Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-p9bg8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T15:26:45.641Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Reassessing the chronology of Biblical Edom: new excavations and 14C dates from Khirbat en-Nahas (Jordan)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 March 2015

Thomas E. Levy ,
Russell B. Adams ,
Mohammad Najjar ,
Andreas Hauptmann ,
James D. Anderson ,
Baruch Brandl ,
Mark A. Robinson  and
Thomas Higham
Thomas E. Levy
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0532, USA (Email: tlevy@ucsd.edu)
Russell B. Adams
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8S 4L9
Mohammad Najjar
Affiliation:
Department of Antiquities of Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Amman, Jordan
Andreas Hauptmann
Affiliation:
Deutsches Bergbau-Museum, D – 44787 Bochum, Germany
James D. Anderson
Affiliation:
Anthropology Program, North Island College, Vancouver Island, BC, Canada
Baruch Brandl
Affiliation:
Israel Antiquities Authority, Jerusalem, Israel
Mark A. Robinson
Affiliation:
Environmental Archaeology Unit, Oxford University Museum of Natural History, Oxford OX1 3PW, UK
Thomas Higham
Affiliation:
Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, Research Laboratory for Archaeology and History of Art, University of Oxford, Oxford 1 3QJ, UK
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

An international team of researchers show how high-precision radiocarbon dating is liberating us from chronological assumptions based on Biblical research. Surface and topographic mapping at the large copper-working site of Khirbat en-Nahas was followed by stratigraphic excavations at an ancient fortress and two metal processing facilities located on the site surface. The results were spectacular. Occupation begins here in the eleventh century BC and the monumental fortress is built in the tenth. If this site can be equated with the rise of the Biblical kingdom of Edom it can now be seen to: have its roots in local Iron Age societies; is considerably earlier than previous scholars assumed; and proves that complex societies existed in Edom long before the influence of Assyrian imperialism was felt in the region from the eighth – sixth centuries BC.

Keywords

Iron AgeLevantEdomcopper-workingchronologystate formation
Type
Research Article
Information
Antiquity , Volume 78 , Issue 302 , December 2004 , pp. 865 - 879
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd. 2004

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

Adams, R.B. 1999. The Development of Copper Metallurgy During the Early Bronze Age of the Southern Levant: Evidence from the Faynan Region, Southern Jordan. Unpublished PhD Thesis, Sheffield University.Google Scholar
Adams, R.B. 2002. From farms to factories: The development of copper production at Faynan, southern Jordan, during the Bronze Age, in Ottaway, B.S. and Wagner, E.C. (eds) Metals and Society, British Archaeological Reports, International Series. 21–32. Oxford: Archaeopress.Google Scholar
Bartlett, J.R. 1992. Biblical Sources for the Early Iron Age in Edom, in Bienkowski, P. Early Edom and Moab. 13–19. Sheffield: J.R. Collis Publications.Google Scholar
Bennet, C.M. 1966. Umm el-Biyara. Revue Biblique 73: 400–401, pl. 22b.Google Scholar
Bienkowski, P. 1990. Umm el-Biyara, Tawilan and Buseirah in Retrospect. Levant 22: 91–109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bienkowski, P. 2001. Iron Age Settlement in Edom: A Revised Framework, in Daviau, P. M. M., Wevers, J. W., & Weigl, M. (eds) The World of the Aramaeans II: Studies in History and Archaeology in Honour of Paul-Eugen Dion: 257–69. Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series 325. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press.Google Scholar
Bienkowski, P. & Bennett, C.M.. 2003. Excavations at Busayrah. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Bruins, H.J., Van Der Plicht, J. & Mazar, A.. 2003. C-14 dates from Tel Rehov: Iron-age chronology, pharaohs, and Hebrew kings. Science 300: 315–318.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buck, C.E., Cavanagh, W.G. & Litton, C.D.. 1996. The Bayesian Approach to Interpreting Archaeological Data. Chichester: Wiley 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
Cohen, R. & Yisrael, Y.. 1995. The Iron Age Fortresses at En Haseva. Biblical Archaeologist 58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Engel, T. 1993. Charcoal remains from an Iron Age copper smelting slag heap at Feinan, Wadi Arabah (Jordan). Vegetation History and Archaeobotany 2: 205–211.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Engel, T. & Frey, W. 1996. Fuel resources for copper smelting in antiquity in woodlands in from the Edom highlands to the Wadi Arabah, Jordan. Flora 191: 29–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Finkelstein, I. 1999. Hazor and the North in the Iron Age: A Low Chronology Perspective. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 314:55–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Finkelstein, I. & Piasetzky, E. 2003a. Comment on 14C Dates from Tel Rehov: Iron Age Chronology, Pharaohs, and Hebrew Kings. Science 302: 568b.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Finkelstein, I. & Piasetzky, E. 2003b. Recent radiocarbon results and King Solomon Antiquity 77: 771–779 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frank, F. 1934. Aus der Araba I: Reiseberichte. Zeitschrift des deutschen Pälestina-Vereins 57: 191–280.Google Scholar
Fritz, V. 1996. Ergebnisse einer Sondage in Hirbet en-Nahas, Wadi el-’Araba (Jordanien). Zeitschrift des Deutschen Pälestina-Vereins 112: 1–9.Google Scholar
Glueck, N. 1935. Explorations in Eastern Palestine, II in Annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research, vol. 15. 1–288. New Haven: American Schools of Oriental Research.Google Scholar
Glueck, N. 1940. The Other Side of the Jordan. New Haven: American Schools of Oriental Research.Google Scholar
Glueck, N. 1965. Tell el-Kheleifeh. Biblical Archaeologist 28: 70–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hall, H.R. 1913. Catalogue of Egyptian Scarabs, Etc., in the British Museum I. Royal Scarabs. London [No. 998] and Matouk, F.S. 1977. Corpus du Scarabée Egyptien. Vol. II: Analyse thématique. Beirut.Google Scholar
Hauptmann, A. 2000. Zur frühen Metallurgie des Kupfers in Fenan. Vol. Beiheft 11. Der Anschnitt. Bochum.Google Scholar
Herr, L.G. & Najjar, M. 2001. The Iron Age, in Macdonald, B., Adams, R. & Bienkowski, P. (eds) The Archaeology of Jordan. 323–345. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press.Google Scholar
Herzog, Z. 1992. Settlement and Fortification Planning in the Iron Age, in Kempinski, A. & Reich, R. (eds) The Architecture of Ancient Israel – From the Prehistoric to the Persian Periods: 231–274. Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society.Google Scholar
Holden, C. 2003. Dates Boost Conventional Wisdom about Solomon’s Splendor. Science 300: 229–230.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Joffe, A. H. 2002. The Rise of Secondary States in the Iron Age Levant. Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 45: 425–467.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Knauf, E.A. & Lenzen, C.. 1987. Edomite Copper Industry, in Haddidi, A. (ed.) Studies in the History and Archaeology of Jordan. 3, 83–88. Amman: Department of Antiquities of Jordan.Google Scholar
Levy, Thomas Russell, E. Adams, B. & Najjar, Mohammad (eds.) In Prep. Kings, Metals and Social Change – Excavations at Khirbat en-Nahas (Jordan) – An Iron Age Metal Production Center in Ancient Edom, in Levy, T.E. & Adams, R.B. (eds). Excavations and Surveys in the Jabal Hamrat Fidan, Jordan. Vol. 1. Prague: Czech Institute of Egyptology.Google Scholar
Levy, T.E., Adams, R.B., Hauptmann, A., Prange, M., Schmitt-Strecker, S. & Najjar, M. 2002. Early Bronze Age Metallurgy: A Newly Discovered Copper Manufactory in Southern Jordan. Antiquity 76: 425–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levy, T.E., Adams, R.B., Witten, A.J., Anderson, J., Arbel, Y., Kuah, S., Moreno, J., Lo, A. & Waggoner, M. 2001a. Early Metallurgy, Interaction, and Social Change: The Jabal Hamrat Fidan (Jordan) Research Design and 1998 Archaeological Survey: Preliminary Report. Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 45: 1–31.Google Scholar
Levy, T.E., Anderson, J.D., Waggoner, M., Smith, N., Muniz, A. & Adams, R. B.. 2001b. Interface: Archaeology and Technology – Digital Archaeology 2001: GIS-Based Excavation Recording in Jordan. The SAA Archaeological Record 1: 23–29.Google Scholar
Macdonald, B. 1992. The Southern Ghors and Northeast ‘Arabah Archaeological Survey. Sheffield Archaeological Monographs. Sheffield: J.R. Collis Publications.Google Scholar
Mazar, A. 1990. Archaeology of the Land of the Bible. New York: Doubleday.Google Scholar
Mazar, A. 1999. The 1997–1998 excavations at Tel Rehov: preliminary report. Israel Exploration Journal 49: 1–42.Google Scholar
Mazar, A. & Carmi, I.. 2001. Radiocarbon Dates From Iron Age Strata At Tel Beth Shean and Tel Rehov. Radiocarbon 43: 1333.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Muhly, J.D., Maddin, R. & Karageorghis, V. (eds) 1982. Early Metallurgy in Cyprus, 4000–500 B.C. Pierides Foundation and Department of Antiquities of Cyprus. Nicosia.Google Scholar
Munger, S. 2003. Egyptian Stamp-Seal Amulets and their Implications for the Chronology of the Early Iron Age. Tel Aviv 30: 66–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Musil, A. 1907. Arabia Petraea. I. Moab; II. Edom: Topograhischere Reisebericht. Wien: Alfred Holder.Google Scholar
Rothenberg, B. 1987. Pharaonic copper mines in southern Sinai. Inst. Archaeo-Metall. Studies Newsletter 10: 1–7.Google Scholar
Rothenberg, B. 1999. Archaeo-metallurgical Researches in the Southern Arabah 1959–1990. Part 2: Egyptian New Kingdom (Ramesside) to Early Islam. Palestine Exploration Quarterly 131: 149–175.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stern, E. 2001. Archaeology of the Land of the Bible Volume II – the Assyrian, Babylonian and Persian Periods (732 – 332 B.C.E). New York: Doubleday.Google Scholar
Stuiver, M., Reimer, P.J., Bard, E., Beck, J.W., Burr, G.S., Hughen, K.A., Kromer, B., Mccormac, G., Plicht, J.V.D. & Spurk, M.. 1998. INTCAL 98 radiocarbon age calibration, 24 000–0 cal BP. Radiocarbon 40: 1041–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar