Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-20T09:17:54.010Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Preliminary Radiocarbon Results for Late Bronze Age Strata at Tel Azekah and Their Implications

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 September 2017

Lyndelle C Webster ,
Omer Sergi ,
Sabine Kleiman ,
Oded Lipschits ,
Quan Hua Open the ORCID record for Quan Hua [Opens in a new window] ,
Geraldine E Jacobsen ,
Yann Tristant  and
Yuval Gadot
Lyndelle C Webster*
Affiliation:
Department of Ancient History, Building W6A, Level 5, Macquarie UniversityNSW 2109, Australia
Omer Sergi
Affiliation:
Sonia and Marco Nadler Institute of Archaeology, Gilman Building, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv 6997801, Israel
Sabine Kleiman
Affiliation:
Sonia and Marco Nadler Institute of Archaeology, Gilman Building, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv 6997801, Israel
Oded Lipschits
Affiliation:
Sonia and Marco Nadler Institute of Archaeology, Gilman Building, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv 6997801, Israel
Quan Hua
Affiliation:
Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Locked Bag 2001, Kirrawee DC, NSW 2232, Australia
Geraldine E Jacobsen
Affiliation:
Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Locked Bag 2001, Kirrawee DC, NSW 2232, Australia
Yann Tristant
Affiliation:
Department of Ancient History, Building W6A, Level 5, Macquarie UniversityNSW 2109, Australia
Yuval Gadot
Affiliation:
Sonia and Marco Nadler Institute of Archaeology, Gilman Building, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv 6997801, Israel
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected].
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article presents the first radiocarbon (14C) results from the Late Bronze Age levels of Tel Azekah (Israel). The results testify to the long and prosperous occupation of the site during this period, commencing at least in LB IIA and ending with a severe destruction at the close of LB III. In the extra-mural quarter (Area S2), a pre-monumental building phase (S2-6) dates to the 14th or early 13th century BCE. Two sub-phases of a public building constructed above this yielded dates in the second half of the 13th century and first two-thirds of the 12th century BCE, suggesting that occupation persisted through the “Crisis Years” of the eastern Mediterranean region. On the top of the mound, in Area T2, the destruction of the final LB III level (T2-3) most likely occurred near the end of the 12th century BCE. The preliminary Azekah results are in good agreement with existing data from Lachish and Megiddo, but seem at odds with results from nearby Tel es-Safi/Gath.

Keywords

Late Bronze Age chronologyradiocarbon datingShephelahTel Azekah
Type
Research Article
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 60 , Issue 1 , February 2018 , pp. 309 - 331
Copyright
© 2017 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Albright, WF. 1932. The Excavation of Tell Beit Mirsim: Volume I: the Pottery of the First Three Campaigns. New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Asscher, Y, Cabanes, D, Hitchcock, LA, Maeir, AM, Weiner, S, Boaretto, E. 2015a. Radiocarbon dating shows an early appearance of Philistine material culture in Tell es-Safi/Gath, Philistia. Radiocarbon 57(5):825–850.Google Scholar
Asscher, Y, Lehmann, G, Rosen, SA, Weiner, S, Boaretto, E. 2015b. Absolute dating of the Late Bronze to Iron Age transition and the appearance of Philistine culture in Qubur el-Walaydah, southern Levant. Radiocarbon 57(1):77–97.Google Scholar
Barkay, G, Ussishkin, D. 2004. Area S: The Late Bronze Age strata. In: Ussishkin D, editor. The Renewed Archaeological Excavations at Lachish (1973–1994). Volume I. Tel Aviv: Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University. p 316–410.Google Scholar
Bliss, FJ, Macalister, RAS. 1902. Excavations in Palestine During the Years 1898–1900. London: Palestine Exploration Fund.Google Scholar
Bronk Ramsey, C. 2009a. Bayesian analysis of radiocarbon dates. Radiocarbon 51(1):337–360.Google Scholar
Bronk Ramsey, C. 2009b. Dealing with outliers and offsets in radiocarbon dating. Radiocarbon 51(3):1023–1045.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bruins, HJ, van der Plicht, J, Mazar, A. 2006. Radiocarbon dates from Tel Batash. In: Panitz-Cohen N, Mazar A, editors. Timnah (Tel Batash) III. The Finds from the Second Millennium BCE. Jerusalem: Institute of Archaeology of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. p 319–322.Google Scholar
Buck, CE, Kenworthy, JB, Litton, CD, Smith, AFM. 1991. Combining archaeological and radiocarbon information: a Bayesian approach to calibration. Antiquity 65(249):808–821.Google Scholar
Buck, CE, Litton, CD, Smith, AFM. 1992. Calibration of radiocarbon results pertaining to related archaeological events. Journal of Archaeological Science 19(5):497–512.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bunimovitz, S, Faust, A. 2001. Chronological separation, geographical segregation, or ethnic demarcation? Ethnography and the Iron Age low chronology. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 322:1–10.Google Scholar
Burke, AA, Peilstöcker, M, Karoll, A, Pierce, GA, Kowalski, K, Ben-Marzouk, N, Damm, JC, Danielson, AJ, Fessler, HD, Kaufman, B, Pierce, KVL, Höflmayer, F, Damiata, BN, Dee, MW. 2017. Excavations of the New Kingdom fortress in Jaffa, 2011–2014: traces of resistance to Egyptian rule in Canaan. American Journal of Archaeology 121(1):85–133.Google Scholar
Carmi, I, Ussishkin, D. 2004. 14C dates. In Ussishkin D, editor. The Renewed Archaeological Excavations at Lachish (1973–1994). Volume V. Tel Aviv: Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University. p 2508–2513.Google Scholar
Dagan, Y. 2011. Tel Azekah: a new look at the site and its “Judean” fortress. In: Finkelstein I, Na’aman N, editors. The Fire Signals of Lachish. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns. p 71–86.Google Scholar
Dee, MW. 2013. A radiocarbon-based chronology for the New Kingdom. In: Shortland AJ, Bronk Ramsey C, editors. Radiocarbon and the Chronologies of Ancient Egypt. Oxford: Oxbow Books. p 65–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dee, MW, Bronk Ramsey, C. 2014. High-precision Bayesian modeling of samples susceptible to inbuilt age. Radiocarbon 56(1):83–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dothan, M, Porath, Y. 1982. Ashdod IV: excavation of Area M, the fortifications of the lower city. ‘Atiqot 15:1–175.Google Scholar
Dothan, M, Porath, Y. 1993. Ashdod V: the fourth–sixth seasons of excavations 1968–1970. ‘Atiqot 23:1–296.Google Scholar
Dothan, T, Zukerman, A. 2004. A preliminary study of the Mycenaean IIIC:1 pottery assemblages from Tel Miqne-Ekron and Ashdod. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 333:1–54.Google Scholar
Drews, R. 1993. The End of the Bronze Age: Changes in Warfare and the Catastrophe Ca. 1200 BC. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Emmanuilov, S. 2012. The history of the settlement at Tel Azekah in light of archaeological survey [MA thesis]. Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv University.Google Scholar
Fallon, SJ, Fifield, LK, Chappell, JM. 2010. The next chapter in radiocarbon dating at the Australian National University: status report on the single stage AMS. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B 268:898–901.Google Scholar
Fantalkin, A, Finkelstein, I, Piasetzky, E. 2015. Late Helladic to Middle Geometric Aegean and contemporary Cypriot chronologies: a radiocarbon view from the Levant. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 373:25–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fink, D, Hotchkis, M, Hua, Q, Jacobsen, GE, Smith, AM, Zoppi, U, Child, D, Mifsud, C, van der Gaast, H, Williams, A, Williams, M. 2004. The Antares AMS facility at ANSTO. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B 223–224:109–115.Google Scholar
Finkelstein, I. 1995. The date of the settlement of the Philistines in Canaan. Tel Aviv 22(2):213–239.Google Scholar
Finkelstein, I. 1996. The territorial-political system of Canaan in the Late Bronze Age. Ugarit-Forschungen 28:221–255.Google Scholar
Finkelstein, I. 1998. Philistine chronology: high, middle or low. In: Gitin S, Mazar A, Stern E, editors. Mediterranean Peoples in Transition: Thirteenth to Early Tenth Centuries BCE. Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society. p 140–147.Google Scholar
Finkelstein, I. 2000. The Philistine settlements: when, where and how many. In: Oren ED, editor. The Sea Peoples and Their World: A Reassessment. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. p 159–180.Google Scholar
Finkelstein, I. 2007. Is the Philistine paradigm still viable? In: Bietak M, Czerny E, editors. The Synchronisation of Civilisations in the Eastern Mediterranean in the Second Millennium B.C. III. Vienna: Verlag Der Österreichischen Akademie Der Wissenschaften. p 517–523.Google Scholar
Finkelstein, I. 2016. To date or not to date: radiocarbon and the arrival of the Philistines. Ägypten und Levante 26:275–284.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Finkelstein, I, Piasetzky, E. 2007. Radiocarbon dating and Philistine chronology with an addendum on el-Ahwat. Ägypten und Levante 17:73–82.Google Scholar
Finkelstein, I, Piasetzky, E. 2009. Radiocarbon-dated destruction layers: a skeleton for Iron Age chronology in the Levant. Oxford Journal of Archaeology 28(3):255–274.Google Scholar
Finkelstein, I, Piasetzky, E. 2010. Radiocarbon dating the Iron Age in the Levant: a Bayesian model for six ceramic phases and six transitions. Antiquity 84(324):374–385.Google Scholar
Finkelstein, I, Piasetzky, E. 2015. Radiocarbon dating Khirbet Qeiyafa and the Iron I–IIA phases in the Shephelah: methodological comments and a Bayesian model. Radiocarbon 57(5):891–907.Google Scholar
Gadot, Y, Yasur-Landau, A, Uziel, J. 2012. The Late Bronze Age pottery. In: Maeir AM, editor. Tell Es-Safi/Gath I: the 1996–2005 Seasons. Part I: Text. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag. p 241–264.Google Scholar
Hua, Q, Jacobsen, GE, Zoppi, U, Lawson, EM, Williams, AA, Smith, AM, McGann, MJ. 2001. Progress in radiocarbon target preparation at the ANTARES AMS Centre. Radiocarbon 43(2A):275–282.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kleiman, S, Gadot, Y, Lipschits, O. 2016. A snapshot of the destruction layer of Tell Zakariye/Tel Azekah seen against the backdrop of the final days of the Late Bronze Age. Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins 132(2):105–133.Google Scholar
Kleiman, S, Koch, I, Linares, V, Sergi, O, Webster, L, Gadot, Y, Lipschits, O. Forthcoming. Late Bronze Age Azekah. An almost forgotten story. In: Maeir, AM, editor. Proceedings of the First Annual Ackerman Family Workshop in Biblical Archaeology, Bar-Ilan University, April 15–16, 2015. Tel Aviv.Google Scholar
Knapp, AB, Manning, SW. 2016. Crisis in context: the end of the Late Bronze Age in the eastern Mediterranean. American Journal of Archaeology 120(1):99–149.Google Scholar
Krauss, R. 1994. Ein wahrscheinlicher Terminus post quem für das Ende von Lachisch VI. Mitteilungen der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft zu Berlin 126:123–130.Google Scholar
Lipschits, O, Gadot, Y, Oeming, M. 2012. Tel Azekah 113 years after: preliminary evaluation of the renewed excavations at the site. Near Eastern Archaeology 75(4):196–206.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lipschits, O, Gadot, Y, Oeming, M. 2017. Four seasons of excavations at Tel Azekah: the expected and (especially) unexpected results. In: Lipschits O, Maeir AM, editors. The Shephelah during the Iron Age. Recent Archaeological Studies. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns. p 1–25.Google Scholar
Loud, G. 1948. Megiddo II, Seasons of 1935–39. Chicago: University of Chicago Oriental Institute Publications.Google Scholar
Maeir, AM, Hitchcock, LA, Horwitz, LK. 2013. On the constitution and transformation of Philistine identity. Oxford Journal of Archaeology 32(1):1–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Manning, SW. 2006–2007. Why radiocarbon dating 1200 BCE is difficult: a sidelight on dating the end of the Late Bronze Age and the contrarian contribution. Scripta Mediterranea 27–28:53–80.Google Scholar
Martin, MAS. 2011. Egyptian-Type Pottery in the Late Bronze Age Southern Levant. Vienna: Österreichische Akademie Der Wissenschaften.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Master, DM, Stager, LE, Yasur-Landau, A. 2011. Chronological observations at the dawn of the Iron Age in Ashkelon. Ägypten und Levante 21:261–280.Google Scholar
Mazar, A. 1985. The emergence of the Philistine material culture. Israel Exploration Journal 35(2/3):95–107.Google Scholar
Mazar, A. 1990. Archaeology of the Land of the Bible, 10,000–586 B.C.E. New York: Doubleday.Google Scholar
Mazar, A. 1997. Iron Age chronology: a reply to I. Finkelstein. Levant 29(1):157–167.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mazar, A. 2007. Myc IIIC in the land Israel: its distribution, date and significance. In: Bietak M, Czerny E, editors. The Synchronisation of Civilisations in the Eastern Mediterranean in the Second Millennium B.C. III. Vienna: Verlag Der Österreichischen Akademie Der Wissenschaften. p 571–582.Google Scholar
Mazar, A. 2009. Introduction and overview. In: Panitz-Cohen N, Mazar, A, editors. Excavations at Tel Beth-Shean 1989–1996 Vol. III: The 13th–11th Century BCE Strata in Areas N and S. Jerusalem: Institute of Archaeology of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. p 1–32.Google Scholar
Metzer, S. 2015. On the eve of destruction: analyzing the chronology, function and distribution pattern of a Late Bronze pottery assemblage from Tel Azekah [MA thesis]. Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv University.Google Scholar
Millard, AR. 2014. Conventions for reporting radiocarbon determinations. Radiocarbon 56(2):555–559.Google Scholar
Mook, WG, Streurman, HJ. 1983. Physical and chemical aspects of radiocarbon dating. In: Mook WG, Waterbolk HT, editors. Proceedings of the 1st International Symposium 14 C and Archaeology, Groningen. PACT 8 . Strasbourg: Council of Europe. p 31–55.Google Scholar
Moran, WL. 1992. The Amarna Letters. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Na’aman, N. 1997. The network of Canaanite late Bronze kingdoms and the city of Ashdod. Ugarit-Forschungen 29:599–626.Google Scholar
Na’aman, N. 2011. The Shephelah according to the Amarna Letters. In: Finkelstein I, Na’aman N, editors. The Fire Signals of Lachish. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns. p 281–299.Google Scholar
Napchan-Lavon, S, Gadot, Y, Lipschits, O. 2015. Bliss and Macalister’s excavations at Tell Zakariya (Tel Azekah) in light of published and previously unpublished material. In: Wolff SR, editor. Villain or Visionary? R. A. S. Macalister and the Archaeology of Palestine (PEF Annual XII). Leeds: Maney. p 74–95.Google Scholar
Panitz-Cohen, N. 2006. The pottery of Strata XII–V. In: Mazar A, editor. Timnah (Tel Batash) III. The Finds from the Second Millennium BCE. Jerusalem: Institute of Archaeology of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. p 9–150.Google Scholar
Panitz-Cohen, N. 2014. The southern Levant (Cisjordan) during the Late Bronze Age. In: Steiner ML, Killebrew AE, editors. The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of the Levant C. 8000–332 BCE. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p 541–560.Google Scholar
Reimer, PJ, Bard, E, Bayliss, A, Beck, JW, Blackwell, PG, Bronk Ramsey, C, Buck, CE, Cheng, H, Edwards, RL, Friedrich, M, Grootes, PM, Guilderson, TP. 2013. IntCal13 and Marine13 radiocarbon age calibration curves 0–50,000 years cal BP. Radiocarbon 55(4):1869–1887.Google Scholar
Schwarz, J. 1850. A Descriptive Geography and Brief Historical Sketch of Palestine. Philadelphia: Hart.Google Scholar
Sharon, I, Gilboa, A, Jull, AJT, Boaretto, E. 2007. Report on the first stage of the Iron Age dating project in Israel: supporting a low chronology. Radiocarbon 49(1):1–46.Google Scholar
Singer, I. 1985. The beginning of Philistine settlement in Canaan and the northern boundary of Philistia. Tel Aviv 12(2):109–122.Google Scholar
Stager, LE. 1985. Merenptah, Israel and the Sea Peoples: new light on an old relief. Eretz-Israel 18:56–64.Google Scholar
Stager, LE. 1998. The impact of the Sea Peoples in Canaan (1185–1050 BCE). In: The Archaeology of Society in the Holy Land. London: Leicester University Press. p 332–348.Google Scholar
Stuiver, M, Polach, HA. 1977. Discussion: reporting of 14C data. Radiocarbon 19(3):355–363.Google Scholar
Toffolo, MB, Arie, E, Martin, MAS, Boaretto, E, Finkelstein, I. 2014. Absolute chronology of Megiddo, Israel, in the Late Bronze and Iron Ages: high-resolution radiocarbon dating. Radiocarbon 56(1):221–244.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ussishkin, D. 1985. Level VII and VI at Tel Lachish and the end of the Late Bronze Age in Canaan. In: Finkelstein I, Na’aman N, editors. Palestine in the Bronze and Iron Ages, Papers in Honour of Olga Tufnell. London: University College London Institute of Archaeology Publications. p 213–228.Google Scholar
Ussishkin, D. 2004a. A synopsis of the stratigraphical, chronological and historical issues. In: Ussishkin D, editor. The Renewed Archaeological Excavations at Lachish (1973–1994). Volume I. Tel Aviv: Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University. p 50–119.Google Scholar
Ussishkin, D. 2004b. The mound and excavation strategy. In: Ussishkin D, editor. The Renewed Archaeological Excavations at Lachish (1973–1994). Volume I. Tel Aviv: Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University. p 23–49.Google Scholar
Ussishkin, D. 2004c. Area P: the Late Bronze Age strata. In: Ussishkin D, editor. The Renewed Archaeological Excavations at Lachish (1973–1994). Volume I. Tel Aviv: Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University. p 188–214.Google Scholar
Ussishkin, D. 2004d. Area P: Level VI temple. In: Ussishkin D, editor. The Renewed Archaeological Excavations at Lachish (1973–1994). Volume I. Tel Aviv: Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University. p 215–281.Google Scholar
Ussishkin, D. 2004e. Area GE: the inner city-gate. In: Ussishkin D, editor. The Renewed Archaeological Excavations at Lachish (1973–1994). Volume II. Tel Aviv: Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University. p 624–689.Google Scholar
Ussishkin, D. 2007. Lachish and the date of the Philistine settlement in Canaan. In: Bietak M, Czerny E, editors. The Synchronisation of Civilisations in the Eastern Mediterranean in the Second Millennium B.C. III. Vienna: Verlag Der Österreichischen Akademie Der Wissenschaften. p 601–607.Google Scholar
Webster, LC. 2015. Developing a radiocarbon-based chronology for Tel Azekah: the first stage [MA thesis]. Sydney: Macquarie University.Google Scholar
Yannai, E. 2004. The Late Bronze Age pottery from Area S. In: Ussishkin D, editor. The Renewed Archaeological Excavations at Lachish (1973–1994). Volume III. Tel Aviv: Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University. p 1032–1146.Google Scholar
Yasur-Landau, A, Gross, B, Gadot, Y. 2014. A rare Cypriot krater of the White Slip II style from Azekah. Israel Exploration Journal 64(1):1–8.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Webster et al supplementary material

Webster et al supplementary material 1

Download Webster et al supplementary material(File)
File 3.9 MB