ISSN 0003-097X

BIBLICAL
OF

ARCHE
MARCH 1976 Volume 39 Number I

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"And Manasseh placed an image of Asherah in the

temple of the Lord." 2 Kings 21
 Biblical Archeologist is published quarterly
Biblical Archaeologist Reader, 1 (March, May, September, December) by the
American Schools of Oriental Research in
cooperation with Scholars Press. Its purpose is
to provide the general reader, whether
~J ~i~i ~ :?:~~..,.t Christian or Jew, believer or non-believer,
it
..1 with an interpretation of the meaning of new
The reprint of a unique
archeological discoveries for the biblical
and widely used
heritage of the West. Unsolicited mss. are
anthology in which N
N, .~=&~H
S; L. #4
welcome but should be accompanied by a
separate studies of the stamped, self-addressed envelope. Address all
temple in Egypt, ;,r U'lst -.ovii - editorial correspondence to Biblical
Mesopotamia, and Syria- Archeologist, 1053 LSA Building, University
Palestine as well of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109. Address
as the ancient Israelite business correspondence to Scholars Press,
PO Box 5207, Missoula, MT 59806.
tabernacle, the synagogue, and the church
(Paper) $4.20
form the setpiece. Contributors include Copyright @ 1976 American Schools of Orien-
3.00 (for cSPs members)
Nelson Glueck, John Bright, W. F. Albright, ASOR is a member of the tal Research. Annual Subscription: $10.00.
F. M. Cross, A. Leo Oppenheim, Floyd Center for Scholarly Current single issues: $2.50. Printed in the
Filson, and others. Edited by G. Ernest United States of America, Printing Depart-
Publishing and Services.
ment, University of Montana, Missoula,
Wright and David Noel Freedman.
352 pages Montana 59812.

Orderfrom:
Editor:
SCHOLARS
PRESS David Noel Freedman, University of
POBox5207 Michigan
Montana 59806
AMissoula, Managing editor pro tem:
John A. Miles, Jr., Doubleday and Company

Editorial board:
.U
Frank M. Cross, Harvard University
Edward F. Campbell, McCormick
Theological Seminary
William G. Dever, University of Arizona
John S. Holladay, Jr., University of Toronto
H. Darrell Lance, Colgate-Rochester Divinity
School
?4'
Production Manager:
.."
James Eisenbraun, University of Michigan

CREDITS
"Letters to the Readers":photo of Edward F.
Campbell, c/o Edward F. Campbell; photo of
H. Darrell Lance, c / o H. Darrell Lance; photo
of Floyd Filson, c/o McCormick School of
Theology; photo of Lee C. Ellenberger, c/o
Lee C. Ellenberger."Excavating Ai": figs. 1,4,
5, 7, 10, Joseph A. Callaway; figs. 3, 6, 8, 9,
Richard Cleave. "The Search for Maccabean
Gezer":figs. 1,3, R. A. Lyons, Jr.; fig. 2, Susan
Moddel. "The Persistence of Canaanite
Religion": fig. 1, J. B. Pritchard, The Ancient
Near East in Pictures (1969), no. 826, by
permission of the publisher; fig. 3 c/o
Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences;
fig. 4, Anna Maria Bisi, Le Stele Puniche, pl.
Cover 36, by permission of the publisher; fig. 5, c/o
Journal of Near Eastern Studies and
Punic stele with the sign of the
Winchester College; "The Prophet Balaam in a
goddess Tannit. Tannit's 6th-Century Aramaic Inscription," photo c/o
symbol holds a so-called Overdr. Z. W. O-Jaarboek 1973. "Field and
caduceus in her "hand." Below Lab: Aerial Photography," photo by Richard
the sign of Tannit is a W. Cleave. "The Name of God in the
representation of a dolphin or a Wilderness of Zin":fig. 1, Avraham Hay; fig.
fish. 2, Yehuda Dagan; figs. 3 and 4, David Davis.
"Archaeology," copyright ? 1974 by The
Estate of W. H. Auden, reprinted by
permission.
 OFic
BIBLICAL
ARCHEOLOGIST
Ze'ev Meshel and Carol Meyers 6 THE NAME OF GOD IN THE WILDERNESS OF ZIN
2700-year-oldpomegranatesand an
inscription:"Givenby Ovadiah,son
of Adanah,may he be blessedby YHW."

Jacob Hoftijzer 11 THE PROPHET BALAAM IN A 6TH-CENTURY

ARAMAIC INSCRIPTION
"O my enemies,consider,consider
"Consider, consider, O my . . ."

Joseph A. Callaway 18 EXCAVATING AI (ET-TELL): 1964-1972

New evidencesuggeststhat
the Son of Nun'smajorchallenge
may have been a housingshortage.

Robert A. Oden 31 THE PERSISTENCE OF CANAANITE RELIGION

Atargatis,the goddessof Greco-
SyrianHierapolis,is Aramaic
cAtarcata, who is a fusion of the
UgariticcAshtart and cAnat. Nothing
changesbut the names.

A LETTER TO THE READERS 2 FIELD AND LAB: 37

Aerial Photography

NEWS FROM THE FIELD 4 Colophon 40

 A LETTER TO THE READERS

Publisher Martin Gross calls them "the new The new Biblical Archeologist will provide the
literates." Others refer to them as "the invisible general reader, whether Christian or Jew, with what the
university." Dropping College Board scores old Biblical Archeologist set out to provide; namely, an
notwithstanding, the boom in college enrollment during interpretation of the meaning of new archeological
the 1960's has left the United States with a population discoveries for the biblical heritage which Jews and
whose curiosity is not exhausted by television and the Christians share. When Biblical Archeologist was
funnies. For them, weekends and holidays are a time for founded in 1938, it was thought that scholars with more
National Geographicand Smithsonian, Saturday Review highly technical and exhaustively documented reports
and Harper's, even Daedalus and Scientific American. would turn to other publications, particularly to the
And since many of them, in what Eric Hoffer has called Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research,
the highest mass culture in history, look back to college the same group that sponsors Biblical Archeologist. But
years that included the fascination of archeology, Bible as it happened, the extraordinary pace of archeological
history, the Hebrew and Greek languages, theology, discovery during the past generation - the generation of
anthropology, and ancient iconography, there is reason the Dead Sea Scrolls - led to a kind of scholarly inflation
to think that Biblical Archeologist may soon be added to at Biblical Archeologist. Topics grew more specialized,
their list. documentation more exhaustive, reader prerequisites

Floyd Filson. Ted Campbell. Lee C. Ellenberger.

more daunting. Biblical Archeologist began to lose its
identity and to become a second Bulletin. The changes
apparent in the current issue, then, are not so much a
revolution as they are a reform.
A time of stock-taking and change is a time, also,
for recollection and gratitude. Biblical Archeologist is
deeply indebted to Floyd Filson, formerly of McCormick ,
IP

Theological Seminary, for the breadth and judgment of

his years as New Testament consultant; to Robert
Johnston of the Rochester Institute of Technology for his , I

work as art editor; and to Lee Ellenberger, who will

remain as photo archivist, for labors of love which should
long since have received their meed of praise. Most of all,
,L
Biblical Archeologist is indebted to its outgoing co-
editors, Edward F. Campbell of McCormick Theological
Seminary and H. Darrell Lance of Colgate-Rochester
Divinity School, for maintaining at no small cost the
highest standards of archeological accuracy and
objectivity. Drs. Lance and Campbell will nowjoin Frank
M. Cross of Harvard University, William G. Dever of the
University of Arizona, and John S. Holladay, Jr., of the i•
.
?
"

University of Toronto as members of the editorial board. "•

Impetus for the change of format has come from 4.

ASOR's president, Frank M. Cross, and from its vice-

president in charge of publications, David Noel
Freedman, who will now assume the general editorship.
John A. Miles, Jr., who completed his Ph.D. at Harvard
in 1971 and is now associate editor for religion at
Doubleday, Inc., will help out as managing editor pro
tem. Jim Eisenbraun and Ron Guengerich, graduate
assistants at the University of Michigan, will assist in
copy-editing and composition. t..
While Biblical Archeologist will continue to report
on archeological discoveries as such, its new format also ? ?
w•,4-o"
calls for the introduction of "backgrounders."Thus, in
the September issue, which will be devoted to 2 - '"v •
.. . . . .:. . ...
extraordinary new finds at Tell Mardikh in Syria, there
will be a profile of Sargon the Great and a primer in the
Sumerian language; for without some knowledge of
Sargon and of Sumerian, the non-professional can
scarcely appreciate the importance of the new finds. Such
knowledge, however, is not itself as new as the finds: it can
be "written up" from reference works. Biblical
Archeologist is interested, then, in locating writers
(whether scholars, graduate students, or others) willing to
write on assignment and able to write in a fresh and
accurate style for the non-professional. Biblical
Archeologist's core audience, needless to say, will
continue to be the scholars of the American Schools of
Oriental Research and their colleagues around the world.
But it will need the assistance of its core audience to reach
its largeraudience. Those interested in writing for Biblical
Archeologist on assignment are invited to contact the H. DarrellLance (right)with Werner Lemkeat Gezer.
managing editor at their earliest convenience. Prospective
book reviewers are also welcome. The thing is begun:

pmti' ppnenr ptnnrm

BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST 3
 Michael Evenari of the Hebrew University selected
Avedat for the experiment because presses found there
indicated that the Nabateans had grown grapes and olives
without irrigation. In the experiment, rainwater (only
three inches annually) is trapped in channels that lead to a
system of pipes. The pipes carry the water into the fields.
Results in peach and almond cultivation are promising
NEWS FROM THE FIELD enough that a kibbutz near Avedat will try the
"Nabatean" experiment soon.

Qatar Museum Proposed.

The Middle East of London reports that the Emir and
Government of Qatar are creating an archeological and
15,000 Tablets in "Paleo-Canaanite." anthropological museum. Of particular importance are
Excavations at Tell-Mardikh (ancient Ebla) in Syria have 2,000-year-old rock carvings outside Doha, the capital of
unearthed "one of the most important archeological Qatar. It is hoped that the carvings, which have recently
discoveries of all time," an archive of tablets written in suffered at the hands of vandals, will now be transported
cuneiform but representing a language closer to biblical to the museum for safe keeping.
Hebrew than any yet discovered. Under the direction of
Drs. Paolo Matthiae and Giovanni Pettinato, both of the The Archeology of Agriculture.
University of Rome, excavations at Ebla have been in Under the sponsorship of the Albright Institute of
progress for ten years. Only during the 1975 season,
however, did the excavators penetrate to the levels of Archaeological Research and the Nelson Glueck School
of Biblical Archaeology, excavations will begin this
occupation from the third millennium B.C., when it summer at the double site of Tell Halif-Hurvat Rimon,
appears that Ebla was the seat of a vast empire including
most of Palestine. It was at this level, contemporary with identified variously as biblical En-Rimmon, Ziklag, or
Goshen. According to M. E. Shutler in "Lahav
the era of Sargon the Greatand the first dynasty at Akkad
Newsletter," the project is designed
(ca. 2350-2260 B.C.), that the tablets were found.
In February, 1976, Dr. David Noel Freedman, to see the ancient city - Tell Halif - as a locus in an
environmentand social network which was subject to
editor-designate of Biblical Archeologist, flew to Rome change.In the excavationof thetell itselfthisbroaderview
for conversations with Matthiae and Pettinato. A special will be maintained through careful study of "non-
report on the significance of the find, prepared from artifactual remains:"pollen, macro-floral and faunal
Freedman's report and from other materials forwarded remains,lithic eebitage,sedimentation,etc. In addition,
from Rome, will appear in the September Biblical extra-tellstudiesof geology,waterresources,modernflora
Archeologist. Briefly, the new finds may be said to have and fauna will be pursued,includingan archaeological
completed the "discovery"of Syria which began with the surveyof theareaandstudyof the presentculturalgroups,
settledand nomadic,and theiradaptationsto the area.
excavation of Ras Shamra (ancient Ugarit) in the 1930's.
These data will help to determinehow people of
Although even the most casual reader of the Bible knows differentwaysof life haveadaptedor failedto adaptto an
that "the Canaanites"were the nation whose culture and arid and changing environment. . . . The Project will
religion were Israel's most constant temptation, Near generatehypothesesand theoriesabout man'suse of arid
Easternarcheology had its earliest successes in Egypt and land and about the developmentof urbanismvital to
Mesopotamia. Biblical scholarship tended as a result to planners of social development and to other social
discuss the religion of Israel against an Egyptian or, more scientists.
often, a Mesopotamian background. But with the
discovery of Ugarit and the decipherment of its language, The Temple Mount and the Messiah.
Canaan came to life. Scholars could now see the face of
the rival with whom Israel had had such a protracted Any report on the worsening "Temple Mount
struggle. Ebla, it now appears, is another city of controversy" in Jerusalem will be outdated by the time
Canaanite culture;but where Ugarit was a relatively small this issue of Biblical Archeologist goes to press. The
coastal town, Ebla - in western Syria, the heartland of following excerpt from the Jerusalem Post may serve,
ancient Canaan -was an imperial capital. If Ugarit however, as a brief statement of the religious background
taught us much, there is every reason to believe that Ebla of the controversy:
will teach us more - an exciting tale and one only now The TempleMountlies, symbolicallyat least,at the very
ready to be told. heartof the Israeli-Arabcontroversy.The destructionof
the SecondTemple1,900yearsago has not diminishedits
A "Nabatean" Experiment. position as the most holy site of the Jews. Since the
constructionon the Mountof the Dome of the Rock and
Science Digest (March, 1976) reports an agricultural Al-Aksa Mosque,in the seventhcentury,it has been the
experiment near Nabatean Avedat in the Negev. Prof. thirdmost holy site in Islam.

4 MARCH1976
 What has preventedthe two rival claims for the Fish Story.
Mountfromcomingto a headfollowingthe Israelivictory of Velikovskian "catastrophism" is
in the Six Day Warhasbeenpoliticalcautionon thepartof The recent vogue
the Israelianthoritiesand JewishHalacha(religiouslaw), waxing or waning, depending on which omens are read
whichforbidsJewsfromsettingfoot on theTempleMount more seriously. Pacific Meridian Publishing Company
until the Messiah'sreturnheraldsthe rebuildingof the has just published The Biblical Flood and the Ice Epoch
Temple. and The Long Day of Joshua and Six Other Post- Flood
... Some Orthodox Jews, however, have main- Catastrophes, both by Velikovskian Donald W. Patten.
tainedthat HalachaforbidsJewsonlyfromstandingwhere On the other hand, the Velikovskian journal Pensce has
theTemplehadstoodandthattherearepartsof theTemple
Mountwhich cannot have been part of the Templesite. just announced suspension of publication.
Amongthose who have maintainedthis in the past is the Speculation of the Chariots of the Gods variety is
presentAshkenaziChief Rabbi Shlomo Goren. likely bubble a bit faster thanks to The Sirius Miystery,
to
Nationalist groups which have been attempting a new study of the religious beliefs of the Dogon, a tribe
pray-inson the Mount periodicallysince 1967 are less near Timbuktu in Mali. According to a Reuters report,
inhibitedby religiousconsiderations. astronomer-orientalist Robert Semple, who spent eight
years studying the Dogon, discovered that the object of
In Memoriam Yohanan Aharoni. Dogon worship is a tiny star orbiting around Sirius. This
star exists but is invisible without the most powerful
Biblical archeology lost a major figure last Februarywith telescopes. It is, Semple maintains, Sirius B, a "white
the untimely death of Yohanan Aharoni. Biblical dwarf";i.e., a star in the early stages of collapse, so dense
Archeologist was in close contact with the Israeli expert that a matchbox of it would weigh about 50 tons. Dogon
until only weeks before his death regardinghis beautifully priests claim that a single cupful of the material of their
illustrated historical survey of the Negev, our May cover star "is heavier than all the grains of sand on earth" and
story. The condolences of all students of the Bible and of provide details of its orbit that check out to the last detail
biblical archeology are extended to his widow, Miriam. against the orbit of Sirius B. The hypothesis of The Sirius
May his memory become a blessing. Mystery',described by Reuters as "a scholarly book," is
that the Dogon learned of Sirius B from extraterrestrial
How to Sing the Bible. visitors of fishlike appearance (an inference from Dogon
Musicologist Suzanne Hayek Ventura claims to have art). The visit occurred, however, not in Mali but
the somewhere in the ancient near east, perhaps in Babylonia,
deciphered chant notations (ta'amei mikra) printed in
the Hebrew Bible. A French firm is planning to issue a before migrations brought the ancestors of the Dogon to
record on which parts of the Psalms and the Song of their present home. What drew the fishy visitors to earth?
Songs will be chanted according to her method. Alas, Strangely like Semple himself, they were interested in
according to Israel Adler of the Hebrew University's primitive civilizations.
musicology department (Jerusalem Post, February 3,
1976), the Ventura method is quite without historical or New Qumran Film.
scientific basis. The melodies are lovely, he says, but they "Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls" is a twenty-two-
are "an achievement of the imagination." minute color documentary film featuring Dr. Charles T.
Fritsch, Professor of Hebrew Languages and Literature
Bulldozer Archeology. at Princeton Theological Seminary, and Dr. Yigael Yadin
"Looks like it was done with a bulldozer" is the sort of of the Hebrew Universityin Jerusalem. There are pictures
of Cave I and Cave 4, now almost inaccessible, detailed
not-for-publication comment sometimes made by arche- views of the ruins of Qumran, and views of the Isaiah
ologist A about the sloppy stratigraphyof archeologist B. scroll in the Shrine of the Book. One of the major features
Last February the comment could have been made with
literal accuracy as a bulldozer accidentally broke open a in the film is an interview with Yadin in the study of his
home. He describes his work on the Temple Scroll and
necropolis near Shechem. The contents of the opened
reveals some of his views about the influence of the
graves were removed for safe-keepirig. No further news
has reached Biblical Archeologist. Essenes on the early Christians.
The documentary was produced by Charles
Ruins on the Road. Brackbill and filmed by Capitol Films, Jerusalem. Those
interested in purchasing or renting a print should contact
A Palestinian archeological exhibit will tour the United Mr. Brackbillat Box 2019, Princeton, New Jersey 08540.
States in late 1976. Funded by the Ambassador
International Cultural Foundation, a group that has
supported projects in Egypt, Lebanon, Iraq, and Jordan
as well as in Israel, and arranged in cooperation with the
Hebrew University and the Israel Exploration Society,
the exhibit will open in Los Angeles and move to Chicago,
Washington, New York, several European cities, and Reader contributions to
finally Japan. "News from the Field" are welcome.

BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST 5
 THE NAME OF GOD

IN THE WILDERNESS
OF ZIN

ZE'EVMESHELAND CAROLMEYERS

When the Israelites encamped at Kadesh Barnea (Numbers

20), were they within the borders of the future Kingdom of
Judah or still in No Man's Land, between Judah and Egypt?
Fifty kilometers south of Kadesh Barnea, a majorfind of 8th-
century Paleo-Hebrew inscriptions argues the former but
leaves a mystery behind.

On a solitary hill rising in the wide valley of the into existence at a seemingly remote desert post, an
Wadi Quraiyah in northern Sinai can be seen the tumbled investigation of the natural conditions in the area
stone walls of an ancient ruin (fig. 1). The Sinai is full of indicates rather clearly why this particular place was
ruins - way-stations and settlements of all periods from chosen for inhabitation in the first place.
prehistoric times to the present. What makes this site Known as Kuntilet cAjrud (or Kuntilet Quraiyah)
special is, first, that it has yielded a collection of on most maps, the site is some 50 km. south of the large
inscriptional materials;second, that these inscriptions are oasis of Kadesh Barnea. The crucial factor about its
not ostraca, or sherds inscribed with administrative location is that it is situated not far from the main north-
details, the usual run of epigraphic remains, but literary south route from Gaza and Kadesh Barneain the north to
and religious texts, some of considerable length, written Eilat and Ezion-geber in the south. This ancient highway
on a variety of materials - on wall plaster, on pottery from the Mediterraneanto the Gulf of Aqaba is known as
jars, and on stone vessels; and third, that these texts date the Darb el-Ghazzeh, or Way to Gaza. Not only is cAjrud
from the time of the Judean monarchy itself. Such a located at a fairly central point near this roadway, but
collection is without parallel in Palestinian archeology, also it is situated at a crossroads of sorts. Camel tracks
and the tremendous significance of these finds for can be found going off in all directions, including towards
religious, historical, and geopolitical studies is only the mountains of southern Sinai. Evidently, the existence
beginning to be ascertained. of water in a series of wells below the hill on which the
While it may be years before scholars can ruins are found contributed to the establishment of this
understand why and how this group of inscriptions came place as a station for desert travelers and traders.
The modern history of cAjrud began just over 100
This report on the sensational finds at CAjrud is years ago when Edward Henry Palmer of the British
communicated by Carol Meyers of the A lbright Institute of Ordnance Survey Expedition to the Peninsula of Sinai
Archaeological Research in Jerusalem. All of the was led to this site by his Bedouin guides. Palmer, after
information and materials in this article have been kindly the main work of his mission was completed in 1868-69,
provided by Dr. Ze'ev Meshel of TelAviv Universityand are returned to Sinai with a few of his companions to search
theproduct of his researchof the excavations he has directed. for signs of the Exodus and the Route of the Children of
The results of his work werefirst made public at a special Israel through the desert. When Palmer's guides led him
meeting of the Israel Exploration Society held at the home of to cAjrud, he immediately recognized the importance of
the President of Israel on November 30, 1975. its location in relation to the desert highway. He also

6 MARCH 1976
 ?00. sC -Ott -
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Fig. 1. Generalview of the ruinsof Kuntilet'Ajrud,lookingwest, after two seasonsof excavation.On the northandwestcan be
seenstorerooms;an opencourtyardis in thecenter.At thebottomof thepicture,on the east,appearsthe entrywaywith flagstone
approachand plasteredbenches.The entryis into a long room with plasteredwalls and benches.

picked up numerous sherds, including a fragment of comes in 1967, with the Sinai researchesand explorations
pottery with the letter 'alep inscribed on it in ancient of Benno Rothenberg. Although Rothenberg spent only a
Paleo-Hebrew script. short time examining this site, he was able to recognize
Palmer identified this site with a place called that the pottery was exclusively from the Iron II period,
Gypsaria, a station on the Roman road to Aila (Eilat). from the time of the divided monarchy.
However, the knowledge of pottery in his day was not The Ecology of the Past. The true importance of
sufficient for him to establish that this could not have the site has now been revealed, some hundred years after
been a Roman site, since there was no Roman pottery. Palmer discovered it, because of the interests and efforts
Furthermore, the existence of the Paleo-Hebrew writing of a young archeologist from Tel Aviv University, Ze'ev
did not interfere with his desire to find the stations listed Meshel. In dealing with a study of the Negev in the time of
the Judean kings, Meshel became aware of the
Meshel was attempting to grasp the concept significance of environmental factors which determined
the fate of the southern territoriesof the Judean kingdom.
of borders in antiquity, of what marked the Natural conditions such as water, climate, and terrain
end of Judean territory and the beginning of affected the pattern of settlement and rule. Meshel does
the no man's land that separated Judea from not separate the study of political history from the
the Shur Mitzraim, or Egyptian boundary, environmental history; for him, the "ecology of the past"
is integral to an understanding of events which transpired
further to the west. in the past.
In order to pursue his interests in Negev
on the Roman map. Consequently, some maps even to conditions, Meshel carred out many surveys, including
this day carry his mistaken identification of the site, one in 1969-70 on the Darb el-Ghazzeh as it skirts the
Gypsaria. western edges of the Negev mountains. He was
The next chapter in the modern history of cAjrud attempting to grasp the concept of borders in antiquity, of

BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST 7
 The variety and content of the inscriptions was totally unexpected. As the magnitude of
their discoveries became apparent, the workers nearly had to be dragged away from their
trenches when it was time for food or rest.

what marked the end of Judean territory and the 8th century B.c. Finally, in the course of his brief
beginning of the no man's land that separated Judea from exploration of the site, Meshel picked up three pieces of
the Shur Mitzraim, or Egyptian boundary, further to the pottery which had been inscribed before firing with the
west. letter 'alep. These sherds were nearly identical to the one
When Meshel came to Kuntilet CAjrud,he knew found by Palmer a century earlier.
immediately that this place was different from any of the The unique character of the place was thus firmly
desert outposts or highway stations that he had already established by Meshel's survey. It was surely not a Roman
explored. Whereas pottery tends to be scarce at many station, and it was certainly not an average border or
desert sites, in a few minutes at cAjrud he collected more highway outpost. Many such sites had been surveyed but
than he could carry. Furthermore, Meshel recognized never had such inscriptions been discovered nor had such
that this abundant pottery is not the typical, rather a complete absence of local hand-made pottery been
primitive-looking handmade pottery that is found in the found.
Negev. As a matter of fact, Meshel did not pick up a single It is not surprising, then, that cAjrud was chosen
piece of Negev pottery! On the contrary, the sherds for excavation despite its relative inaccessibility - it is at
looked exactly like those known from Judean sites of the least a three-hour drive over desert tracks to the nearest

Fig. 2. Stone bowl ca. 1 m. in diameter, with inscription. The full inscription reads inl tnll T
nI~~
This picture shows all but the first four letters, these letters having been inscribed on a fragmentI1[•=p~y
of the bowl
which had not yet been restored when the photo was made.

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i~i-ijikjii~ ..:,:
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ii-~iii~ -:-i-- iiiii-
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i~ii,~i-i~i:
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-it '-~":--?il
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8 MARCH 1976
 Fig. 3. Viewto the East from insidethe courtyard
po

of the cAjrudbuilding.The plasteredbenchesnear

the entryinto the courtyardcan be seen, in the center.
To the rightare plasteredstairsleadingeitherto a
toweror a secondstorey.This entryinto the courtyard
is from the room with plasteredwalls and benches
whichyieldedmost of the inscriptionalmaterials.

settlement. Two short seasons of excavation have already IV

been carried out, in October and December of 1975,

under the direction of Dr. Meshel and under the
sponsorship of the Institute of Archaeology and the
Nature Preserves Research Institute of Tel Aviv -ca-
University, the Department of Antiquities of Israel, and
the Kibbutz Institute for the Study of the Land, which 2?r. te
provided volunteer workers. In addition, the cooperation 4, r"
and assistance of Avner Goren, Archaeological Inspector
of Sinai, has been invaluable to expedition to cAjrud. A
preliminary report is forthcoming in BASOR.
Already on the second day of the October dig 49-9
exciting things began to appear, the most excitement
being generated by the inscriptions that were unearthed.
It soon became clear that this place was to produce more
than just the inscribed sherds of the sort that Palmer and
Meshel had already recorded in their surveys. The variety
of types of inscriptions was totally unexpected; and the
content of the inscriptions was quite surprising,especially
in such a remote point in the desert. The workers became
so enthusiastic with their finds and so wrapped up in their
whole endeavor that it became almost impossible to tear
them away from their work. As the magnitude of their
discoveries became apparent, they nearly had to be
dragged away from their trenches when it was time for may also be votive; one reads, for example (fig. 2): "Given
food or rest.
by cOvadiah, son of cAdanah, may he be blessed by God"
The Inscriptions. Meshel has now listed at least
five different kinds of inscriptions that the cAjrud (Fcbdywbnlcdnh brk h' lyhw).
4. Inscriptions on wall plaster. Thus far four such
excavations have produced: inscriptions have been recovered, along with paintings of
1. Single letters inscribed on pottery beforefiring. animals and humans as well as red, yellow, and black
This was the only type that was known before digging
geometric designs. This group consists entirely of prayers
began. In addition to further examples of alep, sherds or literary pieces. Three of these four plaster inscriptions
marked with yod and with the combination qop/res' have also bear the phenomenal characteristic of having been
also been found, though the 'alep sherds are pre- executed in the Phoenician script. They had to have been
dominant. The fact that these inscribed letters are all on made on the spot, for they appear on the walls of the
fragments of large storage jars and have all been executed building and not on any portable object. In contrast, all
before the jars were fired has led the excavator to suppose the other inscriptions are in Paleo-Hebrew script.
that the jars were made intentionally to be shipped to 5. Inscriptions on whole storage jars. Two
certain places. These inscriptions seem to be the only ones complete such jars have been found, and there are also
that could be termed administrative. fragments of at least two additional ones. Lines of writing
2. Inscriptions incised on pottery after the vessel as well as pictures are found around the whole surface of
was fired. These inscriptions tend to be short - the jars. These are all very long inscriptions and are in the
sometimes just a name - but they are not ostraca. They nature of blessings.
may have served some sort of votive function. The excavations at cAjrud have also turned up
3. Inscriptions on stone vessels. There are four of considerable organic materials, as might be expected in
these to date, one having been found only in February, such an arid area. Pieces of cloth, fragments of wood, and
1976, by a sharp-eyedarmy officer who visits the site from segments of rope have been recovered, giving the
time to time to see that the local Bedouin are not excavators tangible contact with those who inhabited the
tampering with the ruins. These inscriptions, which seem site several millennia ago. In addition, examples of the
to have been cut by the stone worker himself, judging foodstuffs of the ancient inhabitants have been found,
from the sorts of mistakes that were made, are clearly including several pomegranates in a remarkable state of
incised along the rims of large stone bowls. These bowls preservation - some of them are still whole!
BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST 9
 Fig. 4. Partof a storagejar, now beingrestored,
upon whichappearmany inscriptionsand drawings.
The inscriptionvisiblein this pictureis in
Paleo-Hebrewand reads"Blessingswith you"
(brkt.atkm).The drawingseemsto be that of a
horse'shead with reinsleadingaway from it.

The pottery produced in the course of excavation

has proved to be consistent with what was picked up in the
course of surface exploration by Rothenberg and by
Meshel. An early 8th century B.C. date seems likely,
though it is difficult as yet to pinpoint which decades of
that century are involved. Clearly it is a one-period, one-
phase site, but the absolute termini of the occupation
cannot even be supposed without careful study of the
ceramic materials.
The architecturalremainsconsist of a single, large,
rectangular structure, measuring 25 m. x 15 m., with an
open courtyardin the center. There are no casemate walls;
rather, large storerooms, in which the storage jar
inscriptions were found, were built against the outer walls

... paintings of animals and humans as well

as red, yellow, and black geometric designs
. . . a very special kind of border post.

of the building on two of its sides, on the north and on the

west. A third side, the southern side, seems to have no
rooms built against it. The sole entryway to the building is
the fourth, or eastern side. A paved courtyard with
plastered benches leads to the doorway, which is in the
middle of the outer wall of the building. This door opens
into a long room which has plasteredwalls and benches. It
is this room which has provided not only the frescoes and
wall inscriptions but also many of the other inscriptions
(fig. 3).
The location of Kuntilet cAjrud near the Darb el- Certainly, as the solutions to these specific problems are
Ghazzeh undoubtedly bears substantial relationship to worked out in ceramic and paleographic investigation,
the fact of its importance as a border point. This much the larger issues will be greatly clarified.
was clear even before excavation began. However, the One thing seems to be definite, however, as Dr.
nature of the inscriptional and graphic finds that have Meshel works over the finds to date and lays out his plans
been recovered by the expedition to cAjrud indicates that for future digging at cAjrud and for surveying its
this must have been a very special kind of border post. immediate environs:no understandingof the unique finds
Meshel feels certain that some sort of cultic role must also at this site can be made without a consideration of the
be assigned to the site. total situation. Focusing on any portion of the discoveries
As with all excavations, this particular one has alone cannot provide proper answers. Instead, all the
raised questions as well as solved them. In this case, a conditions that contributed to the establishment of this
number of very provocative questions can be posed, border post must be explored. The combination of
questions concerning both the character of the site itself approaches that Meshel and his team represent seems to
and the holy traditions that seem to be attached to it. They be well-equipped for such a task.
also involve the role of such a site at its situation near a
junction of the Darb el-Ghazzeh. Finally, they deal with
the function of the post within the territorial domain of BIBLIOGRAPHY
the Judean monarchy during the 8th century B.C.All these
issues are general, interpretive matters. There is an EdwardHenryPalmer,Desertof the Exodus. London:1871.
equally tantalizing set of specific problems provided by BennoRothenberg,"AnArchaeologicalSurveyin Sinai, 1967-
the details of the various finds, epigraphic and otherwise. 1972." Annual of Museum Ha-aretz 14:89-100 (Hebrew).

10 MARCH1976
 THE PROPHET BALAAM IN A

6TH CENTURY ARAMAIC INSCRIPTION

JACOB HOFTIJZER

In Numbers 22-24, Balaam, a non-Israelite prophet, is

ordered by the King of Moab in Transjordaniato curse the
invading Israelites. Instead, through God's intervention,
Balaam blesses them. In 1967, at Tell Deir- cAlla in Jordan,
curses of Balaam werefound inscribed on a stele.

Thefollowing paper is an address given before the excavators devoted all the time remaining in their
Oriental Society in the Netherlands on 19 January campaign to the task of getting the fragments out of the
1973. The title in Dutch is "De Ontcijfering van ground without further damage and particularly to the
Deir-CAlla-Teksten," and it was subsequently preservation of whatever text could be saved. Anyone
published in Oosters Genootschap in Nederland 5 who has had anything to do with material as brittle and
(1973), 111-34. The texts described by Professor delicate as this can understand what the task must have
Hoftijzer will bepublished in J. Hoftijzer and G. van cost in exertion and inventiveness.
der Aramaic Texts from Deir cAlla The fragments are distributed into twelve
Kooy,
(Documenta et Monumenta Or. Ant., XIX), now in "fragment-combinations" (aside from a small group
which cannot be fitted in anywhere). Special credit is due
press (Leiden: Brill). Material in brackets has been two doctoral students, Miss V. Kerkhof and Mr. G. van
added by the translator, William L. Holladay.
der Kooy, for their assembling of the fragments which
belong together, a task of great patience, care, and
In the spring of 1967 a great number of text technical insight.
fragments were found in Jordan at an excavation directed
by Dr. H. J. Franken, which, from the location of the Of these fragment-combinations, two are central;
excavation, have become known as the Deir- cAlla texts.' we shall refer to these hereafteras the "firstcombination"
The material on which these texts were written was and the "second combination." Their importance lies
plaster; in this instance the plaster was probably not both in the fact that they contain the greatest quantity of
applied on a wall but rather on an object with the form of text and in the fact that all the remaining combinations
a stele. It was only because of the special attentiveness of a can be located with respect to either of the two.
Jordanian foreman that material as important as this was Unfortunately the mutual relation between the first and
recognized in time rather than being shoveled away. The the second combinations is less clear. It cannot be
determined with certainty whether they form part of the
Jacob Hofti/zer of the State University of Leiden, The same column of text or even whether they contain
Netherlands,is best known for his major share in the portions of the same text.
production of Charles-F. Jean and Jacob Hoftijzer, The condition of the textual material has not made
Dictionnairedes inscriptionss6mitiquesde l'ouest (Leiden: the decipherment a simple matter. The texts (I shall use
Brill,1965). WilliamL Holladayis LowryProfessorof Old the plural even though the plurality of texts is naturally
Testament at the Andover-Newton Theological School uncertain) were thrown outside the building in which they

BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST 11
 ... The Aramaic employed in our texts exhibits several phenomena whichfor Aramaic in
general are either unusual or completely unknown-the narrativeform of
the verb (Hebrew waw-consecutive imperfect), most probably the Nipc al-conjugation,
and possibly the cohortative.

had stood, because of earthquake. This building, etc.). Unfortunately there are no indications of the
presumably a sanctuary or a portion of a sanctuary, has division between sentences, a circumstance which, given
not itself been excavated. A fire caused by earthquake the condition in which the text has come down to us, does
charred a portion of the plaster, so that a portion of the not simplify the process of interpretation;3in cases where
texts are no doubt irrevocably lost. There is the further five or six words of a line are preserved, we have no clear
possibility that further remnants of the texts still lie in the indication whether they belong to one sentence or not.
ground. Those we do possess at this time are obviously The script is a consonantal one; vowels are
greatly damaged by surrounding conditions. In some indicated only when they occur at the end of a word, and
places the text is completely or almost completely wiped the system for indicating them is defective (the so-called
away, for example in the second half of the second matres lectionis).4 A group of characters representing a
combination. Pieces of straw which had been used to given word is therefore susceptible in many instances of
prepare the plaster material have often fallen out, more than one reading. Thus the word c mh, which occurs
frequently with consequent damage to letters in the text. in the first combination, and which probably means "his
A great deal of dirt has come to lie on the text, dirt which uncle," may also be given other vowels to mean "her
often is hardly to be distinguished from the ink which had uncle," "aunt," "his/her people," or "with him/her"; the
been used. A further reason to be grateful to Mr. van der word hlk, which occurs in the second combination, and
Kooy is his discovery of a procedure by which to which probably means "traveler,"could also mean "he
distinguish dirt from ink (at least in the majority of went," or "going," or refer to a particular kind of tax.
instances) without damaging the text. In some places the Often about one-half of the words preserved in a line are
text has been affected by moisture so that the ink has open to more than one interpretation.
become smudged and often has run off into all kinds of Specific typical expressions quickly made it clear
little grooves in the plaster. In such cases it has as a rule that the text is written in a form of Aramaic. This
been extremely difficult to determine whether we are circumstance has further added to the multiplication of
dealing with the original form of a letter (often barely possible interpretations of particular words which occur
legible because of dirt and damage) or with some in the texts; for the fact is that the Aramaic of this period
secondary form of the letter caused by the way the ink has (about 700 B.c.) recognized more consonants than the
run off. alphabet contained of consonantal characters,5so that in
The script itself (with a single exception) has not some cases one is left in doubt about which consonant is
offered a great number of problems in distinguishing intended by a character. And beyond these uncertainties,
characters; it strongly resembles the so-called cursive the Aramaic employed in our texts exhibits several
Aramaic script.2 Rather it is the condition of the texts phenomena which for Aramaic in general are either
which caused Mr. van der Kooy and me to spend months unusual or completely unknown - the narrativeform of
simply in the identification of characters, letter by letter. the verb [the so-called waw-consecutive imperfect of
The resultof this work was still far from definitive;further Hebrew6], most probably the Nipcal-conjugation, and
paleographic investigation by Mr. van der Kooy and my possibly the cohortative.
own attempts at philological interpretation have made The texts themselves are written to a large degree
many revisions necessary. in a kind of poetic idiom. This marks something quite
Beside the obstacles already described, there have new: Aramaic poetry of this period (i.e., before the
been various others which have made it extremely Christian era) has until now been unknown. Since poetry
difficult to reach a reasonable understanding of the text. may offer not only its own grammatical features but also
Given the fragmentarystate of the text, we do not possess its own vocabulary which at many points diverges from
a single complete line. It was not even possible to "ordinary"language it is no wonder that the text contains
determine how long a line was, a fact which would have a number of rare words.
proved a great help in the potential reconstruction of lost
portions. What we now possess is a great deal of text but Balaam's Curses. In regard to the contents of the
no continuous portions, simply small scraps. text I shall confine myself to the first two combinations,
The words are usually separated from each other since the remaining ones, to the extent that they offer any
by the so-called "word-divider";only in a specific number legible text at all, add little that is substantial.
of instances is this not the case. Especially where two The first combination contains a prophecy in the
words are closely related to each other, the word-divider name of the prophet Balaam, the son of Beor, known in
may be omitted (for example, verb with subject, or in the the Old Testament (Numbers 22-24, Deut 23:5-6, Josh
so-called genitive construction [the construct-chain] 13:22, 24:9-10, Neh 13:2, Mic 6:5, and see also Num 31:8

12 MARCH
1976
 and 16). According to Old Testament tradition, this non- (t), evidently a request not to let a sort of deluge take
Israelite prophet had been summoned by the king of place; and, beyond this, the request not to envelop the
Moab to curse the Israelites, who were marching through world (or the land) in darkness. Further, there is a
Transjordan into Palestine proper; but through God's description here of many animals, particularly a large
intervention Balaam was obliged to bless the Israelites number of birds, which are known in the Old Testament
rather than to curse them. In the Old Testament Balaam is (and elsewhere) as "symbols"of destruction. Dr. Franken
clearly a figure who belongs exclusively to traditions has argued more than once that the building here is a
about Transjordan;it is noteworthy, then, that our texts, sanctuary holy to nomads, and it is striking to find here,
in which he plays a central role, likewise come from a among the expressions of destruction, that instead of
Transjordanianholy place. Also, in our texts Balaam has sheep there will be hares (in the Sefire text, too, hares
no connection whatever with anything that can be appear as a symbol of destruction - in that text there is a
considered characteristic of typically Israelite religion. If description of a city that is destroyed and becomes a heap
one combines the biblical data with those of Deir- cAlla, of ruins where hares dwell; and hares are reckoned as
one must conclude that for a considerable period of time unclean animals in the Old Testament).7 Some appeals to
the figure of Balaam took up a prominent position in a repentance then follow, to urge the recalcitrant to turn
specific religious tradition in Transjordan. back from the error of their ways, and among these
The form in which the prophecy is narrated appeals is a formula with a strong similarity to Old
resembles those in which certain Old Testament Testament style, "hear the admonition," and there is a
prophecies have been handed down. It is very difficult to recollection of an earlier evil which had evidently been
explain just why such a portion of prophetic text should averted by divine help. Even though the text is very badly
occur here on a stele (?). Some help may perhaps be damaged at this point and breaks off, it seems attractive
gained from the fact that in the Old Testament various to conclude here that we are dealing with an appeal to
prophecies were preserved (and ultimately gathered up history as a warning to bring the "godless" to sound
into the canon), in spite of the fact that they had already judgment and repentance.
been "fulfilled,"or, otherwise, had in the strictest sense The second combination contains - so far as it is
lost their timeliness. It must mean that these prophecies intelligible - a series of curses, parallels for which are
maintained a high value for later generations even so and found in many passages of the Old Testament and in other
were thus thought to be applicable to later situations as ancient Near Eastern literature. It is quite probable that
well. So it is possible that this Aramaic prophecy, once
supposedly uttered by Balaam, was preserved as an ... The words by which his hearers
important historical example. It is the first prophetic text, reject Balaam's curse-speech are written
so far as I know, which has been discovered up to now
written on a wall or the like. One cannot yet estimate, I
in red rather than black ink.
think, what the consequences of this fact will be for our these curses, too, were uttered by Balaam, though in the
understanding of this special prophetic type of literature. second combination itself there is no trace of his name.
At the beginning of the prophecy, there is a sort of However, in a fragment which may be placed in the
title, which is unfortunately preserved only in part. In context of this combination, belonging above it, his name
this, Balaam is named seer of the gods; moreover it is does occur (it probably reads, "O Balaam!"). Balaam's
recorded that the gods appeared to him in the night, and curses appear to have been uttered with referenceto some
we have the contents of the short speech which the central specific remarks(not preserved) of his audience. Possibly
deity (probably a goddess) addressed to him. Then these remarkscontained a rejection of his prophecy which
follows the description of Balaam's reaction: the has already been described, so that we might make a
following morning he gets up weeping. This attracts the connection between the first and second combinations
attention of others, and under the leadership of an uncle, after all, but there is no way to be sure. It is plain that the
who is named, people go to him to ask what is the matter. grievous curses which he utters have not been to the liking
It is striking at this point that he does not give a word-for- of his hearers. They reproach him for stupidity and
word reproduction of the message of the goddess, who ignorance (which reproach often carries a hint of
had threatened to destroy the land (?) with fire; rather he depravity): he has taken a poisonous word (or a curse-
outlines the situation in much greater detail, employing word?) on his tongue.8 They intend to judge him. Though
his own images, and he inserts appeals to repentance. He it is plain that discord has reached a high pitch, one gets
depicts an assembly of the gods, at which the gods attempt the impression that everything ultimately has ended in
to make the goddess change her mind. In the fragments peace and concord once more. Sadly enough, though
that remain (a good many) there is no referenceto fire, but much of the plaster of this portion of the text has been
there are to the request not to break the bolts of heaven preserved, the characters have been to a large degree

BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST 13
 One of the more legibleportionsof the Deir c Alla texts,
herea portionof the "secondcombination."
wiped away.
Before I offer any further remarks about the
contents of the texts, allow me just to touch on another ?oe
matter. The words by which his hearers reject Balaam's
curse-speech (or at least the beginning of them) are
written in red and not in black ink. In this text the title
and the beginning of important turns in the story are
written with another ink (red). The superscriptionabove
the prophecy and the beginning of the words of the
goddess are also written in this ink. An unfortunate
consequence is that no black-and-white photographs, no
matter how good in quality, reproduce the text written in
red to any degree. Beyond this difficulty it must be
admitted that in general the value of photographs is quite . t-4 A6z St,
modest because of the poor state of the text. The
photographs often suggest characters, portions of
characters, or particular forms of characters which are
simply not present in the original. An interpretationof the
text which is worthy of the name is out of the question
'16
from photographs alone.

A Non-Israelite Oracle. It is striking how many 4k

points of contact there are between this text and the Old
Testament. The first combination, for example, is the first ~E r
prophecy of any scope from the ancient West Semitic
world outside the prophecies which occur in the Old
Testament.9Old Testament data (though not these alone)
have therefore offered much help in the understanding of a4.
our texts. There is no doubt, however, that our texts in
their turn will contribute to the understanding of Old
Testament data and will aid in our seeing them in the
wider context of the world in which they arose. 31P'
The night after Balaam had the vision in which the ;?~r:
'A~
message came to him from the goddess that she would
destroy the land (?) with fire (a kind of destruction also
known to the Old Testament - one thinks of Sodom and
Gomorrah),10he burst into tears, at which point his uncle
(and others) came to ask him what was happening. I That an uncle should be the spokesman for the
cannot believe that this fit of crying was simply a curious bystanders is probably no coincidence. When
spontaneous reaction (understandable as that might be) Saul is (secretly) anointed king by Samuel, he begins
to the horrible news that he had learned in the night. In behaving in a way quite unusual for him (1 Samuel 10).
my view this could well be the means by which the prophet Thus he falls into a trance, so that people begin to ask
attractedattention and gained the hearingfor the message what is happening to him (v 11). Here, too, it is an uncle
he wanted to announce. A noteworthy parallel can be who asks the questions (vv 14-15), only Saul evades an
found in 2 Kings 8. The prophet Elisha there speaks with answer and speaks about extraneous matters. Here is a
the envoy from the king of Damascus and announces to case where our text can help Old Testament exegesis.
him (in answer to a question from him) that the king, who There have been attempts to eliminate the rather
is sick, shall surely die (v 10). Having stared vacantly at mysterious uncle of Saul and to translate the word in
him for some time, the prophet bursts into tears (v 11). question as "governor, prefect," in which case we would
Here also the question follows (as in our text) why this has have a referenceto the local Philistine governor," but it is
happened. Then the prophet announces to the messenger now plain that we must vote for the uncle after all; and his
(Hazael) that he, Hazael, will be king and a formidable role, too, is now somewhat clearer.
enemy of Israel. Hazael understands the message, It is also interestingthat the gods who question the
assassinates his ruler and takes over his position. goddess at the divine assembly are called idyn, a word

14 MARCH1976
 I cannot believe that this fit of crying was simply a spontaneous reaction to the horrible
news he had learned in the night. In my view this could well be the means by which the
prophet attracted attention ....

which can be rendered as Shadday-gods. This datum can 3:13, Neh 12:43).
make a contribution to the dicusssion (which continues to The actual "prophecy"of Balaam (that is, what he
be quite lively) about the divine name Shadday in the Old announced to his hearers) is not--we have already
Testament. The God of Israel was called El Shadday, for pointed this out -a reproduction of his vision in the
example, in the time of the patriarchs (according to a night (at least as far as we can conclude from the
particular Old Testament tradition), and the word also fragments). We must understand it rather as an
plays a great role in the book of Job. Who the goddess is application of what he has seen: Balaam has understood
who plays such a great role in this portion of text is from his vision that a grievous divinejudgment is in store.
unfortunately unknown; her name probably began with S, So he tries by the way he "presents"the whole matter to
but the name is otherwise lost. It is possible that she is bring about repentance and thereby to forestall the
identical with a deity, probably female, sgr, who appears judgment. That the threatened divine punishment could
elsewhere in the first combination. This deity has been be forestalled by contrition and repentance, according to
known till recently only from Punic personal names, 12but the ideas of that world, appears also in the book of Jonah,
lately she has turned up in a Ugaritic sacrificial list.'13 the central problem in which, in my opinion, is the fact
Though the data are quite scarce, it seems very attractive that because of the intense repentance of Nineveh the
to conclude that she was linked with Ashtar and his well- judgment which had been proclaimed did not take place.
known female conterpart Ashtarte.14 In our text she Balaam depicts the divine assembly (to which I have
occurs together with Ashtar. It is regrettable that the already referred) and the entreaty of the gods to the
context is so poorly preserved that nothing more can be wrathful goddess in a way clearly divergent from his own
made of this. The identification of the goddess with igr vision. His purpose is to emphasize the seriousness of the
thus remains speculative; the situation is complicated by situation. How threatening the catastrophe is is indicated
the fact that the name irCI occurs on some shards from the by the fact that the gods take pains to avert the evil. This is
same period,15from Deir-cAlla as well, and this name is illustrated particularly by the "images" by which the
clearly not the name of a person but the name of a deity or catastrophe is depicted, such as the breaking of the bolts
of a holy place and demands further explanation. of heaven, the further impossibility of sheep-breeding
In the description of the evil of the past from which (probably one of the most important local sources of
rescue was secured through divine aid, there occurs a subsistence), and the numerous birds which may serve as
formula which has parallels in the Old Testament (as well symbols of destruction. In order that the hearersgrasp as
as in other West Semitic literature):"the deaf heard from clearly as possible the seriousness of the situation, the
afar":what they heard is probably the powerful advance prophet addresses them directly. They are described as
of the approaching enemy. In the Old Testament one "recalcitrant"(?), "combatants against" the goddess and
finds this kind of referenceto those with bodily handicaps later as "enemies."(The designation "enemies"is certainly
in images by which the might and intensity of a particular not unknown in a similar connection in the Old
event is depicted. Thus in Jeremiah (31:8) there is a Testament; to offer only one example, in Nahum 1:2,
prediction that among the Israelites returningfrom exile there is mention of enemies and adversaries of God upon
would be the blind, the lame, women with child and those whom God will take vengeance.) The intensity of
giving birth, "a great company they shall return here." By Balaam's appeal to repentance is indicated by the
listing those participants (unlikely at first glance) in a following line: "O enemies, consider, consider; consider,
difficult journey home, the prophet depicts the consider, ? . . . ." (the remainder is missing).
completeness of the return. Similar phraseology is to be
found in the Ugaritic Keret text. In a campaign of king The Mighty Acts of Sgr. The appeal to history, which
Keret there march along, according to the description, the close the portion of the prophecy which has been
most motley people: "those living alone, widows, the sick preservedfor us, is also a well-known phenomenon in the
(who let themselves be carried on their beds), the blind, Old Testament. To cite one example: in the beginning of
newlyweds (who evidently were exempt from military Micah 6, where there is reference to a lawsuit of God
service)." This image likewise expresses with what great against his people, God points out, among other matters,
enthusiasm the king's subjects devoted themselves to his that he led the people out of Egypt and then granted
military undertaking.'6 Here, too, there follows an capable leadership to them. Such an appeal to history
emphasis on numerousness: they are like locusts on the highlights the power of the deity who has done such
plain. In our text the deaf who hear serve to emphasize the mighty acts and at the same time highlights the obligation
power of the enemy, and this in turn brings into clear of the people toward such a god. Above all, against such a
relief the divine rescue. (One may add that "hearingfrom background any faithlessness toward that god - and
afar" in itself stresses the fact that the sound of the apostasy - stands out as all the more reprehensible.Such
advancing adversarywas very great; cf. for example Ezra an appeal to history may be a facet in the attempt to make

BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST 15
 person is not surprising, since Ugaritic texts depict Mot
THE ORACLE OF BALAAM SON OF BEOR
(Death) as a divine being.'9 In this connection one may
cite a line from a lament as a text to some degree parallel
the oracle of the man with far-seeing eyes, to this (Jer9:21): "Death has come up into our windows, it
the oracle of one who hears the word of God has entered our palaces, cutting off the children from the
He sees what Shaddai makes him see, streets and the young men from the squares."The theme
receives the divine answer, and his eyes are opened. of the death of the unborn fetus is also found in the Old
Testament in passages in which those who have suffered
How fair are your tents, 0 Jacob!
much, like Jeremiah (20:17-18) and Job (3:11, 10:18)wish
How fair your dwellings, Israel! that they had died before birth in the womb. A text like
Like valleys that stretch afar, ours, in which the death of the unborn is a motif of
like gardens by the banks of a river, cursing, emphasizes the despair of these men [Jeremiah
and Job] and their aversion to life all the more strongly:
like aloes planted by Yahweh,
they prefer a fate worthy of a curse to continuing to live.
like cedars beside the waters!
One detail worth noticing is the occurrence in
a hero arises from their stock, these curses of the term "eternal house" for grave. This
he reigns over countless peoples. term is known from Palmyrene, Syriac, and rabbinic
His king is greater than Agag, texts. One occurrence is known in Punic, and, recently, in
his majesty is exalted. Nabatean,20but the oldest text, till now, which contains
the term is Eccl 12:5: "As man goes to his eternal home,
God brings him out of Egypt, the mourners go about the streets." The book of
he is like the wild ox's horns to him. Ecclesiastes must at all events date from the period after
He feeds on the carcass of his enemies, the exile (i.e., the 5th century B.c. at the earliest, and
and breaks their bones in pieces. probably a good deal later). So in our text we have an
instance from the West Semitic world that is certainly
He has crouched, he has lain down,
some centuries earlier. We must not forget, however, that
like a lion, like a lioness; a related expression, "their homes forever," probably
who dare rouse him? occurs in Ps 49:11,21 but the dating of this passage is far
Blessed be those who bless you, from easy.
and accursed be those who curse you. The sharp reaction of the hearers of Balaam's
words of cursing reminds one to some degree of the
Numbers 24:3-9 (JERUSALEMBIBLE)
reaction of Jeremiah's hearers to him. When Jeremiah
urged his fellow countrymen not to emigrate to Egypt in
the people turn back from the error of their ways. So our the face of the Babylonians (chap. 42), they, too, reacted
text reports that the goddess has averted the evil and (if I sharply: "You are telling lies, the Lord our God has not
us ... to kill
interpret correctly the remains which are preserved) has sent you . .. but Baruch has set you against
put the enemies to flight, as a panther does a piglet. us or take us into exile . (43:2-3). It is a pity that the
.."
interest has been remainder of our text is almost completely lost and that
During the last decade much
devoted to the matter of curses, and the second only uncertain conclusions are left to us.
combination of our texts offers us a series of these.'7 I have tried in the foregoing to give you some idea
Various well-known types of curses are to be found here, of the contents of the Deir- cAlla texts. However severely
like the removal from the "tribes of men," the image of damaged they may be, they contain a treasureof material
maggots, a curse concerning insufficient clothing, etc. I whose importance lies both in linguistics and contents. I
want to stay for a moment with one particular curse; have not discussed the language much, but I believe that
namely, "You shall lie on your eternal bed of rest"(i.e., in one of the most important results of research into these
your grave). This is a quite rare type of curse; it is usually texts is not the discovery of a prophecy in the name of the
said that someone will be slain and then not be buried.'18 well-known prophet Balaam, sensational as that is, but
Rarely does the image occur in which someone is to be the fact that we here gain knowledge of a local Aramaic
slain as a punishment and then buried; viz., in Nahum dialect hitherto unknown. This will increase our
1:14, where God is presented as saying, "no one else of knowledge of dialectal phenomena of the Near East in the
your race shall come any longer into the world (free first millennium B.C.,all the more because we now possess
translation) . . . I shall prepare your grave. .. ." a portion of Aramaic poetry from this period. In fairness I
Another curse is: "Death shall take away the child must add that if an increase of knowledge in this case does
who is in the womb." That "death" is introduced as a not bring an increase of grief, it at least brings an increase

16 1976
MARCH
of problems. The value of our neat linguistic "ordinarily."This possibility is now confirmed by the Deir- Alla
classifications for this period was already seriously texts.
affected, and I believe that the data of our texts will show 7For the Sefire text, see KA1222-24. The lines cited here
us all the more how shaky the basis for our classifications are p. 22, lines 32-33.
was. What is to replace them will be a much more intricate
and complicated picture. Our only consolation is perhaps sThe question is whether the word which occurs here,
lcnh, should be translated "wormwood" or "curse."
that we shall in this way come a step closer to the linguistic
reality of antiquity. 9The prophetic data from Mari are communications
Though it has been impossible for me in this about (the contents of) prophecies and visions, given in letters;
but they are already from a strictly literary viewpoint and of a
presentation to show more than a part of the captivating
contents of our texts, I hope nevertheless to have been quite different genre. For these texts cf., e.g., A. Malamat,
successful in demonstrating at least something of the Prophetic Revelations in New Documents from Mari and the
Bible, VTSup 15 (1966), 207-27; F. Ellermeier, Prophetie in
significance of this material.
Mari und Israel (Theol. und orientalische Arbeiten 1) (Herzberg
am Harz: 1968); J. F. Ross, "Prophecy in Hamath, Israel and
Mari," HTR 63 (1970), 1-28.
'0See Genesis 19.
NOTES I1See D. R. Ap-Thomas, "Saul's Uncle (1 Samuel X, 13-

ISee the first announcement in H. J. Franken, "Texts 16)," XXV International Congress of Orientalists, Vol. I
from the Persian Period from Tell Deir cAlla," Vetus (Moscow: 1962), 437-38.
Testamentum 17 (1967), 480-81. The excavation was made 12Seenow F. L. Benz, Personal Names in the Phoenician
possible by the generous support of the Dutch Organization for and Punic Inscriptions (Studia Pohl 8) (Rome: 1972), pp. 413-
Pure Scientific Research. The dating in the Persian period (i.e., 14.
at the earliest in the second half of the 6th century B.C.) given in
the article was later abandoned. 13SeeUgaritica V (Mission de Ras Shamra 16, ed. C. F.
A. Schaeffer) (Paris: 1968), text 9, verso 9 (p. 584), in the phrase
2For a recent study of this type of script see J. Naveh, The sgr w'itm.
Development of the Aramaic Script (The Israel Academy of
14See, e.g., M. Dahood, "Hebrew-UgariticLexicography
Sciences and Humanities, Proceedings, V, L, preprint)
X," Bib 53 (1972), 386-403, on p. 403.
(Jerusalem: 1970). Mr. G. van der Kooy will devote his attention
to the problems raised by this type of script in the edition of the 15Thesesmall texts will be published along with the larger
texts.
plaster texts.
31n inscriptions and the like from this area and this
period no sentence-dividers occur. Though one has no '6See the remarks of the present writer in BO 24 (1967),
66. The passage cited here is found in Krt, lines 96ff.; the passage
expectation of finding any, their lack is still keenly felt in a
difficult text like this. is repeated several times in the Keret text.

4The use of matres lectionis within a word to indicate

17Tocite a few examples of the literature: S. Gevirtz,
long vowels is not found in this text, and this is not to be "West-Semitic Curses and the Problem of the Origins of
wondered at, given the historical development of this device; Hebrew Law," VTII1 (1961), 137-58; D. R. Hillers, Treaty
matres lectionis were probably first used to indicate vowels at Curses and the Old Testament Prophets (BibOr 16) (Rome:
the end of a word and only later to indicate vowels within a 1964); R. Frankena, "The Vassal-Treaties of Essarhaddon and
word. the Dating of Deuteronomy," OTS 14 (1965), 122-54.
5For a treatment of this matter see among other works R.
'8See, e.g., 2 Kgs 9:10, Ps 79:3.
Degen, AltaramaiischeGrammatikder Inschriften des 10.-8 Jh.
v. Chr. (Abhandlung fiir die Kunde des Morgenlandes, 38.3) '9gForthis see, e.g., N. J. Tromp. Primitive Conceptions
(Wiesbaden: 1969), pp. 32ff. of Death and the Nether Worldin the Old Testament(BibOr 21)
(Rome: 1969), 160ff.
6For the problem of the narrative in Old Aramaic, see
Degen, op. cit., pp. 114f, n. 21. The present writer agrees with 20See the lexica. For the Nabatean example see A. Negev,
Degen; unfortunately the latter has misunderstood the "A Nabatean Epitaph from Trans-Jordan," IEJ 21 (1971), 50-
intentions of the present writer in an earlier article: the present 52, in the text cited on p. 50, line 1 (dated A.D. 17).
writer indeed intended to depart from the older belief and to
propose that we not exclude a priori the possibility that in some 21For this interpretation see, e.g., M. Dahood, Psalms I
forms of the Aramaic, narrative occurred and was used (AB) (New York: 1966), pp. 298-99 [the R.S.V. is similar].

BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST 17
 A.A,

4k -04I
,4 T.4 ?

.IN

AIXa~

,-w4T 'h'
4pPl
.4s?6

EXCAVATING
AI (ET-TELL): 1964-1972
JOSEPH CALLAWAY

In the late 12th century, village life is disrupted. Grain begins

to be stored in what has been the temple. A crude, tent-like
dwelling is built in the street. Othersigns suggest the arrival of
a new population lacking "orderliness and experience in
village life of their predecessors."

The ruin of Ai, known locally as et-Tell, is a side of the deep Wadi el-Jaya leading east toward Jericho
polygon-shaped mound (fig. 1) of 27.5 acres on the south (fig. 3). Israelite pioneers, according to Joshua 7-8, the
major literary source, ventured up the wadi from Jericho
Joseph I1.Callaway, Professor of Biblical Archaeology at and established their first foothold in the hill country of
the ?outhl:'rn Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Canaan sometime in the 12th century B.c. This story
Kentucky, was director ofajoint archeologicalexpedition to places Ai center-stage in one dramatic episode of Israel's
Ai under ihe sponsorship of ASOR and a consortium of history, but the brevity of the account has always left the
other institutions, including, most notably, the Smithsonian. readerwondering what else there is to know about the city
He is the authorof Potteryfromthe Tombsat Ai (et-Tell), which apparently lost its name.
London: Colt Archaeological Institute, Monograph Series, Three archeological expeditions have been
No. 2, 1964, and of numerous journal articles. attracted by the lure of unwritten history buried in the

18 MARCH 1976
 (Opposite)Fig. 1. The EarlyBronzeAge tell at Ai, looking northeast.

Fig. 2.

Stratum Description Period Chronology

Pre-Urban Unwalledvillagesettlement EarlyBronzeIB 3100-3000B.c.
UrbanC Firstwalledcity of 27.5 acres EarlyBronzeIC 3000-2860B.c.
UrbanB Secondcity, UrbanC walls widenedand strengthened EarlyBronzeII 2860-2720B.c.
UrbanA Thirdcity, new walls built outsideUrbanB walls EarlyBronzeIIIA 2700-2550B.c.
UrbanA' Fourthcity,UrbanA wallsdoubledin widthandstrengthened EarlyBronzeIIIB 2550-2350B.c.
Iron Age Unwalledvillagesettlementof about 2.75 acres. Iron Age I 1220-1050B.c.

ruin of the site. John Garstang hurriedly excavated eight excavations of the Early Bronze Age city; (2) seeking
soundings against the city walls in 1928, but never additional evidence bearing upon the Israelite village; and
followed up with either a report of the soundings or more (3) publishing a comprehensive report incorporating
extensive excavations. Judith Marquet-Krause did the usable results from the two previous expeditions.
first significant work at Ai in 1933-35 and discovered the Excavations were carried out in the summers of 1964,
great 27.5 acre walled city of the Early Bronze Age 1966, 1968-72. Major emphasis shifted to the preparation
underlying the almost insignificant Israelite village of of materials for reports in 1970; and the first volume,
only 2.75 acres. The expedition was halted abruptly by entitled The Early Bronze Age Sanctuary at Ai (et- Tell)
her death in 1936. was published in 1972. Other reports are in various stages
The Joint Expedition to Ai was organized in 1963 of progress, with one on the citadel and lower city ready
as a redeployment of certain members of the Shechem for the publisher.
Expedition staff with the objectives of (1) completing the Research and analysis of data from Ai have led to

(Below)Fig. 3. The Jerusalemregion,showingAi "...which is east of Bethel."

1,10?10 20 2
TO
NAeBLUS
JORDAN
RIVER
oSCALE KILOMETERS

2 4 6 8

OR
ZEIT
TAIYIBA

KHRADDANA (ET-T-EL KH.

RAMMo
O
HBE L
AKH MARIN W
BIREH KR HATYAN
TRR

(+869

MUKHMAS
M)

TELL
ES-SULTAN
*-J
(MICHMASH)
JERICHO
(-258 M)
EL-JIB
(GIBEON)

ANATA TO
AMMAN
TO
TEL
AVIV-
JAFFA JORDAN
JERUSALEM RIVER

35 3 '5 335
325' aso 35,
SWWE

BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST 19
 The Postern Gate would have been a narrow tunnel-like entrance through the city
wall just wide enough to admit a donkey loaded with two bags and its rider.

r,*,, 7-%-,r,
,:a sites. The process of growth and transition from village to
tsk
walled city is not well-documented, as Lapp points out.
Kenyon observes that both Jericho and Tell el-Far ah(N)
probably had fully settled communities before the towns
were actually enclosed by fortifications. The communities
were established in the first part of the Early Bronze Age,
and sometime in Early Bronze IC the town walls were
constructed. What occasioned the building fortifi-
cations, or whether the village inhabitants built them is
not clear.
These questions seem to have more definite
answers at Ai. For one thing, the extent of the city in its
village phase was not the same as the walled city phase.
Houses of the Pre-Urban village extended down the
southern slope of the mound at Sites A and C, beyond the
limits of the Urban C fortifications (fig. 5). The first city
wall was built right across one-room village houses that
happened to lie in the path charted by the first city
ap ~~:3-7
r?"o builders. This suggests that the walled city did not emerge
out of a process of village growth, but that a planned
layout for the Urban C city was imposed upon the Pre-
Urban village.
Furthermore, the layout of the new city implies a
sophistication in planning and construction incompatible
with the village culture. This is apparent in the zoning of
the city's components, the grand scale of new public and
private buildings, and the new technology evident in
constructions.
Zoning is evident in the location and isolation of
the acropolis buildings at the highest and westernmost
point of the city. To insure privacy and security, a two-
meter wide enclosure was constructed around the royal
quarter on the west side of the temple at Site D.
Residences of citizens were located on the east side of the
Fig. 4. The EarlyBronzeAge II (PhaseIV) PosternGate. acropolis area and along the inside of the city walls on the
Actuallya narrowpassagethrougha wall fivemetersthick, south.
the gate was - as it is here - simply blocked with stones in No complete house of the Pre-Urban village was
time of emergency. recovered, but two walls of one at Site A and the terrain
under the location of the third wall suggests that it could
not have been larger than 4.5 x 3 m. in size. The room was
spanned by a roof supported only by the walls on each
the conclusion that unknown pioneers made their way up side. Beginning with Urban C, however, the houses
the same wadi from Jericho featured in the Israelite average 9.1 x 4.3 m. in size, with roof-support pillars in
source but almost 2000 years earlier. These settlers the center of every house. This is an average of 39 sq. m. of
founded a city ca. 3100 B.c. that was destined to wield a space over against 12 to 15 in the village houses.
shaping influence upon the hill country of Canaan for 800 New techniques of supporting wider roof spans, of
years. A summaryof the history and chronology resulting building wider walls to greater heights, and of making
from this research is seen in fig. 2. bricks at least double the size of those used in village huts
Most of the Early Bronze Age walled cities in suggests a new culture imposed upon the villagers by the
Canaan were preceded by unwalled villages on the same Urban C people. And, of course, the 4.5 to 5 m. wide city

20 MARCH1976
 (Below) Fig. 5. Sites excavated at Ai (et-Tell), 1933-35, (Over) Fig. 6. The Early Bronze Age temple and royal
1964-72. quarterwith Iron Age village ruins on the left and the citadel
on the right.

D A PNECROPOLI

G:LOE CITYE

: (ETI-TELL)
AH EXCAVATIONS
B IRON AGE VILLA EI 60 0
LOWERCITY 40

CD FORTIFICATIONSANDcOPS
CITY -20
:LOWER EXCAVATIONS

C:CORNER GATE A ND RESERVOIR 1964,66,68-72

TOWERS
GATE
L: POSTERN OFGATES
PHASES
4 , .
,50 , WWE

BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST 21
 ? ?
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d'

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,,e_,• "•'40
,
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-Iwo .1
wall enclosing 27.5 acres of city cannot be comprehended painted design may be as far north as Ciradere in
as the handiwork of villagers who had lived 100 years in Anatolia. This implies an Anatolian or North Syrian
one-room huts no longer than the new city wall was wide. origin for the non-indigenous elements of the village
Who, then, were the Urban C city builders, and population.
who were the villagers brought under their control? The Urban C city builders did not drive off nor
Pottery analysis indicates that the Pre-Urban annihilate the Pre-Urban villagers, because their pottery
village population had a substantial indigenous element traditions continued. New features, however, appear in
rooting back to a Chalcolithic heritage. This is evident in this period, indicating an influential increment of
most of the pottery assemblage, particularly in small newcomers in Urban C. These features direct our
shallow to hemispherical bowls, the distinctive angular- attention again to the north of Canaan.
walled bowl, and angular, flared jar-neck forms. These Prominent among the new pottery forms are (1)
have antecedents in Chalcolithic forms like those at Aba the wide platterwith low rim and shallow concavity under
Matar and Safadi near Beersheba, Azor in the coastal the angle of the rim, often with net-burnishedpatterns;(2)
the pierced earlug amphorette or juglet with net-painted
or burnished decoration; (3) the crisply-finished squared
The height of the rooms - scarcely five
jar-rim; and (4) ovoid-shaped jugs with loop handle
feet from the packed earth floor to the attached to the rim or on the neck below the rim.
undersideof the transversebeams - suggests Hennessy cites examples of the squared jar rim
a people relatively short in stature. from Qalat er-Rouss, Judeideh, and Tarsus. Painted net
patterns are found at the same sites, as are examples of the
loop-handled jug. The latter is also found at Byblos and
region, Gezer in the western edge of the hill country, Tell Lebea along the coast of North Syria. These forms
el-Farcah (N) north of Ai, and at Ghassul near Jericho. suggest a coastal and North Syrian origin for the
On the other hand, foreign elements in the village newcomers in Early Bronze IC, an area where
culture are indicated by forms introduced into Canaan urbanization was already advanced enough to allow the
after the Chalcolithic period. One is a distinctive carinate kind of knowledge evidenced by the city builders at Ai.
platter which becomes common throughout the Early The Urban B people in Early Bronze II seem to be
Bronze Age. Another is the hole-mouth jar with inward- a continuation of the same population, as is true also with
rolled rim, a form that assumes myriad variations during Urban A in Early Bronze IIIA. Significant Egyptian
the next 700 years. Also, a unique line-group painted influence is evident in the temple and royal quarter in
decoration appears on the village pottery at Ai. This is a Urban A, but no evidence of Egyptian additions to the
diagnostic form of Early Bronze IB, without antecedents population have been discerned. Considerable Khirbet
in the local Chalcolithic culture, and it becomes almost Kerak cultural influences are evident in Urban A', Early
extinct in Early Bronze IC, the Urban C period at Ai. Bronze IIIB, but these seem to be confined largely to
One jar rim from the construction phase of the Sanctuary A. Only two or three pieces of Khirbet Kerak
Pre-Urban village at Site A has an interesting pottery have been found in areas outside the sanctuary, so
combination of local and foreign characteristics which there is no compelling reason to believe that the ethnic
suggests that the two population elements had composition of the population changed significantly from
amalgamated before the village was founded. The vessel is Early Bronze IC to IIIB.
a hole-mouth with a thin, tapered rim characteristic of
indigenous Chalcolithic forms. On the outside of the rim, The City Gates and Fortifications
however, is a line-group painted design associated with
newcomers to the land of Canaan. Since the example was Prior to the Joint Expedition to Ai, there were
taken from a layer on bedrock underlying the first village only two gates of Early Bronze Age cities published. One
house at Site A, we may infer that the two elements of the was the Postern Gate at Ai, excavated in 1935, and the
village population met before they arrived at the site of other was the Early Bronze I gate at Tell el-Far cah (N).
Ai. Five more gates have been discovered at Ai since 1964,
Hennessy thinks the foreign elements in this bringing the total number to six. Fortification towers
period developed locally. In one sense they did, because a have been excavated at most of the gates. The gates and
cultural mingling occurred in Canaan before the Early towers together seem to be numerous enough to
Bronze IB settlement was founded at Ai. However, the conjecture a preliminary typology of gate and tower
ultimate origin must be sought north of Canaan. The forms for the entire range of the Early Bronze Age.
carinate platter tradition can be traced to north Syria and A comparative listing of the gates and towers is
Lapp conjectured that the background of the line-group given in fig. 12. Locations may be determined by finding

24 MARCH 1976
site designations on the city plans in fig. 5.
The Postern Gate, with side walls preserved 3 m.
high when excavated, probably reflects the kind of
construction used in Urban C and B. Barely 1 m. wide (fig. Fig. 7. A cornerof the EarlyBronzeAgeIIIwaterreservoir
4), the gate was actually a passage through the 5 m. wall at Site K with flagstone-pavedfloor and stone-lineddam.
without a hinged closure. In times of emergency the
passage must have been blocked with stones.
When the Postern Gate was excavated, stones in
the 3 m. tall sides of the passage bulged in upon the
opening, indicating a weakness in the stacked field stone
construction. This weakness would have shown up during
the 140-year use of the gate if the builders had not
supported the sides in some way. Most likely the top of
the passage was strengthened with a heavy timber roof
designed to hold the top courses of the stones in place and
prevent the slippage found after the gate was abandoned.
This technique would have a parallel in the Early Bronze I
gate at Tell el-Farcah, where De Vaux claims he found a

evidence of a covered passage. The Postern Gate, and

44
probably the other 1 m. wide passages, would have been I
narrow tunnel-like entrances through the city wall just
wide enough to admit a donkey loaded with two bags and
its rider.
All gate towers in the Urban C and B fortification
were built externally, against the outer face of the walls,
and in the case of the Citadel tower, on top of the wall
also. The prevailing form seems to have been elliptical in
some variation during Urban C, and rectangularin Urban
B. Semi-elliptical towers were found at the Citadel and
Postern Gates. These were elliptical on the side away from
the approach road leading to the gate, but straight on the
side adjacent to the road. A round tower guarded the
Corner Gate at Site K. This tower was round because it
sat in the corner of the city wall, with its external face
reaching 2700 around from the face of the south wall to
that of the east wall where the gate was located.
Towers in the Urban A and A' fortifications were
built in top of the city wall and set back from the outer
face, instead of external to the outer face as in Urban C
and B. The Citadel at Site A is representative. ..
Constructed of field stones, the tower was a massive, solid
rectangle measuring 9 x 30 m. The city wall curved gently
around Site A, visible in the lower right of fig. 6, and the
citadel stood high above the wall, commanding the l

approach to the acropolis area and providing a lookout

point over the Lower City. This kind of tower was also
built at Site K on top of the ruins of the earlier round A.4

towers, and at Site J, where the shape was an elongated

ellipse instead of a rectangle.
There have been differences of opinion about the
nature of the acropolis buildings since their discovery in
1933. Marquet-Krause called the major rectangular
building, illustrated in fig. 6, a palace. The discovery of
Sanctuary A at Site A convinced her that earlier phases of

BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST 25
 the sanctuary were there and not on the acropolis.
Albright insisted that the rectangularbuilding was
the temple, and his view was supported by Wright, who
kc:4 based his conclusions on a comparative study of temple
buildings from Canaan to Mesopotamia. Wright believed
that Sanctuary A was simply a storage place for the cultic
vessels found there in 1934.
Both views have their problems. A careful analysis
of the stratigraphy and buildings at Site A in The Early
Bronze Age Sanctuary at Ai (et- Tell) by the writer led to
the conclusion that only Sanctuary A, dating to Early
Bronze IIIB, was in fact a sanctuary. Marquet-Krause's
Sanctuaries C and B at the same site were domestic
houses. This called into question the identification of the
acropolis building as a palace, because there must have
been a temple or sanctuary in the earlier periods also.
Wright's problem has been two-fold. First, he
hMaw
could not locate the royal quarter, which one would
expect to be near or on the acropolis, and second,
4'
-Ar
Sanctuary A at Site A was obviously more than a storage
r 0.
house for vessels used elsewhere. The basic problem,
therefore, with both views was that a temple and royal
quarter could not be identified and related to each other
in all the urban phases at Ai.
Reexamination of the acropolis and sanctuary
remains has led to a solution of this problem. The
sanctuary study referred to above opened the way to a
solution, but it was not the expected or easiest way. As
noted, the early buildings at Site A were found to be
domestic houses, and even the building housing the
Sanctuary A cultic remains was a domestic house in
Urban A, or Early Bronze IIIA. Sanctuary A in Urban A'
was the same house remodeled and not an example of
sanctuary architecture. This conclusion sent the writer
back to the acropolis to search out its ruins for evidence of
a temple in earlier periods.
Two discoveries provided furtherleads. First, with
the help of Ruth Amiran, the artifacts from the acropolis
excavations of 1933 were examined again, and two
alabaster bowls were found to have a provenance in the
acropolis buildings. These bowls were. of imported
Egyptian alabaster, like those found in Sanctuary A. A
restudy of their provenance placed them in the Urban A
phase, or Early Bronze IIIA. Thus two bowls of the same
assemblage found at Sanctuary A were in a pre-Sanctuary
A stratumon the acropolis. This suggested that the Urban
A rectangular building on the acropolis, which bore
evidence of strong Egyptianized influences, was the
temple in Urban A, and that the cult was downgraded and
moved to a remodeled residence at Site A in Urban A'.
The second discovery was the royal quarter of the
Urban C and B periods. An enclosure wall around the

Fig. 8. The Wadi el-Jaya joining Bethel (modern

Beitin), above, to Ai (et-Tell), below, on a hill jutting
into the wadi from the left. W. F. Albright suggested
that Bethel was settled by refugees who fled up the
Wadi el-Jaya after the destruction of Ai.

26 MARCH 1976
-N%., 4dp_ m
0101;plmr jo,

Tr
ift. VIC
Aj_ -7z?
.4;
/01
zz )PO
AtW

419
100
W_
!7-;s4
iAw
1? vo

Ilk :10

PO

TL
AW

dP

'An.
Fig. 9. The terracesof the Iron Age villageof Ai are still to be seen, risingsteeplyabove the Wadiel-Jaya.

west side of the acropolis provided the first clue, because the royal quarter was located adjacent to the temple in the
it enclosed only the west side, as is evident in fig. 6. Inside enclosure during these periods.
this enclosure and on the west side of the rectangular The buildings of the royal quarterwere constricted
building was the well-known wall with curved, or apsidal, in the Urban B rebuilding of the site, although the
corners. This wall was thought to be a part of the earliest enclosure wall continued in use. Some expansion of the
building on the site. However, a section between the royal buildings occurred in the Urban A reconstruction of
apsidal wall and the rectangularbuilding showed that the the temple, and the enclosure wall was removed to its
floor of an earlier building was underneath the apsidal foundations. Finally, in Urban A', the remains of the
wall. royal quarter were filled with debris to form a
Further examination revealed two rows of small fortification around the central building formerly used as
pillar bases partly covered by the apsidal wall. The pillars a temple, and apparently the ruler of the city moved into
that stood on these bases supported the roof of a large the temple quarters. This occasioned the removal of the
building on the west side of the rectangular structure. A cult to Sanctuary A at Site A in Early Bronze IIIB.
contemporary outside wall was found in Area D V at the In summary, a listing of the temple and royal
northwest corner of the site. quarter phases is seen in fig. 13.
Two major phases of a monumental building
adjunct to the west side and each end of the central The City Water Supply
rectangular structure were defined and planned. Both
were inside the enclosure wall of the site. The significance The method of supplying water for Early Bronze
of these discoveries is that the rectangular building must Age cities in Canaan is mostly unknown. Some light has
have been the temple at Ai in Urban C, B, and A, and that been shed upon the problem by the discovery in 1969 of a

BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST 27
large, artificially-made reservoir at Site K inside the city
walls at Ai. This reservoirwas built above ground level in
Fig. 10. An Iron Age IB silo granary(right)constructed
a kidney-shaped pocket in the southeast corner of the city over a cobblestonestreet(left) of the previousphase.
fortifications. Red clay was brought from outside the city
and laid underneath large irregular-shaped flagstones
which formed the floor of the pool (fig. 7). Field stones
were stacked against the inside face of the city wall, and a
thick layer of red clay was laid against the loose stones to
form a dam for the pool. Large stones were then

Houses were partitioned to accommodate

more people. A crude wall was constructed
across the central room of the temple,
creating living space for two families
and presumably their tents.

imbedded in the face of the dam from the flagstone paved

floor to the top, making a sealed open reservoir 2Y m.
deep on the low side and 25 m. across at its widest point.
In 1970 the staff geologist calculated a capacity of
1815 cu. m. for the reservoir. This supply was probably
supplemented by the spring in the Wadi el-Jaya north of
the city. The spring is very weak, having a flow of 17.5 gal.
per hour, but it could have been stronger in the Early
Bronze Age.
The reservoir was constructed in Early Bronze
IliA and continued in use through Early Bronze IIIB.
Where the city obtained its water in Early Bronze IC-II is
not known, because no other pool was found. Possibly
the springwas a better source during the early periods and
had its flow disrupted by the earthquake which
apparently destroyed the Early Bronze II city. This would
be a source outside the city walls, however, and would be
vulnerable to attackers. Further excavations will have to
deal with this problem.

Fig. 11.

Name Location City Wall Gate Width TowerForm Stratum Period

CitadelGate Site A Wall C 1 meter Semi-elliptical UrbanC EB IC

PosternGate LowerCity Wall C 1 meter Elliptical,West;Semi-elliptical,East UrbanC EB IC
CornerGate Site K Wall C 1 meter Round UrbanC EB IC
Wall B 1 meter Same, rebuilt UrbanB EB II
WadiGate Site J Wall C 1.5+meters unexcavated UrbanC EB IC
Wall B 1.5+meters unexcavated-Urban B EB II
Wall A 1.25 meters Elliptical,South, Rectangular,North UrbanA EB IIIA
Wall A' 1.25 meters Same, rebuilt UrbanA' EB IIIB
LowerCity Gate LowerCity Wall B 1 meter Rectangular,West UrbanB EB II
South Gate Site C Wall A 1+meters unexcavated-Urban A EB IIIA

28 MARCH1976
 The Iron Age Village town walls. The Early Bronze Age walls stood in disrepair
at Ai, but no attempt was made to restore them.
The initial settlement was characterized by
Violent destruction overtook the city of Ai ca. cobbled streets and a pier-technique of house
2400 B.C., during the Fifth Dynasty of Egypt, and a "dark construction first identified at Bethel by Albright. Both
age" fell upon the land with the appearance of nomadic features reflect a high degree of development elsewhere,
invaders from the desert. The site was abandoned and left prior to the settlement at Ai. Cobblestones of the streets,
in ruins. Where the population went is a mystery; for instance, were set in a specially prepared bed of clay,
Albright suggested that Bethel was settled by refugees and houses associated with the streets utilized piers of
from Ai (fig. 8). In any case, the site of Ai lay in ruins until stacked stones or one-piece pillars of hewn stone to bear
ca. 1220 B.C. at the beginning of Iron Age I when a new the weight of transverse beams.
village settlement was founded upon about 2.75 acres of Both the stone pillars and a well-preserved beam
the acropolis terraces. By that time the name of the great aperture in one wall indicate a height of about 1.60 m.
Early Bronze Age city had been lost, and it was known as from the packed earth floor to the underside of the

Fig. 12.

Royal
Temple Quarter Location Features Stratum Period
TempleC Site D 5-pillartemple UrbanC EB IC
BuildingC Site D Twin rows of pillars UrbanC EB IC
TempleB Site D 5-pillartemple UrbanB EB II
BuildlingB Site D apsidalwall, no pillars UrbanB EB II
TempleA Site D 4-pillartemple UrbanA EB IIIA
BuildingA Site D Rectangularrooms UrbanA EB IIIA
SanctuaryA Site A Remodeledresidence UrbanA' EB IIIB
BuildingA' Site D Remodeledtemple UrbanA' EB IIIB

"Ai" or "ruin," which undoubtedly was a popular transverse beams. Roofing slats or poles covered with a
designation as a regional landmark. thick layer of huwwar rested on top of the beams, which
The Iron Age I settlement at Ai was one of many were about I m. apart. The height from the floor to the
established in the region about the same time by people roofing slats on top of the beams was about 1.85 m.,
who moved in and occupied abandoned sites of cities, suggesting people relatively short in stature.
such as Tell en-Nasbeh and el-Jib (Gibeon), or new sites Numerous cereal food processing tools, such as
such as Mukhmas (Michmas), Rammun (Rimmon), saddle querns, mortars, pestles, and small round ovens
Taiyiba (Ophrah?),Raddana (Ataroth?), el-Ful (Gibeah), for baking bread indicate that the original settlers of the
and many small campsites on hilltops in the area. Bethel cobbled street village were primarily farmers. Two
was the only city occupied in the Late Bronze Age, and it discoveries suggest that they came from a background of
was destroyed at the beginning of this period, so the agricultural life, either in the hill country elsewhere, or in
blame may be laid upon the newcomers. Iron Age I the lowlands among hills. The first is evidence of terracing
housing and artifacts at Bethel share the general for the control of soil erosion on the east slope of the tell,
characteristics of houses and finds at the newly below the acropolis area in fig. 9 where the village was
established sites. located, and the second is an artificial water supply
We may view the settlement at Ai, therefore, as utilizing rock-cut cisterns in individual houses.
part of a considerable influx of newcomers who An agricultural terrace was discovered at Site G in
infiltrated the area and apparently met little or no fig. 5, on contour 840 where the Iron Age village ended.
resistance. Several distinctive features characterize the The terrace was built like a small retainer wall, much like
new culture at Ai and other sites. With the possible barriersare built in valleys or wadi beds to slow the flow
exception of Bethel, the villages were not fortified with of water and trap eroded soil. The terrace created a strip

BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST 29
 of arable land behind the retainerof stones, over the ruins usually with additions or partitions of inferior quality
of Early Bronze Age houses. Because of the similarity of walls. A crude shelter-like living space was built in the
the terrace and barriers built in valleys, one may cobbled street near the silo in fig. 10, and large round silos
conjecture an origin for the villagers in the lowland region were constructed in the ruins of the Early Bronze Age
west of the hill country. Settlement of the coastal region temple ruin on the acropolis. The temple walls were not
by maritime peoples may have pressured the villagers to rebuilt, but a crude partition was constructed across the
move inland. middle of the central room, creating living space for two
A system of bell-shaped cisterns was cut into the families and presumably their tents.
thick layer of Senonian chalk underlying the houses of the During the cobbled street phase, large store jars
village. No evidence of plaster was found in cisterns used characterized by high, slightly flaring rims with a collar-
only in Iron Age I, so the inhabitants must have known like fold on the outside down to the neck were common,
that Senonian chalk had enough of a self-sealing quality and these apparently were used for storage of grain, oil
to effectively retain water. Experience in cistern building and other foods. Large jars, including variations of the
is seen in a filter-trapleading to the inlet at one house, and collar-rim type, continued in use during the silo granary
a settling basin arrangement beside a small indoor cistern phase, but the prevalence of the above-ground stone
in another. granary structures suggests that they became the major
In addition to cereal farming, the original villagers storage facility during the second phase. The sudden
kept flocks of sheep and goats that ranged the hills and transition in the method of storing grain indicates an
wadis between Ai and the Jordan valley. Bones of sheep infusion of people who brought the custom with them,
and goats in every house indicate the source of meat, and and the manner in which the streets, court areas and
a cistern in the Wadi el-Jaya two km. east of the village temple ruin were converted into ad hoc granaries and
containing Iron Age I pottery is probably witness to the shelter-type living areas suggests that these people lacked
wide range over which the flocks were shepherded. the orderliness and experience in village life of their
An interruption in village life occurred during the predecessors. If there is evidence of an Israelite
latter half of the 12th century, ca. 1150-1125 B.C.,and a population at Ai with a nomadic background reflected in
new phase of building is evident in houses and streets. the biblical traditions and affirmed by the fellow-travelers
Numerous silo granaries were built in the open spaces and continuers of both Alt and Albright, the silo granary
near houses, or over the cobblestone streets, almost phase during the last period of occupation would he more
closing them. One granary is shown in fig. 10 over the suitable than the earlier cobblestone street phase.
cobblestone street of the previous phase. MHousesalso Fig. 13 indicates the Iron Age I phases and
were remodeled and made to accomodate more people, suggested chronology:

Fig. 13.

Stratum Description Period Chronology

Cobblestone Unwalledagriculturalvillage,pier-constructed Iron Age IA ca. 1220-1125B.C.
Street houses,cisterns,terraces,cobbledstreets
Silo Samevillage,remodeledhouses,above-groundsilo Iron Age IB ca. 1125-1050B.C.
Granary granaries,expandedpopulation

BIBLIOGRAPHY

JosephA. Callaway,"A Re-Examinationof the LowerCityat

Ai (et-Tell)in 1971, 1972,"(with NormanE. Wagner)
Palestine Exploration Quarterly(July-December, 1974),
pp. 147-55.
"A SecondIvoryBull'sHead from Ai," BASOR213
(Feb., 1974),pp. 57-61.
, "Ai," Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in
the Holy Land,Vol. 1 (1975),pp. 36-52.

30 MARCH 1976
 THE PERSISTENCE
OF

CANAANITE RELIGION

R.A. ODEN, JR.

KingManasseh,"wholed Judahinto sin,"placedan imageof

Asherah,the Canaanitefertility goddess, in the templeof the
Lord (2 Kgs 21:7). New research on a forgotten Greek
"travelogue" arguesthat Canaanitereligionin and
the cult of Asherahin general--
lasted until well into the
Christianera. particular--

Among this century's archeological surprises, few lands surrounding Israel, epigraphic materialfrom Syria,
have generated as much scholarly enthusiasm as the Phoenicia and the Phoenician colonies throughout the
discovery of mythological texts from Ugarit (modem Ras Mediterranean, and second- and third-hand descriptions
Shamra) in Syria. Nor has any discovery surpassed these of Phoenician or Syrian religion in Greek and Syriac
texts' impact upon the study of the clash of religions in sources from days as recent as the first centuries of the
Canaan and Israel. The list of scholarly disputes now present era. None of these other sources offers a complete
settled by these texts' witness is long and impressive. picture of Phoenician and Syrian religion; and some of
Thus, the Ugaritic tales of Bacl and cAnat and of their them must be used with a great deal of caution. Still, it is
parents and siblings have demonstrated that 'El (fig. 1) is possible from such sources to sketch an outline of
the proper name of the ruling patriarch of the Canaanite Phoenician and Syrian religion as practiced a millennium
pantheon and not just the noun "god" as so many had or more after the destruction of Ugarit about 1200 B.c.
argued. So too, the texts have vindicated those who The battle is then joined on the issue of the
argued that the word 'Asherah in the Old Testament persistence of Canaanite religion. Is there or is there not a
designated, at times, a specific Canaanite goddess as well significant development to be discerned between the
as a cultic symbol (cf. 2 Kings 21). However, the influence religion described in the Ugaritic texts and that described
of the Ugaritic myths upon the study of Canaanite in later sources?
religion and the Old Testament has not been uniformly Ulf Oldenburg (The Conflict Between El and
calming, particularly regarding the question of the Bacal in Canaanite Religion, 1969)asserts that "Eland his
relationship of Canaanite religion as portrayed in the family were overcome by Bacal and his partisans,
intrigues and conflicts of the Ugaritic myths to the whereby Bacaltook the kingship of the gods from El, who
religion of later Phoenicia and Syria as reconstructed had earlier been the monocratic head of the Canaanite
from other sources. These other sources include the pantheon" (p. 183). This view would then hypothesize a
testimony of the Old Testament about cultic life in the developing series of Canaanite-Phoenician cults, with
each subsequent cult's contribution forcing a basic
R. A. Oden, Jr., of DartmouthCollege,is the author of change in the former cult's conception of the pantheon.
Studies in Lucian's De Syria Dea (Harvard Semitic By contrast, Frank M. Cross in Canaanite Myth and
Monographs,1976)and co-editorwith HaroldAttridgeof Hebrew Epic (1973) would stress the persistenceinto later
The SyrianGoddessin the Textsand Translations Seriesof times of the fundamental shape of the religion practiced at
the Societyof BiblicalLiterature(ScholarsPress,1976). Ugarit in the mid-second millennium B.c.

BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST 31
Fig. 1. Bronzerepresentationof a Canaanitedeity, most The issue is perhaps better seen in concrete terms.
probably the gray-beardedpatriarch of the Canaanite cAnat is the leading lady in the Ugaritic myths, but after
pantheon,El. the second millennium B.C., she seems to abandon the
stage. There is, for example, no certain referenceto her in
the Old Testament. In Judg 3:31 and 5:6, we hear of
"Shamgar ben-cAnat,"'but "ben-cAnat"here is probably
a referenceto a town in Galilee, or a military designation,
as Robert G. Boling argues in his recently published
Anchor Bible commentary. It is only on Cyprus, where a
text from the 4th century B.C. identifies her with Greek
Athena and where she appears in a few theophorous
Phoenician and Punic names (names like English
Christopher,which contain a sacred element) that we find
significant evidence for her continued worship. Those
scholars who claim to see an evolution in Canaanite
religion could cite this evidence in support of their
argument: beginning some time after the mid-second
millennium B.C., they would argue, the figure of cAnat
was fused with that of another goddess or other
goddesses, after which cAnat'sindependent existence was
forgotten. The continued vitality of the God 'El would be
similarly doubted by such scholars. They would grant
that 'El is the acknowledged leader of the pantheon in
some Ugaritic texts but insist that he is a god in his dotage,
both in post-Ugaritic evidence and probably in some of
the "later"Ugaritic texts.
Others deny this drastic development in the basic
shape of Canaanite religion. This group of scholars has
taken the pulse of 'El both in those Ugaritic texts which
are reputedly late and in other texts and, in each case,
found his pulse remarkably strong. In their view, other
deities too, besides 'El, have been accorded premature
obituaries. Frequently, the continued vitality of these
deities is disguised by their appearance in later mateial
under epithets different from those which predominate at
Ugarit, or with names of a form reflecting linguistic
developments which obtained between the second
millennium B.C. and the period around the beginning of
the present era. Thus, the name 'Asherah occurs less in
epigraphic material from the Phoenician mainland
during the first millennium B.C. than does the same name
('ALiratu) in the material from Ras Shamra. Yet
thousands of stelae from the Phoenician colonies in the
western Mediterranean are dedicated to a goddess
Tannit, a name most plausibly explained as an 'Asherah
epithet. Again, while there is, as we have seen, an
apparently great decrease in evidence for the cult of cAnat
after the period of Ugarit's destruction, the later Aramaic
form of the name cAnat (cAta) does occur often in texts
from Syria in the north to Nabatea in the far south. The
same argument can be made forcefully for DEl:the name
itself preponderatesat Ugarit as it does not subsequently;
but DEl'sreputed demise at the hands of Bac1 Haddu is
contradicted by his re-appearance on the 7th-century
plaque as clm, and on innumerable Punic stelae as bCl
hmn.
Hence, the arguments of those who accent the
continuity of Canaanite religion over a very long period
are increasingly convincing. Though their task has been

32 MARCH 1976
 Fig. 3. Romancoin from the reignof AlexanderSeverus
depictingthe innerchamberof the templeat Hierapolis.On
the right,seatedon lions, Atargatis/Asherah/ Hera;on the
left, seatedon bulls,herconsort,Bac1/El/ Zeus;in thecenter,
a representationof the templechamberwith the symbolof
made difficult by the shifting usage of epithets, by the Syriangoddess.
linguistic changes in deities' names, and by the still
fragmentaryand localized character of the later evidence,
nonetheless new archeological discovery and new
attention to sources long ignored make the persistence of
the shape of Canaanite religion ever more difficult to
deny. Among these long-ignored sources, the Phoenician '

history of Sakkunyaton, quoted by Philo Byblios and A f ..

preservedby Eusebius, has been especially helpful. Other ?lI•[•'ll'.

sources await full utilization, among them the Syriac

homily "On the Fall of the Idols" by Jacob of Sarug and
the euhemeristic section on pagan deities in the Syriac
Apology attributed to Melito of Sardis. But for the issue 41

at hand a witness equal in importance to any of these is a 4 0

Greek work entitled The Syrian Goddess. Though
, :
. , .•
_
included in the Loeb Classical Library's edition of the
. .4.
works of Lucian (in an intentionally archaic translation!),
this "travelogue" of the ancient world has been
!. -..
overlooked by Semitic scholarship. What can it tell us
about Canaanite religion?
The Syrian Goddess. The Syrian Goddess is a
.,...4
I, jtits~p;l
summary discussion of several Phoenician cult sites,
followed by a lengthy description of the myths, sacred
area, and cult of the north Syrian city of Hierapolis
(Syriac Mabbi7g),situated northeast of Aleppo, near the
Euphrates River (fig. 2). The work is attributed to the
2nd-century A.D. author Lucian. Lucian, as his many
works betray and as we know from other sources,
combined a birth in the Syrian provincial capital
Samosata with training in Greek rhetoric and travel throughout the Mediterranean world. The Syrian
Goddess is sometimes denied to Lucian. The Ionic dialect
Hierapolis of the work, which helps to date it to the pseudo-Ionic
(Mabbug) revival of the 2nd century A.D., distinguishes it from most
of the works which are undeniably Lucian's. Still, the
touches of humor in The Syrian Goddess are worthy of
*(Ugarit)
Lucian, and more important than the question of
Cyprus authorship is that of reliability. Here the evidence is
unambiguous: at every place where it can be checked, the
Mediterranean Sea
information related in The Syrian Goddess proves to be
accurate. Hence, the work is a trustworthy account of the
religion practiced at the pilgrimage site of Hierapolis,
most probably in the 2nd century of this era; and we can
confidently ask what relationship this religion bears to
that of more ancient Canaan.
The answer to this question detracts greatly from
(Jerusalem).
the view of those who have claimed to see a dynamic
development within Canaanite religion away from the
Nile River
state of this religion in the presumed "early"myths from
Ugarit. As its title indicates, The Syrian Goddess
Fig. 2. The bordersof "Canaan"are nearlyimpossibleto describes a religion which gives a place of honor to a
draw.R. A. Odensuggestsa culturalcontinuityembracing female deity, who appears with her consort Bacl (Zeus) on
Hierapolis(Mabbug),near the Euphrates,Ugarit on the a coin from Hierapolis/ Mabbig (fig. 3). Her native name
coast, and, to theWest,the islandof Cyprus. is cAtarcata, which became Atargatis in Greek. This we
know from the testimony of other visitors to

BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST 33
 Fig. 4. Punic stele with the sign of the goddessTannit.
Tannit'ssymbolholds a so-calledcaduceusin her "hand."
Belowthe signof Tannitis a representationof a dolphinora
fish.

Fig. 5. Egyptianlimestonerelief portrayingthree god-

desses-Qudshu, Ashtart,and cAnat-as one.

Hierapolis/ Mabbfig and from epigraphic evidence from

Delos, Hatra, Nabatea, and elsewhere. Her name
combines the names certainly of CAshtart(Aramaic Ctr)
and cAnat (Aramaic ct)), and perhaps also of 'Asherah
(Aramaic 'tr). The author of The Syrian Goddess is fully
aware of her multiple origin, for he calls her Hera, but
notes her assumption of traits of Athena, Aphrodite,
Selene, Rhea, Artemis, Nemesis, and the Fates. Her
attributes verify the conflate nature of her name.
Atargatis is plainly a mother goddess and her cultic
representation bears a spindle, both of which are true of
'Asherah in the Ugaritic texts. Her sacred fish also recall
the fecundity of the Ugaritic "Lady Asherah of the Sea"
(rabbatu 'aLiratu yammi) and of Punic Tannit
('Asherah) whose sign is often accompanied by marine
life (fig. 4). Atargatis is also goddess of sexual love with
whom are associated doves and sacred prostitutes; the
same is true of Canaanite 'Ashtart. Yet the second half of
her name, her position as consort of Bac 1Hadad, and (less
certainly) her firm association with lions link Atargatis as
strongly with cAnat. Now, what is noteworthy about all
of this is that the same overlap of name, function, and
consort is true of the three major goddesses of Canaanite
religion. An Egyptian relief from the time of Rameses III
fuses the three Canaanite goddesses in a single figure (fig.
5). An incantation text from Ugaritica V (RS 24.244)
witnesses a conflate goddess cAnat-and-cAshtart
(cntwcLrt, no word divider); and an Egyptian text makes
the same combination. Finally, Frank M. Cross reports
an unpublished Phoenician dedication to Tannit-
cAshtart, which gives us the third major Canaanite
goddess, "Asherah/Tannit, combined with CAshtart.
Though each goddess has and continues to have a
distinctive character ("Asherah is goddess of fecundity,
CAshtart of sexual love, and CAnat of war), as early as the
mid-second millennium B.C. the three goddesses share
attributes, titles, and husbands. It seems clear that at
every period the three goddesses could be worshipped
separately or together.
The conclusion from the description of Atargatis
in The Syrian Goddess, therefore, is that the religion of
Hierapolis is in this regard remarkably similar to that of
the Canaanites over 1500 years before. It will not do to

34 MARCH 1976
 ? •w

'li
All;
] •I•,Q

BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST 35
claim that the amalgamation of the goddesses into a single attached to this god because of his oracularfunction or in
figure in worship is a development beyond the "early" honor of the Seleucids for whom Apollo was an ancestral
Ugaritic situation. At Ugarit, as in the Hellenistic world founder. In any case, his identification with Canaanite 'El
and beyond, each goddess retained her distinct identity, is highly probable. This is true not solely because he is a
yet could be worshipped with her sisters as one. Intriguing bearded, seated deity who issues divine decrees, but also
too is the fact that Atargatis' "symbol" (in between Bacl because human sacrifice was practiced at Hierapolis, a
and Atargatis on the coin in fig. 3) reflects the practice which is elsewhere always associated with
iconography of Punic Tannit, which iconography, it is 'El/ Kronos. It is also intriguing to note the similarity
increasingly clear, derives from the Phoenician between Hierapolis' native name, Maggtig, and the
homeland. phrase mabbake naharemi ("the sources of the rivers"),
Other aspects of the religion described in The the standard Ugaritic formula descriptive of 'El's abode.
Syrian Goddess lead to a similar conclusion. The inner However, one suspects that every Canaanite temple was
chamber (thalamos) of the Hierapolis temple is conceived of as perched atop "the sources of the rivers."
dominated by the statues of two deities who also Canaan and Israel. We would hardly claim that
dominate the cultic life of the city. One is Hera, who is the religion of Hierapolis, as described in the 2nd-century
native Atargatis; and the other is identified with Greek document The Syrian Goddess, exhibits no differences
Zeus. Lucian, if he is the author of The Syrian Goddess, from the religion of the Ugaritic texts. To do so would be
reports that the Hierapolis inhabitants call Zeus by to claim the incredible, especially given Hierapolis'
another name. We know from other testimony that this vulnerableposition in northern Syria near the Euphrates.
other name is Hadad, earlier Haddu. The description here Yet in The Syrian Goddess, it is the similarities between
of Zeus/ Hadad and his preeminent position in the city's these religions, and not their differences, which are most
cultic activity again coincides with the situation at Ugarit. impressive. The document is, then, articulate and
In both places and eras, the god is a god of war, whose persuasive testimony of the persistence of Canaanite
dress is that of a warrior and whose weapon is lightning. religion over many cnturies. And it is the more so when
Hadad sits on a pair of bulls at Hierapolis; similarly, his combined with other equally persuasive evidence,
symbol is a hat with a bull's horns in earlier Syrian especially that from the Punic settlements in the western
representations. And even though Haddu in the Ugaritic Mediterranean,such as Carthage,which were founded by
myths, like Hadad in Syria, is answerable to another and continued to adhere to the religion of the Phoenician
figure ('El the leader of the pantheon), both the Ugaritic homeland. We can expect further revelations from this
myths and the cult of Hierapolis are devoted primarily to Punic evidence as a result of the current activities of the
the affairs of Haddu/ Hadad and his consort. American Schools of Oriental Research in Tunisia.
Lastly, as we have just hinted, the religion of The implications of this conclusion for the study of
Hierapolis betrays its continuity with earlier Canaanite Israelite religion are great. They are great because the
religion by the presence in each of an oracular deity, who conclusion means that in the formative period of the
is the head of the pantheon, if not its most active member. religion of Israel and, indeed, throughout the period of
In the Ugaritic myths, this deity is 'El, whose permission the Old Testament, the religion of Israel'snear neighbors,
is a prerequisite for the undertaking of any significant that religion whose "strange gods" were Israel's most
action. Thus, Yamm asks 'El that Bacl Haddu be given to besetting temptation, retained a form quite like that
him at the outset of the Ugaritic cycle which relates the described in the mythological texts from Ugarit. Thus,
battle of Yamm and Badl and, Yamm is defeated, those who examine the figure of 'El, for example, in the
when.
Bacl Haddu be given to him at the outset of the Ugaritic Ugaritic myths and then bring this examination to bear
cycle which relates the battle of Yamm and Badl and, upon Israel'sconception of her God do so with full justice.
when Yamm is defeated, Badl requests 'El's permission On the other hand, it is with less than full justice that
that a palace be built for him. At Hierapolis too there is a others undervalue the worth of the Ugaritic texts and
god who issues "divinedecrees"(Thesphata), which are a regard them as witness primarily to a quaintly archaic
necessary prelude to any sacred or profane activity. His religion, dying or dead already in an era before that of the
iconography is precisely that of Canaanite DEl.If this god Israelite tribal league which produced such vivid portraits
were identified with Greek Kronos by the inhabitants of of its God as those in Exodus 15 and Judges 5. The
Hierapolis or by the author of The Syrian Goddess, there Ugaritic mythological texts bear witness not to an
could be no doubt about his identity, since "Elis regularly ephemeral stage in a rapidly changing cult, but ratherto a
equated with Kronos. He is instead called "the bearded religion whose basic shape remained constant and which
Apollo"; but his iconography and function mean that he continued to command the allegiance of Phoenician and
can be neither Greek Apollo nor Canaanite Reshep, the Syrian worshippers for a thousand years and more after
usual equivalent of Apollo. Perhaps the name Apollo was the destruction of Ugarit.

36 MARCH1976
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FIELD AND LAB On the photograph above, the ruins of the town
Aerial Photography the Bible calls Ai (see pp. 18-30, "Excavating Ai") are
visible in the lower center. But how isolated was Ai? If you
were called upon to identify a neighboring site for
excavation, would anything on this photograph attract
your attention? Biblical Archeologist posed this question
to Edward Wingert, a cartographer and aerial
photographer from the University of Honolulu. Dr.
Wingert's answer is graphically presented on the
The bald spot in your back yard is an following page.
archeological clue, but don't read further Legend has it that the first aerial photographs were
unless you're willing to fly a mattress. taken in the American Civil War by a civilian watching a
battle from a balloon. His photographs were mere
souvenirs, but the military and cartographic usefulness of
aerial photography quickly became apparent. By mid-
century (remember Gary Powers and the U-2 affair), the
techniques of aerial reconnaissance and "photo-
grammetric engineering" had become extraordinarily
sophisticated.

BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST 37
 Aerial archeology arose as an unexpected city wall - it may only be visible as a whole from the air.
dividend of this new technology. As anyone knows who It is the recognition of such unperceived large patterns,
has tried to make grass grow where a children'sswing has not only through the vantage of height but also with the
hung, packed earth holds less water and is less hospitable skilled use of color and infra-red photography, that has
to vegetation than undisturbed earth. The result is a color been aerial reconnaissance's major gift to archeology.
difference in which vegetation on the packed earth shows In the Near East, where the climate is often dry and
up light green against a darker green background or, on the terrain rocky, the usefulness of aerial photography is
bare soil after a rainfall, as light earth against dark. This limited. The most dramatic discoveries of aerial
color difference itself can be seen from the ground; but if archeology have been Roman and pre-Roman remains in
the pattern of packed earth is large enough - if for England where rain is abundant and most terrain has a

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38 MARCH1976
aerial photographs for archeological purposes must be Often more useful for archeological purposes than
taken after a rainfall or in the Spring when vegetation, such vertical composites are oblique photographs. The
briefly, may be luxurious. In examining such photograph shown here is what is referred to as a "low
photographs, aerial archeologists watch for long, oblique." If the horizon were visible, it would be a w"high
unnaturally straight lines. Nature, like God, writes oblique." The human eye can interpret such oblique
straight with crooked lines. Man, it seems, writes crooked photos - the sort of view, after all, that prehistoric man
with straight lines. Thus, in the photograph shown here, might have had from a mountaintop - much more
Dr. Wingert is suspicious of the long straight line on the naturally than it can interpret vertical photos. To
hilltop in the upper left-hand quadrant, particularlysince appreciatea true "bird'seye view," one has to train oneself
the line seems "unnaturally"to continue down the slope to see as a bird does. Professional cartographers do
into the wadi. Nothing, for the moment, can be exactly that, but most archeologists are more comfortable
concluded; but this is the sort of thing aerial archeologists with a "mountaintop view."
look for. In rare cases, archeological purposes may be
The Near East differs from England in more than served by stereoscopic photography, in which a pair of
climate, of course. From an archeological point of view, a photographs, taken simultaneously from differentangles,
most striking difference is that the location and even the are viewed through distorting glasses. As in the old "3-D"
names of literally thousands of cities from now-vanished movies, the result is the illusion of depth, an illusion,
near eastern civilizations are not forgotten. Archeologists however, which may tell an archeologist something
have commented on the extreme conservatism of Arabic important about his site. For publication purposes, it is
place-names, but almost equally striking is the fact that so possible to produce a quasi-stereoscopic effect by slicing
few places in Arab countries go unnamed. Outside Arabia the pair of stereoscopic photographs into narrow, vertical
itself, the names themselves are not Arabic; but the habit strips, pairing the strips in a composite photograph, and
of preserving them surely is. covering the composite with a sheet of plastic corrugated
The result is that archeologists in the Near East in such a way that as the photograph is tilted, now one set
usually know where to start digging. They do not need the and now the other of the strips will appear to the eye. We
help of aerial photography to locate their sites. Moreover, have all seen novelty calendars produced in this way, in
their most important sites, unlike those in England and which as the calendar is tilted, a puppy wags his tail and
the New World, are tells. An Indian encampment in bats his eyelashes. There, the effect is movement. Here,
North America or a pre-Roman ceremonial site in where the paired photographs are of the same object, the
England may have been built upon once and then effect is depth. For research purposes, however, separate
abandoned, but in the classic near eastern tell, new photographs and a viewing instrument are required;and
settlements are built on the ruins of old for centuries and even under these circumstances, the archeological
even millennia. Since only the topmost layer of usefulness of stereoscopic photography is limited.
occupation in a tell-always the most recent and usually Perhaps the most surprising use of aerial
the least interesting - is visible from the air, near eastern photography is in underwaterarcheology. The perception
archeologists have been less aggressive in their use of of gross patterns, difficult enough in surface archeology
aerial photography than European and American on land, is much more difficult underwater.Divers, under
archeologists. It can happen, however, that even in the the best of conditions, cannot see very far underwater;
Near East, aerial photographs taken in the course of an and sonar cannot "see" at all. Aerial photography has
excavation may reveal the unexcavated, further outlines thus been invaluable in gathering information about
of a partially excavated building or fortification. In this ruined harbors and "sunken" cities.
way, aerial archeology and surface archeology can work At last report, no one had yet attempted aerial
in tandem. archeology from a hang glider. Balloons and small planes
One of the most important uses of aerial seem to be the favored vehicles. However, biblical
photography is in the preparation of contour maps. In archeologists on a limited budget may be interested in
contour mapping, a camera is fastened to the bottom of a Julian Whittlesey's report in Expedition 15.3 on aerial
plane or otherwise positioned to shoot directly photography from an airfoil. Accurately described as a
downward. As the plane overflies the site, the camera is "flying mattress," the airfoil is a sophisticated, inflatable
triggered at intervals brief enough that the resulting kite that requires at least eleven miles per hour of steady
photographs overlap by at least fifty percent. Matching wind for reliable operation but at that speed is capable of
them carefully and calculating a scale from lens angle and lifting a grown man off his feet. Whether this feature of
altitude, a cartographercan prepare an accurate contour the airfoil will recommend its use to biblical archeologists
map in a fraction of the time necessary with surface- may well stand as a measure of their devotion to their
surveying techniques. discipline. JM

BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGIST 39
Colophon

ARCHAEOLOGY
The archaeologist's spade the Old Ones bowed down to,
delves into dwellings
vacancied long ago, but cannot conceit
in what situations they blushed
unearthing evidence or shrugged their shoulders.
of life-ways no one
would dream of leading now, Poets have learned us their myths,
but just how did They take them?
concerning which he has not much That's a stumper.
to say that he can prove:
the lucky man! When Norsemen heard thunder,
did they seriously believe
Knowledge may have its purposes, Thor was hammering?
but guessing is always
more fun than knowing. No, I'd say: I'd swear
that men have always lounged in
myths
We do know that Man, as Tall Stories,
from fear or affection,
has always graved His dead. that their real earnest
has been to grant excuses
What disastered a city, for ritual actions.
volcanic effusion,
fluvial outrage, Only in rites
can we renounce our oddities
or a human horde, and be truly entired.
agog for slaves and glory,
is visually patent, Not that all rites
should be equally fonded:
and we're pretty sure that, some are abominable.
as soon as palaces were built,
their rulers, There's nothing the Crucified
would like less
though gluttoned on sex than butchery to appease Him.
and blanded by flattery,
must often have yawned. CODA

But do grain-pits signify From Archaeology

a year of famine? one moral, at least, may be drawn,
Where a coin-series to wit, that all

peters out, should we infer our school text-books lie.

some major catastrophe? What they call History
Maybe. Maybe. is nothing to vaunt of.

From murals and statues being made, as it is,

we get a glimpse of what. by the criminal in us:
goodness is timeless.

W. H. Auden

40 MARCH 1976
Newfrom the
AmericanSchoolsof OrientalResearch

The Tabernacle Menorah

A Synthetic Study of a Symbol from the Biblical Cult
CarolL. Meyers
Edited by David Noel Freedman DissertationSeries 2

RECONSTRUCTINGCOMPLEXSOCIETIES
Editedby CharlotteB. Moore.

Papers and discussion by: Robert McC. Adams, C. C. Lamberg-

Karlovsky,and WilliamMoran;James Deetz,RichardBushman;William
A. Longacre, George Cowgill; Daniel McCall, Reed Stewart; Craig
Morris,Eva Hunt,and John V. Murra;Colin Renfrew,RuthTringham,
and lan Todd; WilliamT. Sanders, MartinDiskin, and Michael Coe;
George ErnestWright,Jean Perrot,and CharlesL.Redman;GordonR.
Willey.
A joint publicationof the CambridgeArchaeology Seminar and the
American Schools of Oriental Research, Reconstructing Complex
Societies attempts to apply some of the ecological, demographic,
systemic,and other models used by prehistoricarchaeologyto cognate
reconstructionalproblemsin historic archaeology.

Publishedby SCHOLARSPRESS