scholarly journals Early Iron Age Radiometric Dates from Tel Dor: Preliminary Implications for Phoenicia and Beyond

Radiocarbon ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 1343-1351 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ayelet Gilboa ◽  
Ilan Sharon
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Mediterranean Coast ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Social Phenomena ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Ceramic Chronology ◽  
Iron Age I ◽  
The Absolute ◽  
Radiometric Dates ◽  
Tel Dor

The absolute date of the Iron Age I and IIa periods in Israel, and by inference in the Southern Levant at large, are to date among the hottest debated issues in Syro-Palestinian archaeology. As there are no pegs of absolute chronology throughout this range, conventional chronology had been established on proposed correlations of the material record with events and social phenomena as portrayed in historical and literary sources, chiefly the Hebrew Bible. With the growing impact of so-called “revisionist” notions in Biblical studies, which to various extents question the historicity of the Bible, it is imperative to try to establish a chronological framework for the Iron I–IIa range that is independent of historical and so forth considerations, inter alia in order to be able to offer an independent archaeological perspective of the biblical debate. The most obvious solution is to attempt a radiocarbon-based chronology. This paper explores the possible implications of a sequence of 22 radiometric dates obtained from a detailed Iron I–IIa stratigraphic/ceramic sequence at Tel Dor, on Israel's Mediterranean coast. To date, this is the largest such sequence from any single early Iron Age site in Israel. Having been part of the Phoenician commercial sphere in the early Iron Age, Dor offers a variegated sequence of ceramics that have a significant spatial distribution beyond Phoenicia, and thus transcend regional differences and enable correlation with the surrounding regions. By and large, the absolute dates of these ceramics by the Dor radiometric chronology are up to a century lower than those established by conventional Palestinian ceramic chronology. The ramifications of the lower Dor dates for some Phoenician, Israelite, and Cypriot early Iron Age archaeological issues are explored.

scholarly journals The Beth Shean Valley and its Vicinity in the 10th Century BCE

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 241-271
Author(s):  
Amihai Mazar
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Late Iron Age ◽  
Iron Age I

This article brings together results of archaeological explorations related to the 10th century BCE in the Beth Shean Valley, with emphasis on the excavations at Tel Beth Shean and Tel Reḥov. The evidence is evaluated in light of two transitions that occurred during this century: from the Iron Age I to the early Iron Age IIA and from the early Iron Age IIA to the late Iron Age IIA.

The Political History of Megiddo in the Early Iron Age and the Ambiguities of Evidence

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zachary Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Political History ◽  
The Political ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Historical Sources ◽  
Ongoing Debate ◽  
Iron Age I ◽  
History Of ◽  
Historical Developments

Abstract This article reviews the major problems in the political history of Megiddo during the early Iron Age (Iron Age I–IIA), at the time of the early monarchic period in Israel (eleventh–ninth centuries BCE). Megiddo has been central to an ongoing debate over the nature of the early monarchic period in Israel and the exact chronology of the Iron Age I–IIA periods. This importance derives both from the extensive excavations of the relevant strata at Megiddo (VIA, VB and VA-IVB) as well as Megiddo’s appearance in relevant historical sources, namely the Hebrew Bible, which claims that Solomon “built” Megiddo, and its appearance in the campaign list of pharaoh Sheshonq I. Though the fragment of a stela of Sheshonq I was found at Megiddo, it was only found after having been discarded and so its stratigraphic attribution is unclear. Radiocarbon dating from these strata has assisted to some degree but still left dating and historical questions quite open. This article will demonstrate that the political history of Megiddo during the early Iron Age is beset with ambiguities in the evidence, which have been divided into seven ambiguities for the purpose of the discussion here. When these ambiguities are taken into account, it becomes clear that the interpreter has much latitude in making their reconstruction, specifically in how they date strata and associate them with putative historical developments. Different cases can be made for associating particular strata and their termination with Solomon, Sheshonq or even later kings, but none can claim to objectively be the correct or superior reconstruction.

scholarly journals Dating the Iron Age I/II Transition in Israel: First Intercomparison Results

Radiocarbon ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabetta Boaretto ◽  
A J Timothy Jull ◽  
Ayelet Gilboa ◽  
Ilan Sharon
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Dating Methods ◽  
Measuring Techniques ◽  
Iron Age I ◽  
Radiocarbon Data ◽  
The Mediterranean

Nearly a decade ago, a different chronology than the conventional absolute chronology for the early Iron Age in Israel was suggested. The new, lower chronology “transfers” Iron Age I and Iron Age IIA contexts in Israel, traditionally dated to the 11th and 10th centuries BCE, to the 10th and 9th centuries, respectively. Thus, it places the Iron I|IIA transition at about 920–900 BCE. This alternative chronology carries important implications for Israelite history, historiography, and Bible research, as well as for the chronologies of other regions around the Mediterranean. Relevant radiocarbon data sets published to date, which were measured at different sites by different laboratories, were claimed to be incompatible. Therefore, the question of agreement between laboratories and dating methods needs to be addressed at the outset of any study attempting to resolve such a tight chronological dilemma. This paper addresses results pertaining to this issue as part of a comprehensive attempt to date the early Iron Age in Israel based on many sites, employing different measuring techniques in 2 laboratories. The intercomparison results demonstrate that: a) the agreement between the 2 laboratories is well within the standard in the 14C community and that no bias can be detected in either laboratory; and b) calculating the Iron I|IIa transition in 3 different ways (twice independently by the measurements obtained at the 2 labs and then by combining the dates of both) indicates that the lower chronology is the preferable one.

VII.—On a Collection of Antiquities from the Early Iron Age Cemetery of Hallstatt, presented to the British Museum by Lord Avebury, 1916

Archaeologia ◽  
1916 ◽  
Vol 67 ◽  
pp. 145-162
Author(s):  
C. Hercules Read ◽  
Reginald A. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Turning Point ◽  
British Museum ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Absolute Value ◽  
The Arts ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Absolute

The important series of antiquities that forms the subject of this communication was discovered at Hallstatt in the Salzkammergut, Austria, about the year 1869. The exploration was undertaken at the instance of Sir John Lubbock (afterwards Lord Avebury), and it is believed that a journal was kept of the daily results, as appears to have been the case in all instances where authorized digging took place on the site. Unluckily in the interval between 1869 and the present time the journal referring to Lord Avebury's exploration has disappeared, and we thus lack an important part of the information that it should have furnished, viz. the indications as to what objects were associated together, and whether the interments to which they belonged were by cremation or by inhumation. While this loss is much to be regretted, yet the absolute value and importance of the series is still very great, both as typical of the period which stands prominent as the classical example of a cultural turning-point in the history of the arts, and as filling a very serious gap in the evolutionary series in the national collection.

Late second–early first millennium BC abrupt climate changes in coastal Syria and their possible significance for the history of the Eastern Mediterranean

2010 ◽  
Vol 74 (2) ◽  
pp. 207-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Kaniewski ◽  
E. Paulissen ◽  
E. Van Campo ◽  
H. Weiss ◽  
T. Otto ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Environmental History ◽  
Iron Age ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Capital City ◽  
Early Iron Age ◽  
Late Bronze Age ◽  
Alluvial Deposits ◽  
Iron Age I

AbstractThe alluvial deposits near Gibala-Tell Tweini provide a unique record of environmental history and food availability estimates covering the Late Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age. The refined pollen-derived climatic proxy suggests that drier climatic conditions occurred in the Mediterranean belt of Syria from the late 13th/early 12th centuries BC to the 9th century BC. This period corresponds with the time frame of the Late Bronze Age collapse and the subsequent Dark Age. The abrupt climate change at the end of the Late Bronze Age caused region-wide crop failures, leading towards socio-economic crises and unsustainability, forcing regional habitat-tracking. Archaeological data show that the first conflagration of Gibala occurred simultaneously with the destruction of the capital city Ugarit currently dated between 1194 and 1175 BC. Gibala redeveloped shortly after this destruction, with large-scale urbanization visible in two main architectural phases during the Early Iron Age I. The later Iron Age I city was destroyed during a second conflagration, which is radiocarbon-dated at circa 2950 cal yr BP. The data from Gibala-Tell Tweini provide evidence in support of the drought hypothesis as a triggering factor behind the Late Bronze Age collapse in the Eastern Mediterranean.

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