Jalul 2007, Randall W. Younker
Ibrahim Lecture, Carrie Rhodes
Ortiz Lecture, Carrie Rhodes
Random Surveyhttps://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/iaham-news/1031/thumbnail.jp

Rhodes, Carrie

Younker, Randall W.

English

Andrews University

Andrews University Digital Commons @ Andrews University The Institute of Archaeology & the Horn Archaeological Museum Newsletter The Institute of Archaeology & the Horn Archaeological Museum Summer 2007 The Institute of Archaeology & Siegfried H. Horn Museum Newsletter Volume 28.3 Randall W. Younker Carrie Rhodes Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/iaham-news Table of ContentsPageJalul 2007Ibrahim LectureOrtiz LectureRandom SurveyINSTITUTE OF ARCHAEOLOGYHORN ARCHAEOLOGICALMUSEUMNEWSLETTERPaul J. Ray, Jr. EditorConstance E. Gane Assoc. EditorRandall W. Younker Assoc. EditorDarrell J. Rohl Asst. EditorThe Newsletter is published four times ayear by the Institute of Archaeology,Andrews University. Annual subscriptionprice is $7.50. Museum membership,subscription, and editorial correspon-dence should be addressed to the HornArchaeological Museum, Institute ofArchaeology, Andrews University,Berrien Springs, MI 49104-0990,Telephone 269-471-3273, Fax 269-471-3619, e-mail hornmusm@andrews.edu.Volume  28.3Summer 2007ISSN 1095-2837Jalul 2007Excavations were conducted at Tall Jalul, 5 km east of Madaba, by Andrews University inconsortium with the Madaba Plains Project (MPP) from May 31-July 9, 2007. Randall W. Younkerand Constance E. Gane were codirectors. Hanadi Taher was the Department of Antiquities repre-sentative. Reem Shqour and Basam Taher also aided the project wirh various logistical issues.Field Directors included Dr. Paul Gregor, Prof. Constance Gane, Dr. Paul Ray, Ms. JenniferGroves, Dr. Robert Bates, and Dr. Mark Ziese.  Approximately 60 foreign and 20 Jordanian work-ers participated in the excavations, which were also supported by the Department of Antiquities ofJordan and the American Schools of Oriental Research.The goals of the project have been, in part, to illuminate the cultural and political history ofboth the site of Jalul and its immediate region during the last 5000 years. This season excavationswere conducted in six different fields (A, C, D, E, G, and H). In Field A, walls of a late IronII/Persian-period building were uncovered about half a meter below the surface.In Field C, the south wall of a large building was exposed, as well as two walls of a secondbuilding to the south of the first.  Both structures date to the Late Iron II/Persian period.  Betweenthe two buildings was an alleyway or small street that had been resurfaced several times.In Field D, work continued in three rooms on the west side of the large Late Iron II/Persian-period building complex, uncovered in previous seasons.  Different floor levels were reached in thenorthwesternmost room. A significant number of complete (though broken) pots as well as severalhuman and animal figurines were found in these rooms. The staff was unable to reach the base ofany of the walls in these rooms this season, so it is possible that there are phases preceding theJalul 2007 Team. (con’d. on p. 2)1234Newsletter 28.3.color.qxp  2/4/2008  12:12 PM  Page 1Late Iron II/Persian period.  The most sig-nificant find this season was an ostraconfound in a fill in the northeast part of thebuilding.  It contained five lines of text.A preliminary reading suggests that it is alist of Ammonite family names dating tothe late 7th/early-6th century BC.  This isslightly earlier than the ceramic evidencefound in the building, suggesting earlieroccupational phases existed in this areathat have not yet been reached.In Field E, on the east side of the tell,work continued around the mudbrick wallexposed last season (2005). Stone wallfragments of another wall were located tothe west of the mudbrick wall. The basesof these walls were not reached, so defi-nite dates could not be determined foreither wall. However, the fills associatedwith them contained pottery from the LateIron II/Persian period as well as the LateIron Age II.Two new fields (G and H) wereopened on the south side of the tell, in thehope of locating a city wall.  The loca-tions of the fields were selected on thebasis of some large hewn stones protrud-ing through the surface of the tell in a linethat looked as if they might be part of awall.  Excavation in Field H uncoveredthree large stones in a line that appearedto be flat flagstones normally used for aroad or approach ramp. Unfortunately,they were isolated and their exact func-tion is unknown at this time.  Ceramicsfound in association with these stonesdate to the Late Iron Age II.  Several bal-lista (sling stones) were found near them.  In Field G, on the southeast corner ofthe tell, a 3.0 m stretch of a large stonewall was excavated in Square G2.  It ispossible that this wall is part of a towerfor the city’s fortification system,although more excavation is needed toverify this supposition.  Although at leastfour courses of the wall were exposed, thebase of the wall was not reached, leavingits exact date uncertain.  Fills associatedwith the wall date to Late Iron II/Persian,Late Iron Age II and Iron Age I.   A curi-ous structure found along the north faceof the “tower” wall was a plastered chan-nel that seemed to drain water to the out-side of the wall.  It seems to cut into theearlier wall system, and thus dates to alater phase (Iron II/Persian period?).  Awall with some plaster on it was found inSquare G4, just north of the water chan-nel, and is probably associated with it.  Asecond wall fragment was found farthernorth.  It also dates to the Late IronII/Persian period. (Randall W. Younker)Ibrahim LectureOn Nov. 13, 2006, MoawiyahIbrahim, professor and Dean of Arts at Al-Isra Private University in Amman, Jordanpresented a lecture entitled RecentArchaeological Discoveries in Yemen.During the 1980s and again in 2005, Dr.Ibrahim was invited to coordinate andserve as chief archaeologist on interna-tional projects in Yemen.The country of Yemen is located inthe southwestern corner of the ArabianPeninsula, which is bordered by the RedSea, Indian Ocean, Arabian/Persian Gulf,and the Arabian Desert on the north.  Theearliest settlement in the area dates to the2nd millennium BC and is located justnorth of the city of Aden. Well-made pot-tery indicates connections with EastAfrica (Sudan and Eritrea). The largest south Arabian kingdomduring the 1st millennium BC was Sabav,whose capital was Marib.  Perhaps itsmost sophisticated structure was theMarib Dam (8th century BC).  The damwas rebuilt only 25 years ago. About 15km away is the Al-Jufaiha Dam, whichwas established during the 12th or 11thcentury BC.  These two dams give evi-dence of Sabaean skill with water sys-tems.  Near the mound of old Marib, thereis a temple from the Sabaean period thatwas later converted to a mosque.Inscriptions from the 7th and 6th cen-turies BC can be found on its walls. The5th century BC Bar'an Temple, recentlyrestored after excavations and now opento tourists, is also of interest.  The stonefor building the temple came from thenearby quarries of Balaq and would havebeen rolled down to the building area.  AtBalaq there is an inscription regarding therules of quarry use that dates to the 4thcentury BC. Dr. Ibrahim’s most recent focus inYemen is the Temple of Mahram Bilqis,or Temple of the Moon (Ilmaqah), alsoknown as the Awam Temple.  Its ovalshape has parallels in Mesopotamia andPalestine, but not in Arabia until now.  The remains consist of a peristylehall, eight columns in front of the holy ofholies, and a number of annexes aroundthe temple. A large number of monumen-tal South Arabic inscriptions dating to the1st century AD can be found in the peri-style hall. The burial ground and mau-soleum are to the south of the Temple.Some of the decorative elements found atthe Temple include a bronze statue ofBarib-il, a life-size bronze horse, and aportico overlooking a pool.  The Temple had five Iron Age occu-pational phases  (ca. 8th-4th centuriesBC). A 5th century BC inscription pre-dates the paved floor.  There was also anin situ 5th century BC bronze plaque atthe base of a staircase that contains thenames of two kings, one from 8th century Moawiyah Ibrahim.Newsletter 28.3.color.qxp  2/4/2008  12:12 PM  Page 2BC and the other from the 6th centuryBC.  An alabaster head was found in alater enclosure wall that consisted of 20courses of stones, 10 m high. A number ofbronze figures were found, as well as aMiddle Sabaeaic Inscription. On the one hand  late 4th-early 5thcentury AD pottery found in the walls ofthe annex suggest that it was not used as atemple after that time.  However, manyanimal bones were found at a sacrificialarea nearby, which indicate that it mayhave been used  until the coming ofIslam. The results of excavations of theOval Temple have been published in sev-eral volumes by the Publications of theAmerican Foundation for the Study ofMan (AFSM).  There are a number of Tower Tombsnear Marib that date from the 3rd-2ndmillenniums BC that are related to thosein Bahrain, but the corresponding settle-ments from that era have not been found.  Other sites of interest in Yemeninclude the site of Baraqish (ancientYathul), the capital of the Kingdom ofMa'in, ca. 400 BC, where a  Minaeantemple has recently been restored by theItalians.  At Timnah, the capital of thekingdom of Qataban, there are severalmonumental South Arabic inscriptions atthe gate of the city. At the palace ofShabwa, the capital of Hadhramawt, theJabal ‘Uqlah Inscriptions, which werededicatory inscriptions of the kings ofHadhramawt, have been found.  Shabwawas not built near a main road but nearsalt mines, which still exist.  Some of theoldest skyscrapers known can be found atthe 16th century AD city of Shibam.They are made of mud brick and reachheights of 13 stories. (Carrie Rhodes)Ortiz LectureDr. Steven Ortiz, professor atSouthwestern Baptist TheologicalSeminary in Fort Worth, TX, lectured atAndrews University on Dec. 4, 2006 onthe archaeology of Tel Gezer, of which heis the director.  The name Gezer appearsin the Bible as part of a coalition againstJoshua, as a tribal allotment for the tribeof Ephraim, as a Levitical city, and as anEgyptian stronghold, which ultimatelybecame a dowry to Solomon when hemarried Pharaoh’s daughter.  Tel Gezer is a 33-acre site in thefoothills of Jerusalem in the regionbetween the coastal plain and the hillcountry of Judah.  It is strategically locat-ed on important north-south and east-westtrade routes and was conquered manytimes.  There have been two major exca-vations at the site from 1902-1909, andfrom1964-74, with followup seasons in1984 and 1990.  The site is well-knownfor its major discoveries including the“high place,” water system, four-cham-bered gate, glacis and tower from theMiddle Bronze Age, as well as its six-chambered (Solomonic) gate and famous“Gezer calendar” from the Iron Age. LateBronze Age Gezer is mentioned in theAmarna letters where the king of Gezercomplained to the king of Egypt abouttrouble from the vApiru, and on theMerenptah Stele.  The outer wall of thesite is dated to this period.  Rhodian jarhandles, lamps, a  Jewish ritual bath and12 boundary stones, identifying the site,attest to Hellenistic period Gezer, which ismentioned in 1 Macc 13 as being gar-risoned by Simon Maccabee after he tookthe city from the Seleucids ca. 140 BC.Why go back to Gezer?  AlthoughGezer’s history is known, there are sever-al problems regarding the Iron Age city.The excavations in the 1960s and ’70sfocused on stratigraphy, but did not get abroad overview of the city.  The results ofthe 1984 and 1990 excavations have notyet been fully published, especiallyPalaces 8,000 and 10,000. The 1984 exca-vations discovered three major strata fromthe 8th, 9th and 10th centuries BC,including two destructions.  The 9th cen-tury BC artifacts found at Gezer are someof the few in existence in this region, andare important to the discussion of the lowIron Age chronology, as it is the 9th cen-tury BC in particular that is debated.  Oneof the problems is that these objects arecurrently not associated with good  9thcentury BC strata.  The primary focus ofthe new excavations will be on obtaininga large horizontal exposure of the IronAge structures along with well-stratifiedsequences.  A reinvestigation of the IronAge fortification system and several otherbuildings from this time are also on theagenda. Gezer has recently become a nation-al park, so in 2006 only a section alongthe fortification system was available forexcavation, of which over 40 m wereexposed. On the basis of the work thisseason it appears that the gate and case-mate system were built as a  large “box”which contained sterile fill.  Two pre-Solomonic destruction layers  were found,containing mixed Late Bronze Age I andII pottery. Two Iron Age destruction lay-ers were also found. Ortiz postulates thatone of these layers belongs to the 21stDynasty Pharaoh Siamun, as a storage jarstopper which was found in the destruc-tion layer contains a seal that has beenassociated with Siamun. The casematewas rebuilt and then destroyed in the 8thcentury BC, the destruction layer perhapsreflecting the activities of Tiglath-PileserIII in the region. (Carrie Rhodes)Steven M. Ortiz.Newsletter 28.3.color.qxp  2/4/2008  12:12 PM  Page 3Who’s Inside?For about 100 years, four blue-glazed jars at the Louvre which carried the tag of Ramses II werebelieved to contain his bodilyremains, even though his heart waslater found inside his mummy.Recent analysis of two of the jarshas revealed that one contains anaromatic salve while the other con-tains the organs of another personwho lived 760 years after Ramses.It is now thought that the one jar,which contained animal fat mixedwith coniferous oil in its residue,originally held sacred cosmetics inthe Temple of Ramses II.Gladiator Carvings Found: Italian police have recovered a cache of 12 marble panels that may have once decorated a tomb.The panels show fighters with swords and shields engaged in combat in an arena. In one scene,a gladiator steps on the wrist of an opponent who raises a finger in a traditional plea for mercy. Ancient Beehives:Thirty intact beehives, made of straw and unbakedclay with remnants of honeycombs and beeswax, havebeen found at Rehov, in northern Israel. The hives,dating to ca. 900 BC, reflect the earliest empiricalevidence of the industry.  Hera Statue Found:A life-sized marble statue ofHera has  recently beenfound in secondary use in awall of the city of Dion, nearMt. Olympus, Greece. Thesecond century BC statue,though now headless, mayhave originally stood next toZeus in a temple dedicatedto the head of the pantheonof ancient Greek gods. Astatue of Zeus was found inthe ruins of this samebuilding in 2003.  Dion wasa major religious center ofthe ancient Macedonians.Alexander the Great offeredsacrifices there beforelaunching his campaignagainst the Persians.To discover more about archaeology, theInstitute, and the Museum, contact us at:VOX: 269-471-3273FAX: 269-471-3619E-mail: hornmusm@andrews.eduor visit our Web site at:www.andrews.edu/archaeologyThe Institute of ARCHAEOLOGYSiegfried H. Horn MuseumAndrews University, Berrien Springs, MI 49104-0990Address Service RequestedNon-profit OrganizationU.S. Postage  PAIDPermit No. 5Berrien Springs, MI 49103Early Horse Figures Found in Turkey:Twenty horse figures and a figure resembling a human showing hishands before the horses have recently been found, painted on rockformations in Eskişehir, Turkey. They are the first known horsefigures in Anatolia, dating back to 6,000 BC, and come from anarea where horses were raised at one time.  Early Neolithic periodceramics and flints have also been discovered in the region, suggesting that the area may have also been used for settlement.Newsletter 28.3.color.qxp  2/4/2008  12:12 PM  Page 4

The Institute of Archaeology & Siegfried H. Horn Museum Newsletter Volume 28.3

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The Institute of Archaeology & Siegfried H. Horn Museum Newsletter Volume 28.3

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