History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology Commons^™

A Middle Bronze Age Burial Cave At Tur‘An, Lilly Gershuny, Emanuel Eisenberg

'Atiqot

The burial cave, carved into limestone, consists of a square, vertical shaft and an elliptical room. The cave’s contents, which included pottery vessels, carnelian beads, a bronze toggle pin and a stone pommel, were scattered on a fill on the floor. Six adult individuals and one child were identified. The bones of sheep and cattle, which served as food offerings, were found as well. The pottery included bowls, a storage jar, a large krater with loop feet, jugs, dipper and piriform juglets, and a unique Tell el-Yahudiyeh juglet with a zoomorphic protome. The cave is a typical Early Bronze Age …

Shifting Perspectives: Valuing Art For Its Usefulness, Not Just Its Aesthetics, Morgan Hatfield

SPARK Symposium Presentations

Art is everywhere. From paintings, to entertainment, even to gardening and architecture, art is an essential part of society and culture. However, art can frequently be trapped in its own bubble, seen as something of not much use to “real” professionals such as physicians, therapists, or scientists. This line of thinking discredits the flexibility of art. It is only through the analysis of art’s impact on society that one can see the broad array of disciplines that art can affect and thus see the true value of art. Focusing primarily on visual art, I seek to place a value on …

Gone With The Wind: The Confederacy's Trojan Horse, Skyler J. Shipp

Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal

This paper analyzes the film Gone with the Wind as a piece of Southern nationalist propaganda. This includes an exploration of the earlier Southern nationalist film Birth of a Nation, as well as a comparison to Margaret Mitchell’s 1936 novel Gone with the Wind. In my analysis of Gone with the Wind’s production process, including memos between producer David O. Selznick and other members of the production team, I find that Selznick maintained tight control over the film’s production and was extremely concerned with maintaining positive publicity for his film. This led him to allow a few seemingly progressive …

Towards The Non-Spectacle: Responses To Necropolitics In The Artwork Of Teresa Margolles And Maya Watanabe, Leslie Anne Condon

Masters Theses

How do we engage with artwork that addresses complicated histories

of colonialism and political violence, specifically intangible and

incomprehensible violence? Mexican artist Teresa Margolles’ 2005 work, Lote

Bravo, is named after and composed of the soil from a mass grave site

discovered in 1995 in the southeastern corner of Ciudad Juárez, a city known

internationally for the femicide that has continued to haunt its streets and

peripheries since the 1990s. Peruvian filmmaker Maya Watanabe’s 2019 film

Liminal cinematically documents the official exhumation of two mass graves

in the Ayacucho and Huánuco regions of the Andes highlands, where

thousands of …

Ard Es-Samra: A Protohistoric Settlement On The Outskirts Of The ‘Akko Plain / ארד א־סמרה: אתר יישוב פרוטו־היסטורי בשולי מישור עכו, Nimrod Getzov, Jacob Vardi, Nimrod Marom

Qadum: Journal of Excavation Reports from Israel

The excavation at Ard es-Samra revealed a protohistoric site covering an area of c. 200 dunams. Pottery and flint tools found at the site are attributed to a nearby Pre-Pottery Neolithic B–Pottery Neolithic settlement, while remains from the Early Chalcolithic III period suggest the existence of a small settlement at the site. Late Chalcolithic remains include evidence of cave dwellings, a flint knapping workshop and a hewn winepress—the oldest winepress uncovered in Israel to date. Early Bronze Age I remains include an EB IA burial cave and EB IB structures. Scant remains of structures and a rich assemblage of pottery …

ʻAmqa: The Coins, Donald T. Ariel

Qadum: Journal of Excavation Reports from Israel

The excavations at ‘Amqa yielded seven coins, six of which are identifiable. Three of the coins are from the Hellenistic period, two are Byzantine and one is from the late Ottoman period. The Hellenistic coins, including one tetradrachm, support evidence of occupation at the site during this period. The Byzantine and Ottoman coins augment the architectural remains uncovered during the excavations, which indicate more substantial occupations at the site during these later periods.

ʽAmqa: Faunal Remains From The Late Fatimid–Early Crusader Periods, Nimrod Marom

Qadum: Journal of Excavation Reports from Israel

This report analyzes faunal remains found in a building complex at ‘Amqa, primarily from the late Fatimid–early Crusader periods (eleventh–twelfth centuries CE). The assemblage consists mainly of cattle, sheep and goats, with a smaller number of camel, wild boar, equid, chicken and tortoise remains. Cattle bones, particularly from young individuals, are most prevalent, suggesting a focus on cattle rearing. Butchery marks indicate the use of tools for carcass processing, and bone fragmentation patterns suggest both intentional breakage and natural weathering. Comparisons with other sites from the same period highlight the unique predominance of cattle in ‘Amqa, possibly due to the …

‘Amqa: The Glass Finds, Yael Gorin-Rosen

Qadum: Journal of Excavation Reports from Israel

The excavations at ‛Amqa yielded about fifty identifiable fragments of glass vessels from the Late Roman–early Byzantine, the late Byzantine–Early Islamic and the medieval periods. The finds also included remains of glass production debris, such as raw glass chunks and a fragment from a furnace floor with raw glass adhering to it. The assemblage from ‛Amqa contributes to our knowledge of the vessel repertoire used in a rural settlement in the western part of Upper Galilee, mainly during the late Byzantine–Early Islamic periods. These vessels were likely produced in a local workshop in ‛Amqa or one of the nearby settlements.

ʽAmqa: Settlement Remains From The Iron Age, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine And Early Islamic Periods, Yardenna Alexandre, Michael Cohen

Qadum: Journal of Excavation Reports from Israel

A salvage excavation at ‘Amqa, on the northern part of a hill located at the juncture of the ‘Akko coastal plain and the foothills of western Upper Galilee, revealed archaeological remains from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic, Iron II, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Early Islamic and Ottoman periods. Small excavation areas distributed over the hill exposed fragmentary architectural remains from Iron II, and a coastal pottery assemblage from the Hellenistic period. The Roman-period remains of a village included the walls of four buildings associated with Galilean pottery. Larger-scale Byzantine-period building remains, including a public building and a storage complex, as well as an …

A Lead Pilgrimage Ampulla From ‘Akko’S Crusader Harbor, Jacob Sharvit, Bridget Buxton, William H. Krieger, Dror Planer, Ofra Barkai

'Atiqot

A medieval mold-made lead pilgrimage ampulla was retrieved in an underwater excavation in the port of ‘Akko. It exhibits molded ribbing, resembling a scallop shell or drawstring purse on one side, and an aniconic quatrefoil petal on the other. Such mass-produced, budget-friendly, lead pilgrim ampullae are well-known in medieval Christianity, probably reflecting an insatiable desire for holy relics. Certain characteristics of the ampulla may suggest that it was locally produced in ‘Akko. In the Crusader period, ‘Akko was the major maritime gateway in and out of the Holy Land for European pilgrims, and the ‘Akko ampulla may have arrived at …

The Glass Finds From The Monastery At Nahal Pehar (Giv‘Ot Bar), In The Northern Negev, Tamar Winter

'Atiqot

The glass finds distributed throughout the monastery at Giv‘ot Bar include vessels that denote the religious nature of the building: bottles, juglets, several types of lamps and windowpanes. These finds are characteristic of ecclesiastical complexes of the late Byzantine period, and attest to an active Christian community at the site.

Three Greek Inscriptions From The Monastery At Nahal Pehar (Giv‘Ot Bar), In The Northern Negev, Leah Di Segni

'Atiqot

Three Greek inscriptions were discovered within a small coenobium at Giv‘ot Bar in the northern Negev. One was set in a mosaic pavement in the chapel, and the other two were painted in red ink on building blocks found in the debris near the entrance to the chapel. The mosaic inscription mentions a string of names, probably of the monks who cared for the laying of the mosaic pavement in the chapel, or perhaps for the foundation of the coenobium. The two other inscriptions are epitaphs, indicating that the chapel was also used for burial. One epitaph mentions a date …

A Byzantine-Period Monastery And Farmhouse In Nahal Pehar (Giv‘Ot Bar), In The Northern Negev, Nir-Shimshon Paran

'Atiqot

A Byzantine-period monastery and farmhouse were uncovered on the southwestern bank of Naḥal Peḥar, within the modern settlement of Giv‘ot Bar, in the northern Negev. The monastery was well-preserved, attesting to the daily life of the monks in the Negev in the Byzantine period. It was paved with poorly executed mosaic floors, probably laid by the monks themselves. Most of the finds in the monastery were uncovered on the floors, attesting to its orderly abandonment in the late Byzantine or beginning of the Umayyad period (sixth–seventh centuries CE). The monastery seems to have belonged to the widespread ecclesiastical system documented …

Intermediate Bronze Age Fauna From A Suspected Cultic Area At Nahal RefaʼIm, Liora Kolska Horwitz

'Atiqot

A small assemblage of faunal remains was recovered from four archaeological contexts excavated on the northern bank of Naḥal Refaʼim. These include Bronze Age rock-cut pits (Area 100), a structure (Area 300), a burial cave (Area 500) and an Ottoman-period shomera (Area 400). The remains represent almost exclusively domestic taxa—sheep, goat, cattle and donkey—some of which exhibit butchery marks, other modifications or burning. The faunal assemblage from the pits, together with other complementary data, may attest that the pits were used as favissae (cultic storage pits) associated with ritual activities at the site.

Early Bronze Age Iv/Intermediate Bronze Age Flint Artifacts From Nahal Refa’Im, Hamoudi Khalaily

'Atiqot

A small collection of twelve Canaanean sickle blades was retrieved from the excavation at Naḥal Refaʼim. Six tools, two cores and four flakes were found, the majority of which were made of local flint of the Meshash Formation.

Intermediate Bronze Age, Middle Bronze Age Ii And Iron Age Ii Pottery From Nahal Refa’Im, Lilly Gershuny

'Atiqot

The pottery assemblage from the Naḥal Refa’im site originated in three different archaeological contexts: pits, structure(s) and a burial cave. These findings attest that the main period of occupation was during the Intermediate Bronze Age. One pit may have been reused for burial in Middle Bronze Age II, and the burial cave was visited in Iron Age II, possibly by the inhabitants of nearby Khirbat er-Ras.

Intermediate And Middle Bronze Age Settlement Remains, Domestic Worship, Pits And Burial Practices In Nahal RefaʼIm, Jerusalem, Shlomit Weksler-Bdolah, Alexander Onn

'Atiqot

Excavations on the northern bank of the Refa’im Valley uncovered four sites: a shaft tomb and building remains with a standing stone dating to the Intermediate Bronze Age; a concentration of eight pits dating to the Intermediate Bronze Age and the Middle Bronze Age II; and an Ottoman-period agricultural watchtower. The building remains and installations were probably part of the Intermediate Bronze Age settlement along Naḥal Refa’im. The standing stone’s prominent location, and the large concentration of pits and installations near it, may support its identification with domestic worship. The thin fill at the bottom of some of the pits …

Graffiti And Other Evidence Of Bulgarian Pilgrimage To Jerusalem In The Ottoman Period: A Photographic Survey, Michael Chernin, Shai Halevi

'Atiqot

This paper presents the results of a photographic survey of graffiti inscriptions on the walls of Greek Orthodox monasteries in the Old City of Jerusalem and its vicinity, dating from the Ottoman period. A unique methodology of multispectral and RTI imaging was applied to document the inscriptions, bringing to light evidence of the presence of Bulgarian pilgrims in these monasteries. Based on the corpus of inscriptions presented herein, previously documented contemporary graffiti in other Greek Orthodox compounds and historical sources, we were able to historically identify specific people and their places of origin, further allowing us to reconstruct the Bulgarian …

Sixth–Seventh-Century Ce Armenian Inscriptions Of A Monastic Community In Jerusalem, Michael E. Stone

'Atiqot

Excavations in the Musrara neighborhood of Jerusalem uncovered four Armenian inscriptions within a monastic complex founded in the fifth–sixth centuries CE. The inscriptions were found on a mosaic floor, on tombstones and on a large pottery bowl, and together with the Birds Mosaic, they probably formed part of one monastic complex, in which Armenians played a significant role. As there is no hint in the historical sources of the existence of this complex, the archaeological discovery contributes new historical information concerning the Christian, and particularly Armenian settlement in Jerusalem in the seventh century CE.

Light-Microscopic And Spectroscopic Analyses Of The Skin Materials Used In The Tefillin And Mezuzah Slips From The Judean Desert, Yonatan Adler, Theresa Emmerich Kamper

'Atiqot

Among the Dead Sea Scrolls is an assemblage of ancient tefillin and mezuzah slips—ritual artifacts composed of thin animal skins inscribed with passages from the Pentateuch. This paper presents the results of light-microscopic and spectroscopic analyses conducted on 26 tefillin and 8 mezuzot from the Judean Desert caves. These analyses provide the first opportunity to identify the following characteristics on these artifacts: animal species; skin thickness; skin layers present; tannage; side/s of skin with writing. In time, these characteristics took on ritual significance, especially in later rabbinic halakhah. A significant finding is that the ancient tefillin analyzed here were all …

Nysa-Scythopolis: Founding Cults, Gods And Emperors, Gabriel Mazor, Walid Atrash

'Atiqot

Founding narratives, rendered by historical sources and inscriptions, established the traditional ethnicity of Greco-Roman poleis and validated the early origins of their cultic practices. At Nysa-Scythopolis, this narrative was consolidated in the obscure name of the polis, bestowed at the time of its early Hellenistic founding. To better understand the city’s name and its traditional cults practiced in the various temples, historical sources and inscriptions from the site were studied, revealing the founding narrative related to the triad-legend of Dionysos, Nysa and Zeus and its cultic practice. Meaningful and significant, the founding narrative and its cult integrated gods and emperors …

An Iron Age Iib–C Hebrew Stamp Seal With Apotropaic And Prophylactic Properties From The Southwestern Corner Of The Temple Mount, Jerusalem, Filip Vukosavović, Ronny Reich, Navot Rom, Yuval Baruch

'Atiqot

An Iron Age Hebrew iconic stamp seal was uncovered near the southwestern corner of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The seal, made of black stone, depicts a winged genie and a personal name, Yehoʽezer son of Hoshaʽyahu. This is the first depiction of the winged genie iconography in the region found in an archaeological excavation. Influenced by Neo-Assyrian art, the seal was created in Jerusalem by a local artist for Hoshaʽyahu, a member of the Judean elite, during the Assyrian Century. Later on, the seal was inherited by his son, Yehoʽezer. In addition to being used as a stamp, the …

Evidence Of Worship In The Rock-Cut Rooms On The Eastern Slope Of The City Of David, Jerusalem, Eli Shukron, Liora Freud, Helena Roth, Reli Avisar, Efrat Bocher

'Atiqot

This paper presents the finds retrieved from a unique series of rock-cut rooms found on the eastern slope of the City of David. These rock-cut rooms stand out in terms of their architectural features, as well as the artifacts discovered within them, all of which reflect on their function as a cultic complex, likely constructed in the Middle Bronze Age, with its final stage in Iron Age IIB. This complex offers profound evidence for the diversity of cultic practices in the capital of the Kingdom of Judah.

Figurines And Their Makers: A View From A Canaanite Cultic Enclosure At Tel Burna, Jon Ross, Itzhaq Shai

'Atiqot

Plaque figurines are a well-established Canaanite tradition of the Late Bronze Age Southern Levant. In this paper, we go beyond typology to consider who made these ritual objects at Tel Burna, based on impressions of fingerprints from shaping these figurines using an open mold. The lack of care exhibited on the backs and sides of the plaques has enabled a fingerprint analysis using proven biometric methods to clarify the demographics of their producers and the division of labor. Such analyses, when possible, potentially add another dimension to existing debates over how these cultic objects functioned in society, who made them …

Go Figure: The Unique Trajectories Of Figurine Use And Religious Ideologies In The Middle- And Late-Bronze Age Southern Levant, Matthew Susnow, Joe Uziel

'Atiqot

This article explores the differences between cultic practices and religious ideologies as expressed in the material culture of the Middle and Late Bronze Ages in the Southern Levant. Whereas the periods share much in common in terms of material culture and political organization, we suggest that the cultic practices in the earlier period were dictated by elite ideologies aiming at social inclusion, unity, integration and group cohesion, while the Late Bronze Age viewed the distribution of such paraphernalia, particularly ceramic female figurines, as domestic in nature.

The Emergence Of Worship And Religion In The Neolithic Period: Direct And Indirect Evidence From Moẓa (Motza), Hamoudi Khalaily, Anna Eirikh-Rose, Ianir Milevski

'Atiqot

Evidence of worship and religion in the form of architectural remains is rather scanty before the shift in human behavior, from hunter-gatherers to sedentary communities, and the emergence of permanent settlements. Communal and ritual structures first appeared in the Natufian culture (12,500–9400 BCE) and expanded during the Neolithic period (9400–5300 BCE), alongside the treatment of burials linked to ritual related to ancestor worship. The excavations at Motza’s Final PPNB (7100–6700 BCE) layer exposed many non-residential structures, some presumably used for worship and ritual. Some burials, including the one interpreted here as a shaman burial, included objects of symbolic importance. Cultic …

Front Matter & Editorial, The Editorial Board

'Atiqot

No abstract provided.

The Coins From The ‘Sleepy Spring’ At Safed (Ẓefat), Robert Kool

'Atiqot

Nine copper coins, eight of which were identified, were found in the Mamlūk–Ottoman-period building at Safed. The earliest specimen is a residual copper fals from the fifteenth century CE; the remaining specimens date to the late Ottoman period (second half of the nineteenth–twentieth centuries CE). The latest coin is a ‘Two Mils’ issued during the British Mandate of Palestine in 1942.

The Glass Finds From The ‘Sleepy Spring’ At Safed (Ẓefat), Natalya Katsnelson

'Atiqot

The excavation at Safed yielded a small assemblage of glass finds, including fragments of two beaker-shaped oil lamps, a small lid and two small cosmetic bottles of the Mamluk–Ottoman periods, as well as several beads, bracelets and glass vessels of the late Ottoman–British Mandate periods. This glass assemblage corresponds with the dating of the remains between the fifteenth and early twentieth centuries CE, comprising common locally produced artifacts of the Late Islamic period and items dating to the late Ottoman and British Mandate periods, some of which were imported.

A Mamluk-Period Mausoleum Near The ‘Sleepy Spring’ At Safed (Ẓefat), Hervé Barbé

'Atiqot

A trial excavation near the ‘Sleepy Spring’ fountain in Safed revealed the remains of a mausoleum, which was built during the late Mamluk period and remained in use until the early twentieth century. Three late Ottoman-period tombs found within the vaulted structure, and Ottoman-period cist tombs adjacent to the building, attest to the burial function of the site. No pre-Mamluk-period finds were uncovered at the site, indicating that the earliest occupation in this part of the ancient town was in the Mamluk period. Based on archaeological excavations and textual sources, urbanization of Safed was intensified during the Mamluk period, possibly …