Timna revisited : egyptian chronology and the copper mines of the southern Arabah

This article studies the chronology of the New Kingdom Egyptian copper mining in the southern Arabah valley, and particularly Timna, traditionally dated in the 13th– 12th centuries BCE. a reassessment is made of the local archaeological evidence and especially of the findings of the Hejazi Qurayya pottery in archaeological assemblages of the southern Levant. It is argued that the chronology of the New Kingdom activities at Timna needs a revision towards lower dates.

De la teoría al análisis de los sistemas-mundo : consideraciones sobre la interacción entre Egipto, Kerma y Biblos (c. 1985-1640 a.C.)

Resumen: Este trabajo aborda la posibilidad de analizar las relaciones entre diferentes sociedades del noreste de África y el Levante a través del análisis de los sistemas-mundo c. 1985–1640 a.C.

Antiguo Oriente: Cuadernos del Centro de Estudios de Historia del Antiguo Oriente, 2005, n° 3 (número completo)

The first evangelization of the Mesopotamian regions in the Syriac tradition: the Acta Maris as a continuation of the Doctrina Addai / Ilaria Ramelli -- El culto a las tumbas de los ancestros en el Levante Mediterráneo / Jordi Vidal -- Identifiable and associated cordage. Examples from Berenike (Egyptian Red Sea Coast) / André Veldmeijer -- “Ordalías”, parentesco y estado en La contienda entre Horus y Seth / Marcelo Campagno -- Lamentos neosumerios por ciudades destruidas. Continuidad de un rito y un género del período protodinástico hasta el período seléucida / Santiago Rostom Maderna -- Reseñas bibliográficas

Recently discovered Iron Age lion figurines from Jerusalem

Abstract: More than 500 Iron Age figurines were discovered in the 2005–2010 Western Wall Plaza excavations in Jerusalem.1 The excavations revealed a large building, probably of the four-room type. Many figurines were discovered in this building, others in fills below and above it, dating in general to the eighth-sixth centuries BCE. Here we focus on two heads most likely depicting lions, one of them exceptional—holding another animal in its mouth. We discuss the identification of these figurines as lions, the lion motif in a variety of media in the Southern Levant, and finally recent theories concerning lions in the Hebrew Bible and their relation to Yahweh. We suggest that the two Western Wall Plaza figurines represent lions as wild animals, in similarity to other figurines of wild animals made on occasion by Judean coroplasts.

A possible alchemist apparatus from the early islamic period excavated at Ramla, Israel

Abstract: During extensive salvage excavations carried out during the years 2004-2008 in a large Early Islamic industrial area at the vicinities of Ramla, in Central Israel, an unparalleled industrial device was unearthed. The star-shaped, soil embedded installation, whose lower part was preserved, consisted of a central pottery jar surrounded by five minor jars, linked by ceramic pipes. Evidence of heat was observed mainly around the central vessel, and metal hollow cones perforated in the tip were found inside the surrounding jars. Although the manufacturing procedures and operation techniques of the installation are not completely clear, it is proposed that the installation is part of an industrial workshop or an alchemy laboratory. Both industry and alchemy were well-developed during the Early Islamic period and very often closely related, to the point that sometimes it is difficult to distinguish between them. The identification proposed is based on comparisons with tools described in literary sources, and somewhat later drawings and etchings. Circumstantial ceramic evidence was found, as well as the proximity of a bathhouse whose guests could have been the consumers of perfumes and unguents seem to reinforce this possibility. Due to the poor state of preservation of the device and the lack of available comparisons, the identification proposed here is tentative, and future research coupled with eventual new discoveries is needed in order to clarify this matter.

Local exchange in the southern levant during the early bronze age: a political economy viewpoint

Trade and relations between the southern Levant and other regions of the Near East (mainly Egypt) during the Early Bronze Age (ca. 3,600–2,300 BC) have been the subject of many studies. Research concerning the exchange of local commodities was almost ignored or was discussed in parochial studies, focusing on specific archaeological finds. It is the intention of this paper to present the results of recent research of the exchange of commodities provided by archaeological data from excavations in the Southern Levant with regard to economic theories on the exchange-value of goods and exchange networks. Conclusions regarding the type of society and the forms of government in the Southern Levant during the Early Bronze Age are also presented.