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Books by Stefan Münger

Festschrift für Silvia Schroer zum 65. Geburtstag (Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis 303), Leuven: Peeters, 2023

The contributions gathered in this volume honor the work of Silvia Schroer in biblical exegesis, ... more The contributions gathered in this volume honor the work of Silvia Schroer in biblical exegesis, iconography, feminist criticism, and the broad exploration of texts and images from Ancient Israel and neighboring cultures. Across 35 contributions, companions representing different generations of researchers relate their own work to Silvia’s scholarship, pointing to some of the latter’s highlights and connectivity in a colorful Festschrift.

Papers Presented at a Colloquium of the Swiss Society for Ancient Near Eastern Studies Held at the University of Bern, September 6, 2014, ed. by S. Schroer and S. Münger (Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis 282). Fribourg (CH): Academic Press/Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2017

Excavations at the early Iron age site of Khirbet Qeiyafa (Israel), directed from 2007 to 2011 by... more Excavations at the early Iron age site of Khirbet Qeiyafa (Israel), directed from 2007 to 2011 by Yosef Garfinkel and Saar Ganor under the auspices of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Israel Antiquities Authority, have attracted considerable scholarly and media attention since the very first season, when the discovery of an inscribed ostracon sparked controversies over the site’s historical significance and nature. Located at the entrance of the Elah Valley, protected by a casemate wall and two monumental gateways, the settlement of Qeiyafa existed for barely half a century. Its dating and the correlation of the archaeological evidence with the regional history, not least the rise of an early Judahite monarchy, have become matters of intense academic debate. Resulting from a colloquium of the Swiss Society of Ancient Near Eastern Studies, this volume offers a condensed report by main excavator Yosef Garfinkel as well as several in-depth studies on archaeological, historical, epigraphical, iconographical and biblical issues.

PhD Thesis, University of Bern, 2011

Der Band dokumentiert zwei Jahrzehnte Predigttätigkeit Walter Dietrichs. Der emeritierte Professo... more Der Band dokumentiert zwei Jahrzehnte Predigttätigkeit Walter Dietrichs. Der emeritierte Professor der Universität Bern ist ein engagierter Vermittler zwischen akademischer Wissenschaft und kirchlicher Verkündigung.
Dabei ist der Autor nicht alleine dem klassischen Predigtstil verpflichtet, sondern findet im Dialog mit dem biblischen Text oft neue Formen und Wege. Walter Dietrich bedient sich dabei einer reichen und bildhaften Sprache. Sein Ringen mit der Frage nach göttlicher und sozialer Gerechtigkeit konfrontiert den Prediger und seine Adressaten besonders mit unbequemen und anspruchsvollen Texten.

The Fritz Festschrift combines 19 studies devoted to various facets of the archaeology and histor... more The Fritz Festschrift combines 19 studies devoted to various facets of the archaeology and history of Israel/Palestine in Old and New Testament times. Among others, Ostracon 40 from Arad is reconsidered by N. Na’aman, O. Keel studies Neo-Hyksos scarabs, Z. Herzog the Canaanite City between ideology and archaeological reality, and J. Zangenberg sketches the role of the lake of Galilee in Early Christianity. (The articles are written in English and German.)

Papers by Stefan Münger

2024 IEEE/CVF Winter Conference on Applications of Computer Vision (WACV), 2024

Archaeology is an intriguing domain for computer vision. It suffers not only from shortage in (la... more Archaeology is an intriguing domain for computer vision. It suffers not only from shortage in (labeled) data, but also from highly-challenging data, which is often extremely abraded and damaged. This paper proposes a novel semi-supervised model for classification and retrieval of images of archaeological artifacts. This model utilizes unique data that exists in the domain—manual drawings made by special artists. These are used during training to implicitly transfer the domain knowledge from the drawings to their corresponding images, improving their classification results. We show that while learning how to classify, our model also learns how to generate drawings of the artifacts, an important documentation task, which is currently performed manually. Last but not least, we collected a new dataset of stamp-seals of the Southern Levant. Our code and dataset are publicly available.

'Trinkt von dem Wein, den ich mischte!' / 'Drink of the Wine which I have Mingled!', Festschrift für Silvia Schroer zum 65. Geburtstag, ed. by Stefan Münger, Nancy Rahn and Patrick Wyssmann (Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis 303), Leuven: Peeters, 2023

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, incl... more No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage or retrieval devices or systems, without the prior written permission from the publisher, except the quotation of brief passages for review purposes. Die Reihe Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis veröffentlicht Monographien, thematische Sammelbände und Tagungsbände im Bereich der orientalischen Altertumswissenschaften: Bibelwissenschaften (Hebräische Bibel und Septuaginta), Ägyptologie, Altorientalistik, Vorderasiatische Archäologie, Ikonographie und Religionsgeschichte. Herausgeberkreis und Partnerinstitutionen bürgen für ihre akademische Qualität und interdisziplinäre Anlage. Manuskripte können einem Mitglied des Herausgeberkreises unterbreitet werden. Ihre Prüfung obliegt dem Herausgeberkreis, der weitere, unabhängige Gutachten einholen kann. Verbreitung, Subskriptionen und Leserschaft sind weltweit; neue Bände werden, wenn immer möglich, open access (Gold oder Green) veröffentlicht. Ältere Bände sind auf dem digitalen Repository der Universität Zürich archiviert (www.zora.uzh.ch).

Near Eastern Archaeology, 2023

While the majority of West Asian glyptic lacks provenance given their purchase on the art market,... more While the majority of West Asian glyptic lacks provenance given their purchase on the art market, the southern Levant stands out for its some 12,000 seals and sealings from controlled legal excavations. Swiss scholar Othmar Keel and his colleagues published approximately 7,500 of these objects in his Corpus der Stempelsiegel-Amulette
aus Palästina/Israel and Corpus der Siegel-Amulette aus Jordanien, totaling six printed volumes that have served as standard reference works for the region over the last three decades despite their ongoing status (Keel 1995–2017). Nevertheless, material from the southern Levant is often peripheralized if not entirely excluded from handbooks teaching the canon of West Asian art—an absence arguably linked to early disinterest in the region given its lack of monumentalizing objects (Hallote 2020: 45, 60). Such exclusion is compounded by an absence of regional representation in volumes dedicated to new approaches to glyptic art of the ancient world, resulting in a need to reflect on how such material is being studied and by whom.

Egypt and the Hebrew Bible – Proceedings of the Conference Celebrating 40 Years ÄAT, Munich, 6–7 Dec. 2019, eds. S. J. Wimmer, and W. Zwickel. Münster: Zaphon., 2022

Judäo-israelitische Knochensiegel der Eisenzeit II – Ägyptische Ikonographie und kanaanäisches Erbe

Silvia Schroer and Stefan Münger (eds). Khirbet Qeiyafa in the Shephelah (Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis 282). Fribourg (CH): Academic Press, 2017

This paper reviews selected aspects of the material culture unearthed at Khirbet Qeiyafa in the S... more This paper reviews selected aspects of the material culture unearthed at Khirbet Qeiyafa in the Shefelah through the lens of the Early Iron Age finds and findings from Tel Kinrot on the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee.

http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report\_detail\_eng.aspx?id=2230

Co-authored with Othmar Keel, published in: Excavations at Dor, Final Report Volume IIIB: Area G, the Late Bronze and Iron Ages: Pottery, Artifacts, Ecofacts and Other Studies (Qedem Reports 11), Jerusalem 2018, 2018

The currently published glyptic assemblage from Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath comprises more than sixty seals... more The currently published glyptic assemblage from Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath comprises more than sixty seals and seal- ings (Keel 2013: 94–123; see also Maeir, Shai, and Kolska Horwitz 2011). This corpus provides sound evidence that seals—mostly worn as adornments—and the practice of sealing were part of daily life at Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath throughout the centuries. In the following, a few outstanding glyptic finds by the current expedition are presented.

Othmar Keel, Corpus der Stempelsiegel-Amulette aus Palästina/Israel von den Anfängen bis zur Perserzeit. Vol. V: Von Tell El-ʿIdham Bis Kitan (Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis. Series Archaeologica 35), Fribourg (CH)/Göttingen: Academic Press Fribourg/Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2017

Comprehensive catalogue of all stamp-seal amulets and seal impressions from Tel Kinrot (Israel) f... more Comprehensive catalogue of all stamp-seal amulets and seal impressions from Tel Kinrot (Israel) found to date.

Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel 128, online, 2016

co-authored with J. Zangenberg, R. Hakola, B. McCane, T. Rassalle, D. Kessi, Y. Shivti’el, J. Bal... more co-authored with J. Zangenberg, R. Hakola, B. McCane, T. Rassalle, D. Kessi, Y. Shivti’el, J. Ballard, L. den Hertog, A. Berkheij-Dol, F. Neumann, P. Bes and U. Tervahauta

T.E. Levy, M. Najjar and E. Ben-Yosef (eds.), New Insights into the Iron Age Archaeology of Edom, Southern Jordan (Monumenta archaeologica 35), Los Angeles: The Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press 2014, 2:741–765., 2014

Antiquity – Project Gallery, 2014

Hebrew Bible and Ancient Israel, 2013

The article presents the preliminary results from four seasons of excavations at Horvat Kur in th... more The article presents the preliminary results from four seasons of excavations at Horvat Kur in the Galilee. The excavations conducted by the Kinneret Regional Project have exposed the remains of a broad-house synagogue from the Byzantine period. The most important finds include an elevated platform (i. e., a bemah) that supported a chest holding Torah scrolls, an ornamented limestone seat that was probably used by the leader of the congregation, and a basalt stone table that features geometric figures on three sides and figurative representations on one side. The Horvat Kur synagogue represents a valuable example of the diversity of Galilean synagogues that were built or renovated between the 5th and the 7th centuries C.E.

Environmental Archaeology, 2013

Preliminary archaeological and palynological results are presented from an early Byzantine cister... more Preliminary archaeological and palynological results are presented from an early Byzantine cistern of the village Horvat Kur in eastern Lower Galilee/Israel. The rural site was settled from the Hellenistic until the Early Arab period, its synagogue was constructed shortly after 425 AD and renovated sometimes during the 2nd half of the 6th century AD. It was abandoned probably as a consequence of the earthquake of 749 AD. The intact and properly sealed cistern contained complete or fully restorable pottery. Two cooking pots from the early 5th century AD comprised sediments which was sampled for palynological purposes. Both samples, as well as a sample from the soil beneath one of the pots and a modern surface sample from the site, revealed well preserved palynomorphs in comparably high concentration showing a great potential of the cistern as a pollen archive. The pollen content points to an open, grassy semiarid landscape with an apparent scarcity of cultivars and trees in the vicinity of the site and an abundance of herbs, especially Asteraceae, which are still commonly found in modern regional vegetation.

Festschrift für Silvia Schroer zum 65. Geburtstag (Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis 303), Leuven: Peeters, 2023

PhD Thesis, University of Bern, 2011

2024 IEEE/CVF Winter Conference on Applications of Computer Vision (WACV), 2024

Near Eastern Archaeology, 2023

Egypt and the Hebrew Bible – Proceedings of the Conference Celebrating 40 Years ÄAT, Munich, 6–7 Dec. 2019, eds. S. J. Wimmer, and W. Zwickel. Münster: Zaphon., 2022

Judäo-israelitische Knochensiegel der Eisenzeit II – Ägyptische Ikonographie und kanaanäisches Erbe

Silvia Schroer and Stefan Münger (eds). Khirbet Qeiyafa in the Shephelah (Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis 282). Fribourg (CH): Academic Press, 2017

http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report\_detail\_eng.aspx?id=2230

Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel 128, online, 2016

Antiquity – Project Gallery, 2014

Hebrew Bible and Ancient Israel, 2013

Environmental Archaeology, 2013

In recent years, scholars have identified Early Iron Age Kinneret as belonging either to the king... more In recent years, scholars have identified Early Iron Age Kinneret as belonging either to the kingdom of Geshur1 or at least as being part of an early Aramaean polity. It is the purpose of this paper to reexamine the archaeological evidence for such an assumption and to critically test the currently available data against this hypothesis.

Short report about the latest finds and findings at Horvat Kur, Israel.

Cet article se concentre avant tout sur la période du Fer I et donne d'abord une vue d'ensemble s... more Cet article se concentre avant tout sur la période du Fer I et donne d'abord une vue d'ensemble sur les pratiques funéraires phéniciennes, philistines, israélites et transjourdaniennes à la fin du deuxième millénaire av. n. è.
Bien que l'enterrement dans la maison eût passé de mode déjà à la fin du Bronze Récent au plus tard, il y a des indications dans la culture matérielle du Levant du Sud, que cette pratique était encore connue. Les sites de Megiddo dans la plaine de Esdraelon, Dor au littoral phénicien de la Méditerranée et surtout Chinnéreth au bord nord-ouest du lac de Tibériade ont produit des résultats probables pour l'enterrement dans la maison. Ceci est un autre indice que les habitants des différentes régions du Levant-Sud à l'époque des premiers rois d'Israël/Juda étaient encore profondément enracinés dans les us et coutumes des sociétés cananéennes antérieures.

Subfloor burials in residential houses – a common practice during the Middle and Late Bronze Ages... more Subfloor burials in residential houses – a common practice during the Middle and Late Bronze Ages – apparently went out of fashion in the subsequent periods. Nevertheless, there are minute indications in the material culture of the Southern Levant that this custom was still known during the Iron Age I (c. 1130-950 BCE). The paper presents examples from sites in northern Palestine, especially from Tel Kinrot (ancient Kinneret) on the north-western shore of the Sea of Galilee. On the background of contemporary burial practices these findings call for special attention, particularly in light of a few Biblical texts mentioning burials in residential houses during this very period. The passages are all found in the books of Samuel and Kings and explicitly refer to burials of powerful members of Israel’s elite (Samuel, Ahitophel [cf. LXX] and Joab) in domestic contexts. Scholarship, however, has never given attention to these texts as an ensemble. The paper will thus bundle the currently available archaeological and literary data relating to house burials in ancient Israel and beyond and demonstrate the fruitful interaction of two historical disciplines.

Ancient Kinneret (Tel Kinrot [Hebrew]; Tell el-‘Orēme [Arabic]) is located on a steep limestone h... more Ancient Kinneret (Tel Kinrot [Hebrew]; Tell el-‘Orēme [Arabic]) is located on a steep limestone hill on the northwestern shores of the Sea of Galilee (2508.7529 [NIG]). The site, whose settlement history began sometime during the Pottery-Neolithic or the early Chalcolithic period, is emerging as one of the major sites for the study of urban life in the Southern Levant during the Early Iron Age (c. 1130–950 BCE). Its size, accessibility by major trade routes, and strategic location between different spheres of cultural and political influence make Tel Kinrot an ideal place for studying the interaction of various cultures on urban sites, as well as to approach questions of ethnicity and regionalism during one of the most debated periods in the history of the ancient Levant. - The paper will present the major results of the 2003-2008 seasons of the Kinneret Regional Project, an international archaeological expedition to the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee under the auspices of the Universities of Bern (Switzerland), Helsinki (Finland), Leiden (The Netherlands) and Mainz (Germany) in collaboration with the Finnish Institute of the Middle East (FIME).

Ancient Kinneret (Tel Kinrot [Hebrew]; Tell el-‘Oreme [Arabic]) is located on a steep limestone h... more Ancient Kinneret (Tel Kinrot [Hebrew]; Tell el-‘Oreme [Arabic]) is located on a steep limestone hill on the northwestern shores of the Sea of Galilee (2508.7529 [NIG]). The site, whose settlement history began sometime during the Pottery-Neolithic or the early Chalcolithic period, is emerging as one of the major sites for the study of urban life in the Southern Levant during the Early Iron Age (c. 1130–950 BCE). Its size, accessibility by major trade routes, and strategic location between different spheres of cultural and political influence make Tel Kinrot an ideal place for studying the interaction of various cultures on urban sites, as well as to approach questions of ethnicity and regionalism during one of the most debated periods in the history of the ancient Levant. - The paper will present the major results of the 2003-2008 seasons of the Kinneret Regional Project, an international archaeological expedition to the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee under the auspices of the Universities of Bern (Switzerland), Helsinki (Finland), Leiden (The Netherlands) and Mainz (Germany) in collaboration with the Finnish Institute of the Middle East (FIME).