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Temples in Antis in the Bronze and Iron Ages of the Levant

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Temples in Antis in the Bronze and Iron Ages of the Levant TEMPLES IN ANTIS IN THE BRONZE AND IRON AGES OF THE LEVANT: AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL CASE STUDY OF RITUAL AND RELIGION IN THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST Thesis submitted in accordance with the requirements of the University of Liverpool for the degree of Doctor in Philosophy by Rebecca Louise Trow April 2015 2 ABSTRACT Temples in antis first appear in the Early Bronze Age in modern day Syria and gradually spread southwards through the rest of the Levant from the Middle Bronze Age onwards. In Syria, some temples in antis are still found in the Iron Age but they seem to be declining in popularity in this period. This research aims to provide a new definition of temples in antis across the Levant based not only on the architecture as in previous research, but also on the finds within the temples. Looking at the finds as well as the architecture allows a consideration of the nature of activities associated with these buildings, and a comparison between these temples and other types of temples will show whether they represent a new style of cult or simply a new style of architecture to house existing cults. Before considering the temples in antis specifically, this research first presents a summary of research into religion and ritual in archaeology, an area that has been sadly neglected in the past, allowing a definition of what we may be encountering in the case of these temples. It is hoped that this research will add to the recent wave of research on religion in archaeology, acting as a case study that shows how the archaeological remains of religion should be considered as an important piece of evidence allowing us to better understand ancient societies, rather than simply being ignored or treated as something of a joke. In the main part of this research, the entire corpus of temples in antis is collected, and then all the available data on finds from these temples are brought together for analysis. Because of the lack of data for many sites, four case study sites (Ebla, Tel Haror, Tell el-Hayyat and Hazor) were chosen which act as a base to which other, more poorly published sites may be compared. Conclusions based on this research are threefold considering: firstly, what can be determined about religion and ritual in the temple in antis; secondly, how these temples compare to other types of temples; and finally, how these temples, whatever they represent, may have spread. iii iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thanks must of course be given to my supervisor, Dr Bruce Routledge for his guidance and support not only during this research, but also throughout my university career. He has offered invaluable advice and all important perspective whenever I became swamped by information and lost sight of my objectives, and above all he has been patient and willing to read very rough drafts of this research and listen to my ramblings about various aspects of it without complaint. Special thanks must also go to my examiners, Dr Rachael Sparks and Dr Magnus Widell for taking the time to read the first submission of this thesis and for offering useful and productive feedback that has made it into the work it is today. I would also like to thank Bruce and my other site directors: Benjamin W. Porter, Katherine Adelsberger, Danielle S. Fatkin, and Stephanie H. Brown; at both the Dhiban Exploration and Development Project and the Busayra Cultural Heritage Project, for letting me spend my summers playing in the Jordanian dirt, reminding me each year why I love archaeology and the Near East so much. Finally, I am absolutely indebted to my parents for providing emotional support, a roof over my head, and for putting up with the many hours that I spent being antisocial, sitting in front of the computer, surrounded by books. Thank you for always being there and understanding (and for the many, many cups of tea that kept me sane over the past few years). v vi CONTENTS List of Figures ix List of Tables xi List of Graphs xiii 1. Introduction 1 2. The Archaeology of Religion 17 Previous Perspectives on Religion and Ritual 18 Sociological and Anthropological Approaches 19 Archaeological Approaches 24 Sacred Space 31 Summary-Identifying Ritual in the Archaeological Record 32 The spread of religion and ritual 32 Summary 39 3. Temple Architecture 41 Previous Research 41 Temple Building in Texts 50 Jerusalem (Solomon’s Temple) 51 Characteristics of the temple in antis 53 Terminology 54 Summary 56 4. Gazetteer of Temples in Antis 61 5. Case Studies 125 Ebla 125 Tel Haror 131 Tell el-Hayyat 143 Hazor 158 Summary 177 6. Comparative Temples 185 Tell el-Dab’a 185 Hazor C 187 Hazor F 189 Lachish 191 Nahariyah 194 Summary 195 7. Analysis of the Finds from all Temples 199 Ceramics 199 Small Finds 213 Faunal Material 219 Botanical Remains 223 8. Conclusions 227 Ritual activities in temples in antis 227 Comparison to other types of temples 230 The spread of the temples in antis 235 Summary 236 Abbreviations 237 Bibliography 239 vii viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1- Map of the Levant and Northern Egypt .................................................................... 3 Figure 2- Reconstruction of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem ................................................. 52 Figure 3-Schematic plan of a typical temple in antis ............................................................... 56 Figure 4- Map of the northern Levant showing sites mentioned in the text ............................ 58 Figure 5- Map of the southern Levant showing sites mentioned in text .................................. 59 Figure 6- Tell Afis, Temple G ................................................................................................. 62 Figure 7- Tell Afis, Temple AI ................................................................................................ 63 Figure 8- The Acropolis Building at Ai ................................................................................... 64 Figure 9- The 'Ain Dara Temple, Final Phase ......................................................................... 66 Figure 10- Alalakh Temples .................................................................................................... 68 Figure 11- Aleppo "Temple of the Storm God" ....................................................................... 72 Figure 12- Tell Al-Rawda, Religious Complex ....................................................................... 73 Figure 13- Tell al-Rawda, unexcavated temples seen from geophysics results ...................... 74 Figure 14- Tall Bi'a Temple ..................................................................................................... 76 Figure 15- Byblos, Temple en L and Chapelle Orientale (right) ............................................. 78 Figure 16- Carchemish, "Temple of the Storm God" .............................................................. 80 Figure 17- Tell Chuera, Plan of the site showing location of temples .................................... 81 Figure 18- Tell Chuera, Aussenbau Nord, Tempel Nord, Kleiner, & Steinbau VI ................. 82 Figure 19- Tell Chuera, plan of the Steinbau Complex, Steinbau I-III ................................... 83 Figure 20- Plan of Ebla showing location of temples .............................................................. 84 Figure 21- Ebla, left to right: Temple B1, Temple N, and Sanctuary G3 ................................ 85 Figure 22- Ebla, three phases of the Area D temple ................................................................ 86 Figure 23- Ebla, Area P ........................................................................................................... 87 Figure 24- Ebla Area HH Temples .......................................................................................... 88 Figure 25- Emar, Twin Temples of Area E ............................................................................. 90 Figure 26- Emar, Second Temple (Left) and Temple of the Diviner (Right) .......................... 91 Figure 27- Halawa B, Building II (left) and Building I (right) ................................................ 93 Figure 28-Halawa A, Building I .............................................................................................. 94 Figure 29- Tel Haror Temple Area, left to right: Stratum V, Stratum IVb, Stratum IVa ........ 95 Figure 30- Tell el-Hayyat Temples, Phases 5-2 ....................................................................... 96 Figure 31- Plan of Hazor showing excavation areas with temples .......................................... 98 Figure 32- Hazor Area H Temple, Strata 3-1a ......................................................................... 99 Figure 33- Hazor Area A ....................................................................................................... 101 Figure 34- Tell Kabir Temple ................................................................................................ 104 Figure 35- The Tell Kittan Temples, Stratum V, Stratum IV, Stratum III ............................ 105 Figure 36- Mari, The Lion Temple ........................................................................................ 107 Figure 37- Megiddo, Early Bronze III-Middle Bronze I Sacred Area (Strata XVII-XIVa) .. 109 Figure 38- Megiddo, Middle Bronze II-Iron Age I Sacred Area Strata X-VIIa) ................... 111 Figure 39- Tall Munbāqa, Steinbau 1-3 ................................................................................. 112 Figure 40- The Pella Temples, Phases 1-6............................................................................
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