Aren M Maeir
Datos Biográficos
| ID | 197905 |
|---|---|
| NOMBRE | Aren M Maeir |
| NOMBRES | Aren M |
| APELLIDO | Maeir |
| FIRMA | MAEIR A M |
| AFILIACIONES | Bar-Ilan University |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-3230-292X |
| VERIFICADO | Sí |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 113 |
| TOTAL DE CITAS | 556 |
| TOTAL COMO AUTOR | 106 |
| TOTAL COMO EDITOR | 7 |
| PRIMER AÑO DE PUBLICACIÓN | 1988 |
| AÑO MÁS RECIENTE DE PUBLICACIÓN | 2026 |
| ÍNDICE H | 11 |
A Longue Durée Perspective of Household Sustainability in the Early Bronze Age Southern Levant
Among early urban societies of the southern Levant, the nature of commodity usage and house organization is relatively underexplored. Recent excavations at Tell eṣ-Ṣa^fi/Gath, Israel, have uncovered a large Early Bronze Age settlement with a domestic neighborhood containing multiple successive phases of occupation. These phases have yielded a combined groundstone assemblage with objects of a variety of types, lithologies, and conditions. We repor…
Understanding Alleyways of the Early Bronze Age Southern Levant
Public passageways enable people, animals and goods to navigate a built environment, allowing access to residences, shops and public buildings, and also demarcate the spheres of society: economic versus social, sacred versus profane and public versus private. Passageways also mark the arrangement of neighborhoods and typically reflect a purposeful organization for settlements. This paper explores the nature of passageways at early urban settlemen…
Axes as Tools
This article discusses the function and symbolism of an iron axe from contemporary Ethiopia, and suggests insights regarding axes as tools, weapons, and symbolic items in the Bronze and Iron Age southern Levant
Urbanism in the Iron Age Levant and Beyond
Many significant finds related to urbanism in the Iron Age Levant have been uncovered in the last decades, warranting synthetic treatments combining these finds with theoretical approaches. Furthermore, the fascinating advances in the theoretical study of ancient urbanism in recent years, have enabled much more complex and multifaceted approaches to the study of ancient cities. These advances have raised many new questions and ideas, and, in some…
Visible and Invisible Deathscapes of Iron Age Philistia
This paper reviews the existing evidence of burial practices in the southern coastal plain of Israel, the region called Philistia, where the 'Philistine' culture was identified.The multifaceted character of the burial practices in Iron Age Philistia are explained considering the complex and entangled nature of a migrating community, with its diverse origins and influences.Based on the accumulated data, it is suggested that the novel burial practi…
Excavations at Kikkar Safra (City Hall), Jerusalem 1989
Figs. 1-3).Fig. 1.Aerial photograph of excavation area, to southeast.Note the area of excavation (center), the trenched area to the south, and the northwest corner wall of the Old City (upper right)
A Cache of Astragali from Tel Nagila
This paper presents a cache of 31 astragali from the site of Tel Nagila, dating to the Middle Bronze Age. This is the earliest known cache of astragali from the Southern Levant outside tombs, and may be the forebearer of the later caches found in cultic contexts in the Late Bronze and Iron Ages. This paper presents the context in which the cache was found, adjacent to a tower that functioned as part of the site’s fortifications; the social mechan…
Playing Epistemological Darts at Gezer (and Elsewhere)
The contribution by L. C. Webster, S. R. Wolff, and S. M. Ortiz, which is the focus of this discussion forum, is an overview of the main points of a previous paper (Webster et al. 2023), summarizing the results of an impressive 14C dating project conducted as part of the Tandy excavations at Gezer. This project aimed to provide a solid absolute chronology for strata spanning the terminal Late Bronze Age through the Iron Age II A, roughly from the…
Ceramic Platters at Early Bronze Age Tell es-Sâfi/Gath
Recent ceramic studies in Early Bronze Age Levantine archaeology emphasize the need to update and expand the interpretative potentials of ceramic datasets by taking a multiscalar chaîne opératoire approach. In this article, we focus on the platters from the excavations at Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath in the southern Levant. The results of thin-section petrography are integrated with inspection of surface features and an alternative imaging technique for ide…
Continuous evolvement of constant diet in the 3rd−1st millennium BCE southern Levant
Micro-contextual characterization of pyrogenic aragonite diagenesis in archaeological ash
Writing and Re-Writing History by Destruction
This volume combines the papers held at the Minerva Center's »Research on Israel and Aram in Biblical Times« conference (Leipzig 2018) on the subject of writing and re-writing history by deliberate destruction in the regions of Syria, Palestine, and Mesopotamia. An international group of scholars studies the subject using a multi-perspective and interdisciplinary approach. Archeological studies, ancient Near Eastern studies, and biblical studies …
You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby
The Philistines have been the focus of considerable research over the last 150 years. For much of this time, until the most recent decades, the accepted explanation about the origins, arrival, and cultural development of this group was that of a uniform migrating group, which arrived in the southern Levant just after 1200 BCE, captured the region of “Philistia,” and formed a unique culture, which slowly, throughout the Iron Age, intermixed with t…
Two Iron Age Alphabetic Inscriptions from Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath, Israel
This paper presents two brief alphabetic inscriptions from Area D in the lower city of Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath, both deriving from Iron Age IIA contexts. The first is written in an Early Alphabetic script similar to an inscription previously published from the site (Maeir et al. 2008) and is interpreted as being related to the storage of wine. The second, written in later, “formalized” alphabetic script, is quite fragmentary and difficult to decipher, …
Thoughts on the Collapse
As I’ve been actively researching the Philistines—and excavating a major Philistine site—for more than 25 years (e.g., Maeir 2012; 2017–2018; Maeir and Uziel 2020), I think I can qualify, at least metaphorically, as a Philistine. And needless to say, this gives me a unique perspective to join in on the fascinating discussion in the current issue of JEMAHS,1 revolving around Eric Cline’s views on the Late Bronze Age collapse.I would like to start …
Daily life and cultural appropriation in Early Bronze Age Canaan
Discussions on daily life in Early Bronze Age society in the southern Levant often focus on subsistence or ritual phenomena, while aspects relating to entertainment and leisure are rarely discussed. This paper presents evidence for gaming behaviour, in the form of game boards and game pieces, that were recovered in the excavations of the Early Bronze Age (early to mid-3rd millennium bce) residential neighbourhood at Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath, Israel. All…
Philistine urban form at Tell es-Safi/Gath, Israel
Some scholars view Philistine settlement in the southern Levant as the dominant, colonizing imposition of a new urbanism following a period of small cities and structural realignment during the Late Bronze Age. Others view Philistine urbanism as a gradual process that marks emergent, rather than imposed, cities. Here we explore Philistine urban planning through magnetometer and excavation data from Tell es-Safi/Gath. Results show that the norther…
New Perspectives on Aramaic Epigraphy in Mesopotamia, Qumran, Egypt and Idumea
This volume contains the proceedings of two international meetings held by the Minerva Center for the Relations between Israel and Aram in Biblical Times (RIAB) in Ramat-Gan/Jerusalem (March 2017) and Leipzig (May 2018). Most of the papers relate to various aspects of the Aramaic epigraphy in different contexts with a second part of the volume dealing with Idumean ostraca. The papers will be of interest to ancient historians, archaeologists of th…
On Defining Israel
Most study of the definition of early Israel, from an archaeological perspective, is based on outdated views on the relationship between material culture and group identity, ignoring recent social theory on the relationship between the archaeological finds and group identity. This has led to simplistic assumptions on defining and identifying the materials correlates – and the group identities – relevant for understanding the formation and develop…
A response to ‘On delays in the publication of excavation reports’ by P.J. Parr ( PEQ 152.3, 181–83)
In a recent issue of this journal, the esteemed archaeologist Prof. Peter J. Parr (2020) published an editorial concerning the extended amount of time needed to publish excavation reports. As Prof....
Identity Creation and Resource Controlling Strategies
In this paper I suggest that the evolution of the control of natural resources and trade routes in the Arabah Valley and its environs was the basis for the formation of Edomite identity in the early Iron Age. Building on insights on ethnogenesis in Southeast Asia in the studies of Joseph Scott and James Warren, I attempt to align this with recent discussions on early Edom, and the role that this group played in the regional economic web of the Ir…
In search of the invisible hearth
Agricultural subsistence, land use and long-distance mobility within the Early Bronze Age southern Levant
Evaluating manufacture marks on ground stone objects as a new proxy for the spread of metal technology in the southern Levant
A Bone Projectile Point and Its Possibly Associated Workshop from the Iron Age IIA of Tell eṣ-Ṣafi/Gath
In 2006, we published in Near Eastern Archaeology a bone tool workshop dating to the Iron IIA destruction level at Tell eṣ-Ṣafi/Gath. We managed to reconstruct the chaîne opératoire of the production of this workshop and although we did not find a finished object, we suggested that bone arrowheads were manufactured here and that they may have been produced in connection with the Aramean siege and destruction of Tell eṣ-Ṣafi/Gath in ca. 830 BCE. I…
Rapid phytolith extraction for analysis of phytolith concentrations and assemblages during an excavation
The taphonomy and preservation of wood and dung ashes found in archaeological cooking installations
Iron and bronze production in Iron Age IIA Philistia
The 9th century BCE destruction layer at Tell es-Safi/Gath, Israel
Iron Age hydraulic plaster from Tell es-Safi/Gath, Israel
The Early Bronze Age Remains at Tell eṣ-Ṣāfi/Gath
Several Early Bronze Age levels have been exposed at Tell eṣ-Ṣāfi/Gath since 2004. This report describes the results of the excavation of the EB III domestic neighbourhood on the eastern part of the site, in Area E. Its layout was common to other Early Bronze urban centres, including small, multiroom houses with a courtyard, and in a few cases also a small storage room. Occupants had access to local and long distance trade and exotic goods, used …
On the Constitution and Transformation of P hilistine Identity
Recent discussion of the formation and alteration of P hilistine identity in the L evantine I ron A ge continues to reference primarily pottery styles and dietary practices. Such traditional narratives propose that the P hilistines comprised one group of the ‘Sea Peoples’ and that the cultural boundary markers that distinguished their society in the I ron A ge I (twelfth–eleventh century BC ) diminished in importance and disappeared suddenly in t…
Characterization of Contexts for Radiocarbon Dating
The reliability of a radiocarbon date depends in part on the degree of precision and accuracy of the measurement. While analytical precision and accuracy can be improved by careful sample cleaning procedures and high laboratory standards, accuracy also depends upon the certainty to which the sample can be attributed to a specific material culture or event in the past. This might be questionable when based only on partial archaeological informatio…
Pottery production at Tell es-Safi/Gath
Cooking Identities
This study presents an analysis of various aspects relating to the changes in cooking vessels during the Iron Age in Philistia and the southern Levant, with particular emphasis on the morphology, manufacturing technology, and regional distribution of cooking jugs. We have combined archaeological data and petrographic analyses to evaluate the technological aspects of these vessels. It is argued that cooking jugs, while first appearing in Philistia…
Yo-ho, yo-ho, aseren's life for me
Historical accounts indicate pirates were able to create culturally mixed tribal entities and identities by incorporating new followers from different cultures into their social structure. This article suggests that upheavals at the end of the Bronze Age inter alia led to the formation of pirate bands of 'Sea Peoples' composed of non-elites, including sailors, disenfranchised warriors, mercenaries, workers, craft workers and peasants from the Med…
Pre- lmlk Jars
The lmlk jars are among the best-known ceramic types of the Iron Age II in Judah and have been widely discussed in archaeological, historical and biblical studies. During the last decade or so, excavations at several sites (primarily in the Judean Shephelah) have brought to light the existence of a precursor to these jars—the 'pre-lmlk jars'. This paper defines and reviews this new class of jars, beginning with its appearance in the recently unco…
Provisioning the Early Bronze Age City of Tell es-Safi/Gath, Israel
It is often assumed that domestic animals in early urban Near Eastern centres either are a reflection of the local pastoral economy, or were raised at a distance by pastoral specialists. In this paper, we test these assumptions through detailed isotopic analyses (carbon, oxygen and strontium) of caprines (sheep and goat) from Tell es-Safi/Gath, an Early Bronze Age urban centre in central Israel. The isotopic analyses demonstrate that the bulk of …
Early Bronze Age Pottery Covered with Lime-Plaster
With the emergence of urban culture in the southern Levant in the Early Bronze Age, new types of pottery and ceramic techniques appeared, among them pottery (usually combed) coated with a white material. A selection of sherds from Early Bronze strata was studied in an attempt to analyze this material. Using microscopy and various other methods, the authors were able to determine that the white material was a lime-plaster applied to the vessels af…
Radiocarbon Dating Shows an Early Appearance of Philistine Material Culture in Tell es-Safi/Gath, Philistia
The Late Bronze Age to Iron Age transition in the coastal southern Levant involves a major cultural change, which is characterized, among other things, by the appearance of Philistine pottery locally produced in styles derived from outside the Levant. This transition in the coastal southern Levant is conventionally dated to the 12th century BC, based on historical and archaeological artifacts associated with the Philistine pottery. Radiocarbon da…
The Early Bronze Age Fortifications At Tell Es-Safi/Gath, Israel
Tell es-Safi/Gath is a multi-period site located on the border between the Judean foothills (Shephelah) and the southern coastal plain in central Israel, which has been subject to survey and excavations over the last two decades. Excavations by Bliss and Macalister in 1899 exposed a fortification system which was dated to the “Jewish period”. In this paper, we present updated data on these fortifications which have led to fresh insights. In two s…
The Political and Economic Status of MB II Hazor and MB II Trade
In this study I have discussed two distinct, though intimately connected, topics. To begin with, the status and role of the major polity in the MB II southern Levant was scrutinized. It is apparent that one must deal with this site on a completely different scale from other contemporary southern Levantine sites. As suggested, in fact it should be placed within the context of the Syro-Mesopotamian cultural sphere. As such, its dominant role in the…
The Identity of Potters in Early States
The Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath Archaeological Project
The Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath Archaeological Project commenced in 1996 and is one of the largest and longest continuously running archaeological projects in Israel. As the year 2017 marks twenty-two years of research and excavations, it is an apt opportunity to present an overview and reflection on the project in general, and various aspects of the research in particular. The opportunity to do this in two special issues of NEA is an excellent occasion, a…
An ivory bowl from Early Iron Age Tell es-Safi/Gath (Israel)
In 2013, an ivory bowl was discovered in a chalky matrix in the Early Iron Age (Philistine) levels in Area A at Tell es-Safi/Gath. Conservation revealed it to be a shallow vessel with a single lug handle, decorated in the interior and on the base with an incised twelve-petal lotus-rosette surrounded by five concentric circles. Applying an object biography approach, we investigate the history and far-flung socio-cultural connections of the Tell es…
One Philistine's Trash Is an Archaeologist's Treasure
This paper presents evidence for feasting in the late Iron Age I Philistine culture from a circumscribed locale in Area A at the site of Tell es-Safi/Gath. The remains are characterized by architectural features, installations and rubbish dumps containing a rich array of animal bones, symbolic objects, and a series of unique installations all dating to the tenth and eleventh centuries b.c.e. These activities are informed by paral lels from Mycena…
Formation processes in Philistine hearths from Tell es-Safi/Gath (Israel)
Ancient cooking installations yield important evidence for cooking technology and human diet. A cooking installation termed the Philistine pebble hearth is associated with the arrival of the Philistines at the beginning of the Iron Age in the southern Levant (ca. early/mid-12th century b.c.). These installations have been studied using traditional methods, focusing on a description of form and style in relation to the pottery of the period. Here …
An Iron IIA Iron and Bronze Workshop in the Lower City of Tell es-Safi/Gath
An iron and bronze workshop in the lower city of Tell es-Safi/Gath, dated to the mid-late Iron IIA, contributes new data on the chronology, organization, and practice of metal production in the urban Philistine setting. Analyses show that iron objects were likely produced and maintained on a large scale, alongside bronze, employing regionally unique forms of crucibles and tuyères. The material culture of metalworking is discussed in relation to c…
Provenance and exchange of basalt grinding stones of EB III Tell es-Safi/Gath, Israel
A Pirate's Life for me
An anthropological approach to a culture extrapolates social structures, traditions, and general organizing principles of that culture from the careful observation of patterns of behaviour as described in case studies. In the absence of a living culture to record, archaeologists extrapolate this information from behaviour reconstructed from spatially determined patterns in the deposition of material remains and from patterns found in the general …
Remarks on a Supposed "Egyptian Residency" at Gezer
Remarks on a Supposed "Egyptian Residency" at Gezer
Bone and Metal Straw-tip Beer-strainers from the Ancient Near East
(1992). Bone and Metal Straw-tip Beer-strainers from the Ancient Near East. Levant: Vol. 24, No. 1, pp. 218-223.
A Re‐evaluation of the Red and Black Bowl From Parker's Excavations in Jerusalem
An unusual red and black bowl was found in Parker's excavations in Jerusalem at the beginning of the century. There has been no agreement as to the provenience of the bowl, the most common opinion being that it was a Cypriot import dating to Middle Bronze I age. an Archaeological re‐appraisal and Archaeometric examinations of the bowl and selected additional pottery from the same excavation revealed that the bowl is clearly of local manufacture a…
The Origin of the Pictorial Krater From the ‘Mycenaean’ Tomb at Tel Dan
A Late Bronze Age Mycenaean pictorial krater, decorated with a chariot procession, from tomb 387 at Tel Dan, Israel, was examined by instrumental neutron activation analysis. The origin of the krater is placed in the Argolid, very likely in the region of Mycenae or Berbati
Hyksos, Horses and Hippopotami
"Hyksos, Horses and Hippopotami: a Note." Levant, 26(1), p. 231
Hyksos, Horses and Hippopotami
"Hyksos, Horses and Hippopotami: a Note." Levant, 26(1), p. 231
A Pilgrim Flask of Anatolian Origin from Late Byzantine/Early Ummayyad Jerusalem
A large scale archaeological excavation was commenced in 1989, as part of the “Mamilla Project”, an urban re-development project carried out in the area to the west of Jaffa Gate, Jerusalem, Israel (Fig. 2). During the course of the first (1989) season, several complexes of buildings dating from the Late Byzantine and Early Ummayad periods were discovered. These buildings were part of the extra-mural quarters of Jerusalem at the time, and for the…
Sassanica Varia Palaestiniensia
L'A se propose d'etudier le mobilier d'une tombe de l'âge du Bronze moyen compose de divers objets provenant de l'Iran sassanide. Ces objets (sceaux, ceramiques, monnaies et artefacts en verre) ont ete decouverts sur le site palestinien de T. Istaba et datent de la periode byzantine. Leur etude permet d'attester des liens etroits qui unissaient la Palestine byzantine et l'Iran sassanide
The Political and Economic Status of MB II Hazor and MB II Trade
In this study I have discussed two distinct, though intimately connected, topics. To begin with, the status and role of the major polity in the MB II southern Levant was scrutinized. It is apparent that one must deal with this site on a completely different scale from other contemporary southern Levantine sites. As suggested, in fact it should be placed within the context of the Syro-Mesopotamian cultural sphere. As such, its dominant role in the…
Pre- lmlk Jars
The lmlk jars are among the best-known ceramic types of the Iron Age II in Judah and have been widely discussed in archaeological, historical and biblical studies. During the last decade or so, excavations at several sites (primarily in the Judean Shephelah) have brought to light the existence of a precursor to these jars—the 'pre-lmlk jars'. This paper defines and reviews this new class of jars, beginning with its appearance in the recently unco…
Pre- lmlk Jars
"אתא אגרתא ממערבא ("An Epistle Came from the West)
In this paper, the historical and archaeological evidence for connections between the Jewish communities in the Land of Israel and in Babylonia during the Talmudic/Byzantine period is examined in order to define the nature, the context, and the extent of these contacts. The analysis demonstrates that a wide range of connections did in fact exist, although they were limited by the great distance and the political boundaries that lay between the tw…
Late Philistine Decorated Ware ("Ashdod Ware")
Following the excavations at Tel Ashdod, a class of Iron Age II decorated pottery was identified that became known as "Ashdod Ware." In the present study, this pottery is defined as Late Philistine Decorated Ware. Based on its typology, decoration, distribution, chronology, and provenience, it is suggested that this class of vessels, which first appears in Iron IIA and continues through at least the Iron IIB period, is typical of Philistia and wa…
Scratching the Surface at Gath
A comprehensive surface survey was conducted at Tell es-Safi/Gath as part of the ongoing Tell es-Safi/Gath Archaeological Project. The site was divided into distinct topographical and/or cultural units, which were then surveyed separately. The finds from the survey enabled us to reach definitive conclusions as to the various periods represented at the site, the size and location of the settlement during various periods and the planning of present…
Landscape Archaeology in a Dry-Stream Valley near Tell es-Sâfì/Gath (Israel)
As part of the long-term archaeological project being conducted at Tell e-Sâfi/Gath in the semi-arid foothills of the Judean Mountains, a first order dry stream channel located in a valley east of the main site was surveyed and soil pits excavated in selected locations. A ditch, 10 m in length, was dug perpendicular to one of the agricultural terraces, showing that the small valley is filled with soil to a depth of more than 3 m above bedrock. Th…
A unique human-made trench at Tell es-Sâfi/Gath, Israel
Tell es-Sâfi/gath is situated in the semiarid foothills of central Israel, adjacent to the coastal . plain. An enigmatic landscape feature, noted on aerial photographs, encircles the tell on three sides. This unique feature, unknown from other Near Eastern tells, was investigated. Methods of analysis include aerial photographs, field surveys, excavations, soil analyses, chronotypological ceramic classification, and radiocarbon dating. We conclude…
Scratching the Surface at Gath
A comprehensive surface survey was conducted at Tell es-Safi/Gath as part of the ongoing Tell es-Safi/Gath Archaeological Project. The site was divided into distinct topographical and/or cultural units, which were then surveyed separately. The finds from the survey enabled us to reach definitive conclusions as to the various periods represented at the site, the size and location of the settlement during various periods and the planning of present…
I will speak the riddles of ancient times
Working Bones
A Bone of Contention? Iron Age IIA Notched Scapulae from Tell eṣ-Ṣâfī/Gath, Israel
Notched animal scapulae (shoulder blades) are one of the most enigmatic aspects of the material culture of the Iron Age Levant. Discussions of their chronology, regional distribution, function, and cultural significance appear frequently in studies concerning the culture of the Sea Peoples in Cyprus and the southern Levant. However, the available data has never been analyzed in a comprehensive manner, and many of its aspects remain obscure. This …
Neutron activation and petrographic analysis of selected Late Bronze and Iron Age pottery from Tell es-Safi/Gath, Israel
A Late Iron Age I/Early Iron Age II Old Canaanite Inscription from Tell eṣ-Ṣâfī/Gath, Israel
In this paper, a late Iron Age I/early Iron Age II Old Canaanite inscription from Tell eṣ-Ṣâfī/Gath is presented and discussed. The inscription derives from a clear archaeological context and is written on a fragment of a chronologically indicative, red-slipped and hand-burnished ceramic bowl. We suggest reading the inscription as two personal names, ʾalwt and wlt[...], which we believe are Philistine names of Greek or Anatolian origin. The signi…
Cooking Identities
This study presents an analysis of various aspects relating to the changes in cooking vessels during the Iron Age in Philistia and the southern Levant, with particular emphasis on the morphology, manufacturing technology, and regional distribution of cooking jugs. We have combined archaeological data and petrographic analyses to evaluate the technological aspects of these vessels. It is argued that cooking jugs, while first appearing in Philistia…
"Walled up to Heaven"
Archaeology (88 obras) · History (70 obras) · Archaeology and Historical Studies (67 obras) · Geography (57 obras) · Ancient history (53 obras) · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies (51 obras) · Ancient Egypt and Archaeology (38 obras) · Bronze Age (38 obras) · Art (36 obras) · History (35 obras)