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UC Berkeley UC Berkeley Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Piety, Practice, and Politics: Agency and Ritual in the Late Bronze Age Southern Levant Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8vx8j9v5 Author DePietro, Dana Douglas Publication Date 2012 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California Piety, Practice, and Politics: Ritual and Agency in the Late Bronze Age Southern Levant By Dana Douglas DePietro A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Near Eastern Studies in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Marian Feldman, Chair Professor Benjamin Porter Professor Aaron Brody Professor Margaret Conkey Spring 2012 © 2012- Dana Douglas DePietro All rights reserved. Abstract Piety, Practice, and Politics: Ritual and Agency in the Late Bronze Southern Levant by Dana Douglas DePietro Doctor of Philosophy in Near Eastern Studies University of California, Berkeley Professor Marian Feldman, Chair Striking changes in the archaeological record of the southern Levant during the final years of the Late Bronze Age have long fascinated scholars interested in the region and period. Attempts to explain the emergence of new forms of Canaanite material culture have typically cited external factors such as Egyptian political domination as the driving force behind culture change, relying on theoretical models of acculturation, elite-emulation and center-periphery theory. While these approaches can be useful in explaining some dimensions of culture-contact, they are limited by their assumption of a unidirectional flow of power and influence from dominant core societies to passive peripheries. As a result, they are unable to adequately explain the wide variety of complex interactions and changes that characterize the archaeological record of the LB IIB southern Levant. In this dissertation I argue for a new approach to the region and period, one that recognizes the equally important role of the individual in dictating the terms of cross-cultural interaction, as well as the recursive relationship between those individuals and the social structures within which they operate. I hypothesize that instead of simply emulating or adapting to foreign powers, a process of cultural entanglement took place between the Levant and its neighbors. This process resulted in new hybridizing practices emerged and existed in constant state of renegotiation, with participants actively choosing specific cultural elements to adopt, maintain and transform altogether. To investigate this, I argue that ritual activity is ideally suited to assess such processes, given that it engages with the realm of ideas, making them manifest through practice and accessible through the archaeological record. Incorporating new archaeological evidence from the southern Levant, I evaluate change and continuity within three distinct, yet complimentary lines of evidence relating to ritual activity in the LB IIB: temples and their assemblages, mortuary traditions, and Canaanite “bowl-lamp” deposits. By evaluating change and continuity over time, 1 each case study examines how identity and relationships of power were facilitated, enforced and negotiated through ritual activity at both local and regional levels. Abandoning traditional morphological typologies, the results of this contextual study show a remarkable degree of uniformity in ritual practice across the LB IIB southern Levant. I conclude that these overlapping patterns of practice suggest shared emic notions of what specific forms of ritual practice entail, indicating a higher level of cultural cohesion during the period than has been previously assumed. At the same time, the study shows that degrees of local variation in each ritual practice exist as well. This combination of regional patterning and local variation indicates that while a general process of Canaanite cultural coalescence was taking place during the LB IIB, it played out differently in various locales according to local interests. The evidence therefore indicates that this process, along with the emergence of new and unattested ritual practices, is the product of both local agency and the structural conditions within which it operates. 2 Table of Contents List of Figures ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… iv Acknowledgements ………………………………………………………………………………………………... vi Chapter I: Introduction Ia. Overview and statement of the Problem …………………………………………………………… 1 Prior Interpretations and Scholarship …………………………………………………… 2 New Perspectives and Approaches …………………………………………………………… 6 Ib. Dissertation Structure and Overview of Chapters………………………………………………… 8 Chapter II: Theoretical Approaches to Cross-Cultural Contact IIa. Prior Approaches to Cross-Cultural Interaction in the LB IIB Southern Levant …… 11 “Direct Rule” Models and Egyptian Hegemony in the LB IIB ……………………….. 12 Processual Approaches, World-Systems Theory and “Elite Emulation” ………… 17 Interrogating “Egyptianization” Direct Rule and Elite Emulation ………………… 21 IIb. New Approaches to Cross-Cultural Interaction in the LB IIB Southern Levant ……… 25 Agency, Hybridity, and Cultural Entanglement ……………………................................ 25 Ritual as Practice and Methodology …………………………………………………………… 28 Chapter III: Temples, Sanctuaries and Cultic Paraphernalia IIIa. Approaches to Temples and Sacred Space in the Late Bronze IIB ……………………… 32 IIIb. Late Bronze IIB Temples in Context …………………………………………………………………. 34 Tell Abu Hawam ……………………………………………………………………………………… 34 Tell Nami ………………………………………………………………………………………………… 35 Tel Mevorakh …………………………………………………………………………………………… 36 Tell Qasile ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 37 Jaffa ………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 38 Hazor …………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 38 Megiddo …………………………………………………………………………………………………. 45 Shechem (Tell Balatah) ……………………………………………………………………………. 46 Lachish …………………………………………………………………………………………………… 47 Tel Sera (Tell esh-Shari’a) ………………………………………………………………………… 53 Beth Shean ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 54 Pella ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 56 Tell Deir Alla …………………………………………………………………………………………. 57 IIIc. Problems in Typology and the Question of Foreign Influence …………………………….. 56 The Amman Airport Building and other “SQuare Temples” ………………………… 59 “Egyptian Style” Temples ………………………………………………………………………… 62 IIId. Comparative Analysis and Conclusions ……………………………………………………………. 64 i Chapter IV: Mortuary Ritual and Practice in the LB IIB Southern Levant IVa. Late Bronze IIB Mortuary Traditions and Prior Scholarship ……………………………….. 68 Theoretical Approaches to Mortuary Archaeology ……………………………………… 68 Prior Scholarship and Interpretive Framework …………………………………………... 71 IVb. Late Bronze IIB Mortuary Traditions in Context ………………………………………………… 73 Continuity in LB IIB Mortuary Practice ……………………………………………………… 74 Change in LB IIB Mortuary Practice ………………………………………………………….. 76 Purpose-Built Burial Caves and Tombs ……………………………………………………… 76 LB IIB “Container” Burials: The Double-Pithos/ Storage Jar Burial ……………… 77 LB IIB “Container” Burials: The Anthropoid Coffin Burial …………………………… 80 IVc. Gravegoods, Ritual and Provisioning for the Dead in the LB IIB …………………………. 84 IVd. The Question of Foreign Influence ……………………………………………………………………. 88 Egyptian Mortuary Traditions …………………………………………………………………. 91 Mesopotamian and North Syrian Mortuary Traditions ……………………………….. 92 IVe. Conclusions …………………………………………………………………………………………………… 97 Chapter V: Canaanite “Bowl-Lamp” Deposits Va. Canaanite “Bowl-Lamp” Foundation Deposits ………………………………………………… 99 Approaching Foundation Deposits and Building Rituals ……………………… 100 Vb. Canaanite “Bowl-Lamp” Deposits in Context …………………………………………………… 100 Tel Gerisa ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 100 Ashkelon ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 102 Deir el-Balah ………………………………………………………………………………………… 103 Haruvit (Haruba) ………………………………………………………………………………… 104 Bir el ‘Abd …………………………………………………………………………………………… 104 Aphek …………………………………………………………………………………………………… 104 Gezer …………………………………………………………………………………………………… 104 Tel Miqne (Ekron) ………………………………………………………………………………….. 105 Beth Shemesh ………………………………………………………………………………………… 106 Tel es-Safi ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 106 Tell Zakariya (‘Azeka) …………………………………………………………………………… 107 Tell Sandahanna (Maresha) …………………………………………………………………… 107 Lachish ………………………………………………………………………………………………… 107 Tell el-Hesi …………………………………………………………………………………………… 108 Tell Jemmeh (Gerar) ……………………………………………………………………………… 109 Tel Sera (Tell es-Shari’a) ………………………………………………………………………… 109 Pella ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 110 Tel Rehov ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 110 Vc. Interpretation of the Deposits and the Question of Foreign Influence ……………… 111 Egyptian New Kingdom Foundation Rituals ……………………………………………… 111 Hittite, North Syrian and Mesopotamian Foundation Traditions ……………….. 114 Vd. Comparative Analysis ………………………………………………………………………………… 118 Ve. Interpretation and Conclusions ………………………………………………………………………… 120 Site Distribution …………………………………………………………………………………… 120 ii Intra-site Distribution ……………………………………………………………………………… 121 Function and Interpretation ……………………………………………………………………. 122 Chapter VI: Conclusions VIa. Conclusions ………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 125 Temples and Cultic Assemblages ……………………………………………………………. 126 Burial Patterns …………………………………………………………………………………….. 126 “Bowl-Lamp” Deposits ………………………………………………………………………….. 127 Regional