David Ben-Shlomo
Ariel University, Israel heritage, Faculty Member
- Smithsonian Institution, Anthropology, Post-DocW.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research, Fellows, Post-Docadd
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This paper, jointly written by participants of a workshop held in 2021, argues for an increased recognition and application of neutron activation analysis (NAA) in the archaeology of the ancient Mediterranean. Discussing the... more
This paper, jointly written by participants of a workshop held in 2021, argues for an increased recognition and application of neutron activation analysis (NAA) in the archaeology of the ancient Mediterranean. Discussing the methodological strengths and challenges, it highlights the great potential NAA has for collecting proxy data from ceramics in order to develop progressive concepts of archaeological research within and beyond the Mediterranean Bronze and Iron Age, pointing out opportunities to revisit long-held assumptions of scholarship and to refine visual/macroscopic provenance determinations of pottery. To take full advantage of NAA’s strengths toward a better understanding of the socioeconomic background of ceramics production, distribution, and consumption, the paper emphasises the need for both interdisciplinary collaboration and basic data publication requirements.
Research Interests: History, Archaeology, Geology, Mediterranean Studies, Provenance, and 13 moreArchaeometry, History of the Mediterranean, Ceramics (Archaeology), Mobility (Archaeology), Mediterranean archaeology, Ancient Trade & Commerce (Archaeology), Provenance studies of archaeological material, Pottery, Neutron Activation Analysis, Connectivity, Scholarship, Ceramic Analysis Archaeology, and Pottery Archaeology
The article discusses Philistine iconography and figurative material culture in Philistia during the Iron Age. The primary archaeological evidence is surveyed, highlighting significant human, zoomorphic, and vegetative motifs. The... more
The article discusses Philistine iconography and figurative material culture in Philistia during the Iron Age. The primary archaeological evidence is surveyed, highlighting significant human, zoomorphic, and vegetative motifs. The different traditions and sources reflected by the figurative objects are also discussed. In addition, the archaeological contexts of these objects are surveyed, whether domestic, public, or related to temples or other contexts. Finally, various aspects related to the nature of the Philistine society will be evaluated according to the figurative material culture.
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This article will describe and discuss the results of the 2020–2021 seasons of the excavations at Khirbet ‘Aujah el-Foqa, a site in the southern Jordan Valley, north of Jericho. During these seasons, a section of the northern side of the... more
This article will describe and discuss the results of the 2020–2021 seasons of the excavations at Khirbet ‘Aujah el-Foqa, a site in the southern Jordan Valley, north of Jericho. During these seasons, a section of the northern side of the site was excavated, including one complete structure. This structure, as well as the units around it, also contained a hasty abandonment or destruction layer from the Iron Age IIB similar to the one excavated in the southern part of the site. The article will illustrate reconstructed pottery from Area A, along with other finds. A large complex containing rooms and open areas appears to have been located in this area, although its function is still unclear. Finally, the reconstruction of the architecture will be discussed, along with the possible significance and function of the site.
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site Tell en-Naṣbeh and dating mostly to the Iron Age II. The vessels analyzed represent main Iron Age II types appearing at the site (bowls, kraters, cooking pots, jars, jugs), alongside a number of special groups from this and other... more
site Tell en-Naṣbeh and dating mostly to the Iron Age II. The vessels analyzed represent main Iron Age II types appearing at the site (bowls, kraters, cooking pots, jars, jugs), alongside a number of special groups from this and other periods, including Philistine Bichrome vessels, vessels thought to have been imported, and several Judean pillar and other figurines. The primary aim of the study was to characterize the raw materials used for pottery production at this site and in the region of Benjamin, and to identify evidence for trade in vessels on various scales. The results show that, in general, the vast majority of the vessels were locally made (or made in the central hills region) from two main types of clay related to terra rossa or Moẓa type soils. Different classes of pottery, such as cooking pots or storage vessels, were made of different clay types. As not much compositional analysis of pottery from this region has been published, this study may also prove useful as comp...
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Khirbet Marjameh is a large multi-layered fortified site located on a small hill near the spring of 'Ain Samiyeh. The site was excavated over 40 years ago by Amihai Mazar and recently surveyed again by the South Samaria survey... more
Khirbet Marjameh is a large multi-layered fortified site located on a small hill near the spring of 'Ain Samiyeh. The site was excavated over 40 years ago by Amihai Mazar and recently surveyed again by the South Samaria survey team. Its fortification is dated to the Iron Age II. This paper returns to examine once again the nature of this site and the finds from it, combining the Iron Age II pottery recovered from the new survey. The pottery from the excavations and new survey is discussed, in particular in light of new petrographic analysis of Iron Age II pottery from Khirbet Marjameh. Vessels from main morphological types, in particular bowls, kraters, cooking pots, and storage jars, were analyzed. The results and their significance towards the links of the site with other regions will be discussed.
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The article describes the results of the first season of excavations at Khirbet ʿAujah el-Foqa. The site, which was surveyed intensively by Adam Zertal about 15 years ago and identified by him as biblical ʿAtaroth, is located on a hilltop... more
The article describes the results of the first season of excavations at Khirbet ʿAujah el-Foqa. The site, which was surveyed intensively by Adam Zertal about 15 years ago and identified by him as biblical ʿAtaroth, is located on a hilltop controlling the large spring of ʿAujah, 11 km northwest of Jericho. This area is not yet well known from archaeological excavations. The main occupation phase of the 1.5-hectare site is represented by a fortified Iron Age II town with a well-built casemate wall including a destruction layer and rich finds. An upper layer of well-preserved smaller structures probably dates from the Mamluk or Ottoman period, and remains of a pre-fortification phase were also identified. The date, location, and function of the site during the Iron Age II are also discussed; only further excavations in the coming years will clarify its character and layout in more detail
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The article presents a detailed compositional analysis of 26 fragments of the much-debated cylindrical and ovoid jars. This type of vessel was first defined at Khirbet Qumran in association with the Dead Sea Scrolls (hence the name... more
The article presents a detailed compositional analysis of 26 fragments of the much-debated cylindrical and ovoid jars. This type of vessel was first defined at Khirbet Qumran in association with the Dead Sea Scrolls (hence the name "scroll" or "archive" jar). The samples include 15 fragments of this jar type and related types from Tel Ḥevron, a site that bears certain similarities to Khirbet Qumran with respect to the Early Roman period, as well as several published examples from Jericho and Masada. The contextual and compositional analysis, employing both petrography and chemical analysis, combined with previous studies, sheds some new light on the function of these vessels and their place(s) of production. Results of analysis of several other vessel types from these sites, not yet published, are presented here as well as support for the compositional groups. Many of these jars may have been produced in the Ḥevron area, with another source in the northern Dead Sea area. The implications of these results and the similarities in material culture at Tel Ḥevron and Qumran are also discussed.
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This article describes and discusses a stamped sealing found at Middle Chalcolithic Tel Tsaf (5th millennium BCE). This is the earliest stamped sealing found in the southern Levant. The article describes the object, as well as its... more
This article describes and discusses a stamped sealing found at Middle Chalcolithic Tel Tsaf (5th millennium BCE). This is the earliest stamped sealing found in the southern Levant. The article describes the object, as well as its petrographic composition, find-spot and parallels. Furthermore, the artefact’s implications for the rise of administrative practices in the Levant during the protohistoric periods are discussed.
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The article discusses terracotta figurines from Iron Age Philistia that are made in the form of Mycenaean figurines or illustrate Aegean iconographic elements. Together with new material published from Ashdod, previously unpublished... more
The article discusses terracotta figurines from Iron Age Philistia that are made in the form of Mycenaean figurines or illustrate Aegean iconographic elements. Together with new material published from Ashdod, previously unpublished examples from the new excavations at Tel Miqne-Ekron ...
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NEAR EASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY 80.4 (2017) 273 The Stratum E5 (later EB III) ceramic vessel assemblage at Tell es-Sâfi/Gath is largely reflective of domestic daily-life household functions. The repertoire includes storage, serving, and... more
NEAR EASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY 80.4 (2017) 273 The Stratum E5 (later EB III) ceramic vessel assemblage at Tell es-Sâfi/Gath is largely reflective of domestic daily-life household functions. The repertoire includes storage, serving, and cooking vessels. It is the same type of assemblage that is commonly found in domestic contexts in other late EB III sites distributed across the region, for example, at Yarmuth (de Miroschedji 1988, 1993, 2003), Lachish (Gophna and Blockman 2004; Tuffnell 1958), Tell el-Hesi (Fargo 1980), and Tel Ira (Beit-Arieh 1999). The assemblage includes large serving platters (fig. 1a), storage jars with flaring rim (the most common vessel type, see fig. 1b), holemouth jars used for storing and cooking (fig. 1c), and bowls and platters used for serving, some decorated with web-pattern burnishing (fig. 1d; Shai et al. 2014; Uziel and Maeir 2012). Some vessels were coated with a white plaster-like matrix after the firing, probably to reduce porosity (Eliyahu-Behar et al. 2016). The petrographic analysis indicated that the holemouths or cooking ware are made of a recipe rich with coarse, mostly calcareous inclusions, while table-ware is made of finer clay, with sometimes grog (crushed sherds) inclusions. The analysis indicates most of the assemblage was of local production, with evidence of some commodity movement between sites. In the absence of direct evidence of production, pottery economics are ordinarily approached at regional scales of analysis. This is sufficient for determining site specialization, but precludes understanding service provision and the organization of manufacture within a settlement, whether household production and/or workshop production. Therefore, the ceramic technology project at Tell es-Sâfi/Gath is experimenting with an alternative approach for investigating producer specialization, based on a classification of shaping techniques. Results from our pilot study (Ross et al. in press) suggest that potters were skilled in different shaping techniques sufficiently enough to specialize in the manufacture of certain vessel categories and functional types. Shaping techniques are identified Ceramic Vessel Production and Use at Early Bronze Age Tell es. -S. âfi / Gath
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With the emergence of urban culture in the southern Levant in the Early Bronze Age, new types of pottery and ceramic techniques appeared, among them pottery (usually combed) coated with a white material. A selection of sherds from Early... more
With the emergence of urban culture in the southern Levant in the Early Bronze Age, new types of pottery and ceramic techniques appeared, among them pottery (usually combed) coated with a white material. A selection of sherds from Early Bronze strata was studied in an attempt to analyze this material. Using microscopy and various other methods, the authors were able to determine that the white material was a lime-plaster applied to the vessels after firing. The paper contends that the most likely reason for applying the lime-plaster was functional—to decrease permeability and protect the contents of the vessels.
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Following the excavations at Tel Ashdod, a class of Iron Age II decorated pottery was identified that became known as 'Ashdod Ware." In the present study, this pottery is defined as Late Philistine Decorated Ware. Based on its... more
Following the excavations at Tel Ashdod, a class of Iron Age II decorated pottery was identified that became known as 'Ashdod Ware." In the present study, this pottery is defined as Late Philistine Decorated Ware. Based on its typology, decoration, distribu-tion, chronology, and ...
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Lead isotopes, thin- and sherd-section analyses are coupled on pottery-vessel fragments excavated from the Late Bronze Age site of Hala Sultan Tekke (south-east Cyprus) and representing fabrics used for the production of storage and trade... more
Lead isotopes, thin- and sherd-section analyses are coupled on pottery-vessel fragments excavated from the Late Bronze Age site of Hala Sultan Tekke (south-east Cyprus) and representing fabrics used for the production of storage and trade containers. The fabrics of the sherds are first described according to general macroscopic observations. Based on the different fabrics identified, a petrographic analysis is carried out on thin sections and compared to lead isotope results on the same samples. This study shows that a specific fabric corresponds to a specific lead isotopic composition and proposes different sources for the various groups of associated sherds/fabrics. It also demonstrates the compatibility and complementarity of petrography and lead isotopes within pottery provenance study.
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The development of pottery production during the Bronze and Iron Ages at Tell es-Safi/Gath, Israel, is examined based on the analysis of 224 pottery vessels representing most periods within this ca. 1700 years time frame. The main tools... more
The development of pottery production during the Bronze and Iron Ages at Tell es-Safi/Gath, Israel, is examined based on the analysis of 224 pottery vessels representing most periods within this ca. 1700 years time frame. The main tools employed were visual examination of manufacturing techniques and petrographic thin section analysis, all of which was conducted on the entire group. This
Research Interests: Archaeology, Geochemistry, Archaeological Science, Production, Stylistics, and 15 morePalestine, Late Bronze Age archaeology, Material Culture, Israel, Iron Age, Ceramic Petrography, Analysis, Ceramics, Bronze Age, Chronology, Pottery technology and function, Petrography, Petrographic analysis, Kiln, and Functional Dependency
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More {EMAIL FOR AN OFFPRINT} than a century of study of the Philistines has revealed abundant remains of their material culture. Concurrently, our understanding of the origins, develop- mental processes, and socio-political matrix of this... more
More {EMAIL FOR AN OFFPRINT} than a century of study of the Philistines has revealed abundant remains of their material culture. Concurrently, our understanding of the origins, develop- mental processes, and socio-political matrix of this fas- cinating culture has undergone major changes. Among other facets, Philistine technology has been discussed, but in our opinion, a broad view of its importance for understanding Philistine culture is still lacking. e more than twenty years of excavation at Tell es-Sa /Gath, one of the central sites in Iron Age Philistia, o er an oppor- tunity to review a broad range of technology-related evidence from this site, and from this to suggest a cur- rent interpretation of Philistine technology within the broader picture of the Iron Age and the processes, mech- anisms, interactions, and identity politics of this culture.
Research Interests: Technology, Levantine Archaeology, Biblical Archaeology, Cyprus, Dress and Personal Adornment (Archaeology), and 9 moreMycenaean era archaeology, Aegean Archaeology, Ancient Technology (Archaeology), Iron Age, Early Iron Age, Philistines, Sea Peoples, Archaeology of the Southern Levant, and Tell es-Safi/Gath
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The paper surveys and discusses the updated archaeological evidence for Philistine cult and religion, and cult and religion in Philistia during the Iron Age. The evidence can be related to public or official cult, represented in temple... more
The paper surveys and discusses the updated archaeological evidence for Philistine cult and religion, and cult and religion in Philistia during the Iron Age. The evidence can be related to public or official cult, represented in temple and shrine structures, and to that coming from households, representing possibly more popular religion. The evidence of public cult, so far mostly from peripheral sites, includes largely cultural elements linked with the local Canaanite cult and religion. Yet, within households at the Philistine cities there is more evidence for cultic elements of Aegean affinity during Iron Age I. In particular, figurines and ceramic figurative vessels and objects will be discussed. It seems that the Philistine religion may have retained certain distinctive elements also during Iron Age II. Nevertheless, it is still difficult to reconstruct the details of the nature of the Philistine religion due to the limited amount of evidence and lack of textual records.
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Research Interests: Archaeology, Classical Archaeology, Levantine Archaeology, Greek Pottery, History of the Eastern Mediterranean, and 15 moreCretan Bronze Age, Ceramic Petrography, Cretan Studies, History and Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, Archaeology of Crete, Cretan archaeology, Crete, Levant, History of Crete, American Archaeology, Cretan history, Ceramic Analysis Archaeology, Levantine Studies, Achaemenid Persian History, and al mina
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Here we explore aspects of Canaanite palatial economy through an analysis of finds from the Middle Bronze Age palace at Tel Kabri, a 34 ha site located in the western Galilee of modern day Israel. The palace was founded in the middle part... more
Here we explore aspects of Canaanite palatial economy through an analysis of finds from the Middle Bronze Age palace at Tel Kabri, a 34 ha site located in the western Galilee of modern day Israel. The palace was founded in the middle part of the MBA I period, and continued without interruption until an advanced part of the MBA II period. Despite the fact that the Kabri palace was vast (perhaps up to 6000 sq m), functioned as the center of a polity, and could commission wall and floor paintings in an Aegean style, there are no signs of literate administration, or even administrative use of sealings. Patterns of animal husbandry, textile production, pottery manufacture and consumption, and storage within the palace all provide evidence that the palace behaved economically much more like an estate than a redistributive center. Our hypothesis is that the palace had aspects of an Oikos economy, i.e., that it functioned as a large household—richer and more populous than other households of the period, but with minimal involvement in the economy of the private sector. This contrasts with the contemporary polities in Syria, such as Alalakh and Ebla, as well as possibly its neighbor to the east, Tel Hazor, which had literate administrations and redistributive economies during this same period.
Research Interests: Archaeology, Archaeology of Ancient Israel, Levantine Archaeology, Theoretical Archaeology, Aegean Bronze Age (Bronze Age Archaeology), and 13 moreAegean Prehistory (Archaeology), Late Bronze Age archaeology, Aegean Archaeology, Egypt and Canaan, Mediterranean archaeology, Middle Bronze Age, Minoan Archaeology, Field Archaeology, Aegean Prehistory, Aegean Bronze Age, Canaanite, Minoan and Mycenaean economy and administration, and History and Archaeology of Canaan
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Research Interests: Archaeology and Levant
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The article examines an Iron Age II B-C ceramic form, the mortarium bowl, which is usually acknowledged as an imported type, but is not yet fully integrated into the study of east Mediterranean trade during this period. Several mortaria... more
The article examines an Iron Age II B-C ceramic form, the mortarium bowl, which is usually acknowledged as an imported type, but is not yet fully integrated into the study of east Mediterranean trade during this period. Several mortaria are examined by Thin Section Petrographic Analysis, and the previous studies of Iron Age II and Persian period mortaria are reviewed in light of its results. It is argued that Cyprus was the main production centre of mortaria imported to the southern Levant and discusses the significance of these vessels within the framework of late Iron Age eastern Mediterranean international trade.
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This article describes and discusses a stamped sealing found at Middle Chalcolithic Tel Tsaf (5th millennium BCE). This is the earliest stamped sealing found in the southern Levant. The article describes the object, as well as its... more
This article describes and discusses a stamped sealing found at Middle Chalcolithic Tel Tsaf (5th millennium BCE). This is the earliest stamped sealing found in the southern Levant. The article describes the object, as well as its petrographic composition, find-spot and parallels. Furthermore, the artefact's implications for the rise of administrative practices in the Levant during the protohistoric periods are discussed.
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During the Persian (or Achaemenid) period, simply band-painted bowls, plates, jugs, table amphorae and hydriae are documented in the Levant — in particular in the coastal regions — as one of the most common groups of decorated ceramics.... more
During the Persian (or Achaemenid) period, simply band-painted bowls, plates, jugs, table
amphorae and hydriae are documented in the Levant — in particular in the coastal regions —
as one of the most common groups of decorated ceramics. Vessels of this style — mostly
drinking vessels — were recorded in significant quantities at most coastal sites in southern
Turkey, Syria, Israel, Cyprus, and occasionally also in Egypt. The band-painted decoration
resembles East Greek styles and initial studies identified these vessels as variations of East
Greek ceramics imported to the eastern Mediterranean from Ionian cities. In this study, we
examined a large sample of this pottery from the northern and southern Levant, both stylistically
and by fabric analysis, applying Neutron Activation Analyses (NAA), Wavelength Dispersive XRay
Fluorescence (WD-XRF) and petrography. We demonstrate that almost all the vessels of this
particular, and popular, style were produced at one site only — Kelenderis, in Cilicia — which
during the Persian period distributed its merchandise extensively to large parts of the eastern
Mediterranean. The newly identified Mediterranean NAA group was labelled ‘Kelenderis A’
(KelA). The results require a reconsideration of commercial and other Mediterranean
interconnections during this period
amphorae and hydriae are documented in the Levant — in particular in the coastal regions —
as one of the most common groups of decorated ceramics. Vessels of this style — mostly
drinking vessels — were recorded in significant quantities at most coastal sites in southern
Turkey, Syria, Israel, Cyprus, and occasionally also in Egypt. The band-painted decoration
resembles East Greek styles and initial studies identified these vessels as variations of East
Greek ceramics imported to the eastern Mediterranean from Ionian cities. In this study, we
examined a large sample of this pottery from the northern and southern Levant, both stylistically
and by fabric analysis, applying Neutron Activation Analyses (NAA), Wavelength Dispersive XRay
Fluorescence (WD-XRF) and petrography. We demonstrate that almost all the vessels of this
particular, and popular, style were produced at one site only — Kelenderis, in Cilicia — which
during the Persian period distributed its merchandise extensively to large parts of the eastern
Mediterranean. The newly identified Mediterranean NAA group was labelled ‘Kelenderis A’
(KelA). The results require a reconsideration of commercial and other Mediterranean
interconnections during this period