib l e sites of the Akra , Jerusa l em. This
ma p
indica tes the three
most
l ikel y
l oca tions of the S el eucid Akra :
1)
a t the northwest corner
of the
Temp l e Mount, where the
Herodia n-p eriod
Antonia wa s
situa ted; 2)
in the southea stern corner of the
Temp l e
Mount itsel f,
incorp ora ting
the section of the ea stern wa l l north of the "sea m"; or
3)
south of the
Temp l e Mount, on the
Op hel
or a t the
up p er
end of
the
City
of Da vid.
tha n ca . 260 or l a tertha n 150 BCE. The
singl e l a rgest group
a re
the 216 ha ndl es tha t da te b etween 20 5 a nd 175 BCE. Whil e
some of these ha ndl es
ma y rep resent onl y
reused
conta iners,
some must derive from vessel s
b ought
for the sa ke of their
origina l
contents.
Ptol ema ic
designs
on Phoenicia a nd Pa l estinedid not dis-
a p p ea r
a fter the b a ttl e a t Pa nion in 20 0 BCE. Nor wa s the
S el eucid vision of b roa d
imp erium destroyed b y
the defea t
a t
Ma gnesia
ten
yea rs
l a ter. In the fifth or sixth
yea r
of
Antiochus IV
(170 /169 BCE),
a sixth wa r b etween the S el eu-
cidsa nd Ptol emies
erup ted
a nd,
a l most
immedia tel y,
Antiochus
IVtook
Pel usium,
a t the ea stern end of the Nil e Del ta . The
Ptol emies
quickl y sought
Roma n
intervention,
which soon
a rrived in the
p erson
of a
l ega te
na med C.
Pop il l ius
La ena s. In one of the most fa mous
(or infa mous)
scenes of
history,
La ena sforced thewithdra wa l of Antiochus
b y
dema nd-
ing
his
resp onse
b efore he
step p ed
out of a circl e dra wn in
the sa nd a round his feet. Retrea t wa s
ra p id
a nd,
more to the
p oint, whol l y
without rewa rd: the
king
returned with nei-
therterritoria l
ga in
nor
sp oil s.
Thisl a ttersitua tion he
ma na ged
Bib l ica l
Archa eol ogist
60 :1 (1997) 17
to
reverse, however,
b y stop p ing
in
Jerusa l em
a nd
l ooting
the
temp l e trea sury (1
Ma cc
1:21-24).
Two
yea rs
l a ter,
he sent a n
occup ying
force to the
city:
"they
fortified the
city
of Da vid with a
grea t strong
wa l l a nd
strong
towers,
a nd it b eca me theircita del "
(1
Ma cc
1:33).
The
p recise
l oca tion of this "cita del "-known
b y
its Greek
na me,
the Akra
(mea ning
"the
heights")-rema ins
unknown. Jose-
p hus p rovides
the most deta il ed
descrip tion:
[Antiochus]
b uil t a cita del in the l ower
p a rt
of the
city,
for the
p l a ce
wa s
high,
a nd overl ooked the
temp l e,
on
which a ccount he fortified it with
high
wa l l s a nd
towers,
a nd
p ut
into it a
ga rrison
of Ma cedonia ns
(Ant. 12.252).
S evera l l oca l es fit this
descrip tion:
the northwestern cor-
nerof the
Temp l e
Mount
(on which stood the
Herodia n-p eriod
Antonia );
thesouthea stern comerof the
Temp l e
Mount
(which
woul d
incorp ora te
the
p ossib l y
Hel l enistic
p iece
of wa l l north
of the
"sea m");
a nd the
Op hel
rise
just
south of the
Temp l e
Mount (in which a rea a
p re-Herodia n
rock-cut cistern wa s
found).5
Whil e of uncerta in
l oca tion,
the Akra is of definite
imp orta nce
forour
understa nding
of thesettl ement of
Jerusa l em
a t this time. With its
construction,
the
city's
two
Jewish
fa c-
tions now resided in
sep a ra teneighb orhoods:
"in tha t cita del
dwel t the
imp ious
a nd wicked
p a rt
of the
[Jewish]
mul ti-
tude"
(Ant. 12.252).
In the
yea r
166
BCE,
two
sep a ra te
historica l currents
merged.
Antiochus IV
Ep ip ha nes,
whose
gra nd
vision of S el eucid
emp ire
ha d b een cut off two
yea rs
ea rl ier in the
Egyp tia n
sa nds,
now needed a
wa y
to b oost his
dyna sty's p restige
without
a l iena ting
Rome. In the
mea ntime,
the
Jewish
community
of
Jerusa l em ha d b ecome so divided tha t
up on
construction of the
Akra ,
some
Jews
chose to l ive within its
wa l l s ra thertha n
a mong
their
co-rel igionists.
Antiochuschose
to vent his humil ia tion a nd reinforce his
p osition b y
vic-
timizing Jews (Gruen 1984:661),
a rea ction
p erfectl y
wel l
understood
b y
our l one
contemp ora ry
witness,
the b ook of
Da niel
(which
describ es the event in the form of a n
a p oca -
l yp tic vision):
Therefore
[theking]
wil l b e
dishea rtened,
a nd wil l return
a nd b ecome
enra ged
a t the
hol y
covena nt a nd ta ke a ction....
And forces from him wil l
a rise,
desecra te the
sa nctua ry
fortress,
a nd do
a wa y
with the
regul a r
sa crifice. And
they
wil l set
up
the a b omina tion of
desol a tion...(Da n
11:30 -
31).
The
sp ecific
a ctionstha t Antiochusundertook were
sp el l ed
out in the more
news-l ike/historiogra p hic
a ccount of 1 Ma c-
ca b ees: the
king
issued ordersto
forgo
thetra ditiona l sa crifices
a nd ritua l s in the
Temp l e,
a nd instea d "sa crificeswine a nd
uncl ea n a nima l s"
there;
to further a b a ndon their l a ws a nd
customs,
incl uding
circumcision;
a nd
fina l l y,
to "b uil d a l ta rs
a nd sa cred
p recincts
a nd shrinesforidol s"
(1:44-50 ).
But these
a ctions of Antiochus-hostil e
though they
were-did not
b ring
on confronta tion. In
fa ct, a s the a uthor of 1 Ma cca b ees
In the winter of 166 BCES el eucid officers ca me to Modein, a sma l l
vil l a ge
on the roa d b etween
Jerusa l em
a nd
Jop p a (Tel Aviv). They
ordered a n ol der ma n na med Ma tta thia s to ma ke the sa crifice on the
p a ga n
a l ta r erected there, in a ccorda nce with the
recentl y
issued edict
of the
king.
Ma tta thia s
vehementl y
refused. The
sub sequent
a ction is
dra ma tica l l y
describ ed in 1 Ma cca b ees:
AJew ca me forwa rd in the
sight
of a l l to offer sa crifice
up on
the
a l ta r.... When Ma tta thia s sa w
it,
he b urned with zea l a nd his
hea rt wa s stirred. He
ga ve
vent to
righteous a nger;
he ra n a nd
kil l ed him
up on
the a l ta r. At the sa me time he kil l ed the
king's
officer who wa s
forcing
them to sa crifice, a nd he tore down the
a l ta r.
(1:23-25)
Then
Ma tta thia s,
a l ong
with his five sons a nd a sma l l b a nd of
fol l owers, "fl ed to the hil l s."
During
the next
yea r
Ma tta thia s a nd his
group op era ted
a s a
guerril l a
b a nd,
concentra ting
their
fight a ga inst
"sinners a nd l a wl ess
men,"
snea king
into
vil l a ges
a nd
overturning
a l ta rs,
circumcising
Jewish b oys.
In the l a tter
p a rt
of 166 or the
b eginning
of 165 BCE,
Ma tta thia s died, a nd his third son
Juda h,
surna med the
Ma cca b ee,
took comma nd in his
p l a ce.
For the next two
yea rs Juda h
continued
these
surp rise
a ssa ul ts,
ga rnering
so much renown tha t the l oca l
a dministra tion decided to
enga ge
him.
Ap ol l onius,
the S el eucid
governor
in
S a ma ria , fiel ded a
force, b ut
Juda h
defea ted a nd kil l ed
him.
S eron, the comma nder of the
S yria n a rmy,
ca me towa rds
Jerusa l em
on the roa d from the coa st with a second force, which
Juda h's
men routed. With this
victory,
the Ma cca b eea n b a nd a l so
a cquired
their first
p iece
of
territory:
the
very
roa d tha t S eron
tra versed, the so-ca l l ed
"Jerusa l em
corridor." When Antiochus
received this news, he ordered his
genera l Lysia s
to fiel d a
l a rge
contingent a ga inst Judea
a nd
Jerusa l em,
whil e he himsel f took a force
towa rds Persia in order to col l ect a dditiona l funds.
S el eucid intervention on this sca l e a l tered-for a time-the
cha ra cter of the confl ict. Ra ther tha n a
fight
b etween
fa ctions,
a civil
wa r,
it b eca me a civil insurrection. The
government's troop s,
now
una b l e to
a p p roa ch Jerusa l em
via the coa st,
enca mp ed
instea d a t
Beth-Zur,
a b out
thirty
km south of the
city. According
to 1
Ma cca b ees,
Juda h decisivel y
routed
Lysia s
there. It is cl ea r from 2 Ma cca b ees,
however, which
p reserves
officia l
corresp onda nces
from
Lysia s
to the
Jews, Antiochus to
Lysia s,
Antiochus to the
Jews,
a nd the Roma ns to
the
Jews (11:16-38),
tha t a l l
p a rties
rea l ized the b enefits of
l a ying
down
a rms,
a nd
quite rea dil y a greed
to do so. El ia s Bickerma n
summa rized the situa tion thus: "In
p oint
of
fa ct,
Ep ip ha nes
wa s a t the
moment
enga ged
in a serious wa r in the Ea st, the
imp eria l trea sury
wa s
a ga in emp ty,
a nd the
question
of whether the
Jews
woul d ea t in
a ccorda nce with or in
op p osition
to their
dieta ry
l a ws must now ha ve
seemed of l ittl e
consequence
to the
government" (1962:117).
The
p ersecution
thus ended a s it ha d
b egun, b y roya l
decree.
The
p ersecution ended, b ut the wa r did not. The hostil ities ha d in
18 Bib l ica l
Archa eol ogist
60 :1 (1997)
A S udden
S qua l l
Civil Wa r
(166-160 BCE)
the first
p l a ce erup ted
not
a ga inst
the
king's
edicts a nd the officers
sent to enforce them, b ut
a ga inst
Jews who ha d
comp l ied
with them.
At this moment, the most
p owerful
of these wa s none other tha n the
High
Priest, Menel a us
(origina l l y
na med
Onia s).
This Menel a us,
up on receip t
of Antiochus' first edict,
ha d
rea dil y
rededica ted the
temp l e
in
Jerusa l em
to incl ude the
worship
of
Ol ymp ia n
Zeus, a nd
for the
p a st
three
yea rs
he ha d conducted
p a ga n
sa crifices on its a l ta r.
In his l etter to the
Jews,
Antiochus
ma rkedl y
omits mention of the
Ma cca b ees a nd
emp ha sizes
Menel a us'
p osition
a s their
p rop er
l ea der.
S uch a n outcome wa s not the one for which the Ma cca b ees a nd their
fol l owers ha d b een
fighting.
Their next a tta ck wa s therefore
a ga inst
the
Hel l enizing Jews
in Jerusa l em itsel f.
At the end of 164 BCE, Juda h a nd his men ma de a
surp rise
a ssa ul t
on the
city.
Their
goa l
wa s the
Temp l e
(a s
op p osed
to the
Akra ),
a nd
they a p p a rentl y
took it
ea sil y. They rep urified
a nd rededica ted it a t
once,
"choos[ing]
b l a mel ess
p riests
devoted to the l a w,"
a fter which
they quickl y
esta b l ished a fortified
ga rrison p ost
on Mt. Zion
(1
Ma cc
4:42, 60 -61).
This
ga rrison
wa s soon
sup p orted b y
a second
esta b l ished a t Beth-Zur, "so tha t the
p eop l e might
ha ve a
stronghol d
tha t fa ced Iduma ea "
(1
Ma cc
4:61). According
to the a ccount in 1
Ma cca b ees,
within the next six months Juda h a nd his b rothers l ed
their men in b rief
fora ys a ga inst
settl ements in Iduma ea
(incl uding
Ma resha h),
the
S hep hel a h (Gezer), Tra nsjorda n ("the
l a nd of
Tob ia h"),
Ga l il ee
("to
the
ga te
of
Ptol ema is"),
the Gol a n, a nd the
coa sta l
p l a in (Ya vneh-Ya m, Ashdod).
At this l a st site, Juda h
"tore
down their
a l ta rs,
a nd the
gra ven ima ges
of their
gods
he b urned
with fire"
(1
Ma cc
5:68).
The
corresp onding a rcha eol ogica l
record is,
however, b l a nk: these sites conta in no evidence of
da ma ge
a t this
time.
Juda h's
a ctivities were
l ikel y
b rief ra ids, ra ther tha n
trul y
disrup tive
a ssa ul ts.
In l a te winter or
ea rl y sp ring,
163 BCE, Juda h's newl y
esta b l ished
ga rrison
on Mt. Zion
b ega n
a
siege
of the Akra . Word wa s sent to the
court a t Antioch, which wa s then control l ed
b y Lysia s (the
former
genera l ), a cting
a s the
regent
for the new
b oy-king,
Antiochus V. S uch
a n a ct
b y
Juda h's forces ra n counter to the settl ement
p reviousl y
negotia ted,
a nd
Lysia s
decided on a ma ssive a ssa ul t to crush the
insurgents.
He
a ga in
ma rched to Iduma ea ,
in order to a tta ck from the
south; his first
step
wa s a successful
siege
of the new Ma cca b ea n
ga rrison
a t Beth-Zur. This
victory
drew
Juda h
out of
Jerusa l em,
a nd
the two sides met in b a ttl e a t
Beth-Zecha ria h, a b out
ha l fwa y
to Beth-
Zur. The
roya l a rmy p reva il ed
a nd a dva nced to Jerusa l em, where
they
l a id
siege
in turn to the settl ement on Mt. Zion. With his food
sup p l y
a l most
dep l eted
(it wa s a sa b b a tica l
yea r,
in which ob serva nt
Jews
l et their l a nd l ie
fa l l ow)
a nd much of his
fighting
force kil l ed,
wea kened, or sca ttered, Juda h wa s in
desp era te
stra its. And then,
in
a nother historica l coincidence,
he wa s thrown a l ifel ine:
[During
the
siege
of Mt.
Zion] Lysia s
hea rd tha t
Phil ip ,
whom
King
Antiochus
[IV],
whil e stil l
l iving,
ha d
a p p ointed
to
b ring up
Antiochus his son to b e
king,
ha d returned from Persia a nd
Media with the forces tha t ha d
gone
with the
king,
a nd tha t he
wa s
trying
to seize control of the
government.
S o he
quickl y ga ve
orders to
dep a rt,
a nd sa id to the
king,
to the comma nders of the
forces,
a nd to his men,... "Now then l et us come to terms with
these
men,
a nd ma ke
p ea ce
with them a nd with a l l their
na tion,
a nd
a gree
to l et them l ive
b y
their l a ws a s
they
did b efore"
(1
Ma cc 6:55-57, 58-59).
S o a
p ea ce
wa s
quickl y negotia ted.
In
a ddition,
the
High
Priest
Menel a us wa s
dep orted
a nd executed a nd a new
High
Priest
a ssigned: Ja kim,
who hel l enized his na me to Al cimus.
Though
most
of the
Jewish p op ul a tion
of
Judea sup p orted
him, Juda h,
who ha d
retrea ted with the remna nts of his b a nd into the hil l s, rema ined
unsa tisfied. Al cimus wa s a ccused of
ha ving "wil l ingl y
defil ed
himsel f" under the
origina l
edicts of Antiochus IV, a nd so coul d not
b e
recognized
a s a
l egitima te
l ea der
(2 Ma cc
14:3). Juda h continued to
enga ge
in the sorts of
p eriodic
a ssa ul ts tha t ha d cha ra cterized the
wa r's initia l
p ha ses;
Al cimus twice
comp l a ined
to the
king
tha t
"those
Jews...a re keep ing up
wa r a nd
stirring up
sedition, a nd wil l
not l et the
kingdom
a tta in
tra nquil ity" (2
Ma cc
14:6).
In
resp onse
the
S el eucid mona rch
a ga in disp a tched
a
genera l ,
this time
Nica nor, a nd
a sizea b l e force,
a ga inst Juda h.
In the
sp ring
of 161 BCE, in
quick
succession, Nica nor a nd Juda h
fought
twice. In the first b a ttl e,
Nica nor defea ted
Juda h
a nd forced
the l a tter's retrea t into the Mt. Zion
ga rrison (Ant. 12.369-75);
b ut in
the second
b a ttl e,
nea r a
p a ss
in the hil l s a b out a n hour a nd a ha l f
north of
Jerusa l em, Juda h's
troop s
won a nd Nica nor wa s kil l ed.
Juda h
returned to Jerusa l em, this time victorious. In Antioch, the
currrent
king
Demetrius I a t once ordered his
genera l
Ba cchides to
Judea .
And in the next
sp ring,
160 BCE,
Ba cchides a rrived-this time
from the
north, from Ga l il ee. He coul d feel secure
enough
to a dva nce
through l a rgel y
Jewish
territory
b eca use he ha d
tra vel l ing
with him
a s a n
a l l y
none other tha n the
High
Priest Al cimus
(1
Ma cc 9:1, b ut
contra Ant.
12.394).
Ba cchides ca me
up on Juda h's
men a t a
p l a ce
ca l l ed El a sa (it ha s not b een
identified),
where his
sup erior
numb ers
a l one sca red off a b out two-thirds of the defenders; in the
ensuing
b a ttl e
"Juda h fel l ,
a nd the rest fl ed"
(1
Ma cc
9:18).
The victorious Ba cchides a t once refortified a nd
ga rrisoned
a
numb er of
Juda ea n settl ements,
incl uding
Bethel , Jericho, Beth-Zur,
Gezer, Emma us,
a nd the Akra in
Jerusa l em:
"in them he
p ut troop s
a nd stores of food"
(1
Ma cc
9:52).
The
l oca tions,
tightl y encircl ing
Judea p rop er,
refl ect how focused the now-conta ined confl ict ha d
b een; it ha d not even
sp rea d
to the northern centra l hil l s. There, the
schisma tic S a ma rita n communities
l iving
a t S hechem a nd Mt.
Gerizim ha d
comp l ied
with the edict of Antiochus IV
ea rl y
on; in a
forma l
p etition, they
ha d "b eseeched
[the king]
to l et our
temp l e,
which a t
p resent
ha s no na me a t a l l , b e na med the
Temp l e
of Zeus
Hel l enios" (Ant. 12.261).
Bib l ica l
Archa eol ogist
60 :1 (1997) 19
Jona tha n's Rise: 160 to 145 BCE
Al l of the
energy
of Juda h Ma cca b ee ha d not
p roduced a ny
sta b l e
p ol itica l ga ins. Immedia tel y up on
his dea th in 160
BCE,
in the
p ol emica l
formul a tion of 1
Ma cca b ees, "the l a wl ess
emerged
in a l l
p a rts
of Isra el ; a l l the doers of
injustice a p p ea red" (9:23). Jona tha n,
the second son of Ma tta thia s, a ssumed
l ea dership
of the sma l l
remna nt of the Ma cca b ea n b a nd. At
first, Jona tha n's sol e
a ccomp l ishment
wa s to rema in a t
l a rge, though
a t one
p oint
he
orga nized
a n a mb ush of a Na b a ta ea n
wedding p a rty
in
southern
Tra nsjorda n.
After a few
yea rs,
however, Jona tha n
a p p a rentl y
tired
of the outl a w l ife a nd
p etitioned
Ba cchides
(the
current
governor)
for
a mnesty.
Ba cchides
comp l ied,
a nd
Jona tha n
wa s a l l owed to settl e
a t Michma sh
(now Mukhma s),
a sma l l
vil l a ge eight
mil es northea st
of Jerusa l em. Here he
"b ega n
to
judge
the
p eop l e,"
much in the
ma nner of il l ustrious
p redecessors
such a s Deb ora h a nd S a muel
(1
Ma cc
10 :73).
But in 152 BCE, a n
op p ortunity
for
grea ter p ower
p resented
itsel f to him, with the a rriva l in Akko-Ptol ema is of
Al exa nder Ba l a s, a
p retender
to the S el eucid throne.
Al exa nder Ba l a s'
a p p ea ra nce
a t this time refl ects two
p ol itica l
rea l ities: the continued
p ower-driven
ma china tions of the va rious
Hel l enistic
dyna sts
(in this ca se,
Ptol emy
VI Phil ometer of
Egyp t,
Atta l us II of
Perga mon,
a nd Aria ra thes V of
Ca p p a docia ),
a nd the
p ersona l insta b il ity
of the current S el eucid
king,
Demetrius I. As a t
other times
during
this
p eriod,
fa r-removed forces
imp el l ed
events
tha t ha d immedia te l oca l
consequences.
In this ca se,
Ptol emy
decided tha t the S el eucid's wea kness
might
a l l ow him to reta ke
Phoenicia a nd Pa l estine, to which end he took the l ea d in
p rop p ing
up
a
p retender.
This
exp l a ins
Al exa nder's choice of
l a ndfa l l ;
up on
his a rriva l a t
Akko-Ptol ema is,
the
city's ga rrison
decl a red its
l oya l ty
to him.
Demetrius, p resented
in essence with
a fa it a ccomp l i,
decided
a t once to enl ist
Jewish mil ita ry
a ssista nce. This wa s a n ob vious
move: if the Gra eco-Phoenicia n cities of the coa st were
defecting
to
the Ptol ema ic
side, the
Jewish
centra l hil l s must b e
p ersua ded
to
rema in
p ro-S el eucid.
And the
onl y p erson
in this a rea whom
Demetrius knew to b e in control of
fighting
men wa s
Jona tha n.
S o
Demetrius sent a l etter to
Jona tha n,
which
"ga ve
him
a uthority
to
recruit
troop s,
to
equip
them with a rms, a nd to b ecome his
a l l y" (1
Ma cc
10 :6).
Jona tha n
b etook himsel f a t once to Jerusa l em. The
p eop l e
there
"were
grea tl y
a l a rmed when
they
hea rd tha t the
king
ha d
given
him
a uthority
to recruit
troop s" (1
Ma cc
10 :8).
Current events, however,
l eft them without
recourse; Demetrius' troub l es ha d b ecome
Jona tha n's op p ortunity:
And
Jona tha n
dwel t in
Jerusa l em
a nd
b ega n
to reb uil d a nd
restore the
city.
He directed those who were
doing
the work to b uil d
the wa l l s a nd encircl e Mount Zion with
squa red
stones,
for b etter
fortifica tion; a nd
they
did so. Then the
foreigners
who were in the
stronghol ds
tha t Ba cchides ha d b uil t fl ed....
Onl y
in Beth-Zur did
some rema in...
(1
Ma cc
10 :10 -14).
No structura l evidence from
Jerusa l em
ca n b e a ssocia ted with
Jona tha n's efforts. The evidence from Beth-Zur indica tes
onl y
the
most minima l
occup a tion b y
this time
(though Josep hus' descrip tion
of its l a ter
conquest b y
S imon
suggests
a more sub sta ntia l
occup a tion;
see
b el ow).
One
p ossib l e a rcha eol ogica l
refl ection of
Jona tha n's
new sta tus is the ma ssive new fortifica tion wa l l
constructed a round the
a crop ol is
of
S a ma ria ;
it fol l ows the l ine of
the Iron
Age p eriod-wa l l ,
a nd is enha nced
b y squa re
towers a t
regul a r
interva l s. On the evidence of coins a nd
sta mp ed
ha ndl es
found within the founda tion
fil l s, its exca va tors da ted the
construction to the middl e of the second
century
BCE
(Crowfoot,
Crowfoot, a nd
Kenyon 1957:218-19).
This
ma y
wel l ha ve b een the
indep endent
work of the l oca l
ga rrison, resp onding
to
Jona tha n's
a scension or a l a ter
devel op ment.
Jona tha n's new
energy
a nd
p osition
a ttra cted the a ttention of
Al exa nder
(a ctua l l y,
one must
a ssume, Ptol emy),
who a l so
b ega n
seeking
the former reb el 's a l l ia nce.
Up p ing
the
sta kes,
he wrote to
Jona tha n:
King
Al exa nder to his b rother
Jona tha n, greeting.
We ha ve
hea rd a b out
you,
tha t
you
a re a
mighty
wa rrior a nd
worthy
to b e
our friend. And so we ha ve
a p p ointed you toda y
to b e the
high
p riest
of
your na tion;
you
a re to b e ca l l ed the
king's friend, (a nd he
sent him a
p urp l e
rob e a nd a
gol den crown),
a nd
you
a re to ta ke our
side a nd
keep friendship
with us (1 Ma cc
10 :10 -14).
Within the few months of
a utumn, 152 BCE, Jona tha n
ha d risen
from a sma l l -town sheikh to the
Jewish High
Priest, in whom wa s
a l so vested
mil ita ry p owers.
Jona tha n's meta morp hosis
refl ects the first rea l recession of
S el eucid
a uthority. Previousl y,
interna l reb el l ions were met
b y
a
successful show of S el eucid
mil ita ry might,
a nd
up sta rts a ngl ing
for
p ower
were
firml y p ut
in their
p l a ce (Gruen 1984:611-71).
With
Jona tha n's receip t
of the
fa wning
offers of Demetrius I a nd
Al exa nder Ba l a s, the mecha nism of S el eucid coercion
cha nged
from
intimida tion to
b rib ery.
As va rious
p ersona ges struggl ed
for
S el eucid
hegemony, Jona tha n
wa s a b l e to extra ct more
p ower-
a dministra tive, economic,
a nd territoria l .
Demetrius I countered Al exa nder Ba l a s with a series of
gifts
for
Jona tha n
a nd Judea tha t incl uded
exemp tions
from trib ute
(p ol l ta x),
sa l t ta x, crown l evies,
a nd other ta xes in
kind, a s wel l a s the a ddition
of three
l a rge p a rcel s
of
King's
La nd in southern S a ma ria
(these
a re
the districts
Ra ma ta yyim, Lydda ,
a nd
Ap ha irema ).
Within two
yea rs,
however, Demetrius fel l in b a ttl e
a ga inst
Al exa nder.
Ptol emy
VI,
seeing
the first
sta ge
of his
p l a n
succeed, then ca me to Akko-
Ptol ema is with his
da ughter,
whom he ma rried to Al exa nder "with
grea t p omp ,
a s
kings
do"
(1
Ma cc
10 :58).
Al exa nder in turn ma de
Jona tha n "genera l
a nd
governor
of the
p rovince" (1
Ma cc
10 :65).
In
147 BCE, however, Demetrius II
(the
son of Demetrius I) a rrived from
Crete, a
cha l l enge
sufficient to sca re Al exa nder b a ck to Antioch.
Demetrius II
a p p ointed
one
Ap ol l onius governor
of Phoenicia ;
Ap ol l onius, enca mp ed
a t
Ja mnia ,
cha l l enged Jona tha n; Jona tha n
a dva nced to a nd took
Jop p a
a nd then
p ursued Ap ol l onius
a s fa r
south a s Ashdod. There he b urnt the
town, incuding
the
temp l e
of
Da gon,
a nd
p l undered
the
countryside (1
Ma cc
10 :84).
His success
hea rtened Al exa nder
Ba l a s,
who rewa rded him with a nother
20 Bib l ica l
Archa eol ogist
60 :1 (1997)
territoria l gift,
thistimethefertil edistrict of Ekron, l oca ted on the
inner
edge
of thecoa sta l
p l a in directl y op p osite
Ashdod
(1
Ma cc
10 :89).
In fa ct, the l a nds must ha ve b een
p a rt
of Ashdod's
city
territory,
a nd the
gift
reta l ia tion fortha t
community'sha rb oring
of
Ap ol l onius.
In 145 BCE,
Ptol emy
VIdied. Demetrius
U
a t oncesummoned
Jona tha n to Ptol ema is, wherehe
p romised
to honorthe
concessions
gra nted Judea b y
his fa ther
(1
Ma cc
11:24-37).
But the
most ob viousa nd most troub l esome
(to Jona tha n)
ma nifesta tion
of S el eucid
p ower-the
continued
occup a tion
of theAkra in
Jerusa l em-rema ined. Jona tha n
a sked tha t the
imp eria l ga rrison
b e disb a nded, a nd
though
DemetriusII
p romised
to do
exa ctl y
tha t,
"heb rokehis word a b out a l l tha t he ha d
p romised" (1
Ma cc
11:53).
In
consequence,
when a nothercontenderfortheS el eucid
thronema teria l ized within the
yea r, Jona tha n
shifted his
a l l egia nce.
He ma dea
trea ty
with thisnewS el eucid
hop eful ,
Tryp hon,
in which S imon, the
rema ining
Ha smonea n b rother, wa s
"ma de
governor
from theLa dderof
Tyre
to theb ordersof
Egyp t"
(1
Ma cc
11:59).
Thiswa s a n
a stonishing
reversa l of
p ol itica l
circumsta nce. For
nowthe
l a rge,
strong,
a nd
wea l thy
Gra eco-Phoenicia n coa sta l
citiesca meundertheimmedia te
p ol itica l
a nd
mil ita ry
control of
Jerusa l em:
S imon went forth a nd ma rched
through
the
country
a s fa ra s
Aska l on a nd the
neighb oring stronghol ds.
He turned a sideto
Jop p a
a nd took it
b y surp rise....
And he sta tioned a
ga rrison
there
to
gua rd
it
(1
Ma cc
12:33-34).
With this
move,
so
b l a ndl y
recounted in b oth 1 Ma cca b ees
a nd
Josep hus(Ant. 13.180 ),
thefirst
b ridge
overthe
top ogra p hic,
p ol itica l ,
socia l , a nd economicdivideb etween thecoa st a nd the
centra l hil l swa s constructed.
Juda h
Ma cca b ee's
up rising fina l l y
b orefruit.
notes,
"ma ny
of the
p eop l e joined
them"
(1:52).
It wa s this
Jewish
comp l ia nce,
not S el eucid
a nta gonism,
tha t l ed to
the
sub sequent
a rmed confronta tion: tra ditiona l
Jews a ga inst
their
hel l enizing
b rothersa nd
sisters, or,
in other
words,
civil
wa r.
The
l itera ry
sources for this
p eriod, p rima ril y
1 a nd 2
Ma cca b ees a nd
Josep hus,
tel l the convol uted
history
of the
ea rl y yea rs
of the Ma cca b ea n reb el l ion.
Beginning
in the win-
ter of 166
BCE, Ma tta thia s,
a nd
sub sequentl y
his son
Juda h,
l ed a reb el l ion directed
a ga inst
those in the hil l s who com-
p l ied
with Antiochia n decrees. Theirinitia l successes in civil
insurrection a ttra cted the intervention of the
S yria n a rmy.
The rel a tive fortunes of the
Ma cca b ees,
their l oca l
op p osi-
tion,
a nd the forces of the S el ucids va cil l a ted
through
a
ha l f-deca de of
surp rise
a ssa ul ts,
sta ged
b a ttl es,
occup a tions,
a nd
fl ights
to thewil derness
(see
thesideb a r: AS udden
S qua l l :
Civil
Wa r).
Between 166 a nd 160
BCE, Judea witnessed a numb er of
b a ttl es,
b ut their rel entl ess
p a ce
ha s l eft l ittl e tra ce in the
a rcha eol ogica l
record. At
Bethel ,
exca va tors found tra ces
of a wa l l a nd some
second-century
BCE
p ottery
on a hil l ock
ea st of the
mound;
this ha s b een ta ken a s evidence of the
S el eucid
genera l
Ba cchides' refortifica tion. At
Gezer,
the
l a rge
city ga te
b uil t
during
the
p eriod
of S ol omon
(Iron II)
wa s
reb uil t a round the middl e of the second
century
BCE;
this
ma y
refl ect Ba cchides' work a s wel l .
Onl y
a t Beth-Zuris the fre-
netic
jockying
of these times refl ected in the
a rcha eol ogica l
rema ins. The
evidence,
col l ected in two
ca mp a igns (1931,
1957),
revea l s a
singl e third-century
settl ement
p ha se,
then
three
p ha ses
of the
ea rl y-mid
second
century (S el l ers
et a l .
1968).
Beth-Zur's
imp orta nce
rests in its
stra tegic p osition
on the
b ounda ry
b etween the
high Judea n
hil l s a nd the
gen-
tl er
sl op es
of Iduma ea . Under Ptol ema ic
rul e,
the
top
of
the mound ha d b een
fortified;
the site
p rob a b l y
constituted
the next
stop
a fterMa resha h on the
wa y
to the Dea d S ea .
By
the
ea rl y
second
century
this cita del ha d
grown
into a
town,
whose residents l ived on the
sl op es
a nd
p l a in
outside the
wa l l s. As with other settl ements in
Iduma ea ,
Beth-Zurwa s
economica l l y
diverse;
the exca va torsuncovered a
l a rge
ma r-
ketp l a ce
with a n
inn,
a b utcher
shop ,
a
ta vern,
a nd severa l
other
shop s.
The most
interesting
find wa s a
p ub l ic
b a th
house
(b a l neum),
which incl uded a room with two
tub s,
a
b a sin,
a nd a foot b a th
(twel ve
other
singl e
tub s were found
sca ttered
throughout
the
town;
S el l ers
1933:16-17).
S uch
p ub -
l icb a th fa cil itiesa reknown from othersites in the Hel l enistic
Mediterra nea n,
a nd the
exa mp l e
a t Beth-Zurrefl ectsa
fa irl y
cosmop ol ita n community (Reich 1988).
S ometime b efore the
middl e of the second
century
BCE,
the cita del wa s reb uil t a s
a series of
el onga ted
rooms a round a centra l court. At this
sa me time the ol d Middl e Bronze
Age
wa l l wa s reconstructed.
Both of these
p rojects
a re a ttrib uted
b y
the exca va tors to
Juda h's
esta b l ishment of a
ga rrison
here in 164
BCE,
soon a fter
the rededica tion of the
temp l e.
The cita del wa s
a ga in
The
comp l ica ted overl a y
of structureson the cita del a t Beth Zurb ea rswitnessto the site's
sra tegic
l oca tion. At l ea st three different
ep isodes
of
defensive constructions ma rk the Hel l enistic site. Pl a n from S el l ers 1968:
p l a n
1.
Bib l ica l
Archa eol ogist
60 :1 (1997) 21
i- i ^
^
*
:.
I I; i 4
S tra to'sTower, round tower a nd wa l l . Rema insof the north
encl osurewa l l , with one
p ol ygona l
a nd one round tower, uncovered
b y
Ita l ia n exca va torsin 1963. Thewa l l isconstructed of
recta ngul a r
l imestoneb l ocks, dra fted with wide
rough b osses, l a id in
a l terna ting
hea dersa nd stretchers.
Though
no evidenceexiststo da te this
p a rticul a rstretch, exca va tion
a ga inst
a wa l l
segment
with identica l
modified
shortl y
therea fter
b y
the incl usion of a
p eristyl e
courtya rd,
with a ha l l
running
a round it on three sides a nd
entra nces on the fourth. Both the
ra p idity
of reconstruc-
tion,
a nd the
Greek-styl e courtya rd, suggest
tha t Ba cchides
wa s
resp onsib l e
for this
op era tion. Light occup a tion a p p a r-
entl y
continued. A fina l
l a ter-second-century
BCE
p ha se
is
rep resented b y
rema insoutside the cita del
(on
which see fur-
ther, b el ow).
Receding
Wa ves: S el eucid
Disintegra tion
(160 -145 BCE)
Throughout
the first ha l f of the second
century
BCE,
the
turmoil in
Judea
ha d rema ined a l most
comp l etel y
conta ined,
without
consequences-p ol itica l , mil ita ry,
economic,
or
socia l -for the
l a rgerregion.
The
a rcha eol ogica l
rema insfrom
settl ements in the northern centra l hil l s
(S hechem, S a ma ria ),
Tra nsjorda n (Heshb on, Pel l a ),
a nd the centra l
va l l eys
(Beth-S hea n-S cythop ol is,
Tel l
Keisa n)
show their
p ea ceful
ma intena nce or
exp a nsion during
this time. Life
a l ong
the
construction b enea th the
a crop ol is
indica testhe entirecircuit wa s
constructed in the second ha l f of the second
century
BCE. Themost
l ikel y p erson
to ha ve insta l l ed the defenses isZoil us, who hel d b oth
S tra to'sTowera nd Dor
during
the l a tersecond
century
BCE. Photo
courtesy of Richa rd Cl ea ve.
coa st a nd in Iduma ea continued
p rosp erous,
the resul t of
l ong-sta nding
commercia l
connections,
a diverse economic
b a se,
a nd
geogra p hic good
fortune.
Luxury goods
a nd for-
eign imp orts
of this
p eriod
found a t
Akko-Ptol ema is, Dor,
Ashkel on,
a nd Ma resha h revea l residents' ma teria l comforts.
S ome coa sta l settl ements
a ctua l l y exp a nded,
such a s Ash-
dod a nd S tra to's
Tower,
which ha d b oth b een
rel a tivel y
sma l l
third-century
ha ml ets.
Ashdod,
known in Hel l enistic times a s
Azotus,
incl uded
a l ow
a crop ol is
a nd
l a rge surrounding
town in the southern
coa sta l
p l a in.6
The
city
ha d b een ma de a n a dministra tivecen-
terunder the Persia ns-a
p osition
tha t a fforded its residents
ma teria l
p rosp erity,
a s refl ected in finds of
p a inted
Greek
p ottery,
Acha emenid
jewel ry,
a nd a n ostra con
refering
to
imp orted
wine.
During
the
p eriod
of Ptol ema ic
rul e,
how-
ever,
Ashdod wa s b oth sma l l er a nd l ess wel l
connected;
third-century
finds incl uded
onl y
a few
imp orted
ta b l e
vessel s,
a l ong
with
ma ny l oca l l y
ma de util ita ria n wa res
(Dotha n 1971:42-64).
In the l a te
third/ea rl y
second centuries
22 Bib l ica l
Archa eol ogist
60 :1 (1997)
Phoenicia n semi-fine
p ottery
vessel s found a t Tel Ana fa . These
vessel s,
a l l
da ting
to l a te Hel l enistictimes, incl udeformsfor ta b l e
servicea nd
p ersona l
use. In the
up p errow, from l eft to
right,
a rea
ta b l e
jug,
a
jugl et,
a ta b l e
a mp hora ,
a nd a
l a gynos;
in the l owerrow,
from l eft to
right,
a retwo
a mp horiskoi,
a sa ucer(or
p ossib l y
a l id for
the ta b l e
a mp hora ),
a nd three
unguenta ria .
Phoenicia n
p otters
ma nufa ctured other
sha p es
in semi-finea s wel l , incl uding
sma l l
b owl s, fl a sks, funnel s, a nd
l a rgeja rs
for
tra nsp ort
a nd
stora ge. (S ee
b ox,
"To Ea ch ItsOwn," p . 24,
for a n il l ustra tion of a semi-fine
ja r.)
Photo
courtesy
of S ha ron Herb ert.
BCE,
two
l a rgeb uil dings
were constructed on either side of a
na rrowstreet. Thesewere ma inta ined forover ha l f a
century,
through
two
sub sequent occup a tion p ha ses.
Evidence for
p a ga n rel igiousp ra cticesa p p ea red
in one room: severa l stone
sl a b s tha t
p erha p s
formed a n
offering
ta b l e;
two minia ture
a l ta rs ma de of
gyp sum,
b oth incised with
b ra nches,
a nd on
one the l etter
M;
a
group
of corroded iron
tool s,
incl uding
two scimita rs a nd two
knives;
a nd a mol ded l ea d
p l a que
dep icting
a
p ossib l y
fish-ta il ed fema l e
sup p orting
hersel f on
a col umn. This l a st
might
b e a votive of the Phoenicia n
deity
Ata rga tis,
who,
a ccording
to Diodorus
S icul us,
wa s wor-
ship p ed
a t Ashkel on a s ha l f-woma n-ha l f fish
(2.4.2-3).
Exca va tors of these second
century p ha ses
a l so unea rthed
a
good
numb er of
imp orted
wine
a mp hora s, mostl y
Rho-
dia n;
p a inted
a nd mol d-ma de
p ottery
from
Athens,
Asia
Minor,
a nd the
Aegea n;
a nd-from the second ha l f of the
century-b ea utiful red-sl ip p ed
ta b l e vessel s from southern
Phoenicia
(the
wa re is known a s Ea stern
S igil l a ta
A,
or
ETS -I;
see
further, b el ow).
Further
north,
immedia tel y
on the
coa st,
wa s a sma l l
a nchora ge
known a s S tra to'sTower
(the
na me
imp l ies
a sim-
p l e
b a stion b ut
a ctua l l y
indica tes a fortified
town).
This
site
might ea sil y
ha ve
esca p ed
the notice of future a rchea ol -
ogists, excep t
forthe fa ct tha t Herod the Grea t b uil t his ha rb or
city
of Ca esa rea
directl y
on its ruins.
Though
thereis no firm
da te for the
ep onymous
S tra to,
exca va tions a t the site since
the 1950 sha ve uncovered rema instha t ca n b e a ssocia ted with
the Hel l enistic town. A few
imp orted
a nd l oca l fine wa res
a nd some
cooking p ots emerged
from the third
century,
though
no structura l rema ins ca n b e da ted this
ea rl y.
There
must ha ve b een a
working
ha rb or, however,
a s Zenon
stop p ed
here in 259 BCE
(P.
Ca iro Zen.
590 0 4). By
the middl e of the
second
century
BCE,
the settl ement incl uded a series of houses
north of the
a crop ol is.
Qua ntities
of domestic
p ottery,
incl uding
b oth
imp orted
a nd
l oca l l y
ma de ta b l e
vessel s,
a
few
Aegea n
a nd Phoenicia n wine
a mp hora s,
a nd l oca l cook-
ing
a nd
util ity
wa res,
da tethe
exp a nsion (Berl in 1992).
Evidence
of a Hel l enistic
p eriod a nchora ge emerged
in the a rea tha t
l a terb eca me
p a rt
of the Herodia n innerha rb or. Here a rcha e-
ol ogists exp osed
a stone wa l l with a
mooring
stone set into
the
top . Digging
down to the wa l l 's b a se
they
discovered tha t
it ha d b een set
directl y
on b edrock tha t ha d itsel f b een cut
a wa y.
Thisa ncient inwa rd
exca va tion,
a Phoenicia n
p ra ctice,
p rovided
a more
p rotected
ha ven,
a nd crea ted
grea terdep th
for
b ringing
b oa ts
up sa fel y (Hol um
et a l .
1988:46-49;
Ra b a n
1992:21-22).
The construction ca n b e da ted
onl y genera l l y
a s
p rior
to tha t of
Herod,
b ut it does indica te one source of
the settl ement's economic sustena nce
during
tha t time.
Mea nwhil e,
in
Judea
the situa tion in 160 BCEwa s thus:
the Ma cca b ea n
b a nd,
grea tl y
reduced,
ha d "fl ed into the
wil derness,"
whil e the
l a rger p a rt
of the
p op ul a tion
ha d
resumed its l ife a nd l ivel ihood in
p ea ce. Desp ite
the
p re-
ceding yea rs
of
gueril l a
a tta cks a nd occa siona l
l a rge-sca l e
mil ita ry
intervention,
the Ma cca b ees ha d not succeeded in
either
p ersua ding
or
running
off
Judea 's
Hel l enizing Jews.
.Jona tha n ha d a ssumed
l ea dership up on
the dea th of
Juda h
a nd ha d
ma na ged onl y
to rema in outside the
gra sp
of
the
S yria ns.
After
receiving a mnesty
from the
S yria n gov-
ernor, however, Jona tha n
b ega n
to b uil d a l oca l
p ower
b a se a nd wa s soon emb roil ed in interna tiona l
p ol itics.
A
l engthy
sea son of a l l ia nce
ma king
a nd
b rea king
b etween
Jona tha n
a nd va rious
reigning
a nd
a sp iring
S el eucid mon-
a rchsrevea l ed the wea kness of
S yria n hegemony. Eventua l l y,
p ol itica l
ma china tions
p l a ced
in Ma cca b ea n ha nds wha t
no
mil ita ry
ta cticsha d b een a b l e to a chieve:
p ol itica l
control
of the coa sta l
p l a in,
"from the La dder of
Tyre
to the b order
of
Egyp t" (1
Ma cc
11:59).
Ap p ointed governor
of thisnew
p ol ity,
S imon, Jona tha n's
sol e
surviving
b rother,
sta tioned
troop s
a t
Jop p a . Ma ny
his-
toria ns ha ve identified S imon's esta b l ishment of a
Jewish
ga rrison
a t
Jop p a
a s a n initia l ma neuver
a l l owing
the Ha s-
monea ns a Mediterra nea n outl et
(most recentl y Ap p l eb a um
1989:20 a nd Ka sher
1990 :99-10 2).
Goods
a cquired
via inter-
na tiona l commercedo
not, however,
b egin
to
a p p ea r
in
Judea .
The
Jop p a ga rrison
wa s, instea d,
a n
outp ost
in a n
essentia l l y
foreign country,
a
rel igiousl y-defined
force in a
merca ntil e,
ma ritime l a nd. This force wa s soon
joined b y
other "col o-
nizing"
efforts,
whose esta b l ishments
hel p ed
to
cha nge
the
region's l ong-entrenched
socio-economic
p a tterns.
But the
ma teria l cul ture a nd
l ifestyl e
of the
Jewish
centra l hil l s did
not wa sh
quickl y
over the l a nd. For
just
a s the Ha s-
monea ns found
op enings
in the
region's
a na rchic
p ol itica l
situa tion,
so too did other
p ower-seeking
cities a nd l ea d-
ers. The efforts of these
emerging p rincip a l ities
ma rk the
history
a nd
a rcha eol ogy
of the
ensuing
ha l f
century.
Bib l ica l
Archa eol ogist
60 :1 (1997) 23
Merging
Currents:
Indep endent Dyna sts
(145-10 4 BCE)
Throughout
the second ha l f of the second
century
BCE,
ma ny p eop l es
in Pa l estine a nd Phoenicia
sought
to
consol ida te their
territory,
revenues,
a nd
p ol itica l p ower.
In the
south,
the Na b a tea ns
exp a nded
their dominion in the
Negev
a nd southern
Tra nsjorda n,
whil e in the
north,
the Itu-
ra ea ns moved into the Gol a n. In centra l
Tra nsjorda n,
a n
a mb itious
dyna st
na med Zeno
Cotyl a s
seized
Phil a del p hia
a nd its
environs,
whil e on the
coa st,
a l oca l
strongma n
na med
Zoil us control l ed the towns of Dor a nd S tra to's Tower.
Asca l on,
Akko-Ptol emia s,
Tyre,
a nd S idon a l l decl a red or
p urcha sed
their
indep endence
from va rious S el eucids. For the most
p a rt,
these rul ers a nd
"p rincip a l ities"
did not seek to
a cquire
l a nd
a t a nother's
exp ense.
Ra ther,
ea ch
sought
to consol ida te a nd
ma inta in their tra ditiona l territories a nd rel a ted revenues.
Their
goa l
wa s economic
strength,
ra ther tha n
mil ita ry a cqui-
sition. The
a rcha eol ogica l
record refl ects this in severa l
wa ys.
First,
whil e
ma ny
of the
p eriod's
most sub sta ntia l con-
structions were wa l l s a nd
towers,
there a re few destruction
l evel s or
confl a gra tions.
Individua l towns were
p rotected,
b ut evidence of
mil ita ry
strikes is ra re. S tra to's Tower a nd
Phil a del p hia
offer two
good exa mp l es
of this
p henome-
non. Zeno
Cotyl a s
took
Phil a del p hia
in 134 BCEa nd
a p p a rentl y
set a b out
refortifying
the
city.
He reb uil t the Iron
Age
b a s-
tion in the southea stern corner of the southern extension of
the
a crop ol is
a s a
l a rge,
curved ca sema te wa l l
(this
wa s the
l ower
city,
known
toda y
a s the cita del in the center of
modem
Amma n). Pottery
found within the rub b l e a nd ea rth
fil l da ted to the second ha l f of the second
century
BCE. The
ma sonry
wa s
very
much l ike tha t of the ea rl ier section of the
ea st wa l l of the
Temp l e
Mount in
Jerusa l em:
b ossed stones
a rra nged
in hea ders a nd stretchers.
Identica l
ma sonry
a l so cha ra cterized the ea rl iest wa l l s
surrounding
the town a nd ha rb or of S tra to's Tower. S evera l
sections of
wa l l s,
a l ong
with one connected
p ol ygona l
tower,
two connected round
towers,
a nd a third round tower
just
offshore,
comp rise
a n
a rchitectura l l y
consistent series of for-
tifica tions. Two
stra tigra p hic p rob es dug a ga inst sep a ra te
wa l l sections
p roduced p ottery da ting
down to the l a ter sec-
ond
century BCE,
thus
fixing
their construction to tha t
p eriod
when Zoil us control l ed b oth this town a nd Dor whose third-
century
BCEwa l l s stil l stood inta ct
(Bl a kel y
1992:31-34;
Ra b a n
1992:18-21).
None of these
strongl y
fortified
p l a ces during
this
p eriod
showed
a ny
evidence of a tta ck or destruction.
The ma intena nce a nd/or
exp a nsion
of tra ditiona l tra de
p a tterns p rovides
the second
ca tegory
of evidence tha t revea l s
the
essentia l l y
economic,
ra ther tha n
mil ita ry,
interests of the
va rious
p ol ities
of the l a ter second
century
BCE. At Na b a tea n
sites in southern
Tra nsjorda n
a nd the northern
Negev,
for
exa mp l e,
Mediterra nea n tra de items
b ega n
to
a p p ea r
a t
just
this time. At
Nessa na ,
one of the
l a rgest enca mp ments
of the
p eriod, a rcha eol ogists
col l ected
thirty-three sta mp ed
ha n-
dl es of
Aegea n
wine
a mp hora s,
a l l
da ting
from the middl e
of the second to the
ea rl y
first centuries BCE. Fine ta b l e wa res
To Ea ch Its Own:
Ma rketing
Wine And Oil
Two of the most
imp orta nt
commodities of the a ncient
worl d were wine a nd
oil , b oth of which were
tra nsp orted
a nd
stored in
l a rge ja rs.
Al l wine a nd oil
ja rs
ha ve severa l fea tures
in common: thick
wa l l s, na rrow
mouths, rounded b ottoms or
p rotruding
toes, a nd two wide,
sturdy
ha ndl es.
(This
l a st
fea ture is the rea son tha t most such
ja rs
a re termed
"a mp hora s,"
which
simp l y
mea ns "two ha ndl ed vessel " in
Greek). Every p roducing
l oca l e did, however,
use
ja rs
with
deta il s
sp ecific
to tha t
a rea ;
in this
wa y b uyers
coul d
recognize
the
p roducts
of
sp ecific regions.
In Hel l enistic
Phoenicia a nd
Pa l estine, the three most common
typ es
of
wine a nd oil
ja rs
come from
Rhodes,
southern
Phoenicia ,
a nd
Judea .
The
ma p
on
p a ge
48 indica tes which
typ es
ha ve b een
found a t which sites. The confinement of Phoenicia n wine/oil
ja rs
to the coa sta l
p l a in
a nd the north is nota b l e, a s is the
a b sence of
Judea n wine/oil
ja rs
from sites in the Hul a
va l l ey
a nd in some coa sta l a rea s. The wide distrib ution of Rhodia n
a mp hora s
is somewha t
misl ea ding, however;
such vessel s a re
essentia l l y
a b sent from
Judea
b efore the l a ter third
century
BCE,
a s wel l a s a fter the middl e of the second
century
BCE.
They
a re ra re
throughout
the north in the third
century
BCEa s
wel l ,
a nd
a p p ea r
in
qua ntity
thereonl y towa rdsthel a ter
second
century
BCE.
of this
p eriod
a l so
a p p ea red, incl uding
mol d-ma de b owl s
24 Bib l ica l
Archa eol ogist
60 :1 (1997)
Ea stern
S igil l a ta
Ata b l ewa resfound a t Tel Ana fa . Thiscol l ection of
vessel swa s found sma shed in
p ieces
in the ea stern col onna deof the
La teHel l enisticS tuccoed
Buil ding
a t Tel Ana fa . Incl uded a rethree
very l a rgep l a tters
with wide rims, five medium sized disheswith
up turned rims, two sma l l
drinking cup s,
a nd a
l oca l l y
ma nufa ctured
b ra zier
(l owerl eft). Production of Ea stern
S igil l a ta
A
b ega n shortl y
a fterthe middl eof the second
century BCE; the medium sized dishes
with
up turned
rim a reone of the first
sha p es
to b e ma de. This
p a rticul a rgroup
da tes from the
b uil ding's
fina l Hel l enistic
occup a tion,
b etween 10 0 a nd 75 BCE. Photo
courtesy
of S ha ron
Herb ert.
a nd the Phoenicia n
red-sl ip p ed p ottery
known a s Ea stern
S igil l a ta
A
(see further, b el ow).
Exca va torsha ve found iden-
tica l wa res a t Ob oda a nd a t
Petra ,
confirming
the economic
l inks b etween Na b a tea n a nd Mediterra nea n tra ders. Al a ter
second-century
BCEreference to Na b a tea n
a ctivity
refers to
their tra de in "fra nkincensea nd the other a roma tic wa res"
from
up p er
Ara b ia
(Diodorus
S icul us
3.42.5,
a scrib ed to
Aga tha rchides
of
Knidos).
The merca ntil e cha ra cter of the l a ter second
century
BCEis most
emp ha tica l l y
revea l ed
b y
the connections
ma inta ined b etween va rious Pa l estinia n coa sta l communi-
ties a nd the southern Phoenicia n cities of
Tyre
a nd S idon.
Akko-Ptol ema isa nd
Asca l on,
for
exa mp l e,
continued to mint
Phoenicia n sta nda rd tetra dra chms
(Kindl er 1978:53).
Wine, oil ,
a nd
p ottery
ma de in
Tyre
were ma rketed
through-
out coa sta l Pa l estine
(Berl in forthcoming).
Phoenicia n mercha nts
ship p ed
wine a nd oil in
hea vy-b ottomed, b ul ky ja rs
ma de
of a distinctive
cha l ky
fa b ric, "semi-fine,"
exa mp l es
of which
a p p ea r
a t sites
a l ong
the
coa st,
in the Akko
p l a in,
a nd in
the Hul a
Va l l ey (see
b ox to
l eft).
Other semi-fine
p ottery
sha p es
found a t these a nd
nea rb y
sites incl uded vessel s for
ta b l e service-such a s sma l l wine
a mp hora s
a nd
jugs-
a nd for
p ersona l
toil ette-such a s
unguent ja rs
a nd b ottl es.
The distrib ution
p a ttern
of Phoenicia n semi-fine
p ottery
il l u-
mina tes this
imp orta nt,
b ut
l a rgel y unrecognized, a sp ect
of
the l a ter second
century
BCE
economy:
the cl ose merca ntil e
connections ma inta ined b etween the southern Phoenicia n
cities a nd settl ements
a l ong
the Pa l estinia n coa sta l
p l a in.
The most
a rcha eol ogica l l y
fa mous a nd
imp orta nt
Phoenicia n
p roduct
of this
p eriod,
wa s a
new
p ottery
wa re
designed
for
fa ncy
ta b l e
use. The
wa re,
known a s Ea stern
S igil l a ta
A
(ES A
for
short;
it is a l so known a s ETS -
I)
ha d a
thick, smooth,
b right ora nge-red
sl ip covering
a
cl ea n,
p a l e
b rown
cl a y.
Both
the
origins
a nd da te of ES Aha ve b een
hotl y
deb a ted since the exca va tions of
Antioch,
Ta rsus,
a nd S a ma ria in the 1930 s.
Recentl y,
I a comb ina tion of
p etrogra p hic
a nd chem-
ica l
a na l yses
ha ve demonstra ted thewa re's
cl ose a ffinities with Phoenicia n
semi-fine,
l ea ding
to the
stil l -p rovisiona l
b ut rea -
sona b l econcl usion tha t it too wa s a
p roduct
of the Phoenicia n coa st
(El a m, Gl a scock,
a nd S l a ne
1989, contra
Gunneweg,
Perl ma n a nd Yel l in
1983).
Its initia l
p roduction da te,
a l so once a ma tter of
contention,
ca n now b e fixed a round 140 -130 BCE. The Phoenicia n
ma nufa cturers of
red-sl ip p ed
ES Aha d first
exp erimented
with a
b l a ck-sl ip p ed p redecessor, exa mp l es
of which
a p p ea r
b y
the middl e of the second
century
BCEa t sites in Pa l es-
tine a nd on
Cyp rus (Ha yes
1985;
S l a ne
1997).
The
p roducers
of Ea stern
S igil l a ta
A
(a nd its
p redecessor)
sp ecia l ized
in vessel s for
dining
a nd
drinking.
The ea rl iest
sha p es
were
p l a tters
a nd sma l l
cup s.
S ome
va riety
wa s soon
introduced for
cup sha p es,
b ut the
p l a tters
rema ined
uncha nged
for over a
century (until
a b out 20
BCE). Desp ite
the l imited
ra nge
of
styl es,
however,
ES Asoon b eca me the
singl e
most
p op ul a r
cera mic ta b l e wa re a t sites
throughout
the south-
ea stern Mediterra nea n a nd
esp ecia l l y a l ong
the Pa l estinia n
coa st. Its
ra p id sp rea d
wa s
p rob a b l y
due,
in
p a rt,
to its dura b l e
a nd
l ovel y
semi-l ustrous sheen a nd its
striking
new col or
schema . An
equa l l y imp orta nt
fa ctor, however,
must ha ve
b een the
uncea sing ship p ing a ctivity
of Phoenicia n mer-
cha nts,
the entrenched
strength
of theircommercia l
ties,
a nd
the continued connections tha t
they enjoyed throughout
the
region.
The
p op ul a rity
of the new ES A ta b l ewa re wa s such
tha t it
a p p ea red
a t a l most
every
l a tersecond
century
BCEsite
to which Phoenicia n mercha nts ha d a ccess. In the ca se of
Pa l estine a nd
Tra nsjorda n,
this incl uded not
onl y
the sites
on the coa sta l
p l a in,
b ut in the northern
Negev (see a b ove),
Iduma ea ,
southern a nd northern
Tra nsjorda n,
theJezreel a nd
Beth-S hea n
va l l eys,
the Gol a n
Heights,
a nd the Hul a
Va l l ey.
Themost
interesting a sp ect
of this distrib ution wa s
not,
how-
ever, its
b rea dth,
b ut its
ga p s.
Thenota b l eomission wa s
Judea
a nd S a ma ria .
Throughout
this sma l l b ut
increa singl y densel y
p op ul a ted
a rea , ES Adid not
a p p ea r
a t sites
occup ied
in
the l a ter second a nd
ea rl y
first centuries BCE. This omission
wa s, in
fa ct, one of the
origina l
fa ctors in the
mis-da ting
of
ES A. S ince it did not occur a t S a ma ria until a fter its reset-
tl ement
b y
Ga b inius in 57
BCE,
one of the exca va tors
there,
Ka thl een
Kenyon, p osited
itsinitia l
p roduction
da tea s
roughl y
60 -50 BCE. Now with a n
exp a nding
da ta
b a se,
a
whol l y
dif-
ferent
p icture
ha s
emerged.
Phoenicia n mercha nts
sup p l ied
ma rkets a nd
p op ul a tions everywhere
b ut the centra l hil l s.
Bib l ica l
Archa eol ogist
60 :1 (1997) 25
There, Jewish
ma nufa cturers
enjoyed
a virtua l
monop ol y,
p roducing
not
onl y
their own wine a nd
oil ,
b ut the vessel s
in which to
ship ,
store,
a nd serve them.
The fina l
ca tegory
of evidence tha t revea l s the
b a sica l l y
non-mil ita ristic cha ra cterof l a ter second
century
BCEPa l es-
tine is the increa sed numb er a nd
p rosp erity
of b oth coa sta l
a nd inl a nd settl ements. The rel ea se from S el eucid ta xa tion
tha t
newl y indep endent p ol ities enjoyed
wa s
certa inl y
one
crucia l fa ctor in this
growth.
Jerusa l emitesha d a l so
exp eri-
enced increa sed a ffl uence a fter their ta xes were l ifted
b y
Antochus III.
Brea ka wa y
rul ers such a s Zoil us a nd Zeno
Cotyl a s simp l y
a sserted their
indep endence.
Other cities
received their new
p ol itica l
sta tus
b y
direct
p urcha se:
the
p a yment
of a
singl e l a rge
sum to the
ever-dep l eted
S el eucid
trea sury.
The l a test da te of a
city's
S el eucid
coina ge p rovides
the b est evidence for such sta tus. When the
imp eria l
mint
cl osed
down,
indep endent coina ge(genera l l y unda ted) b ega n.
The numisma tic evidence indica tes tha t
Tyre
b eca me inde-
p endent
in 125
BCE,
S idon in 111
BCE,
Akko-Ptol ema isin
10 7/6
BCE,
a nd Ashkel on in 10 4 BCE.
Economic
indep endence
a nd its a ttenda nt a dditiona l
resources a l so a l l owed for the esta b l ishment of new settl e-
ments. Themost
comp rehensive a rcha eol ogica l
evidence for
a
p op ul a tion
increa se a t this time comes from the
Up p er
Ga l il ee a nd the
a dja cent
Hul a
Va l l ey,
a rea s
tra ditiona l l y
incl uded in the hinterl a nd of
Tyre.
A
survey
of the Ga l il ee
found three times the numb er of l a ter second
century
BCE
settl ements a s
ea rl y
a nd middl e Hel l enistic ones
(Meyers,
Meyers,
a nd
S tra nge 1978).
Most of the increa se occured in
the more
rugged Up p er
Ga l il ee. An intensive
survey
con-
ducted down in the
ma rshy
l owl a nds of the Hul a
Va l l ey
revea l ed the identica l
p a ttern (Ida n S ha ked,
p ers. com.).
The
size a nd cha ra cterof these settl ements
p rob a b l y
va ried,
from
whol l y a gricul tura l
to
vil l a -l ike,
though
the na tureof
survey
does not il l ustra tesuch deta il s. A
good exa mp l e
of the l a tter
sort of settl ements is the l a te Hel l enistic
courtya rd-house
recentl y
found a t Bethsa ida
(Ara v 1995:26-27).
La te Hel l enistic rema ins exca va ted a t the
S a nctua ry
of
Pa n a t Ba nia sa nd a t Tel Ana fa ha ve revea l ed the
qua l ity
a nd
identity
of a t l ea st some of this new
p op ul a tion.
The occu-
p a tion
on the sma l l mound of Tel Ana fa
p rob a b l y
ended
sometime in the l a tter
p a rt
of the third
century.
Exca va tors
found
onl y
a few sca ttered indica tions for settl ement from
the
ea rl y-mid
second
century
BCE. Yet in the l a st
qua rter
of
the second
century,
new
occup a nts
constructed a
l a rge
a nd
el a b ora te
b uil ding,
a b out
thirty-eight
m2,
over the north-
ern ha l f of the tel l
(Herb ert 1994:14-18).
This structurewa s a
singl e
residence,
p rob a b l y origina l l y
two stories
high,
with
a centra l
op en-a ir courtya rd
a nd suites of rooms on three
sides. Thewa l l s were a comb ina tion of cut l imestone b l ocks
a nd
rough
b a sa l t
fiel dstones,
a nd most
interestingl y, they
were covered with
p a inted
a nd
gil ded
stucco. This stucco
decor incl uded imita tions of dra fted
b l ocks,
egg-a nd-da rt
mol dings,
a nd Ionic a nd Corinthia n col umn
ca p ita l s.
Both
the
p l a n
a nd decora tion resemb l ed l a te Hel l enistic
p riva te
houses exca va ted on the
Aegea n
isl a nd of Del os. The
La teHel l enisticS tuccoed
Buil ding (LHS B)
a t Tel Ana fa on the ea stern
ha l f of the mound with itsfive-meter
squa re
exca va tion
grid.
In the
first seriesof exca va tions
(1968-73),
S a ul
Weinb erg
concentra ted on a
five-meter-l ong step
trench on the southern
sl op e,
where he
uncovered
fra gmenta ry
rema insof houses, ovens, a nd
p a ved
courtya rds.
Hea l so
b ega n
work
up
in the mound'snorthea stern
corner, uncovering p a rts
of wha t l a terwa s
recognized
a s the LHS B's
north col onna de, a nd south a nd west a nnexes. Between 1978 a nd
1981 S ha ron Herb ert
l a rgel y
exca va ted the rest of the
LHS B,
in which
p rocess
she a l so cl a rified the da te a nd na tureof the mound's
Hel l enistic
p eriod occup a tion.
Pl a n
courtesy
of S ha ron Herb ert.
decora tion of theAna fa house
suggested
its na me: it is ca l l ed
the La teHel l enistic S tuccoed
Buil ding.
Themost
el a b ora te,
a nd
unique,
el ement of this stuccoed
structure wa s a three-room b a th
comp l ex a l ong
its entire
ea stern side
(Herb ert 1994:62-64).
The northern two rooms
ha d mosa ic
fl oors,
the centra l one of which wa s recovered
inta ct. A
l a rge p l a stered
b a sin
l a y a l ong
the southern wa l l
of the centra l room. Thesouthern room conta ined two stone-
l ined fire
p its,
one of which wa s b uil t into the wa l l next to
the
p l a stered
b a sin,
in orderto hea t its wa ter. Interiordra ins
connected a l l three
rooms,
a nd theirfl oors
sl op ed
from north
to south to furtherfa cil ita te
dra ina ge.
Theb a th
comp l ex
wa s
b uil t in the initia l
sta ges
of the
courtya rd b uil ding
a nd con-
tinued in use
throughout
its
occup a tion.
Exca va torsa scerta ined
a
p recise
a nd secure da te for the construction of the b a th
comp l ex
a nd of the
courtya rd
house itsel f
through
the dis-
covery
of coin of Al exa nderZeb ina
(128-123 BCE)
undernea th
the
origina l
fl oor of the southern room.
The inha b ita nts of this
extra va gentl y a p p ointed
a nd
decora ted house
a cquired
a nd/or
b rought
with them a mul -
titude of
l uxury goods.
In
ra nge
a nd sheer
qua ntity,
the
a ssemb l a ge
of their househol d
p roducts surp a sses
tha t of
26 Bib l ica l
Archa eol ogist
60 :1 (1997)
> 1 d l r U J
.
-. --
oL -2 0
4-..l E N/ANOl Z
..o..l IIAoi
yix,H
TheZoil us
inscrip tion
from Da n. This
b il ingua l inscrip tion,
in Greek
a nd
Ara ma ic, wa s found
l ying
fa ce down some 17 m south of the
High
Pl a cea t Da n. Thefl a t l imestonesl a b is
da ma ged
a round the
edges,
b ut the
inscrip tion
is
l a rgel y
inta ct. TheGreek
ca rving
is
fa irl y
nea t, though
the
sp a cing
of the l ettersis
irregul a r.
TheAra ma ic
ca rving,
on the other ha nd, whil e
p rob a b l y contemp ora ry,
is
cl ea rl y
l ess
p ra cticed-a p rob a b l econsequence
of the
ra rity
of officia l
inscrip tions
in tha t
l a ngua ge,
a nd so of the ca rver'sl a ck of
p ra ctice.
Dra wing
a nd
Photogra p h courtesy
of A. Bira n.
a ny
other
singl e
esta b l ishment exca va ted in the
region (the
cl osest
p a ra l l el
woul d b e a l a te Hel l enistic house exca va ted
a t
Pel l a ).
Theinha b ita nts'
drinking
vessel s were most
imp res-
sive a s evidenced
b y
thousa nds of
fra gments
of ca st
gl a ss
b owl s,
most with interior
grooves
a nd some with exterior
rib b ing (Weinb erg
1970 ;
Grose
1979:54;
Grose
1989:193-94).
Al most a l l of the cera micvessel s forta b l e
setting
a nd service
were ma de of ES Aa nd Phoenicia n
semi-fine;
qua ntities
of
ea ch numb ered in the hundreds. Diners fa vored
imp orted
wine:
fifty-four
Rhodia n
sta mp ed
ha ndl es da ted to this
p ha se,
a l ong
with a b out
twenty-five
Koa n
ha ndl es,
severa l south
Ita l ia n wine
ja rs,
a nd
thirty-seven
Phoenicia n semi-fine
wine/oil
ja rs. Fina l l y,
there wa s a fine a ssortment of
b ronze
vessel s,
incl uding jugl ets
a nd
l a dl es,
a nd cut
gems
of
ga rnet, a methyst,
a nd
gl a ss.
Who were these
wea l thy, sel f-indul gent
l a te Hel l enistic
settl ers? The
a rcha eol ogica l
evidence
strongl y sup p orts
south-
ern Phoenicia a s their
origin.
First of
a l l ,
the b a th
comp l ex-l uxurious
a nd
p riva te-wa s highl y
unusua l .
Ma resha h ha d
simp l e p l a stered
b a sins a nd individua l tub s
a nd Beth-Zur
p ossessed p ub l ic b a thing
houses.
Onl y
fourth-
third
century
BCEPunic houses in North Africa a nd
S icil y
a nd thesecond
century
BCEGreco-Ba ctria n siteof Ai Kha noum
(in modern
Afgha nista n) p rovide p a ra l l el s
for the
fa cil ity
found a t Tel Ana fa . The Punic evidence
sup p orts
the
p ossi-
b il ity
tha t such el a b ora te esta b l ishments refl ect Phoenicia n
customs. Theconstruction
techniques
of the
courtya rd
b uil d-
ing-comb ining
a shl a ra nd rub b l e
ma sonry
in much the sa me
ma nner a s the houses a t Dor-were
certa inl y
Phoenicia n.
Moreover,
the new settl ers' ma teria l
p ossessions, incl uding
the
gl a ss
b owl s,
ES A
ta b l ewa res,
a nd semi-fine
p ottery,
ma n-
ifested their connection to
Phoenicia n-sup p l ied
ma rkets.
Fina l l y,
it is nota b l e tha t the site wa s resettl ed
just
a fter 125
BCE,
the
yea r
in which
Tyre
b eca me
indep endent
(issues of
indep endent Tyre
a nd S idon
comp rise seventy p ercent
of the
p eriod's coins).
As tha t
city's
hinterl a nd
a l rea dy
incl uded
the site of
Kedesh,
on the
ridgeimmedia tel y
west of the
Hul a ,
it is
ea sy
to
ima gine
the
a dja cent va l l ey's
fertil e l owl a nds
a ttra cting
Phoenicia n settl ers a s wel l .
The a ffl uent na ture of Tel Ana fa 's l a te Hel l enistic settl e-
ment wa s echoed in the
contemp ora neous
rema ins of the
nea rb y S a nctua ry
of Pa n a t Ba nia s. Wherea s the
ea rl y
Hel -
l enistic rema ins here were b oth l imited a nd
p oor,
the l a ter
second
century
dedica tions were
a b unda nt,
va ried in
typ e,
a nd
quite sop histica ted. They
a l so incl uded b oth ES Aa nd
semi-fine ta b l e
wa res,
a dditiona l confirma tion of Phoenicia n
coa sta l connections. In
a ddition,
the
sa nctua ry p roduced
a b out 170
cooking
vessel s,
refl ecting
the
exp a nsion
of cul t
p ra ctices
to incl ude ritua l
dining.
Al l of the cera mic
typ es
found a t the
S a nctua ry
ha d
p a ra l l el s
from Tel Ana fa a s
wel l a s from other
newl y
esta b l ished l a te Hel l enistic sites in
the Hul a . The
S a nctua ry
of
Pa n,
the
onl y
Greek cul t site so
fa r a ttested in this
region, cl ea rl y
b enefitted from the
newl y enl a rged
a nd wea l thier
p op ul a tion.
The
S a nctua ry
of Pa n wa s not the
onl y rel igious
site in
this a rea . At the
a dja cent
site of Tel
Da n,
a
sma l l ,
a rchitec-
tura l l y
discrete "cul t
p recinct" occup p ied
the northwestern
edge
of the
immense,
mesa -l ikesummit. Da n's "cul t
p recinct"
ha d b een esta b l ished in the tenth
century
BCE,
a nd contin-
ued to b e used a nd modified until the end of the Iron
Age.
Whil e its
history during
the Persia n
p eriod
is
uncl ea r,
numis-
ma tic a nd cera mic finds indica te tha t
b y ea rl y
Hel l enistic
times
a ctivity
ha d resumed. Buil ders
enl a rged
the centra l
stone structure a nd insta l l ed a
p l a ster
b a sin. Found in
1977,
b y
fa rthe most
imp orta nt discovery
in the
p recinct
wa s
tha t of a n inscrib ed stone with a
b ea utiful l y
ca rved dedica -
tion in Greek a nd a l ess wel l
wrought
a ddendum
b enea th,
in Ara ma ic. The texts rea d
resp ectivel y
"To the
god
who is
in
Da n,
Zoil os
(offers)
a
vow,"
fol l owed
b y "[This] (is the)
vow
(of)
Zoil os to the
[god
in
Da n]" (Bira n 1981;
Mil l a r
1987:132-33).
The
inscrip tion
is da ta b l e
onl y genera l l y
to the
Hel l enistic
p eriod.
As Mil l a r
exp l a ins,
we ca nnot know from
Bib l ica l
Archa eol ogist
60 :1 (1997) 27
this text whether it
rep resents
a Greek orGra eco-
Phoenicia n
worship p er's
dedica tion to a "l oca l "
deity
or a wel l -educa ted
S yria n a dop ting
the
Greek
dedica tory
custom. But in either
ca se,
the
inscrip tion
does document a
"meeting
of two
identifia b l e
cul tures,"
further evidence of the
merging
of this
p eriod's
socia l currents.
At the
b eginning
of the second ha l f of the sec-
ond
century
BCE,
Jona tha n's
p ol itica l strength
wa s
stil l new. In
Jerusa l em itsel f,
S el eucid a nd Hel l -
enizing Jewish
settl ement of theAkra continued.
Jona tha n thereforedecided to first focus his a tten-
tion a nd resources
there,
to which
end,
in 144 BCE
he
convened theel dersof the
p eop l e
a nd
p l a nned
with them...to b uil d the wa l l s of Jerusa l em
stil l
higher,
a nd to erect a
high
b a rrierb etwen
the cita del a nd the
city
to
sep a ra te
it from the
city,
in orderto isol a te it so tha t its
ga rrison
coul d neither
b uy
nor sel l
(1
Ma cc
12:35-36).
Whil e this
p roject
wa s stil l
underwa y,
however,
Tryp hon
l ured Jona tha n to Akko-Ptol ema is a nd there took him
p ris-
oner. S imon wa s a t once a ccl a imed
l ea der;
his first a ct wa s
to
"comp l ete
the wa l l s of
Jerusa l em,
a nd he fortified it on
every
side"
(1
Ma cc
13:10 ).
He a l so ma inta ined the
siege
a round the Akra . This l ed a t
l ong
l a st to its residents'
ca p it-
ul a tion in 141 BCE:
The men in the cita del a t
Jerusa l em
were
p revented
from
going
out to the
country
a nd b a ck to
b uy
a nd sel l . S o
they
were
very hungry,
a nd
ma ny
of them
p erished
from
fa mine. Then
they
cried to S imon to ma ke
p ea ce
with
them,
a nd he did so. But he
exp el l ed
them from therea nd
cl ea nsed thecita del from its
p ol l utions....
The
Jews
entered
it with
p ra ise
a nd
p a l m
b ra nches,
a nd with
ha rp s
a nd
cymb a l s
a nd
stringed
instruments.... And S imon decreed
tha t
every yea r they
shoul d cel eb ra tethis
da y
with
rejoic-
ing.
He
strengthened
the fortifica tions of the
temp l e
hil l
a l ongside
the
cita del ,
a nd he a nd his men dwel t there
(1
Ma cc
14:49-52).
The a ccount of S imon's
ca p ture
of the Akra
emp ha sizes
not
onl y
territoria l
a cquisiton,
b ut
rel igious victory.
As
b oth
l itera ry
a nd
a rcha eol ogica l
evidence
revea l s,
rel igious
motives cha ra cterized Ha smonea n settl ement
p ol icy
in
gen-
era l . Jona tha n
a nd S imon
a ctivel y
a imed to
enl a rge Judea
not
onl y b y esta b l ishing
a nd
sup p orting
new
Jewish
settl e-
ments,
b ut a l so
b y ca p turing gentil e
sites,
exp el l ing
their
residents,
a nd
resettl ing
them with
Jews(a p rocess
tha t
Ka sher,
a mong
others,
terms
"Juda iza tion" [1990 :10 5]).
Thecol l ected
evidence ha s b een ta ken to
rep resent
a Ha smonea n
p ol icy
of
"interna l col oniza tion"
(Ap p l eb a um 1989:44).
This "col oniza tion" wa s most
cl ea rl y
evident in the a b un-
da nt rema ins of new l a te Hel l enistic sites found
throughout
La teHel l enisticS tuccoed
Buil ding,
centra l room of b a th
comp l ex
a t
Tel Ana fa . This
p hotogra p h
showsthe
p l a ster-l ined
b a sin (l eft)
a nd
mosa icfl oor of the centra l room of the LHS B's b a th
comp l ex (l ooking
west).
Themosa icis ma de
up
of 1-1.5 cm
squa re
b l a ck dioritea nd
white ma rb l etessera e, a rra nged
in three uneven
p a nel s.
The
up p ermost,
which iscra cked from a l a ter
ea rthqua ke,
ha sa
dia gona l
checkerb oa rd
design,
whil e the two l ower
p a nel ssimp l y disp l a y
a n
irregul a ra rra ngement
of tessera e. Thismosa ic, found
during
the
1981 sea son,
isthe ea rl iest inta ct mosa icdiscovered so fa r in Isra el .
Photo
courtesy
of S ha ron Herb ert.
Judea
a nd S a ma ria
b y regiona l surveys (Da r1986; NEAEHL,
s.v.
"Judea "). Asp ects
of site a rchitecturea nd l oca tion indi-
ca ted tha t
ma ny
of thesenew sites
comp rised joint
a gricul tura l
vil l a ges
a nd
stra tegicoutp osts
tha t were
p rob a b l y
ma inta ined
b y p ea sa nts
settl ed a round them. TheS a ma ria n sitesof CAzoun
a nd
Qa ra wa t
b ene Ha ssa n
exemp l ified
such sma l l
hil l top
forts
(Da r1986:218, 230 -49). Litera ry
referencesindica ted tha t
othernew settl ements were esta b l ished a round the towns of
Ja mnia
a nd
Pega e
on the coa sta l
p l a in (Ap p l eb a um
1989:41,
45).
It is
certa inl y
no coincidence tha t the
city
territories in
which these
vil l a ges l a y
were
directl y a dja cent
to tha t of
Ekron,
which ha d b een deeded to Jona tha n
b y
Al exa nder
Ba l a s
(see sideb a r).
The other side of the "col oniza tion" effort a s
p ursued b y
Jona tha n
a nd S imon incl uded the ha rra ssment a nd
running
off of the
region's
Gentil e
p op ul a tion. Archa eol ogica l
evi-
dence for this consists of the destruction a nd a b a ndonment
of
non-Jewish settl ements,
first within the b orders of
Judea
a nd S a ma ria . A ma ssive
confl a gra tion dep osit
covered the
fina l
occup a tion
of the
mil ita ry
fa rm a t Tira t
Yehuda ,
for
exa mp l e, indica ting
whol esa l e destruction
b y
fire in the
middl e of the second
century
BCE. Residents a b a ndoned
the
contemp ora neous a gricul tura l vil l a ge
settl ed on Tel
Dotha n,
in centra l
S a ma ria ;
they
ha d
p rob a b l y
come
origi-
na l l y
from the Ma cedonia n
col ony
a t S a ma ria .
It is a n
a rcha eol ogica l irony
tha t a t this
time,
whil e
28 Bib l ica l
Archa eol ogist
60 :1 (1997)
Tel Ana fa , La teHel l enisticS tuccoed
Buil ding,
centra l room of b a th
comp l ex.
This
p ersp ective
reconstruction
dra wing
showsthe room's
p l a stered b a sin, b l a ck a nd white mosa icfl oor, a nd stucco wa l l
decora tion. Thewa l l
design
is b a sed on Rob ert Gordon's
reconstruction of a
l a rgedep osit
of stucco a rchitectura l
fra gments
a nd wa l l
p a nel s
found in a room in the
b uil ding's
southea stern
corner.
Dra wing courtesy
of S ha ron Herb ert.
most sites outside
Judea
a nd S a ma ria were
wel l -fortified,
it
is
onl y
the centra l hil l s tha t show a consistent
p a ttern
of
destruction. The
b eginnings
of this da te towa rds the end of
Jona tha n'srul e,
when S imon
successful l y b eseiged
Beth-Zur,
rep l a cing
its S el eucid
ga rrison
with one of his own. The
a ccount in
Josep hus,
which mentions
"engines
of wa r"
a nd ea rth
emb a nkments,
woul d
suggest
tha t a sizea b l e
p op -
ul a tion rema ined a nd tha t the site's fortifica tions rema ined
strong (Ant. 13.156).
Evidence from
exca va tion, however,
indica tes tha t the cita del wa s
onl y l ightl y p op ul a ted
a t this
time. S imon's new settl ement consisted of a l a tersecond cen-
tury
BCE
occup a tion
outside the wa l l s.
Investiga tors
found
p rima ril y
a
grea t
dea l of
p ottery
in cisterns tha t were
p rob -
a b l y
a ssocia ted with houses. Thecera micswerema de
excl usivel y
of l oca l util ita ria n wa res a nd incl uded
ja rs
a nd
jugs,
b owl s
a nd
sa ucers,
a nd
cooking
vessel s;
neither decora ted nor
imp orted
vessel s occured
(La p p
a nd
La p p 1968:75-77).
After S imon b eca me l ea der of
Judea ,
he continued the
p ol icies
of territoria l
a cquisition
a nd
"Juda iza tion."
His first
move wa s
a ga inst Jop p a ,
where he ha d
recentl y
insta l l ed a
ga rrison.
He
exp el l ed
the
city's p a ga n p op ul a tion
a nd
resettl ed it with
Jews.
He next turned his a ttention to
Gezer,
l oca ted a midst fertil e l owl a nds
a l ong
the "Jerusa l em corri-
dor" from
Jop p a (1
Ma cc
14:43-48).
The
l itera ry
a ccount is
exp l icit
a b out S imon's
intentions;
a ftera
l a rge
a nd
orga nized
siege,
he took the
city, exp el l ed
its
p revious
inha b ita nts,
"cl ea nsed the houses in which the idol s
were,
...ca st out of
it a l l uncl ea nness a nd settl ed in it men who ob served the
l a w." The
imp orta nce
of Gezerwa s such tha t S imon
p romp tl y
refortified
it,
b uil t a house therefor
himsel f,
a nd
sub sequentl y
a p p ointed
his son
John Hyrca nus
a s its
governor (Ka sher
1990 :10 8-9).
Exca va tionsa t Gezerha ve recovered a fa ira mount of evi-
dence
rel a ting
to S imon's
siege
a nd resettl ement. Ab roa d
destruction l evel dema rca ted the l a te Hel l enistic
p ha se;
it
resul ted from S imon's a tta ck. The
reworking
of the
city ga te
a nd wa l l s evidenced his
refortifica tions,
whil e a series of fine
courtya rd
houses
rep resented
the new settl ement. Most of
the houses
incorp ora ted
sma l l
miqva >ot, demonstra ting
the
new inha b ita nts'
rel igious scrup l es,
a s wel l a s
confirming
the
a ccount in 1 Ma cca b ees of the town's
Jewish
resettl ement
(Reich 1981). Al though
S imon's house ca nnot b e
sp ecifica l l y
identified,
one a rtifa ct a ttestsb oth to its existence a nd a t l ea st
one resident's a ttitude towa rds it. Found nea r the
city ga te,
a n
inscrip tion
etched on a stone rea d:
"Pa mp a ra s [wishes]
tha t fireshoul d fa l l on S imon's
p a l a ce" (CIJ 2,1184).
The
p ot-
tery
a ssocia ted with this
p eriod's occup a tion
consisted a l most
excl usivel y
of
p l a in, l oca l l y p roduced
wa res;
a
very
few ES A
cup s a p p ea red,
b ut no other
imp orted p ottery (Gitin 1990 ).
Thecl ea rest
a rcha eol ogica l
demonstra tion of S imon's set-
tl ement
p ol icy
comesin theform of thefa mousGezer
b ounda ry
stones. El even exist in a l l . Nine ha ve the words
"Bounda ry
of Gezer" scra tched on them in
Heb rew,
a nd of
these,
eight
a l so ha ve the
p ossessive
"of Al kios" inscrib ed in Greek. The
rema ining
two
ca rry
theGreek na mes of Archel a usa nd Al exa .
The stones ha d b een situa ted
origina l l y
so tha t the Heb rew
inscrip tion
wa s to b e rea d when
fa cing
the mound
itsel f,
a nd
the Greek when
fa cing a wa y.
This
a rra ngement
revea l s their
p urp ose,
which wa s to dema rca te the new
col ony's a gri-
cul tura l l a nds from those
b el onging
to
Al kios, Archel a us,
a nd Al exa
(Reich 1985,1990 ).
TheGezer stones circumscrib e
four
km2,
with the site itsel f in the northwest corner,"a n
encl a ve within l a nd owned
b y
Gentil es"
(Reich 1985:71).
This
a rcha eol ogica l
evidence of
new,
destroyed,
a b a n-
doned,
a nd
reoccup ied
settl ements
p rovides
ma teria l
counterp a rt
for the historica l documenta tion of
Jona tha n's
a nd S imon's
a ccomp l ishments.
The a uthor of 1 Ma cca b ees enumera ted
theirdeeds.
But,
unrema rked in the
l itera ry
sources,
wa s one
l a st
a sp ect
of Ha smonea n
p ol icy.
The
a rcha eol ogica l
rema ins
ma nifest the
segrega tion
of the Jewish
economy.
The ma te-
ria l rema ins found a t
Jewish
sites b oth in a nd
just
outside
Judea
consisted a l most
excusivel y
of
Judea n-p roduced
house-
hol d
p ottery.
This
region's
cera mic
a ssemb l a ges
conta ined
no Phoenicia n
ES A,
nor
a ny
Phoenicia n semi-fine
vessel s,
Aegea n
wine
a mp hora s,
Hel l enistic decora ted wa res such
a s West
S l op e-styl e p l a tes
a nd
cup s,
Al exa ndria n white-
p a inted l a gynoi,
nor southern Ita l ia n ta b l e wa res a nd wine
a mp hora s.
The whol esa l e
uniformity
of the househol d
Bib l ica l
Archa eol ogist
60 :1 (1997) 29
inventories of Jewish settl ements
b esp ea ks
a del ib era te
p ol icy
of economic
indep endence.
This wa s in ma rked
contra st to settl ements
a l ong
the
coa st,
in the
north,
Tra n-
sjorda n,
the
Negev,
a nd
Iduma ea ,
a l l of which continued
to
p a rticip a te
in the b roa der Mediterra nea n
economy.
S hortl y
a fter Jona thon a nd S imon instituted their
joint
p ol icies
of economic isol a tion a nd territoria l
exp a nsion,
the S el eucid mona rch Antiochus VII S idetes renewed his
emp ire's
interest in Pa l estine
(see
the sideb a r: S el eucid Resur-
gence:
Antiochus VII
S idetes).
Ha smonea n settl ements were
a t first
una ffected,
a s Antiochus directed his initia l a ttentions
a ga inst Tryp hon. Josep hus (Ant. 13:222-24)
mentions tha t
Tryp hon eventua l l y
removed himsel f to
Dor,
a nd
Ap p ia n
(S yr. 68)
rema rks tha t Antiochus
onl y
succeeded in
kil l ing
him a fter
grea t
effort. Thereis no
p ositive
evidence a t Dor of
their
mil ita ry
sta nd off. The wel l -b uil t fortifica tion wa l l
rema ined b oth
unda ma ged
a nd in
use,
a s did the
l a rge
res-
identia l district
just
inside
(E.
S tern
1995b :43).
Two
interesting
group s
of finds
do, however,
evidence
Tryp hon's sojourn.
The first a re four l ea d
sl ing
b ul l ets,
of which two
ca rry
a
winged
thunderb ol t,
one is
p l a in,
a nd the fourth is inscrib ed
on b oth sides in Greek
(Gera 1995).
The ob verse
inscrip tion
rea ds "Forthe
victory
of
Tryp hon,"
a nd the reverse "Dor.
Yea r5. Of the
city
of the Doria ns. Ha ve a ta ste of suma c."
Gera
interp rets
this l a st
injunction
a s a
ta unt,
since suma c
wa s
commonl y
used either
medicina l l y
or a s a
fl a voring.
The
da ting
of
"yea r
5" is
esp ecia l l y imp orta nt,
since this a ttests
to b oth the fa ct a nd the
l ength
of
Tryp hon'
s hol d on the
city.
Thesecond
group
of finds a re19
sta mp ed stora geja r
ha n-
dl es
(Ariel , S ha ron,
Gunneweg,
a nd Perl ma n
1985).
The
ja rs
a re
very
simil a r in
sha p e
a nd size to Pa l estinia n
b a ggy ja rs,
b ut the
sta mp s
themsel ves fol l ow the tra dition of
imp orted
Aegea n
wine
a mp hora s,
whose Greek
imp ressions officia l l y
gua ra ntee ca p a city (see
To Ea ch Its Own:
Ma rketing
Wine
a nd
Oil ).
Al l of the Dor
sta mp s b egin
with the
symb ol
LB,
a Ptol ema ic
da ting
formul a to b e rea d a s
"yea r
2." Whil e this
coul d refer to the era of severa l different
rul ers,
the comb i-
na tion of the
ja rs' stra tigra p hic p osition,
their
typ ol ogica l
da te,
a nd the use of a
Ptol ema ic-styl e da ting strongl y sug-
gests
tha t the
sta mp s
referto the second
yea r
of
Tryp on's
rul e
a t Dor.
Whil e no evidence of
mil ita ry
confronta tion
a p p ea rea d
a t
Dor,
a sub sta ntia l skirmish
a p p a rentl y
took
p l a ce just up
the
coa st,
a t the sma l l settl ement of
S hiqmona .
The
site,
which
wa s
occup ied onl y p eriodica l l y,
ha d a
singl e
l evel of Hel -
l enistic
rema ins,
a stone
p a ved a l l ey sep a ra ting
severa l
mul ti-roomed stone
b uil dings (El ga vish 1975).
Al l the rooms
ha d b een
destroyed b y
fire,
certa inl y
a t a
singl e p oint
in time.
This destruction ha d b een sudden a nd
swift;
in
every
room exca va tors ca me
up on
inta ct
p ottery
a nd stone
ob jects
on the fl oors. The l a test da ta b l eitem wa s a
sta mp ed ja r
ha n-
dl e of the
yea r
132 BCE.
The Hel l enistic settl ement a t
S hiqmona
wa s
origina l l y
identified a s a
fortress,
b ut l ittl e evidence of such wa s recov-
ered.
Certa inl y
its l oca tion does not recommend it for either
defensive or
stra tegic p urp oses.
The a rchitecture wa s
Ashekel of
indep endent Tyre.
Thissma l l b ronzecoin, minted in
Tyre
in 75/4 BCE, isone of 120 coinsof
indep endent Tyre
or S idon found a t
Tel Ana fa . On the ob verse
(l eft)
isa hea d of
Tyche,
the
p a ga n deity
of
fortune
a dop ted b y ma ny
Leva ntinecities; on the reverse
(right)
isa
Ga l l ey fa cing l eft, symb ol
of
Tyria n
ma ritime
p rowess.
Photo
courtesy
of S ha ron Herb ert.
domestic ra ther tha n
mil ita ry,
a s were the finds. In a l most
every
room there were
mil l ing
or
grinding
stones. Three
rooms were ful l of
a mp hora s
a nd other
l a rge
vessel s,
a nd so
ha d b een used for the
stora ge
of foodstuffs. The a rtifa cts
do indica te tha t the residents of
S hiqmona
received
most,
if not
a l l ,
of their
goods
a nd
sup p l ies
via Phoenicia n mer-
cha nts. Predomina nt were Phoenicia n semi-fine
ta b l e,
serving,
a nd
stora ge
vessel s,
a l ong
with severa l of the
b ul ky
wine/oil
ja rs.
In
a ddition,
ma ny
cera micmol d-ma de
drinking
vessel s
a p p ea r,
a s do Rhodia n a nd Koa n wine
a mp hora s.
Interest-
ingl y, onl y
a
coup l e
ES A
cup s
were
found;
ma nufa cture of
this
p a rticul a r
wa re
ma y
ha ve
just recentl y b egun.
Thea ssem-
b l a ge
wa s
very
simil a r to the l a te Hel l enistic
a ssemb l a ges
found a t Dor a nd Tel
Ana fa ,
a nd
strongl y a rgues a ga inst
the
site's
occup a tion b y
Jews. S ince its destruction occurred in
the midst of S idetes'
ca mp a igns,
a nd since it wa s
comp l etel y
a b a ndoned a fter
tha t,
it seems rea sona b l eto a ssocia teits end
with some
mil ita ry a ctivity.
Antiochus
eventua l l y
a dva nced into Ha smonea n terri-
tory, rea ching,
in 132
BCE, Jerusa l em
itsel f. Aca cheof
wea p onry
found
l ying up on
b edrock in the cita del ha s b een a ttrib uted
to his
siege
(Johns1950 ,130 ,
fig.
7;
S iva n a nd S ol a r1994:173-
74).
Incl uded were scores of b a l l ista
stones, a rrowhea ds,
a nd
iron
sp ea rb utts. Among
these finds were a l so two l ea d
sl ing
b ul l ets,
of the sa me
typ e
a s the Dor
finds,
ea ch
imp ressed
with a
winged
device. The l oca tion of these finds refl ected
the existence
b y
this time of a continuous stretch of wa l l a nd
p rob a b l y
some towers in the cita del
a rea ,
a n a chievment tha t
the a uthor of 1 Ma cc a scrib ed to S imon
(see a b ove).
These
mil ita ry
a rtifa cts
notwithsta nding, Josep hus (Ant.
13:245-48) exp l a ins
tha t Antiochus a nd the Ha smonea n rul er
John Hyrca nus negotia ted
a settl ement. Forthe next severa l
yea rs, Hyrca nus
wa s a
quiet
a nd
comp l ia nt a l l y
to the S el eu-
cid
king.
In 129
BCE, however,
Antiochus VII
died,
a nd the
Ha smonea n rul er
immedia tel y reop ened
hostil ities
a ga inst
the
region's
Gentil e
p op ul a tion. Josep hus
describ es his con-
quests
in
genera l , though
in no
a p p a rent chronol ogrca l
order.
Archa eol ogica l
rema ins
cl a rify
this to a certa in extent.
In one
summa ry
of
Hyrca nus'
a chievements,
Josep hus
first mentioned Ha smonea n strikes
a ga inst
va rious
30 Bib l ica l
Archa eol ogist
60 :1 (1997)
S el eucid
Resurgence:
Antiochus VIIS idetes
(139-129 BCE)
In 139 BCEa newS el eucid
king
decl a red himsel f: AntiochusVII
S idetes. S idetestook
S yria
within a
yea r, forcing Tryp ho
into the stil l
wel l -fortified
stronghol d
of Dor, on thecoa st. Thenew
king
commenced a
siege,
b ut rema ined
strong enough during
its conduct
tha t he not
onl y rejected
thea ssista nceoffered him
b y S imon,
b ut
a ctua l l y
dema nded concessions:
"You hol d control of
Jop p a
a nd Gezera nd thecita del in
Jerusa l em; they
a recitiesof
my kingdom...Nowthen,
ha nd over
thecitieswhich
you
ha ve seized a nd thetrib ute
money
of the
p l a ces
which
you
ha ve
conquered
outsidetheb ordersof
Judea "
(1
Ma cc
15:28, 30 ).
S imon's
rep l y
wa s
b rusque
a nd
p ointed
(a nd not
p recisel y
truthful ):
"Weha veneitherta ken
foreign
l a nd norseized
foreign p rop erty,
b ut
onl y
theinherita nceof our
fa thers, which a t one timeha d
b een
unjustl y
ta ken
b y
ourenemies. Nowtha t we ha ve the
op p ortunity,
we a re
firml y hol ding
theinherita nceof our
fa thers. As for
Jop p a
a nd Gezer, which
you dema nd,
they
were
ca using grea t da ma gea mong
the
p eop l e
a nd to ourl a nd; for
them we wil l
give
a hundred ta l ents"
(1
Ma cc
15:33-35).
S idetes'sfirst move
up on receiving
this
resp onse
wa s to revoke
settl ements in
Tra nsjorda n (Ma deb a , S a mega ,
a nd
"neigh-
b oring p l a ces"),
fol l owed
b y
a tta cks
a ga inst
S hechem a nd
Mt.
Gerizim,
a nd
fina l l y b y
the
ca p ture
of the entire
region
of Iduma ea
(Ant. 13.254-58).
No
a rcha eol ogica l
da ta from
Tra nsjorda n
ca n b e a ssocia ted with
Hyrca nus's
a tta cks.
The
a rcha eol ogica l
da ta from
Iduma ea ,
on the other
ha nd,
indica ted tha t its
sub juga tion p receded
the a tta cksin S a ma ria .
At
Ma resha h,
the fina l l evel s of houses
throughout
the l ower
city
showed
hea vy da ma ge,
a fterwhich the site wa s essen-
tia l l y
a b a ndoned. The l a st-da ted
inscrip tion
within the
l a rge
S idonia n
fa mil y
tomb wa s ca rved in 119
BCE;
a n
inscrip tion
from a nother tomb ca ve da ted to 112 BCE. In one of the
wel l -a p p ointed
houses exca va ted south of the
a crop ol is,
a
sma l l hoa rd hidden in a
jugl et
a nd b uried b enea th a house
fl oor conta ined
twenty-five
sil ver coins
da ting
from 122 to
112 BCE. Thus the a tta ck on a nd destruction of Ma resha h must
ha ve occurred
just
a fter 112 BCE.
Josep hus sp ecifies
tha t
Hyrca nus
a l l owed the Iduma ea ns
"to
sta y
in tha t
country,
if
they
woul d sub mit to circumci-
sion,
a nd ma ke use of the l a ws of the
Jews" (Ant. 13.257).
Whil e the evidence from Ma resha h indica tes tha t its
residents,
a t
l ea st,
did not a va il themsel ves of this
op p ortu-
nity, occup a tion
did in fa ct continue a t most Idumea n
sites,
such a s Tel 'Ira a nd Tel Ha l if. In
a ddition,
new settl ements
were esta b l ished in this
region
a t this
time,
such a s Horva t
Rimmon,
just
south of Tel Ha l if. In connection with his ca m-
p a ign
in
Iduma ea ,
Hyrca nus
a l so
destroyed
a nd sometimes
resettl ed towns in the southern coa sta l
p l a in.
The l a te Hel -
l enisticstra tum a t
Ashdod,
which incl uded thesma l l Phoenicia n
shrine,
wa s
destroyed just
a fter 114 BCE
(Dotha n 1971:64).
S imon's
governorship
of thecoa st
(a p p a rentl y
stil l in
p l a ce)
in fa vor
of one of his own
officers,
Cendeb a eus. Ba ttl ewa s
joined
nea r
Ja mnia ,
on the coa st; theHa smonea nsdefea ted theS el eucid
a rmy (1
Ma cc
16:4-10 ). Desp ite
thesetb a ck, S idetesa dva nced his cl a imson
S el eucid
territory.
In themidst of his incursions, S imon wa s
trea cherousl y
kil l ed
(134 BCE; see
b el ow),
a nd thea ssemb l ed el ders
in
Jerusa l em a cca imed
his son
John Hyrca nus
a s l ea dera nd
High
Priest.
Hyrca nus
took control
onl y
to b e forced to retrea t from
a l most
every
territoria l a dva ncetha t theHa smonea nsha d so fa r
a chieved.
By
132 BCES ideteswa s
enca mp ed
b efore
Jerusa l em itsel f,
with
Hyrca nusessentia l l y imp risoned
inside
(Ant. 13.237).
Negotia tions
ensued,
Hyrca nusp a id
a n
indemnity,
a n a ccord wa s
rea ched, a nd S idetesretrea ted. Afew
yea rs
l a ter, when S idetes
emb a rked on a n
a cquisitiveca mp a ign a ga inst
the
Pa rthia ns,
Hyrca nus
even
a ccomp a nied
him with a sma l l
mercena ry
force.
AntiochusVIIS idetesdied in 129 BCE, whil e
p ursuing
his
ca mp a ign
to recoverthe
origina l
ea stern sectionsof theS el eucid
emp ire
from thePa rthia ns. His dea th freed
up John Hyrca nus's
resources, a nd a l l owed him to
p roceed
with his uncl e'sa nd fa ther's
p ol icies
of territoria l
a cquisition, Jewish "col onizing" settl ements,
a nd concomitta nt a tta ckson
non-Jewish
sites.
Here the evidence indica tes immedia te
reoccup a tion.
Other
sites in the coa sta l
p l a in
a tta cked a t this
time,
b ut not reset-
tl ed,
incl ude the town of Ya vne-Ya m
(Moshe
Fischer
p ers.
com.)
a nd a
wea l thy
fa rmstea d a nd
winep ress
a t Ma zor
(Da vid
Amit
p ers. com.).
S ites in S a ma ria show tha t their viol ent a nd
comp l ete
destruction a nd
sub sequent
a b a ndonment occurred a fter
Hyrca nus's
southern
ca mp a igns.
At
S hechem,
the l a test coins
were minted in the
yea r
10 7
BCE,
da ting
the settl ement's end
to tha t
yea r
or
shortl y
therea fter. Numisma tic
grounds
a l so
da te the destruction of Mt. Gerizim to a fter111 BCE.
Josep hus
mentions tha t
Hyrca nus destroyed
the
city
of S a ma ria itsel f.
He describ esS a ma ria a s
"very strong"
a nd discusses a t
l ength
the
siege
a nd a ttendent
mil ita ry
constructions
necessa ry
for
its
ca p ture (Ant. 13.275-79).
S a ma ria 's defenses a t this time
incl uded the formida b l e wa l l constructed in the middl e of
the
century.
This fortifica tion
system p roved ina dequa te;
a
comp rehensive confl a gra tion covering
the town's Hel -
l enistic
occup a tion
da ted to the
yea r
10 8 BCE.
Hyrca nus's (p rob a b l y)
fina l territoria l
a cquisition
wa s
the
ca p ture
of
S cythop ol is. Aga in, Josep hus
describ ed the
a chievment-twice,
b ut with
contra dictory chronol ogies.
In
his
Jewish
Wa r
(I, 66)
he
p l a ced
it a fter the fa l l of
S a ma ria ;
in
Antiquities (13.280 )
he
p ut
it b efore
(Ka sher 1990 :128).
Whenever it
occured,
the a ssa ul t did not enta il whol esa l e
destruction,
b ut ra therthe
b urning
a nd
ra zing
of
p a ga n
a l ta rs
a nd the confisca tion of their idol s. This
p eriod's
a rcha eo-
l ogica l
evidence is
sol el y comp rised
of the continous series
of da ta b l e
sta mp ed a mp hora
ha ndl es found a t Tel Ista b a h
(see a b ove).
Theseries incl udes ha ndl es tha t da te to the
yea rs
Bib l ica l
Archa eol ogist
60 :1 (1997) 31
b etween 10 8-88 BCE
(Period VI),
con-
firming
the site's continued
occup a tion
a fter
Hyrca nus's
a tta ck.
One l a st b ut nota b l e fea ture cha r-
a cterized the
a rcha eol ogica l
record of
l a ter-second-century
BCEJudea . Forthe
first time in this
region, consp icuous
disp l a ys
of individua l wea l th
a p p ea red.
This
cha nge
wa s
ina ugura ted b y
the
Ha smonea n rul ers
themsel ves,
who a re
the first to
sp end
l a vish sums on el a b -
ora tea rchitecture. Two
typ es
of rema ins
were endowed: tomb s a nd
p riva te
res-
idences. S uch
sp ending
soon b eca me
the fa shion
a mong
the
Jewish
a ristoc-
ra cy
a s wel l .
By
the l a ter Hel l enistic
p eriod,
the a rchitecturefrom
Jerusa l em
a nd
Judea
revea l ed a n a ttitudetowa rds
p ersona l
wea l th a nd its
p ub l ic
dis-
p l a y
in
keep ing
with the
l a rger
cul ture
of the Hel l enistic Mediterra nea n.
1 Ma cca b ees' rema rka b l e
descrip -
tion of the tomb tha t S imon b uil t for
Jona tha n
a t Modein is evidence of the
a dop tion
of
Hel l enizing
ha b its:
S imon b uil t a monument over the
tomb of his fa thera nd his
b rothers;
he ma de it
high
tha t it
might
b e
seen,
with
p ol ished
stone a t the front a nd
b a ck. He a l so erected seven
p yra -
mids,
op p osite
one
a nother,
for his
fa ther a nd mother a nd four b roth-
ers. And forthe
p yra mids
he devised
a n el a b ora te
setting, erecting
a b out
them
grea t
col umns,
a nd
up on
the
col umns he
p ut
suits of a rmorfor a
p erma nent
memoria l ,
a nd b eside
the suits of a rmor ca rved
ship s,
so
tha t
they
coul d b e seen
b y
a l l who
sa il the sea
(1
Ma cc
13:27-29).
This
a ssemb l a ge
of l a te Hel l enistichousehol d
goods
wa s found
l a rgel y
inta ct in one room a t
S hiqmona .
In the
up p errow, from l eft to
right,
isa Rhodia n wine
a mp hora
a nd two
Phoenicia n semi-finewine/oil
ja rs;
in front of them a retwo sma l l b owl s, a semi-finesa ucer-l id,
a nd two
unguenta ria .
In the middl eisa
l a rge
b a sa l t
mil l ing stone;
in the l ower l eft a rethree
semi-fine
a mp horiskoi.
In the l ower
right
a rethree round a nd one
p yra mida l
l oom
weight,
a n
iron na il , a semi-fine
l a mp (l ying up sidedown),
a
sp indl ewhorl ,
a nd a sma l l round stone
grinder.
From
El ga vish
1974:
p l .
XIX.
The
descrip tion
ma kes it cl ea rtha t S imon'sel a b ora tecon-
structions were the first a t his
fa mil y's
tomb . Whil e
l a rge,
fa b rica ted
fa mil y
tomb s were
customa ry throughout
much
of the
region
(a s,
for
exa mp l e,
the S idonia n
col ony's
tomb a t
Ma resha h),
such ostenta tious exterior
funera ry
a rchitecture
wa s new. The Ha smona ea n
fa mil y sep ul chre
wa s, however,
whol l y
in
keep ing
with other
p ersona l l y a ggra ndizing
Hel l enistic
roya l
memoria l s. The tomb 's most ob vious
p a r-
a l l el wa s to tha t of the mid-fourth-
century
BCECa ria n
dyna st
Ma usol us a t
Ha l ica ma ssus,
which a l so
incorp ora ted p yra -
mids, col umns,
a nd a rmora nd wa s b uil t on a
high p odium
to a l l ow
ea sy visib il ity.
By
the end of the second
century,
the
Jewish a ristocra cy
itsel f in Jerusa l em
b ega n
to b uil d
outwa rdl y
el a b ora ted
fa mil y
tomb s. Whil ethe
heyda y
forsuch constructionsa rrived
a b it
l a ter,
in theHerodia n
p eriod,
some l a teHel l enisticexa m-
p l es
revea l ed the
b eginnings
of the
p henomenon.
The
most wel l -known of these wa s
Ja son'sTomb ,
a
fa mil y sep ul -
chrediscovered in a
Jerusa l em neighb orhood (Ra hma ni 1967).
Considera b l e simil a rities existed b etween this tomb a nd the
descrip tion
of the Modein tomb . Ma sons constructed the
entire exterior of
Ja son's
Tomb of
b ea utiful l y
cut l imestone
a shl a r
b l ocks,
erected into a n initia l a rched
ga tewa y
a nd l a id
a s
p a ving
for a n outer court. A
singl e
Doric l imestone col -
umn
p l a ced
b etween Doric
p il a sters
emb el l ished the entra nce
p orch.
A
p yra mid
of wel l -cut stones further a dorned this
p orch
a b ove.
Inside,
a rtists decora ted the
p orch
wa l l s with
cha rcoa l
dra wings dep icting ship s,
a s wel l a s two
menora hs,
32 Bib l ica l
Archa eol ogist
60 :1 (1997)
Ja son'sTomb a t Jerusa l em. Thisview, l ooking north, ta kes in the
p erfectl y a l igned
a rched entra nce
wa y, fa ca de, a nd
p yra mida l
roof of
Ja son'sTomb . The
finel y
ca rved a shl a rsa re l oca l stone; most of the
sup erstructure
wa s reconstructed from the deb risrecovered
during
the exca va tions. Theea rl iest findsda te from the l a te
second/ea rl y
first
century BCE; the tomb wa s used a s a
fa mil y sep ul chrethroughout
the first
century
BCE. From Ra hma ni 1967.
thus
esta b l ishing
the
fa mil y's rel igious
a ffil ia tion. Ca rved on
the interior
wa l l s,
severa l Greek a nd Ara ma ic
inscrip tions
incl uded one three-l ine Ara ma ic
inscrip tion
tha t l a mented
Ja son,
a fter whom exca va tors na med the tomb . Two cha m-
b ers
l a y
b ehind the entra nce
p orch,
one
conta ining
b uria l
l ocul i
(simil a r
to the Ma resha h
tomb s)
a nd the other
conta ining
stone ossua ries. Thecha mb ersoffered exca va tors
coins,
l a mp s,
a nd a
grea t
dea l of
p ottery, p roviding
evidence
for the tomb 's initia l use a nd its dura tion. The
p ottery
con-
sisted
excl usivel y
of
l oca l l y p roduced
l a teHel l enistichousehol d
wa res,
p rima ril y cooking p ots,
sma l l b owl s a nd
sa ucers,
a nd
unguent
b ottl es. The ea rl iest coins da te to the
b egin-
ning
of the first
century
BCE.
Ja son's
Tomb wa s one of the ea rl iest constructions of
the
Jewish necrop ol is
of Hel l enistica nd Herodia n
Jerusa l em.
Other l a te second
century
BCE
fa mil y
tomb s ha ve b een
exca va ted on
Giv'a t Ha mivta r
(Tza feris1970 )
a nd French
Hil l ,
north of the Ol d
City (S tra nge
1975; Kl oner
1980 ).
The
city'snecrop ol iseventua l l y
incl uded some
eight
hun-
dred
tomb s,
a l l ca rved
directl y
into the soft na ri orha rder
l imestone hil l sides
surrounding
the
city.
Thetomb s were
genera l l y
mul ti-cha mb ered,
with a t l ea st one of the rooms
ha ving
rock-cut
b enches,
known a s l ocul i or kokhim, for
p rima ry
inhuma tions. Ab out ha l f of these tomb s ha d
op en
forecourts
(incl uding Ja son's Tomb ), usua l l y
l ined
with
b enches,
a nd sometimes
conta ining
a sma l l
mikve'.
Buria l
goods
were
rema rka b l y
uniform;
the
typ ica l
a ssem-
b l a ge comp rised l oca l l y
ma de
cooking p ots, l a rge ja rs,
sma l l b owl s a nd
sa ucers,
jugl ets, unguent
b ottl es,
a nd
l a mp s.
The
p ub l ic sp a ce p rovided b y
the forecourt a nd
the numerous
cooking
vessel s stemmed from some
group
ceremony, p rob a b l y incl uding
a ritua l mea l . The
p resence
of ceremonia l
gra ve goods exp ressed
b el ief in a n a fter-
l ife
(Ra hma ni 1981, 1982).
Both the a rchitecturea nd the
finds of these l a te
Hel l enistic/Herodia n tomb s echoed
those of
Jerusa l em's
First
Temp l ep eriod
tomb s. As is fre-
quetl y
a sserted, this
suggests
the essentia l
continuity
of
Jewish
b uria l
p ra ctices
a nd b el iefs. Overl ooked
b y
this
concl usion, however,
is the virtua l a b senceof such tomb s
from the Persia n
through
middl e Hel l enistic
p eriods.
It
is
onl y
with the
mil ita ry
a nd
p ol itica l
success of the Ha s-
mona ea ns,
a nd their emb ra ce of some of the showier
a sp ects
of Hel l enistic
cul ture,
tha t such tomb s
rea p p ea red.
A second Hel l enistic
concep t
tha t the Ha smonea n
rul ers
a dop ted
to their ma teria l
a dva nta ge
wa s tha t of
"King'sLa nd." S imon ha d ta ken over the threesouthern
S a ma rita n districts tha t ha d
p reviousl y b el onged
to the
S el eucid
crown;
he
p rob a b l y
used theirrevenues to
sup -
p l y
some of the new
Jewish
settl ements with food
(1
Ma cc
14:10 ;
Ap p l eb a um 1989:41).
He a l so reta ined the oa sis a nd
b a l sa m
groves
of
Jericho,
whose l oca l rul e he entrusted to
his
son-in-l a w,
Ptol emy
son of Ab ub os
(1
Ma cc
16:11-12).
This
p roved
unwise in the
extreme,
since this
Ptol emy
esta b l ished
a sma l l
stronghol d
there,
ca l l ed
Dok,
to which he l ured S imon
in the summer of 134
BCE,
a nd there murdered him. Dok
(or Da gon, a ccording
to
Josep hus)
ha s b een identified with
the
height
of Jeb el Qa ra nta l ,
overl ooking
the western side of
the mouth of the Wa di
Qel t (the
na me is reta ined in a
sp ring,
Ein
Duq,
which runs a t its
foot).
On the
summit,
exca va -
tors found a series of wa l l s a nd a rchitectura l
fra gments,
incl uding
Ionic
ca p ita l s.
Their
p recise
da te is
imp ossib l e
to
determine;
they ma y
wel l derive from the next
century,
when
the
height
wa s
a ga in
used for
stra tegic p urp oses.
AfterS imon's
dea th,
Hyrca nusb eseiged
Dok in a n
a ttemp t
to
ca p ture Ptol emy.
He wa s
unsuccessful ;
Ptol emy esca p ed
to
Phil a del p hia ,
where Zeno
Cotyl a s
took him in
(Ant.
13.230 -
35).
S hortl y therea fter, S idetes
mil ita ry ca mp a ign a ga inst
Bib l ica l
Archa eol ogist
60 :1 (1997) 33
Judea
ended with the S el eucid'ssuccessful
siege
of
Jerusa l em.
Hyrca nus's mil ita ry strength
wa s
cl ea rl y
insufficient for
his situa tion. He
resp onded
to this
p rob l em
in the ma nner
of a Hel l enistic
p rince:
he ra ided the tomb of
King
Da vid for
funds to
b uy
a
mercena ry
force
(Ant. 13.249).
With
this,
he
wa s a b l e to
p ursue
the series of
mil ita ry ca mp a igns
sum-
ma rized a b ove. He a l so
a p p a rentl y
used some of his income
to b uil d a fortified
mounta in-top hidea wa y
in the
desert,
insp ired p erha p s b y Ptol emy's
wel l -defended
stronghol d
a t
Doq.
This
hidea wa y,
na med
Hyrca nia ,
wa s identified in 1880
with the
Byza ntinemona stery
Ca stel l ion in the
Judea n
Desert
a b out ten km west of
'Ein
Feshka .7
Hyrca nia
wa s used
b y
l a ter Ha smonea ns a s wel l a s
b y
Herod the Grea t.
Though
it ha snot b een
systema tica l l y
exca va ted a nd fewof therema ins
ca n b e
p recisel y
da ted,
Ha smonea n structuresa reidentified
b y
their
typ ica l l y
Hel l enistic
ma sonry
of l imestone a shl a rs
with dra fted
edges
a nd a
roughl y p rojecting
centra l
b oss,
l a id in
a l terna ting
courses of hea ders a nd stretchers. S evera l
a queducts disp l a y
such
ma sonry;
one
sup p l ied
two
side-b y-
side rock-cut
p ool s (or reservoirs)
a t the western foot of the
fortress.
In a ddition to
mil ita ry conquests
a nd
fortifica tions,
Hyr-
ca nus a l so
exp ended
sizea b l e sums on a
p a l a tia l p riva te
residence. Thishe b uil t in the oa sis of
Jericho, just
b el ow the
stronghol d
of Dok where his fa therha d b een murdered. The
a rea sel ected
b y Hyrca nus
for his constructions wa s on the
north side of the outl et of theWa di
Qel t,
nea ra doub l emound
with the moder na me of Tul ul Ab u
el -'Al a yiq.8
The a rea 's
ea rl iest constructions were erected in the l a ter second cen-
tury
BCEa nd
comp rised
a
l a rge,
l a vish
residence,
p rob a b l y
used a s a winter
p a l a ce (Netzer 1993).
This consisted of a
huge b uil ding (50 b y
55
m)
with frescoed
interiors,
a
hea ted
b a thing
room
incl uding
a
p l a stered
tub ,
a nd a
miqve'.
To the south of this
comp l ex
were two
l a rge side-b y-side
swimming p ool s (just
a s a t
Hyrca nia ).
Wa terfor the
p ool s
ca me from the Wa di
Qel t
via a
cl a y p ip e
off of a n
a queduct
tha t
irriga ted
a n enormous fl a t
exp a nse
north of the
p a l a ce.
Here a series of
l ong stra ight
wa l l s
p rob a b l y sep a -
ra ted
p l ots given
over to da te
p a l m, p ersimmon,
a nd b a l sa m
trees; S tra b o,
Pl iny,
a nd
Josep hus
mentioned their cul tiva -
tion here.
The Ha smonea n
p a l a tia l
constructions a t
Jericho vividl y
il l ustra te a
p rescient p oint
ma de
b y
El ia s Bickerma n
(who
wrote a
genera tion
b eforethese rema inswere
identified).
He
noted tha t "theMa cca b eesera dica ted one kind of Hel l enism
onl y
to fa cil ita te the
growth
of a nother kind"
(1962:178).
Whil e the
extra va ga nt disp l a y
of
p ersona l
wea l th tha t this
comp l ex
refl ected wa s
merel y
of a
p iece
with other con-
temp ora ry
l a te Hel l enistic rema ins
(such
a s the
courtya rd
house a t Tel
Ana fa ),
it wa s
shockingl y
ostenta tious in
terms of the
Judea n
ma teria l tra dition
(constructions
such a s
the
Qa sr
a l -Ab d
a side).
The
contemp ora ry
historica l record
revea l ed tha t theJewish
community
a t this
p eriod
ha d rema ined
riven
b y confl icting
worl d views a nd
p ol itics. Though Judea
wa s now
indep endent,
with its own
a p p ointed Jewish l ea der,
the
rel igious controversy
ht
ma r tha t ha d ma rked the
century
a nd
An
a mp hora
from the destruction
dep osit.
a t Ya vneh-Ya m. In recent
exca va tionsa t the coa sta l site of Ya vneh-Ya m, MosheFischerfound
this Phoenicia n semi fine ta b l e
a mp hora
in the midst of a
destroyed
occup a tion
l evel
(comp a re
the
exa mp l e
on
p a ge 23).
Thevessel
il l ustra testhe town's Phoenicia n
tra ding connections, a s wel l a s
p roviding
a l a te second
century
BCEda te for the
confl a gra tion
which
ended its Hel l enistic
p eriod occup a tion.
Photo
courtesy
M. Fischer
ha d
sp a rked
the Ma cca b ea n revol t
p ersisted.
Therema ins of
the
Jericho p a l a ce
il l ustra te the
l ifestyl e
of
Jews
on one side
of this deb a te. On the otherside were
Jews
who b el ieved tha t
such
wea l thy disp l a y
wa s not
onl y
sel fish,
b ut immora l .
S ometime
during
the second ha l f of the second
century
BCE,
a sma l l
group
of such
Jews
moved out of
Jerusa l em, a wa y
from the
city's
ma teria l
excess,
a nd into the desert.
They
ca me
to a
p l a ce
nea r the northern
edge
of the Dea d
S ea ,
just
a b ove
the Wa di
Qumra n.
The settl ers who ca me to
Qumra n
a t this time were not
thefirst to
occup y
the site. In thel a teIron
Age Qumra n
hosted
a sma l l fortified
enca mp ment:
a
recta ngul a rb uil ding
a nd a
l a rge,
round cistern. This settl ement wa s
da ma ged during
the
Ba b yl onia n conquest
of Juda h
in the
ea rl y
sixth cen-
tury
BCE. When
p eop l e
returned to
Qumra n
in l a teHel l enistic
times,
they
reused b oth of the
origina l
structures a nd
dug
out two more cisterns a s wel l . This
occup a tion
wa s
very
sma l l -numb ering
a b out
fifty p eop l e.
A sma l l a mount of
l oca l l y
ma de util ita ria n
p ottery
is a l l tha t rema ins of its exis-
tence.
S hortl y
a fter this initia l
resettl ement, however,
more
p eop l e joined
the
community.
The residents
enl a rged
the
origina l b uil ding
a nd modified it to incl ude a
gua rd
tower,
severa l
l a rge
communa l rooms
designed
for va rious
uses,
incl uding dining,
a nd a sma l l
p a ntry. They
b uil t a
p ottery
workshop
to one side a nd a
nea rb y comp l ex
of storerooms
a rra nged
a round a
courtya rd. They
a dded severa l new cis-
ternsa s wel l a s two
p ool s
identified a s
miqva 'ot.
None of these
b uil dings b etra y
even a tra ce of decora tion. Their residents
used no
imp orted
or
l uxury goods. Occup a tion
of this sec-
ond a rchitectura l
p ha se
continued until the sitewa s
destroyed
b y
a n
ea rthqua ke
in 31 BCE. The numisma tic evidence
sug-
gests
tha t it
b ega n
sometime
during
the
reign
of John
Hyrca nus.
The first
p ha se p rob a b l y p receded
it
onl y b y
a l ittl e.
34 Bib l ica l
Archa eol ogist
60 :1 (1997)
Ha smonea n p a l a cesa t Jericho. Thisp l a n
il l ustra testhe va riousHa smonea n p a l a ces
constructed up on the northern b a nk of the Wa di
Qel t, in the oa sisof Jericho: (1) tower, in p l a ce
b efore p a l a ces; (2) a nd (3) courtya rd
residence
(b enea th mound) a nd two p ool s b uil t b y
John
Hyrca nus; (4A-C) a nd (5) p ool /ga rden comp l ex,
mound, a nd fortified vil l a b uil t b y Al exa nder
Ja nna eus; (6), (7), (8), a nd (9) twin p a l a ce
comp l ex, swimming p ool sa nd b a thhouseb uil t
b y S a l omeAl exa ndra , Hyrca nus11, a nd
Aristob ol us11.
- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1~~~~~~~c')
a ~~~~1
0 LFU
4C \0
0
I 7~~~~~~~~
qt/
5-- ~ ~ ~ I - N
0 m 4 0
Bib l ica l
Ar-cl a eol ogist
60 :1 (1997) 35
Thesiteof
Qumra n
wa s situa ted on a sma l l terra ceb enea th
the
Judea n hil l s,
onl y
one km south of the ca ve in which
the first
ma nuscrip ts
of the Dea d S ea S crol l s were found in
1947. The identifica tion of the site's settl ers ha s rema ined
l inked to the identifica tion of the scrol l s' a uthors.9
The scrol l s conta in evidence
concerning
the
founding
of
the settl ement. The sect's first
l ea der,
who wa s ca l l ed "The
Tea cherof
Righteousness,"
wa s a l so
given
the titl e of
"High
Priest,"
a n honorific inconceiva b l e unl ess the
p erson
a ctu-
a l l y
hel d tha t office a t some time. In a n
el ega nt p iece
of
detective
work, J.
M. O'Connorshowed tha t this
High
Priest
must ha ve b een the one whom
Jona tha n
forced out of
office
b y
his own
a p p ointment
in 152 BCE
(O'Connor 1976,
1977).
This in turn a l l owed the identifica tion of the sect's
"Wicked Priest" a s
Jona tha n himsel f,
a fterwhose a ccession
the
community
fl ed
Jerusa l em
for theirisol a ted l ife a t
Qum-
ra n. Its
writings
thus
emerged
from a
Jewish
sect whose
memb ersemb ra ced
esp ecia l l y rigorousrel igious
ob serva nces,
a nd who
emp ha tica l l y rejected
the more l a x
interp reta tion
a nd ma teria l istic
l ifestyl e
of the
Judea n rul ing
cl a ss. Whil e
its
l a rge
rooms a nd
a mp l e
wa ter
stora ge system
of its set-
tl ement served a
p op ul a tion
of rea sona b l e
size,
no a ccomoda tion
for individua l comforts
a p p ea red.
Ma teria l
goods
were
restricted to the most b a sic util ita ria n
ob jects;
el a b ora tion
a nd
l uxury
were
whol l y
a b sent
(Ma gness 1994).
The sim-
p l icity
of thesitea nd itsfinds
p resented
a ma teria l
counterp oint
to the
consp icuousl y
a ffl uent
l ifestyl e
of the Ha smonea ns
a nd their a ristocra tic
sup p orters.
In the course of the second ha l f of the second
century
BCE,
the S el eucid
emp ire effectivel y disintegra ted
a nd va rious
indep endent p ol ities devel op ed
in its stea d-on the
coa st,
in
Tra nsjorda n,
a nd in the
Negev.
The
a rcha eol ogica l
evi-
dence from these
regions
revea l s
tha t,
desp ite
occa siona l
mil ita ry
a ctivities,
the inha b ita ntsof these
regions
continued
to l ive
p ea ceful l y
a nd
p rosp erousl y, ma inta ining
Mediter-
ra nea n commercia l connections a nd
ma teria l l y
diverse
l ifestyl es.
In the centra l hil l s of
Judea
a nd
S a ma ria ,
on the
other
ha nd,
b oth ol d a nd new
Jewish
settl ements con-
ta ined a l imited a nd consistent series of
l oca l l y p roduced
goods. During
this
p eriod
securea ccessto the Mediterra nea n
coa st wa s
a chieved,
a nd
Jewish
settl ements were esta b l ished
throughout
Iduma ea a nd the southern a nd centra l coa sta l
p l a in.
But
p ol itica l
a nd territoria l
exp a nsion
did not tra ns-
l a te into ma teria l
diversity.
Instea d,
a s
Judea 's
b orders
exp a nded,
the
l ong
entrenched economic isol a tion of the cen-
tra l hil l s ca me to cha ra cterize the
formerl y cosmop ol ita n
regions b rought
into its rea l m.
A
Rising
Tide: Ha smonea n
Exp a nsion
(10 4-63 BCE)
John Hyrca nus
died in 10 4
BCE,
a nd his son
Juda h
Aristob ul us succeeded him. Aristob ul us rul ed for a
singl e
yea r, during
which,
a ccording
to
Josep hus,
he "ma de wa r
a ga inst
Iturea ,
a nd a dded a
grea t p a rt
of it to
Judea ,
a nd
comp el l ed
the
inha b ita nts,
if
they
woul d continue in tha t
country,
to b e
circumcised,
a nd to l ive
a ccording
to the
Jew-
ish l a ws" (Ant. 13.318). This echoed
Hyrca nus's
trea tment
Thesma l l , encl osed
community
b uil t a t Qumra n in the l a tersecond
or
ea rl y
first
century
BCE
(p ha seIb ).
The
emp ha sis
on wa ter
stora ge
is
evident in the numb erof
l a rge
cisterns. Thea b senceof a fortified
exterior, a nd the
ea sil y
a ccessed entra nce, b oth indica tetha t the
inha b ita ntswere not
fl eeing
some
p otentia l a tta ck; their moveto
this desert
sp ot
wa s motiva ted instea d
b y
itsdista ncefrom the more
ma teria l isticurb a n centerof Jerusa l em. Thesevera l
l a rge
rooms
ma kethe
comp ound
suita b l efor
orga nized
communa l a ctivities.
of the
Idumea ns,
b ut in this
ca se,
it is difficul t to reconcil e
the
l itera ry
a ccount with the
a rcha eol ogica l
evidence.
The Iturea ns'
origina l
homel a nd wa s the mounta inous
interior of
Leb a non,
a nd their
ca p ita l
wa s Cha l cis in the
Beqa <a . By
the l a tersecond
century
BCE,
they a p p a rentl y
ha d
exp a nded
their
territory
southwa rd,
though
not so fa r a s
Ga l il ee. In
a rcha eol ogica l surveys
on Mt. Hermon a nd in the
northern Gol a n
Heights, a rcha eol ogists
ha ve discovered a nd
l a b el ed a series of a rchitectura l rema ins a nd a distinctive
cera micwa re a s Iturea n
(Da r1993:20 0 , 210 ;
Ha rta l
1989:125).
S ixty
such sites were sca ttered
a mong
the sma l l terra cesa nd
ra vines of the southwestern Hermon ma ssif a nd
sixty-seven
on the
high p l a tea us
of the northea stern Gol a n. Ab out ha l f
of these sites seem to ha ve
b egun
in the mid-l a tersecond cen-
tury
BCE;
a l most a l l continued
through
the Roma n (a nd
sometimes
Byza ntine) p eriods.
Most consisted of sma l l
unwa l l ed
fa rmstea ds,
ea ch with a few one- ortwo-room struc-
tures,
b uil t of
rough
hewn fiel d
stones,
a nd some
p rovision
for a nima l
p ens.
At
first,
occup a nts
used
ma ny
of these
36 Bib l ica l
Archa eol ogist
60 :1 (1997)
sea sona l l y.
Two of the
ea rl y
Hermon set-
tl ements
were, however,
l a rge enough
to
b e considered
vil l a ges
a nd were
p rob a -
b l y p erma nent
constructions from the
sta rt. Khirb et
Dura ,
for
exa mp l e,
incl uded
a b out two dozen stone houses a nd cis-
terns,
a s wel l a s a
dye (?) workshop
a nd
a sma l l stone
temp l e.
The Hermon
survey
identified severa l other
shrines,
a s wel l a s
simp l e sta nding
stones
(ma sseb ot)
a round
houses.
At a l l of these
sites,
a distinctive
p ottery
fa b ric
occurs-"Gol a n wa re"
(Ha rta l 1989).
Thiswa s
l ight
b rownish-p ink
in
col or,
somewha t
soft,
a nd hea v-
il y temp ered
with
grit, grog,
a nd cha ff. The
most common vessel
typ e
wa s a
l a rge, hea vy-
b ottomed
stora geja r,
with a short na rrow
toe tha t coul d b e
ground
into a dirt
fl oor for
sup p ort,
a nd a na rrow mouth
tha t coul d b e
ea sil y
covered over. The
ja rs
were
p rob a b l y
used for a l l ma nner
of
stora ge, esp ecia l l y
wa ter since none
of the Gol a n sites ha d cisterns or reser-
voirs. "Gol a n wa re" wa s
certa inl y
l oca l
to this
region.
Its
p resence
is
rea sona b l y
ta ken to indica tea n Iturea n
p op ul a tion.
Two
a sp ects
of this
a rcha eol ogica l
da ta
p erta in
to the
mil ita ry
ventures of
Aristob ul us.
First,
there is no evi- Coinsof Al exa nder Ji
dence of a tta ck ordestruction a t
a ny
site a resomeof themost
identified a s Iturea n a t this
time;
ra ther found a t Jewish sites
occup a tion
continued a nd
exp a nded
Even down to thetin
throughout
the next
century.
S econd,
Ja nna eus coinsrema i
there wa s no indica tion of
Jewish
rel i- coin, somewha t worr
gious p ra ctice (such a s,
for
exa mp l e,
On theob verse
(top
I
mikva 'ot).
To the
contra ry,
l oca l cul t sites the
inscrip tion
AEEN,
a nd tra ditions
p ersisted.
There
is,
in fa ct, King Al exa nder).
On
no evidence tha t this a rea ever ca me with
eight ra ys(remir
underHa smonea n
p ol itica l
oreconomic
sta mp ed ha ndl es),
wi
control . Nor is thereevidenceforIturea n
surrounding,
a nd Hel
settl ement in Ga l il ee itsel f. These dis- the
ra yssp el l ing
"Kin
crep a ncies suggest
tha t
Josep hus
a reb oth the
b il ingua
misrep orted
the
conquests
of Aristo-
a dop tion
of a
roya l
ti
b ol us.
Da nny S yon.
Aristob ol us
reigned
for
onl y
one
yea r; up on
his dea th in 10 3 BCEhis b rother Al exa nder
Ja n-
na eus succeeded him a s
High
Priest a nd
mil ita ry
comma nder
(M.
S tern
1981).
His first move wa s a n
exp edition a ga inst
Akko-Ptol ema is,
which he
a ttemp ted
to ta ke
b y siege
(Ant.
13.324).
The
tyra nt
Zoil us,
ensconced
just
south a t Dor a nd
S tra to's
Tower,
sent "some sma l l a ssista nce" to the
city,
b ut
this
p roved
insufficient to remove
Ja nna eus.
The residents
fina l l y sought
a nd received
hel p
from
Ptol emy
IX
La thyrus,
to whom Zoil usha d b een a l l ied.
Ptol emy
a nd his
a rmy
l a nded
a t
S hiqmona (currentl y unoccup ied);
their a rriva l immedi-
a tel y p ersua ded Ja nna eusto end his
siege
a nd
b egin negotia tions.
a nna eus(10 3
t common a rt
of thefirst ce
neof Herod t
ned in circul a
I, wa s found
p hoto)
isa n a
APOYB?IAES
thereverseis
niscent of the
ith a dia dem
b rewl etters
ig
Yehona ta n
1a
inscrip tion
<
itl e.Photo co
As it turned
out,
Ptol emy (who
wa s the
Ptol ema ic
queen Cl eop a tra 's
riva l a nd ha d
b een b a nished from
Egyp t
to
Cyp rus)
wa s moreinterested in
money
tha n l a nd.
For four hundred
ta l ents,
he sol d out
Zoil us a nd his territories to Ja nna eus.
Acquisition
of S tra to's Tower a nd Dor
a nd their
l a rge,
fertil e hinterl a nds con-
sol ida ted Ha smonea n control of the centra l
a nd northern coa sta l
p l a in (Levine 1974).
The initia l
conquests
of these cities did not
incl ude destruction or the
dep orta tion
of Gentil eres-
idents. In
fa ct,
the
onl y a rcha eol ogica l
evidence for
Ha smonea n
occup a tion
wa s the sudden a nd
p rofuse a p p ea ra nce
of coins of Al exa nder
Ja nna eus-a cl ea r indica tion of economic
redirection.
Ja nna eus seemed here not to ha ve
sub scrib ed to a
p ol icy
of forced
"Juda iza -
1^B ~tion";
his
p riorities
were instea d
p ol itica l ,
l HB
l ega l ,
a nd economic
(Ka sher 1990 :142).
Numisma ticevidenceb ea rsthis out.Ja n-
na eus wa s the first of the Ha smonea ns
i _'
f ~to
mint in
qua ntity,
a nd his coins com-
~^ ~p rised
someof themost common a rtifa cts
of the
ea rl y
first
century
BCE. The
a p p ea r-
-1'
~a nce of Ja nna eus
coins a t a
p reviousl y
Gentil esite is
genera l l y rega rded
a s evi-
-76
BCE)
dence for its ta keover. On this
b a sis,
tifa cts
Ashdod,
S tra to's
Tower, S a ma ria , Dor,
entury
BCE. a nd
Tra nsjorda nia n
Gera sa a r a a l l
thought
heGrea t, to ha ve b een "col onized"
(Ap p l eb a um
3tion. This
1989:21,
n.
51).
a t Ga ml a . Ja nna eus
a p p a rentl y
worried tha t
inchor, a nd
concl uding
a n
a greement
with
Ptol emy
?
(Of
woul d so
a ngerCl eop a tra
tha t shewoul d
a sta r in turn inva de Pa l estine. He therefore
YRS LM
b ega n negotia ting secretl y
with her a s
wel l .
Unfortuna tel y,
when
Ptol emy
dis-
b etween covered
this,
hedecided to inva de. He
i." Nota b l e
b ega n ma ra uding
a b out in Ga l il ee a nd
a nd the
Tra nsjorda n.Cl eop a tra ,
fea rful tha t his
urtesy
of p otentia l
conquests
coul d b ecome a
sp ringb oa rd
for a n inva sion of
Egyp t,
ca mea fterhim
(Ant. 13.348).
S hea tta cked
a nd took
Akko-Ptol ema is,
a t which
p l a ce
she a l so sol idi-
fied a n a l l ia ncewith Ja nna eus(Ka sher
1990 :144).
This
a greement,
a l ong
with
Cl eop a tra 's turning
her own resources
a ga inst
Ptol emy,
freed Ja nna eus from a defensive
p osture.
He next
moved
a ga inst
the cities of northern
Tra nsjorda n recentl y
ta ken
b y Ptol emy.Josep husrep orts
tha t
Ja nna eus
took
Ga da ra ,
a fter a
siege
of ten
months,
a s wel l a s
Ama thus,
then rul ed
b y
Theodorus,
theson of Zeno
Cotyl a s(Ant. 13.356; J.W. 1.4.2).
In the
mea ntime,
Cl eop a tra
ha d forced
Ptol emy
b a ck to
Cyp rus
a nd hersel f returned to
Egyp t.
This cl ea red the
wa y
for
Ja nna eus
to
comp l ete
his
conquest
of the coa sta l
p l a in,
a nd
Bib l ica l
Archa eol ogist
60 :1 (1997) 37
nnb co
C)
o Di
Qo
r?L2d3
Pi
I
I
I
I
I
I l
I
I
i
0 m 5
I---:: l
he l a id
siege
to Ga za
(Ant. 13.358-64).
Residents
a p p ea l ed
for
hel p
to the Na b a ta ea n
king,
b ut their
city
fel l
b y
interna l
b etra ya l
b eforehis
hel p
coul d a rrive. S chol a rs
disa gree
a b out
the
p recise
da te of this
event;
correl a tions
p rovided b y
Jose-
p hus suggest
the
yea r
96
BCE,
whil e other
comp uta tions
indica tea b out 10 0 /99 BCE
(M.
S ter
1981:40 ;
Ka sher
1990 :145).
In either
scena rio,
a fter
onl y
a few
yea rs
of his
rul e, Ja nna eus
ha d
incorp ora ted
the coa sta l
p l a in
from Ga za to Ca rmel
(excep t
for the
territory
of
Asca l on,
which rema ined inde-
p endent),
a s wel l a s sections of northern
Tra nsjorda n,
into
the Ha smonea n sta te.
Ja nna eus's
initia l
ga ins
did not refl ect his
mil ita ry
sup eriority,
so much a s a comb ina tion of l uck a nd
ta king
a dva nta ge
of the hostil e
enga gements
of others
(M.
S tern
1981:22-32).
His
a b il ity
to hol d the coa sta l
p l a in-the region's
ma in north-south
thoroughfa re-is
a ca se in
p oint. S hortl y
a fter the
conquest
of
Ga za ,
Antiochus XII
Dionysus,
one of
severa l current contenders for S el eucid
hegemony,
decided
to a tta ck b oth
Judea
a nd Na b a tea .
Josep hus rep orts
tha t
Ja n-
na eus,
out of fea r of his
coming, dug
a
deep
ditch,
b eginning
a t...Antip a tris,
to the sea of
Jop p a ....
He a l so ra ised a
wa l l ,
a nd erected wooden
towers,
a nd intermedia te
redoub ts,
for 150
furl ongs
in
l ength,
a nd there
exp ected
the
coming
of Antiochus
(Ant 13.390 ).
When Antiochus did
come, however,
he
simp l y
b urned
the
towers,
a nd
p roceeded through
the a rea towa rds the
The stone founda tions of the
rema ining
wa l l s of Khirb et Zemel , a n
Iturea n site in the Gol a n
Heights.
On the
right
is a
singl e l a rge
encl osure, p rob a b l y
for a nima l s; on the l eft is a
l a rge
room tha t
ma y
ha ve housed a
fa mil y.
A
p a rtia l l y p a ved
corridor runs the
l ength
of
the southern side. The b uil ders used l oca l fiel d stone. Exca va tions
recovered
p ottery
a nd coins of the second ha l f of the second
century
BCE. S evera l
l a rge stora ge ja rs
were found in situ. Pl a n
courtesy
of
Moshe Ha rta l .
Na b a tea ns.
They
in turn met Antiochus in b a ttl e a nd kil l ed
him
(Ant. 13.391).
After
this,
the Na b a tea ns extended their
territory
in
Tra nsjorda n,
a nd for a short time control l ed
this
region
a s fa rnorth a s
Da ma scus,
ta king
over tha t
city
a t
the
request
of its residents.
Mea nwhil e,
mil ita ry a ctivity
cea sed in thecoa sta l
p l a in,
which rema ined underHa smonea n
control .
Archa eol ogica l
rema insindica tetha t Ja nna eusconstructed
his defensive l ine
a l ong
the Ya rkon River. In the course of
moder
devel op ment
in this
a rea ,
a series of
recta ngul a r
a nd
hexa gona l -sha p ed
stone founda tions ha ve b een uncovered.
The ea sternmost wa s nea r
Pega e (a ncient Ap hek,
Hero-
dia n
Antip a tris),
the westernmost in the hea rt of modern
Tel -Aviv. Coins of
Ja nna eus
ha ve b een found in a ssocia ted
fil l s; these,
a l ong
with their l oca tion a nd simil a r construc-
tion,
sup p ort
theidentifica tion of therema insa s the
"Ja nna eus
l ine" describ ed
b y Josep hus (Ka p l a n 1967).
Exca va tions a t
the fortified sites of Horva t Mesa d a nd Horva t
'Eqed
ha ve
a l so uncovered Ja nna eus coins a nd other l a te Hel l enistic
rema ins,
suggesting
tha t thel ineextended
a l ong
the
"Jerusa l em
38 Bib l ica l
Archa eol ogist
60 :1 (1997)
inha b ita nts woul d not b ea r to
cha nge
(~> i
1
X /
<
ii
their
rel igious
ritesforthose
p ecul ia r
to
::~: -i;}/~ ~Ford " x
,
the Jews (Ant. 13.395-97).
i
vThe
conquests
a nd rul e of Al exa n-
. ?.;~." ?/ ^ ^ Antip a tris
:
''
..v _ij4
-n--ip a "t".,yris. ....
0
-
settl ement a nd
excha nge
tha t ha d devel -
LFord Ford
oT a
o0
o
^%
p a
^* ^ ^ r oui
Ford Ford a rkf o
5
op ed
since the return from
Ba b yl on
in
J > O ^ -~_
'~
AFort
Wa tch Tower r
-
- the l a te sixth
century
BCE.
Desp ite
the
0
.
? ? r > X
sp ora dic
Ha smonea n
a tta cks,
a nd occa -
/ Wa tch Tower . siona l p ol itica l dominion (e.g., under
/
r- --1 Ja nna eus
(Ya nna i)
Line
S imon) tha t b ega n in the mid-second
century
BCE,
theeconomiesa nd
l ifestyl es
.....
Jof
the inha b ita nts of the coa sta l
p l a in
Jyop p a
<
-
ha d continued distinct from those of the
rel igiousl y-oriented
centra l hil l s. Now,
0 k m 4
however,
theb a l a nce
shifted,
with those
S =4
who defined themsel ves
b y rel igious
a ffil ia tion
control l ing
more
territory,
"Ja nna eus l ine"
a l ong
Ya rkon River. Exca va tions in a nd a round modern Tel Aviv ha ve more
resources,
a nd more
p ower,
tha n
uncovered a seriesof
sturdy
stonefounda tions, rema ins of wa tch towersa nd
emp l a cements
thosewhose l ives were oriented towa rds
constructed
b y
Al exa nder Ja nna eus.
Josep hus
describ es thisl inea s
extending
from
Antip a tris
commerce a nd ma teria l comforts. The
to thesea , a nd
sa ys
tha t Ja nna eus intended it a sa
p reca ution a ga inst
Antiochus XII. It wa s
a rcha eol ogica l
record of
ea rl y
first cen-
whol l y unsuccessful , however; Antiochus
simp l y
b urned thetowersa nd
p roceeded
down the
tury
BCEPa l estinerevea l ed funda menta l
coa sta l
p l a in,
wherehemet hisdemisein a
p itched
b a ttl e
a ga inst
the Na b a tea ns.
cha nges.
With a few
excep tions (e.g.,
Ashkel on),
the
Mediterra nea n-fa cing
corridor" a s wel l
(Fischer1987:125-26).
cul ture of the Gra eco-Phoenicia n coa sta l
p l a in
a nd Iduma ea
Both b efore a nd a fterthe Na b a tea n
victory a ga inst
Anti- diminished or
disa p p ea red. Jewish
settl ements esta b l ished
ochus, Ja nna eus wa s
p reoccup ied
with interna l
p rob l ems.
in
p reviousl y
Gentil ea rea s
l a rgel y
conta ined househol d
p rod-
Josep hus
recounted tha t "his own
p eop l e
were seditious ucts ma de
onl y
in
Judea
a nd other
Jewish
a rea s
(e.g.,
Lower
a ga inst
him,"
a nd
Ja nna eus
turned his resources
a ga inst Ga l il ee). Imp orts
a nd
l uxury
items were ra reor
a b sent,
a
p he-
Jerusa l em
itsel f: "He b uil t a
p a rtition-wa l l
of wood round nomenon most
ob viousl y
refl ected
b y
the dea rth of
Aegea n
the a l ta ra nd the
temp l e,
...a nd
b y
this mea ns he ob structed wine
a mp hora s
a nd ES A. Architecturewa s
p l a in; industry
the mul titude from
coming
a t him"
(Ant. 13.373). During
this wa s confined to the
p roduction
of wine a nd oil for l oca l use.
time,
the Na b a tea ns continued their
p ol itica l
a nd eco- The sites of Pel l a a nd Ga ml a
(Ga ma l a )
ha ve
p rovided
a
nomicdominion of
Tra nsjorda n,
a fa ct refl ected
a rcha eol ogica l l y
most
comp el l ing
il l ustra tion of this
regiona l sea -cha nge.
Jose-
in the
a p p ea ra nce
of Na b a tea n coins from the mint of p hus
singl ed
out Pel l a in his summa tion
ofJa nna eus'sconquests:
Da ma scus
(Hil l 1922:xi-xii,
p l . XLIX,1).
But
b y
the
yea r
83 a
p a ga n
town
destroyed
b eca use the inha b ita nts refused to
BCE,
Ja nna eusha d
ma na ged
b oth to
rep ress
his enemies a nd
cha nge
their
rel igion.
The
city
of Pel l a
comp rised
a
l a rge
to
reorga nize
his
forces,
ena b l ing
him to emb a rk on a nother mound in the Jorda n river
va l l ey, just
a cross the river from
series of
ca mp a igns.
He moved
north,
into northern Tra n-
Beth-S hea n-S cythop ol is. Occup a tion
on a nd in the
vicinity
sjorda n
a nd the
Gol a n,
ob viousl y
in order to cut off this of the mound
b ega n
in the third mil l enium BCE. Pel l a wa s
newl y-won
a rm of the Na b a tea n
p rincip a l ity. Josep hus
sum-
a p p a rentl y
a b a ndoned a fter the
Ba b yl onia n conquest
a nd
ma rizes the extent of
Ja nna eus' conquests (ca .
80
BCE):
not
reoccup ied
until
ea rl y
Hel l enistictimes. This
p eriod
wa s,
however,
p oorl y rep resented b y
the
rema ins;
it
a p p ea rs
tha t
At this time the
Jews
were in
p ossession
of the
fol l owing
a sizea b l e settl ement did not
devel op
until the second cen-
cities tha t ha d
b el onged
to the
S yria ns,
a nd
Idumea ns,
tury
BCE. Exca va torsha ve found severa l sma l l
houses,
whose
a nd Phoenicia ns: a t the
sea side,
S tra to's
Tower,
Ap p ol -
goods incl uded
Aegea n
wine
a mp hora s,
Phoenicia n semi-
l onia ,
Jop p a , Ja mnia , Ashdod, Ga za , Anthedon,
Ra p hia ,
finea nd ES A
p ottery,
other
Mediterra nea n-p roduced
decora ted
a nd
Rhinocol ura ;
in the middl e of the
country,
nea r to
ta b l ewa res,
a nd
gl a ss
a nd meta l vessel s. Pel l a 'sma rketswere
Idumea , Adora ,
a nd
Ma risa ;
nea rthe
country
of
S a ma ria ,
p rob a b l y sup p l ied
via
Beth-S hea n-S cythop ol is,
a nd its inha b -
Mount
Ca rmel ,
a nd Mount
Ta b or,
S cythop ol is,
a nd Ga da ra ; ita nts
enjoyed
a
simil a rl y
comforta b l e
l ifestyl e-one
cut off
of the
country
of the
Ga ul onites, S el eucia ,
a nd
Ga ma l a ;
b y
the a ssa ul t of
Ja nna eus.
Across the
mound,
the fina l l ev-
in the
country
of
Moa b , Heshb on,
a nd
Ma deb a , Lemb a ,
el s of Hel l enistic rema ins were b uried in a sh a nd b urned
a nd
Oronoa s, Gel ithon, Za ra ,
the
va l l ey
of the
Cil ices, deb ris,
evidence of a ma ssive
confl a gra tion
tha t
effectivel y
a nd
Pel l a ;
which l a st
they utterl y destroyed,
b eca use its ended
occup a tion.
Pel l a rema ined a b a ndoned until the
Bib l ica l
Archa eol ogist
60 :1 (1997) 39
b eginning
of the next
century (McNicol l
et a l .
1982).
The sma l l town of
Ga ml a ,
l oca ted on a n isol a ted
sp ur
in the southern Gol a n
Heights,
ha d a
comp l etel y
different
fa te. A
thriving
l a te Hel l enistic town wa s
p rob a b l y
esta b -
l ished here sometime in the l a ter second
century
BCE
(S yon
1992).
Exca va torsuncovered two b l ocks of houses in one res-
identia l
a rea ,
sep a ra ted b y
a na rrow
stone-p a ved
street. Just
off the street wa s a two-roomed b a th
comp l ex,
with two
step p ed p ool s
a nd a
sep a ra te
tub . This
ma y
ha ve b een a
p ub -
l ic
miqve.
Thehouses were
sma l l ,
ha ving
two orthree
rooms;
courtya rds
were sha red. Two
l a rge
ol ive
p resses occup ied
one
courtya rd, testifying
to the residents'
p rima ry
indus-
try.
Within the
houses,
exca va tors recovered a
p l ethora
of
ma teria l
rema ins,
incl uding
the
occup a nts'
househol d
p ot-
tery.
Theea rl iest rema ins incl ude ES Ata b l evessel s a nd even
a few
imp orted
wine
a mp hora s.
The househol d
p ottery
of
the
sub sequent p ha se,
however,
wa s a l most
excl usivel y
undec-
ora ted,
util ita ria n
typ es-stora ge ja rs, cooking
vessel s,
sma l l
ea ting
a nd
drinking
b owl s. Theforms were identica l to those
found a t
Jewish
sites
throughout Judea .
Ga ml a wa s
p rob a -
b l y
a
Hel l enizing Jewish
vil l a ge
until Ja nna eus took it over.
Thesite'snumisma tic
p rofil e
revea l ed the
intensity
of its new
connection: of the 620 0 coins recovered in
exca va tion,
a b out
sixty p ercent
were of
Ja nna eus.
After his
conquest,
in
a b out 80
BCE,
the town continued to
fl ourish;
new houses
were
b uil t,
a nd the
p op ul a tion p rob a b l y
increa sed.
Al exa nder
Ja nna eus
did not
conquer
a l l of Pa l estine. Both
Ashkel on a nd Akko-Ptol ema is rema ined
indep endent,
a nd
Tyre
reta ined control of much of the
up p er
Ga l il ee.
The l imits of Ha smonea n
exp a nsion
were wel l refl ected
b y
the rema ins of the fina l Hel l enistic
occup a tion
of Tel
Ana fa . The el a b ora te vil l a tha t wa s b uil t a round 125 BCE
underwent a n extensive
remodel ing
sometime a round 10 0
BCE,
a fterwhich
occup a tion
continued for a nother
twenty
or
twenty-five yea rs.
The
remodel ing
consisted of
p a rtitioning
some of the
l a rge
rooms tha t surrounded the centra l court-
ya rd,
a s wel l a s
constructing
a new two-room unit a t the
northea st comer. Whil ethese
cha nges
resul ted in a l ess
imp res-
sive
p l a n,
theb a siccha ra cterof the
occup a tion
wa s una l tered.
Theb a th
comp l ex
continued in
use,
a nd the
courtya rd'sa sp ect
wa s
a ctua l l y imp roved b y b eing comp l etel y p a ved
with
l a rge
fl a ttened b a sa l t stones. Ab unda nt a nd l uxurious
cera mic,
gl a ss,
a nd meta l
ob jects
continued to occur.
Imp orted
wine
a mp hora s
were
p l entiful .
A sma l l
group
of Ita l ia n
cooking
vessel s from this
p eriod's occup a tion
a ttested to outside con-
ta cts a nd infl uences
(Berl in 1992).
Tel Ana fa 's
ea rl y
first
century
BCE
occup a nts cl ea rl y
ha d
the sa me cha ra ctera nd
l ifestyl e
a s their l a te second
century
BCE
p redecessors.
The numisma tic
p rofil e
wa s consistent a s
wel l : a
l a rge ma jority
of the
a p p roxima tel y
185 identifia b l e
l a te Hel l enistic coins were from
indep endent Tyre
or
S idon,
a nd the next
l a rgest group
were l a te S el eucid
imp eria l
issues.
Onl y
three coins of
Ja nna eus
were found
(Meshorer 1994).
Therema insa l so revea l ed tha t the site wa s never a tta cked or
destroyed;
no evidence of
confl a gra tion
wa s found in
a ny
exca va ted a rea (this
p oint
ha s b een overl ooked or
ignored b y
Thisl a te Hel l enisticresidentia l a rea exca va ted a t Ga ml a (Area B)
conta insfive b l ocksdivided
b y
a street. In the
up p erb l ock, severa l
l a rge
oil
p ressing
stones were found in
p l a ce.
Thel owerb l ock
conta ined a
l a rge
room with a
miqve)
a nd a
b a thtub ; this
ma y
ha ve
b een a ritua l
b a thing
a rea for this
neighb orhood.
Al so found were
cooking
ovens a nd a
grea t
dea l of domestic
p ottery.
Pl a n
courtesy
of
Da nny S yon
a nd Da vid Goren.
a l most
everyone writing
a b out the extent of Ja nna eus's
conquests,
most
recentl y
Ka sher
1990 :159). Instea d,
the court-
ya rd b uil ding
wa s
simp l y
a b a ndoned,
its eventua l
col l a p se
ca used
b y
ra in a nd snow
inva ding
the
p a rtia l l y
mud-b rick
wa l l s. The virtua l a b sence of Ja nna euscoins a nd the l a ck of
destruction
dep osits
ha ve
p rovided comp el l ing
documenta -
tion tha t Ha smonea n
exp a nsion stop p ed
short of the Hul a
Va l l ey.
The historica l record of Al exa nder
Ja nna eus's mil ita ry
a ctivities woul d
suggest
tha t he devoted a l l of his time to
such
ca mp a igns.
The
a rcha eol ogica l
record
p roves
otherwise.
S ome of the
l a rgest
a rchitectura l
p rojects
underta ken in Hel -
l enistic Pa l estine occur in
Judea
in the
p eriod
of
Ja nna eus's
40 Bib l ica l
Archa eol ogist
60 :1 (1997)
l
rul e-though significa ntl y,
most were defensive in na ture.
In
Jerusa l em itsel f, Ja nna eus comp l eted
the construction of
a dequa te
fortifica tions
surrounding
the
growing
residentia l
district on the southwestern hil l
(the Up p er City).
S ub sta n-
tia l stretches of wa l l s a nd the l ower courses of
recta ngul a r
towers,
a l l b uil t of dra fted a shl a rs with
rough
b osses l a id
a s hea ders a nd
stretchers,
occur within the
Cita del ,
a s wel l
a s to its south. Portions of these constructions were erected
under the rul e of S imon a nd
Hyrca nus.
In its
entirety,
the
Ha smonea n wa l l
l a rgel y
fol l owed the Iron
Age
l ine
(the
so-ca l l ed First
Wa l l ),
b ut
b y
the
ea rl y
first
century
BCEtha t
origina l
l ine ha d b een
thoroughl y
reb uil t.
Ja nna eusfurtherdevoted himsel f to the
devel op ment
of
a series of fortresses
a l ong
the ea stern b order of the centra l
hil l s. Whil e this wa s
p rob a b l y
in
p a rt
motiva ted
b y
inter-
na l
troub l es,
it a l so a ccommoda ted the
region's shifting
demogra p hics.
In the
ea rl y
first
century
BCE,
scores of
settl ements in the coa sta l
p l a in
were
a b a ndoned,
with this
region's rema ining
Gentil e inha b ita nts
p rob a b l y rel oca ting
to the few
surviving
cities,
such a s Ashkel on a nd Dor.
Jew-
ish control of tha t
region, a l ong
with its diminished
p op ul a tion,
grea tl y
l essened the cha nce of a tta ck from this direction.
A
Thisreconstruction
dra wing
showsthe centra l
courtya rd
of
Ana fa 'sLHS Ba fter it wa s
p a ved
in the
ea rl y
first
century
BCE. The
view, from the southwestern corner, shows tha t col umnsl ined
onl y
two sidesof the court, indica ting
tha t the
b uil ding'sup p er
fl oorsdid
not extend a round itsentire
p erimeter. Dra wing courtesy
of S ha ron
Herb ert.
< ALa teHel l enisticstuccoed
b uil ding courtya rd
a t Ana fa . Viewof
the ea st col onna dea nd centra l
courtya rd
of the LHS B, from the
northea st. The
squa recourtya rd
wa s
onl y p a ved
in the
ea rl y
first
century BCE; b eforetha t the surfa cewa s b ea ten ea rth. Visib l edown
the centerof thisviewa rethe l owerdrumsof four of the
sup p orting
col umnstha t l ined the court'sea st side, a s
they
were found. On the
fa r
right
sidewa s the three-roomed b a th
comp l ex;
this
p hoto
wa s
ta ken a fter its mosa icfl oor a nd l owerl evel swere removed. Photo
courtesy
of S ha ron Herb ert.
At the sa me
time, Jerusa l em
ha d b ecome the center of the
country's p ol itica l
a nd economic
l ife,
a nd the
p op ul a tion
of
Judea
a nd S a ma ria wa s
increa sing.
The centra l
hil l s,
a nd
esp ecia l l y
Jerusa l em,
rema ined vul nera b l e to incursion from
the
Jorda n
River
va l l ey,
a nd it wa s
a l ong
this route tha t
Ja nna eus constructed a l ine of
mounta in-top
fortresses.
Two such fortresses-Dok a nd
Hyrca nia -a l rea dy
existed.
Josep hus
indica ted tha t
Ja nna eus
b uil t a
third, Al exa ndrium,
north of
Dok,
a nd a
fourth, Ma cha erus,
south of
Hyrca nia
a nd ea st of the Dea d S ea (it is
p ossib l e
tha t
a nother,
quite
sma l l ,
fortified
enca mp ment
wa s
a l rea dy
in
p l a ce
on
Ma sa da ,
a t the southern
tip
of the Dea d
S ea ;
Tsa frir
1982).
Al exa n-
drium wa s identified in 1866 with the distinctive
high
p ea k
of Qa rn el -S a rta b eh
(the
horn of
S a rta b a ).
The sum-
mit hosted wa l l s b uil t of dra fted l imestone a shl a rswith
wide,
rough
b osses,
a rra nged
in
a l terna ting
courses of hea ders a nd
stretchers. The
ma sonry
wa s identica l to the Ha smonea n
wa l l s exca va ted in
Jerusa l em. The a rchitecture wa s
Bib l ica l
Archa eol ogist
60 :1 (1997) 41
a p p a rentl y
not l imited to defensivestruc-
tures;
exca va tion a l so uncovered rema ins
of a va ul ted
p ool (cistern?),
a mikve9, a nd
p erha p s
a stoa . S imil a rsorts of rema ins
ha ve b een found on the summit of
Ma cha erus.
Ja nna eusa l so devoted considera b l e
resources to the Ha smonea n
comp l ex
a t Jericho. In the
ea rl y yea rs
of his
reign,
he b uil t a second
a queduct.
Thisserved
a
l a rge
new recrea tiona l
a rea ,
which
incl uded a nother
p a ir
of
p ool s,
a col on-
na ded
p a vil ion, p l a stered p a tios,
a nd
orna menta l
ga rdens(Netzer1993).
S ecu-
rity
concernswere evident herea s
wel l ,
however: b uil ders encl osed
p a rt
of
the
ga rdens
with thick wa l l s.
They
com-
p l etel y
b uried the
origina l
structure,
which wa s on l evel
ground
a nd so not
ea sil y
defended,
in a
huge
a rtificia l
mound. On its
top ,
a
sma l l er,
fortified
residence a rose.
Diggers exp osed
hun-
dreds of
ja rs-stil l stop p ered-in
two
tower
rooms,
p erha p s
further indica -
tions of Ja nna eus's
"siege menta l ity."
Al exa nder
Ja nna eus
died in 76
BCE,
hol ed
up
in
Ra ga b a ,
a fortified settl e-
ment a crossthe
Jorda n.
He
b equea thed
his
grea tl y exp a nded
a nd
highl y
secured
kingdom
to his
wife,
S a l ome Al exa n-
dra .
Al exa ndra ,
una b l e to hol d the
A
Rel igious Pa nop l y:
Deities And S hrines
The
va riety
of ethnic
group s residing throughout
Hel l enistic Pa l estine
required
a n
equa l
numb er of
rel igious
outl ets. S ome deities a nd cul t sites were known from
l itera ry
sources a nd
inscrip tions; a rcha eol ogica l
finds ha ve revea l ed others. The
a ccomp a nying ma p
l oca tes Greek,
Egyp tia n,
Phoenicia n, Jewish/S a ma rita n,
a nd
"l oca l "
(i.e. na tive, non-Jewish)
shrines
throughout
Hel l enistic Pa l estine.
S ite
Akko
Beth S he'a n
Dor
Ma khmish
Ja ffa
Ashdod
Ashkel on
Ma resha h
inscrip tion
Beersheb a
Jerusa l em
Josep hus
Mt. Gerizim
S a ma ria
Mt.
Mizp e
Ya mmim
Da n
Ba nia s
Mt. S ena 'im
(Hermon)
Kh. Dura
(Hermon)
p osition
of
High
Priest,
a ssigned
tha t rol e to the el der of
her two
sons,
Hyrca nus (II),
whil e she hersel f ma inta ined
mil ita ry
comma nd. But her
younger
son,
Aristob ol us
(II),
not
content with this
a rra ngement,
convinced her to divide
this
p ower
with him.
Josep hus rep orts
tha t Al exa ndra "com-
mitted thefortressesto
them,
a l l b ut
Hyrca nia
a nd Al exa ndrium
a nd
Ma cha erus,
where her
p rincip a l
trea sures were"
(Ant.
13.417).
This notion of
p ersona l ownership , esp ecia l l y
of
exp l icitl y
defensive
settl ements,
revea l s the
whol l y
Hel l -
enized cha ra cterof Ha smonea n rul e
b y
this time.
The most vivid il l ustra tion of Ha smonea n
roya l p reten-
sions
a p p ea red
a t
Jericho.
S outh of the
recentl y comp l eted
p ool
a nd
ga rden comp l ex,
a rchitects l a id out a
huge
new
b uil ding.
The
p l a n
consisted of two identica l vil l a -l ike struc-
tures,
ea ch with a centra l
op en-a ircourtya rd
surrounded
b y
rooms. A
singl e recta ngul a r
room
op ened
to the south of ea ch
courtya rd, sep a ra ted b y
two
col umns;
these
ma y
ha ve served
a s forma l
dining
rooms. Frescoed wa l l s decora ted the inte-
rior. Insidewereb a throomsa nd
miqva 'ot;
a second
indep endent
b a thing fa cil ity
wa s b uil t north of the l evel ed mound. To
either side of the
vil l a s,
which Netzer
(1993)
ha s termed
the "twin
p a l a ces,"
were
squa re p ool s
surrounded
b y ga r-
dens. Al l of these new constructions
b el onged
to the
p eriod
of S a l ome
Al exa ndra ,
though
their unusua l
l a yout
p rob a b l y sp ra ng
from the wishes of her a mb itious a nd
Affil ia tion
Phoenicia n
(Asta rte, Ata rga tis)
Greek
(Zeus S oter)
Greek
(Zeus Ol ymp ia s)
Phoenicia n
Phoenicia n
"l oca l "
"l oca l "
Phoenicia n
(Da gon)
Phoenicia n
"l oca l "/Idumea n?
Greek
(Ap ol l o)
Greek
Jewish
Jewish (S a ma rita n)
Egyp tia n (S era p is-Isis)
Greek
(Dioscuri)
"l oca l "
"l oca l "
Greek
(Pa n)
"l oca l "/Itura ea n?"
"l oca l " /Itura ea n?
Evidence
inscrip tion
inscrip tion
l ist of
p riests
inscrip tion,
cul tic
ob jects
shrine,
figurines
cul t ha l l
house shrine
1 Ma cc
shrine in
city
center
ea gl e
sta tue with
temp l e, figurines
Ezra , Neh,
I
Ma cc,
temp l e, Josep hus
inscrip tion
scul p tured
stone rel iefs
temp l e,
encl osure
high p l a ce, inscrip tion
p ottery
temenos
temp l e
p owerful
sons. It is a fina l
a rcha eol ogica l irony
tha t the
Jericho p a l a ces-devel op ed
a nd used
b y Judea 'sJewish
l ea d-
ers-a re the
onl y "roya l "
a rchitecture found in Hel l enistic
Pa l estine.
In 67 BCES a l omeAl exa ndra
died,
a nd control of the Ha s-
monea n
kingdom p a ssed
to
Hyrca nus
II a nd Aristob ol us
II. Due to the extensive
conquests
of their
fa ther,
Al exa n-
der
Ja nna eus,
their territoria l inherita nce incl uded most of
Pa l estine, Ga ul a nitis,
a nd much of
Tra nsjorda n.
This
outl ine,
however,
p rovides
a
misl ea ding
refl ection of their
kingdom.
By
the time of their
a ccession,
the
country's
settl ement wa s
concentra ted a l most
excl usivel y
in the centra l hil l s of
Judea
a nd
S a ma ria ,
in the Lower
Ga l il ee,
a nd the Gol a n. The
ma teria l rema ins of this core a rea incl uded
ma inl y l oca l l y
p roduced,
util ita ria n
goods,
with few
imp orts
a nd l ittl einfl u-
ence from Phoenicia n or Mediterra nea n cul tures. Pa l estine
wa s now in effect Ha smonea n:
rel igiousl y
defined,
inwa rdl y
focused,
with a
p op ul a tion
settl ed
l a rgel y
in fa rmstea ds a nd
sma l l
vil l a ges,
a nd
orga nized
a round the
singl e city
of
Jerusa l em.
By
the
ea rl y-mid
first
century
BCE,
most of the
regions
a round the
p erimeter
of the Ha smonea n
kingdom
were
very
l a rgel y dep op ul a ted.
Al l sorts of sites-cities a nd
vil l a s,
rura l
fa rmstea ds-were a b a ndoned. In the Hul a
Va l l ey,
Tel Ana fa
wa s a b a ndoned
b y
75
BCE;
in the Akko
p l a in
scores of
42 Bib l ica l
Archa eol ogist
60 :1 (1997)
sma l l fa rmstea ds were deserted in the
ea rl y
first
century;
on
the coa st, Dor,
S tra to's
Tower,
a nd Ashdod sa t
unoccup ied
b y
the
b eginning
the first
century;
in the foothil l s a nd in
Idumea , Gezer,
a nd Ma resha
l a y
deserted. Thisnew a nd
p a r-
ticul a r
a rra ngement
of
unoccup ied
sites refl ectsthe
country's
whol l y
a l tered cha ra cter. The
p rosp erity,
va ried
p op ul a tion,
a nd Mediterra nea n outl ook of Hel l enistic times wa s
gone.
According
to the
a rcha eol ogica l
criteria of ma teria l cul ture
a nd settl ement
p a ttern,
the
joint reigns
of
Hyrca nus
II a nd
Aristob ol us IIma rk the end of the Hel l enistic
p eriod.
It does not
a l wa ys ha p p en
tha t,
in the
comp a rtmenta l -
iza tion of
history,
a tra nsition
rep resents
b oth
p ol itica l
a nd
ma teria l
cha nge.
In the ca se of the end of the Hel l enistic
p eriod
in
Pa l estine, however,
the
p l entiful a rcha eol ogica l
evi-
dence
ma y
b e
joined
to a semina l
p ol itica l
moment. In the
yea r
63 BCEthe Roma n
genera l Pomp ey
a rrived in Da ma s-
cus. He ca me in
p a rt
to settl e a ffa irs b etween
Hyrca nus
a nd Aristob ol us who ha d b een
fighting
for control of the
country. Pomp ey
considered ea ch ma n's
ca se,
a s wel l a s
the
genera l
situa tion,
in which
the na tion
[wa s]
a ga inst
them
b oth,
which did not desire
to b e under
kingl y government,
b eca use the form of
gov-
ernment
they
received from their forefa therswa s tha t of
sub jection
to the
p riests
of tha t God whom
they
wor-
ship p ed
(Ant. 14.41).
Pomp ey
wa s not
disp osed
to
recognize
the force of this
l a tter
a rgument.
Unl ike the Persia n
king,
who ha d restored
to the
Jews rel igious a utonomy
a nd a mea sure of
p ol itica l
indep endence
a s
wel l ,
the Roma n
p refered p ol itica l
a nd mil -
ita ry p ower
a s a n
orga nizing p rincip l e.
And the
Ha smonea ns,
whose
dyna sty
ha d
b egun
a s a
rel igious
reb el l ion,
were
b y
this time of a simil a rmind-set. Aristob ol us
p roceeded
to
defy
Pomp ey b y inva ding
Judea a nd
hol ing up
a t Al exa ndrium.
His a ctions drew
Pomp ey a ga inst
him a nd l ed to the Roma n
ca p ture
of Jerusa l em itsel f.
Hyrca nus
wa s
rea p p ointed High
Priest, Jerusa l em
itsel f wa s ma de a Roma n
trib uta ry,
a nd fur-
ther:
[Pomp ey]
took
a wa y
those cities of
Coel esyria
which the
inha b ita nts of
Judea
ha d
sub dued,
a nd
p ut
them under
the
government
of the Roma n
p resident,
a nd confined
thewhol e
na tion,
which ha d el eva ted itsel f so
high
b efore,
within its b ounds. Morevoer; he reb uil t
Ga da ra ,...
a nd
restored the rest of the cities,
Hip p os
a nd
S cythop ol is,
a nd
Pel l a ,
a nd
Dios,
a nd
S a ma ria ,
a s a l so
Ma risa ,
a nd
Ashdod,
a nd
Ja mnia ,
to theirown
inha b ita nts;
these were
in the inl a nd
p a rts....
Al so
Ga za ,
a nd
Jop p a ,
a nd
Dora ,
a nd S tra to'sTower.... Al l these
Pomp ey
l eft in a sta te of
freedom,
a nd
joined
them to the
p rovince
of
S yria (Ant.
14.74-76).
As
Josep hus' descrip tion
ma kes cl ea r
Pomp ey's
settl e-
ment
l a rgel y
restored the
p a tterns
of
ma ny p revious
centuries.
And in
fa ct,
within a few
deca des,
the
unique, centra l l y-
focused settl ement
p a ttern
then in
p l a ce
wa s
rep l a ced b y
one
tha t
essentia l l y rep l ica ted
tha t of Persia n a nd
ea rl y
Hel l enistic
times. The crucia l difference b etween this first
century
BCE
Roma n
configura tion
a nd the one overseen
b y
the Persia n
king
in the sixth
century
BCE,
wa s the
grea tl y
reduced sta tus
of the
Jews. Pomp ey p a id
sufficient heed to
onl y
one of the
forces tha t motiva ted this
region's p op ul a tion.
Both the
Roma ns a nd the
Jews
soon l ea rned the
p rice
of tha t decision.
Notes
1
The site wa s
p a rtia l l y ma p p ed a l rea dy
in the nineteenth
century,
exca -
va ted
b y
a n America n tea m in 1961 a nd
1962,
a nd
a ga in b y
a French tea m
in the l a te 1970 s.
2
The site wa s exca va ted for ten sea sons
(1968-1981)
a nd a
comp rehensive
fina l
p ub l ica tion
ha s
recentl y a p p ea red (Herb ert 1994; Berl in 1997; S l a ne
1997).
3
Four of
these-incl uding
the S idonia n tomb -were discovered
b y gra ve
rob b ers in 190 2 a nd exca va ted tha t sa me
yea r (Peters
a nd Thiersch
190 5).
The rema inder ha ve b een identified in the course of the current exca va -
tions.
4
Tira t Yehuda wa s discovered
during
roa d construction in 1961 a nd exca -
va ted in a
sa l va ge op era tion (Yeivin
a nd Edel stein
1967).
5
AGreek
inscrip tion
found in the Ol d
City rep orts
a n oa th ta ken
b y
some
of the sol diers sta tioned a t the Akra who were a ssocia ted with the
gym-
na sium, b ut this does not constitute evidence for its l oca tion.
6
Nine sea sons of exca va tions were ca rried out here from 1962-1972.
7
Ca stel l ion wa s b uil t on a
height
known in Ara b ic a s el -Mird
(a corrup -
tion of the
S yria n-Ara ma ic
word
ma rda ,
mea ning fortress).
The ruins of
the fortress were
p a rtia l l y exp l ored b y
G. R. H.
Wright
in
1960 ,
a nd the
wa ter
system b y
Tel Aviv
University
in the
ea rl y
1970 s
(Tsa frir 1982;
NEAEHL, s.v.
Hyrca nia ).
8
The site wa s first discovered in
1838,
a nd
sp ora dic
exca va tions were ca r-
ried out in the l a ter nineteenth a nd
ea rl y-mid
twentieth centuries. The
exca va tors uncovered
p a l a tia l a rchitecture,
which
they a ssigned
to Hero-
dia n times. From 1973 to 1983 (a nd
a ga in
in
1986-87)
Ehud Netzer
investiga ted
the entire a rea
(Netzer 1993).
9
The identifica tion of this sect a s the
Essenes, one of the severa l
Jewish
group s
of this
p eriod
describ ed
b y Josep hus (Ant. 13.172-73; J.W.
2.119-
61),
wa s ma de a l most a s soon a s the first scrol l s were rea d,
a nd ha s not
b een
convincingl y
contra dicted since. The
a rcha eol ogica l
rema ins a re
whol l y
in
keep ing
with the settl ers' identifica tion a s Essenes.
Bib l iogra p hy
Ap p l eb a um,
S .
1980 A
Fra gment
of a New Hel l enistic
Inscrip tion
from the Ol d
City
of
Jerusa l em. Pp .
47-60 in
Jerusa l em
in the S econd
Temp l e
Period
(A.
S cha l it memoria l
vol ume),
edited
b y
A.
Op p enheimer,
V.
Ra p p a p ort,
a nd M. S tern.
Lib ra ry
of the
History
of the Yishuv
in Eretz-Isra el .
Jerusa l em:
Ya d Izha k BenZvi.
1986 The S ettl ement Pa ttern of Western S a ma ria from Hel l enistic to
Byza ntine
Times: A Historica l
Commenta ry. Pp .
257-69 in La nd-
sca p e
a nd Pa ttern: An
Archa eol ogica l S urvey of
S a ma ria 80 0 BCE-636
CE, edited
b y
S . Da r. BARIS 30 8. London: BAR.
1989 Juda ea in Hel l enistica nd Roma n Times: Historica l a nd
Archa eol ogi-
ca l
Essa ys.
Leiden: E.
J.
Bril l .
Bib l ica l
Archa eol ogist
60 :1 (1997) 43
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Archa eol ogist
60 :1 (1997)
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Bib l ica l
Archa eol ogist
60 :1 (1997) 47
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I
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*ANa ha riva ,
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Khirb et S hema '
GALILEE
GOLAN 330
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Acco. Mount
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Horva t
Ka na f
?
A*
S hiqmona :
*
-Tel l Ab u Ha wa m 'EnGev
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;e
'
p i
*
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*
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-
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A*Ca esa rea :
'
Tel Mevora kh Beth-S hea n
,,/
-,khm
? ?? *Pel l a
Tel Mikhmoret * Tel Zeror. *
Dotha n
^
Tel Hefer
Khirb et
el -Ha mma m
:^? T : 7Gera sa
S XJ vea ^ l Te h a
i/em
*
S a ma ria A
* Tel l
es-S a 'idiyeh
Qedumim ? S hechem ?*
.i
Ap ol l onia -Arsuf ?
Mount Gerizim
?
'
.. ...
A Tel Micha l
Ma kmish
S A MARIA
Bene- Ap hek S a rta b a -Al exa ndrium *
Tel Aviv.
Bn
T
. Bera k
? S hil oh
?
'Ja ffa
Ma zor
:"ff
Ma AorW a di
ed-Da l iyeh
Ra b b a th-Ammon Ra b b a th-Ammon :
* Bethel 32
Ya vneh-Ya m A* * 'Ira q el -Emir
?
Qa l a ndiyeh
*
Jericho. 150
A Gezer* *
Horva t
*
Gib eon vp ros
. Tel Mor
Emma us 'Eqed Tel l el -Fu Hshb on
: **Ashdod Jerusa l em
*
Khirb et Qumra n
A*U Beth-S hemesh * A' . *E /'
~* ~Ra ma t
Hyrca nia
*/Ein Feshkha
!A*
k
Tel
Zip p or
Azeka h
JUDEA
Ra hel
Ashkel on
Tel 'Era ni
Tel l Judeideh
l Ma resha h
*
Beth-ZurA Dea d/
Tel l el -Hesi Lta chish Heb ron
* Ga ,a *
Kirb ct
Aroer
Ga rm
En
Tel Na gil a el -Q6m
*
En Gedi, , ....
10 0
Tel Ha l if
S ea
Tel l emma h *Tel S era '
S
/,,
'
Horva t Rimmon Ma sa da
*'En Besor * Ara d
Tel Beersheb a *
*Tel 'Ira * Horva t'Ua '[
'En Boqeq
*El usa
0 50
310
N* etsa na
Ob oda -
Hel l enistic
Mo'a
0 0 0
Petra
Pa l estine
A Finds of
imp orted a mp hora s
* Findsof semi-fine
ja rs
* Findsof Judea n
b a ggy ja rs
10 0 150 20 0 250 950
350 36?
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theBib l ein thePersia n Period 538-332
B.C. Wa rminster: Aris a nd
Phil ip s
Ltd.
1993 The Persistence of Phoenicia n Cul ture: The
Ma ny
Ma sters of
Dor,
Pa rt 3. BAR19:38-49.
1995a Between Persia a nd Greece: Tra de, Administra tion a nd Wa rfa re
in the Persia n a nd Hel l enistic Periods.
Pp .
432-45 in The
Archa eol ogy of S ociety
in the
Hol y La nd, edited
b y
T.
Levy.
London:
Leicester
University
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1995b
S tra tigra p hica l S umma ry
of Architectura l Rema ins.
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29-48 in
Exca va tions a t
Dor, Fina l
Rep ort.
Vol . I A. Area s A a nd C: Intro-
duction a nd
S tra tigra p hy. Qedem Rep orts
2.
Jerusa l em:
IES .
S tem,
M.
1981
Juda ea
a nd her
Neighb ors
in the
Da ys
of Al exa nder
Ja nna eus.
Pp .
22-46 in The
Jerusa l em
Ca thedra 1, edited
b y
L. Levine.
Jerusa l em:
Ya d Izha k Ben-Zvi Institute.
S tra nge,
J.
1975 La te Hel l enistic a nd Herodia n
Ossua ry
Tomb s a t French Hil l ,
Jerusa l em.
BAS OR219:39-67.
S yon,
D.
1992 Ga ml a . Portra it of a Reb el l ion. BAR18.1:20 -37.
Tcherikower,
V.
1937 Pa l estine under the Ptol emies
(A
Contrib ution to the
S tudy
of
the Zenon
Pa p yri).
Mizra im 4-5:9-90 .
Toomb s,
L. a nd
Wright,
G.
1961 The Third
Ca mp a ign
a t Ba l a ta h
(S hechem).
BAS OR161:11-54.
Tsa frir,
Y.
1982 The Desert Fortresses of Juda ea in the S econd
Temp l e
Period.
Pp .
120 -45 in The
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2, edited
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L. Levine.
Jerusa l em:
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A.
1985 Exca va tionsin
Jerusa l em
1961-1967. Vol . I. Toronto:
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Onta rio
Museum.
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G.
1970 Hel l enistic Gl a ss from Tel Ana fa in
Up p er
Ga l il ee.
Journa l of
Gl a ss
S tudies 12:17-27.
Wright,
G.
1962 S a ma rita ns a t S hechem. HTR55:357-66.
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1970 Exca va tions a t Tira t Yehuda .
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Ab b revia tions
AAS OR: Annua l of the America n S chool s of Orienta l Resea rch
AJP:
America n
Journa l of Phil ol ogy
ANRW:
Aufstieg
und
Niederga ng
der r6mischen Wel t
AS OR: America n S chool s of Orienta l Resea rch
BA: Bib l ica l
Archa eol ogist
BAR: Bib l ica l
Archa eol ogy
Review
BARIS : British
Archa eol ogica l Rep orts
Intera tiona l
S eries
BAS OR: Bul l etin
of
theAmerica n S chool s
of
Orienta l Resea rch
EI: Eretz-Isra el
IEJ: Isra el
Exp l ora tion Journa l
HTR: Ha rva rd
Theol ogica l
Review
JJS : Journa l of Jewish
S tudies
JRAS up
S er:
Journa l
of Roma n
Archa eol ogy S up p l ementa ry
S eries
RB: Revue
Bib l ique
ZDPV:
Zeitschrift
des Deutschen Pa l istina -Vereins
Andrea M. Berl in is a n
a djunct
a ssista nt
p rofessor
in
the Dep a rtment
of Cl a ssics a t
the University
of Il l inois a t
Urb a na -Cha mp a ign.
S he ha s
b een
exca va ting
in Isra el
since 1973. Dr. Berl in
X:l
t
~
received her doctora te in
te a tea l
oJ
s1988 from the University of
Michiga n.
Her
sp ecia l ty
is
the
p ottery
of the Hel l enistic
ea stern Mediterra nea n; in
a ddition to her recent
p ub l ica tion
of the Tel Ana fa
p ottery,
her work incl udes
the ma teria l from Ca esa rea Ma ritima , Jerusa l em City of Da vid, a nd
the S a nctua ry of Pa n a t Ba nia s, in Isra el ; from
Cop tos
a nd
Na ukra tis in
Egyp t;
a nd from the Pyl os Regiona l Archa eol ogica l
Project in Messenia , Greece. Dr. Berl in ha s
recentl y
b egun work on
the Hel l enistic a nd
ea rl y
Roma n p ottery from the University of
Cincinna ti's exca va tions a t Troy. S he is currentl y a fel l ow a t The
Center for Hel l enic S tudies in
Wa shington D.C., working on a
study
of the Hel l enistic koine. S he is ma rried a nd ha s two chil dren,
b oth of whom ha ve a l rea dy sp ent considera b l e time in the fiel d
(one from the a ge of six weeks!).
Bib l ica l
Archa eol ogist
60 :1 (1997) 51