Papers by Shirly Ben Dor Evian
BASOR, 2023
The limestone fragment inscribed with the royal names of king Sheshonq I was found at Tel Megiddo... more The limestone fragment inscribed with the royal names of king Sheshonq I was found at Tel Megiddo by the Oriental Institute team in 1925. Since its discovery, the piece has been interpreted as part of a large royal stela, erected by the monarch at the site as a sign of Egyptian hegemony. A recent reexamination of the original fragment reveals several anomalies in comparison to the known corpus of Egyptian stelae. Among these is the fragment's unusual thickness, more than 50 cm thick, and the absence of smoothed edges on either of its sides. A comparison with contemporaneous (early 22nd Dynasty) material from both Egypt and the Levant suggests that the fragment was part of an inscription embedded as an architectural element rather than a stela. The results of recent excavations at Megiddo allow for placing the Sheshonq block stratigraphically and perhaps to identify its original location at the site.
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Essays on Archaeology in the Eastern Mediterranean and Beyond in Honor of Thomas E. Levy, 2023
The five tombs of the "Philistine lords" at Tell el-Far'ah (South) have been a focal point for th... more The five tombs of the "Philistine lords" at Tell el-Far'ah (South) have been a focal point for the study of Philistine burial customs. This, despite the long recognized fact, that they are also highly Egyptianized and possibly earlier than the Philistine pottery within them. In the present study we point out the similarities between these tombs and Egyptian rock-cut chamber tombs from Egypt itself and suggest a different interpretation to the Philistine burial customs they represent.
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Qadmoniot, 2022
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Megiddo VI, 2022
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BASOR, 2022
A salvage excavation held at the city of Yehud (Israel) revealed an unusual burial of the Middle ... more 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.
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Word & Image, 2021
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Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2021
The source of Egypt's copper supply during the Third Intermediate Period (1070-664 BCE) is largel... more The source of Egypt's copper supply during the Third Intermediate Period (1070-664 BCE) is largely unknown. Here we present new data from chemical (elemental) and lead isotope (LI) analysis of royal Egyptian artifacts of the 21st Dynasty (ca. 1010 BCE)-a period which until now was represented in the LI record only by a single artifact. Our finds identify the source of the copper in the Arabah region providing a basis for our historical reconstruction of the copper exchange network in the southern Levant at the turn of the first millennium BCE. We also analyzed two objects from the 24th and 25th Dynasties (8th c. BCE), which revealed a marked change in Egyptian copper metallurgy in both the composition (from Cu with traces of Sn to leaded copper with traces of As) and the supply chain (the Arabah ores are excluded). As the sampling involved museum artifacts, we performed X-ray imaging as a means to avoid sampling of any later metallic modifications and ensure the correct sampling process.
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Emoglyphs: Picture-Writing from Hieroglyphs to the Emoji, 2019
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Aegis, 2018
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Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections, 2019
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Représenter dieux et hommes dans le Proche-Orient ancien et dans la Bible, 2019
The article contends that many historical reconstructions regarding the “Sea-Peoples” have overlo... more The article contends that many historical reconstructions regarding the “Sea-Peoples” have overlooked basic principles of ancient Egyptian iconic art and preferred intuitive interpretations of the reliefs. This has led to historical misconceptions about the battles and the aggressors. A new analysis based on comparative material from the wide range of Ramesside war-reliefs provides a holistic reading of the pertinent reliefs within their context, and is thereby able to present new insights as to the location of the battles. The analysis shows that the land and sea battles were separated from each other in both time and space, and that the former was likely conducted in Syria, rather than in north Sinai or southern Canaan as many scholars believe.
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Tell it in Gath: Studies in the History and Archaeology of Israel. Essays in Honor of Aren M. Maeir on the Occasion of his Sixtieth Birthday, 2018
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New Studies in the Archaeology of Jerusalem and its Region 11, 2017
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Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections, 2018
This volume presents the proceedings of an international exploratory workshop titled "Egypt's Rol... more This volume presents the proceedings of an international exploratory workshop titled "Egypt's Role in the Hebrew Bible," held at the University of Lausanne on April 22-23, 2015.
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Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections, 2018
Egypt is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible numerous times, but despite multiple studies, the Egyptian... more Egypt is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible numerous times, but despite multiple studies, the Egyptian background referred to in the Bible remains historically elusive. This is due to the fact that Egyptian details from the biblical source (names, epithets) can often be correlated with more than one period in Egypt's history. These difficulties have prevented the Egyptian aspect from becoming a major factor in biblical studies. To rectify this state, it is here suggested to employ a different methodology: rather than seeking parallels to the Bible's Egyptian details, one should ask how and when these details came to be known in the biblical traditions of Judah and Israel. The article will discuss possible scenarios of transmission as viewed through the archaeological record pertaining to the relations between Egypt and Israel during the Iron Age.
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Rethinking Israel. Studies in the History and Archaeology of Ancient Israel in Honor of Israel Finkelstein, 2017
The paper traces the copper trade networks during the early Iron Age in the Southern Levant throu... more The paper traces the copper trade networks during the early Iron Age in the Southern Levant through the distribution pattern of Negebite Ware that is associated with the Arabah copper industry. The particular pattern indicates that the site of Kadesh Barnea assumed a central role within the copper trade network, most likely as a result of Pharaoh Sheshonq I's campaign to the region.
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Oxford Journal of Archaeology, 2017
The Philistine paradigm attempts to answer fundamental questions in Philistine history, namely th... more The Philistine paradigm attempts to answer fundamental questions in Philistine history, namely the how and when of Philistine settlement in the southern Levant. According to the traditional paradigm, the Philistines, among other 'Sea-Peoples', came from the Aegean islands and were settled in Egyptian strongholds in the south Canaanite Coastal Plain in the eighth year of Ramesses III. Formulated on the basis of Egyptian texts and Philistine archaeological remains, the paradigm has been criticized over the reliability of both source materials. Therefore, it is the aim of the present study to conduct a methodological analysis of the pillars on which the paradigm rests and to offer a new reconstruction of the events that took place in the Levant in the twelfth century BCE.
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Die Welt des Orients 47.1 (2017): 52-65., 2017
The continual practice of some Egyptian religious beliefs in the early Iron Age Levant can be dis... more The continual practice of some Egyptian religious beliefs in the early Iron Age Levant can be discerned, among others, through the persistence of the Amun name and imagery on local glyptic finds. This phenomenon can be interpreted as one of two very different manifestations of cultural interaction. On the one hand it can be seen as the continuation of the Amun traditions that were acquired under Egyptian rule during the Late Bronze Age. On the other hand it could be the impact of the contemporary intensification of the Amun cult in Egypt during the late 20th and 21st Dynasties. In the following article I shall attempt to distinguish the mode of interaction by identifying the scope of the Amun phenomenon in Ancient Israel against the backdrop of the relations between Egypt and the Levant in the early Iron Age.
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While building on previous works by such scholars as Heinz and Spalinger, the article presents a ... more While building on previous works by such scholars as Heinz and Spalinger, the article presents a new methodology specifically devised for the analysis of Egyptian war reliefs. The article contends that many historical reconstructions regarding the " Sea-Peoples " have ignored the basic principles of ancient Egyptian iconic art and preferred intuitive interpretations of the reliefs. This has led to historical misconceptions about the battles and aggressors. The new analysis provides a holistic reading of the reliefs within their context and is thereby able to present new insights as to the location of the battles and the nature of the " Sea-Peoples " .
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Papers by Shirly Ben Dor Evian
Video of paper presented at the College de France, May 2015 (in French)
Published in a special thematic issue of the Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections, vol. 18)