ASOR_2010.Qeiyafa

8/22/2019 ASOR_2010.Qeiyafa

1/33

Khirbet Qeiyafa after Four Seasons of

Prof. Yosef Garfinkel, Hebrew University of Jerusalem


2/33

The Iron Age Stratum

Only one Iron Age

phase was found.

Iron Age floors were

excavated area:A, B, C, D, (E).

In each area largequan es o res ora evessels were found.

A fortified city withcasemate city wall andtwo gates


3/33

y u

1. Chronology and the Transition from Iron I to Iron IIA

2. Surveys and Reconstructing Settlement Patterns in Judah

. e oc a rgan za on o u a n e en ury4. City Planning in the Iron Age

5. The Pottery Repertoire of the 10th Century BC

6. Preparation and Consumption of Food

7. Household Archaeology

8. Writing

9. Early Administration10. History Geography

11. Cultic Activities


4/33

1. Iron Age Chronology and the

Transition from Iron I to Iron IIA

The traditional view of this transition, now designated the

' ', . .

Advocates of a 'low chronology' place the end of the Iron

I at c. 920 BC and an 'ultra-low chronolo ' dates it aslate as c. 900 BC.

Olive pits from Khirbet Qeiyafa indicate that the city

.

clarify that there were fortified cities in Judah during the

10th century BC.


5/33

datings:

-


6/33

2. Surveys and Reconstructing

e emen a erns

In the extensive surveys conducted in the JudeanShefelah hardly any site from the 10th century BC was

.

The same picture was reported in various other surveys

Judah as an empty land during the 10th and 9th centuriesBC.

Khirbet Qeiyafa clearly indicates that the surveys in Judahfailed to recognize the 10th century BC, thus various

reconstructed settlement patterns have no solid base (see,for example, Finkelstein 2001; Lehmann 2003).


7/33

Map of Judah and the location of

r e e ya a


8/33

3. The Social Organization of Judah

in the 10th Century BC

A main issue concerning the 10th century BC is whether

there was in Judah a centralized urban society or an

un or e rura r a commun y.

r e e ya a, w s mass ve or ca on sys em,

shows that the social organization of its period was

, .


9/33

Area C gate and casemate city wall


10/33

.

The planning of Khirbet Qeiyafa includes casematecity wall and a belt of houses abutting the casemates,

.a typical feature of urban planning in Judean cities,and is known in Tel Beth-Shemesh, Beersheba, Tell

- .

Khirbet Qei afa is the earliest known exam le of thiscity plan.


11/33

Buildings and city wall in Area C

6 7 8 9 10


12/33

9

10

7

8

6

4

Building 5

2

3 2010

1

OpenPiazza

Gate


13/33

A Stable ?


14/33

Judean urban concept

n

Beersheba

Tell Beit

MirsimTell en-Nasbeh


15/33

5. The Pottery Repertoire of the 10th

Century BC

As Khirbet Qeiyafa was left suddenly, destroyed eitherby enemies, earthquake, or another reason, largequantities of restorable pottery vessels are found on thefloors of each excavated room. This rich assemblage is

period, which usually include a small number of sherds,but not complete vessels (Arad XII, Beersheva VII,

, .

"Ware" enables us to subdivide this pottery tradition intotwo groups, earlier (Ashdod I) and later (Ashdod II).


16/33

Ashdod

(early types)


17/33

Late Philistine Decorated Ware (Tell Safi)


18/33

6. Preparation and Consumption

of Food

Khirbet Qeiyafa is different from the nearby Philistinecenters of Tel Miqne (Ekron) and Tell es-Safi (Gath) in

. ,at Khirbet Qeiyafa, while they were consumed by thePhilistine population.

Second, pottery baking trays which were found atKhirbet Qeiyafa are unknown at Tel Miqne and Tell es-Safi.

populations co-exist in the Iron Age in the Shephelah,and that the Qeiyafa population is clearly not Philistine.


19/33


20/33

.

Well preserved dwellings were found in Areas B

and C. On the floors of each room various

installations, large quantities of pottery, and

stone tools were found.

picture of how the households were organized.


21/33


22/33

.

The most prominent find from Khirbet Qeiyafa is anostracon bearing five lines and ca. 70 letters in "Proto"-Canaanite script. Many of the inscriptions from thisperiod lack provenance or stratigraphic context. This

the evolution of writing at the tern of the millennia.

The existence of writing at such an early stage of theIron Age is significant for it implies that historical data

early 10th century BC until the biblical narrative wasfinally formulated.


23/33

s racon


24/33

.

*To be discussed by Hoo-Goo Kang


25/33

Jar Handles with impressions


26/33

.

Is there enough solid data for the complicated task ofsite identification?

The current expedition accepted the name Shaarayim

which a ears three times in the biblical tradition. Ofthese, in two cases it is mentioned in the context of theElah valley and in two cases in association with KingDavid. In addition Khirbet Qei afa has two cit atesand the term Shaaryaim means two gates in Hebrew(Garfinkel and Ganor 2008b).

Based on the geography, chronology and the meaningof its name we suggest that Khirbet Qeiyafa is biblical

a arya m.


27/33

View from Qeiyafa to the Valley of the Elah

The city and the city wall


28/33

datings:

-


29/33

y

gates ??

The Gate of Area B

The Gate of Area C


30/33

.

During the 2010 excavation season a sanctuary was

.

uncovered so far by modern research.

Its early date, in the late 11th and early 10th

centuries BC laces it earlier than the tem le of

Solomon in Jerusalem. It fills a gap in our knowledge

about the cult in the earliest days of state formation in

Judah.


31/33

Main Conclusions

1. Khirbet Qeiyafa is a Judean City

1. Typical Judean urban planning

.

a.no pig bones (which are

and Eqron).

.

known in Philistine sites).

3. Semitic (Hebrew?) inscription (unlike theIndo-Euro ean inscri tion from Tell es-Safi

4. Aniconic cult in sanctuary (2010)


32/33

2. Khirbet Qei afa clearl indicates that as earl asthe late 11th BC there was a centralized social

or anization in Judah. It is wron to ar ue that this

process took place only during the late 8th century

BC.

3. Various biblical bans, like consumin ork, or

iconic cult, were observed by the Qeiyafa

o ulation, clearl distin uishin this communit

from Canaanite or Philistine populations.


33/33

Thank ou !J.B. Silver

Foundation Stone

Berman Center for Biblical Archaeology

Curtis and Mar Brenan Foundation

Hebrew University

Southern Adventist Universit

Oakland University

Virginia Commonwealth University

See you next season at Qeiyafa

ASOR_2010.Qeiyafa

Documents