The Archaeology Of Israelite Samaria Volume 2 The Eighth Century Bce

In this study, Tappy completes the study of the Iron Age strata at Samaria that began with the first volume of this work. Tappy's goal is to provide a thorough-going analysis of prior archaeologists' work at this important north Israelite site

In this comprehensive study, Professor Tappy rounds out the study of the Iron Age strata at Samaria that he began with the first volume of this work, published in 1992 (The Early Iron Age through the Ninth Century, HSS 44). Tappy's goal is to provide a thorough-going analysis of prior archaeologists' work at this important north Israelite site, with a view to providing a complete reconstruction of the depositional history of the site during the Iron Age. The two volumes together are important, not only for the history of the city of Samaria, but for the archaeological sequences of the Iron Age in northern Israel.

In this comprehensive study, Professor Tappy rounds out the study of the Iron Age strata at Samaria that he began with the first volume of this work, published in 1992 ( The Early Iron Age through the Ninth Century , HSS 44). Tappy's goal is to provide a thorough-going analysis of prior archaeologists' work at this important north Israelite site, with a view to providing a complete reconstruction of the depositional history of the site during the Iron Age. The two volumes together are important, not only for the history of the city of Samaria, but for the archaeological sequences of the Iron Age in northern Israel.

Preliminary Material -- Introduction -- Pottery Period 1: Traces of The Earliest Iron age Occupation -- Pottery Period 2: Evidence for a Distinct Historical Period? -- Pottery Period 3: “Filling The Gap”--Material Remains From the House of Omri and the Reign of Jehu -- Conclusions -- Excursus I: A Cistern Deposit Assigned to Pottery Period 1 at Samaria -- Excursus II: Comparative Stratigraphy and Loci: Establishing a Ceramic Control Group -- Appendices -- Bibliography -- General Index.

Recently, a travel account and 700 photographs came to light by the hand of Leo Boer, a former student of the École Biblique et Archéologique Française in Jerusalem who, at the age of 26 in 1953–4 visited many archaeological sites in the area of present-day Israel and the Palestinian Territories. These documents inspired 20 internationally-renowned scholars – many of whom excavated at the sites they describe – to report on what we know today of nine particular sites chosen from the many that Leo Boer visited 60 years ago: Jerusalem, Khirbet et-Tell (?i?), Samaria & Sebaste, Tell Balata (Shechem), Tell es-Sultan (Jericho), Khirbet Qumran, Caesarea, Megiddo, and Bet She’an. Rather than focusing on the history of these sites, the contributors describe the history of the archaeological expeditions. Who excavated these sites over the years? What were the specific aims of their campaigns? What techniques and methods did they use? How did they interpret these excavations? What finds were most noteworthy? And finally, what are the major misconceptions held by the former excavators? Several themes are interwoven amongst the contributions and variously discussed, such as ‘identification of biblical sites’, ‘regional surveys’, ‘underwater archaeology’, ‘archaeothanatology’, ‘archaeology and politics’, ‘archaeology and science’, and ‘heritage management’. This unique collection of images and essays offers to scholars working in the region previously unpublished materials and interpretations as well as new photographs. For students of archaeology, ancient or Biblical history and theology it contains both a detailed archaeological historiography and explores some highly relevant, specific themes. Finally, the superb quality of Boer’s photography provides an unprecedented insight into the archaeological landscape of post-war Palestine for anyone interested in Biblical history and archaeology.

This book is a brief, popular (but informed and up-to-date) introduction to the relationship between the Bible and archaeology. Material culture (i.e., artifacts) and the biblical text illuminate each other in various ways, but many of us find it difficult to reach a nuanced understanding of how this process works and how archaeological discoveries should be interpreted. This book provides an irenic and balanced perspective on these issues, showing how texts and artifacts are in a fascinating “dialogue” with one another that sheds light on the meaning and importance of both. What emerges is a rich and complex picture that enlivens our understanding of the Bible’s message, increases our appreciation for the historical and cultural contexts in which it was written, and helps us be realistic about the limits of our knowledge.

The fall of Samaria is narrated in 2 Kings 17. The cuneiform inscriptions dealing with this event are prima facie contradictory: the conquest is ascribed to both Shalmaneser V and Sargon II. The surmise of H. Tadmor that Samaria was conquered twice is investigated. At the same time the events are interpreted in their socio-historical framework. Tadmor's assumption cannot be falsified, although his theory should be modified as regards the date of the first conquest: 723 B.C.E. The fall of Samaria can be interpreted as an inevitable result of the expansion of the Assyrian Empire in combination with internal struggles in Israel. Evidence of deportation reveals that deportees were treated as normal citizens. Thorough discussion of the sources and their interpretation is a feature of this book.

Despite considerable scholarly efforts for many years, the last two decades of the Kingdom of Israel are still beneath the veil of history. What was the status of the Kingdom after its annexation by Assyria in 732 BCE? Who conquered Samaria, the capital of the Kingdom? When did it happen? One of the primary reasons for this situation lies in the discrepancies found in the historical sources, namely the Hebrew Bible and the Assyrian texts. Since biblical studies and Assyriology are two distinct disciplines, the gaps in the sources are not easy to bridge. Moreover, recent great progress in the archaeological research in the Southern Levant provides now crucial new data, independent of these textual sources. This volume, a collection of papers by leading scholars from different fields of research, aims to bring together, for the first time, all the available data and to discuss these conundrums from various perspectives in order to reach a better and deeper understanding of this crucial period, which possibly triggered in the following decades the birth of "new Israel" in the Southern Kingdom of Judah, and eventually led to the formation of the Hebrew Bible and its underlying theology.