Biblical Archaeology Review - January-February 2018

Hazor stones

bIbLICaL arCHaeOLOGy reVIeW 51

two centuries earlier ruled Hazor. In addition, a Late

Bronze Age jug containing bronze objects, including

a fi gurine of a seated god, was found near the stand-

ing stone in one of the cult places.

It would then seem that the Israelite settlers

of Iron Age Hazor not only were familiar with

Canaanite architecture and material culture, but

also respected and possibly even revered it. Finely

worked basalt stones are rare in Iron Age structures

and are only seldom reused. Despite technological

advances from the Bronze to Iron Age

transition that may have allowed

for more effi cient stone cut-

ting, the Israelite ruling elite

did not generally attempt

to rival their Canaanite pre-

decessors by reviving the

tradition of basalt architec-

ture. The ninth-century elites

at Hazor, however, may have

chosen to emulate their Canaan-

ite predecessors by reviving the

tradition of producing smaller

basalt items, including the

vessels found in the work-

shop. Perhaps they even

accessed the same basalt

outcrops as did the Late

Bronze Age inhabitants of Hazor.

The basalt vessels from the workshop at Hazor

are now being studied in the Laboratory for Ground

Stone Tools Research at the Zinman

Institute of Archaeology, Uni-

versity of Haifa, where they

are undergoing a micro-

and macroscopic study for

production wear. Together

with the unique workshop

at Hazor, they promise to

shed new light on a neglected

Israelite craft tradition and allow

new opportunities to investigate the

production, distribution, and consump-

tion of elite artifacts during

the Iron Age. This research

also highlights Hazor’s

role as a center for artis-

tic innovation in the

Late Bronze Age, when

it was “the head of all

those kingdoms” (Joshua

11:10), and suggests that

the memory of this role

was alive centuries later

in the minds of the Israelite

inhabitants of Hazor. a

EVERTED BOWLS were named for their out-turned walls.

Their unfi nished state makes it plausible that some arti-

facts under this rubric were intended as plates or other

forms. Pictured here is an example of a fl at-base bowl,

with its well-defi ned rims fi nished before carving of the

vessel’s interior.

DISCARDED IN AN EARLY

STAGE of production, this

tripod bowl seems to sug-

gest that the legs would be

carved fi rst, before the bowl’s

interior—apparently to ensure

accuracy and symmetry of the

end-product.

advances from the Bronze to Iron Age

transition that may have allowed

for more effi cient stone cut-

ture. The ninth-century elites

at Hazor, however, may have

chosen to emulate their Canaan-

ite predecessors by reviving the

tradition of producing smaller

Stone Tools Research at the Zinman

Institute of Archaeology, Uni-

versity of Haifa, where they

are undergoing a micro-

and macroscopic study for

production wear. Together

with the unique workshop

at Hazor, they promise to

shed new light on a neglected

Israelite craft tradition and allow

new opportunities to investigate the

production, distribution, and consump-

tradition of producing smaller tion of elite artifacts during tion of elite artifacts during

inhabitants of Hazor.

NOTES ON PAGE 70

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