Rachel Hallote | SUNY: Purchase College (original) (raw)
Papers by Rachel Hallote
This chapter will examine how the ancient past of the land of Israel is perceived and misperceive... more This chapter will examine how the ancient past of the land of Israel is perceived and misperceived when put in dialogue with the present. Worldwide, ancient history and archaeology are often taken out of context to make arguments about current conflicts. This is true on both sides of the Arab-Israeli conflict. To understand how the past both informs and misinforms the current political discourse about Israel, this article will review several topics that are not usually understood as interconnected. These include the origins of western interest in Ottoman Palestine, the 19th-century birth of Jewish nationalism known as Zionism, the birth of biblical archaeology, and the forming of the borders of modern Israel in contradistinction to those of ancient Israel. We will also examine various trends in archaeological thought and theory that exist in opposition to a strong public thirst for understanding topics in biblical archaeology. The way these various strands of thought interact with each other contributes to the politization of the archaeology of ancient Israel. The unusual breadth of topics to be addressed necessitates a streamlined presentation. Each point could be the subject of deeper, specialized analyses, and most have already been studied in far greater depth than is possible here. Background-Ancient Judahite, Israelite, and Jewish history Jewish history is long and varied, as is the Jewish connection to the land of Israel. 1 One important point to remember is that "Jews" and the religion of "Judaism" did not exist in the period of the Hebrew Bible. Rather, there were "Israelites" and "Judahites" who practiced Israelite and Judahite religion-out of which normative Judaism developed. In the Iron Age II, "Israel" was a polity with the capital city of Samaria, near modern Nablus, while "Judah" was a polity centered in the southern part of the central hill country with Jerusalem as its capital. 2 Israel and Judah were conquered and subsumed by the Assyrian and Babylonian empires, respectively, in the 8th and 6th centuries BCE. The many other polities in the region had similar fates, and as their peoples were absorbed by the conquering empires, they lost their cultural identities. This includes the Israelites. 3 Only one people remembered their cultural origins-the Judahites. When the Babylonians conquered Judah in 586 BCE, they destroyed much of Jerusalem, including the Temple of the Judahite deity Yahweh. They also deported many of the people to Babylon. Those
Studies in the Archaeology of Israel and Neighboring …, 2001
Near Eastern Archaeology, 2007
Near Eastern Archaeology, 2001
The find spot of the Gilat Woman. The figure was recovered from Room A in Stratum III. From Alon ... more The find spot of the Gilat Woman. The figure was recovered from Room A in Stratum III. From Alon and Levy (1989: fig. 2). that grades into the southern Coastal Plain. First discovered in the 1950s, excavations were undertaken in the 1970s and again in the late 198os and early 1990s. Four strata, divided into a number of subphases, were found. The Gilat Woman was found in stratum III, in a room approximately 3 m x 4.5 m large. This unit, Room A, was located in the middle of a long structure flanked by two other rooms and formed a complex some 16 m long. Another structure was oriented at a right angle to it, creating an open courtyard. The Gilat Woman was found with a similarly styled figurine of a ram carrying three cornets. Some 68 additional objects were found in Room NEAR EASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY 64/1-2 (2001) 9 10 NEAR EASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY 64:1-2 (2001) LEFT: The cultic significance of the head in the Chalcolithic plastic arts is indicated by a number of finds including this ceramic ossuary. From Israel and Tadmor (1986: fig. 20). BELOW: Evidence from Mesopotamia suggests that tatooing was practiced there. This figurine dates to the Halaf period and comes from the site of the same name. From Huot (1994: cover). Jordan, as well as the frontons of ceramic ossuaries found along the coastal plain and the extraordinary site of Peqi 'in (Amiran
Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research
Israel Studies, Apr 1, 2003
Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research
Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research
Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, 2020
This report presents the results of an archaeological survey of Bureir--a village site of the Ott... more This report presents the results of an archaeological survey of Bureir--a village site of the Ottoman and British Mandate periods. Serious archaeological study of the 19th and 20th centuries C.E. in the Levant is still relatively new, and the intent of this survey was to provide archaeological data to use in tandem with the large amount of historical information available for this village. The survey materials yielded information about Bureir's economy and mode of subsistence as it changed through time, giving a detailed picture of a village within both local and regional contexts.
While female plaque figurines are generally considered to have connections with fertility, schola... more While female plaque figurines are generally considered to have connections with fertility, scholarship is still somewhat divided on whether this group of artifacts represents humans or goddesses, and if goddesses, which goddess in particular. Through the analysis of a plaque figurine found at the Iron II site of Khirbet Summeily, it is suggested that not only are plaque figurines indeed depictions of human women, but that they served as talismans of a specific stage of fertility, the days immediately following birth
Near Eastern Archaeology, 2011
American Jewish History, 2009
Near Eastern Archaeology, 2007
... Journal of the American Oriental Society PEF Palestine Exploration Fund PEFQS Palestine Explo... more ... Journal of the American Oriental Society PEF Palestine Exploration Fund PEFQS Palestine Exploration Fund Quarterly Statement PEQ Palestine Exploration Quarterly SBL Society of Biblical Literature SPC Syrian Protestant ... America was actively embraced as the new Zion. ...
Religious Studies Review, 2004
This chapter will examine how the ancient past of the land of Israel is perceived and misperceive... more This chapter will examine how the ancient past of the land of Israel is perceived and misperceived when put in dialogue with the present. Worldwide, ancient history and archaeology are often taken out of context to make arguments about current conflicts. This is true on both sides of the Arab-Israeli conflict. To understand how the past both informs and misinforms the current political discourse about Israel, this article will review several topics that are not usually understood as interconnected. These include the origins of western interest in Ottoman Palestine, the 19th-century birth of Jewish nationalism known as Zionism, the birth of biblical archaeology, and the forming of the borders of modern Israel in contradistinction to those of ancient Israel. We will also examine various trends in archaeological thought and theory that exist in opposition to a strong public thirst for understanding topics in biblical archaeology. The way these various strands of thought interact with each other contributes to the politization of the archaeology of ancient Israel. The unusual breadth of topics to be addressed necessitates a streamlined presentation. Each point could be the subject of deeper, specialized analyses, and most have already been studied in far greater depth than is possible here. Background-Ancient Judahite, Israelite, and Jewish history Jewish history is long and varied, as is the Jewish connection to the land of Israel. 1 One important point to remember is that "Jews" and the religion of "Judaism" did not exist in the period of the Hebrew Bible. Rather, there were "Israelites" and "Judahites" who practiced Israelite and Judahite religion-out of which normative Judaism developed. In the Iron Age II, "Israel" was a polity with the capital city of Samaria, near modern Nablus, while "Judah" was a polity centered in the southern part of the central hill country with Jerusalem as its capital. 2 Israel and Judah were conquered and subsumed by the Assyrian and Babylonian empires, respectively, in the 8th and 6th centuries BCE. The many other polities in the region had similar fates, and as their peoples were absorbed by the conquering empires, they lost their cultural identities. This includes the Israelites. 3 Only one people remembered their cultural origins-the Judahites. When the Babylonians conquered Judah in 586 BCE, they destroyed much of Jerusalem, including the Temple of the Judahite deity Yahweh. They also deported many of the people to Babylon. Those
Studies in the Archaeology of Israel and Neighboring …, 2001
Near Eastern Archaeology, 2007
Near Eastern Archaeology, 2001
The find spot of the Gilat Woman. The figure was recovered from Room A in Stratum III. From Alon ... more The find spot of the Gilat Woman. The figure was recovered from Room A in Stratum III. From Alon and Levy (1989: fig. 2). that grades into the southern Coastal Plain. First discovered in the 1950s, excavations were undertaken in the 1970s and again in the late 198os and early 1990s. Four strata, divided into a number of subphases, were found. The Gilat Woman was found in stratum III, in a room approximately 3 m x 4.5 m large. This unit, Room A, was located in the middle of a long structure flanked by two other rooms and formed a complex some 16 m long. Another structure was oriented at a right angle to it, creating an open courtyard. The Gilat Woman was found with a similarly styled figurine of a ram carrying three cornets. Some 68 additional objects were found in Room NEAR EASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY 64/1-2 (2001) 9 10 NEAR EASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY 64:1-2 (2001) LEFT: The cultic significance of the head in the Chalcolithic plastic arts is indicated by a number of finds including this ceramic ossuary. From Israel and Tadmor (1986: fig. 20). BELOW: Evidence from Mesopotamia suggests that tatooing was practiced there. This figurine dates to the Halaf period and comes from the site of the same name. From Huot (1994: cover). Jordan, as well as the frontons of ceramic ossuaries found along the coastal plain and the extraordinary site of Peqi 'in (Amiran
Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research
Israel Studies, Apr 1, 2003
Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research
Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research
Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, 2020
This report presents the results of an archaeological survey of Bureir--a village site of the Ott... more This report presents the results of an archaeological survey of Bureir--a village site of the Ottoman and British Mandate periods. Serious archaeological study of the 19th and 20th centuries C.E. in the Levant is still relatively new, and the intent of this survey was to provide archaeological data to use in tandem with the large amount of historical information available for this village. The survey materials yielded information about Bureir's economy and mode of subsistence as it changed through time, giving a detailed picture of a village within both local and regional contexts.
While female plaque figurines are generally considered to have connections with fertility, schola... more While female plaque figurines are generally considered to have connections with fertility, scholarship is still somewhat divided on whether this group of artifacts represents humans or goddesses, and if goddesses, which goddess in particular. Through the analysis of a plaque figurine found at the Iron II site of Khirbet Summeily, it is suggested that not only are plaque figurines indeed depictions of human women, but that they served as talismans of a specific stage of fertility, the days immediately following birth
Near Eastern Archaeology, 2011
American Jewish History, 2009
Near Eastern Archaeology, 2007
... Journal of the American Oriental Society PEF Palestine Exploration Fund PEFQS Palestine Explo... more ... Journal of the American Oriental Society PEF Palestine Exploration Fund PEFQS Palestine Exploration Fund Quarterly Statement PEQ Palestine Exploration Quarterly SBL Society of Biblical Literature SPC Syrian Protestant ... America was actively embraced as the new Zion. ...
Religious Studies Review, 2004
Journal of Near Eastern Studies, 2002
ANE Today, 2022
Where do archaeologists and other scholars of the ancient Near East come from? Who were the intel... more Where do archaeologists and other scholars of the ancient Near East come from? Who were the intellectual fathers and mothers and who are their children and grandchildren, some of whom lead the field today? The Academic Genealogies of Near Eastern Scholars (AGNES) project comes out of years of conversations about the history and development of the discipline of archaeology of the southern Levant. Our field has lost many senior scholars in recent years, including some who knew a tremendous amount of history about previous generations. We decided to act before we lose any more. We wanted to examine several questions about our discipline, specifically, whether certain preconceived notions are accurate. For instance, we wanted to know whether W. F. Albright was really the main "father" of the discipline, as is often asserted. We also wanted to know whether certain well-known "big digs" were as influential as they are sometimes thought to be. The AGNES project is twofold. One part involves an oral history based on information gathered from a survey of current scholars, and the other involves research into scholars of previous generations.