80 Hl:.'WEENnXTANI)ARTIFACT
importantly,anexemplaryrecordofpublication.+!Theendresultwasa
well-renderedarchaeologic~lIhislOryofthesouthernLevanl.Asa single
author,Mazar"svoiceisunerringlyclear,andthebookhasa highdegreeof
internalconsistency,makingitemincmlyreadableandvel)'engaging.
TheinlrOduetorychaplerincludesa thoroughoverviewoftheenviron-
ment,siteformation,hislO!)'ofthediscipline,excavatIonmethodology,
terminologyandchronology,publications,andnatureoftheinterpretative
process(withanimportantconsiderationoftheroleofideology).Itisin
thechaptersdedicatedtospecifictimeperiodswherewefindrealinnova-
tion.Interestingly,thoughthechaplerheadingsthemselvesaretmdilional
andoften invoke biblical perioc!ization, ~The Days oftheJudges~as
opposedtotheIronAgeI,thereisnodoubtastothecleararchaeological
orientationofthevolume.
Eachperiodchapterisidenticallyorganizedaccordingtodiscretetop-
icalunits Chaptersbeginwithsomeintroductorycommentsandinmost
casesa sectiondevotedtothehistorical(andbiblical)background,includ-
ingiLSinternalchronology.l1lesettlementpatternandoccupationhistories
arefullycovered,andinmostchaptersthereisa usefulchartdetailingthe
comparativestratigraphyofthemajorsites.Siteplanningandarchitecture,
pottery,tmde,metallurgy,burialcustoms,andallimpon.antformsofmate·
rial culture,aswellasperiod·specifictopics(suchaswritingorsealing
traditions),areallcarefullyreviewed.Examplesofspecialperiod-specific
topics include:Egypt in theEarlyBronze I,internationaltradeandthe
Egyptian presencein the l.ate BronzeAge, and the emergenceofthe
IsraelitesintheIronAgeI.
Becauseeachperiodchapteris arrangedidentically,itisrelativelyeasy
toaccessimponantinformationbOlhsynchronicallyanddiachronically.
Thisallowsreaders 10 followthedevelopmentofculturalprocessesand
an.ifactGltegoriesacrosslimeandinthiswaygaina muchbetterfeelfor
how archaeologisLS themselves conceptualize research questions and
organizetheird:ua.ThisarrangementunderscoresMazar'sconcernwith
theimportanceofcomparingunderlyinghislOricalprocessesbetweendif.'
ferenlperiods.
PeriodchaptersbeginwiththeNeolithic. However,closetohalfthe
bookisdedicatedtotheIronAgeIandII,datingfrom 1200 to 586 (J.C.F..
Thiscomesasnosurprise,sincethegreatwealthofarchaeologicaldata
derivesfromIronAgecontexLS.Sepamtechaptersarededicatedtoover::tll
covcmgeoftheIronAgeI,theIronAgeIIA(theunitedmonarchy),4Sand
<1-1Ma73riscurrentlydirt."ClinKtheexca\'atiooofTelRchmintheJordanValley.
"ISQb\i005lylheuseoflhistypeofperiodiZ3lioorcl'k.'Ct5acultun:'hisl:orybasedonthe
biblicalnamlivcs.Onecould3'RueIh:1.IilmiKhlbemore3crur:IlC 10 presem.say,~tenth-