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Perspectiveson the AncientWorldfromMesopotamiato the Mediterranean Vol.56 No.2

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PLAIN

POOCHES. PARIAHS?

AshkelonDog

Burials

June1993

Biblical Archaeolog ist

to theMediterranean on theAncientWorldfromMesopotamia Perspectives A Publication of theAmericanSchoolsof OrientalResearch

Volume56 Number2

June1993

54 About the Authors

55

Pampered Pooches or Plain Pariahs? The Ashkelon Dog Burials Paula Wapnish and Brian Hesse Did the cosmopolitan Persian period port city of Ashkelon have a "pet cemetery?" Dog bones are common at ancient sites, but the Ashkelon finds of thousands of bones and dozens of articulated skeletons, including many puppies, are altogether unique and extraordinary. Ashkelon's buried dogs are a first-class mystery whose solution demands all the forensic capabilities of zooarchaeological science. Were the dogs a special breed? Did they die of natural causes or were they sacrificed? Were the dogs pampered pets lovingly interred or urban hounds merely discarded?

page 55

81 Economics with an EntrepreneurialSpirit:

Early Bronze Tradewith Late Predynastic Egypt

Timothy P Harrison Economics link the late twentieth-century "global village" in ways we readily appreciate. Can the same be said about Egypt and southern Palestine during their earliest historical periods? Advances in archaeological study of exchange items and anthropological modeling of exchange now enable the flow of goods between the two regions to be traced. The network that emerges suggests the presence of "entrepreneurs" moving goods back and forth across the ancient landscape.

94 page 81

The Samaria Ivories, Marzeah, and Biblical Text Eleanor Ferris Beach How important was the visual dimension of ancient texts to their signification? A comparative study of the renowned Samaria ivories helps to reconstruct the lost visual context of several Hebrew biblical texts. As the symbolic backdrop of the marzeah,these carvings inform us about the meaning of this elite institution, and direct our attention to its powerful iconographic significance for the literature of the Hebrew Bible. Among other examples, the power of the visual image preserved in the ivory carving of the "woman at the window" facilitated and ironically undermined the 2 Kings account of the usurper Jehu's encounter with Queen Jezebel.

105 Arti-facts 107 Book Reviews

page 94

On the cover: the plaster-jacketeddog skeleton from the Ashkelon excavationsis flanked by an Egyptiandog portraitfrom the BeniHasan tombs (12th dynasty)and a drawingof the modernPharaohhound. Neitherrepresentationaccuratelymodelsthe Ashkelondog type that more nearlyresembledthe naturallyoccurringpariahdog.

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Ellie Beach is Assistant Professor of Religion at Gustavus Adolphus College (Minnesota), where she teaches Bible and Women's Studies. She received her Ph.D. in Old Testament from Claremont Graduate School and has excavated at Zeror (1966), Gezer (1973), and Lahav (1986-87). Her research devotes special attention to relating archaeology and iconography to textual studies.

Timothy P. Harrison

Sub-

Tim Harrison is completing his Ph.D. program at the University of Chicago. He has participated in fieldwork at Jebel Abu Thawwab, Zeiraqon, Tell Halif, and Tell ePUmeiri where he serves as field supervisor of Area D (Early Bronze Age). Presently, he is collecting settlement data on the Madaba Plains region of Central Jordan in order to study the social and economic development of the region during the Early Bronze Age.

Paula Wapnish and Brain Hesse

To place your subscription to BiblicalArchaeologist,complete

ittoScholars thisform andreturn Press,P.O.Box15399,Atlanta,GA 30333-0399. Individual orders must be prepaid by check or money-orderdrawnon a United

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BiblicalArchaeologist56:2 (1993)

Drs. Wapnish and Hesse are responsible, jointly and individually, for hundreds of publications on pastoral systems, animal domestication, and faunal analysis: reports, reviews, major papers, academic and popular presentations, photographs, and a field-defining book (Animal Bone Archeology:FromObjectivesto Analysis. Taraxacum:Washington DC, 1985). They have excavated around the world, including Turkey, Iran, Lebanon, Israel, Chile, and Alabama, and provided faunal analysis at such sites as Tel Miqne-Ekron, Ashkelon, Tel Batash-Timna, and Qasile. Both received their Ph.D's at Columbia University. Brian holds the position of Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, is Director of the University's International Studies Program, and serves as Research Associate with the Smithsonian Museum. Paula lectures at UAB in the Department of History and is Research Associate with the UAB Department of Anthropology, the Smithsonian Institution, as well as Harvard's Semitic Museum. Their daughter, Arielle, will soon turn five.

From

the

Editor

It demanded great skill, patience, and creativity to read Ellie Beach's study on the Samaria ivories in last September's issue of BiblicalArchaeologist.An error in BA's former production system jumbled the pagination of the article and turned it into a papyriologist's dream (or nightmare). Professor Beach's treatment of these famous carvings and their relation to biblical texts is happily re-presented in this issue, with apologies to both the author and the readership. The task of re-constructing Beach's text presented a rough parallel to her own challenge to re-construct the lost iconographic or visual context of ancient texts. Beach supplies the rhetoric of the Samaria ivories through a comparative analysis of a constellation of motifs shared by various caches of Near Eastern ivory carvings. This rhetoric focuses on life-death transitions among the elite. It provides commentary on the biblical marzeah,where ivory studded couches were employed, thereby making sense of certain textual allusions. Moreover, the iconography of the carved motifs furnishes the visual backdrop of another group of texts, affording uncommon access into the imagination of the ancient audience. Entering into the enigmatic imagination of the ancient world also constitutes the heart of Wapnish and Hesse's zooarchaeological research. They address the remarkable and baffling preponderance of dog burials excavated in Persian Period strata of Ashkelon. A commanding assemblage of archaeological, historical, literary, and, above all, animal-bone data is meticulously marshaled. The canine skeletons are re-constructed, and the dogs themselves are once again given visual embodiment with the help of comparative analysis. Osteological data portray the animals' lives and deaths. The re-construction points tellingly to the act of interment itself as the interpretive key. It is precisely at this point, where behavioral motivation comes to the fore, that archaeologists confront what culture historian Robert Darnton refers to as "the unfathomable strangeness of life among the dead" (The Kiss of Lamourette:Reflectionsin CulturalHistory. New York:W. W. Norton & Co., 1990, xiv). What did the urbanites of Ashkelon hope to gain from burying their city's dead dogs? Gain and loss are prominent in Harrison's thinking as he searches for a meaningful re-construction of the patterns of exchange between Egypt and southern Palestine in the Early Bronze Age. The quantities and distributions of traceable articles chart an exchange network and suggest the motivations of Early Bronze Age actors. The "traders" may have belonged to an ancient variety of entrepreneur. Again, the archaeological task constitutes the re-construction of intangible patterns and notions that have long since vanished. The archaeological task-whether it be determining the nature of regional interaction or dog-related behavior or the iconographic function of ivory carvings-always demands more than restoring the correct order of a mis-paginated text. It requires an enlightened and enlightening entry into the minds of our ancient forebears.

David C. Hopkins Editor

Biblical

Archaeologist

on theAncientWorldfrom Perspectives Mesopotamia to theMediterranean EditorDavid C. Hopkins ArtDirectorLyle Rosbotham Book Review Editor James C. Moyer

EditorialAssistant Timothy L. Adamson EditorialCommittee Gerald L. Mattingly JefferyA. Blakely Ernest S. Frerichs Carol L. Meyers Gaetano Palumbo Seymour Gitin Kenneth G. Hoglund Neil A. Silberman Thomas E. Levy Mark S. Smith Gloria London Paul Zimansky Subscriptions Annual subscription rates are $35 for individuals and $45 for institutions. There is a special annual rate of $28 for those over 65, physically challenged, or unemployed. BiblicalArchaeologistis also available as part of the benefits of some ASOR membership categories. Postage for Canadian and other international addresses is an additional $5. Payments should be sent to ASOR Member-

ship/SubscriberServices,P.O.Box15399, Atlanta,GA 30333-0399(ph:404-727-2345; Bitnet:SCHOLARS@EMORYUI). VISA/Mastercardorderscan be phoned in. Backissues Backissues can be obtainedby callingSPCustomerServicesat 800-437-6692 or writingSP CustomerServices,P.O.Box 6996,Alpharetta,GA 30239-6996. PostmasterSend addresschangesto Biblical ASORMembership/Subscriber Archaeologist, Services,P.O.Box 15399,Atlanta,GA 303330399.Second-classpostagepaid at Atlanta,GA and additionaloffices. Copyright? 1993by the AmericanSchools of OrientalResearch. CorrespondenceAll editorialcorrespondence should be addressedto BiblicalArchaeologist, 4500MassachusettsAvenueNW,Washington, DC 20016-5690(ph:202-885-8699; fax:202-8858605).Booksfor review should be sent to Dr. JamesC. Moyer,Departmentof Religious Studies,SouthwestMissouriStateUniversity, 901 SouthNational,Box 167,Springfield,MO 65804-0095. AdvertisingCorrespondenceshould be addressedto SarahFoster,ScholarsPress,P.O. Box 15399,Atlanta,GA 30333-0399(ph:404727-2325;fax:404-727-2348).Ads for the sale of antiquitieswill not be accepted. BiblicalArchaeologist(ISSN 0006-0895) is published quarterly (March, June, September, December) by Scholars Press, 819 Houston Mill Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30329, for the American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR), 3301 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218.

L4OFlg

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Pooches Pampered Pariahs? Plain Ashkelon Dog The or

Burials

By Paula Wapnish and Brian Hesse n 1985whentheLeonLevyExpe- bones were found in other parts of

dition renewed excavations at Ashkelon, a large port on the southern coastal plain of modern Israel, the huge quantity of faunal material recovered included many remains of small mammals, animals smaller than sheep/goats but larger than rats or mice. Among this sample were 21 bones of immature canids (for unfamiliar terminology check the glossary on page 76), including articulations (2 to 4 bones each) from 4 individual pups, all excavated in the same area of the site, the soon to be infamous Grid 50. Because the bones were immature, it was not clear whether they were from domestic dogs (Canisfamiliaris), the most likely possibility, or from one or more of the three wild canids of the southern Levant, the wolf (Canis lupus), the fox (Vulpessp.), or the jackal (Canis aureus). Immature morphologies, where the size and shape of bone elements are growing and changing into the adult form, make it difficult to distinguish the remains of closely related species. While the sheer size of an immature bone sometimes can be used to distinguish medium sized dogs from the much larger wolf or the much smaller fox (in terms of size, the jackal is too close to call), some bones were from such young individuals-so small and unformed-that it was impossible to do more than assign them to the canid family. During that first season's excavations, 11 bones of adult dog also were recovered from Grid 50. The partial skeletons of three adult dogs and another 147 individual adult dog

skeletons. Animals consumed on site rarely remained intact after slaughter. They were butchered into halves or quarters and then reduced to smaller cuts depending on consumer preferences.2 In this way the carcass was dispersed throughout the site. After the meat was eaten, bones were often discarded around households or other places of consumption. If not scavenged by roaming animals or otherwise disturbed, these bones then were incorporated into the deposit near the site of disposal. Larger settlements frequently had neighborhood or city-wide dumps that served as the accumulators of refuse. Bones of a once live animal might end up in the same dump area

the site, an impressive representation of canines for one year's efforts. Several questions were apparent. The first issue was the abundance. In our experience, wild canid bones are rare at large historic sites. At Ashkelon, for 5 51 7 62 example, seven years of excavation have produced in 12 65 6 6 146 excess of a million animal bones, but 15l/ less than 30 specimens of fox, a lone wolf possibility, 25 26 27 2 24 S23and not a single jackal. Domestic 2V 30 35 32 dogs are much 33/ more common at ancient cities than -\ their wild cousins, yet their numbers are but a fraction of the typical bone collection. The pro-NJ 51 52 53 54 56 1155 portion of canid/dog bones in the first season's faunal sample simply was much higher than expected. The articulations of immature canids from Grid 50 were also a loom intriguing. It is not unusual to encounter the bones of non-food Topographic plan of Ashkelon shows the three grids which animalsI as multihave produced dog burials.These tinted areas (38, 50, 57) have produced hundreds of dog burials deposited over a relatively ple bone articulathin slice of time. tions or partial

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BiblicalArchaeologist56:2 (1993)

55

through many routes of disposal but they would no longer have any anatomical relationship to each other. On the other hand, non-food animals, because they are not butchered, often remain intact. Microfauna and smaller mammals, such as dogs and cats, may be left where they die, or a malodorous carcass may be moved to a street or alley, empty field or dump. If the carcass is covered with dirt there is less likelihood of it being scavenged and a greater possibility of the skeleton remaining intact. Otherwise, accumulations of dirt and debris will eventually bury the carcass but the slower pace of this process will expose the bones to greater disturbance. This pattern holds for large mammals as well, except that carcasses are more likely to be moved because of the stench. After burial, complete skeletons undergo postdepositional processes (including excavation) that often result in the destruction/disappearance or repositioning of some body parts (Hesse and Wapnish 1985). Therefore, partial skeletons or less extensive articulations are all that remain. While not common, there is nothing unique in uncovering bone articulations from an individual donkey or calf in excavation. It is very common, almost expected, to find a few bones or even a limb of a dog or a cat. So what was puzzling about the clusters of canid puppy bones from Grid 50 was not their occurrence as partial articulations, but their agemost were but a few weeks old. Under normal circumstances, immature bones of domestic canids are rare at archaeological sites, those of wild canids almost unknown. The paucity of immature canid bones is explained by the animal's behavior and the attritional processes affecting the carcass. Zoologist Thomas J. Daniels, who has studied free ranging urban dogs, notes that he seldom found dog carcasses "if the animals have initiated movement away from the den site" (pers. comm., May 1988). Any number of bird and mammal scavengers eat exposed dog car56

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The city of Ashkelon lies next to the sea, bounded by a semi-circularfortification system.

The 150-acresite possessesan occupationalhistorystretchingfromthe fourthmillenium BCE throughthe thirteenthcenturyCE. Photo courtesyof RichardCleave.

casses. If the dead Ashkelon puppies were exposed for even a brief time, it is very unlikely that any part of the skeleton, let alone articulations, would have survived to burial. When a bitch whelps she chooses a concealed location for her litter. It is inconceivable that a wild canid mother unaccustomed to and wary of people would choose a city rather than familiar surroundings in which to whelp. It is equally difficult to see the puppies as naturally occurring deposits of domestic dog bones. Once born, the young remain at the den until they are weaned, which begins about week 5, and attain independence by 3.5 to 4 months of age. This is well past the age of the puppy bones in question. So how did several bones from (not less than) four very young pups who were not litter mates (based on the bones and their locations) end up buried in what was then an open expanse in what we now call Grid 50? Clearly, some unusual human/animal behavior, depositional process, or both were responsible for this phenomenon.

We didn't have to wait long for some answers. In 1986, excavators in Grid 50 recovered many partially articulated and complete skeletons of unquestionable domestic dogs.3 The excitement of finding dog burials was contagious and for the next few summers volunteers and staff competed in inventing ingenious or outrageous explanations for their presence. Had we but known, we might have settled for the uncertainties of that first field season. By the end of the 1992 excavation, 1238 dog finds were logged (more on counting the finds below) and our earlier questions had mutated into intractable problems that eight seasons of digging have yet to resolve.

The Dog Burials Location and Date The renewed excavations at Ashkelon are concentrated on the northern and southern mounds that comprise much of the western part of the site (on the excavation project, see Stager 1991a,b,c). The dog burials discovered were all on the southern mound.

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Partially excavated dog burials are exposed in Grid 50.

The excavation of over 1200 burials has demanded a huge

Thedogs were interredin fillsoverlayinga largewarehouse.The burialswere distributedrandomlythroughoutthe area.

expenditureof energy,leavingbehindthe excitementof the discoveryand creatingseeminglyintractableinterpretiveproblems.

Photos by the author unless otherwise attributed.

Photoby CarlAndrews,courtesyof the LeonLevyExcavations at Ashkelon.

Many were removed in plaster jackets. Grid 50 is situated there, at the southwestern side of the city along the coast. Of the 1238 dog finds noted to date, 970 of them were excavated here from Persian period (538-322 BCE)fills overlaying a large warehouse. The original warehouse of six 30 by 60 foot storerooms was stepped down to the sea on its western side. After an initial phase of use, the terracing was filled with a series of debris-rich layers to level it (approximately) with the eastern half of the building. Dog burials were concentrated in the thick matrix of the western side of the warehouse, although some dogs were recovered from a thinner series of fill sediments to the

east. Because of the seaward erosion on the southwestern portion of the mound, we will never know how far to the west dogs were buried. Excavations during the summer of 1992 in the northwest part of Grid 50 produced fragmentary elements of large scale architecture. Exactly how, or if, these remains relate to the dog inhumations is under study. Directly south of Grid 50 lies Grid 57. About 500 BCE,the first phase of a large building complex was begun here, but before the next phase of building could be initiated, the area was leveled and briefly used for dog burials. Fifty-eight dog finds were excavated from this phase of Grid 57, all corresponding to the dog-burying

phase of Grid 50. Grid 38 in the northeastern sector of the southern mound was also a locus of dog burials, with 181 recovered to date. Numerous subphases comprised the nearly 10 feet of Persian period deposits that contained a complex series of large buildings. Most of the dogs in Grid 38 were buried in streets or thoroughfares between the buildings. In Grid 50 the burials were dug into deposits well dated by ceramic associations to the fifth century BCE.The deposits were capped by architectural remains that establish a terminal date possibly as late as the first part of the fourth century. A similar time frame applies to Grid 57. In Grid 38 dog burial began BiblicalArchaeologist56:2 (1993)

57

later in the Persian period and continued throughout the occupation into the first years of the Hellenistic period (332 BCE). Although the intervening areas between Grid 38 and the two coastal grids have not been excavated, it is reasonable to offer several hypotheses. No clear demarcations of the limits of any of the dog concentrations have been found. While Stager (1991b) refers to the dog burials in Grids 50 and 57 as a cemetery, evidence that a sacred area was set aside for dog inhumation is not compelling. The matrix into which pits were dug accumulated throughout the period of interment. Dogs were buried where there was space, rather than a space being prepared to receive dogs. If we accept this view, then the burials in Grid 38, while somewhat later in date, are part of the same phenomenon. The difference between the two concentrations may be more apparent than real, being conditioned by the architectural nature of the spaces available for burial.

Pattern of Burial In general, each dog burial seems to have been a discrete event. This conclusion is warranted by several observations. The more complete skeletons were found singly, each in its own unlined, shallow pit. The top surfaces of the pits were of varying heights within the sediment matrix, an indication that dogs were interred sporadically. No pattern was discernible in the orientation of the pits, nor in the placement of the corpse within its pit, with respect to the compass or other interments. Each corpse was carefully placed in its grave. There were no skewed limbs, arched back heads, or other skeletal distortions that characterize animals that were just pitched into a convenient hole. This was made especially clear by comparison to a dog recovered from a drain of Hellenistic date in a deposit just above the burial layer in Grid 50. It was both twisted and missing most of its smaller skele58

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is expensivebut advantageouswhen time is at a premimumor the skeletonis especially fragile.Completestudyrequiresthe dogs to be re-excavatedfromtheir moderncocoons.

tal elements. The attitude in death was totally different that of the earlier animals. The dogs were buried on their sides with tails carefully arranged to curl toward the feet, sometimes reaching between the lower hindlimbs. In a few cases the feet were so entwined that they may have been bound at the ankles before burial. The limbs were flexed to different degrees. In Grids 50 and 57 the legs were sufficiently extended from the torso to suggest a natural repose. But in Grid 38 the intact burials appeared cramped, with legs drawn up close to the body and the skeleton straining against the edges of a pit just large enough to contain it. This was undoubtedly because the burials were confined to narrow streets. Overall, the careful interment of adult and immature dogs appears just a little less careful in Grid 38. No act of burial was accompanied associations. The pit material by matrices, which were often softer and darker than the surrounding sediment, contained small amounts of pottery, animal bones, flints and

debris from metal working (Grid 50), but none were distinguished enough to deserve the label 'grave good'. This fact is consistent with two additional salient features: 1) No markers were found that would have signalled the location of a pit; 2) Burials were frequently dug into or superim-

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W. 02& Twopuppies belongingto the categoryof Several Bone Finds.These bones~vere dis-

articulatedbut found in close proximity. Slightlydifferentsizes permittedthem to be segregated.

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A puppy (top) and adult skelton displayed after removal,

cleaning,and consolidation.Thisprocesssometimesenables disassociatedfindsto be recombined.

posed on top of each other. It is tempting to see these data in a cause and effect relationship, but which way around? Were burials dug into each other because the graves were unmarked, or may we surmise that the graves were unmarked because burials were dug into each other? Since such a chicken-and-egg puzzle will lead nowhere, a different theory is called for. Might the absence of grave goods, markers, and burial disturbances be the result of a more comprehensive motivation? If we take the view that only the act of burial mattered, the position of each grave would not have been important, hence no markers. Moreover, there would no longer be any significance attached to the corpse, rendering the disturbance of previous burials unimportant. This would also account for the lack of any material deposits with the burials. While we

The Ashkelon Dogs Demography Numbers Generating an estimate of the total number of dogs buried is complicated by the fact that so many of the pits were disturbed by subsequent burials. To keep a handle on the numbers involved we defined three types of "dog find": Complete

Dogs,PartialSkeletons,and Several

BoneFinds, this last when only a few disarticulated bones or teeth are found in close proximity.4 Only a dog find from a complete or partial burial can be equated with an individual animal. The many Several Bone Finds may have come from a disturbed partial skeleton, or an animal whose remains were so scattered that it was recorded as more than one dog find. Therefore, the actual number of (excavated) individual dogs will be smaller than the total number of recorded dog finds. The table on page 61 shows the distribution by grid of the raw counts of the three types of dog finds in each of three age categories. Information about the three main concentrations of dogs is supplemented with a tabulation of the additional canid material recovered from the site. The graph on page 61 presents these abundances on a logarithmic scale to illustrate visually the general similarities of the distributions, from the three grids. By

adding the complete and partial skeletons together we come up with a minimum of at least 436 individual dogs, though we suspect that about 600-700 animals are actually represented. This larger figure we believe will emerge when location, relative body size, and stage of osteological development are factored in, thus permitting us to combine some of the dog finds. Sex Dogs of both sexes were buried. Males are identified by the presence of a baculum (os penis), females by its absence in complete burials. While many of the burials were disturbed and so indeterminate, there is no reason to suspect selection for one sex or another.

Age at Death We divided the dogs into three age groups: puppies (0-6 mos.), subadults (6-18 mos.), and adults, based on tooth eruption and wear and the degree of long bone ossification (see discussion in sidebar on skeletal ageing). The most striking characteristic of the burials is the very large number of puppies. The bar charts on page 63 illustrate the percentage distribution of the three age groups by dog find in each of the three grids. A difference emerges between the burials from the seaside grids and those in Grid 38. The percentage of puppies comprising the total number of dog finds in Grids 50 and 57 is 58% and 55%, respectively. By contrast, puppies made up 82% of the sample in Grid 38. This substantive difference may be partly explained by the distribution of finds in the area. Most of the puppies in Grid 38 were recovered as Several Bone Finds, which implies that considerably more disturbance affected the remains, a process that elevated the count of puppies artificially. This may have occurred in antiquity but, more likely, is a result of the failure to recognize puppies during excavation. Counting only the complete and partial skeletons reduces the differences between the grids. The Chi-Square statistic computed for this comparison (1.091, BiblicalArchaeologist56:2 (1993)

59

2df) indicated that there was no reason to suspect that the variability arose from more than chance. Puppies constitute almost two thirds of the sample from the three concentrations (62%).Adults make up 33%, and subadults 5%.5Several problems complicate the easy assumption that this mortality pattern was representative of all the dogs at Ashkelon. For example, if some dogs were buried and some dogs were not (for whatever reason), our data would be skewed. Further distortions would result if certain burial areas had been selected for particular types or ages of dogs. Since we already know that a large portion of the burial area was lost to erosion, how confident are we that the areas excavated accurately reflect burials in all the areas used in antiquity? Fortunately, we are not totally without some controls. We will never be absolutely sure that the buried dogs reflect population mortality, but every time we find Persian occupational debris, we find dog burials rather than the usual scattered dog remains. This at least gives us the impression that an awful lot of the dogs at the site in that time period did get buried. How do we know that dogs were not differentially selected? We can't be sure of that either. But we do know that all ages are represented and that the distribution of mortality is consistent with that experienced by a population of unmanaged urban dogs. Thus, there is no reason to suggest that dogs were selected by age for burial. Finally, the distribution of the ages of the dog finds are similar between the grids (the one anomaly explained by collection bias). Coupled with the large number of burials that have been uncovered and the size of the extent of the exposures in the three grids, we believe that what we have collected fairly represents the dog-burial activities of the Persian period. Cause of Death No skeleton shows evidence of a trauma extensive enough to have killed the animal. There is no evi-

60

BiblicalArchaeologist56:2 (1993)

The Characterof the Accumulation Paleontologists and zooarchaeologists make a distinction between two kinds of faunal accumulation -catastrophic and attritional. Better understood as poles on a continuum, the two categories distinguish two patterns of mortality. In

of the affectedpopulationare equally susceptibleto the cause of death. Therefore,the demographic patternof a catastrophicaccumulation mirrorsthe relativeabundance of the variousage and sex categoriesin the living population that was affected. On the otherhand, attritional

deposit are thought to have died in a brief episode. Death is presumed to have resulted from a single cause or a closely allied set of causes. As an example, the bison kill sites that dot the American

accumulations result from multiple causes operating over longer

a catastrophicaccumulation,all the animalsfound togetherin a

GreatPlainsrepresentthe resultof single very successful hunts. Since bison run in age and sex defined herds at various times of the year, in some cases, entire nursery herds (bison cows and their calves) or whole bachelor herds were exterminated, while in others the entire population was slaughtered. Exceptionally virulent diseases can also produce a catastrophic accumulation. One suggestion that has been made for the Ashkelon dogs is that they were the victims of an epidemic (Smith 1991). This proposition can be evaluated quite precisely since a key characteristic of catastrophic accumulations is that all members

dence that carcasses were cut up or skinned prior to burial. One radius from a non-Persian context is cut, and it is the solitary cut dog bone in the collection. Pathologies and diseased bones are present in perhaps 5% of the adult and subadult specimens (see photographs on page 64). These include damaged paws, knitted breaks, dislocations, parasite infections, and dental anomalies.6 None of these is severe enough to cause death. This does not mean that injuries were never severe. One dog found in Grid 50 in 1992 had a broken and healed first cervical vertebra

periods of time. All membersof the affectedpopulationare not equally susceptibleto the various causes of death. The best example is the kitchen midden of an agro-

pastoralcommunity.Here the animals which are representedare the specificselections/culls of pastoralistsreactingto the needs of pastoralmanagementand the opportunitiesof the marketplace. Usually this would mean that young males and old females predominate in the accumulation, since prime adults would have been spared to increase the productivity of the herd. Stated more generally, the demographic pattern of an attritional sample reflects the differential vulnerability of each age and sex class in the affected population to the mortality processes that kill their members.

(atlas). The damage to the bone is consistent with the dog having been struck sharply just behind the skull. Some teeth show extreme wear, but this is doubtless because in a beach environment like Ashkelon's, sand was mixed into most of what the dogs ate (see photograph on page 65). Late Egyptian cat mummies show evidence of strangulation in broken cervical vertebrae. This has not been noted on any Ashkelon skeleton. Poisoning would, of course, leave no skeletal traces. Death by strangulation or drowning might leave microscopic traces of blood on

Dog find counts presented graphically. The Y-axisis scaled logarithmicallyto show the similarityin the distributions in the three areas.

produce samples with demographic parameters matching those of living populations, attritional samples do not. The Ashkelon age distribution with its abundance of puppies and absence of subadult dogs is clearly attritional. This conclusion is reinforced by the character of the archaeological burials discussed above, which clearly accumulated intermittently. In a study of free-ranging urban dogs, Beck established that approximately 50% of the animals died in their first year. He emphasized that this was a very conservative estimate of mortality because "dead dogs disappear in a few days if not collected, either destroyed by traffic or by natural decay (microorganisms and insects)" (Beck 1973:37). Young adults are least vulnerable, while adult animals die at nearly twice the rate of young adults, but not nearly as high as the rate for puppies. This is a close match to the mortality pattern in the Ashkelon collection, particularly considering the complete dogs. However, the archaeological sample has a slightly higher percentage of puppies. We believe that this difference reflects the difficulty in observing dead puppies in a free-ranging environment, because of predator scavenging. What does the abundance of puppies mean? Ashkelon's residents either must have been managing the dogs in some way, or they were exceptionally alert for dead dogs. The approximate match to urban freeranging dog mortality further suggests that the causes of death for the Ashkelon dogs were many. It is not unreasonable to suggest that in this pre-veterinary period the abundance of pups is related to the host of diseases which afflicted young canids.

the teeth but this possibility has not yet been pursued. However, the distribution of mortality and the available skeletal evidence give us no reason now to believe that the dogs were killed.

What Did the Dogs Look Like? Bones allow us to describe several aspects of appearance: height, weight, limb proportions, and the general shape of the skull. These descriptions can be combined to give a picture of the animal: heavy or

Distribution of Dog Finds Grid 50 Puppy Several Partial Complete Total Subadult Several Partial Complete Total Adult Several Partial Complete

Grid 57

Other

Grid 38U

%

No.

%

No.

%

No.

%

317 146 102 565

51 75 66 58

17 8 7 32

50 73 54 55

100 35 14 149

85 85 61 82

5 0 0 5

17 0 0 17

39 7 8 54

6 4 5 6

0 1 0 1

0 9 0 2

1 1 2 4

1 2 9 2

1 0 0 1

3 0 0 3

266 40

43 21

17 2

50 18

16 5

14 12

23 0

80 0

45

29

6

46

7

30

0

0

No.

23 80 43 16 25 28 351 36 Total 29 181 58 970 Grand Total (1238) Rawcounts are provided (No.) as well as the percentage (%) within an age category (puppy,subadult, adult) for each find category (several, partial, complete). Information is provided for the three main areas (Grids50. 57, and 38U) of burialconcentration as well as for other areas and periods of the site. Determiningthe total number of dogs representedby the finds demands carefulstudy of the location, size, and age of the bone finds.

he-R

IM. L&

210 a,

E z

Several Partial Complete Several Partial Complete Several Partial Complete

Puppy

Subadult

Adult

Because the Ashkelon dog accumulation can be dated to a more or less thin slice of time, an important question is whether the dogs died from attritional or catastrophic causes (see Sidebar). Catastrophic agents

BiblicalArchaeologist56:2 (1993)

61

of

half

right

intercentrum

body

1

of

atlas

The atlas or topmost vertebra of the neck

is composedof three bonyparts.These fuse duringpuppyhoodand permitan estimationof age. Thetop drawingshows a beagle pupvertebra80 daysfromconception.By106 days,the elementsare fusing(bottom). Illustrationis based on Evans,Watson,and de Lahunta(1986).

light, cursorial (adapted for running) or non-cursorial, round or elongate head. However, important features like coat color, texture and markings, ear shape and carriage, tail length and carriage, true muzzle length, etc., are unknowable from skeletal materials. It is these characteristics, together with disposition, that figure prominently in breed definitions. Even more tenuous are links that many authors would like to make between morphology and use as hunting, herding, war, or lap dogs. Therefore our picture of the Ashkelon dogs is very incomplete both visually and functionally. Height and Weight The height of an adult dog can be estimated from the length of the limb bones (Harcourt 1974; Koudelka 1885 provides an older standard). The weight can be calculated from a measurement on the lower mandible (jaw) (Wing 1978; see also Hamblin 1984). Reliable height and weight estimates cannot be made on immature specimens. Only 15 completely 62

BiblicalArchaeologist56:2 (1993)

studied adult dogs are well enough 80 to make preserved these calculations. This small number reported here results not only 840 from the elimination of immature E 0 20 Z 40 but specimens because many adult jaws were crushed beyond reconstruction and a large number of 80 adult skeletons were removed in 60 -o plaster jackets and await study (see c table and graph on pages 66-7). The distribution of the Ashkelon information is presented together with some comparative material. One Persian Period dog E from Tel Batash is included. A number of dogs and one possible wolf o 40 in the collections of Hebrew University z 20 were measured. While most are male individuals (Buck, Fang, Stripe, and Bernard), one sev. Par.com. Total Sev.Par.Com.Total Sev.Par.Com.Total female (Batsheba) Subadult Adult Puppy Subadult Adult Puppy was available. These animals are Age distributions of the dogs found in Grids 50, 57, and 38. related and derive Puppiesare lessthan 6 monthsold, subadults6-18 months,and from Suez. In addiadults18 monthsand older.Moststrikingis the largenumber of puppies,mostof whichdied as veryyoung animals.Quantition, a dog deties are shown as percentagesof each "dogfind"category. scribed as a "saluki" could be measured. It came than would be found in the breed from a Bedouin group in the Sinai. standards of modem dog types. The Ashkelon dogs range in weight from fact that the Persian Period dogs are about 11 to 20 kgs., and vary from 48 to 61 cms. in withers height (shoulsomewhat heavier in build than the der). This range exceeds that of the comparative specimens relates to the for material save the latter's origins in a more arid envicomparative wolf?? and saluki. This is a signifironment (see below). It was possible to compare the cant amount of variation, far more

Ageingthe DogSkeletons Mammalian skeletons are aged by an eruption sequence for the deciduous and permanent dentition (see Arnall 1961 and Williams and Evans 1978 specifically for the dog) and by an ossification and fusion sequence for the bony skeleton. Ossification refers to the progressive replacement of soft tissue by hard in the skeleton. It begins in utero in the dog. Extensive radiographic and dissection studies have identified the ossification centers for each bone element and the pattern of bony development (Evans and Christensen 1979; Hare 1959, 1961). For example, the degree of ossification in the vertebrae can be used (Evans 1958, 1962, 1974; Evans and Christensen 1979; Watson, Evans and de Lahunta 1986). The point at which the arch is fused to the centrum is an easy stage to recognize. With long bones, the second phase of maturation is the stage at which the diaphysis or shaft portion of the bone fuses permanently to the epiphysis, the articular end. Extensive anatomical research has established the ages at which fusions are complete (Chapman 1965; Evans and Christensen 1979; Seoudi 1948; Silver 1969; SumnerSmith 1966). It remains difficult to assign

ages to individual specimens or even to complete skeletons, because of the discrepancies between the numerous fusion sequences. There can be anywhere from a few weeks to a six month difference cited among various authors for the age of fusion of a particular element. Various factors are responsible for the discrepancies, such as which diagnostic technique was used, the type of dog, and the level of nutrition. In addition, all the puppy studies note developmental differences inter- and intralitter in bony growth, so there are no absolutes correlating age and stage of development. In establishing our three age categories we tried to keep the various sequences in perspective to come up with approximate divisions. Our puppy category varies in age from just born to about six months. Based on the ossification of the vertebrae none seem to have been fetuses, but some may have been still-born term puppies. Subadult refers to an animal older than about six months up to a year and a half, whose longbones are still incompletely fused. Finally, adult refers to animals older than a year and a half whose permanent teeth are in wear, and whose longbones are all fused.

Early Iron Age materials from Isin together with an Early Bronze age dog from Tell Brak. The Syria-Anatolia-Iran group includes a variety of archaeological sites in the highland areas to the north of Mesopotamia together with a modem specimen from "Constantinople" described by Lortet and Gaillard (1903). Also tabulated is a comparative series of dogs identified as "saluki" or "greyhound" as well as one possible wolf. These larger canids together with the Suez dogs provide a useful cline of development in both size and robustness. Batsheba can be taken to represent what Clutton-Brock (1979) would refer to as a "founder population," a naturally occurring population which serves as the basis for further selective breeding. The two salukis can be used to represent two historical points in the development of a characteristic of the breed desired by dog fanciers in this century, namely, increased height. As can be seen, there is considerable overlap between the geographic scatters, though there is a slight tendency for dogs at more northerly sites to be taller than the material from the eastern Mediterranean. Several of the comparative archaeological specimens fall outside the Ashkelon range-Korucutepe, Takht-i Suleiman, and Pergamum. This is not surprising given the general biological principles relating environment to morphology. Both salukis, the greyhound, and the wolf?? also are taller than the Ashkelon dogs.

Skeletal Robustness

average height measurements to a number of other archaeological and modem dogs.7 This comparison is presented graphically on page 66. On these charts the arithmetic means calculated from the heights of dogs from sites and comparative samples are arranged in four geographic groupings-Egypt, Eastern Mediterranean, Mesopotamia, and Syria-AnatoliaIran. The Egyptian sample includes a series of modem dogs from Khartoum together with the skeletons of mummified dogs. The authors of

these descriptions (Gaillard and Daressy 1905, Lortet and Gaillard 1903) recognized four types of dog from Egyptian mummies-a pariah type, a greyhound, the Egyptian dog, and a spitz type. While, as we discuss below, these distinctions are unfounded, they are retained here to better represent the variability of dogs in this region. The Mediterranean group includes sites in Israel together with the Hebrew University collection. The Mesopotamian sample includes Old Babylonian and

A further indication of how the animals looked is gained from estimates of skeletal robustness. We calculated this statistic i0r all the limbs based on the ratio of greatest length to least shaft diameter. The ratios for each limb were normalized and then combined into an estimate of overall robustness. The results are illustrated by the scatter graphs on page 68. The sites are arranged as before, though the Egyptian material was not published in a manner that makes this analysis possible. A general trend is BiblicalArchaeologist56:2 (1993)

63

again present. The dogs in the Eastern Mediterranean and Mesopotamian regions tend to be more robust than their cousins to the north. The Hebrew .... University saluki is by far the most . ......... lightly built individual. Rearranging the site and X~ gg comparative sam....... ples by height reveals a strong Pathologies in the Ashkelon dogs. Bones displayed above and pattern: short top rightshow paw and limbpathologies.Thevertebral stature correlates pathologymanifestedby the bones on the middlerightwas with robust build. broughton by Spirocercalupi(diagnosisby RobertD. Powers, What is most Thisconditionusuallyafflictsdogs DVM,AuburnUniversity). that are in poorcondition.Noneof these caseswould have important in the been severeenough to havedirectlyresultedin the death of comparisons is that the dog. The bottom photo detailsa moresevereinjury:a brothe collection from ken and healedcervicalvertebra. Ashkelon is in no its for way atypical region and that the build of the dogs is also consistent specialized for running (Miller 1976). That is, in the forelimb the humerus with the overall morphological patbecomes long with respect to the terning of Near eastern domestic that the There is no scapula and the radius/ulna with dogs. suggestion Ashkelon dogs diverge in basic body respect to the humerus. In the hind what is from limb, the tibia lengthens with repect shape expected given to the femur. The limb ratios of the their environmental location. Ashkelon dogs could be calculated in It is also instructive to compare 12 cases (see graph on page 69). Only the Ashkelon sample to another one collection from dog falls in the gazehound group extremely large southeastern Europe. B6k6nyi (1984), (dogs that hunt by sight rather than to smell such as greyhounds and was able following Hornberger, Roman of several salukis), the others lying in the most types distinguish cursorial of based on estimates part of the range for shepdogs partly herd dogs. The Ashkelon average robustness. The ancient Near Eastern falls in the middle of two weakly material overlaps almost completely defined clusters in the archaeological with B6k6nyi's type 4, the most comand comparative material. The mon form, which he calls "dogs of medium size used for hunting and of Egyptian material has relatively elonabout 50 to 58 cm withers height" gated forelimbs compared to the hindlimbs. None of the Ashkelon (1984:72). By contrast the Mesopodogs and tamian seen the extremes of Syrian-Anatolian-Iranian approaches any in the variability of this Roman Tic samples show the reverse pattern. While we have only one archaeologiGorsium sample. cal sample (Ashkelon) for the Eastern LimbProportions Relative limb proportions can also be Mediterranean, comparative material for the region from Hebrew Univerused to estimate the degree of cursorial adaptation. The relative length of sity overlaps both groups, reinforcing the impression of an intermediate the limb bones increases from trunk character for our collection. to toes as the animal becomes more

al

...

-............:~: ~iii

64

BiblicalArchaeologist56:2 (1993)

ii

.........

Head Shape The shape of the dog skull is traditionally classified into three broad types, brachy-, dolicho-, and mesaticephalic (Evans and Christensen 1979): a relatively short, broad head such as the rounded skull of a golden retriever, a long, narrow head like that of the gazehounds, and a shape between the two. Unfortunately, most of the skulls in the Ashkelon

collection were crushed by grave pressure and could not be reconstructed well enough for accurate measurement. Of the few that were measurable, only one skull even approaches the width to length ratio associated with the gazehound group. Instead, the Ashkelon morphology fits within the narrow end of the middle group which includes dogs such as the shepherd. This was reinforced by the examination of skulls in situ where we had the best approximation of what they looked like. None showed an elongated nasal region or extreme narrowness of the crown. Summarizing all this osteometric information, the Ashkelon dogs appear to be a variable group similar to most other ancient Near Eastern dogs and modern dogs of no particular ancestry. They do differ from those animals identified as salukis and greyhounds. No evidence of selective breeding in the direction of cursorial adaptation is present. This is reinforced by an examination of the hip joint which shows no strong adaptation to a gazehound pelvic form.8

Representations of Dogs in Ancient Sources To what may we compare the Ashkelon dog population? This question is not as ingenuous as it seems, because from the minute it was known that there was something special about the dog burials, suggestions have swirled around the issue fueled by gleanings from ancient texts and artistic representations. How do they aid our understanding of the phenomenon at hand? Open any modern book on dog breeds and it will tell you that the Saluki is reputedly one of the oldest breeds in the world. The Saluki, variously known as the Persian Greyhound, Persian royal hunting dog, gazelle hound and other folk names which give purported clues to its ancestry, is thought to have originated as a dog specialized in the hunting of hares and gazelles. Depic-

tions of Saluki and greyhound type dogs are common in ancient Egyptian reliefs and tomb paintings of the second millennium

........:

i-

BCE.More impor-

tant for our purposes is the dog i!Li!!iili i•• !ii,! •il •!•!! i•il :••ii••i •ii•: .......... iii : ... .... ... ....... from Tell Brak in Iraq, dated even earlier than many Egyptian sources 2580-2455 BCE(calibrated). CluttonMandible with well-worn teeth. The sandy environment of Brock notes that Ashkelondoubtlessresultedin especiallygrittyforage for the the alliance of this dogs in the city. dog "...with the greyhound type not only provides osteological evikept pure.... It is significant that definite types of dogs are depicted over dence for one of the foundation and over again in the Tombs not only breeds of domestic dogs but also for of one period, but in those separated its distribution outside ancient by great numbers of years. These we Egypt..." (1989:219). So here were can, therefore, consider native tantalizing links-an animal of noble breeds" (Ash 1927, reissue 1972:49). ancestry, somehow associated with the Persians, and well known from Egyptian art is reputedly some of the ancient Egypt-a good place to start. best in the ancient world with respect to the accuracy of animal representaThis explains why we paid partictions. But do these images represent ular attention to greyhound mor"breeds"? phology in generating our skeletal Modem breeds are defined as picture of the Ashkelon dogs. much by outward characteristics that Saluki and greyhound type dogs are not registered skeletally, such as are not the only kinds represented in ear shape and coat color and texture, Egyptian art. A recent book on dog as by variations in height, weight, breeds names four similar modemrn and skull shape. Furthermore, the breeds-the Greyhound, Saluki, skeletal distinctions presented as eviPharaoh hound, and Ibizan hounddence for breeds are not in themthat it says not only appear in Egyptselves definitive. Constance Miller, ian reliefs and painting, but that origfor many years a dog show judge inated there as well (Caras 1985). In and well known gaze- or greyhound fact what is truly remarkable is the authority, notes that these modern great diversity of types to be found. In the tombs at Beni Hasan (XIIth dogs have long jaws with no surplus skin at the oral area, moderate to no dynasty, 2000-1800 BCE),dogs of 'stop' of skull, long and low held many sizes, with various head tails, and slender but chase-worthy shapes, coat color, tail length and carframe (pers. comm.). These features, riage, limb proportions, chest depth, and neck length, are depicted. Beni she points out, are extremely similar to the wolf forms of Asia Minor and Hasan is only the best known of any in fact are adaptive characters suited number of examples of this diversity. to the arid, open steppes of the One early authority expressed a widely held belief when he wrote: region. So greyhound type features "In Egypt dogs were very much as represented in Egyptian art are as likely to be natural morphological they are to-day and doubtlessly were BiblicalArchaeologist56:2 (1993)

65

adaptations as they are the result of human selection. Which brings us to the over-arching point concerning breeds, namely, that they are as much human social phenomena as they are biological expressions. Without a sustained human network to establish standards, cull deviants, and so forth, a breed cannot exist. Artistic evidence of different dog types may be evaluated on a number of grounds short of assigning the animals breed status. With no evidence of the artist's intent, there is no a priori reason to assume that the images are meant to represent populationsof similar appearing dogs. They could just as well stand for a single animal. If that's the case, then the images don't represent some early dog breed manual, but a random selection from the whole range of dogs present in the region. Further, there is a whole suite of problems (which cannot be dealt with here) involved in how accurately any artist renders a living animal. A combination of features might portray an animal type generally, but breeds are not general types, having a host of very specific characteristics and proportions,9 which we would do well to doubt were repeatedly captured by ancient artists. In any case, the key point is that breeds deal with populations, not individuals. Not until classical times is there some textual evidence for the maintenance of dog breeds. Hull (1974) claims that the Greeks carefully bred hounds for hunting based on the

20

12

48

50

52

54

56 58 60 62 Harcourt Height (cm)

64

66

68

Estimates of the heights and weights of the Ashkelon adult dogs. The animals were

quitevariable.Dataare found in the table at right.

65

E

5

AUCons

45

Geographical Groupings

probably represents no more than "down-the-line" breeding, or breeding like to like, which ancient peoples had been practicing for thousands of years (with varying intensity). There is no evidence for established standards, culling to standard, studbooks, pedigree records or any of the other essentials of breed maintenance. Roman authors also stressed pure bloodlines, but again, all the particulars necessary for true breeds 66

BiblicalArchaeologist56:2 (1993)

Comparison of the shoulder height of the Ashkelon dogs with other Near Eastern

and comparativespecimens.Thedogs are arrangedin four geographicalgroupings Mesopotamia,Syria/Anabeginning(on the left)with Egypt,the EasternMediterranean, tolia/Iran,and a comparativegroup.The heightsof the dogs show considerableoverlap amongthe geographicalgroupingswith some tendencyfor tallerdogs at morenortherly sites.Dataand referencesarefound in the table on page 77. are not unequivocally present in the written material.10 Boessneck (1988:Abb. 90b) has

illustrated bones from Elephantine dated to the Vth Dynasty that came from a relatively short dog. However,

Height and Weight of Ashkelon and Other Dogs Dog Ashkelon 86-2

Harcourt Height(cm)

Wing Weight(kg)

50.3

14.9

Sex/ Comment

10.5 male 49.0 86-3 54.5 13.0 86-5 54.6 18.2 86-6 17.0 57.0 male 86-7 11.6 50.9 87-1 11.6 87-2 48.3 55.7 15.4 male 87-3 54.1 12.9 87-26 48.9 male 10.3 88-5 19.4 56.9 88-28 draindog, early Hellenistic? 11.6 Islamic 57584 54.5 91-17 51.9 19.3 14.1 49.8 91-18 19.6 male 92-222 60.8 15.7 48.5 Persian Period Batash 51.4 12.7 female Batsheba M4053 16.9 male 68.3 Saluki M3973 57.8 13.2 male Stripe M3975 58.2 15.7 male Fang M3977 16.2 Buck M3974 59.2 male male 54.0 14.5 Bernard M3972 21.2 Wolf?? M4066 62.5 Heights and weights of Ashkelon and other dogs based on estimators of Harcourtand Wing. A contemporary PersianPeriod dog from Batash is induded as well as a series of modern specimens in the collections of Hebrew University.All except the Salukiand the Wolf?? are 'pariah'dogs.

the calculated stature for that animal is 40 cm, not far below the range in the Ashkelon sample, and certainly not as extreme as the dachshund type dog from a Beni Hasan Tomb (XIIth Dynasty) which Boessneck illustrates with the bones (Abb. 91). The best evidence for distinct dog types based on skeletal remains comes from the Roman period. For example, B6k6nyi's (1984) study of Roman dog remains from Tac Gorsium in Pannonia shows enormous differences in height and limb shape, indicating that the dog population was comprised of individuals whose aggregate variations fell outside an expected adaptive range. Even if the types he discerns were not recognized by the Romans who raised the dogs, they were forms with particular characteristics which could have been manipulated in breeding practice. This perspective legitimizes our search of the skeletal remains for morphological trends in the develop-

ment of physical types in a manner that is not based on breed standards, strict definitions that make methodological demands which we are unable to approximate with archaeological evidence. The truth is that the only modem breeds "that can be told from skeletons are the really aberrantones. Normal dog-breeds are characterized by surfacephenomena that make animals lookto be far more different than their skeletons confirm" (Constance Miller, pers. comm.). However, skeletal demonstration of distinctive types either far removed from or outside of natural adaptive ranges, coupled with written references to human behavior suggesting selection, can reasonably be construed as the introduction of different stock or human manipulation of indigenous domesticates. Artistic evidence can reinforce these data but cannot by itself establish the validity of ancient physical animal types.

Another approach to understanding the variability of the Ashkelon dogs is to consider modem dogs in the region. Fortunately, we have the resource of two dedicated scholars, Rudolph and Rudolphina Menzel, who produced descriptive studies of unmanaged dogs in Mandate Palestine (1948, 1960). They applied the term "pariah" to these forms, using a label that had a long history of application to canids in the broad belt from Morocco to India (c.f., Studer 1901). They recognized four forms of naturally occurring types of medium sized animals varying in body and head from a sheep dog to a greyhound type. These forms show a considerable degree of variation in head form, muzzle shape, and ear carriage, ranging from Type 1, shepherd-like dogs, Type 2, dingo-like dogs, Type 3, collie-like dogs, to Type 4, gazehound-like dogs. Variability of coat color and quality, tail carriage, and stature, can be seen in the figures that accompany their article (some of which are reproduced on page 74). This foundation stock has been selectively bred in recent decades to create a breed, the Canaan dog, which is recognized internationally by some kennel societies. Considering the variability of the pariah dog skeleton implied by the Menzels' study, we believe that the Ashkelon dogs would fit comfortably within this group. The Ashkelon sample is best viewed as a naturally occurring canid population with physical characteristics adapted to the hot and semi-arid conditions of the southern Levant. This is reinforced by the slight cline in stature and robustness seen in archaeological dogs throughout the Middle East. More Ancient Dogs A further source of comparison is to consider burials of dogs at other archaeological sites in the Middle East. There is considerable evidence for dog burial throughout the region, but we hasten to add that our review should in no way be considered exhaustive. With the exception of BiblicalArchaeologist56:2 (1993)

67

Egypt, at no site were as many dogs buried as at Ashkelon. The most efficient way to evaluate the comparative burials is to organize the data by time, space, and context, and then to consider the various features. Closest in these particulars are the burials at Ashdod. The site of Ashdod, located a few miles north of Ashkelon just off the coast, was also one of five major Philistine cities. The city declined precipitously after conquest by the Neo-Babylonians at the beginning of the 6th century. Five burials of mature dogs are dated to Persian levels (strata 5-4) in an area given over to industrial activities, mostly metalworking, after the Babylonian conquest. The animals are lying on their sides, usually one dog to a pit (Dothan and Porath 1982). No measurements or anatomical details are given, and the published photograph does not permit any morphological assessment. In an earlier Ashdod report (Dothan 1971), N. Haas reported that a refuse dump of Hellenistic Stratum III yielded many animal bones mostly in anatomical relation. These included the remains of one wild boar, many large cattle, two felids, and nine adult and three immature canids; no details of the skeletons are given. During the summer of 1992, excavations by the Department of Antiquities of the State of Israel uncovered a series of dog burials in a Persian Period site located near Ben Gurion airport. Details of interment appear to be similar to the Ashkelon examples. While no osteological specifics about these finds are yet available, they do enlarge the regional pattern. Unfortunately, our information about dog burials from other sites in Israel is not more revealing. In the Persian Stratum (V) at Tell el-Hesi, a collection of dog remain found in a single pit could have come from a single juvenile individual (Bennett, Jr. and Schwartz 1989). No cranial elements were found. An articulated dog skeleton was uncovered in a mud-brick silo that had been con-

68

BiblicalArchaeologist56:2 (1993)

shoBraU So

8r

0.6

0.4

02

HKELONO J wU.AO

Isin-G

&A 0o

stam k

inWl

-00.2OBahig o -0.8 t

r

se

l#

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(Us

U,

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-1.2o Geographical

Groupings

Relativelimb robustness.Thecomparativematerialis againarrangedgeographically. TheY-Axisisthe averagenormalizedestimateof robustness.Thethree moderndogs (numbers14-16)show the rangeof variabilityin "saluki-type" dogs.

0.6 0.4 0.2

o -0.2 0,

-0.4

-0.6 -0.8

-1.0 -1.2

45

50

55 60 Harcourt Height (cm)

65

Robustness compared to shoulder height (based on Harcourt1974). The general inverse

relationshipbetween these two charactersis plain.Thecomparisonmanifeststhe relative robustnessof the Ashkelondogs. Dataand referencesare found in the table on page 78.

structed inside a large circular pit shaft. The dog burial was part of the fill in this pit and is dated to Stratum IV, Late-Persian/Hellenistic. The animal was headless, lying on its side

with legs flexed and extended (Bennet, Jr.and Blakely 1989:65, fig. 60). The upper section of an amphora lies next to the dog. The site of Dor, a port city about

104 103

102 0

10

xPA40uM

100 S99 98

-

nd

95

96

97

98

99

100 101 102 Radius/Humerus x 100

103

104

The relationship between lower and upper fore and hind limb lengths (radiusto humerus X 100, tibia to femur X 100) in the archaeological materials. The Ashkelon dogs are intermediate in the distribution.

8 miles north of Caesarea in modern Israel, was one of five principal Phoenician cities on the southern Levantine coast during the Persian period. In 1990 we were told by E. Stern, the excavator, that about seven dog burials from Persian deposits were found there. From the site of Batash in the Shephelah, the remains of a complete dog were found under a vessel of Persian date. The excavator suggests that the animal was just thrown in a pit and not carefully interred (Amihai Mazar, pers. comm.). The Batash dog compares favorably with the Ashkelon material though it is at the small end of the range in height. The skull is also similar to the Ashkelon material. The ceremonial relationship between humans and canids in the eastern Mediterranean is found first in the Natufian deposits (ca. 9600 BCE)at Ein Mallaha in the Huleh Basin where the burial of an old woman (?) was accompanied by a wolf or dog puppy (Davis 1987: 147). Closer in time to the Ashkelon deposit, Levy (1991) reports two

articulated dog burials with accompanying grave goods at the site of Gilat, a Chalcolithic cemetery. One of the authors examined the burials in situ, noting that both the burials and the animals were like the Ashkelon inhumations. Levy suggests that the tradition of dog interment may be more continuous than imagined. This is certainly the case in Egypt, where a survey by Bonnet et al. (1989) reveals that complete dog skeletons were found with human burials as early as the Neolithic and as far south as the Sudan. Buried dogs of slightly later date are also reported from the region. At Gezer, more than a dozen articulated dogs were found in Hellenistic deposits. We saw two of these dogs briefly in 1985 (before the Ashkelon discovery), and they too fit within the variability seen for the region. At the site of Hesban northeast of the Dead Sea, six partial and complete skeletons of puppies and subadult dogs were found in Hellenistic deposits (Weiler 1981). Moving farther afield, Doyen and Gautier (1986) describe articulated

dog skeletons in a fosse dated 250 to 100 BCEat the site of Abu Dane, east of Aleppo. Some of the burials were disturbed, but the position of the complete skeletons was more extended than those at Ashkelon, Ashdod, Hesi, and Gilat. A minimum of eight dogs were present, including two puppies and six adults. Morphologically, the height of the dogs is at the top end of the Ashkelon distribution. The authors compare the dogs to Persian Hounds, Salukis, and Sloughis, as well as to the dogs from Isin described next. From the site of Isin in southern Mesopotamia, 33 dog burials were found in a ramp leading to the temple of Ninisina/Gula, a goddess of healing. The temple was called the 'ur-gi7-ra or "dog house," with depictions and figurines of dogs found in the area. Dogs are linked to the goddess Gula in texts and iconography from the second and first millennia BCE(Fuhr 1977), during which time a dog cult associated with healing rites probably existed (Livingstone 1988). No details or ritual requirements of this cult are known, although a later text suggests that the dog acted as a messenger from Gula (Livingstone 1986). The excavators date the dogs to 1000 BCE.Sixteen of the skeletons are puppies, 6 young adults, and 10 adults (one skeleton was lost). Although the number is small, the demography of this sample also reflects a natural mortality of unmanaged dogs. The number of pathologies found in these remains is much higher than the incidence in the Ashkelon material. Half the young adults and 70% of the adults are reported to have either missing teeth, or more commonly, fractures of the limbs and feet (Boessneck 1977). These wounds seem to have healed at least partially by the time of the animal's death, and there is no reason to implicate the injuries directly in the mortality. As discussed above, these dogs are not distinguishable skeletally from unmanaged urban dogs. Several points may be drawn from this example. Dogs did not have to be specially

BiblicalArchaeologist56:2 (1993)

69

treated in life (these seem to have been kicked around) or of special size to be given burial. If the association of these burials with the temple ramp attests to a ritual interment rather than just ridding Isin's streets of dead dogs, then what seems to have made the dogs special is that they died. If they had been protected in life one would expect them to be in better physical shape, with fewer puppies and subadults present among the burials. Excavations by Mary Voight at Hajji Firuz Tepe in northwestern Iran yielded two dog burials (Anthony et al. 1984). The first, and more complete, was found in probable association with a human skeleton and dates 1450-1150 BCE.The second less complete skeleton was found in a pit within the Iron Age settlement. From the photograph (1984:35) the pelvis looks like that of a cursor. The head, however, has somewhat of a pronounced stop. Additionally, the bone report from Takht-i Suleiman in Azerbaijan, mentions two dogs found in burials below floors in village houses (Steber 1986). They date (probably) to the Achaemenid period (6th to 4th century BCE).Tentatively, these might be linked to the incomplete dog skeletons which B6k6nyi (1978) claims were found in pits at Tepe Nush-i Jan in west-central Iran. Unfortunately, we have not been able to establish if or how these dogs were associated with the 8th to 6th century BCEfire temple at the site. Taken together, all of these remains hint at a long and multifaceted regional tradition of burying dogs. Thus, a sketchy outline of roughly contemporary dog interments scattered across the ancient near east in the mid-first millennium BCEexists, but there is no reason to assume that all of these were similarly motivated. In fact, a range of attitudes towards dogs can be identified in the textual record. Some Historical Dogs Egyptian veneration and inhumation of animals is well known. Herodotus,

70

BiblicalArchaeologist56:2 (1993)

probably history's first ethnographer, whose travels and writings date to the Persian period, -V 2, tells us that "bitches are interred in the cities to which they belong, also in sacred burialplaces... and the wolves which are not much bigger than foxes, they bury wherever they happen to find them lying" (II 67). At Cynopolis, according to Strabo (812), dogs were venerated and mummified. Keller's remarks at the turn of the ceni:0: tury (1909) on this ..... ......: topic are most interesting. He notes that great numbers of Pariah dogs roamed the streets of ancient Egypt and that their mummies The relationship between upper and lower forelimb dimensions varies with different types of dogs. Salukis(far left) have been found in have proportionatelylongerlowerlimbsthat the German at numbers great shepherd, Englishbulldog,and BassetHound(movingleft to Abydos, among right).Salukileg bonesare also moreslender. other places. Their corpses were not given any special treatment-theirs were mass-prowrapped loosely in plain linen. duced mummies-in contrast to the Because no adhesive such as bitumen was used, the mummies fell apart at care lavished on mummies of huntthe slighest touch, and the excavators ing greyhounds. mummies have found found it difficult to extract even been Dog in large numbers at Roda in Upper twenty complete animals for closer at at Suares near examination. The Roda burials (of Thebes, Egypt, and at The indeterminate date) were also sumAbydos. Maghagha, mummies at Abydos are Roman in marily prepared corpses. This may date, perhaps belonging to the period explain why so few dog skeletons of between the first century BCEand the the many thousands interred were fourth century CE.Peet (1914) esticarefully studied or collected, mates that tens of thousands of dogs although some dog mummies, such were buried there as poorly mummias those at Thebes, were considerably fied corpses. The dogs were macermore elaborate. ated in natron, allowed to dry, then Not all buried dogs were mum-

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mified. At Gurob, a dog skeleton was found in the fish section of the animal cemetery, which may date from Dynasty XIX. The animal was carefully placed in a circular pit, its position like that of the Ashkelon burials. No preservatives were used in the

preparation of the corpse (Loat 1904). Lortet and Gaillard (1903) recognized four types of dogs among the mummified canids of Egypt. These were the pariah dog, the greyhound, the Egyptian dog-midway in size between the first two-and the

Egyptian spitz. This general classification has been repeated by many authors through the years. However, a study by Haddon as early as 1914 showed that considerable variation in the length of the limb bones and cranial dimensions of the mummified dogs did not support the four broad types. Rather, she identified all but the spitz with Studer's group of southern dogs, those of the pariah type. The so called spitz dog, known from only one mummified skull, as well as the small dog bone from Elephantine (see above), are undoubtedly examples of individuals that fell at the low end of the diverse size range characteristic of pariah dogs. So, contra Keller, it seems that the Egyptian sliding scale of funeral preparation was not conditioned by dog type. In sum, we know that dogs and their relatives were highly esteemed early in Egypt's history, with burials reaching back as far as the Neolithic and Badarian cultures (Bonnet et al. 1989). However, these were for the most part sporadic, and their total numbers were few compared to the later burials and the number of dogs at Ashkelon. Large scale dog burial does not appear to have much predated the practice at Ashkelon, and belongs to the phenomenon of the enormous animal cemeteries of later periods. Still, the tradition of dog burial as a sign of the special relationship between man and canids did persist from early times. Therefore, we have to ask why dog burials do not turn up in Bronze or Iron Age contexts in Canaan during periods of Egyptian political and cultural domination. Nowhere in the ancient near east were dogs more revered than in ancient Persia where they occupied a singular position in Zoroastrian religion. The dog had pride of place after humans among the creations of the chief diety, Ahura Mazda. In later Zoroastrian rituals, dogs played a key and protracted role in funeral rites as protectors and agents of safe passage to the next world (Afshar

BiblicalArchaeologist56:2 (1993)

71

1988). Medieval Zoroastrians neither buried nor cremated their dead since a corpse, the ultimate contaminant, would pollute the sacred earth and sacred fire. Instead, a dog or bird of prey would gaze at the corpse to drive away evil and then the body would be exposed inside a funerary tower. "The origin of the practice of exposing corpses to dogs and birds is unclear, but it is known to have been performed by the pre-Zoroastrian Magi and Persians" (Choksy 1989). Even though Herodotus (1:140) recounts this custom, the remains of contemporary Achaemenian royalty were placed in rock cut tombs, the stones apparently containing the contagion of the dead (Choksy 1989). It seems clear then, that dogs would not have been buried directly in the ground in ancient Persia, and indeed, no dog burials have been found there, except for the partial skeletons at Tepe Nush-i Jan of unclear context. Egypt and Persia are the two places in antiquity where dogs appear to have been regarded with unsullied benevolence. Not so the rest of the ancient world, where sentiments were more complex; more like ours, in fact. Puppies are specifically called for in Hittite rituals of prevention and purification (see Collins 1990 for textual citations). In some rites the puppy was waved over the patient or touched to afflicted portions of the body in hopes of drawing the disease into the puppy which would then sicken and die. The latter practice may have its origins in Mesopotamia where similar rites are present in Babylonian magical texts. The most common use of the puppy involved severing the animal, perhaps splitting it longitudinally. The offerer would then pass between its two parts which, like a magnet, attracted the impurity. In only one text is a puppy sacrificed as an offering. This is undoubtedly related to the stronger belief that dogs were equated with pigs as unclean animals, and therefore unfit as sacrifices to the gods. They were contaminators 72

BiblicalArchaeologist56:2 (1993)

rL\

Ibizan Hound

;

Greyhound

Saluki

Pharaoh Hound

These dogs of the greyhoud group are often said to be represented in Egyptian art. However, it is unlikely that the Egyptian paintings depicted "breeds" of dogs or that they aid in identifying the osteological remains. Drawingsby RhondaRoot.

as well, to be kept away from food and equipment used to prepare divine meals. Collins (1990) suggests that the Hittite practices were based on the dog's expendability, and their limited use compared to other animals. Certainly the attitude expressed in Hittite written material where dogs are on the one hand unclean yet possesing magical powers to purify, is paralleled by Mesopotamian and Greek beliefs (see below). There is no physical evidence however, of Hittite ritual severing of puppies, perhaps, as Collins suggests (ibid.), because the practice was part of popular religion unrelated to the royal family and less likely to be preserved. The Greeks held ambivalent views about dogs. The animals were at once unclean and ordinary yet could be regarded sentimentally or imbued with ritual and therapeutic potency. Day captures this polarization well. "A good example of the ambivalence and the juxtaposition of

two contradictory views can be seen in the burial of Patroklos (Iliad23:17383). Here Achilles sacrifices two of Patroklos' faithful dogs on the funeral pyre, yet he boasts that he will give Hektor's body to the scavenger dogs rather than giving it proper burial" (1984:29 n.38). From the Late Bronze Age through the Classical period, dog sacrifice and burial were not uncommon, but only in a few instances were the animals carefully interred. Most often they were thrown in pits or tombs, or even sacrificed and simply left in whatever position they met death. The majority of the Greek dog burials involved sacrifice and were associated with human burials. From Lydian levels at Sardis 30 caches of jugs containing the partial skeletons of butchered puppies are reported to have been buried in pits. They are thought to be the remains of ritual meals, despite the lack of evidence that they were cooked (Greenwalt 1978). It would

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However Depictions of dogs in the Beni Hasan tombs (Xllth Dynasty,2000-1800 BCE). distinctive in appearance, these illustrations are as likely to be natural adaptations as they are the result of human breeding. Textual evidence for dog breed maintenance emerges only in classicaltimes. FromAsh (1927 [1972],pl. 6).

seem that even at death, Greek veneration did not translate into careful treatment of the dog corpses. The later Greeks however, exhibited a more sentimental regard for dogs as pets. "By the Late Hellenistic Period, pets were buried and may even have been given their own gravestones and epigrammatic epitaphs" (Day 1984:29). There would seem to be little in the Greek world parallel to the Ashkelon burials. Dogs also had a mixed profile in Semitic culture. Although the dog was associated with Gula, a Mesopotamian goddess of healing, and may have been a protagonist in

;i .

restorative and apotropaic rites, there is a great deal of textual evidence that dogs were scorned as curs, the bearers of uncleanness, and harbingers of misfortune (see the ChicagoAssyrian Dictionary, 8:68-73, under kalbu).The dog almost always has negative connotations in the biblical text (e.g., Exod 22:31, 1Kgs 21:23, Qoh 9:4). The dog figured prominently in a Greek legend about the discovery of the dye for which Phoenicia was reknown. When Melqart, king and deity of Tyre, was walking along the beach with the nymph Tyros, their dog bit into a large whelk that stained its mouth purple. Melqart immediately

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seized upon dyeing cloth with the substance and a flourishing industry was born (McGovern 1990). Although this particular legend is Greek, it must have had wide currency, because a Tyrian coin commemorating the founding of the city depicts a dog and a murex shell (Meshorer 1983). This positive Phoenician view of dogs is countered by Persian claims that the Carthaginians reviled and ate them (Pompeius Trogus-Justin, Book XIX.i.10).However, this aspersion may be mere propaganda, since extensive excavations at Carthage have not turned up the remains of dogs as food animals.

Conclusions Before drawing together the data on the Ashkelon dog burials, some historical background on this Persian per-iod port is in order. Ashkelon BiblicalArchaeologist56:2 (1993)

73

was the site of a large, fortified city in the Middle and Late Bronze Ages (2000-1200 BCE).During the Iron Age (1200-586 BCE)it became one of the five major cities of the Philistines. When the Assyrian Empire extended its hegemony to the Levantine citystates and eventually to Egypt during the last third of the Iron Age, Ashkelon experienced varying degrees of its rule. As Assyrian power evaporated in the last days of the 7th century, the Neo-Babylonians positioned themselves to take over Assyria's western dominions (587/6 BCE). Theirs was a short lived tenure. A mere half century later Babylon fell to Cyrus (538 BCE),initiating two centuries of Persian rule. The designation "Persian" for this period in Ashkelon's history is a political rather than a cultural label, because few manifestations of material culture from the Persian homeland are present in Palestine. Rather, the Syro-Palestine littoral was part of the empire's western territories, administered through a client-state arrangement with the Phoenicians, whose major cities were given control of sections along the coast. The Periplus of Pseudo-Scylax (last half of 4th century BCE)names Ashkelon as a city of the Tyrians with a Tyrian governor headquartered there. Phoenician pottery, inscriptions and religious symbols (Tanit amulets) attest to a strong Phoenician presence (Stager 1991b). However, throughout its history, Ashkelon's role in overland and maritime trade attracted an international business community to its streets. Textual and artifactual evidence point to an ethnically diverse population in this period with Phoenicians, Persians, Philistines, Egyptians, Greeks, and native residents contributing to a vibrant economy. Where do the dog burials fit in this mix? Above all, a convincing explanation for the dog interments at Ashkelon must account for archaeological aspects of the phenomenon. What are they? The dogs conform to the appearance of the local unmanaged 74

BiblicalArchaeologist56:2 (1993)

Type2 v

Type 1

Type3A

Type4 v

rA

A

22

1

2

3

4

Pariah Dogs. Dogs of mandate Palestine were classified by R. and R. Menzel (1948, 1960). Head shape was one important criterion they used. The four photographs reproduced from their 1960 work represent the basic four types, though mixed categories were recognized. The variabilityexpressed by this group matches that seen in the Ashkelon remains.

dog types in the region, the Pariah; they do not appear to have been pampered; they do not seem to have been deliberately killed; the mortality pattern parallels that of an unmanaged urban dog population; they accumulated over about eighty years in the Persian period and maybe even into the Hellenistic period; most of them are found in an area that was previously the site of warehouses but had fallen into disuse; no interment was marked or accompanied by grave goods; many burials disturbed earlier inhumations. What inferences are we to draw from these data? It does not seem to be anything that the dogs did that earned them a careful burial. The fact that so many are puppies implies that

there was not enough time for strong ties of affection to have been forged. The key feature seems to be simply that they died. Burial did not give them a lasting significance, since there were no material associations and there was no compunction about disturbing previous burials. The behavioral core of the ideology surrounding dogs was the act of burial itself. The goal was not to produce a cemetery or preserve the memory of the animals, but simply to inter. The inhumations were not scheduled. The fact that the dogs apparently were not sacrificed, but simply died from a host of natural causes, suggests that their availability for interment was sporadic and unpredictable. Thus, the burials are not

*DemircihjyOk Pergamum *Sardis

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* Hesban

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Sea of Galilee Dor

Abydos Thebes

likely to have been associated with some calendrical ritual. The closest parallels to the Ashkelon dog burials are those found at Ashdod and the site near Ben Gurion Airport. However, even here the number of interments pales in comparison. The report from Dor is suggestive but only anecdotal. No similar interments are found in the Mediterranean world. Early dog burials are found in Cyprus, but the practice "seems to have died out after MCI (1850-1800 BCE),many centuries before the custom appeared in Greece" (Day 1984:26) and Ashkelon. No dog remains are reported from Phoenician settlements outside of Ashkelon and the possibility of Dor.

*Ben Gurion

9 Gezer *Batash

C

Hesban

*Ashdod SHKELON 9T. el Hesi

Dead Sea

There is considerable evidence for dog burial throughout the Middle East. Ashkelon's near neighbor, Ashdod, offers the closest parallels amongst the contemporarysites where dogs have been excavated. Ultimately,the comparative data do not crack the mystery of the dog burials.

Jemmeh *Gilat

Ashdod, despite its proximity to the coast, was a much smaller settlement in the Persian period and does not seem to have been part of Phoenicia's sphere of interest (Elayi 1980, 1987).

The Greek materials, as discussed above, are not similar. Later Greek treatment of pet dogs is supported by little physical evidence and much of the phenomenon may only be literary (Day 1984). The primary archaeological similarity points to the east. Even here the parallel is not exact. The dogs of Isin are clearly associated with a temple, but no temple has been found at Ashkelon. BiblicalArchaeologist56:2 (1993)

75

Moreover, the scale of the discovery dwarfs other dog finds with the exception of Egypt. Perhaps, instead of looking for sources without, we should be looking within. Ashkelon in the Persian period was a cosmopolitan center. Its power as a port drew people from all over the Mediterranean and Near Eastern worlds. A recent article claims that "it was the Phoenicians... who were responsible for the dog burials at Ashkelon and who considered the dog a sacred animal" (Stager 1991b: 39). This argument is said to derive from the archaeological evidence but, in fact, accounts for none of the specific zoological and behavioral data and seems to us to be a case of an historical tale wagging an archaeological dog. Perhaps, instead, the practice of burying dogs is a syncretism, a local amalgam of attitudes towards dogs and the burial ritual that cannot be attributed to a particular culture.

Acknowledgements The Leon Levy Excavations at Ashkelon are directed by Professor Lawrence Stager of The Harvard Semitic Museum. We appreciate the opportunity he gave us to investigate the Ashkelon fauna and the support he gave our research, even if we do not always agree with his interpretations. This project was also partially funded by a National Science Foundation Grant (BNS-8907369) to the authors. University of Alabama at Birmingham graduate students Susan Henson and Bill Grantham, as well as all the members of the Ashkelon excavation team, in particular the supervisors for Grid 50, the late Doug Esse, Abbas Alizadeh, Egon Lass, and Elizabeth Bloch-Smith, are to be thanked for the effort they have put into recovering the dog skeletons. Professor Eitan Tchernov of The Hebrew University made his comparative collections available for our study. Professors Charles Edelman, Baruch Halpern, Samuel Paley, Paul Rumph, and Liora Kolska Horwitz all kindly provided us with important references.

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BiblicalArchaeologist56:2 (1993)

Glossary Articulation - An articulation is several bones found in correct anatomical relationship. We designate a specimen "partial skeleton" when two or more parts of an (apparent) individual animal are present, for example, an articulation of fore limb bones juxtaposed with bones of the vertebral spine. Even relatively complete skeletons are rare (except for microfauna), because of disturbance to the carcass during and after burial. Baculum (os penis) - A slim bone

that supportsrigidityof the penis

idaethat includes the big catslion, tiger,leopard,etc., and the small cats-the domestic cat, wild cat, ocelot, sand cat, etc. Microfauna - Our use of the term

refersto the remainsof animals smaller than dogs or cats. Microfaunaat sites in Israelinclude the commensalhouse mouse, field mice, rats,moles, voles, shrews, the smallerweasels, and birds (except ostrichand the largerbirds of prey). Morphologies - The form and

structureof an organism.Weuse in some mammals such as dogs, the termto referto the overall cats and whales. skeleton and to a particularbone Canids - Members of the family or bone element. Canidaethat includes domestic Pariah- Termused to referto dogs and wild dogs, wolves, foxes,jack- of distinctivemorphologythat als, coyotes and dingoes. inhabitmuch of the arid regionof Cline - A gradualchange in a trait the Old World. or its frequencywithin a species Stop - An indentation in the face over a geographicalarea. between the foreheadand the nose/muzzle of the dog. Cynophagy - Cynophagia,or dogeating, was not widely practicedin Unmanaged urban dogs - Dogs the ancientMediterranean.The who do not belong to any particuclearestcases (basedon faunalnot lar household but are socialized to textualevidence),fromEarly humans, existing within a frameBronzeAge Lernaand Troy(Gejwork of human settlement,in vail, 1969),did not last beyond the other words, domestic.The term Middle BronzeAge. "domestic"has two main senses, a Dentition - Deciduous dentition is biological and a cultural.Weprethe milk or baby teeth that are fer,following Ducos (1989),to the or replacedby permanent emphasize the social aspects of the adult teeth as an animalmatures. processof domesticationof the In puppies, the deciduous teeth tamer,ratherthan the behavioral between 3 and morphologicalimpacton the erupt (approximately) and 8 weeks of age. The permatamed. nent teeth eruptbetween 4 and 7 Withers - The highest part of the months (Amorosi1989). back of a four-leggedanimal,loFelids - Members of the family Fel- cated between the shoulderblades.

Notes 1Non-food animals include both wild and domestic species. Domesticates such as the donkey or camel were valued for their labor and not normally eaten at later historic sites, but evidence for their exploitation as food does exist. Domestic dogs and cats were almost never eaten in the Levant but there is

some indication of cynophagy in Aegean cultures. 2 The culturalnotion of cuisine has been developed as a zooarchaeologicalmethodology by Bill Granthamand one of the present authors (Grantham1992,Hesse and Grantham1992). 3 Authorities agree that the dog evolved

Stature in Near Eastern Dogs Dog

Shoulder Height (cm) No.

Egypt 48.1 Roda 48.5 Egyptian Dog Pariah 48.6 54.2 Thebes 54.9 Abydos 57.2 Khartoum 59.7 Greyhound Eastern Mediterranean 48.5 Batash 51.4 Batsheba 52.6 Ashkelon 53.4 Jemmeh 54.0 Hesban 54.5 Hebrew Univ B 57.2 Hebrew Univ A

1 1 34 2 9 3 4

Mesopotamia Isin-Gula Brak Isin-Wall

49.2 54.4 55.1

12 1 1

Syria/Anatolia/Iran Lidar DemiricihCuyk Constantinople Bastam Pergamum Korucutepe Takht-i Suleiman

50.3 51.3 54.9 58.5 58.7 59.3 64.5

8 3 2 5 3 3 7

Comparative Saluki Greyhound Wolf?? Saluki

58.7 64.5 62.4 68.2

4 2 5 1 2 3 1

Source/ Comment Lortet and Gaillard 1903 Lortet and Gaillard 1903 Lortet and Gaillard 1903 Lortet and Gaillard 1903 Lortet and Gaillard 1903 Haddon 1914 Lortet and Gaillard 1903

Hebrew University Bedouin dog Weiler 1981 Related dogs Boessneck 1977 Temple ramp Clutton-Brock 1989 Boessneckand Kokabi1981 Old Babylonian Kussinger 1988 Rauh 1981 Haddon 1914 Kraus 1975 Boessneck and von den Driesch 1985 Boessneck and von den Driesch 1975 Steber 1986

1 1 1 1

British Museum Lortet and Gaillard 1903 Hebrew University Hebrew University Both archaeological and comparative materialsare tabulated. Arranged more or less geographically.

from the wolf in a number of parallel and partially independent regional episodes of domestication (see for example Olsen 1985; Morey 1992). Five criteriaare usually applied to distinguish them. 1) Tooth size in dogs is proportionately less than in wolves for animals of the same body size. 2) Crowding of the tooth row is found in very early domestic dogs. 3) There are changes in craniometricrelationships. 4) The auditory bullae of domestic dogs tends to be smaller than that of wolves. 5) Domestic dogs tend to be smaller overall than their wild ancestors. While Middle Easterndogs and their most important wild ancestor (Canislupuspallipes-the Arabian wolf) are the smallest members of the group, they are much larger than any of the region's foxes. Size is not so helpful in separating domestic dogs from jackals,but dental criteriacan be used on mature individuals (Payne 1983). No adult teeth in the Ashkelon collection

are consistent with the jackalmorphology. Theoretically,some puppy remains could derive from a jackalsince no reliable physical criteriaexist for the separation of immature specimens. Given the number of adult dogs, however, and the paucity of jackal bones from later historic sites in this area, it is very unlikely. 4 "Complete"does not mean that every bone of the living animal is recovered in excavation. Often the smallest bones of the feet (sesamoids, terminal phalanges), wrist and ankle joints, and caudal (tail) vertebrae are missing. 5 The number of subadults is probably low. About 75 burials were taken out in plaster jackets. In most cases it was possible only to classify them as "probableadult" in field identification.Jacketing,which is very expensive, is used when time is short, and especially when the specimen is too fragile

to remove even with field consolidation. Because the skeleton is outlined ratherthan completely exposed there is a good chance that unfused longbones are missed; typically, in subadults some longbones are fused, others not. We fully expect the subadult contributionto the sample to rise when the jacketed skeletons are excavated from their cocoons. 6 We wish to thank Dr. Paul Rumph and Dr. Robert D. Powers of the College of Veterinary Medicine at Auburn University for their evaluation of the diseased specimens. 7 Weight measurements were not calculable because other studies do not report the specific mandibular dimension requiredby Wing's method (1978, see also Hamblin 1984). 8 Cursorial adaptation in the hip manifests itself in adult cursors by the exaggerated oblique angle made by the ischium portion of the innominate bone (pelve), a construction geared to long strides and galloping movements. When we were able to observe this relationship on a small number of innominate bones in the Ashkelon collection, there was no extreme oblique angle; the hips were intermediate in form between cursors and shepherds. The angle at which the ischium joins the ilium among Ashkelon specimens is slightly more oblique than in the shepherd, but does not approachthat of the true cursor.The evidence of limb proportions and pelvic morphology shows very slight cursorialadaptation,but nothing like the extreme development in the modem gazehound group. We would like to thank Constance Miller,a noted gazehound authority,for sharing her wealth of knowledge on this subject.She provided us with much information about cursorial adaptations in the skeleton, especially regarding the innominate morphology. 9 In a very interesting articleregarding the drawing of gazehound skeletons, Jaques (1986)notes that almost no accuratedrawings of saluki skeletons by technical artists exist, because they are unfamiliarwith the detailed fine points of the breed's skeletal proportions for every part of the body. 10Lest it be thought modem dog-breeding is far advanced of ancient methods, consider this quote from a recent New York Timesarticle (Tuesday,December 3, 1991:B 7-8) by JasperRine, Directorof the Dog Genome Project,a study seeking the genetic roots of complex physical traits, diseases, and behaviors. "Dog breeding is a well-established art, but a crude, unestablished science.... Breedersmate two dogs who look good and see what comes out. There is not enough understanding of chromosomes to trackthe things that they're interested in."

BiblicalArchaeologist56:2 (1993)

77

Bibliography Afshar,M.Z. 1988 TheImmortalHound:TheGenesisand Transformation of a Symbolin IndoIranianTraditions.Ph.D. Diss., Harvard University,Univ. Microfilms International#8901670. Amorosi, T. 1989 A PostcranialGuideto DomesticNeoNatalandJuvenileMammals.The andAging of Old World Identification Species.BAR InternationalSeries 533. Oxford:BritishArchaeological Reports. Anthony, D. et al. 1984 Man andAnimals.Living,Working and ChangingTogether.Philadelphia: The University Museum. Arnall, L. 1961 Some Aspects of Dental Development in the Dog. Journalof Small AnimalPractice1:259-267. Ash, E. C. 1927 Dogs:TheirHistoryand Development. Reissued 1972. New York:Benjamin Blom, Inc. Beck, A. M. 1973 The Ecology of Stray Dogs. Baltimore: YorkPress. Bennett,W. J.,Jr.and Blakely,J. A. 1989 TellEl-Hesi.ThePersianPeriod(Stratum V). Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns. Bennett,W. J.,Jr.and Schwartz,J. H. 1989 Faunal Remains. Pp. 257-253in Tell El-Hesi.ThePersianPeriod(Stratum V), edited by J. W. Bennett,Jr.,and J. A. Blakely.Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns. Boessneck,J. 1977 Die Hundskellete von ISanBahriyat (Isin) aus der Zeit um 1000v.Chr. Pp. 97-109 in Isin-IgdnBahrfyatI: Die ErgebnissederAusgrabungen19731974,edited by B. Hrouda, et al. Munich: BayerischeAkademie der Wissenschaften. 1988 Die TierweltdesAltenAgypten. Munich:C.H. Beck. Boessneck, J. and Kokabi,M. 1981 Tierbestimmungen.Pp. 131-155in Isin-Ign BahrfyatI: Die Ergebnisse derAusgrabungen1975-1878,edited by B. Hrouda, et al. Munich:Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften. Boessneck, J. and von den Driesch, A. 1975 Tierknochenfundevom Korucutepe bei Elazig in Ostanatolien. Part I in vol. I, edited by M.N. Korucutepe, van Loon. New York:American Elsevier. aus Zisternenin Perga1985 Knochenfunde mon.Munich:Deutches Archiologishes Institut.

78

BiblicalArchaeologist56:2 (1993)

Comparison of Limb Robustness and Stature Robustness

Height (cm)

Eastern Mediterranean Hebrew University B Hesban Batsheba Hebrew University A Ashkelon Jemmeh Batash

-.27 -.23 -.15 .15 .221 .52 .67

57.2 54.0 51.4 54.5 52.6 53.4 48.5

Mesopotamia Isin-Wall Isin-Gula Brak

-.01 .20 .68

55.1 49.2 54.4

Syria/Anatolia/Iran Korucutepe Pergamum Takht-i Suleiman Lidar DemircihuyOk Bastam

-.76 -.44 -.31 -.15 -.14 -.08

59.3 58.7 64.5. 50.3 51.3 58.5

Site/Comparative

Comment related dogs Bedouin dog

Comparative -1.11 Saluki 68.2 Hebrew University Wolf?? -.58 62.4 Saluki British Museum -.09 58.7 Robustnessis computed by normalizingeach limb length to least breadth ratio, calculating the mean of these normalized variablesfor each specimen, and averaging the means for each site or comparativedog category. B6k6nyi, S. 1978 Excavationsat Tepe Nush-i Jan. Part 3, The Animal Remains, A preliminary Report, 1973 and 1974. Iran16:24-28. 1984 AnimalHusbandryandHuntingin Faunaof TheVertebrate Tdc-Gorsium. a RomanFarmin Pannonia. Budapest:Akademiai Kiad6. Bonnet, C., Chaix, L, Lenoble, P.,Reinold, J., and Valbelle,D. 1989 Sepultures a chiens sacrifies dans la vallee du Nil. Cahiersde Recherches de l'Institutde Papyrologieet d'Egyptologiede Lille.Socidtesurbainesen Egypteet au Soudan11:25-39. Caras,R., ed. 1985 Harper'sIllustratedHandbookof Dogs. New York:Harper and Row. Chapman, W. L., Jr. 1965 Appearance of OssificationCenters in Epiphyseal Closures as Determined by RadiographicTechniques. Journalof theAmericanVeterinary MedicineAssociation147(2):138-141. Choksy,J. K. 1989 PurityandPollutionin Zoroastrianism. TriumphOverEvil.Austin: University of TexasPress. Clutton-Brock,J. 1979 The Definition of a Breed.Pp. 35-44 in Archaeozoology, edited by M. Kubasiewicz. Szczecin:Agricultural

Academy. 1989 A Dog and a Donkey Excavated at Tell Brak.Iraq51:217-224. Collins, B. J. 1990 The Puppy in Hittite Ritual.Journal of CuneiformStudies42(2):211-226. Davis, S. J. M. 1987 TheArchaeologyof Animals.London: B.T.BatsfordLtd. Day, L. P. 1984 Dog Burials in the GreekWorld. AmericanJournalof Archaeology 88:21-32. Dothan, M. 1971 AshdodII-III:TheSecondand Third Seasonsof Excavations,1963, 1965, Soundingsin 1967.cAtiqotEnglish Series 9-10. Jerusalem. Dothan, M. and Porath, S. 1982 AshdodIV Excavationof AreaM. The Fortificationsof theLowerCity. cAtiqot English Series 15. Jerusalem. Doyen, J.-M.and Gautier,A. 1986 Un "Charnier"d'Epoque hellenistique tardive au TellAbou Danne (Syrie):Essai D'Interpretation. Akkadica41:1-36. Ducos, P. 1989 Defining Domestication:A Clarification. Pp. 28-30 in TheWalking Larder,edited by J. Clutton-Brock. London: Unwin Hyman.

Comparison of Radius/Humerus and Tibia/Femur Ratios Radius/ Humerus

Tibia/ Femur

102.3

96.5

102.0 100.0 101.0 102.5 102.3 101.0

94.5 95.6 97.0 99.0 101.0 95.0

97.0 100.7 100.3 97.8

101.0 99.8 98.0 101.3

98.6 98.0

101.0 100.0

Syria/Anatolia/Iran Lidar Constantinople Bastam Pergamum Korucutepe Takht-i Suleiman

99.0 102.5 99.5 100.5 100.0 99.0

103.0 100.0 100.0 104.0 103.0 100.5

Comparative Wolf?? Greyhound Saluki

100.0 104.0 100.0

103.0 95.0 103.0

Site Egypt Roda Egyptian Dog Pariah Thebes Abydos Khartoum Greyhound Eastern Mediterranean Batsheba Ashkelon Hebrew University B Hebrew University A Mesopotamia Isin-Gula Isin-Wall

Elayi, J. 1980 The Phoenician Cities in the Persian Period. Journalof theAncientNear EasternSociety12:13-28. 1982 Studies in Phoenician Geography During the Persian Period. Journal of NearEasternStudies41(2):83-110. 1987 Recherches sur les Cite'spheniciennes 7a l'Epoqueperse.Supplemento n.51 agli Annali47(2). Napoli: Instituto Universitario Orientale. Evans, H. E. 1958 PrenatalOssification in the Dog. TheAnatomicalRecord130:406. 1962 Fetal Growth and Skeletal Development in the Dog. AmericanZoologist 2:521. 1974 PrenatalDevelopment of the Dog. 24th GainesVeterinarySymposium, pp. 18-28.White Plains, New York: Gaines Dog ResearchCenter. Evans, H. E. and Christensen, G.C. 1979 Miller'sAnatomyof theDog. Second edition. Philadelphia:W. B. Saunders Company. Fuhr,I. 1977 Der Hund als Begleittierder G6ttin Gula und Anderer Heilgottheiten. Pp. 135-145in Isin-IganBahriyatI: Die ErgebnissederAusgrabungen 1973-1974,edited by B. Hrouda, et

Comment

Related dogs

Gaillard Hebrew University

al. Munich:BayerischeAkademie der Wissenschaften. Gaillard,C., and Daressy,G. de l'Antique 1905 LaFaune momifije Egypte.Cairo:Institut Frangais d'Archeologie Orientale. Gejvall, N.G. 1969 Lerna:TheFauna.Princeton:Princeton University Press. Grantham,B. 1992 ModernBuqataandAncientQasrin: TheEthnoarchaeology of Cuisinein the GolanHeights.M.A. Thesis, University of Alabama. Grantham,B. and Hesse, B. 1992 Cuisine and Bone Counts: Social Complexity and the Zooarchaeology of Canaan. Ms. to be published in a volume edited by G. Gummerman IV for the New Directions in Archaeology series, Cambridge University Press. Greenewalt, C. Jr. 1978 RitualDinnersin EarlyHistoric Sardis.Berkeley:University of Califirnia Press. Haas, N. 1971 Faunal Remains. Pp. 212-213in AshdodII-III.TheSecondand Third Seasonsof Excavations1963, 1965, Soundingsin 1967.cAtiqot9 -10

English Series, edited by M. Dothan. Jerusalem. Haddon, K. 1914 Report on a Small Collection of Mummy Dogs. Chapter5 (pp. 4048) in TheCemeteriesof Abydos,Part I. - 1909-1910:TheMixedCemetery and Ummel-Gacab, by E. Naville. London: Memoir 33, The Egypt ExplorationFund. Hamblin, N. L. 1984 AnimalUse by the CozumelMaya. Tucson:University of Arizona Press. Harcourt,R. A. 1974 The Dog in Prehistoricand Early Historic Britain.JournalofArchaeologicalScience1:151-175. Hare, W. C. D. 1959 RadiographicAnatomy of the Canine PectoralLimb, Part II. Developing Limb.Journalof the AmericanVeterinaryAssociation 135:305-316. 1961 The Ages at which the Centers of Ossification Appear Roentgenographically in the Limb Bones of the Dog. AmericanJournalof VeterinaryResearch22(90):825-835. Hesse, B. and Wapnish,P. 1985 AnimalBoneArcheology: FromObjectives to Analysis.Washington,D.C.: Taraxacum. Hull, D. B. 1964 HoundsandHunting in Ancient Greece.Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Jaques,J. 1986 Skeleton of the Dog: The Gazehound in Particular.A Comparative Study. SalukiHeritage10 & 11:34-44. Keller,O. 1909 Die AntikeTierwelt.ErsterBand: Stiugetiere.1963 reprint. Hildesheim: George Olms. Koudelka, F. 1885 Das Verhiltnis der Ossa longa zur Skeletthdhebei den Stiugetieren. derNaturforschungen Verhandlungen Ver.Briinn24:127-153. Kraus,R. 1975 Tierknochenfunde aus Bastamin Nordwest-Azerbaidjan /Iran. Inaugural Dissertation, University of Munich. Kussinger,S. 1988 Tierknochenfunde vomLidarHdyiikin Sudostanatolien, Grabungen19791986.InauguralDissertation, University of Munich. Levy, T. E. 1991 Dogs and Healing. BiblicalArchaeology Review17(6). Livingstone, A. 1986 MysticalandMythologicalExplanatoryWorksof Assyrianand Babylonian Scholars.Oxford:Oxford Uni

BiblicalArchaeologist56:2 (1993)

79

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Aim & Scope.Inrecentyearsthe Arabianpeninsulahasemerged as one of themajornew frontiers of archaeological researchin the OldWorld.Yetuntilnow,no journal devotedto the areaas a whole has existed. Arabian archaeology and epigraphy is intended to

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versity Press. 1988 The Isin 'Dog House' Revisited.Journal of CuneiformStudies40(1):54-60. Loat, L. 1904 Gurob.Egyptian ResearchAccounts, TenthYear,London. Lortet,L. Ch., and Gaillard,C. 1903 LaFaunemomifitede l'Ancienne Egypte.Memoir No. 2. Musee de Histoire Naturelle de Lyon, Vol. 8. McGovern, P. E. 1990 A Dye for God and Kings. Archaeology 43(2):33,76. Menzel, R. and Menzel, R. 1948 Observations on the PariahDog. Pp. 968-990in TheBookof theDog, edited by B. Vesey-Fitzgerald.Los Angeles: Borden Publishing Co. 1960 Pariahunde.Die Neue Brehm Bucherei.Wittenberg:A. Ziemsen. Meshorer,Y. 1983 Two Coins from the Rosenberger Collection. IsraelMuseumJournal 2:21-22. Miller,C. 1976 The Searchfor Truthin Gazehounds II and III.GazehoundMagazine, Jan/Feb and May/June. Morey,D. E 1992 Size, Shape and Development in the Evolution of the Domestic Dog. Science Journalof Archaeological 19:181-204. Olsen, S. J. 1985 Originsof theDomesticDog. Tucson, Az: The University of Arizona Press. Oppenheim, A.L., et al. 1971 TheAssyrianDictionary.Vol 8, K. Chicago:OrientalInstitute. Payne, S. 1983 The Animals Bones from the 1974 Excavationsat Douara Cave. Pp. 1108 in PaleolithicSiteof DouaraCave and Paleogeography of PalmyraBasin in Syria.Part3, edited by K. Hanihara and T. Okazawa. Bulletin of the University Museum, University of Tokyo,21. Tokyo:University of Tokyo. Peet, T. E. 1914 TheCemeteriesof Abydos,PartII. 1911-1912.London:Memoir 34, The Egypt ExplorationFund. Rauh, H. aus von 1981 Knochenfunde Siaugetieren demDemircihiiyiik(Nordwestanatolien).InauguralDissertation,University of Munich. Rawlinson, G., Translation 1935 TheHistoryof Herodotusof Halicarnassus;Revised and Annotated, A. W. Lawrence.London:Nonesuch Press. Seoudi, K. 1948 X-RayExaminationof Epiphyseal Union as an Aid to the Estimation

of Age in Dogs. BritishVeterinary Journal104:150-155. Silver,I. A. 1969 The Ageing of Domestic Animals. Pp. 250-268in Sciencein Archaeology,2nd edition, edited by D.R. Brothwell and E.S.Higgs. Chicago: Praeger. Steber,M. vom Takht-i1986 Tierknochenfunde Suleimanin deriranischenProvinz Azerbaidjan. InauguralDissertation, University of Munich. Stager,L. E. 1991a When Canaanites and Philistines ruled Ashkelon. BiblicalArchaeology Review17(2):24-43. 1991b Why WereHundreds of Dogs Buried at Ashkelon? BiblicalArchaeologyReview17(3):26-42. 1991c Eroticismand Infanticideat Ashkelon. BiblicalArchaeologyReview 17(4):34-53. Stockard,C.R. 1941 Genetic and EndocrineBasis for Differences in Form and Behavior as Elucidated in Studies of Contrasted Pure-LineDog Breeds and the Hybrids. AmericanAnatomical Memoirs19, Sect. III.Philadelphia: The WistarInstitute for Anatomy and Biology. Studer,T. 1901 Die prdihistorischenHunde in ihrer Beziehung zu den gegenwirtig lebenden Rassen. Abhandlungender SchweizerPalaeontologische GesellschaftZiirich28:1-137. Sumner-Smith,G. 1966 Obsevations on Epiphyseal Fusion of the Canine Appendicular Skeleton. Journalof SmallAnimalPractice 7:303-311. Watson,A. G., Evans, H. E. and de Lahunta,A. 1986 Ossification of the Atlas-Axis Complex in the Dog. AnatomicalHistologicalEmbryology15:122-138. Weiler,D. vom TellHes1981 Siiugetierknochenfunde banin Jordanien.InauguralDissertation, University of Munich. Williams, R. C. and Evans, H. E. 1978 PrenatalDental Development in the Dog, Canisfamiliaris:Chronology of Tooth Germ Formationand Calcification of Deciduous teeth. Anatomical HistologicalEmbryology7:152163. Wing, E. S. 1978 Use of Dogs as Food: An Adaptation to the Coastal Environment. Pp. 29-41 in PrehistoricCoastalAdaptations,edited by B. Starkand B. Voorhies.New York:Academic Press.

Economics with

an

Entrepreneurial Spirit: Early Bronze Trade with Late

Egypt Predynastic

By Timothy P. Harrison havebeen

attempts Numerous made to analyze the nature of Egyptian contact with southern Palestine at the beginning of the Early Bronze Age (EBA). A wide array of hypothetical reconstructions has been suggested, running the spectrum from simple reciprocal trade (e.g., Ward 1963, 1969; Helck 1962, 1979) to outright military domination (e.g., Yadin 1955; Yeivin 1960, 1963, 1967, 1968, and others).1 In spite of this attention, little progress has been made toward understanding the dynamics involved in the relationship between the two regions. Establishing the nature of contact and interaction between regions of differing cultural and economic development has long been a challenge to the explanatory capabilities of archaeology. Trying to trace the actual transfer of ideas and artifacts is exceedingly difficult to do archaeologically. A growing body of anthropological theory on the subject of exchange, as well as improved methods of archaeologically "sourcing" exchanged material, now makes such reconstructions more feasible (e.g., Earle and Ericson 1977; and Ericson and Earle 1982). The nature of regional interaction comes more clearly into focus when one approaches the subject from an explicitly economic perspective and analyzes the available material as evidence of an extensive trade or exchange network. When the flow of goods between Egypt and southern Palestine is traced across the physical

landscape, a detailed exchange network emerges, highlighting the demand for certain products, as well as how that demand was met. Analyzing the data from this perspective, one can discern two distinct and successive patterns of interaction between Egypt and southern Palestine. At the very outset of the EBA, before the appearance of complex

network of economic trading activity. Since chronological correlations between two regions are essential to any discussion of the nature of their interaction, a basic chronological framework needs to be in place before an examination of the archaeological evidence can begin. Fortunately, in the case of the EBA, much of the groundwork has already been laid, and it is now possible to make certain chronological connections between Late Predynastic Egypt and EBA Palestine. In the forthcoming revised edition of the Chronologiesin

Old WorldArchaeology (COWA)-the

most recent effort to establish chronological correlations between the two regions-the beginning of the EBA in southern Palestine, or EB IA, corresponds roughly with the Naqada II period in Egypt (ca. 3500-3300 BCE) (Stager n.d.).2 The nature of interaction between the two regions during this formative period of socio-economic development Comparative Chronology can now be examined in detail. (AdaptedfromCOWA) Palestine The archaeological evidence Egypt from Egypt will be reviewed EBIA (3500-3300 BCE) Gerzean/Naqada II first, followed by the material EBIB(3300-3100 BCE) Dynasty 0/Naqada III found in southern Palestine. EB11 BCE) (3100-2650 EBIII(2650-2250 BCE)

Dynasties I-III Dynasties IV-VI

A comparative chronology of EBAPalestine with Late PredynasticEgypt. Chronological correlations between two regions are essential to any discussion of the nature of their interaction. Inthe case of Egypt and Palestine, much time has been spent trying to establish these connections through shared presence, or absence, of distinctive ceramic traditions. It is from the most recent effort, the forthcoming revised edition of Chronologies in Old WorldArchaeology (COWA),to be published by the Universityof Chicago Press, that the dates listed here have been adapted.

levels of social organization, this trading activity seems to have been one of intermediary, or "middleman," exchange. With the onset of political unification in Egypt, however, this arrangement disappears and is replaced by a more centralized

Palestinian Goods In Egypt While it still may be somewhat premature to appreciate fully the broader implications of the results coming from the ongoing excavations at Buto (von der Way 1986, 1987, 1988, and 1989) and at a number of East Delta sites (van den Brink 1988 and 1989), the findings at Maadi (Rizkana and Seeher 1987, 1988, 1989, and 1990) and at Minshat Abu Omar (Kroeper and Wildung 1985; and Kroeper 1989) allow for certain conclusions to be drawn.

Maadi Situated on a Pleistocene terrace some 2 kilometers east of the Nile, the settlement of Maadi apparently extended for about 1.5 km along this terrace towards the river. Rather than representing one simultaneous occupation, the settlement was likely the result of a gradual shift carried out BiblicalArchaeologist56:2 (1993)

81

over a relatively lengthy period of time. Maadi's fit into the chronological sequence of the fourth millennium has drawn much attention. Some scholars have dated it to Naqada I (Kaiser 1956:99), and others to as late as Naqada III, or even the Early Dynastic period (Baumgartel 1970:483). However, the recent work of Rizkana and Seeher has now convincingly shown that Maadi was first settled in early Naqada I and continued to exist until late Naqada II (1984:250-252;1987:78-80;and 1989:80-85). During this period, Maadi was home to well-developed

agricultural practices, as a study of charred vegetable matter from the site reveals. Moreover, the faunal record indicates a high percentage of tame (or herd) animals, including goat, sheep, cow, and pig (Bokonyi 1985:495-499;and Caneva, Frangipane, and Palmieri 1987:106-107).The evidence points to a local subsistence economy capable of sustaining a population engaged in other, more specialized activities, such as craft production and trade. The existence of foreign Palestinian ceramic imports at Maadi has long been known and has factored

heavily in discussions about its place in the relative chronological sequence of Late Predynastic Lower Egypt. Designated Ware V, or "Palestinian Ware,"by the excavators, these imports were limited to one principal form: a globular jar with broad, flat base, high shoulder, and long, pronounced, cylindrical neck. Ledge- or lug-handles were usually found attached to the shoulder. Besides its unique form, the Ware V pottery also exhibited manufacturing techniques and clay compositions not found in local wares. Thirty-one complete jars were recovered, as well as numerous

Sea

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82

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BiblicalArchaeologist56:2 (1993)

other fragments (Rizkana and Seeher 1987:31-32). Petrographic analysis of a sample from this group has further confirmed the Palestinian origin of the Ware V tradition (Porat and Seeher 1988:224-225). Stylistically, the Ware V pottery can be placed comfortably into an EB IA context. But ceramics were not the only foreign manufactured goods found at Maadi. The excavations also produced a number of significant copper artifacts. Small pins, chisels, wire pieces, fishhooks, and two axeheads,

along with three large copper ingots, appeared among the processed copper objects. The presence of unprocessed copper ore suggests that at least some of the processed material was the result of local manufacture (Rizkana and Seeher 1989:13-18). Yet the original source of the copper ore itself remains uncertain. While it may have came from the Sinai, it more likely originated in the Wadi Feinan, or possibly even Timna in the Wadi Arabah (Pernicka and Hauptmann 1989:137-141;see also Weisger-

ber and Hauptmann 1988; and Hauptmann 1989). Fragments of a basalt spindle whorl and a V-shaped bowl, both made of a vesicular non-local basalt, were also submitted for petrographic analysis. Only spindle whorls and V-shaped bowls were found to be made of the porous stone, both vessel types commonly found at EB I sites in Palestine. The tests, conducted by two separate analysts, confirmed that the material was not of local origin and that at least some of the stone

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tions (above).Discoveredalong with numerousworkedcopperartifactsand unprocessedcopperore, these ingots indicate foreigncontact,probablywith the WadiFeinanin the Arabah.

1-

I

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r ! ,,/

Foreign Palestinian ceramic imports found during the excavations at Maadi

I

I

0

Drawingsfrom Rizkanaand Seeher 1989:pl.4:9-11.

I

20 cm

(left).DesignatedWareV,or "Palestinian Ware,"bythe excavators,these imports were limitedto one principleform:a globularjarwith broad,flat base, highshoulder,and long, pronouncedcylindricalneck. Ledge-or lug-handleswere usually attachedto the shoulder. Drawingsfrom Rizkanaand Seeher 1987:pl.75:4-9.

BiblicalArchaeologist56:2 (1993)

83

() O O

0

vessels originated in Palestine, the Galilee-Golan region, or even the Black Desert of Jordan (Porat and Seeher 1988:217, 227-228; and Rizkana and Seeher 1988:53, 57-58, and 64-65). A careful study of the chipped-stone industry at Maadi has also produced evidence of foreign trading activity. Of the four basic categories of flint found at the site, a tabular-like flint was determined to be of non-local origin. This flint probably came from southern Palestine, where tool types made from this material, namely tabular scrapers and Canaanean blades, are a well-known component of the EB material culture. Surprisingly however, the excavators found, rather than a few isolated pieces, hundreds of these tabular scrapers, as well as

84

BiblicalArchaeologist56:2 (1993)

30 cm

Tabularflint scrapers (above) and Caananean-type flint blades (right) found at Maadi.

Bothtool types are well-knowncomponentsof EBAmaterialculturein Palestine.The of the tabularscrapersfound in the presenceof largequantitiesat Maadi,particularly form of unusedblanks,emphasizesclose contactwith southernPalestine. Drawingsfrom Rizkanaand Seeher 1988:pl.49:1-4and pl.76:1-2.4-5.

several of the Canaanean blades. The blades had not been imported as blanks, like the scrapers, but apparently had already been hafted into sickles, and possibly knives, prior to their arrival at Maadi (Rizkana and Seeher 1985:235-255;and 1988:75). A model of down-the-line trade has already been constructed by Steve Rosen to explain the distribution of tabular scrapers in Palestine, with the source of the tool type originating somewhere in the western Negev (Rosen 1983:79-86). This trading activity in tabular scrapers obviously extended at least as far as the

Delta, however, and must reflect more then just down-the-line trade, if the exceptionally large quantity of tabular scrapers found at Maadi is to be accounted for. Other foreign imports included bitumen, usually assumed to have come from the Dead Sea region, and carnelian beads (Rizkana and Seeher 1985:253;and Hoffman 1979:203). Finally, it should be mentioned that the excavations produced the remains of domesticated donkeys (Bokonyi 1985:496-497;and Caneva, Frangipane and Palmieri 1987:107). The domesticated nature of the ani-

;o~

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A small group of enterprising Asiatics, or 'amw, presenting their wares in Egypt.

Thisfamousscene,fromthe MiddleKingdom Tombof KhnumhotepIIat Beni Hasanin Egypt,althoughfroma much latertime period(ca. 1900BCE) with different politicaland socio-economicrealities, neverthelessillustratesthe type of trading arrangementthat was probablyin place duringthe LatePredynastic period. Drawingfrom Newberry1893:pl.31.

contact between Maadi and Palestine sits squarely in the EB IA period.

Minshat Abu Omar

I4

mals suggests that they probably were being used as pack animals. When all the various lines of evidence are brought together-the Palestinian ceramic imports, the tabular scrapers, Canaanean blades, processed copper implements, basalt spindle whorls and V-shaped bowls, bitumen, carnelian beads, and the evidence for pack animals-there can be little doubt that Maadi was

cm

engaged in extensive trade with southern Palestine. The picture of Maadi that emerges is one of a trading center, or entrepot, where goods were being brought from the east and then locally distributed. Since the imported Palestinian pottery, and presumably the other foreign goods as well, all come from contexts dateable to Naqada II (Rizkana and Seeher 1987:78-80), the period of greatest

While perhaps not as dramatic as the finds from Maadi, the excavations at Minshat Abu Omar, located in the Eastern Delta, have nevertheless produced important evidence of contact with southern Palestine during the Late Predynastic period. Excavations at the site, situated on a sandy hill, or "turtleback", near the Pelusian Branch of the Nile, have been underway since 1978. In addition to a later Graeco-Roman settlement, a large Pre- and Early Dynastic cemetery has been found and seems to have been in use from Naqada IIC through Dynasty I. To date, some 370 graves have been investigated from this earlier cemetery. Of the roughly 2000 ceramic vessels so far recovered, 20 were clearly Palestinian imports. Apparently, most came from graves which, based on the locally made pottery, were dated to Naqada IIc-III(Kroeper 1988:11-12;and 1989:407-422).

BiblicalArchaeologist56:2 (1993)

85

A recent study of the Palestinian imports has distinguished several basic forms, with the material falling into two different time periods. A number of wavy-handled and loop-handled jars, along with a small pot and three variously spouted vessels, came from Naqada IIC-D contexts, while a spouted jug and four loop-handled jugs were dated to either Naqada III, or Dynasty I (Kroeper 1989:407-419).In keeping with the synchronisms used earlier,

this would link the first group of vessels to EB IA, and the second group to EB IB-EBII. Thus, it would appear that the individuals who used the Minshat Abu Omar cemetery were in contact with southern Palestine at roughly the same time as Maadi,

The distinctive Egyptian Black Ware "drop pots" found at numerous EBIA sites in southern Palestine. Exampleshave been found at Site H (MacDonald 1932:pl.40:44-46,59), Tel el-Erani(Brandl 1989:figs.10:1 and 14:2-3), and Lachish(Tufnell 1958:pls.56:19-20and 57:47), then Tel Halif Terrace(Seger et al. 1990:fig.6a), Azor (Perrot 1961:fig.40:14-15),and TaurIkhbeineh (Amiran 1976:fig.1). Scale of the pot drawings varies somewhat.

Sea of Galilee

Beth-shane

OAzor

Aii

JerichoH Jerusalemo

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SSite H

OT. HalifO

En Besor

86

BiblicalArchaeologist56:2 (1993)

although contact with with Maadi probably began earlier than it did at Minshat Abu Omar, and then continued at Minshat Abu Omar well after Maadi had ceased to exist.3 Since the Palestinian ceramic imports at Minshat Abu Omar form

Arad?

such a small percentage of the total assemblage so far recovered, the extent of foreign contact would appear to be minimal. However, until a settlement can be associated with the cemetery, such a conclusion is premature, since a settlement may very well contain many of the same foreign imports found at Maadi.4 In any case, the greater occurance of Gerzean pottery from Upper Egypt at Minshat Abu Omar probably reflects the growing economic and political

tine has long been known and has drawn considerable speculation about the nature of Egyptian activity in the area. Since most of this material has already been examined in greater detail elsewhere, only a brief review of the pertinent evidence will be given here.

Site H (Wadi Ghazzeh) Between 1929 and 1930, Eann MacDonald, in conjunction with Petrie's excavations at Tell el-Far'ah (S),

0.4.41,; ".1::::

Artifacts from the 1929-30 excavations at Site H in the Wadi Ghazzeh, a mollusc shell and catfish spikes. Takenfrom MacDonald1932:fig.26.

of Nile catfish (MacDonald 1932: pl. 26, lower register, upper left, 61; and pl. 40:44-46 and 59). Salvage work by Ram Gophna in 1976 produced even more evidence of contact with Egypt. A careful study of the Site H material has now convincingly dated the settlement to EB IA (Gophna 1976b:199; 1990:4-7; and Roshwalb 1981). Remarkably, much of the Egyptian material at Site H was also found to be common at Maadi. For example, the distinctive Black Ware "drop pots" discovered at Site H were found in abundance at Maadi (Rizkana and Seeher 1987:23-25, pl. 32). The presence of a variety of flint tool types, including some not represented in local assemblages but familiar at Maadi, indicates strong ties with the Egyptian chipped-stone industry. As for the mollusc shells and Nile catfish spikes, they were also recovered in significant numbers at Maadi, the spikes usually found stored in pots (Boessneck, von den Driesch, and Ziegler 1989:112-120, 125, pls. 30-32). The two sites were apparently in close contact with each other during the EB IA period and were clearly part of a larger and very active exchange network.

Tel el-Erani

So10

cm

Black ware "drop pots" from Maadi. Designated Ware I along with a Red Ware variety,

this highlyburnishedtype of potterywas found in abundanceat Maadiand was clearly partof an indigenousceramictradition. Drawingsfrom Rizkanaand Seeher 1987:pl.33:8-23.

involvement of the south in the affairs of the Delta region.

Egyptian Goods In Palestine The presence of Late Predynastic Egyptian pottery in southern Pales-

engaged in a number of sondages at a series of sites along the Nahal Besor (Wadi Ghazzeh). One of these, designated "Site H," produced a quantity of Egyptian ceramic material, as well as Nile mollusc shells and the spikes

The excavations at Tel el-Erani by Shmuel Yeivin between 1956 and 1961 were the first to provide stratified evidence of imported Egyptian goods in southern Palestine (Yeivin 1961). Although the final report of the project has not yet appeared and confusion over some of Yeivin's early interpretations still remains, certain conclusions are now possible. First, Late Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egyptian ceramic imports existed in large quantities at the site. This sequence of pottery documents a relationship which began at least as early as EB IA and continued until EB II, and possibly later (Weinstein 1984:67;and Brandl 1989). Other unambiguous evidence of interaction with Egypt includes two palettes, a Late Gerzean style copper axe, and traces of a local Egyptian BiblicalArchaeologist56:2 (1993)

87

flint tool industry (Brandl 1989:368; Weinstein 1984:64-65;and Rosen 1988). While it is still too soon to comprehend the full implications of the Egyptian material at Tel el-Erani, its intensive contact with Egypt during the EB IA period is clear. In addition to Site H and Tel el-Erani, Late Predynastic pottery has also been found in EB IA contexts at Taur Ikhbeineh (Amiran 1976), the Tel Halif Terrace (Seger, et. al. 1990:2-9;specifically, "Phase 7"), the

Northwest Settlement at Lachish (Tufnell 1958:39-41, 144-155, 253-275, and pls. 56:19-20 and 57:47), and Azor (Perrot 1961:figs. 40:14-15). It may eventually be found at other southern sites with EB IA levels, such as Nissanim Beach (Gophna 1979:136-137, and 1990:5), Palmahim Quarry (Gophna 1968:132-133;Reich 1990:144;Braun 1991:17-19;and also Wolff 1991:502-503), and Hartuv (Mazar and de Miroschedji 1988:84, 1989:110-112;and Wolff 1991:502).

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North Sinai Expedition Finally, evidence in the northern Sinai has produced an all-important link in the exchange network between southern Palestine and Egypt. In the course of systematically surveying the landscape between modern Raphia and Qantara, the North Sinai Expedition discovered a string of EB I-II sites stretching across this rather barren strip of land (Oren 1973 and 1989). The expedition recorded nearly 250 such sites, which were usually found concentrated in clusters of 10-20 sites and averaged only about 1.5 dunams in size. The settlements contained storage, cooking, and baking facilities, as well as a wealth of Egyptian and Palestinian pottery. The Egyptian material consisted of Late Predynastic and Early Dynastic (Naqada II-IIIand Dynasty I) pottery. It included substantial numbers of transport containers, bread molds, and baking trays. The Palestinian pottery was typical of southern Palestinian EB I-II assemblages. It consisted mainly of wavy-handled storage jars. A number of manufactured goods appeared, including alabaster and other stone vessels and a sizeable quantity of both Egyptian and Palestinian flint tools (Oren 1989:393-400).Known in later times as the "Way of Horus," this important overland bridge must have served as the primary route for the EB IA traders passing between Egypt and southern Palestine.

A Nile mollusc shell and Nile catfish spikes found at Maadi. The spikes were often found stored in pots. Found also at the Palestinian Site H, the spikes and shells evidence close contact between the two sites. FromRizkanaand Seeher 1989:pls.30and 31.

88

BiblicalArchaeologist56:2 (1993)

Economics with an EntrepreneurialSpirit This brief survey shows that the two-way flow of

trade goods between southern Palestine and Lower Egypt operated on an impressive scale by the EB IA period. An elaborate exchange network was already in place by this time. But can

we describe the dynamics of how the system worked and what spurred it on? In a landmark paper on the dynamics of trade, Colin Renfrew has identified at least ten different modes b

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Ten different modes of exchange and their spatial implications. Circlesa and b indicate

respectivelythe point of originand the placeof receiptof the commodity;squaresA and B indicatethe personat the sourceand the recipient.Circlep is a centralplace,squarePa centralperson.Exchangetransactionsare indicatedby a cross,territorialboundariesby a broken line. Takenfrom Renfrew 1975:42.

of exchange (1975:41-51). Of these, his seventh type, "Freelance Middleman Trading," most closely fits the situation reflected in the archaeological record of EB IA southern Palestine and Egypt. In this exchange model, the spatial distribution of trade items will follow a less rapid "fall-off pattern" than other configurations, such as down-the-line exchange, which is characteristic of simple reciprocal trade networks (Renfrew 1975:48-49). In other words, a trade item will not necessarily be found in progressively smaller amounts the farther removed it gets from its source, but rather will survive in proportionately large quantities by the time it reaches the end of the trade line. This is precisely what we have seen at Maadi and at settlements like Site H and Tel el-Erani in southern Palestine. Foreign imports were found in large quantities at each of these sites, in spite of having passed through the long line of settlements strung out across the northern Sinai. In all likelihood, as Larry Stager has recently suggested, a specific group of traders was engaged in delivering the desired goods between the two population centers. This group was familiar with both the local terrain and the changing demand for various products (1985:173, n.3; and Stager n.d.). A similar arrangement may be reflected in the famous scene from the Middle Kingdom tomb of Khnumhotep II at Beni Hasan, where a small group of enterprising Asiatics, or 'amw, are seen presenting their goods in Egypt (Newberry 1893:pls. 30-31; on the 'amw,see Redford, 1986). Although this scene comes from a much later time period with different political and socio-economic realities, it does reflect a very old exchange system. The evidence of domesticated donkey at Maadi, along with representations elsewhere of donkeys laden with transport containers (Amiran 1985:190-192 and pl. 46:3-4), sheds further light on how the goods were transported. By the Late Predynastic Period, trade goods BiblicalArchaeologist56:2 (1993)

89

were being brought to central locations in Lower Egypt, such as Maadi, which functioned as entrepdts from which these goods could then be distributed more effectively to local settlements. Reciprocally, at the opposite end of the line, Site H, or perhaps even Taur Ikhbeinah, probably served as the principal entry point into southern Palestine. From there, Egyptian goods could be dispersed northward along local trade routes, passing through coastal sites such as Nissanim Beach, Palmahim Quarry, and Azor, as well as travelling inland along major wadi systems to such sites as the Tel Halif Terrace, Tel el-Erani, Lachish, Hartuv, and any other as yet undiscovered EB IA hinterland settlements. If this economic exchange between southern Palestine and Lower Egypt was indeed the result of a freelance middleman operation, and not of military domination, what then was the driving force behind this commercial activity? In Egypt, the efforts at political consolidation in the south had apparently not yet reached Lower Egypt by the Naqada II period (Trigger 1983:47-49). Hence, settlements in the Delta, such as Maadi and possibly Buto, would have been in a position to engage in independent and relatively undisturbed economic activity. Enterprising "merchants" were able to undertake "commercial" ventures without the interference typical of a more centralized political environment.5 If this was indeed the case, as the archaeological record would seem to indicate, then the trading activity documented above can be seen as the personal risk-taking of "private" entrepreneurs seeking to secure a profit. Similar socio-political conditions in EB IA Palestine allowed for a reciprocal arrangement from that end (Richard 1987). Thus, an intricate exchange network developed over time, with the forces of supply and demand driving the exchange. Eventually, however, this system became too profitable for it to remain 90

BiblicalArchaeologist56:2 (1993)

outside the control of more powerful political forces. Indeed, studies have shown that in situations such as this, political elites will usually move to control economic activity in order to enhance and secure their own political power (Smith 1976). This is what must have occurred in the Delta

region. The "Maadi Culture" came to an end by the following Naqada III period, replaced by a more uniform cultural tradition encompassing both Upper Egypt and the Delta (Trigger 1983:49). The efforts at political consolidation in the south had now expanded north into Lower Egypt,

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A reconstruction of the probable local trade routes in southern Palestine during the

EBIAperiod,as indicatedby the presenceof Egyptianforeigngoods.

and the unification of Egypt was underway. The impact of these political changes must have been felt in southern Palestine as well. Indeed, there was a dramatic increase from the preceeding period in the volume of Egyptian material found at EB IB sites. This includes the appearance of pottery inscribed with the serekh(a hieroglyphic representation of a ruler's royal name) of a number of Egyptian rulers (Gophna 1987:13-16). After having secured the Egyptian end of the trade network, the new political establishment probably sought to control the entire system, although not necessarily through direct military action. As Egyptian society attained greater complexity, the demand for Palestinian goods increased, and the efforts to acquire, or extract, these goods intensified. The effect of this increased contact was transformative, with the force of Egypt's increased economic interest in southern Palestine serving as the catalyst, propelling EBA society to new levels of social complexity. By the EB II period, the fragmented and decentralized social structure of the EB I had been replaced by a more centralized and stratified urban society (Esse 1989:90-93;see also Joffe 1991). The impact of sustained economic contact with Egypt had transformed the very social fabric of EBA society.

Acknowledgement This paper was presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Schools of Oriental Research, held in Kansas City in November 1991. I would like to dedicate it to the memory of Doug Esse, whose scholarship, devoted teaching, and friendship were a source of inspiration to me. Also, I wish to thank Colin Renfrew, who graciously permitted the use of this chart of the various modes of trade, and Prof. Ibrahim Rizkana for granting permission to reproduce the illustrations of the important material from Maadi.

Endnotes 1 More recent attempts to synthesize the available evidence include Ben Tor 1982, 1986, 1991;Davis 1981;de Cree 1991; Gophna 1976a, 1987;Schulman 1989; Tutundzic 1989;Ward 1991;Weinstein 1984; Wright 1985. 2 Prior to the forthcoming revision of COWA,the basic studies on Egyptian and Palestinian ceramic correlationswere Kantor 1942, 1965;and Hennessy 1967. 3 For a slightly differentview, see Tutundzic 1989:428-430. 4 Recent augering in the vicinity has produced some Neolithic and Predynasticmaterial, although proper excavations have yet to be carriedout (Krzyzaniak1988and 1989). 5 The undifferentiatedtreatmentof burials in the adjacentcemetery at Maadi (Rizkana and Seeher 1990:22-27),usually indicative of a low level of social stratification,reflects this lack of any strong centralized political control and contrasts sharply with burial practises in Upper Egypt, where differential access to status goods was accentuated (Bard1987:89-93).

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Kroeper,K. and Wildung, D. 1985 MinshatAbu Omar,MunchnerOstVorbericht delta-Expedition, 1978-1984.Munich:Staatliche Sammlung Agyptischer Kunst. Krzyzaniak,L. 1988 Researchon the location of the Predynastic settlement at Minshat Abu Omar.Paper presented at the Fifth InternationalCongress of Egyptology, Cairo. 1989 Recent archaeologicalevidence on the earliest settlement in the eastern Nile Delta. Pp. 267-285in LatePrehistoryof theNile Basinand the Sahara,edited by L. Krzyzaniakand M. Kobusiewicz. Poznan: Muzeum Archeologiczne w Poznaniu. MacDonald, E. 1932 Beth-PeletII:PrehistoricFara.London: BritishSchool of Archaeology in Egypt. Mazar,A., and de Miroschedji,P. 1988 Hartuv.IsraelExplorationJournal 38:84. 1989 Hartuv.IsraelExplorationJournal 39:110-112. Newberry, P. E. 1893 BeniHasanI. London: Egyptian ExplorationSociety. Oren, E. 1973 The Overland Route Between Egypt and Canaan in the EarlyBronze Age, A PreliminaryReport.Israel ExplorationJournal23:198-205. 1989 Early Bronze Age Settlement in Northern Sinai:A Model for Egypto-CanaaniteInterconnections. de la Pp. 389-405in L'urbanisation Palestinea l'agedu Bronzeancien, edited by P. de Miroschedji.Series: BARInternationalSeries, 527. Oxford:BAR. Pernicka,E., and Hauptmann, A. 1989 Chemische und mineralogische Analyse einiger Erz- und Kupferfunde von Maadi. Pp. 137-141in MaadiIII.TheNon-lithicSmallFinds and theStructuralRemainsof thePredynasticSettlement,I. Rizkana and J. Seeher.Mainz am Rhein:Philipp von Zabern. Perrot,J. 1961 Une Tombe a Ossuaires du IVeMillenaire a Azor, pres de Tel-Aviv. Atiqot(English) 3:1-83. Porat,N. and Seeher,J. 1988 PetrographicAnalyses of Pottery and Basaltfrom PredynasticMaadi. Mitteilungendes DeutschenArchaeologischenInstitutsAbteilungKairo 44:215-228. Redford,D. 1986 Egypt and WesternAsia in the Old Kingdom. Journalof theAmerican ResearchCenterin Egypt23:125-132.

Reich, R. 1990 Palmahim. Excavationsand Surveys in Israel,1988-897-8:144. Renfrew,C. 1975 Tradeas Action at a Distance: Questions of Integrationand Communication. Pp. 3-59 in AncientCivilization and Trade,edited by J. A. Sabloff and C. C. Lamberg-Karlovsky. Albuquerque:University of New Mexico Press. Richard,S. 1987 The Early Bronze Age; The Rise and Collapse of Urbanism. Biblical Archaeologist50:24-27. Rizkana I., and Seeher,J. 1984 New Light on the Relation of Maadi to the Upper Egyptian Cultural Sequence. Mitteilungendes DeutschenArchaeologischen Instituts AbteilungKairo40:237-252. 1985 The Chipped Stones at Maadi:Preliminary Reassessment of a Predynastic Industry and its Long-Distance Relations.Mitteilungendes DeutschenArchaeologischen Instituts AbteilungKairo41:235-255. 1987 MaadiI. ThePotteryof thePredynastic Settlement.Mainz am Rhein:Philipp von Zabern. 1988 MaadiII. TheLithicIndustriesof the PredynasticSettlement.Mainz am Rhein:Philipp von Zabern. 1989 MaadiIII.TheNon-lithicSmallFinds and theStructuralRemainsof thePredynasticSettlement.Mainz am Rhein:Philipp von Zabern. 1990 MaadiIV ThePredynasticCemeteries of Maadiand WadiDigla. Mainz am Rhein: Philipp von Zabern. Rosen, S. A. 1983 TabularScraperTrade:A Model of Material Cultural Dispersion. Bulletin of theAmericanSchoolsof Oriental Research249:79-86. 1988APreliminaryNote on the Egyptian Component of the Chipped Stone Assemblage from Tel 'Erani.Israel ExplorationJournal38:105-116. 1989 The Analysis of EarlyBronze Age Chipped Stone Industries:A Summary Statement.Pp. 199-222in L'urbanisation de la Palestinea l'age du Bronzeancien,edited by P. de Miroschedji.Series:BAR International Series, 527. Oxford:BAR. Roshwalb, A. 1981 Protohistoryin the WadiGhazzeh:A and Technological Typological Study Basedon theMacdonaldExcavations. Ph.D. Diss., University of London. Schulman, A. R. 1989 At the Fringe:The Historiography and Historicity of the Relations of Egypt and Canaan in the Early Bronze Age I. Pp. 433-453in

L'urbanisation de la Palestinea l'agedu Bronzeancien,edited by P. de Miroschedji.Series:BAR Interna tional Series, 527. Oxford:BAR. Seger,J. D., et al. 1990 The Bronze Age Settlements at Tell Halif: Phase II Excavations, 1983-1987.Bulletinof theAmerican Schoolsof OrientalResearch.Supplement26:1-32. Smith, C. A. 1976 Exchange Systems and the Spatial Distribution of Elites:The Organization of Stratificationin Agrarian Societies. Pp. 309-374in Regional Analysis.Vol.II:SocialSystems, edited by C. A. Smith. New York: Academic Press. Stager,L. 1985 The Firstfruitsof Civilization. Pp. 172-187in Palestinein theBronzeand IronAges:Papersin Honourof Olga Tufnell,edited by J. N. Tubb.London: Institute of Archaeology. n.d. The Periodization of Palestine From Neolithic Through Early Bronze in Old World Times. In Chronologies Archaeology,rev. ed., edited by R. W. Ehrich.Chicago:University of Chicago Press. Trigger,B. G. 1983 The Rise of Egyptian Civilization. Pp. 1-70 in AncientEgypt:A Social History,edited by B. G. Trigger,et. al. Cambridge:Cambridge University Press. Tufnell,O. 1958 LachishIV.TheBronzeAge. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Tutundzic,S. P. 1989 Relations Between Late Predynastic Egypt and Palestine:Some Elements and Phenomena. Pp. 423-432in de la Palestinea l'agedu L'urbanisation Bronzeancien,edited by P. de Miroschedji.Series:BAR International Series, 527. Oxford:BAR. van den Brink,E. C. M. 1989ATransitionalLate Predynastic-Early Dynastic Settlement Site in the Northeastern Nile Delta, Egypt. Mitteilungendes DeutschenArchaeologischenInstitutsAbteilungKairo 45:55-108. van den Brink,E. C. M. ed. 1988 TheArchaeology of theNile Delta, Egypt:ProblemsandPriorities.Amsterdam: Netherlands Foundationfor ArchaeologicalResearchin Egypt. von der Way,T. 1986 Tell el-Fara'in-Buto1. Bericht.Mitteilungendes DeutschenArchaeologischenInstitutsAbteilungKairo 42:191-212. 1987 Tellel-Fara'in-Buto2. Bericht.Mitteilungendes DeutschenArchaeologischen

InstitutsAbteilungKairo43:241-257. 1988 Tell el-Fara'in-Buto3. Bericht.Mitteilungendes DeutschenArchaeologischenInstitutsAbteilungKairo 44:283-306. 1989 Tellel-Fara'in-Buto4. Bericht.Mitteilungendes DeutschenArchaeologischen InstitutsAbteilungKairo45:275-307. Ward,W. A. 1963 Egypt and the East Mediterranean from PredynasticTimes to the End of the Old Kingdom. Journalof the Economicand SocialHistoryof theOrient 6:1-57. 1969 The Supposed Asiatic Campaign of Narmer.Melangesde l'Universite 45:205-221. Saint-Joseph 1991 Early Contacts Between Egypt, Canaan, and Sinai:Remarkson the Paper by Ammon Ben-Tor.Bulletin of theAmericanSchoolsof Oriental Research281:11-26. Weinstein,J. M. 1984 The Significanceof TellAreini for Egyptian-PalestinianRelations at the Beginning of the Bronze Age. Bulletinof theAmericanSchoolsof OrientalResearch256:61-69. Weisgerber,G., and Hauptmann, A. 1988 EarlyCopper Mining and Smelting in Palestine. Pp. 52-62, in TheBeginning of the Use of MetalsandAlloys, edited by R. Maddin. Cambridge, MA: MITPress. Wolff, S. 1991 Archaeology in Israel.American Journalof Archaeology95:489-538. M. Wright, 1985 Contacts Between Egypt and Syro-PalestineDuring the Protodynastic Period. BiblicalArchaeologist 48:240-253. Yadin, Y. 1955 The EarliestRecord of Egypt's Military Penetrationinto Asia? Israel ExplorationJournal5:1-16. Yeivin, S. 1960 Early Contacts Between Canaan and Egypt. IsraelExplorationJournal 10:193-203. 1961 FirstPreliminaryReporton theExcavationsat TelGat (TellSheykh'Ahmed al-'Areyny),Seasons1956-1958. Jerusalem:Sivan Press. 1963 FurtherEvidence of Narmer at 'Gat'. OriensAntiquus2:205-213. 1967ANew ChalcolithicCulture at Tel 'Eraniand its Implications for Early Egypto-CanaaniteRelations. Pp. 45-48 in Vol. 1 of FourthWorldCongressof JewishStudies.Jerusalem: World Union of Jewish Studies. 1968 Additional Notes on the EarlyRelations Between Canaan and Egypt. Journalof Near EasternStudies 27:37-50.

I

Understanding

Jewish Life through Archaeological Findings Roland Deines Jiidische Steingefiide und pharisiiische Froimmigkeit Ein archiologisch-historischer Beitrag zum Verstindnis von Joh 2,6 und der jiidischen Reinheitshalacha zur Zeit Jesu The book analyses Jewish stone vessels from the last decades of the 2nd Temple Period as evidence for the strong influence of a pharisaic inspiredpiety in Jewish society. These vessels are also mentioned in the New Testament (Joh 2:6) and proves that the author of the 4th Gospel is well acquainted with Jewish purity practices which have been observed in the decades before 70 CE. 1993. XIX, 322 pages (Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 2. Reihe 52). ISBN 3-16-146022-7 paper $ 61.00 (est.) - February

Companion to Samaritan Studies Edited by Alan D. Crown, Reinhard Pummer, Abraham Tal The work is an encyclopaedic dictionary of the Samaritans: their history, life practices, belief, society, anthropology, art, folklore, cult, culture, literature, law and languages. The articles were written by established leaders in the field. 1993. 320 pages (est.). ISBN 3-16145666-1 cloth $ 112.50 - April The Samaritans Edited by Alan D. Crown 1989. XXI, 865 pages. ISBN 3-16145237-2 cloth $ 249.00 In NorthAmerica these books are available from CoronetBooks Inc., 311 BainbridgeStreet,Philadelphia, PA 19147, U.S.A.,Phone (215) 9252762 ARTIBUS IN

J.C.B.MOHR (PAUL SIEBECK) J.ARIU SIs TUBINGEN I&

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The

Samaria

Ivories, Marzeahi,and Biblical Text By Eleanor Ferris Beach

he marzeahwas an association for periodic religious celebrations that included families, houses, and vineyards, was identified with specific deities, and sometimes featured feasts and sacral sexual orgies (Pope 1972:193). Several biblical passages mention a marzeah, including Amos 6:4-7: Alas for those who lie upon beds of ivory, and lounge on their couches, and eat lambs from the flock, and calves from the midst of the stall; who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp, and like David improvise instruments of music; who drink wine from bowls, and anoint themselves with the finest oils, but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph! Therefore they shall now be the first to go into exile, and the marzeah(revelry) of the loungers shall pass away (NRSV). The ivory carvings excavated from Samaria, to which Amos alluded in his eighth-century oracles to the last northern dynasty, are among the best known Iron Age remains from Israelite territory. Art historians have compared them extensively with Phoenician carvings found elsewhere in the ancient Near East. Philip King described them as the symbolic backdrop for the marzeah,designs inlaid on the ritual furniture for this occasion (1988a and 1988b:139-49). To my knowledge, the Samaria ivories have not been used as iconographic resources for interpreting the 94

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marzeahitself or for explaining biblical passages that might have been influenced by it. In the past, scholars have virtually ignored these visual artifacts and instead have concentrated on literary approaches to help explain the biblical texts. I believe that some of Samaria's badly damaged specimens may well have been on such festal couches, that the designs were meaningful religious symbols and not just decorations, and that their significance is instructive about the marzeahand biblical allusions to it. In this study, I take into account the principle of context in ways more familiar to archaeologists and textual scholars than to art historians-the proximity of a group of elements constitutes an assemblage (archaeology) or artistic structure (literature) which affects signification. A key to comparing products of different artistic media-visual and literary-is to establish grounds for comparing corporate features of the assemblage, not only or principally the development of its individual components. So I offer the following study to test this approach, as well as to examine the iconography of Samaria's ivories and the marzeah.

Archaeology: Comparing Designs and Locations To move beyond the commonplace identification of Samaria's designs with Egyptian or Phoenician deities and motifs, the functions and symbolism of the carvings must be recreated and investigated. Since

they were excavated in highly fragmentary condition, dissociated from any architectural features, and imbedded in debris that had picked up intrusions as late as the Hellenistic period, the Samaria ivories alone do not provide a sufficient archaeological basis from which to conduct this investigation. As a result, they must be compared with contemporary Iron Age ivory collections from a dozen other ancient Near Eastern sites to reconstitute a hypothetical assemblage. The designs provide the most obvious basis for comparison. Perhaps surprisingly, out of the dozens of images used on ivories, the motifs common to Samaria and even two or three of the other sites are relatively limited. Nimrud, Arslan-Tash, and Khorsabad yield the closest iconographic comparisons, both in motif and in the style designated as Phoenician rather than north Syrian or Assyrian. This corpus also shares other characteristics-carving technique (which is more often relief or openwork than cloisonn6 or champlev6), approximate size of the rectangular plaques, and tenons as mounting devices, which suggests they were inserted into wooden furniture frames. A further requirement that the carvings in this raw grouping must come from a single locus at each site, which improves chances that they were applied to the same or related pieces of furniture, narrows the field of designs even more. (For study of Phoenician furniture-making techniques, see Gubel 1987.) At Khorsabad, the three identifiable motifs having counterparts at Samaria are found together in the Nabu temple: the woman at the window, human-headed sphinxes, and winged figures holding a flower. At Nimrud, the situation is more complex. Hundreds of ivories representing many artistic styles from a 150-year period were unearthed in several sections of the city, and they have not been fully published. The overlapping prerequisites of common design and coherent locus eliminate

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00

many of the plaques, leaving for analysis the deposits in a small section of the North West Palace. The basic assemblage consists of the woman at the window, cow and calf, figures binding or grasping lotus, infant on a flower, and sphinx. According to Richard Barnett (1957:111),the carvings "originally belonged to some single scheme of decoration in ivory, chiefly by panels, such as a 'suite' or even a single large piece of furniture or panelling of a room." The scene is repeated at Arslan-Tash in the "Batiment aux Ivoires," a smaller but significant residence adjacent to the final Assyrian palace. The repertoire of motifs is by now familiar: woman at the window, cow and calf, infant on a lotus, and a few others. Particularly noteworthy is the marking in the soil of two wooden frames, the rectangular outlines of beds on which the ivories had been mounted. At these and many other sites, Phoenician ivories have been found in a wide variety of loci-tombs, temple deposits, women's quarters, and warehouses. The three groups of this study, however, were found at a distinctive location. At Khorsabad,

Selected ivories from Samaria: sphinx in

a lotusswamp,in openwork;infanton a lotus,in cloisonne;woman at the window, reliefcarving.Theseplaquesdemonstrate the rangeof Phoenicianivorycarvingtechniquesas well as illustratingsignificantmotifs. Thewoman at the window specimenis smallerand rougherthan those found at other sites, but fragmentsof framesin the finerstylewere also excavatedat Samaria. Tenonson the sphinxwere usedto attach the plaqueto a wooden frame. Photos courtesyof the Palestine ExplorationFund.

the locus is a hallway or room between forecourt and central court of the Nabu temple, one of several

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structures in the citadel of Sargon II's new capital. This is an unlikely location for the long-term storage of booty or tribute; it suggests rather that the objects were in place for use or for timely relocation to the adjacent courtyard. In Nimrud's North West Palace, the ivories were found in two interior chambers (V, W) adjacent to royal court (Y) and the passage linking them. The Arslan-Tash collection was grouped in a reception room near the door of a passageway between the inner and (no longer extant) outer courts. This clustering of so many features seems more than coincidental. By identifying carvings having similar designs, production techniques, and find spots, the investigation yields a limited conventional repertoire of motifs in the heart of royal ceremonial architecture. These were apparently inlaid on furniture poised for use in the smaller chambers or for easy removal to nearby courtyards. This practice is documented by a text from Nineveh which specifies that a royal banquet opened with the arrival of the king's table and couch; the feast closed with the removal of the princes' and nobles' tables (Oates BiblicalArchaeologist56:2 (1993)

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Characteristics of the Marzeah Marzeahis a technical term for a religious association and its observances. Marvin Pope (1972:193) succinctly defined it as: a social and religious institution which included families, owned property, houses for meetings and vineyards for wine supply, was associated with specific deities, and met periodically, perhaps monthly, to celebrate for several days at a stretch with food and drink and sometimes, if not regularly, with sacral sexual orgies. The marzeahis documented in texts from Ugarit, in the Hebrew Bible, and in Phoenician, Elephantine, Nabatean, and Palmyrene sources as well as in talmudic and midrashic comments (Bryan 1973). Nevertheless, two significant elements elude definitive description: was it an occasion for memorializ-

ing the dead, and did its rites involve sacred sexual intercourse? David Bryan's most cautious interpretation finds that "theories which link the nmarzeah to the special purpose of commemorating the dead have gone beyond the evidence" (1973:abstract).Most other scholars find at least hints of such purposes in the Ugaritic Rephaim texts in which shades of the dead are invited to dine (Greenfield 1976:452;P. Miller 1971:45;Pope 1977:219;P. Miller 1987:63). There are clearer references to memorializing the departed in biblical, Nabatean, and rabbinic texts. Pope is the primary exponent of a sexual element, which he identifies from the Ugaritic Rephaim texts through rabbinic accounts that identify the Baal Peor incident in Numbers 25 with sacrifices to the dead and sexual acts (1977:210-29). The principal attributes of first

1963:34, note 66). What more can be said about a ceremonial occasion?

Function Samos A much published wall relief from t.Ida LIndos Ashurbanipal's NinSalams (i eveh palace illustrates an ornately Mediterranean Sea carved couch on Sarepta which the king is Megiddo. Lachis reclining at a garden feast shared by a crowned lady, who sits on a throne with Distribution of Phoenician ivory carving. footstool. The woman at the window and lions adorn the couch, and winged sphinxes decorate a box on the table between king and lady. On honoring Ishtar with the grisly trothe basis of a text perhaps intended phy of a rebel's head hung in a to refer to this scene, Barnett nearby tree (for an alternative inter(1957:130-31) interprets it as a sacred pretation, see Albenda 1977:45). The biblical record also names a marriage banquet from the akitu rites,

96

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millennium marzeah,communal eating, drinking, and remembering/naming the dead, link it with a Mesopotamian rite, the kispu. The kispu has been traced through Amorite heritage to the First Dynasty of Babylon (Greenfield 1973; Pope 1977:175) and was celebrated even in the pre-Sargonid era as a new moon ritual through the neo-Babylonian period (Finkelstein 1966:117). At least one text demonstrates that royal genealogies were preserved as ancestral lists to be recited at a service to which the spirits of unnamed valiant soldiers, princes, and princesses were invited, perhaps on the occasion of a more inclusive kispu, for instance a coronation (Finkelstein 1966:116). "Le kispu est i la fois un devoir religieux et un signe de l'gitimite" ("The kispu is both a religious duty and a sign of legitimacy." Greenfield 1973:49).

ceremonial setting for ivory furniture, the reference to the marzeahin Amos 6:4-7: Alas for those who lie upon beds of ivory, and lounge on their couches, and eat lambs from the flock, and calves from the midst of the stall; who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp,... who drink wine in bowls and anoint themselves with the finest oils, but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph! Therefore they shall now be the first to go into exile, and the marzeahof the loungers shall pass away. Elsewhere in the prophetic litera-

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ture, Ezekiel witnesses preparations for feasting in a room with engraved wall designs near the temple courtyard-the second abomination (Ezek 8:7-13). The archaeological evidence of carved ivory panels in just such rooms adjacent to courts in temples and palaces may support an interpretation of this occasion as a marzeah. (Ackerman 1990). The association of relief carvings and marzeahis also known outside the biblical allusions. Barnett (1957:125, 131) calls attention to the discovery of ivory beds at Zinjirli in the triclinium, a banqueting chamber (he says, marzeah)with benches along the walls. Without rehearsing the entire marzeahdebate, let me state that I agree with those who see a strong memorial element in biblical references to it. Both the Amos passage and Jeremiah's restriction from entering the beit marzeah(Jer 16:5-9) have funerary contexts. In Amos, the celebrants at this "revelry" are condemned because their observance fails in its appropriate purpose, grieving for the ruin of Joseph. Jeremiah is barred from what seems to be a normal activity for supporting mourners, and he foretells that Judah will be overwhelmed by so many

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deaths that such rituals for grieving and maintaining ties with the departed will be abandoned. While carved ivory beds may not have been used only in such rites, Amos certainly presumes that for his noble audience at Samaria, an allusion to marzeahand ivories was rhetorically meaningful because of their connotations in an actual memorial setting. What were these rhetorical connotations? How may the cluster of ivory motifs illuminate the symbolic tone of the occasion?

Iconography i:-

Ivories from the Nabu temple, Khorsabad.

Thewoman at the window,sphinxes,and standingwinged figureswere the only designsidentifiablein the burnedcarvings excavatedfromthe foyer between inner and outercourtsof the temple.The absenceof recognizableEgyptiandeities fromthis and the other ivoryremainsat Khorsabadmaybe explainedif the carvingswere speciallycommissionedby Sargon to furnishhis new capital,ratherthan being tributereceivedfromthe west. Photos courtesyof the OrientalInstitute, Universityof Chicago.

Before publication of the ivory collections from Samaria, Arslan-Tash, and Khorsabad in the 1930s, art historical evaluation had judged Phoenicia's derivative and imitative Egyptianizing style as "a mere Mischkunst,a debased confusion of Mesopotamian and Egyptian artistic and religio-cultural motifs, mainly misunderstood" (Barnett 1982:54). The Phoenicians' commercial success was credited to "their special skill... as adapters of the art of others and as decorators of surfaces and inventors of ingenious structural solutions" (Barnett 1957:56). I think there is more to it than this, that by becoming the BiblicalArchaeologist56:2 (1993)

97

graphic designers for nobility in the Levant, the Phoenicians also became their iconographers. Close comparative material for the ivory motifs of the cluster occurs on faience chalices from the Tinma el-Gebel necropolis near Hermopolis (XXIIndDynasty, 945-715 BCE)and on Phoenician metal bowls from the Mediterranean region. The lotiform faience chalices, a reconstructed set of 42 often fragmentary vessels (Tait 1963), feature relief designs with striking counterparts in the most Egyptianizing images from Samaria: classic cow and calf alternate with fish on a fragment (Chalice XVII) otherwise filled with explicitly symbolic designs: dancing Bes, enthroned king, Hapy holding the palm branches of millions of years of life and power (usually held by Heh, god of eternity). The seeming realism of several marsh scenes which feature cows and calves is belied by the characteristic Hathor disk between the horns of one cow whose calf approaches, perhaps to nurse; on the same vase, cow and calf are poignantly separated (Chalice X). Banquets and military victories are also common. Infant on a lotus and framed Hathor head appear on several pieces (infant:XXIII,XXIV; Hathor XXVI, XXVII,XXXII).Infant on a lotus with winged attendants also appears on related faience spacers (BM 36071, BM 26233, Eton 458), of which Eton 458 also displays the framed Hathor head. In Egyptian paintings, these chalices based on the form of the blue lotus are never shown being used as common drinking cups but as cult vessels in the ritual of the dead (Tait 1963:99). Their symbolism corresponds quite well to their apparent memorial context. Hathor is the wild Cow of the West who greets the declining sun and the deceased king, nursing her newborn pharaoh-calf; the infant on a lotus represents the rebirth of the sun, also identified with pharaoh; Bes attends births and Hapy of the fertile inundation offers long life; the fish nibbling lotus 98

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flower stems is Inet, "the image of being, in gestation before rebirth" (Tait 1963:117).This clustering of motifs evoked pharaoh's identification with the victories and rebirth of the sun, especially in the infant on a lotus design so popular during this (the Libyan) dynasty in need of legitimation. The Phoenician bronze and silver bowls (83 published in Markoe 1985)

Woman at the window ivory from

NorthWestPalaceat NimAshurnasirpal's rud.Foundscatteredin severalsmallconnectedchambersneara majorcourt,this ivorygroupincludedthe infanton a lotus with winged guardians,grazingstag, cow and calf,sphinx,and severalplaquesof the woman at the windowdesign.Thetriple recessedframederivesfromthe architecture of Tyrianwindows,and the palm columnsof the balustradeare duplicated on a palacewindow ledge fromRamat RahelnearJerusalem. Photo courtesyof the BritishMuseum.

were recovered from two principal contexts throughout the Mediterranean world: sanctuary offerings (in Greece and Crete) and grave deposits, mostly from royal or noble tombs of a warrior aristocracy (Italy, Cyprus, Crete, Rhodes, Near East). The depiction of military engagements is frequently accompanied by infant on lotus, cow and calf, sphinx, Isis with adolescent Horus, and a winged solar disk with Hathor head-all on bowls datable from the late eighth to early seventh centuries,

products of a Cypro-Phoenician centered craft. Banquet scenes form the primary interest of several bowls, which depict male and female participants seated and reclining, often with food-laden tables, musicians, and attendants. The only specimen from Israelite territory, a very fragmentary bronze bowl from Megiddo (Markoe Is1), shares some motifs with the banquet scenes, namely an offering table holding cakes and a series of four female figures punctuated by a recurring double-crowned hawk seated on a papyrus umbrel. It is tantalizing to speculate that the bowls may have been used at the banquet occasions they and Amos depict, and indeed, several of the figures drink from bowls. An inscribed bronze bowl dedicated in Phoenician to "the marzeahof Shamash" documents the continued practice in the Persian period (from Lebanon? Avigad and Greenfield, 1982). The designs favored on the ivories are also preferred in this medium-infant on a lotus (three examples), cow and calf (five), sphinx (seven), and Hathor head (two). They appear in combination with the registers of military scenes or medallions of a smiting pharaoh, but they rarely appear on the same bowl. So it seems that the ivory carvings, faience chalices, and metal bowls share a common royal or noble context, as one might expect of such expensive goods. More than that, they also share funerary settings, certainly in the tomb deposits that preserved chalices and bowls (and an ivory bed itself, at Salamis:King 1988:147-148), and perhaps as well in their use by the living, to judge from pictures of the cups. Iconographically, the combination of horse and chariot scenes, a pharaoh smiting enemies in mythic or naturalized form, banquets, and the motifs of interest on the ivories all survived the apparent migration from Egyptian to Phoenician art, probably via Cyprus. The seated (banqueting?) figure also appears in fragmentary form on the Samaria ivories, as does the smiting

pharaoh. But the cluster identified on the ritual furniture may be understood as a selection from among many possible designs to highlight the symbolic values of cup and bowl. Among the favored designs, cow and calf are ubiquitous-on Egyptian chalices and tomb paintings, in Mesopotamian glyptic and monumental art, on Phoenician ivories and bowls, on pottery and seals in Palestine. While the denotation of this bovine pair as Hathor nurturing a pharaoh is strong in Egyptian contexts (and perhaps Syria-Palestine is to be included in this sphere of influence), the motif was apparently not bound to specific cults. It was prized as a link to divine maternal benefactions, and so it travelled freely-like the sacred tree and the sphinxthroughout Near Eastern visual arts. Asherah and Anath share the role of divine wetnurse to nobility in the Ugaritic texts, as they are invoked for Keret's son (KRTb ii, Pritchard 1969:146). An ivory plaque from Ugarit depicts such a goddess with two nurslings; she wears Hathor's hairstyle. Anath is described with bovine feelings, if not form, in mourning for Baal: "Like the heart of a cow for her calf, like the heart of a ewe for her lamb, so's the heart of Anath for Baal" (I AB ii, Pritchard 1969:140, elsewhere used of human mourners). The infant on the lotus has a definite Egyptian origin in the New Kingdom, recognizable in the form of pharaoh as a squatting child in the art of Akhenaten, Tutankhamen, and Ramesses II. By the XXIst Dynasty, the image has clear associations with the daily solar rebirth in illustrations of mythological papyri (Rambova 1957). Outside the specifically royal ivories, chalices, and bowls, the infant appears on some Levantine amulets and seals under Egyptian influence but seems not to have been adopted in Mesopotamia. The woman at the window is rarer still, found in her classic form on the ivories with related ceremonial examples (earlier bronze stand

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Selected ivories from an Assyrian residence at Arslan-Tash:sphinx, infant on a lotus

with winged guardians,cow and calf,womanat the window,and grazingstag. Foundin a receptionroomoff a passagewaybetween innerand outer courts,these plaqueswere once attachedto two beds,whose wooden framesleft darkoutlinesin the soil. An inscriptionreconstructedfromfragmentsin the roomdescribesthe furnitureas having been made "forour lordHazael,"one of severalDamascusrulersof that namein the ninthand eighth centuries,whose treasureswere stillin use in Mesopotamia. Drawnfrom Thureau-Danginand others, 1931 (plate XXXI,number33; plate XIX,number 1; plate XLI,number 77;plate XXXIVnumber46; plate XXXVI,number 61).

Cluster of Ivory Designs Khorsabad Nabu Temple

ArslanTash

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Nimrud, Northwest Palace,V&W

Woman at the window Human-headed sphinx

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Winged guardian Infant on lotus Cow and calf

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Although Phoenician ivories have been excavated from many places-tombs,

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deposits,women'squarters,and warehouses-there seemsto have been a fairlylimited repertoireof designswhichwere regularlyappliedto ceremonialfurnitureshowingcurrent use in royalpalaces.Thisclustercan be studiedfor itssymbolicsignificanceas well as its artisticantecedents.

BiblicalArchaeologist56:2 (1993)

99

from Cyprus, later Ashurbanipal's couch, and terra cotta models from Idalion). I am persuaded that the classical etiological tale of Aphrodite petrifying a stone-hearted maiden who scorns her rejected suitor even as his funeral procession passes beneath her window is a Greek interpretation of a Cypro-Phoenician cult with strong funerary associations

plus Phoenician art, in the development masks and stone or terra cotta stele of a local goddess which were displayed at sanctuary doors or windows. By the sixth century, clay models of these sanctuaries with figures at the openings were designed to invoke blessings of fertility and rebirth on the living in domestic or votive settings, and upon the dead in ::::-: -;--1 i :--- 1: i---i-::i:i:

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even less common. Together, their connotations center on life-death transformations, on particularly sensitive moments of transition for royalty and their noble entourage. The vulnerable moment may have been funeral or memorial or succession, or a combination; through the rites and symbols, it became a victorious occasion of rebirth and legitimation-

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ceremonialfurnituredepictedhere-couch, table,throne,and footstool-was probably constructedof wooden framesinlaidwith ivory.Noticethe womanat the window plaqueswhere the legs jointhe couch,the lionsbelow them, and sphinxeson the pyxis. Bothcelebrantsare drinkingfrom metalbowlsof a type also made by Phoeniciansand excavatedat Mesopotamiansites. Drawingby W Boutcherfor IllustratedLondonNews, November3, 1855, "Recentdiscoveries at Nineveh."

(Ovid, Met. 14.696-761, compared with other versions in Robertson 1982:315). In a series of articles examining Cypriote adaptations of Hathor's iconography on Cyprus, Annie Caubet (1973, 1975, 1979, 1983) attributes this design to the influences of Minoan frescoes (second millennium) showing women at windows, combined with Egyptian conventions of Hathor's appearance, 100

BiblicalArchaeologist56:2 (1993)

funerary deposits (Caubet 1979:117). To reiterate, the clustering of these motifs on the ivories suggests a selection by the Phoenician carvers to emphasize certain values because, as their distribution shows, they are not simply the most frequently adapted designs: cow and calf are universal, but infant on a lotus has a more limited temporal and geographic range, and the woman at the window is

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a recurring event for the deity, appropriated on behalf of the king and others.

Biblical Texts This field of meaning for the visual cluster would accord well with Amos' allusion. He rejects the false confidence of those who celebrate continuity, who seek integration of living and dead, and who claim legitimation through the marzeah.His condemnation is followed closely by a word to evoke true vulnerability, the death of ten men in a house (was this a minyan for the observance? Amos 6:9-10). In Jer 16:1-9, the prophet is denied access to the institutions of continuity-marriage and children for the living and mourning

Antecedents of the ivory designs from Egyptian lotiform chalices, XXIInd

r~

Dynasty.Thefaience chalicesin the shape of the blue lotuswere not onlyfound in funerarycontextsnearHermopolis,but they are also shown in paintingsas cult vesselsin the ritualof the dead. The groupingof ivorydesignsis paralleledby the motifshere:Hathorcow and calf, infanton a lotus,frontalHathorhead,and other Egyptianfiguresfound also at Samaria.Thesymbolismemphasizes rebirth,long life, and power.

:

Drawnfrom Tait1963;from left: ChaliceX, ChaliceXVIIIA, SpacerEton458). Phoenician silver bowl from Amathus, r~

Cyprus.Likethe chalices,the bowlscombine battlesceneswith symbolsof power and rebirth.Onthis examplefromthe late 8th to early7th century,sphinxesoccupy the innerband,surroundedby a seriesof royaland solarsymbolsincludingthe infanton a lotuswith winged guardian, solarscarab,adolescentHorus,and sacred tree. Cowand calf appearin similarsettings on other bowls,often in the center medallion.

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Drawingused by permissionfrom Markoe 1985, Cy4, page 248 (BritishMuseumB.M. 123053).

for the dead-signifying that these comforts will be totally inadequate to deal with the enormous discontinuity God has in mind for Judah. With restored vision, may we now recognize biblical allusion to the ivory marzeahsymbols outside explicit references in Amos and Jeremiah? I suggest that the depiction of Jehu's encounter with Jezebel in 2 Kgs 9:30-37 is strongly influenced by this imagery, as is Jeremiah's transformation of lament into promise for the Ephraim calf of Jer 31:15-22. It is not new to observe that queen mother Jezebel's darkening her eyes and adorning her head and looking out the window to Jehu, who has just killed two kings, corresponds to the woman at the window design,

and that her demise symbolized that of a goddess she historically or literarily represented (Ackroyd 1983). I want to turn attention away from whether Jezebel was attempting to seduce Jehu to the funerary aspect (from which sexuality may not be totally excluded in Pope's view, 1977:210-229). Their encounter takes place at the moment when the succession is unclear, when the rites for memorializing the past ruler and establishing continuity and legitimation for the new one should be undertaken. However, the victorious horse and chariot are driven by an anointed usurper, who enters the palace for his accession banquet. In Jezebel, the literary Jehu encounters the personified visual

image from the marzeahcouch, and he shatters her, quite physically, as the last obstacle to the throne. He thereby denies the necessary memorial rites to the murdered kings and queen mother and asserts his independent legitimacy. This seems less a condemnation of the marzeah,which in Amos' time was practiced by Jehu's descendants, than an omission of the rites between dynasties. Jezebel's blood, spattered on wall and horses, and the meager remnants of her corpse may also have had ritual and sacrificial implications (Robertson 1982). Jehu finally boasts in triumph, "that no one can say, 'This is Jezebel,'" a sarcastic reversal of the memorial purposes of the marzeah.It is therefore enormously ironic that Jezebel's name is remembered, much more than Jehu's. The power of the woman at the window's visual image has subverted the literary intention. One should not be tempted to BiblicalArchaeologist56:2 (1993)

101

conclude that iconoclastic biblical authors always used visual allusion negatively. In the "Book of Consolation" (Jer30-31), the prophet addresses Israel as the deceased northern kingdom whose revival was included in King Josiah's program. Jeremiah 31:15-22 reverses a typical Jeremianic literary device, the call for a woman to mourn, by offering comfort to the weeping mother of Israel. Phyllis Trible's treatment of the "uterine metaphor" in this passage combines rhetorical analysis of the poem's structure with a sensitivity to the feminine connotations; words of a woman and to a woman surround those of a man (1978:50).

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Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he the child I delight in? As often as I speak against him, I still remember him. Therefore I am deeply moved for him, I will surely have mercy on him. This comes very close to the lament language of Ugarit, where 102

BiblicalArchaeologist56:2 (1993)

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Trible uses this symmetry to interpret the concluding proclamation in verse 22, that, in her translation, "Yahweh has created a new thing in the land: female surrounds man" (1978:47). She is on the right track, but we can be more literal, and more visual. Ephraim is not a man but a calf: "You disciplined me, and I took the discipline, I was a calf untrained. Bring me back; let me come back" (Jer31:18 NRSV). In verse 20, Yahweh has adopted Rachel's motherly role, saying:

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mentsmemorializedin banquetsappearson this mid-seventhcenturydesign:conventional imageof pharaohsmitinga handfulof enemiesis surroundedby celebrantsincluding a nursingmother(!), musiciansin procession,seated banquetersippingfroma bowl, and couplesin eroticpostures. Drawingfrom Markoe 1985, Cy5, page 251 (BritishMuseumCatalogueof BronzesNo. 186).

gods and humans alike mourn a loved one as a cow yearns for her calf, a ewe for her lamb. Is Yahweh understood to be speaking with a human maternal voice, or a bovine one? When does female surround man?-in pregnancy, in nursing, in sexual union, in embracing the dead. Perhaps the marzeahimagery included combinations of these elements. On a Phoenician bronze bowl from Salamis, a female with nursing child on her lap is depicted in the banqueting scene among the procession of musicians and revelers, male and female, several of whom are nude-seated, reclining or embrac-

ing (Markoe Cy5). Jeremiah claims that Yahweh could do for Israel what the marzeahimage of cow and calf idealized for the deceased-to bring the Israelite kingdom destroyed 100 years earlier back to the intimacy surrounding a newborn. The rhetorical encirclings of Jeremiah's language and the visual encirclings of cow and calf correspond to depict the new thing, the rebirth of Ephraim. Jeremiah is able to call Ephraim a calf and to have Yahweh adopt Rachel's maternal role and bovine speech without representing the cow herself. Unlike the Jehuite attempt to invoke the goddess visually in order to dismember her, Jeremiah keeps

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Yahwism whose cognitive boundaries for death tended to be quite rigid. Just when the crises of invasion and exile presented finalities beyond Israel's imagining, the prophets critiqued conventional observances and proclaimed Yahweh's own ability to cross the boundaries of death, to seek out the guilty "though they dig into Sheol..." (Amos 9:2), or, in Jeremiah's poem, to recreate them in intimacy and rebirth. With an ironic twist of poetic justice, the adaptation of the marzeah'simagery may have helped conceptualize a role for Israel's God beyond death, a relationship of the divine with the deceased for which celebrants of the marzeahhad always yearned.

Acknowledgment

Woman at the window in Cypro-Phoenician forms. Hathor-related cults on Cypruspro-

duced representationsof a goddess in severaldesignssimilarto the ivorywoman at the window-on a bronzestand(Enkomi,thirteenthcentury;terracottaand stone stele (here,from Kition,sixthcentury),masks,and modelshrines(here,from Idalion,sixthcentury).The Phoenicianivorymotifseemsto be a meldingof Egyptianand Minoanconventions to portraya goddesswell-knownon Cyprus.Legendreportedby Plutarchcallssuch a statue in a SalamissanctuaryAphroditeParakyptousa, "lookingsidewayswith glances of love"(Plutarch,Erot.,20, cited in Barnett1957,page 149),but commentatorsfailto emphasizethat the occasionfor her appearanceat the windowwas a funeralprocession, and her demeanorwas cold. Drawingsfrom Caubet 1979,plate VII,numbers 1, 2, and plate IX,number3.

Yahweh the primary speaker, never visualized, and so avoids subversion by the marzeahimagery. Encircling voices within a Yahweh-speech give ascendancy to the verbal, recreating the encompassing form of the visual motif without explicitly acknowledging it. Those for whom the was a recent or still active observance marzeah. would recognize both the demise of Israel's disputed calf image and the nation's rebirth in the visual allusion and maternal promise.

Conclusion This line of inquiry demonstrates that Hebrew biblical texts were in dia-

logue with, drew upon, and in some cases were intentionally shaped in relation to powerful visual symbols, to be understood as an integral element in the signification. The dis-appearance of the visual context has made it difficult for us to see these meanings. Re-vision of exegetical methods to include the visual also has implications for feminist biblical scholarship, since, in these cases and probably others, a feminine component has become invisible. The prophets' adaptation of lament genres and the accompanying visual imagery may actually have been an ameliorating influence in a

For an article about memorials, it seems appropriate to mention that this study was begun in a graduate seminar with the late William H. Brownlee, whose encouragement I gratefully acknowledge.

Bibliography Ackerman,S. 1989 A Marzeah in Ezek 8:7-13?Harvard TheologicalReview82:267-81. Ackroyd, P. R. 1983 Goddesses, Women, and Jezebel. Pp. 245-59in Imagesof Womenin Antiquity,edited by A. Cameron and A. Kuhrt.Beckenham,Kent: Broom Helm. Albenda, P. 1977 Landscape Bas-Reliefsin the Bit-Hilaniof Ashurbanipal.Bulletin of theAmericanSchoolsof Oriental Research225:29-48. Avigad, N. and Greenfield,J.C. 1982 A Bronze phialewith Phoenician Dedicatory Inscription.IsraelExplorationJournal32:118-28. Barnett,R. D. 1957 A Catalogueof theNimrudIvories, with otherexamplesof ancientNear EasternIvoriesin theBritishMuseum. London: Trusteesof the British

Museum. Barnett,R. D. 1982 AncientIvoriesin theMiddleEastand AdjacentCountries.Series:Qedem 14. Jerusalem:Hebrew University Institute of Archaeology. Bryan,D. B. 1973 TextsRelatingto theMarzeah:A Study of An Ancient Semitic Insti

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tution. Ph.D. diss., The Johns Hopkins University . Ann Arbor,MI: University Microfilms. Caubet, A. 1973 Heracles ou Hathor:orfe'vrerie chypriote. Larevuedu Louvre23:1-6. 1979 Les maquettes architecturales d'Idalion. Pp. 94-118in StudiesPresentedin Memoryof Porphyrios Dikaios,edited by V. Karageorghis and others. Nicosia: Lions Club. Caubet, A. and Courtois,J.-C. 1975 Masques chypriotes en terrecuite du XIIeS. av. J.C.Reportof the Departmentof Antiquities, Cyprus:43-49. Caubet, A. and Pic, M. 1983 Un culte hathoriquea Kition-Bamau boula. Pp. 237-49 in Archdologie Levant:Recueila la memoirede Roger Saidah.Lyon:Maison de l'Orient Mediterranden. Crowfoot, J.W.and Crowfoot, G.M. 1938 EarlyIvoriesfrom Samaria.London: Palestine ExplorationFund. Crowfoot, J.W.,Kenyon, K.M.,and Sukenik, E.L. 1942 TheBuildingsat Samaria.London: Palestine ExplorationFund. Crowfoot, J.W.,Crowfoot, G.M., and Kenyon, K.M. 1957 TheObjectsfrom Samaria.London: Palestine ExplorationFund. Fauth, W. 1967 Aphrodite Parakyptusa:Untersuchungen zum Erscheinungs-bild der vorderasiatischenDea Prospiciens.Akademieder WisAbhandsenschaftenund derLiteratur, lungenderGeistes-und SozialwisKlasse,Jahrgang1966, senschaftlichen Nr. 6. Wiesbaden:Franz Steiner Verlag. Finkelstein,J.J. 1966 The Genealogy of the Hammurapi Dynasty. Journalof CuneiformStudies 20:96-118. Greenfield,J. C. 1973 Un rite religieux Arameen et ses paralleles. RevueBiblique80:46-52. 1976 The Marzeahas a Social Institution. Pp. 451-55 in Wirtschaftund Gesellschaftin Alten Vorderasien, edited by J. Harmattaand G. Komor6czy Budapest:Akadimiai Kiad6. Gubel, E. 1987 PhoenicianFurniture.Series:Studia Phoenicia, 7. Leuven: Uitgeverij Peeters. Holladay, W. L. on the 1989 Jeremiah2. A Commentary Bookof theProphetJeremiah,Chapters 26-52. Series:Hermeneia. Minneapolis: FortressPress. Kantor,H. J. 1956 Syro-PalestinianIvories. Journalof

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NearEasternStudies15:153-72. Keel, O. 1980 Das Bickleinin derMilchseinerMutterund Verwandtesim Lichteeines Bildmotivs.Series: altorientalischen Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis33. G6ttingen: Vandenhoeck& Ruprecht. King, P.J. 1988a The Marzeah Amos Denounces. BiblicalArchaeologyReview14:34-44. 1988b Amos,Hosea,Micah-An Archaeological Commentary. Philadelphia: WestminsterPress.

Hathor suckling the pharaoh, from wall painting in XVIIIthDynasty shrine at Deir el Bahari.Although in some earlier examples of the motif, the cow and human child have no insignia to mark them as divine or royal (for instance, in tombs at Beni Hasan, Xlth Dynasty), here Hathor is identified by the menat necklace and disk. The king is shown as both nursing youth and standing monarch. A life-sized statue of Hathor-cow and king in similar poses was preserved in the shrine, framed at the head by tall papyrus plants as in the ivory carvings. Drawingfrom Naville,The Templeof Deirel Bahari,PartI,plate XXVIII, C.

Loud, G. and Altman, C.B. PartII:TheCitadeland the 1938 Khorsabad, Town.Series:University of Chicago, OrientalInstitute Publications40. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Markoe,G.E. 1985 PhoenicianBronzeand SilverBowls from Cyprusand theMediterranean. Series:University of California Publications:Classical Studies, no. 26. Berkeley:University of California Press. Miller,P. D., Jr. 1971 The MRZHText.Pp. 37-54 in The ClaremontRas ShamraTablets,edited

by L. Fisher.Series:Analecta Orientalia 48. Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute. 1987 Aspects of the Religion of Ugarit. Pp. 53-66 in AncientIsraeliteReligion:Essaysin Honorof FrankMoore Cross,edited by P.D.Miller,Jr.,P.D. Hanson and S.D. McBride. Philadelphia:FortressPress. Oates, D. 1963 The Excavations at Nimrud (Kalhu), 1962.Iraq25:6-37. Parker,S. 1978 Jezebel's Reception of Jehu. Maarav 1:67-78. Pope, M. H. 1972 A Divine Banquetat Ugarit. Pp. 170-203in TheUse of theOld Testamentin theNew and OtherEssays: Studiesin Honorof WilliamFranklin Stinespring,edited by J. M. Efird. Durham NC: Duke University Press. 1977 Songof Songs.Series:Anchor Bible. GardenCity, NJ:Doubleday & Co., Inc. 1981 The Cult of the Dead at Ugarit. Pp. 159-79in Ugaritin Retrospect,edited by G.D. Young. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns. Pritchard,J. B. 1969 AncientNearEasternTextsRelating to the Old Testament.Third edition with supplement. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Rambova, N. 1957 The Symbolism of the Papyri. Pp. 29-65 in MythologicalPapyri,volume I, by A. Piankoff.New York: Pantheon Books, Inc. Robertson,N. 1982 The Ritual Backgroundof the Dying God in Cyprus and Syro-Palestine.HarvardTheological Review75:313-59. Tait,G.A.D. 1963 The Egyptian Relief Chalice. Journal of EgyptianArchaeology49:93-139. Thureau-Dangin,E, Barrois,A., Dossin, G., and Dunand, M. 1931 Arslan-Tash.Series:Bibliotheque archdologiqueet historique 16. Paris:LibrairieOrientalistPaul Geuthner. Trible,P. 1978 Godand theRhetoricof Sexuality. Philadelphia:FortressPress. Winter,I. J. 1976 Phoenician and North Syrian Ivory Carving in Historical Context: Questions of Style and Distribution. Iraq38:1-22. Wvolff,H. W. 1977 JoelandAmos.Series:Hermeneia. Philadelphia:FortressPress.

Arti-facts Southern Jordan Survey: Inscriptions, Rock Art, and Overland Trade The Aqaba-Macan Survey, conducted between 1979 and 1990, is an archaeological and epigraphic survey in the Wadi Araba and the Aqaba-Macan region of southern Jordan. Directed by Dr. Bill Jobling, this research project is funded by the Australian Research Council and The University of Sydney and conducted under the auspices of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan. The aim of the survey is to write a profile of the history of human occupation of these aridzone areas up to the advent of Islam, and to compile a repertoire of the inscriptions and rock art that abound in the region of Wadi Hisma and along the old Edomite escarpment. The survey has compiled a computer-based gazetteer of archaeological and epigraphic sites and is in the process of analyzing this record of the history of the human adaptation to these areas. The photographic record of the survey has been edited to form the three volume AqabaMacan Video-Archive. This permanent archive database includes all the color photography from each season of the survey, as well as a two volume video cassette of the region and its inscriptions and rock art. This archive augments the corpus of the black and white photography and together with it forms a very large research data base. The photographic repertoire was the basis of the Photographic Exhibition entitled "Treasures of the Desert," which is on display at Petra under the patronage of Her Majesty Queen Noor. The area under study is situated to the east of Wadi Araba and embraces mountain ranges and plateaus of a higher altitude than the Negev to the west. These areas have more rain and snow and exist within a meteorological pattern that feeds a variety of ecotones, a fact which in

dence from both the Nabataeans, antiquity and today has produced a who were the acknowledged masters variety of lifestyles. An important of the caravan trade, and their North aspect of the field work and research has been the study of the regional Arabian neighbors has provided new evidence for the domestication and economy's interaction with the rest of the Arabian Peninsula and with the breeding of the horse in these areas. more regularly rain-fed areas of the Annotated rock art from the Hisma Levant. in southern Jordan now preserves Situated at the north end of the some of the earliest examples of the ancient incense caravan trade routes breeding and training of the famous from the Yemen and linked to the Arabian horse. Carefully drawn picmaritime trade of the Gulf of Aqaba, tures of both the Asian and Arabian this area is part of the ancient Kings' horses with their trainers and riders in that is mentioned some Highway preserve important glimpses of the of the oldest passages of the Hebrew pre-Islamic history of the horse east Bible (Num 21:22). Connecting Damof the Jordan. ascus with Elat in the Land of Edom (1 Kgs 9:26), the Kings' Highway was a major trade and communications route into which fed a network of arterial trade routes from east and west of the Jordan. An important focus of the survey is the study of these ancient trade routes and their Nabateanrockart depictionof an Arabianhorseprovideseviroles in the dence for domesticationand breedingof the horsein southern econregional Jordan. Photo courtesyof BillJobling. omies and politics of the areas through which Dr. Jobling, currently working at they passed. In particular, the caravan trade that passed through the the Albright Institute of ArchaeologiHisma to the oasis of Macan and cal Research in East Jerusalem, is Petra has been compared with the studying the installations at Mampsis caravan trade routes further north and Sobata, where Professor Avraand the Wadi ham Sirhan. Jafre through Negev reports that horses were The vehicular traffic of caravan bred in the late Nabataean period. trade was the camel. It is wellTogether with reports of stables at attested in ancient records and art Oboda and Rehovot-in-the-Negev, that the camel was the "ship of the these sites provide important evidesert." The camel was later augdence for constructing a map of horse mented by the horse in the regions breeding. This map extends from east of the Jordan and the Negev to similar architectural remains east of the west of the Wadi Araba. Recent the Jordan and south of the Hauran, down the Kings' Highway, and west archaeological and epigraphic eviBiblicalArchaeologist56:2 (1993)

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of the Wadi Araba. Another product of this research project is a provisional lexicon of Nabataean-Aramaic entitled Nablex, the need for which Dr. Jobling recognized while Annual Professor at the American Center for Oriental Research in Amman in 1988-89. This Nabataean-Aramaic lexicon includes all lexical items that appear in published Nabataean inscriptions. The draft edition of Nablex has been prepared on a Macintosh Classic computer using Claris FileMaker Pro and Microsoft Word and MacSemitic software. The new Macintosh PowerBook 145 is being used to make new entries to the dictionary from the resources of the library of the Ecole Biblique et Archeologique. Research into the Nabataean lexicon has involved an expedition into something of the mind and thought world of an ancient civilization in a region closely connected to the world of the New Testament, the Mishnah, and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Dr. WilliamJ. Jobling University of Sydney/Albright Institute of Archaeological Research

The New Alexandria Library: Promise or Threat? Of all the vanished monuments of the ancient world, the Mouseion of Alexandria and its associated Library is one of the most famous. Founded either by Alexander the Great's successor in Egypt, Ptolemy I Soter (323283 BCE),or by the latter's son, Ptolemy II Philadelphus (283/2-246), the Mouseion-Library complex, with its research scholars, established Alexandria as the cultural and scientific center of the ancient world. Indeed, this institution constituted what has rightly been called "the first universal library in the history of mankind" (Mostafa El-Abbadi, The Lifeand Fate of the Ancient Libraryof Alexandria [UNESCO, 1990], p.8). Now, in the vicinity of the ancient one long vanished, a new "Bibliotheca Alexandrina" is taking shape. The project to "revive" the 106

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ancient library and establish in Alexandria a universal center of research and scholarship in the spirit of its predecessor was conceived in the 1970s by leading scholars in the University of Alexandria. The planning began in earnest in 1985, with the allocation of a site on property owned by the University. Since then a General Organization of the Alexandrian Library (GOAL) has been established, and the project has gained international support through the offices of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and several national governments. An international architectural competition was won by a design by Snohetta Architecture and Landscape of Oslo, Norway. According to information published by GOAL, the library is scheduled to be officially inaugurated in July, 1995, by which time its holdings are expected to have reached a half-million volumes, with an expected capacity of 8 million. This ambitious project promises to establish Alexandria once again as an international center of culture and scientific research. But this promise also constitutes a threat of major proportions. The construction site corresponds to that occupied in antiquity by the royal palaces of the original Library's founders. Despite the fact that the historical associations of the construction site are well-known to the project planners, (who publicize "the site of the Palace of the Ptolemies"), the project does not include provision for scientific archaeological excavation and documentation of the site prior to construction, even though scholars in Egypt and abroad have, at least since 1986, urged the planners to allow for archaeological excavation. It has even been suggested by some of these scholars that provisions be made in the building design for a subterranean archaeological museum (a practice common in Europe). As it is, we are faced with

an anomaly of supreme irony: planning for a "revival" of the famous Library of old involves obliterating for all time part of the archaeological record beneath the ground. Out of concern for the threat posed by the Alexandrian Library project as it is now conceived, the Fifth International Congress of Coptic Studies, meeting recently in Washington, D.C., passed a resolution calling upon GOAL, the Governorate of Alexandria, and other relevant Egyptian authorities "toallowfor a scientific archaeologicalexcavationunder the auspicesof the EgyptianAntiquities Organizationbeforeproceedingwith construction."It also calls upon UNESCO and other interested scholarly and cultural organizations throughout the world to join in this appeal. Interestingly enough, the Egyptian Congress members were the most ardent supporters of this resolution. Subsequent to that meeting, the Cairo representative of the International Association for Coptic Studies went to Alexandria and spoke with representatives of the Egyptian Antiquities Organization there. He reports that the library project has already been delayed due to the Gulf War (the recent earthquakes in Egypt probably caused further delays), and the most that can be expected under current Egyptian law is the presence of an archaeologist on site as the bulldozers do their work. Only a change in current law would put the contractors under obligation to permit and finance a full-scale archaeological investigation of the site. It is to be hoped that enough other voices will be raised to avert the cultural threat posed by this construction project before it is too late. On the other hand, if proper attention is given to the archaeological record on the site-whatever this may prove to be-the new Alexandrian Library can fulfill its promise as a worthy successor to the famous Library of old. BirgerA. Pearson University of California, Santa Barbara

Book

Reviews

The Feminine Unconventional: Four Subversive Figures in Israel's Tradition xvi + 132pp.MinneaByAndreLaCocque, polis:FortressPress,1990;$8.95(paper). This work includes an introduction, a chapter on the status of women in the Ancient Near East and in Israel, a chapter each for Susanna, Judith, Esther, and Ruth, a conclusion, a helpful bibliography, and indices of modem authors, subjects, and ancient sources. In his "Editor's Foreword" to this book, which is part of the Overtures to Biblical Theology series, Christopher R. Seitz notes that these four masterfully constructed stories are "underread" (p. x). Many will be familiar with the stories of Susanna, Judith, Esther, and Ruth and find attractive the promise of a book about four female characters as examples of subversive literature of the Second Temple period. Not all will be convinced that LaCocque has presented what makes the four stories subversive. Is it that the stories are about women? Is it that the stories subvert the status of patriarchal understandings of roles appropriate to female and male? Or is it that we who read-or write about-such stories do so for subversive reasons in our own times? The treatments of Susanna, Judith, Esther, and Ruth are more like introductions to these stories than arguments about what constitutes subversive literature. The chapters are interesting assemblages of information about the four characters, but there is not much here that is original. LaCocque is to be credited most for compiling a good deal of fascinating information about the stories that reflects wide reading of secondary sources. In the chapter on Judith, LaCocque argues that Judith "amounts to a panegyric of the biblical woman" (p. 35) with its many allusions to biblical women. He

asserts that "Judith is subversive by showing that a woman can take the lead and become the model of faith and martyrdom" (p. 39). As to the book's author, he argues that we are faced with "the alternatives of attributing the authorship to a woman purposely adopting a male world view, or to a man subversively magnifying the feminine element in the Heilsgeschichte"(p. 39). Since my published statement that the story is told from a male point of view serves as a springboard for his discussion of authorship, I would like to question his claim, quoted by Seitz (p. ix and the back cover of the book), that "the best advocates for a cause are those who are not self-serving" (p. 39). What does this mean? What do we gain by thinking of the author of Judith as either a woman or a man? All we know of the author, of course, is what we can surmise from the story itself. The story is written in Greek that imitates Hebrew idiom and syntax and shows familiarity with Palestinian, Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, and Greek history and geography, most especially Jewish religious customs of the second century BCE. Does LaCocque feature himself a subversive male because he is writing a book about female figures in Israel's tradition? More deserves to be said on this issue than he-or anyone else-has managed to say to date. LaCocque's conclusion that redeeming substitution-surrogation -occurs in all these texts is questionable (p. 121). Judith, for example, does not substitute herself for the Bethulia officials. Rather, Judith says, "let us set an example for our kindred, for their lives depend upon us" (8:24). Could it be that true subversion is the recovery of female and male partnership? ToniCraven Brite Divinity School Texas Christian University

Writings from Ancient Israel: A Handbook of Historical and Religious Documents ByKlaasA. D. Smelik,Trans.G.I. Davies,ix + 191pp.Louisville: Knox Westminster/John Press,1991;$19.95(paper). the many archaeological dis0f coveries that have been made in Israel and Jordan, inscriptions and other epigraphic texts have received the least amount of treatment for the general reader and enthusiast of the Bible. One reason for this neglect is that scholars have tended to focus primarily on the texts' philological features. Smelik has remedied this situation by providing the general reader with an up-to-date handbook that details the contribution of these extrabiblical texts for understanding the history and religion of ancient Israel. Smelik has chosen to include in his discussion only those inscriptions that were written within the present states of Israel and Jordan and during the period 1000-500 BCE.The more well-known texts include the Gezer calendar, Mesha stele, Samaria ostraca, Shiloah tunnel inscription, royal steward inscription, Balaam text, Yavneh-Yam ostracon, Arad letters, and Lachish letters. He also discusses several lesser known texts, including seal-impressions, and the more recently discovered graffiti at Khirbet el-Qom and Kuntillet 'Ajrud. For each text, Smelik provides a literal, yet intelligible, translation. Although at many points scholars dispute the translation of these texts, Smelik wisely avoids this entanglement by rendering uncertain words in italics. He chooses instead to concentrate solely on the texts' historical and religious significance. At the end of the book is a fairly comprehensive bibliography for each inscription presented in the text. There is an index for both biblical passages and extra-biblical texts, and a chronological chart of the major inscriptions concludes the book. The

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numerous drawings of the inscriptions throughout the book serve to illustrate for the reader their diverse character,but I suspect that they will be useful only to specialists. More valuable are other drawings and maps which illustrate the content of the inscriptions. Smelik's treatment of the inscriptions is thorough, insightful, and cautious. He brings to life many otherwise uninspiring texts, yet he does not give in to wild speculation. In his

presentation of the Samaria ostraca, for example, he interprets these receipts within the social context of royal courtiers. From these ostraca he is able to reconstruct the relationship of courtiers to the king, and the role of overseers who maintain the king's property for the courtier. Smelik is then able to shed light on the status of Mephibosheth and Ziba within the court of David (2 Sam 9). Smelik uses several inscriptions to demonstrate the importance of

such texts for reconstructing the history of ancient Israel. In the Mesha stele, king Mesha of Moab boasts of driving out the oppressive Israelites and the "son of Omri" from his land and of building a sanctuary for Kemosh at Qarcho. In 2 Kings 3:6-27, on the other hand, we are told about an unsuccessful expedition that the grandson of Omri, Jehoram, undertook with his allies to force Mesha back into submission. Through careful analysis of each text, Smelik skillfully demonstrates that the texts offer supplementary accounts of the same event. Similarly, Smelik uses the Lachish letters to shed light on the political intrigues between Jerusalem and Egypt, and within the king's own house, during Judah's last days before defeat by the Babylonians. Along with their historical value, Smelik demonstrates how these extra-biblical texts provide a different view into the religion of Israel. The repeated reference to YHWH in the Lachish letters, Smelik claims, attests to a reverence for YHWH during Judah's last days that finds no record in the Bible. On the other hand, the graffiti of Khirbet el-Qom and Kuntillet 'Ajrud attest to a syncretism that is unknown from the Bible. Even non-Israelite texts contribute to our understanding of Israelite religion. Thus Smelik draws upon inscriptions discovered in Transjordanin order to illustrate the religious continuities between Israel and its neighbors. In his discussion of the Mesha stele, for instance, Smelik draws attention to the similarities between Mesha's portrayal of Kemosh and the Bible's depiction of YHWH. Similarly, Smelik points out how the Balaam text from Deir 'Alla is comparable to biblical prophecies. Writingsfrom Ancient Israelis an impressive book for the quality and depth of its discussion of extra-biblical inscriptions, yet it is also accessible to the general reader. The readers of BA will find it both enjoyable to read and immensely rewarding. RonaldA. Simkins Creighton University

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