Document Type

Article

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy with a Concentration in Ancient Near Eastern Archaeology

University

Lipscomb University

Publication Date

4-23-2025

Abstract

Recent archaeological excavations have gathered a significant amount of data from which to view the regionality that still existed in the Jezreel Valley, the Yarkon Basin and at several Shephelah sites in the Iron Age IIA as a continuation of what has been termed “Canaanite enclaves” from the previous period. It had previously been assumed that Canaanite social traditions had diminished by the 10th century B.C. or had fallen by the wayside due to new economic and political systems from emerging states in the southern Levant. Tel Gezer, a once powerful Canaanite stronghold, was a city on the edge of the ever-expanding central power during the early Iron Age IIA. With the resurrection of the refortified Tel Gezer on the border of emerging states in the southern Levant it would become a target of outside aggression resulting in several upheavals in its occupational history from the 10th to 8th centuries B.C.

One of goals of the recent Tel Gezer Excavation Project was to further expose the Iron Age occupation horizon, and a surprising result came in the late 10th century Stratum 7 with the appearance of several non-elite domestic structures above the destroyed monumental public building of Stratum 8. Unit D at Tel Gezer is the best preserved from the domestic structures. With its abrupt appearance immediately following the monumental Stratum 8, the dwelling was indicative of a change in political and economic stability. However, with the structure’s multiroom floorplan around a small, square courtyard with higher levels of access than a typical FourRoom House, it should be considered an example of the courtyard house or Canaanite household. Similar structures with variations upon this household type have been identified and analyzed at a number of sites where there appeared to be a mixed multitude of cultural expression.

The research presented addresses what appears to be a continuing Canaanite social identity and presence maintained at Tel Gezer as late as the end of the 10th century B.C. based on the Stratum 7 material culture and stratigraphy. The preliminary results of the Stratum 7 ceramic assemblage study has been included. The assemblage points to longevity of local ceramic forms present within Stratum 7 alongside coastal and northern valleys traditions dated to the late 10th century B.C. The preliminary results of a ceramic typology of the Stratum 7 assemblage and its regional connections, a short survey of sites with regional connections to Tel Gezer, and an activity area analysis of the Stratum 7 domestic structure, Unit D, will be presented as evidence of a social identity which differed from the preceding occupation and the one which followed it. Furthermore, it is necessary to clarify how the Stratum 7 material is integrated at Tel Gezer between two public building phases and the possible political and historical reconstructions that may aid in interpretation. This household study will attempt to document the interactions between public and domestic space and the household identity within a border community during the late 10th century B.C.

Download

Share

COinS