Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-mlc7c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T09:24:09.902Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Ancient texts and archaeology revisited – radiocarbon and Biblical dating in the southern Levant

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Thomas E. Levy ,
Mohammad Najjar  and
Thomas Higham
Thomas E. Levy
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology and Center for Interdisciplinary Science for Art, Architecture and Archaeology, California Institute for Telecommunication and Information Technology (Calit2), University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA (Email: tlevy@ucsd.edu)
Mohammad Najjar
Affiliation:
Levantine Archaeological Laboratory, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA (Email: m.najjar@joscapes.com)
Thomas Higham
Affiliation:
Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, Dyson Perrins Building, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QY, UK
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The Iron Age sequence in the southern Levant is one of the most evocative and provocative in ancient history, since it coincides with events remembered in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament). The authors show how a scientific chronological framework can be created and contribute an independent voice to the historical debate. They also show that, if archaeology is to complement history, such a framework requires an especially rigorous application of precision, in context definition, data handling and Bayesian radiocarbon dating, and urge such application to forthcoming work at the key Biblical site of Megiddo.

Keywords

LevantMegiddoKhirbat en-NahasIron AgeThe Biblecopper production
Type
Method
Information
Antiquity , Volume 84 , Issue 325 , September 2010 , pp. 834 - 847
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Albright, W.F. 1932. The excavation of Tell Beit Mirsim I: the pottery of the first three campaigns, Volume 12. New Haven (CT): Annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research.Google Scholar
Amiran, R. 1970. Ancient pottery of the Holy Land: from its beginnings in the Neolithic period to the end of the Iron Age. New Brunswick (NJ): Rutgers University Press.Google Scholar
Ben-Yosef, E., Ron, H., Tauxe, L., Agnon, A., Genevey, A., Levy, T.E., Avner, U. & Najjar, M.. 2008a. Application of copper slag in geomagnetic archaeointensity research. Journal of Geophysical Research 113: 1–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ben-Yosef, E., Tauxe, L., Ron, H., Agnon, A., Avner, U., Najjar, M. & Levy, T.E.. 2008b. A new approach for geomagnetic archaeointensity research: insights on ancient metallurgy in the Southern Levant. Journal of Archaeological Science 35: 2863–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ben-Yosef, E., Tauxe, L., Levy, T.E., Shaar, R., Ron, H. & Najjar, M.. 2009. Archaeomagnetic intensity spike recorded in high resolution slag deposit from historical biblical archaeology site in southern Jordan. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 287: 529–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ben-Yosef, E., Levy, T.E., Najjar, M., Smith, N.G., Higham, T., Bronk Ramsey, C., Robinson, M. & Tauxe, L.. 2010. The beginning of Iron Age copper production in the southern Levant: new evidence from Khirbat al-Jariya, Faynan, Jordan. Antiquity 84: 724–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bennett, C.M. 1992. Neo-Assyrian influence in Transjordan, in Haddidi, A. (ed.) Studies in the history and archaeology of Jordan, Volume 1: 181–7. Amman: Department of Antiquities of Jordan.Google Scholar
Bienkowski, P. & Van Der Steen, E.. 2001. Tribes, trade, and towns: a new framework for the Late Iron Age in southern Jordan and the Negev. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 323: 21–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boaretto, E. 2006. Radiocarbon dates, in Finkelstein, I., Ussishkin, D. & Halpern, B. (ed.) Megiddo IV - the 1998–2002 seasons: 550–57. Tel Aviv: Emery and Claire Yass Publications in Archaeology.Google Scholar
Boaretto, E., Jull, A.J.T., Gilboa, A. & Sharon, I.. 2005. Dating the Iron Age I/II transition in Israel: first intercomparison results. Radiocarbon 47: 39–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bronk Ramsey, C. 2001. Development of the radiocarbon calibration program OxCal. Radiocarbon 43: 355–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bronk Ramsey, C. 2009a. Dealing with outliers and offsets in radiocarbon dating. Radiocarbon 51: 1023–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bronk Ramsey, C. 2009b. Bayesian analysis of radiocarbon dates. Radiocarbon 51(1): 337–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bruins, H.J. & Van Der Plicht, J.. 2005. Desert settlement through the Iron Age: radiocarbon dates from Sinai and the Negev in Levy, T.E. & Higham, T. (ed.) The Bible and radiocarbon dating - archaeology, text and science: 349–66. London: Equinox.Google Scholar
Bruins, H.J., Van Der Plicht, J. & Mazar, A.. 2003a. 14C dates from Tel Rehov: Iron Age chronology, pharaohs and Hebrew kings. Science 300: 315–18.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bruins, H.J., Van Der Plicht, J. & Mazar, A.. 2003b. Response to comment on ‘14C dates from Tel Rehov: Iron Age chronology, Pharaohs and Hebrew Kings’. Science 302: 568c-d.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bubel, S. 2009. GIS analysis at Tel Beth-Shemesh. Near Eastern Archaeology 72: 125–6.Google Scholar
Bunimovitz, S. & Faust, A.. 2001. Chronological separation, geographical segregation, or ethnic demarcation? Ethnography and the Iron Age low chronology. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 322: 1–10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bunimovitz, S. & Faust, A.. In press. Re-constructing Biblical archaeology: toward an integration of archaeology and the Bible in Levy, T.E. (ed.) Historical Biblical archaeology and the future - the new pragmatism: 45–56. London: Equinox.Google Scholar
Bunimovitz, S. & Lederman, Z.. 2009. The archaeology of border communities - renewed excavations at Tel Beth-Shemesh, Part 1: the Iron Age. Near Eastern Archaeology 72: 114–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cargill, R.R. 2008. The Qumran digital model - an argument for archaeological reconstruction in virtual reality. Near Eastern Archaeology 71: 28–41.Google Scholar
Davies, P.R. 1992. In search of ancient Israel (Journal for the Study of the Old Testament supplement series 148). Sheffield: Sheffield Academic.Google Scholar
Dever, W.G. 2001. What did the Biblical writers know and when did they know it? Grand Rapids (MI): William B. Eerdmans.Google Scholar
Finkelstein, I. 1996. The archaeology of the United Monarchy: an alternative view. Levant 28: 177–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Finkelstein, I. 2002a. The campaign of Shoshenq I to Palestine - a guide to the 10th-century-BCE polity (Examining the territorial-political systems of Iron-Age-II Canaan). Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palastina-Vereins 118: 109–135.Google Scholar
Finkelstein, I. 2002b. Chronological rejoinders. Palestine Exploration Quarterly 134: 118–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Finkelstein, I. 2005a. Khirbet en-Nahas, Edom and Biblical history. Tel Aviv 32: 119–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Finkelstein, I. 2005b. A low chronology update: archaeology, history and the Bible, in Levy, T.E. & Higham, T. (ed.) The Bible and radiocarbon dating: archaeology, text and science: 31–42. London: Equinox.Google Scholar
Finkelstein, I. 2008. Reconstructing ancient (Biblical) Israel: the exact and life sciences perspective, in The Agade mailing list (a source of news run by Jack Sasson on a regular listserver).Google Scholar
Finkelstein, I. & Piasetzky, E.. 2003. Comment on ‘14C dates from Tel Rehov: Iron Age chronology, Pharoahs and Hebrew Kings’. Science 302: 568b.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Finkelstein, I. 2006a. 14C and the Iron Age chronology debate: Rehov, Khirbet en-Nahas, Dan and Megiddo. Radiocarbon 48: 373–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Finkelstein, I. 2006b. The Iron I-IIA in the highlands and beyond: 14C anchors, pottery phases and the Shoshenq I Campaign. Levant 38: 45–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Finkelstein, I. 2008. Radiocarbon and the history of copper production at Khirbet en-Nahas. Tel Aviv 35: 82–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Finkelstein, I. 2009. Radiocarbon-dated destruction layers: a skeleton for Iron Age chronology in the Levant. Oxford Journal of Archaeology 28: 255–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Finkelstein, I. 2010. Radiocarbon dating the Iron Age in the Levant: a Bayesian model for six ceramic phases and six transitions. Antiquity 84: 374–85. Supplementary data available at: http://www.antiquity.ac.uk/projgall/finkelstein324/ (accessed 18 June 2010).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Finkelstein, I., Fantalkin, A. & Piasetzky, E.. 2008. Three snapshots of the Iron IIA: the Northern Valleys, the Southern Steppe and Jerusalem, in Grabbe, L.L. (ed.) Israel in transition: from Late Bronze II to Iron IIa ( c. 1250-850 BCE): 32–44. London: Continuum International.Google Scholar
Gilboa, A. & Sharon, I.. 2001. Early Iron Age radiometric dates from Tel Dor: preliminary implications for Phoenicia and beyond. Radiocarbon 43: 1343–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gilboa, A. & Sharon, I.. 2003. An archaeological contribution to the Early Iron Age chronological debate: alternative chronologies for Phoenicia and their effects on the Levant, Cyprus and Greece. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 332: 7–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gilboa, A., Jull, A.J.T., Sharon, I. & Boaretto, E.. 2009. Notes on Iron IIA 14C dates fromTell el-Qudeirat (Kadesh Barnea). Tel Aviv 36: 82–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Halpern, B. 2001. David's secret demons - messiah, murderer, traitor, king. Grand Rapids (MI): William B. Eerdmans.Google Scholar
Hauptmann, A. 2007. The archaeo-metallurgy of copper - evidence from Faynan, Jordan. New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Higham, T., Van Der Plicht, J., Bronk Ramsey, C., Bruins, H.J., Robinson, M. & Levy, T.E.. 2005. Radiocarbon dating of the Khirbat-en Nahas site (Jordan) and Bayesian modelling of the results, in Levy, T.E. & Higham, T. (ed.) The Bible and radiocarbon sating - archaeology, text and science: 164–78. London: Equinox.Google Scholar
Hoffmeier, J.K. 2008. The archaeology of the Bible. Oxford: Lion.Google Scholar
Hoffmeier, J.K. & Millard, A.R. (ed.). 2004. The future of Biblical archaeology: reassessing methodologies and assumptions: the proceedings of a symposium August 12-14, 2001 at Trinity International University. Grand Rapids (MI): William B. Eerdmans.Google Scholar
Karasik, A. 2008. Applications of 3D technology as a research tool in archaeological ceramic analysis, in Frischer, B. &. Dakouri-Hild, A. (ed.) Beyond illustration: 2D and 3D digital technology as tools for discovery in archaeology (British Archaeological Reports International series 1805). Oxford: Archaeopress.Google Scholar
Karasik, A., Sharon, I., Smilansky, U. & Gilboa, A.. 2004. Typology and classification of ceramics based on curvature analysis. Computers Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology 2004: 472–5.Google Scholar
Kitchen, K.A. 2003. On the reliability of the Old Testament. Grand Rapids (MI): William B. Eerdmans.Google Scholar
Levy, T.E. 2009. Pastoral nomads and Iron Age metal production in ancient Edom, in Szuchman, J. (ed.) Nomads, tribes, and the state in the Ancient Near East: 147–76. Chicago (IL): University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Levy, T.E. In press. The new pragmatism: integrating anthropological, digital and historical Biblical archaeologies, in Levy, T.E. (ed.) Historical Biblical archaeology and the future - the new pragmatism. London: Equinox.Google Scholar
Levy, T.E. & Higham, T. (ed.). 2005a. The Bible and radiocarbon dating - archaeology, text and science. London: Equinox.Google Scholar
Levy, T.E. & Higham, T. 2005b. Radiocarbon dating and the Iron Age of the southern Levant: problems and potentials for the Oxford conference, in Levy, T.E. & Higham, T. (ed.) The Bible and radiocarbon dating - archaeology, text and science: 3–14. London: Equinox.Google Scholar
Levy, T.E. & Smith, N.G.. 2007. On-site digital archaeology: GIS-based excavation recording in southern Jordan, in Levy, T.E., Daviau, M., Younker, R. & Shaer, M.M. (ed.) Crossing Jordan - North American contributions to the archaeology of Jordan: 47–58. London: Equinox.Google Scholar
Levy, T.E., Adams, R.B. & Muniz, A.. 2004a. Archaeology and the Shasu Nomads - recent excavations in the Jabal Hamrat Fidan, Jordan, in Propp, W.H.C. & Friedman, R.E. (ed.) Le-David Maskil: a birthday tribute for David Noel Freedman: 63–89. Winona Lake (IN): Eisenbrauns.Google Scholar
Levy, T.E., Adams, R.B., Najjar, M., Hauptmann, A., Anderson, J.A., Brandl, B., Robinson, M. & Higham, T.. 2004b. Reassessing the chronology of Biblical Edom: new excavations and 14C dates from Khirbat en-Nahas (Jordan). Antiquity 78: 865–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levy, T.E., Najjar, M., Muniz, A., Malena, S., Monroe, E., Beherec, M., Smith, N.G., Higham, T., Munger, S. & Maes, K.. 2005a. Iron Age burial in the Lowlands of Edom: the 2004 excavations at Wadi Fidan 40, Jordan. Annual of the Department of Antiquities Jordan 49: 443–87.Google Scholar
Levy, T.E., Najjar, M., Van Der Plicht, J., Smith, N.G., Bruins, H.J. & Higham, T.. 2005b. Lowland Edom and the high and low chronologies: Edomite state formation, the Bible and recent archaeological research in southern Jordan, in Levy, T.E. & Higham, T. (ed.) The Bible and radiocarbon dating - archaeology, text and science: 129–63. London: Equinox.Google Scholar
Levy, T.E., Higham, T. & Najjar, M.. 2006. Response to van der Steen & Bienkowski. Antiquity 80: 3–5.Google Scholar
Levy, T.E., Higham, T., Bronk Ramsey, C., Smith, N.G., Ben-Yosef, E., Robinson, M., Münger, S., Knabb, K., Schulze, J.P., Najjar, M. & Tauxe, L.. 2008. High-precision radiocarbon dating and historical biblical archaeology in southern Jordan. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 105: 16460–65.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Levy, T.E., Petrovic, V., Wypych, T., Gidding, A., Knabb, K., Hernandez, D., Smith, N.G., Schlulz, J.P., Savage, S.H., Kuester, F., Ben-Yosef, E., Buitenhuys, C., Barrett, C.J., Najjar, M. & Defanti, T.. In press. On-site digital archaeology 3.0 and cyber-archaeology: into the future of the past - new developments, delivery and the creation of a data avalanche, in Forte, M. (ed.) Introduction to cyber-archaeology. Oxford: Archaeopress.Google Scholar
Mazar, A. 1997. Iron Age chronology: a reply to I. Finkelstein. Levant 29: 157–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mazar, A. 2001. Radiocarbon dates from Iron Age strata at Tel Beth Shean and Tel Rehov. Radiocarbon 43: 1333–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mazar, A. 2005. The debate over the chronology of the Iron Age in the southern Levant: its history, the current situation, and a suggested resolution, in Levy, T.E. & Higham, T. (ed.) The Bible and radiocarbon dating - archaeology, text and science: 15–30. London: Equinox.Google Scholar
Mazar, A., Bruins, H.J., Panitz-Cohen, N. & Van Der Plicht, J.. 2005. Ladder of time at Tel Rehov - stratigraphy, archaeological context, pottery and radiocarbon dates, in Levy, T.E. & Higham, T. (ed.) The Bible and radiocarbon dating - archaeology, text and science: 193–255. London: Equinox.Google Scholar
Moorey, P.R.S. 1991. A century of Biblical archaeology. Louisville (KY): Westminster/John Knox Press.Google Scholar
Oakshott, M.F. 1978. A study of the Iron Age II pottery of East Jordan with special reference to unpublished material from Edom. Unpublished PhD dissertation, University of London.Google Scholar
Piasetzky, E. & Finkelstein, I.. 2005. 14C Results from Megiddo, Tel Dor, Tel Rehov and Tel Hadar: where do they lead us?, in Levy, T.E. & Higham, T. (ed.) The Bible and radiocarbon dating - archaeology, text and science: 294–301. London: Equinox.Google Scholar
Sauer, J.A. 1994. The pottery at Hesban and its relationships to the history of Jordan: an interim Hesban pottery report, 1993, in Merling, D. & Geraty, L.T. (ed.) Hesban after 25 years: 225–81. Berrien Springs (MI): Institute of Archaeology/Siegfried H. Horn Archaeological Museum.Google Scholar
Sharon, I., Gilboa, A., Boaretto, E. & Jull, A.J.T.. 2005. The Early Iron Age dating project - introduction, methodology, progress report and an update on the Tel Dor radiometric dates, Levy, T.E. & Higham, T. (ed.) The Bible and radiocarbon dating - archaeology, text and science: 65–92. London: Equinox.Google Scholar
Sharon, I., Gilboa, A., Boaretto, E. & Jull, A.J.T.. 2007. Report on the first stage of the Iron Age dating project in Israel: supporting a low chronology. Radiocarbon 49: 1–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Singer-Avitz, L. 2009. Carbon 14 - the solution to dating David and Solomon? Biblical Archaeology Review 35: 28, 71.Google Scholar
Smith, N.G. & Levy, T.E.. 2008. The Iron Age pottery from Khirbat en-Nahas, Jordan: a preliminary study. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 352: 1–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stager, L.E. 2003. The patrimonial kingdom of Solomon, in Dever, W.G. & Gitin, S. (ed.) Symbiosis, symbolism, and the power of the past - Canaan, ancient Israel, and their neighbors from the Late Bronze Age through Roman Palaestina: 63–74. Winona Lake (IN): Eisenbrauns.Google Scholar
Thompson, T.L. 1999. The mythic past: Biblical archaeology and the myth of Israel. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Van Der Plicht, J. & Bruins, H.J.. 2005. Quality control of Groningen 14C Results from Tel Rehov - repeatability and intercomparison of proportional gas counting and AMS, in Levy, T.E. & Higham, T. (ed.) The Bible and radiocarbon dating - archaeology, text and science: 256–70. London: Equinox.Google Scholar
Van Der Steen, E. & Bienkowski, P.. 2006. Radiocarbon dates from Khirbat en-Nahas: a methodological critique. Antiquity 80: 1–3.Google Scholar
Whitelam, K.W. 1996. The invention of ancient Israel: the silencing of Palestinian history. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Zapassky, E. & Benenson, I.. 2006. Megiddo database update: the geographic information system (GIS), in Finkelstein, I., Ussishkin, D. & Halpern, B. (ed.) Megiddo IV - the 1998-2002 seasons: 19–26. Tel Aviv: Emery and Claire Yass Publications in Archaeology.Google Scholar
Zimhoni, O. 1997. Studies in the Iron Age pottery of Israel: typological, archaeological, and chronological aspects (Tel Aviv Occasional Papers 2). Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv University, Institute of Archaeology.Google Scholar