Finkelstein, I. 2014. Settlement Patterns and Territorial Polity in the Transjordanian Highlands in the Late Bronze Age, Ugarit-Forschungen 45: 143-159. (original) (raw)
Related papers
A historical, geographical and archaeological survey of the Jordan Valley in the Late Bronze Age
2012
This thesis is a multidisciplinary survey of the Central Jordan Valley during the Late Bronze Age (1500-1200 BC) illustrated with an abundant use of maps and tables. The purpose is to determine how the Jordan Valley functioned as an economic unit during the Late Bronze Age. This thesis surveys the geographical, historical and archaeological records related to the Jordan Valley during the Late Bronze Age. A chapter is devoted to each field, geography (physical and human), history (Egyptian and Hebrew Bible) and archaeology. The data from each discipline is used to individually answer two questions: 1) was the Jordan Valley a single geographic/economic unit in the Late Bronze Age? 2) to what extent was the Jordan Valley integrated/interacting with the east-west highlands and the larger region in the Late Bronze Age? The primary objectives are to 1) explore and model a historical geographic hermeneutic for understanding the human experience of the Ancient Near East; and 2) lay a foundation for understanding the role of the Jordan Valley in affecting the Biblical periods of the Israelite monarchy to the Roman period. The answers from each chapter are then synthesized into a single geographic historical archaeological picture of the Central Jordan Valley during the Late Bronze Age. The Central Jordan Valley was divided into two sections: a fertile, populated, well connected north-central section and an isolated, sparsely populated southern section with limited agricultural zones. Trade with and between the eastern and western highlands is well represented by artifactual parallels in and through the Jordan Valley, the north-central section on a regional and international scale and the southern section on a more local scale. The thesis concludes that there are more artifactual points of connection between the Jordan Valley and the eastern highlands than with the western highlands. An 'early conquest' model of the Hebrew Bible is plausible within the historical records of the Egyptian 18th and 19th Dynasties and the geographical and archaeological records of the Jordan Valley during the Late Bronze Age.
Neither Early Bronze Age Cities nor States in the South of the Levant: Another Prespective
Contrairement aux cultures urbaines et civilisations complexes à écriture de l'Égypte et de la Mésopotamie dans la seconde moitié du IV e millénaire, il faut attendre près de mille ans pour voir se developper l'écriture en Jordanie. Par ailleurs, alors que l'on avait jusque-là identifié le système d'organisation politique comme celui de la Cité-État, certains chercheurs ont proposé récemment que le Levant Sud du III e millénaire n'ait connu ni État ni ville. Nous suggérons ici une autre interprétation de ces questions, fondée sur le travail de terrain réalisé en Jordanie.
This volume is a study of the archaeology and history of the Jordan Valley of the Southern Levant (from Dan in the north till the Dead Sea in the south) during the Middle Bronze Age (ca. 2000–1500 B.C.E). The study attempts to summarize a large body of relevant materials bringing together a variety of types of finds and approaches, to form a coherent picture on the role, and significance of this region during this period. Starting from a general regional overview (including an in-depth geographical, ecological and environmental summary), a critical review of the finds from the various sites in the region are presented, followed by a discussion of various aspects of the material culture (including a detailed discussion of the pottery of region throughout the various phases of this period), the historical sources, trade and chronology, and an attempt to synthesize the settlement pattern and processes, from the beginning of the Middle Bronze Age until the onset of the Late Bronze Age. While including traditional aspects of analysis such as comparative stratigraphy, pottery typology, and the discussion of the historical sources, this study also attempts to incorporate a wide range of other perspectives, including extensive pottery provenience studies (Neutron Activation Analysis), the study of settlement ecology and population dynamics, and attempts to classify the production patterns, and political and economic structures in these and adjacent regions during this time frame. In addition to dealing specifically with the finds from within the Jordan Valley, the ramifications of these finds on other regions (and issues) in the Middle Bronze Age, and vice-a-versa, influences of other regions and sites on the Jordan Valley. Thus, general questions such as the underlying mechanisms behind the beginning, development and end of the Middle Bronze Age are discusses, as well as controversial topics such as the chronology of the period and the role of the city of Hazor. The volume concludes with an appendix with a detailed list on all MB sites in the Jordan Valley, and a list and discussion of all 14C dates from the Jordan Valley (by Ezra Marcus). The volume should be of interest to scholars dealing the Bronze and Iron Ages of the Eastern Mediterranean, as those connected to the study of material culture, production, pottery provenience, chronology, trade, settlement patterns and cultural interactions, both in the ancient near east but in archaeology and ancient history in general as well.
NEITHER EARLY BRONZE AGE CITIES NOR STATES IN THE SOUTH OF THE LEVANT: ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE
– Contrairement aux cultures urbaines et civilisations complexes à écriture de l'Égypte et de la Mésopotamie dans la seconde moitié du IV e millénaire, il faut attendre près de mille ans pour voir se developper l'écriture en Jordanie. Par ailleurs, alors que l'on avait jusque-là identifié le système d'organisation politique comme celui de la Cité-État, certains chercheurs ont proposé récemment que le Levant Sud du III e millénaire n'ait connu ni État ni ville. Nous suggérons ici une autre interprétation de ces questions, fondée sur le travail de terrain réalisé en Jordanie. Abstract – Unlike the complex urban cultures and civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia, where writing developed during the second half of the 4 th millennium BC, Jordan did not use writing until over a thousand years later. In addition, it has been proposed that the south Levantine Early Bronze Age polities, which have been identified as city-states, were neither cities nor states. This study aims at presenting another perspective of this problem based on archaeological fieldworks conducted in the north of Jordan.
Conceptualizing Urban Experiences: Tell es-Sultan and Tall al-Ḥammām Early Bronze cities across the Jordan. Proceedings of a workshop held in Palermo, G. Whitaker Foundation, Villa Malfitano, June 19th 2017 (Rome «La Sapienza» Studies on the Archaeology of Palestine & Transjordan, 13), 2019
The main goal of this paper is to reanalyze settlement distribution that developed along the Jordan Valley during the Early Bronze Age and to frame Tell es-Sultan with its unique ecological niche in this wide and heterogeneous panorama. The study of enrooted relationship between sites and environment-in light of most recent excavation and survey data-confirm the fundamental and well-known role played by water in the settlement organization.
The Southern Levant (Cisjordan) During the Late Bronze Age
The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of the Levant (c. 8000-332 BCE), 2013
Th e Late Bronze Age in the area of the Israel/Palestinian territories (termed here 'Canaan') was a period of prosperity and privation, submission and rebellion. It marked a high point of various technological, mercantile, and artistic endeavours while, at the same time, other aspects of ancient life experienced a decline. Two seminal features characterized this period: the domination of the Egyptian Empire, which provides the chrono-historical as well as the political-cultural framework for the entire duration of this period, and the economic and cultural involvement of Canaan in the 'world system' network of the eastern Mediterranean and the ancient Near East. It is this dialectic nature, along with the multitude of textual evidence and rich archaeological fi nds, that make the Late Bronze Age a pivotal period in the development of history, society, and culture in Canaan.