As the nomadic hunters and gatherers of the ancient Near East turned to agriculture for their livelihood and settled into villages, religious ceremonies involving dancing became their primary means for bonding individuals into communities and households into villages. So important was dance that scenes of dancing are among the oldest and most persistent themes in Near Eastern prehistoric art, and these depictions of dance accompanied the spread of agriculture into surrounding regions of Europe and Africa.
In this pathfinding book, Yosef Garfinkel analyzes depictions of dancing found on archaeological objects from the Near East, southeastern Europe, and Egypt to offer the first comprehensive look at the role of dance in these Neolithic (7000-4000 BC) societies. In the first part of the book, Garfinkel examines the structure of dance, its functional roles in the community (with comparisons to dance in modern pre-state societies), and its cognitive, or symbolic, aspects. This analysis leads him to assert that scenes of dancing depict real community rituals linked to the agricultural cycle and that dance was essential for maintaining these calendrical rituals and passing them on to succeeding generations. In the concluding section of the book, Garfinkel presents and discusses the extensive archaeological data—some 400 depictions of dance—on which his study is based.

Dancing at the Dawn of Agriculture

Politics & Social Sciences

Garfinkel, Yosef

Archaeology

University of Texas Press

Arts & Photography

History & Criticism

The remarkable excavation of a previously unidentified city in Israel from the time of King David, shedding new light on the link between the bible and history
King David is a pivotal figure in the Bible, which tells his life story in detail and gives stirring accounts of his deeds, including the slaying of the Philistine giant Goliath and the founding of his capital in Jerusalem. But no certain archaeological finds from the period of his reign or of the kingdom he ruled over have ever been uncovered―until now.
In this groundbreaking account, the excavators of Khirbet Qeiyafa in the Valley of Elah, where the Bible says David fought Goliath, reveal how seven years of exhaustive investigation have uncovered a city dating to the time of David― the late eleventh and early tenth century BCE―surrounded by massive fortifications with impressive gates and a clear urban plan, as well as an abundance of finds that tell us much about the inhabitants. Discussing the link between the Bible, archaeology, and history In the Footsteps of King David explains the significance of these discoveries and how they shed new light on David’s kingdom. The topic is at the center of a controversy that has raged for decades, but these findings successfully challenge scholars disputing the historicity of the Bible and the chronology of the events recounted in it. 90+ illustrations

In the Footsteps of King David: Revelations from an Ancient Biblical City

History

Ganor, Saar

Hasel, Michael G.

Ancient Civilizations

Thames&Hudson

This is the first monograph dedicated to the site of Socoh in the Judean Shephelah. Our research was initiated in 2010 as an intensive survey by the Institute of Archaeology, Southern Adventist University, and the Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The study incorporates historical sources that are listed and analyzed, including the Bible, ancient Near Eastern, Byzantine, and Medieval records. A history of the research conducted over the past 190 years by explorers, geographers, and archaeologists is compiled, before providing the full report on the results of an intensive site survey conducted at Socoh in 2010. Finally, specialized studies of the finds and a report of recent salvage excavations of burial caves, looted by antiquity robbers nearby, give a state-of-the-art presentation of the latest information known about this important biblical site in southern Judah.

Socoh of the Judean Shephelah: The 2010 Survey

Weiss, Shifra

Eisenbrauns

Tel Miqne-Ekron Field IV Lower—The Elite Zone, The Iron Age I and IIC, The Early and Late Philistine Cities, Parts 9/1-9/3B present the evidence of two large Philistines cites, one in Iron I, the period of its initial development, and the other in Iron IIC, its final stage when it achieved its zenith of physical growth and prosperity. They also offer a unique opportunity to check and evaluate the excavators' observations and conclusions based on their comprehensive database. Published under the auspices of the Harvard Semitic Museum, they comprise the final reports of the nine seasons of excavations during the years 1985-1995, directed by Trude Dothan and Seymour Gitin and sponsored by the W. F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research and the Hebrew University.
Volume 9/1, The Iron Age I Early Philistine City covers Strata VII-IV, the 12th-early 10th centuries BCE. It includes a detailed discussion of the occupational history of the period with a comprehensive analysis of the ceramic assemblages and a selection of ceramic, lithic, clay, and metal objects with detailed discussions of jewelry, scarabs and ivory objects, as well as the faunal evidence. Volume 9/2, The Iron Age IIC Late Philistine City, which presents the evidence from Stratum I of the 7th and early 6th century BCE, is in press.
Volume 9/3B The Iron Age I and IIC Late and Early Philistine Cities Plans and Sections includes every plan and section of each excavated Area in Field IV Lower.

Tel Miqne 9/1 and 9/3B (2-vol. set): The Iron Age I Early Philistine City

Gitin, Seymour (Sy)

Dothan, Trude

Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East

This well-illustrated volume presents the evidence from Stratum Pre-IC of the end of the 8th century, from Strata IC and IB of the 7th century, when Ekron achieved the zenith of its physical growth and prosperity, and from Stratum IA, the final Iron Age IIC phase of the early 6th century BCE. It offers a detailed discussion of the Iron Age IIC occupational history; a comprehensive analysis of the ceramic assemblages; a quantitative analysis of the pottery from the main Stratum IB buildings; and studies on vessel capacity, ceramic, lithic, ivory, and metal objects, jewelry, scarabs, faunal remains, and fish bones.
Published under the auspices of the Harvard Semitic Museum, this volume concludes the publication of the results of the nine seasons of excavation conducted in Field IV Lower between 1985 and 1995, directed by Trude Dothan and Seymour Gitin and sponsored by the W. F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Companion volumes published in 2016:
—Field IV Lower—The Elite Zone, Part 1: The Iron Age I Early Philistine City by Trude Dothan, Yosef Garfinkel and Seymour Gitin;
—Part 3A: The Iron Age I and IIC Early and Late Philistine Cities Database (see links tab);
—Part 3B: The Iron Age I and IIC Early and Late Philistine Cities Plans and Sections
The final reports on the two large Iron Age I and IIC Philistines cities in Field IV Lower offer a comprehensive view of the history of Ekron from its initial establishment and development in the Iron Age I until its destruction in the late Iron Age II. The searchable database and print version of the sections and plans provide a unique opportunity for readers to access and evaluate the excavators’ observations and conclusions.

Tel Miqne 9/2: The Iron Age IIC: Late Philistine City

Every day millions of people enter public buildings of many forms and functions: Notre-Dame in Paris, Grand Central Station in New York, the British Museum in London, that are decorated with recessed doorways. None of them is likely to be aware that this style of decoration has been continuously employed for 6500 years in temples, royal palaces, tombs, churches, synagogues, and modern public buildings, becoming a symbol of the divine and of a place of worship. During this very long period, from the ancient Near East until today, the world has undergone immense changes, but the concept of the recessed opening was never forgotten or abandoned. What is the secret of its longevity? This unique cultural edifice is not only about architecture, but is a language that defines social order and relations with the ruling power and authorities. These, sometimes highly decorated and elaborate, sometimes simple and understated, thresholds in fact functioned on two communicative levels: first, as a liminal marker demarcating a sacred area and second, to emphasize the social order, as few were permitted to pass through. In this book the history of this eternal symbol is presented for the first time through text, figures, and photographs. The authors consider historical, anthropological, sociological, religious, and economic factors that reflect the significance of crossing these iconic thresholds according to the concept of the longue durée. Table of Contents Foreword Acknowledgements List of Figures and Tables Part I. Introduction, Methodology, Summarizing the Data, Discussion Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: Methodology Chapter 3: Summarizing the Data Chapter 4: Discussion Part II. The Data: Recessed Openings in Architecture, Iconography and Text Chapter 5: Recessed Openings from Late Prehistoric Mesopotamia (fifth and fourth millennia BCE) Chapter 6: Recessed Openings of the World's Earliest Cities (late fourth and third millennia BCE Mesopotamia) Chapter 7: Recessed Openings in Second Millennium BCE Mesopotamia and Adjacent Regions Chapter 8: Recessed Openings in First Millennium BCE Mesopotamia Chapter 9: Recessed Openings in the Iron Age and Persian Period in the Levant, Sardinia and Carthage (10th to 4th centuries BCE) Chapter 10: Recessed Openings in Late Antiquity Judaism Chapter 11: Recessed Openings in the Greek, Hellenistic and Roman Worlds (sixth century BCE to third century CE) Chapter 12: Recessed Openings in Early Christian Architecture: Byzantine, Romanesque and Gothic (fourth century to 13th century CE) Chapter 13: Recessed Openings in later Periods References

Crossing the Threshold: Architecture, Iconography and the Sacred Entrance

Mumcuoglu, Madeleine

Oxbow Books

This monograph presents the revolutionary results of ten years of excavation and research in the Neolithic village of Sha'ar Hagolan, Jordan Valley, Israel. Sha'ar Hagolan is dated to the Pottery Neolithic period and is the type-site for the Yarmukian culture, which occupied large parts of the Mediterranean climatic zones of Israel, Jordan and Lebanon during the sixth millennium BC. Recent excavations at the site have far-reaching implications for the entire Neolithic period, as well as for the history of agriculture, art and cult and other aspects of material culture in the ancient Near East. The evidence for the architecture and village planning, material culture and remarkable art objects shows what was previously considered to be an era of decline was a time of cultural evolution and development in the Levant.

Sha'ar Hagolan: Neolithic Art in Context

Miller, M.

Miller, Michele

The finding of some 300 art objects at the ancient settlement of Sha`ar Hagolan makes it the most important center of prehistoric art in Israel and one of the most important in the world. Approximately 70 figurines, make of fired clay and stone, were found in one of its structures; this is the largest find ofr prehistoric figurines made in a single structure. The members of Kibbutz Sha`ar Hagolan have built a museum that exhibits finds made at the site. Since 2000, five-year exhibits of objects from Sha`ar Hagolan have been mounted at both the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Louvre Museum in Paris.  Among the special art objects from Sha`ar Hagolan are figurines in human form made from fired clay and river pebbles. The most striking of these portray a goddess with wide hips and rolls of fat, seated comfortably and surveying the world through diagonal grooved eyes. The figurines are designed with a wealth of detail, and the features are exaggerated, giving them a surrealistic appearance. The eyes are also emphasized on the pebble figurines, though the design approach to these is minimalist and abstract.

The Goddess of Sha'ar Hagolan: Excavations at a Neolithic Site in Israel

Israel Exploration Society

Colonial Archaeology In Palestine In The 1930s

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