A Wayside Shrine In Northern Moab

Major recent excavations, have shed much light on the complexity of Iron Age society and religion in southern Palestine, a region where both Judeans and Edomites lived. However, it is not clear whether the religious practices attested at these sites were a reflection of localised customs or were common rituals for peoples of Cisjordan and we do not know their extent. An isolated shrine site at Wadi ath-Thamad Site WT-13 in northern Moab which contained numerous finds of Iron Age figurines and statues has been the subject of detailed excavation. The rich harvest of figurines, ceramic statues, beads, miniature ceramic vessels, architectural models, faunal remains and shells and fossils constitutes the evidence for repeated cultic activities. Although dating to the Iron Age at the time of the consolidation of the kingdom of Moab, there is insufficient evidence at present to determine the full range of cultic practices and deities venerated by the peoples of the lands within ancient Moab and by those visitors to the shrine. The links between WT-13 and the surrounding town sites is only now coming to light with excavation at Atarus and Khirbat al-Mudayna, as well as at the Ammonite site of Tall Damiyah in the Jordan Valley, where a comparable shrine has recently been uncovered. WT-13 clearly serves as a link between the Jordan Valley and the Negev, adding to our knowledge of local and foreign influences in the region during the Iron Age.

Presents the results of recent excavations at a small, isolated but very important Iron Age shrine in Moab, southern Palestine.

This volume celebrates the career of Norma Franklin, an archaeologist who has made important contributions to our understanding of the three key cities of Samaria, Megiddo, and Jezreel in the Northern Kingdom of Israel during the Iron Age. The sixteen essays offered herein by Franklin's colleagues in archaeology and biblical studies are a fitting tribute to the woman in the pith helmet: an indomitable field archaeologist who describes herself as "happiest with complex stratigraphy" and dedicated to "killing sacred cows."

This English translation of the second edition of Christian Frevel’s essential textbook Geschichte Israels (Kohlhammer, 2018) covers the history of Israel from its beginnings until the Bar Kokhba revolt (132–135 CE). Frevel draws on archaeological evidence, inscriptions and monuments, as well as the Bible to sketch a picture of the history of ancient Israel within the context of the southern Levant that is sometimes familiar but often fresh and unexpected. Frevel has updated the second German edition with the most recent research of archaeologists and biblical scholars, including those based in Europe. Tables of rulers, a glossary, a timeline of the ancient Near East, and resources arranged by subject make this book an accessible, essential textbook for students and scholars alike.

The Bible says that YHWH alone is God and that there is none like him—but texts and artwork from antiquity show that many gods looked very similar. In this volume, scholars of the Hebrew Bible and its historical contexts address the problem of YHWH’s ancient look-alikes, providing recommendations for how Jews and Christians can think theologically about this challenge. Sooner or later, whether in a religion class or a seminary course, students bump up against the fact that God—the biblical God—was one among other, comparable gods. The ancient world was full of gods, including great gods of conquering empires, dynastic gods of petty kingdoms, goddesses of fertility, and personal spirit guardians. And in various ways, these gods look like the biblical God. Like the God of the Bible, they, too, controlled the fates of nations, chose kings, bestowed fecundity and blessing, and cared for their individual human charges. They spoke and acted. They experienced wrath and delight. They inspired praise. All of this leaves Jews and Christians in a bind: how can they confess that the God named YHWH was (and is) the true and living God, in view of this God’s profound similarities to all these others? The essays in this volume address the theological challenge these parallels create, providing reflections on how Jews and Christians can keep faith in YHWH as God while acknowledging the reality of YHWH’s divine doppelgängers. It will be welcomed by undergraduates studying religion; seminarians and graduate students of Bible, theology, and the ancient world; and adult education classes.

In Excavations at Tall Jawa, Jordan: Vol. 3, The Iron Age Pottery, Michèle Daviau presents a detailed typology of the Iron Age pottery, studying formal changes, fabric composition, forming techniques, painted designs and surface treatment.

Ancient Israel's Neighbors explores both the biblical portrayal of the neighboring groups directly surrounding Israel-the Canaanites, Philistines, Phoenicians, Edomites, Moabites, Ammonites, and Arameans-and examines what we can know about these groups through their own literature, archaeology, and other sources. This book will invite readers into journey of scholarly discovery to explore the world of Israel's identity within its most immediate ancient NearEastern context.

This book examines the relationship between mobility, lived religiosities, and conceptions of divine personhood as they are preserved in textual corpora and material culture from Israel, Judah, Egypt, and Mesopotamia. By integrating evidence of the form and function of religiosities in contexts of mobility and migration, this volume reconstructs mobility-informed aspects of civic and household religiosities in Israel and its world. Readers will find a robust theoretical framework for studying cultures of mobility and religiosities in the ancient past, as well as a fresh understanding of the scope and texture of mobility-informed religious identities that composed broader Yahwistic religious heritage. Cultures of Mobility, Migration, and Religion in Ancient Israel and Its World will be of use to both specialists and informed readers interested in the history of mobilities and migrations in the ancient Near East, as well as those interested in the development of Yahwism in its biblical and extra-biblical forms.