Khirbet Qeiyafa in the Shephelah (original) (raw)
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Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis 282, 2017
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 second 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 for Ancient Near Eastern Studies, this volume offers a condensed report by main excavator Yosef Garfinkel as well as several in-depth studies on archaeological, histori...
Khirbet Qeiyafa: An Unsensational Archaeological and Historical Interpretation
ABSTRACT The article deals with the finds at the late Iron I settlement of Khirbet Qeiyafa, a site overlooking the Valley of Elah in the Shephelah. It points out the methodological shortcomings in both field work and interpretation of the finds. It then turns to several issues related to the finds: the identity of the inhabitants, their territorial affiliation and the possibility of identifying Khirbet Qeiyafa with sites mentioned in the Bible and in the Shoshenq I list.