Publications by Year: 2005

Area A4 is a trench in the western slope of the mound (Plan 1.1, Squares C-G/24-27), cutting through strata dating from the Iron Age II, the Late Bronze Age and the MB II, and finally reaching fills of the EB III found on bedrock. Except for a massive fortification system assigned to Stratum XXIII, the remains of the Middle Bronze Age in Area A4 are very poor. The remains of the Late Bronze Age, however, are better preserved in Area A4 than in Area A 1.

In the present state of our knowledge the extent of the Early Bronze Age settlement in Yoqne'am, if indeed there was one, cannot be determined. Fills containing Early Bronze Age pottery were found on the site's bedrock. The earliest architectural remains uncovered so far are those dated to the MB II.

The MB II remains in Yoqne'am were found mainly in Area A1 and include a stratigraphic sequence comprising five strata, spanning the period from the MB IIA to the MB IIC. Each of these strata represents a new phase in the site's settlement history. The division of the Middle Bronze Age into periods is based on the stratigraphic analysis and the study of the pottery found on the floors of the different strata. The three earliest strata, XXV, XXIVb and XXIVa, are assigned to the MB ITA, each representing a different phase within this period. Based on the analysis of the ceramic assemblages, Stratum XXIIIb appears to be a transitional phase between the MB IIA and the MB IIB, whereas Stratum XXIIIa is already characterized as part of the MB IIB. The following Stratum XXII still belongs to the culture of the MB IIB. Stratum XXI represents the MB IIC at Yoqne'am, though it also demonstrates some features of the transition to the LB I (for detailed discussion, see Chapter 3).

Thus, the temporal divisions based on the ceramic analysis do not always conform with the stratigraphic ones. The transition between the MB IIA and the MB 1113 occurs within Stratum XXIII: Stratum XXIIIb still shows characteristics of the MB IIA, whereas Stratum XXIIIa already belongs to the MB 1113. Stratigraphically, Stratum XXIIIb and Stratum XXIIIa vary only in minor details. A similar case has been observed at nearby Tel Qashish, where the transition between the MB IIA and the MB IIB occurs within Stratum IX: Stratum IXc is a transitional MB IIA/B phase, whereas Strata IXb-a are already dated to the MB IIB (Ben-Tor et al. 2003: 202, 212, 230).

During most of the Middle Bronze Age, from Stratum XXIV of the MB IIA to the end of the MB 1113, Yoqne'am was a fortified city. Three fortification systems were built in Area A1. Yoqne'am was first fortified during Stratum XXIV by a massive city wall, consisting of a mud-brick superstructure on a stone base (W.415, Plans IL3-4) with a glacis attached to its outer face. A new fortification system of a similar character was built in Stratum XXIII (W.402, Plans 11.5-6), and its western extension was uncovered in Area A4 (W.387, Plan IL9). The third fortification system, built in Stratum XXII, includes a stone-built city wall with a tower abutting its inner face (W.401, Plan IL7). A new era in the history of the site, during which the city was unfortified, started with Stratum XXI and lasted until Stratum XVI of the Iron Age II.

The remains of Stratum XXI are supported by a retaining wall built at the top of the slope (W.336b, Plan II.8). A thick layer of fill sealed the remains associated with the final MB II phase (Stratum XXI), on top of which was built a new settlement (Stratum XXb), characterized by a new urban plan.

Though the architectural remains associated with Stratum XXb are better preserved in Area A4, we are unable to reach any comprehensive conclusions about the character of the transition between Stratum XXI and the new settlement erected immediately on top of it (Stratum XXb), due mainly to the badly preserved remains of the former. This transition is most evident in Area A1 (see the stratigraphic discussion of the Stratum XXb remains in both areas, Chapter 4). The interruption in the stratigraphic sequence between Strata XXI and XXb is not paralleled by the ceramic assemblages, which display continuity between these two strata. Moreover, in neither area did the excavation reveal any sign of a violent destruction that might explain the stratigraphic break and overall change in the nature of the architectural elements attributed to each stratum. Together with the ceramic evidence mentioned above, this phenomenon is of great significance for the character of the transition between the Middle Bronze Age and the Late Bronze Age.

A massive destruction terminated the LB I settlement at Yoqne'am (Stratum XXa), which was followed by an occupational gap. Stratum XIX marks the recovery of urban life at the site during the second half of the Late Bronze Age. This recovery is characterized by the reoccupation of the abandoned LB I site and the establishment of a new settlement on top of it. This stratum, like the one preceding it, ended with a violent destruction.

The ceramic assemblages uncovered on the floors of Strata XX-XIX are an important tool for the relative chronology and cultural attribution of these strata. These assemblages demonstrate that the earlier phase of Stratum XX (XXb) dates from the transitional MB IIC-LB I period, while the later phase of this same stratum (XXa) already belongs to the LB 1 culture. Stratum XIX with its two phases (XIXb and XIXa) should be dated, according to the ceramic evidence, to the LB II. Both strata ended in a violent destruction. The thick layer of debris separating these two strata represents an occupational gap at Yoqne'am following the destruction of Stratum XXa.

The destruction of Stratum XXa was an extreme event in the occupational sequence of Yoqne'am; after it the site was deserted until it was resettled during the LB II (Stratum XIXb). During the thirteenth century BCE the site underwent another violent destruction, which brought to an end the last Canaanite city at the site. The buildings of the early Iron Age I settlement (Stratum XVIII) were erected on top of the ruins of Stratum XIXa, signifying the beginning of a new cultural phase in the occupational history of Yoqne`am.

The transition between the MB II and the LB I is one of the most intriguing within the sequence of cultures in Canaan , and one of the most problematic to define and date. It has consequently been the focus of a number of studies attempting to establish its cultural and chronological framework (see, among many others, Weinstein 1981, 1991; Dever 1992 and references there). Though the material uncovered by the numerous excavations of stratified sites in Palestine during the past 60-70 years has added valuable information, this issue is still a controversial one, as attested by the disagreement even on its basic terminology. This time span is characterized by the difficulty of correlating the changes observed in the material culture with the historical events that took place in Canaan at the close of the seventeenth and in the first half of the sixteenth centuries BCE. The destruction and abandonment of late Middle Bronze Age sites in the mid-sixteenth century BCE has conventionally been assigned by scholars to the military campaigns of the Egyptians kings of the early 18th Dynasty as part of their efforts to drive the Hyksos out of Egypt and destroy their power in Canaan. In recent years, however, this view has been challenged by scholars such as Redford (1979), Shea (1979) and Hoffmeier (1989), who have au-gested several alternative explanations for the destructions and abandonments of the MB IIC-LB I. Furthermore, several different chronological schemes have been suggested for the end of the Middle Bronze Age.

On the other hand, the archaeological realia have to be confronted with the historical picture, and here the ceramic assemblages are significant. According to the archaeological evidence, the appearance of new ceramic families which are considered hallmarks of the LB I, namely the Chocolate-on­White and Bichrome Wares (as well as other ceramic types and families; see Chapter 7), is used as a cultural criterion marking the end of the MB IIC and heralding the beginning of the LB I culture in Palestine. Since the early appearance of these ceramic families in Palestine is closely related and considered to be synchronic (around 1600 BCE), it is clear that the cultural change preceded the historical change that took place several decades later.

It is hoped that the evidence of the stratigraphy, combined with the ceramic analysis and the typological comparison with other sites, will form a solid foundation for the following discussion, in which we shall attempt to reconstruct the occupational history of Yoqne'am during the Middle and Late Bronze Ages.

Parts II and III deal with the stratigraphic and ceramic analysis in chronological order, i.e. the Middle Bronze Age Strata XXV-XXI are followed by the Late Bronze Age Strata XXb-XIXa. Each part begins with the description of the architectural remains by stratum, followed by analysis of the pottery of each stratum. Photographs, plans and sections, and drawings and photographs of the pottery, accompany each stratum. Since only a few segments of floors could be assigned to the Middle Bronze Age sequence, almost the entire ceramic assemblage associated with each of these is presented, together with a few indicative sealed fills (glacis fills, pits). On the other hand, since each of the Late Bronze Age strata includes several floors, in most cases only the ceramic assemblages from representative loci of each stratum accompany the discussion.

The pottery figures are accompanied by tables that cite parallels to the vessels, which are generally not noted in the ceramic discussion. The reference for each parallel consists of abbreviated site name, volume number or date of publication (in cases of more than one publication), figure/plate number and stratigraphic provenance (stratum or tomb): for example, Qashish, Fig. 89:2 (IXc).

Parallels for the different vessels were primarily sought in Jezreel Valley sites ( Megiddo , Tel Qashish, Tel Qiri) in the vicinity of Yoqne'am. Megiddo and Yoqne'am are the most important Bronze Age sites in the Jezreel Valley , each located next to a major road junction (Wadi `Ara and Wadi Milek respectively). The comparison of Yoqne'am with these neighboring sites in terms of material culture emphasizes the relationship between the sites in the different periods.

Second in importance are more remote sites, located in the coastal plain (Tel Mevorakh, Tel Burga, Tel Zeror, Tel Poleg, Kabri, Tel Nami), the eastern end of the Jezreel Vallev (Tel Beth-Shean, Pella ), the hill country ( Shiloh , Shechem) and the Jordan Valley (Tell el-Hayyat, Jericho ), together with other kev sites of the period (Tel Aphek, Hazor, Lachish ). In some cases. parallels are cited from tombs containing rich assemblages (Barkai, Kefar Szold, Ginosar, Tel `Amr).

In Part N the ceramic repertoire of both the Middle and the Late Bronze Ages is discussed. The typological analysis deals with the vessel's profile, its relative quantity and its chronological range. This approach enables evaluation of the continuity or discontinuity of the different ceramic types throughout the periods, and may also help in determining the transitional phases within this long continuum. The discussion is accompanied by quantitative tables and at times by graphs illustrating the main tendencies.

Part V presents the stratigraphic, ceramic and glypti, remains of the Early Bronze Age, a scarab impression, stone objects, flint tools, loomweights, metal objects, worked bone, and human and faunal remains.

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The Iron Age strata at Yoqne'am (XVIII-XI, most of which are divided into several sub-phases) constitute the main theme of the present discussion, since they include the bulk of the material. Furthermore, the presentation of these srata and the analysis of the material uncovered in them make a significant contribution to the archaeological picture of that period in the Land of Israel.

In this respect, the following aspects are noteworthy:

The almost uninterrupted sequence of Iron Age
strata-eight in all-uncovered at Y oqne'am, spanning the twelfth/eleventh centuries BCE (the Iron Age I) through the last third of the eighth century BCE (the Iron Age IIB/III);

The discovery and partial excavation of a water system, one of the very few in this country securely dated to the Iron Age IIA (the tenth century BCE);

The uncovering of two superimposed defense systems, the earlier a casemate wall and the later consisting of two parallel walls separated by a narrow passage (termed "the gallery wall"). The latter appears to be unique in this country so far (with a possible exception at Gibeon);

The dense stratigraphic sequence resulted, among other things, in the recovery of a relatively large number of ceramic assemblages originating in loci of secure stratigraphic attribution. This made possible a detailed study of the development of various ceramic types throughout the twelfth/eleventh-late eighth centuries BCE (from the Iron Age I through the Iron Age IIB/III) and the rate of their rise and decline in "popularity" (measured statistically). Of special importance in this respect is the picture emerging with regard to the development of the ceramic typology throughout the tenth and ninth centuries. Most instructive is the comparative study of the Yoqne'am ceramic types with those uncovered in neighboring sites (see map), such as Tell Qiri (a satellite site of Yoqne'am), Megiddo, Tel Jezreel and Taanach, all in the Jezreel Valley, Rosh Zayit, located in the Lower Galilee, sites in the northern coastal area, such as Tell Keisan and Tel Dor, and even with more distant contemporary sites, such as Hazor and Dan in the Upper Galilee. The results of this study are of great significance with regard to the controversy about the "traditional" versus "low" chronology of the Iron Age II (Finkelstein 1996; Ben-Tor 2000). In our opinion, it clearly supports the "traditional" chronology of that period (Zarzecki-Peleg 1997a).

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This volume presents the results of the excavations of Areas H and K in the 1968 and 1969 seasons, and is the sixth and final volume of the Ashdod series. Regrettably, this publication appears more than thirty five years after the end of excavations. The work on the volume was initiated by Moshe Dothan, assisted by Marina Popovitz, during the early 1990s, but due to Dothan 's illness and his passing away in 1999, the work was suspended. Towards the end of 1999, with the encouragement of Trude Dothan, the aid of the Israel Antiquities Authority, and a generous grant from the White-Levy Program for Archaeological Publications, work on the material was resumed. The final stages toward the completion of the volume were carried out during the years 2000-2002. Amihai Mazar, area supervisor in the 1968-1969 seasons, prepared the draft of the stratigraphic report on Area H, Strata XIV-X. Subsequently, the plans, drawings and photographs were revised and the text was completed. The results of the 1968 season of excavations in Area K, which is adjacent to and inseparable from Area H, were added to the report.

Though the format of the previous volumes of the Ashdod publication was generally followed, several changes were introduced in order to adapt a more modern format and new technologies. Thus, this volume is published in the larger format of the IAA Reports. As the work on the volume continued through an extensive period, there are some minor incongruities in the style of drawings, photographs and plans. Some of the field photographs could not be located and some of the documentation needed to be partly restored (particularly field sections).

Several groups of finds were entrusted to specialists and are described in their respective chapters: jewelry­: A. Golani and D. Ben-Shlomo; flints: Z. Matskevich; scarabs : O. Keel and S. Monger; coins: D.T. Ariel; and animal bones: E. Maher. The burial, analyzed by E. Dueitch, appears in the stratigraphic report.

The plans and sections were prepared for publication by draftsmen of the Israel Antiquities Authority, Natalia Zak and Elizabeth Belashov. Recent drawings and amendments are by Noga Ze'evi and Marina Zeltzer. Photographs of the finds from the 1980s onward are by Tsila Sagiv and Clara Amit, while the earlier photos of the finds were taken by Ze'ev Radovan. Ella Altmark cleaned and restored some of the metal finds.

Though this is the final volume describing the excavations at Tel Ashdod, large quantities of material, coming from poor or unstratified contexts and surveys, chiefly from Areas G, K and M, remain as yet unpublished. Hopefully, at least the most important of these finds will soon be published elsewhere.

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Air photographs taken before the area was covered by modern roads and buildings, coupled with the evidence of excavations and occasional finds, indicate that the ancient site occupied c.4.5 ha. It covered the slopes of the upper part of the elongated spur of Giv'at Ram, chiefly around its summit (at 825 m asl). The archaeological discoveries indicate that the site was inhabited from Iron Age II to the Byzantine period (late 8th c. B.C. to early 7th c. A.D.); meager finds from the Ummayad, Abassid and Mameluke periods do not seem to point to any permanent occupation after the mid-7th c. The site's strategic location at the top of the ascent from the coastal plain (or the start of the descent for those leaving the old city of Jerusalem ) (fig. 1b on p. 6) may be one reason for its inhabitation over such a long span. The Roman road from Joppa (Jaffa) via Nicopolis (Emmaus) to Jerusalem, which was one of the two main routes from the coastal plain to Jerusalem, passed through a saddle between the N slopes of the site and the S slopes of knoll 829 (northeast of the modern Central Bus Station) to the north (fig. lc). From here the road descended gradually, following the course of the present-day Jaffa road, into the city which lay some 1.5 Roman miles to the east. While relatively late in construction, this Roman route probably reflects upon the importance of the site in earlier periods.

The excavation of 1949

The first salvage excavation was conducted prior to the construction of the national conven­tion center from July 4 to August 12, 1949 , by M. Avi-Yonah. In the two main excavation areas extending over c.1750 sq. m. (fig. lc on p. 6), he unearthed hewn installations, cisterns and pools of various sizes dated by him to the Herodian period, numerous bricks and tiles bearing stamps of the Tenth Legion, and the remains of a monastery, of which the most distinguishable part were the foundations of a three-aisled basilica (14 x 17.5 m). Adjoining its S wall was a chapel dedicated to St George, according to an inscription in its mosaic floor. This excavation was pub­lished only in an abbreviated fashion. Because of insufficient stratigraphic documentation, the pottery report published in Hebrew by M. Hershkovitz took the form or a typology; her re­port is published here (chapt. 13) in English, as are the 3 coins found then (G. Bijovsky, p. 223).

The excavation of 1968

Prior to the construction of a new hotel (then the Hilton, now the Crowne Plaza ) to the south of Binyanei Ha'uma, in May to June 1968 Avi-Yonah conducted a second salvage excavation adjacent to the E side of one of the 1949 areas (fig. lc). In an excavation of c. 375 sq. m. he uncovered remains of additional installations of the late 2nd c. B.C.- A.D. 70, an oval-shaped potter's kiln (inside and around which were found wasters), and ready-to-use clay a preparation area for clay, and a deep water cistern. The area had then been covered by a thick layer of plaster upon which were found some large mortaria and many bricks, some bearing stamps of the Tenth Roman Legion. Some pits and other installations were assigned to the Byzantine period. A short report quickly followed. R. Rosenthal-Heginbottom, who assisted Avi-Yonah, then took it upon herself to publish the results of this work (chapter 12 below); the 20 coins from that excavation are again published by G. Bijovsky (pp. 223-24).

The excavations of 1992-93

In the course of works for a new international convention center to, be built adjacent to and east of the other one (Binyanei Ha'uma), severe damage was caused to ancient remains. This prompted a large salvage excavation (early April to late September, 1992) conducted by the present authors on behalf of the IAA. The excavation concerned the parking lot (5000 m 2 ) lying east of the convention center (fig. 1c) but by the time the excavations began roughly 60% of this area had already been erased by bulldozers (fig. 1 on p. 10; fig. 3). Later, in July 1993, a small excavation in the NW corner of our larger one (Area D) was conducted by U. Ad. Up to September of 1993, Ad also recorded the process of dismantling the kilns of the Tenth Legion and the lifting of a mosaic floor of the Byzantine period.

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We would like to express our thanks to the Shelby White-Leon Levy Fund for Archaeological Publications. The work of this publication fund has done wonders for Mediterranean archaeology in general, and in our case, it has been the driving force behind the publication of Tell Dothan over the last three years. This publication would not have happened anytime in the foreseeable future without the help of this fund and its generous benefactors. Additional support was provided by internal grants from the G. W. Aldeen Fund at Wheaton College, by the United Nations Development Program, and by many hours of labor donated by several generations of archaeology students at Wheaton College.

When we came to Wheaton College, we were confronted by a daunting task. Almost fifty years before our arrival, Wheaton had excavated an important Palestinian tell, and yet there existed no final publication to document the excavations. As we conceived of ways to move the Wheaton Archaeology Museum forward, we knew that any plan would first have to involve the publication of prior excavations in fulfillment of our archaeological responsibilities.

Fortunately, the Tell Dothan collection at Wheaton College had been cared for very well. For decades AI Hoerth (who was Professor of Archaeology at Wheaton for 29 years) and more recently his former students Kenneth Hoglund and Deborah Webber had been carefully curating this material. building a card tile of the objects. and organizing the material in the hope, that a publication might one day be possible. The first step toward a synthesis of this material was undertaken by Nathaniel Heller in his 2001 MA thesis. Our work here stands on all of their shoulders and we thank them for their input and long-suffering efforts.

While we were aware of the work at Wheaton, we did not realize the extent of the organizational work done by Robert Cooley until we visited Jerusalem. Dr. Free had believed in distributing material widely in order to spread the risk of the loss from any one storage facility. Unfortunately, he left no map or record of these distributions, so it was left to Robert Cooley to painstakingly track down artifacts for more than three decades. His efforts insured the survival of a coherent corpus from the excavations. This work was supported by the Dothan Publication Committee, and particular thanks are due to John Rea, Walter Kaiser, Carl Taeschner, Bonnie Hansen, and Joe Cunningham for their financial contribution to these essential tasks.

In the fall of 2001 we approached the Free Family Foundation. the holders of the publication rights to this material, and they graciously agreed to let us proceed with a publication of the material on the tell as part of a two volume publication program. Our volume on the remains from the tell is Volume I and a forthcoming volume on the tombs of the Western Cemetery is to be Volume II. We would like to thank Robert Cooley and Abed Ismail for the trust that they placed in our work and the help that they gave us every step of the way.

With the permission of the Free family secured and the blessing of the Free Family Foundation, we were then able to obtain permission from main repositories of Dothan objects, including the W. H. Mare Archaeological Institute at Covenant Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri. St. George's College in Jerusalem, and the Rockefeller Museum in Jerusalem. Each of these institutions kindly allowed us to inspect, photograph, and draw the objects in their collections for the purpose of this publication.

Part of our publication involved the making of new acquaintances in the Dothan valley as we visited the site and ultimately conducted a brief survey in the summer of 2004. Through the kindness of Bill Broughton we were introduced to the staff of the United Nations Development Program Tim Rothermel. George Khoury and Nasser Faqih offered us every available resource and facilitated a new connection with the Dothan Valley and its hospitable residents, some of whom had warm memories of Professor Joseph Flee. Our friends from the United Nations introduced us to Hamdan Taha. Director General of the Department of Antiquities and Cultural Heritage of the Palestinian Authority, who graciously encouraged our work and was kind enough to visit the site with us in the summer of 2003.

Once we began the publication in our archaeology laboratory. We quickly realized that we would need more help. We received the generous support of the administration of Wheaton College, including the Dean of the Humanities and Theological Studies, Jill Baumgartener, the Provost, Stanton Jones, and two department chairs, Paul House and Richard Schultz. In addition, our archaeology students stepped up to the challenge, digitizing the records for almost forty thousand registered pieces of pottery, scanning thousands of slides, editing texts, and tracking down ceramic parallels. In particular, the students who participated in our seminar on Tell Dothan in the fall of 2003 were able to work on focused studies of Dothan's history.

Since the pottery was in several countries, we relied upon several illustrators for the plates. Our thanks go to Fadi Amira and Julia Rudman in Jerusalem, Peggy Sanders in Chicago, and Jennilyn White, Rebekah Williams. and Jon Walton in Wheaton.

The publication process took us to Jerusalem in the summers of 2003 and 2004. While there, our work was facilitated by the Albright Institute for Archaeological Research and its director Sy Gitin. In addition we benefited from visits from Gabriel Barkay, Amihai Mazar, and Anna de Vincenz, who all lent words of encouragement and advice to our pottery sorting sessions. We are especially grateful to Ross Jones, the Dean of St. George's College in Jerusalem, as well as the other staff of St. George's School who offered their help and shared their facilities as we analyzed their Dothan collection.

Over the years, through archaeology conferences and public presentations, members of the original Dothan excavation returned to tell us of the richness and importance of the Dothan excavations. We hope that this volume opens a window for the rest of the archaeological community to see what the original excavators have long known. This work stands as a tribute to the long hours that they logged between 1953-1964 in an effort to understand more about the history of Palestine and the ancient stories of the Dothan Valley.

Finally, none of this would have been possible without the vision of Joseph Free. He was the founder of the archaeology program in which we have the good fortune of working. Through his work, his students, and his family we know him to have been an enthusiastic archaeologist and a passionate teacher. His energetic work at Tell Dothan uncovered a rich and important city that we hope can now make its long overdue contribution to the understanding of ancient Palestine and the culture of the Dothan Valley.

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