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BASOR - Bulletin of ASOR

The Bulletin of ASOR (BASOR) is a leader among peer-reviewed academic journals of the ancient Near East.

04/03/2024

𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗜𝗖𝗟𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗪𝗘𝗘𝗞

BASOR 388 (Nov 2022), 153–179

Gilad Itach, Dor Golan, and Shirly Ben Dor Evian

“An Elite Middle Bronze IIA Warrior Tomb from Yehud, Central Coastal Plain, Israel”

https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/721809

A salvage excavation held at the city of Yehud (Israel) revealed an unusual burial of the Middle Bronze (MB) IIA period. The grave was isolated from other MB burials in the Yehud area and was exceptionally large and rich in terms of the types and diversity of burial offerings, which included pottery vessels, metal objects, and animal bones. An outstanding find among the burial goods was an anthropomorphic jug whose neck was shaped in the form of a seated figure supporting its head with the right hand, evoking the image of Rodin’s “Le Penseur.” This paper presents the grave and offerings uncovered in the excavation and an interpretation of these finds, along with a discussion of the grave within the wider context of Middle Bronze Age burials in Yehud and beyond, suggesting it was associated with an elite warrior, who served most likely as a local leader.

26/02/2024

𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗜𝗖𝗟𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗪𝗘𝗘𝗞

BASOR 388 (Nov 2022), 133–152

Caroline Sauvage

“Note on a White Lustrous Wheel-made Ware Spindle Bottle from Ras Shamra”

https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/721037

This study discusses the archaeological and chronological context of a small White Lustrous Wheel-made Ware (WLW-mW) spindle bottle excavated in Ras Shamra by Claude F.-A. Schaeffer in 1933. This spindle bottle is the first of its kind to be positively identified in the Minet el-Beida/Ugarit region, but others could be also identified from Schaeffer’s publications. This spindle bottle belongs to a group of now four similar small WLW-mW examples found in the eastern Mediterranean, which should probably be added to the classification of this ware as a Type IIb. More generally this article reviews the chronology of WLW-mW in the eastern Mediterranean and argues for a broad Late Bronze IB date (1550–1450 b.c.e.) for the ware.

19/02/2024

𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗜𝗖𝗟𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗪𝗘𝗘𝗞

BASOR 388 (Nov 2022), 113–132

Piotr Bienkowski

“The Formation of Edom: An Archaeological Critique of the “Early Edom” Hypothesis”

https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/720775

According to the Early Edom hypothesis, the late Iron II kingdom of Edom in southern Jordan emerged from the complex copper-producing society of early Iron II Faynan. A review of the archaeological evidence from the final publication of the Faynan excavations demonstrates that the hypothesis is untenable. There was a chronological gap of 50 to 100+ years between the end of settlement at Faynan, at the end of the 9th century b.c.e., and the earliest settlement in the Edom Highlands; evidence of decreasing social and political complexity at Faynan; no continuity in the scale or technology of copper production at Faynan between early and late Iron II; and completely different settlement patterns at early Iron II Faynan and in the late Iron II highlands, indicating a different economic and social basis. The evidence suggests that early Iron II Faynan was short-lived and linked to the contemporary society in the Negev Highlands, through administration, economy, and workforce. The kingdom of Edom and late Iron II settlement developed in the late 8th century b.c.e. under Assyrian stimulus, which had a direct impact on the expansion of settlement and agriculture, the production of pottery and other goods, and the Arabian trade across the Negev.

12/02/2024

𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗜𝗖𝗟𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗪𝗘𝗘𝗞

BASOR 388 (Nov 2022), 91-111

Alice Mandell

“Lachish “Letter” 2 (BM 125702): A Polite Letter, an Accreditation Pass, or a Text Used to Teach Letter Writing?”

https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/720868

Lachish 2 is typically described as an enigmatic letter, one that consists mainly of the protocol language used in letter introductions. However, past studies have wrestled with Lines 5–6 of this letter, and noted the linguistic crux posed by the verb ybkr. The present study argues that while Lachish 2 looks like a letter, it plays a different role than letters are traditionally conceived to do (as written communication media that articulate the words of a sender to a recipient). This text’s form, organization, and focus on formulae, and its lack of clear message suggest that Lachish 2 was used as an instructional tool that outlines a letter’s organization and sample epistolary formulae, serving perhaps as a template. This ostracon offers insight into both the practice of letter writing as seen from the internal perspective of a writer, and into education in the process of letter writing in the later days of the Judean monarchy.

05/02/2024

𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗜𝗖𝗟𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗪𝗘𝗘𝗞

BASOR 388 (Nov 2022), 73–89

Uroš Matić

“Why Were the Leaders of the Sea Peoples Called ʿȝ.w and Not wr.w? On the Size and Raiding Character of the Sea Peoples’ Groups”

https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/720556

This paper discusses the use of the terms ʿȝ and wr for the designation of enemy leaders in ancient Egyptian texts of the Ramesside period. Focus is placed on the choice of the term for leaders of the various Sea Peoples’ groups in the texts of the Medinet Habu temple of Ramesses III. The leaders of the Sea Peoples and Shasu are referred to as ʿȝ.w, whereas the leaders of other groups are referred to as wr.w. The terms used for different enemy leaders are indicative of the ancient Egyptian perception of the social organization of the enemy. Focusing on their social organization can provide us with a more stable ground for understanding the Sea Peoples. Several features indicate that they were warrior groups similar to pirates or mercenaries conducting raids, rather than large groups of migrants: 1) the choice of the term for their leaders during the reign of Ramesses III, 2) the relatively small numbers of their captives in the lists of spoils of war of Merneptah, and 3) the fact that no women and children are ever mentioned in these lists, although they are accompanying one of the Sea Peoples’ groups in a single scene from Medinet Habu.

29/01/2024

𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗜𝗖𝗟𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗪𝗘𝗘𝗞

BASOR 388 (Nov 2022), 51–72

Eli Itkin

“Post-Destruction Squatter Phases in the Iron Age IIB–C Southern Levant”

https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/720559

The destructions caused by the military campaigns of the Neo-Assyrian empire in the southern Levant during the Iron Age IIB and IIC (8th–7th centuries b.c.e.) led to mass deportations of local populations and a forced displacement of refugees. Although several studies in recent years have focused their attention on displacement and refugees in the ancient Near East during the period in question, they often deal with large scale processes, while generally neglecting more localized phenomena. Such phenomena include, among others, post-destruction squatter phases. These frequently overlooked strata reflect the resettlement of a site following its destruction by local individuals who were forced, to some degree, to leave their homes for an unknown period. This paper attempts to define some of these post-destruction squatter phases in the archaeological record during the Iron IIB–C through the analysis of nine case studies, and to examine this phenomenon from a refugee standpoint.

22/01/2024

𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗜𝗖𝗟𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗪𝗘𝗘𝗞

BASOR 388 (Nov 2022), 31–49

Esther Eshel, Tania Notarius, Amit Dagan, Maria Eniukhina, Vanessa Workman, and Aren M. Maeir

“Two Iron Age Alphabetic Inscriptions from Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath, Israel”

https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/721690

This paper presents two brief alphabetic inscriptions from Area D in the lower city of Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath, both deriving from Iron Age IIA contexts. The first is written in an Early Alphabetic script similar to an inscription previously published from the site (Maeir et al. 2008) and is interpreted as being related to the storage of wine. The second, written in later, “formalized” alphabetic script, is quite fragmentary and difficult to decipher, for which several possible interpretations are suggested. These two new inscriptions join the relatively large number of alphabetic inscriptions from Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath, second only in number to contemporaneous Tel Rehov, and provide additional evidence to the outstanding role of the site during the early Iron Age.

14/01/2024

𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗜𝗖𝗟𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗪𝗘𝗘𝗞
BASOR 388 (Nov 2022), 1–29
Bérangère Redon and Thomas Faucher
“Recent Discoveries of BE Arrowheads and Joppa Coins in the Eastern Desert of Egypt: In the Footsteps of the Ptolemaic Army”

https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/720951

The article presents recent discoveries made by the French Archaeological Mission to the Eastern Desert of Egypt in two Ptolemaic forts occupied in the second half of the 3rd century b.c., Bir Samut and Abbad, located along the road leading from Edfu to Berenike on the Red Sea Coast at the southern fringes of the Ptolemaic Empire. These artifacts, three copper-alloy arrowheads marked with the monogram BE and four Ptolemaic coins minted in Joppa, were recovered in contexts securely dated to the last decades of the 3rd century b.c. Due to the sealed stratigraphy and the discovery of thousands of ostraca and dozens of coins in the same deposits, it is clear that the forts and these objects were abandoned on the eve of the Great Theban Revolt in Egypt, around 207–206 b.c. These discoveries offer an occasion to reassess the corpus of similar arrowheads and coins found in the Eastern Mediterranean. The catalog presented here includes 45 BE arrowheads and 18 Joppa coins and a careful reassessment of the corpus suggests that they were probably produced by the Ptolemaic regime in direct association with the Fourth Syrian War, which ended with the Battle of Raphia in 217 b.c. The geographic distribution of the arrowheads and coins discussed in the article demonstrates the mobility of the Ptolemaic troops after this intense period of conflict.

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