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An Inscribed Pithos from the Ophel, Jerusalem VOLUME 63 • NUMBER 1 • 2013 CONTENTS 1 The Israel Exploration Society: 100 Years of Archaeological Activity I 6TALLAY ORNAN, STEVEN ORTIZ and SAMUEL WOLFF: A Newly Discovered Neo-Assyrian Cylinder Seal from Gezer in Context E Israel 26 MITCHELL BORNSTEIN: The Jerusalem Ostracon õøàð÷ìà Reconsidered J 39 EILAT MAZAR,DAVID BEN-SHLOMO and SHMUEL A¡ITUV: An Inscribed Pithos from the Ophel, Jerusalem 50 IRIT YEZERSKI: Typology and Chronology of the Iron Age II–III Judahite Rock-cut Tombs Exploration 78 ZVI URI MAªOZ: A Note on Pharanx Antiochus 83 YOEL ELITZUR: The Abba Cave: Unpublished Findings and a New Proposal Regarding Abba’s Identity 103 RENATE ROSENTHAL-HEGINBOTTOM: Reconsidering the Rock-Cut Burial Cave at Beit Nattif: A Response to Zissu and Klein Journal 109 NOTES AND NEWS 113 HEBREW BOOKS AND PAPERS 118 BOOKS RECEIVED — 2012 Page layout by Avraham Pladot Typesetting by Marzel A.S. — Jerusalem 63 VOLUME 63 • NUMBER 1 Printed by Old City Press, Jerusalem 1 JERUSALEM, ISRAEL • 2013 ISRAEL EXPLORATION JOURNAL ABBREVIATIONS AASOR Annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research ADAJ Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan Published twice yearly by the Israel Exploration Society and the Institute of AJA American Journal of Archaeology Archaeology of the Hebrew University, with the assistance of the Nathan AfO Archiv für Orientforschung Davidson Publication Fund in Archaeology, Samis Foundation, Seattle WA, ANET Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament3, ed. J.B. Pritchard, and Dorot Foundation, Providence RI Princeton, 1969 BA The Biblical Archaeologist BASOR Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research Founders BT Babylonian Talmud A. Reifenberg, D. Amiran CAD Chicago Assyrian Dictionary CIS Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum DJD Discoveries in the Judaean Desert Former Editors DSD Dead Sea Discoveries EI Eretz-Israel: Archaeological, Historical and Geographical Studies Michael Avi-Yonah, Dan Barag, Jonas C. Greenfield, Baruch A. Levine, ESI Excavations and Surveys in Israel Miriam Tadmor IAA Reports Israel Antiquities Authority Reports IEJ Israel Exploration Journal JAOS Journal of the American Oriental Society Editorial Board JBL Journal of Biblical Literature Shmuel A¢ituv and Amihai Mazar, Editors JCS Journal of Cuneiform Studies Tsipi Kuper-Blau, Executive Editor JEA Journal of Egyptian Archaeology Joseph Aviram, President, Israel Exploration Society JNES Journal of Near Eastern Studies KAI W. Donner and W. Röllig: Kanaanäische und aramäische Inschriften 1–3, Wiesbaden, 1962–1964; 15, 2002 Editorial Advisory Board NEAEHL The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land (English Edition), Jerusalem, 1993 Gideon Avni, Ofer Bar-Yosef, Shlomo Bunimovitz, Israel Ephªal, Baruch A. PEQ Palestine Exploration Quarterly Levine, Aren M. Maeir, Gloria Merker, Ronny Reich, Myriam Rosen-Ayalon, PT Palestinian Talmud Zeev Weiss QDAP Quarterly of the Department of Antiquities in Palestine RA Revue d’Assyriologieet d’ArchéologieOrientale RB Revue Biblique IEJ is now available online on JSTOR RE Pauly-Wissowa’s Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft RQ Revue de Qumran VT Vetus Testamentum Email: [email protected] ZA Zeitschrift für Assyriologie Books for review: Israel Exploration Journal, P.O.B. 7041, Jerusalem 91070, ZDPV Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins Israel Guidelines: http://israelexplorationsociety.huji.ac.il ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION RATES 2013: $60 including postage or equivalent payable to Copyright © 2013 Israel Exploration Society the Israel Exploration Society, P.O.B. 7041, Jerusalem 91070, Israel. ISSN 0021-2059 All subscribers are entitled to a 25% reduction on the publications of the Society. Subscribers should give full name and postal address when paying their subscription, and should send notice of change of address at least five weeks before it is to take effect; the old as well as the new address should be given. The Editors are not responsible for opinions expressed by the contributors Single issue: $30 or equivalent. VOLUME 63 • NUMBER 1 • 2013 CONTENTS 1 The Israel Exploration Society: 100 Years of Archaeological Activity I 6TALLAY ORNAN, STEVEN ORTIZ and SAMUEL WOLFF: A Newly Discovered Neo-Assyrian Cylinder Seal from Gezer in Context E Israel 26 MITCHELL BORNSTEIN: The Jerusalem Ostracon õøàð÷ìà Reconsidered J 39 EILAT MAZAR,DAVID BEN-SHLOMO and SHMUEL A¡ITUV: An Inscribed Pithos from the Ophel, Jerusalem 50 IRIT YEZERSKI: Typology and Chronology of the Iron Age II–III Judahite Rock-cut Tombs Exploration 78 ZVI URI MAªOZ: A Note on Pharanx Antiochus 83 YOEL ELITZUR: The Abba Cave: Unpublished Findings and a New Proposal Regarding Abba’s Identity 103 RENATE ROSENTHAL-HEGINBOTTOM: Reconsidering the Rock-Cut Burial Cave at Beit Nattif: A Response to Zissu and Klein Journal 109 NOTES AND NEWS 113 HEBREW BOOKS AND PAPERS 118 BOOKS RECEIVED — 2012 Page layout by Avraham Pladot Typesetting by Marzel A.S. — Jerusalem 63 VOLUME 63 • NUMBER 1 Printed by Old City Press, Jerusalem 1 JERUSALEM, ISRAEL • 2013 ISRAEL EXPLORATION JOURNAL ABBREVIATIONS AASOR Annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research ADAJ Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan Published twice yearly by the Israel Exploration Society and the Institute of AJA American Journal of Archaeology Archaeology of the Hebrew University, with the assistance of the Nathan AfO Archiv für Orientforschung Davidson Publication Fund in Archaeology, Samis Foundation, Seattle WA, ANET Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament3, ed. J.B. Pritchard, and Dorot Foundation, Providence RI Princeton, 1969 BA The Biblical Archaeologist BASOR Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research Founders BT Babylonian Talmud A. Reifenberg, D. Amiran CAD Chicago Assyrian Dictionary CIS Corpus Inscriptionum Semiticarum DJD Discoveries in the Judaean Desert Former Editors DSD Dead Sea Discoveries EI Eretz-Israel: Archaeological, Historical and Geographical Studies Michael Avi-Yonah, Dan Barag, Jonas C. Greenfield, Baruch A. Levine, ESI Excavations and Surveys in Israel Miriam Tadmor IAA Reports Israel Antiquities Authority Reports IEJ Israel Exploration Journal JAOS Journal of the American Oriental Society Editorial Board JBL Journal of Biblical Literature Shmuel A¢ituv and Amihai Mazar, Editors JCS Journal of Cuneiform Studies Tsipi Kuper-Blau, Executive Editor JEA Journal of Egyptian Archaeology Joseph Aviram, President, Israel Exploration Society JNES Journal of Near Eastern Studies KAI W. Donner and W. Röllig: Kanaanäische und aramäische Inschriften 1–3, Wiesbaden, 1962–1964; 15, 2002 Editorial Advisory Board NEAEHL The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land (English Edition), Jerusalem, 1993 Gideon Avni, Ofer Bar-Yosef, Shlomo Bunimovitz, Israel Ephªal, Baruch A. PEQ Palestine Exploration Quarterly Levine, Aren M. Maeir, Gloria Merker, Ronny Reich, Myriam Rosen-Ayalon, PT Palestinian Talmud Zeev Weiss QDAP Quarterly of the Department of Antiquities in Palestine RA Revue d’Assyriologieet d’ArchéologieOrientale RB Revue Biblique IEJ is now available online on JSTOR RE Pauly-Wissowa’s Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft RQ Revue de Qumran VT Vetus Testamentum Email: [email protected] ZA Zeitschrift für Assyriologie Books for review: Israel Exploration Journal, P.O.B. 7041, Jerusalem 91070, ZDPV Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins Israel Guidelines: http://israelexplorationsociety.huji.ac.il ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION RATES 2013: $60 including postage or equivalent payable to Copyright © 2013 Israel Exploration Society the Israel Exploration Society, P.O.B. 7041, Jerusalem 91070, Israel. ISSN 0021-2059 All subscribers are entitled to a 25% reduction on the publications of the Society. Subscribers should give full name and postal address when paying their subscription, and should send notice of change of address at least five weeks before it is to take effect; the old as well as the new address should be given. The Editors are not responsible for opinions expressed by the contributors Single issue: $30 or equivalent. An Inscribed Pithos from the Ophel, Jerusalem* EILAT MAZAR DAVID BEN-SHLOMO SHMUEL A¡ITUV The Hebrew University The Hebrew University Ben-Gurion University of Jerusalem of Jerusalem of the Negev ABSTRACT: During the 2012 excavations at the Ophel, a large building was partially revealed; it is broadly dated to the early (?) Iron Age IIA (it is hoped that a more accurate dating will be obtained after the study of its finds has been completed). A pile of large pottery fragments (L.223C) from seven pithoi was used as a stabiliser for the earth fill under the second floor of the building. All the pithoi belong to the neckless, folded-out rim type that is most likely the successor of the Collared-Rim Jar of the Iron Age I. The inscribed pithos rim was analysed by thin section petrography. The results indicate that the vessel was made of clay sourced to the central hills region, as were several other pithoi found with it. However, a certain variability in the so-called Mo«a clay formation used for these vessels was identified. Similarly-shaped pithoi from southern Israel that were analysed have the same provenance. The inscription is incised in a Proto-Canaanite/Early Canaanite script of the eleventh–tenth centuries BCE. It reads from left to right, but a combination of the letters m, q, p, ¢, n, l?, n yield no meaning in west-Semitic. The inscription remains, for now, enigmatic. THE excavations in which this pithos rim was found1 were conducted adjacent to the Ophel road, c. 80 m. to the south of the southern wall of the Temple Mount. This area is situated between the City of David in the south and the Temple Mount in the north. During the excavation, a large building (fig. 1) was partially revealed at the north-east side of this area; the building overlooks the expanse of the Kidron Valley, making its location of major strategic importance. The building, constructed directly on bedrock, was dated to the early (?) Iron Age IIA. The study * E. Mazar is responsible for the typological discussion of the pithoi and their dating; D. Ben-Shlomo for the petrographic analysis; and S. A¢ituv for the epigraphic discus- sion.
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