Temples and Santcuaries from the Early Iron Age Levant: Recovery after Collapse

496 Pages·2012·15.63 MB·English

by  William E. Mierse

Temples and Sanctuaries from
the Early Iron Age Levant
History, Archaeology, and Culture of the Levant
Edited by
Jeffrey A. Blakely University of Wisconsin, Madison
K. Lawson Younger Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
1. The Horsemen of Israel: Horses and Chariotry in Monarchic Israel (Ninth–Eighth
Centuries b.c.e.), by Deborah O’Daniel Cantrell
2. Donkeys in the Biblical World: Ceremony and Symbol,
by Kenneth C. Way
3. The Wilderness Itineraries: Genre, Geography, and the Growth of Torah,
by Angela R. Roskop
4. Temples and Sancturies from the Early Iron Age Levant: Recovery after Collapse,
by William E. Mierse
5. Poetic Astronomy in the Ancient Near East: The Reflexes of Celestial Science in
Ancient Mesopotamian, Ugaritic, and Israelite Narrative, by Jeffrey L. Cooley
Temples and Sanctuaries from
the Early Iron Age Levant
Recovery after Collapse
William E. Mierse
Winona Lake, Indiana
Eisenbrauns
2012
© 2012 by Eisenbrauns Inc.
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America

www.eisenbrauns.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Mierse, William E.
Temples and sanctuaries from the early Iron Age Levant : recovery after collapse / William E.
Mierse.
pages cm — (History, archaeology, and culture of the Levant ; 4)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-57506-246-4 (hardback : alk. paper)
1. Temples—Middle East. 2. Architecture, Ancient—Middle East. 3. Iron Age—Middle
East. I. Title.
NA212.M54 2012
726′.109394—dc23
2012028630
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Informa-
tion Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984.♾™
To my parents
for all their love and support

Contents
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
1. Another Study of Levantine Temples? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Earlier Work 2
Type of Study 5
Textual Material 8
Design of the Book 16
2. Geography and People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
The Physical Geography 23
The Human Geography 30
Patterns of Trade 53
A Sacred Landscape 55
3. Iron Age Temple Remains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Iron Age Absolute Chronology and Stratigraphy 58
Iron Age IA Sites: 1200–1000 b.c.e. 62
Iron Age IIA Sites: Tenth Century b.c.e. 99
Iron Age IIB Sites: Ninth–Late Eighth Centuries b.c.e. 107
Iron Age IIC Sites:
Late Eighth Century to the Mid-Sixth Century b.c.e. 133
Architectural Patterns:
A Post-colonial “Nationalist Revival”? 142
Conclusion 151
4. Continuity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
Construction Techniques 157
Plans and Orientation 158
Conclusion 195
5. New Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
Building Techniques 199
Building Forms 203
Architectural Sculpture 212
vii
viii Contents
Aegean Elements 215
Plans 223
Conclusion 227
6. Societal Forces and Early Iron Age Temple-Building . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
The Creative and Intellectual Aspects of Temple-Building 228
The Economics and Politics of Temple-Building 236
7. Levantine Architecture Goes West . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
Phoenicians and Greeks 280
The First Settlements 281
A Second Phoenician Colonization 292
Conclusion 297
8. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300
Collapse and Regeneration 304
The Spread of the Levantine Forms 308
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
Maps and Illustrations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371
Indexes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 463
Index of Authors 463
Index of Ancient Sources 467
Index of Biblical Sources 468
Index of Ancient Sites 469
Index of Topics 473
Preface
A book like this is never the result of one person’s effort alone. There are many
people who need to be thanked for their assistance over the years. Though it is com-
mon to thank one’s spouse at the end, I wish first of all to acknowledge my wife, Helen.
She, more than anyone other than me has been forced to adapt to the requirements of
writing a book that has taken too many years, and I want to thank her publicly for all
her patience and good humor. Helen accompanied me on all of the many site excur-
sions, trudging through fields and barren wastes to find the remains of overgrown
temples. She has ridden buses and broken-down taxis throughout much of the Middle
East and has never complained. I certainly could not have kept up my own spirits
without her good company. Moreover, she has patiently waited, given up weekend
autumn trips in New England or holiday getaways so that I could produce yet another
version of the manuscript. While I may have written the book, she certainly has lived
it alongside me.
Three colleagues must be singled out for having willingly undertaken the task of
reading earlier versions of this book. Without the insightful criticisms and sugges-
tions of Martha Joukowsky, Greg McMahon, and Aaron Brody, much of what is valu-
able in this manuscript would not be here. The anonymous reader for Eisenbrauns
also provided important corrective information. Obviously, he or she could not spot
all the weaknesses in the manuscript, and I take complete credit for what remains.
The research began at the American Center for Oriental Research in Amman,
where the then-director and co-director, Pierre and Patricia Bikai, created a warm
and stimulating environment in which I was able to explore many avenues of investi-
gation as I began the project. The discussions that I had with them at this early stage
helped me to refine the project over the ensuing years. The staff of ACOR during the
fall of 1996 was particularly helpful and contributed to making our stay there one of
our fondest memories.
Over the years, many other individuals have helped me to complete this work.
I want to acknowledge and thank the staff of the library of the Albright Institute in
Jerusalem and the photographic researchers at the British Museum, Walters Museum,
and Israel Museum. In my home institution, the University of Vermont, I must single
out the staff of the interlibrary loan department of the Bailey-Howe Library, who have
always found for me the obscure items that I seek. I would never have been able to
ix