- University of Haifa, Art history and archaeology, Faculty Memberadd
- Archaeologist and art historian from the University of Haifa (Zinman Institute of archaeology). Member of executive c... moreArchaeologist and art historian from the University of Haifa (Zinman Institute of archaeology). Member of executive committee of the Association for Coroplastic Studies (ACoSt). Director of the Beth She'arim excavations. Fields of specialization: archaeology and art history of Israel in the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine periodsedit
Excavations report of a rural site in the southern lowland of Israel. Mostly Hellenistic period.
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Abstract: Recent excavations of Subterranean Complex 89 at Maresha yielded, among other items, a bronze pendant in the shape of the Phoenician-Punic goddess Tanit. The pendant was discovered in a room with ships graffiti and nearby a... more
Abstract:
Recent excavations of Subterranean Complex 89 at Maresha yielded, among other items, a bronze pendant in the shape of the Phoenician-Punic goddess Tanit. The pendant was discovered in a room with ships graffiti and nearby a loculi tomb that was later dismantled. Exact parallels to this pendant are known from Tel Ashkelon, Tel Michal and Tel Sukas in Syria, while similar examples were identified at Sidon, Tel Ashkelon and Motya (Sicily). All of these pendants date to the Persian and/or Hellenistic period. Maresha is the only inland site where such a pendant has been found. Phoenician (especially Sidonian) influences on the Idumaean town of Maresha are reviewed, perhaps testifying to a Sidonian presence at the town, as is also attested by the Apollophanes inscription from the so-called Sidonian tomb.
Recent excavations of Subterranean Complex 89 at Maresha yielded, among other items, a bronze pendant in the shape of the Phoenician-Punic goddess Tanit. The pendant was discovered in a room with ships graffiti and nearby a loculi tomb that was later dismantled. Exact parallels to this pendant are known from Tel Ashkelon, Tel Michal and Tel Sukas in Syria, while similar examples were identified at Sidon, Tel Ashkelon and Motya (Sicily). All of these pendants date to the Persian and/or Hellenistic period. Maresha is the only inland site where such a pendant has been found. Phoenician (especially Sidonian) influences on the Idumaean town of Maresha are reviewed, perhaps testifying to a Sidonian presence at the town, as is also attested by the Apollophanes inscription from the so-called Sidonian tomb.
Research Interests: Phoenicians and Idumeans
Recent excavations of Subterranean Complex 89 at Maresha yielded, among other items, a bronze pendant in the shape of the Phoenician-Punic goddess Tanit. The pendant was discovered in a room with ships graffiti and nearby a loculi tomb... more
Recent excavations of Subterranean Complex 89 at Maresha yielded, among other items, a bronze pendant in the shape of the Phoenician-Punic goddess Tanit. The pendant was discovered in a room with ships graffiti and nearby a loculi tomb that was later dismantled. Exact parallels to this pendant are known from Tel Ashkelon, Tel Michal and Tel Sukas in Syria, while similar examples were identified at Sidon, Tel Ashkelon and Motya (Sicily). All of these pendants date to the Persian and/or Hellenistic period. Maresha is the only inland site where such a pendant has been found. Phoenician (especially Sidonian) influences on the Idumaean town of Maresha are reviewed, perhaps testifying to a Sidonian presence at the town, as is also attested by the Apollophanes inscription from the so-called Sidonian tomb.
Research Interests: Phoenicians and Idumeans
This paper focuses on a 3rd–4th century AD pottery kiln from Khirbet ‘Azzun (Ra‘anana), in the Sharon, in the central coastal plain of Israel. The kiln belongs to the updraft type, with an ovalshaped and crater-like firebox, a fuel... more
This paper focuses on a 3rd–4th century AD pottery kiln from Khirbet ‘Azzun (Ra‘anana), in the Sharon, in the central coastal plain of Israel. The kiln belongs to the updraft type, with an ovalshaped and crater-like firebox, a fuel opening on the north and spanned by brick arches designed to support the floor of the missing ware chamber. Like many other kilns in that region, it produced storage jars. Our kiln is the first from the region dating to the Roman period, to be fully studied. The kiln’s components, technology and supposed process of operation will be examined closely, in light of other kilns from Roman-Byzantine Palestine and ethnoarchaeological evidence.
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A hoard of objects was found in 2008, buried under a floor pavement of a room in the Hellenistic administrative building at Tel Kedesh in northern Israel. The hoard consists of an Eros terracotta figurine, glass astragals and gaming... more
A hoard of objects was found in 2008, buried under a floor pavement of a room in the Hellenistic administrative building at Tel Kedesh in northern Israel. The hoard consists of an Eros terracotta figurine, glass astragals and gaming pieces, writing paraphernalia made of metal, and a hairpin. In this article, I explore the hoard, its meaning, and its context in terms of findspot and the geographical location of the site on the periphery of Hellenistic Phoenicia. Based on the objects from the hoard, as well as on literary and visual sources from the Hellenistic world and particularly from the southern Levant, I argue that the objects were the property of a young, upper-class bride who buried them as part of a premarriage ritual.
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This paper provides preliminary results of our ongoing analysis of faunal remains from the Idumean site of Maresha, a site located in the Shephelah region of Israel and dated to the 4th-2nd centuries BCE. The Zooarchaeological research in... more
This paper provides preliminary results of our ongoing analysis of faunal remains from the Idumean site of Maresha, a site located in the Shephelah region of Israel and dated to the 4th-2nd centuries BCE. The
Zooarchaeological research in this key site is an efficient tool for portraying the social and cultural character of the site during the Hellenistic period. We sampled animal bones from cave no. 90 in Maresha in order to characterize the subsistence practices of the site's inhabitants. The explored dietary habits provide new lines of evidence regarding the cultural identity of its population. The livestock of Maresha, as displayed by cave no. 90 is dominated by sheep and goats (60%), cattle (18%), domestic fowl (13%) and pigs (9%). We highlight the main characteristics of the faunal assemblage and draw broad
conclusions regarding differences and similarities in its dietary habits in the context of contemporaneous sites from the region. The high abundance of fowls and pigs show clear differences between Maresha and nearby chronologically matched sites. Another interesting characteristic of the Maresha faunal assemblage is the abundance of Domestic Fowl (Gallus gallus domesticus) remains. This relatively high percentage of chicken highlights Maresha as a key site for reconstructing the distribution course of chicken in the old world and its establishment as a livestock species in the Mediterranean economy.
Zooarchaeological research in this key site is an efficient tool for portraying the social and cultural character of the site during the Hellenistic period. We sampled animal bones from cave no. 90 in Maresha in order to characterize the subsistence practices of the site's inhabitants. The explored dietary habits provide new lines of evidence regarding the cultural identity of its population. The livestock of Maresha, as displayed by cave no. 90 is dominated by sheep and goats (60%), cattle (18%), domestic fowl (13%) and pigs (9%). We highlight the main characteristics of the faunal assemblage and draw broad
conclusions regarding differences and similarities in its dietary habits in the context of contemporaneous sites from the region. The high abundance of fowls and pigs show clear differences between Maresha and nearby chronologically matched sites. Another interesting characteristic of the Maresha faunal assemblage is the abundance of Domestic Fowl (Gallus gallus domesticus) remains. This relatively high percentage of chicken highlights Maresha as a key site for reconstructing the distribution course of chicken in the old world and its establishment as a livestock species in the Mediterranean economy.
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The Hebrew version of a paper from an exhibition catalogue on ceramics in art and archaeology, Hecht Museum, University of Haifa,, June 2016. The paper presents pottery in antiquity and how it is used by archaeologists.
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The English version of a paper from an exhibition catalogue on ceramics in art and archaeology, Hecht Museum, University of Haifa,, June 2016. The paper presents pottery in antiquity and how it is used by archaeologists.
Research Interests:
A cave with two Greek inscriptions and two wall reliefs was discovered on a hill near Kibbutz Beth Guvrin. One inscription mentions the name of Philinos; the other is a vulgar inscription attesting to homosexual intercourse between... more
A cave with two Greek inscriptions and two wall reliefs was discovered on a hill near Kibbutz Beth Guvrin. One inscription mentions the name of Philinos; the other is a vulgar inscription attesting to homosexual intercourse between Philinos and Papias. The reliefs depict a Herm-like shaft and another
unclear shape. The name and reliefs have parallels in nearby Maresha, c. 4 km to the south. The Philinos cave is dated to the Hellenistic period and provides evidence of the pagan nature of the area prior to its conversion from Idumaea to Judaea.
unclear shape. The name and reliefs have parallels in nearby Maresha, c. 4 km to the south. The Philinos cave is dated to the Hellenistic period and provides evidence of the pagan nature of the area prior to its conversion from Idumaea to Judaea.
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Chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) is today one of the most widespread domesticated species and is a main source of protein in the human diet. However, for thousands of years exploitation of chickens was confined to symbolic and social... more
Chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) is today one of the most widespread domesticated species and is a main source of protein in the human diet. However, for thousands of years exploitation of chickens was confined to symbolic and social domains such as cockfighting. The question of when and where chickens were first used for economic purposes remains unresolved. The results of our faunal analysis demonstrate that the Hellenistic (fourth–second centuries B.C.E.) site of Maresha, Israel, is the earliest site known today where economic exploitation of chickens was widely practiced. We base our claim on the exceptionally high frequency of chicken bones at that site, the majority of which belong to adult individuals, and on the observed 2:1 ratio of female to male bones. These results are supported further by an extensive survey of
faunal remains from 234 sites in the Southern Levant, spanning
more than three millennia, which shows a sharp increase in the
frequency of chicken during the Hellenistic period. We further argue that the earliest secure evidence for economic exploitation of chickens in Europe dates to the first century B.C.E. and therefore is predated by the finds in the Southern Levant by at least a century. We suggest that the gradual acclimatization of chickens in the Southern Levant and its gradual integration into the local economy, the latter fully accomplished in the Hellenistic period, was a crucial step in the adoption of this species in European husbandry some 100 y later.
faunal remains from 234 sites in the Southern Levant, spanning
more than three millennia, which shows a sharp increase in the
frequency of chicken during the Hellenistic period. We further argue that the earliest secure evidence for economic exploitation of chickens in Europe dates to the first century B.C.E. and therefore is predated by the finds in the Southern Levant by at least a century. We suggest that the gradual acclimatization of chickens in the Southern Levant and its gradual integration into the local economy, the latter fully accomplished in the Hellenistic period, was a crucial step in the adoption of this species in European husbandry some 100 y later.
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In 1996 a salvage excavation was conducted along the northern fringes of ancient Lod. A building with mosaic floors and eight stone-lined graves were exposed in the eastern part of the excavation. A plastered step separated the tombs from... more
In 1996 a salvage excavation was conducted along the northern fringes of ancient Lod. A building with mosaic floors and eight stone-lined graves were exposed in the eastern part of the excavation. A plastered step separated the tombs from the building. The building consisted of three rooms arranged in a cloverleaf configuration. Evidence of plastered installations was found along the walls of the rooms and they were presumably built to contain in water. The three rooms were paved with mosaics decorated with geometric patterns. The three mosaics adorning the structure are characteristic of the Early Roman period throughout Judaea, but deviate from the customary patterns. They are not laid out in a typical manner or, as is usual, within the outline of the room. On the basis of the ceramic and glass artifacts discovered in the graves and building, the mosaics date to the 2nd century CE. Two important questions arise concerning the date and function of the building decorated with mosaics. Both are determined by the archaeological context and are mutually dependent. The mosaics provide unique evidence of provincial art in Lod, presumably in the period between the revolts, which is still insufficiently known to us through archaeological finds in the city of Lod.
The graves and the mosaics building were constructed with the same orientation and in close proximity. In our opinion there was a connection between them. The plastered step shows that visitors to the mosaics building created a buffer, if only a symbolic one, between the mosaics and the graves. To date no proposal has been put forth identifying the function of a similar building in the context of cemeteries. In light of the findings here, we cautiously suggested that the mosaics building was a wing or part of a structure used by visitors to the cemetery. The building was likely associated with the cemetery and was used for washing. Either way, the tombs and the mosaics building reveal a small portion of Jewish life in Lod during its golden age in the period between the revolts or after the Bar Kokhba rebellion.
The graves and the mosaics building were constructed with the same orientation and in close proximity. In our opinion there was a connection between them. The plastered step shows that visitors to the mosaics building created a buffer, if only a symbolic one, between the mosaics and the graves. To date no proposal has been put forth identifying the function of a similar building in the context of cemeteries. In light of the findings here, we cautiously suggested that the mosaics building was a wing or part of a structure used by visitors to the cemetery. The building was likely associated with the cemetery and was used for washing. Either way, the tombs and the mosaics building reveal a small portion of Jewish life in Lod during its golden age in the period between the revolts or after the Bar Kokhba rebellion.
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For further details and registration, contact Adi Erlich:
aerlich@research.haifa.ac.il
aerlich@research.haifa.ac.il
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Come dig with us - Beth She'arim in Galilee, 25 August - 19 September 2019
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Terracotta figurines of the Persian and Hellenistic periods found in subterranean complex no. 57 at Maresha, Idumaea (Southern Israel).
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The province of Iudaea, becoming Syria Palaestina after 135 C.E., was the home for various ethnicities and religions: Jews, Samaritans, Christians, local pagans of different origins, and Roman officials and soldiers. The land was occupied... more
The province of Iudaea, becoming Syria Palaestina after 135 C.E., was the home for various ethnicities and religions: Jews, Samaritans, Christians, local pagans of different origins, and Roman officials and soldiers. The land was occupied by pagan poleis, Roman colonies, Jewish towns and villages and Samaritan settlements. Worship was conducted in temples, shrines, synagogues and Christian prayer halls and it left a record in Greek, Aramaic, Hebrew, Samaritan and Latin inscriptions. Some of the people, from diverse backgrounds, lived side by side in the cities, others in separate communities, but they all traded and negotiated with each other. Normally the relations between the groups were peaceful and based on coexistence, though sometimes they turned into hostility and struggle. But even during peaceful times of coexistence the boundaries between the communities remained clear and religious conversions and mixed marriages were uncommon. The diversity of communities in Roman Palestine is further emphasized by their strong and distinct self-identity. The diversity and strong identity is echoed in both historical sources and the archaeological data. In our session we would like to present new studies on the archaeology of Roman Iudaea/Syria Palaestina, rendering the province as multi-ethnic and multi-religious, and presenting its inhabitants as preoccupied with their identity that is mirrored in others.