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Archaeological Sources for the History of Palestine: the Late Bronze Age Author(S): Albert Leonard, Jr

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Archaeological Sources for the History of Palestine: the Late Bronze Age Author(S): Albert Leonard, Jr Archaeological Sources for the History of Palestine: The Late Bronze Age Author(s): Albert Leonard, Jr. Reviewed work(s): Source: The Biblical Archaeologist, Vol. 52, No. 1, The Late Bronze Age in Palestine (Mar., 1989), pp. 4-39 Published by: The American Schools of Oriental Research Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3210180 . Accessed: 04/01/2012 03:14 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. The American Schools of Oriental Research is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Biblical Archaeologist. http://www.jstor.org ArchaeologicalSources for the History of Palestine Te ate Bronzege by Albert Leonard, Jr. heLate Bronze Age in both events and help illuminate the will discuss each of the subphases of Canaan began and ended more than three centuries of cul- the Late Bronze Age in Canaan- with large-scalepopula- tural development that took place in first in terms of the history revealed tion shifts: the Egyptian Canaan between them. In fact, Syro- by Egyptiansources and then in repulsion of the so-called Hyksos Palestine can be seen better against view of Canaan'sceramic, architec- around1550 B.C.E. andthe incursion the backdropof these Egyptianrec- tural, and funeraryevidence. By this of the multinational Sea Peoples just ords than at any other time in its juxtaposition of local archaeological after1200 B.C.E. Egyptianrecords prior history. datawith contemporaneousEgyptian from this period provide details of Thus, in the following pages I historical materials, I hope to show 4 Biblical Archaeologist, March 1989 that the texture of Canaan'smaterial culture in the Late Bronze Age varied in response to Egyptianpolitical and economic initiatives, which, iron- ically, were often directed towardthe larger and more formidable states to the north and east of Canaan. Late Bronze IA Late Bronze IA coveredroughly one hundred years. Its beginning corres- ponded with the expulsion of the Hyksos from Egyptby Amosis, first pharaohof the Eighteenth Dynasty,1 and its end came with the attack of Tuthmosis III,sixth pharaoh of the dynasty, on the Canaanite fortress of Megiddo.This is a very confusing period in the archaeological record, marked by destructions and partial abandonments. EgyptianHistorical Evidence. For the hundred years prior to 1550 B.C.E. much of Egyptwas ruled by a group of foreigners.Later known as the Hyksos and designated as the Fif- teenth and Sixteenth Dynasties, this group,probably Asiatics, had its capital at Avaris (Telled-Dabca) in the eastern Delta (Bietak 1986). It was the Seventeenth Dynasty pha- raoh, Kamose, or possibly his prede- cessor Sekenenre,who first rebelled against the Hyksos (Pritchard1950: 232). An account of the Egyptian attack on Avarisand its subsequent destruction was found in the tomb Above:Although small religious structures with a single cult focus appear to have been the norm during Late BronzeIB, a rambling religious precinct in stratum IX at Beth Shan can now be dated to this period. Called the "T7thmoseIII Temple"by its excavators,the precinct, probably dedicated to numerous deities, has yielded many steles, including this one. In the upperregister a dog and a male lion of similar size wrestle while standing on their back legs. In the bottom register a dog bites the hindquartersof a striding lion. It is doubtful that such a costly monument was erected as a memorial to the hunting dog, but loftier interpretationshave not been offered.From an artistic standpoint, the stele is as good a piece of stone sculpture as anything from Late Bronze Syro-Palestine.Photograph courtesy of the Israel Department of Antiquities and Museums. Left: "Seventimes and seven times, I bow down on my back and belly,"is one of the claims made in the Amarna letters by Canaanite vassals expressing their subservience and loyalty to Egyptianrulers during Late BronzeIIA (el-Amarnaletter 323; Mercer 1939: 771).On this relief from the Memphite tomb of Horemheb,last pharaoh of the EighteenthDynasty, a mixed groupof foreignersseems to be acting out their devotion beforeone of the pharaoh'sservants. The groupconsists of five full-beardedSyrians, each wearing a long-sleeved garment with a shoulder cape; an additional Syrian whose wavy hair is tied up like a hat and who wears a kilt with long tassels; two Libyans distinguished by their sharppointy beards and the feather protrudingfrom their long straight hair; and a beardless figure,possibly that of an African. Photographcourtesy of the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden. Biblical Archaeologist, March 1989 5 Dividing the Late Bronze Age Albright Wright Amiran Weinstein Kenyon Thearchaeological 1570 Pharaoh 1949 1965b 1970 1981 1973 recordfor the Amosis LateBronze Age 1550 in Palestineis A , oftenuncertain. Amenophis I 1525 Scholarshave LB IA ? ,' ? offeredvarying Tuthmosis I chronologiesof Tuthmosis II LB IA ---------- its phases. 1500o - ,' B Hatshepsut LB IA ess than forty years ago William F. L Albright (1949)made the first intelli- 1475 gent attempts to synthesize our under- standing of the late Bronze Age at more STuthmosis III than one Palestinian site. At that time there wasn't much material for the criti- cal to use. For Late archaeologist instance, 1450 - -------- - LBIALBB Bronze I was simply subdivided into an LB IB early phase (Late Bronze IA), which Al- saw as level at Tell bright representedby II Amenophis II c el-cAjjuland stratum IX at Megiddo,with their characteristic elaborate Bichrome - Warepottery. A second phase (LateBronze 1425 ----------- -LBIB IB) was considered "somewhat of a step- Tuthmosis IV child" until the excavation of the lowest 7 stratum (StructureI) of the Fosse Temple at Lachish provided Albright with what he considered suitable archaeological 1400 deposits. Albright admitted that the sub- Amenophis III division of Late Bronze II was difficult to achieve with accuracy,but he offered an LB IIA LB IIA early subphase, Late Bronze IIA, which S roughly corresponded to the fourteenth ---------LB IIA LB IIA Gap? 1375 century B.C.E.(the Amarnaperiod and the Amenophis IV shift from the Eighteenth to the Nine- (Akhenaten) - - - - - - - - - teenth Dynasties), and a later subphase, Smenhare- Late Bronze IIB,which dated to the thir- AmenphisaIre teenth century B.C.E.(the Ramesside The sequenceof majorEgyptian pharaohs of the NewKingdom and the chronological subdivisions period). His rule of thumb for placing of the LateBronze Age as proposedby William E Albright(1949), G. ErnestWright (1965b), within this skele- RuthAmiran (1970), and James M. Weinstein(1981). Dame Kathleen Kenyon's (1973) Late homogeneous deposits Bronze also areincluded. Absolute dates are those followed the ton was on Agegroups by Cambridge overly reliant, however, Myce- AncientHistory. Conversion to the newdates proposed by K.A. Kitchen(1987) can be achieved naean Greek and Cypriot imports whose by consultingthe reignsof specificpharaohs given in the text. Whenan authorhas given an 6 Biblical Archaeologist, March 1989 Albright Wright Amiran Weinstein Kenyon chronological sequences were just then 1360 Pharaoh 1949 1965b 1970 1981 1973 becoming known (Leonard1987b; Hankey In his later writings Albright con- Tutankhamun 1987). 1350 Gap? tinued to refine his original categories, 1350 w ~ Ay and most scholars follow at least a modi- fied version of his chronology. Both G. LB IIA LB IIA D Ernest Wright (1965b)and Ruth Amiran for have divided the Horemheb (1970), instance, peri- ,., Horemheb LB IIA LBIIA od into LateBronze I, LateBronze IIA, and 1325 - Late BronzeIIB. The other major attempt to create a Ramesses I chronological yardstick for the Late Bronze Age material from Syro-Palestine Sethos I was made by the British archaeologist 1300 E Dame Kathleen Kenyon, who devised a E system based on a reevaluation of the excavatedmaterial from Megiddo,Hazor, Lachish, and other sites (1973: 527-30). Kenyon selected only those individual deposits that she was convinced displayed 1275 sufficient archaeological (that is, strati- Ramesses II graphical)integrity for chronological pur- poses, and she arrangedthem into seven groups (A through G). In Albright'sterms LBIIB LBIIB these groups can be summarized as Late SF Bronze A and Late Bronze 1250 LB IIB LB IIB IA (Groups B), IB (GroupC), Late Bronze IIA (latter part of GroupC, a gap,and Group D), and Late Bronze IIB(Groups E, F,and G). In spite of her keen eye for strati- Merneptah graphical detail and her implicit caveat 1225 against placing too much emphasis on Amnenmesses sites that were poorly excavated during Sethos II Gap? the infancy of the discipline, Kenyon's Siptah system has not been widely accepted. This is most probablythe result of prac- Tewosret 1200 tical matters such as confusion over the Sethnakhte relationship between Groups A and B, the fifty-yearhiatus between Groups C and D (given the absolute dates with which she was this covers almost the Ramesses III working, gap e entire Amarna and another sub- 0G G period), 1175 stantial gap between Groups F and G at - - - - - - the end of the Late Bronze Age. In 1981James M. Weinstein produced an important synthesis of the archae- ological and literary material bearing on absolutedate that date has been used in the chart;when a datehas been expressed in termsof a the chronology of the Late Bronze Age. pharaoh'sreign, the datehas been extrapolated to the CambridgeAncient History dates; when After reviewing the Egyptian as well as has as botha pharaoh'sreign and an absolutedate are offered, the pharaoh'sreign beenused, the Weinstein this is most to reflectthe viewsof the author.This chartattempts only to be an Syro-Palestinianevidence, likely original relative that is approximationby the author.
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