Biblical Archaeology Review - January-February 2018

Digs 2018

32 JAnuARY/FEBRuARY 2018

Libnah. The excavation is also exploring the border

between Judah and Philistia, specifically asking how

border communities functioned.

The Shephelah is not the only liminal region in

Israel exhibiting evidence of migration. The Jez-

reel Valley served as the major east–west passage

across Israel for those traveling from Syria and the

Anatolian steppe to Egypt. The veteran archaeologi-

cal excavation that is the Megiddo Expedition—

Biblical Armageddon—led by Israel Finkelstein (Tel

Aviv University), is gearing up for its 2018 season,

as are the various research projects that are part

of the Jezreel Valley Regional Project headed by

Matthew Adams (W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeo-

logical Research). Across the Jezreel to the north, a

few miles west of Nazareth, the upstart Tel Shimron

excavation directed by Daniel Master (Wheaton Col-

lege) and Mario Martin (Tel Aviv University) broke

ground in the 2017 season, and its future seasons

promise to further our understanding of the east–

west trade that passed through the Jezreel Valley

in various periods.

In the north of Israel, a number of digs are exam-

ining the influence that northern peoples, such as

the Phoenicians, Hittites, and Sea Peoples, had on

ancient Israel.

The Tel Akko excavation, led by Ann Killebrew

(Penn State University) and Michal Artzy (Univer-

sity of Haifa), examines one of the most important

EXPOSING A PORT CITY. Spencer Silver of the University

of Iowa and Cas Popp of Pennsylvania State University

use patiches to uncover a street leading to a Late Iron

Age Phoenician public structure on Akko’s acropolis.

JANE SKINNER, COURTESY OF THE TEL AKKO TOTAL ARCHAEOLOGY PROJECT