"fYfMS,Tl'.AC""G'I'CO,"lDII'LfjUl"'" " UGIITOfAHCIiAEOLOGY 153
through thesecenluriessolhatheorsheis ahletoplacemovements
associatedwilhlhosetextswithinlheappropriatematerialandsocialcon-
lextinwhichtheyemerged.Tm:PER,I",PERIOD(515-332H.C.t:.)Thefirstitem 10 bepaimedOUI has(0do\"\'i1h nomenclature.Any
kt.-enobserverofthearchaeologyofanciemIsraelwillnOlicethaitheear-
lierperiodsof!srJel'shistoryarcidentifiedintheliteraturebythematerial
inpredominantU'iCorthathada majorinnuenceonthepeopleofthose
periods. FortheancientNearEast;JndIsraelinthehistoricalperiodsthat
materialwasbronzeandironandtheperiodsknownasthe Bronzeand
IronAges.Withtheemergenceo[thePersianEmpire,however,inthemid-
sixthcenturyB.C.!'.,succeedingerashavebeenidentifiedinnomenclature
by the imperial government that dominated theregion. Ilowever. Ihe
readeriscautionednottonecess:lrilyassociatePersiandominationofthe
NearEasteither....ilhPersianethnicityorPersian-typematerialculture.The
impositionofanimperialruleinanyofthesucceedingperiodsdidnot
necess<uily('<lUSt'awidespreadtran..,formationofk><"'<11cuhure.andsome
anifachshouldmerelybeunderstoodintermsoftheirinherent\'alueand
function:ISobjectsrelated 10 aspecificlimeandnOI necessaril)'1Oa par-
ticularpeople,Indeed.lhePersianperiodiswhenwehegin 10 findbbck
Auie-wareponeI')sherdsandGreek-lookingst:JlueseventhoughthePer-
siansandGreekswereatwar.
R:ltherthangivea systematicreviewofalltherelevanldalaforeach
period.Iwillhighlightsomeofthemoslimportantitem..,;.which,\vhen
properlytakenimoaccount,wiltgreatlyinfluenceone'sunderstandingof
theentiresocblsellingoftheera.It canhardlybedoubtedthattheEle-
phantinepapyrihavecontributedgreatlytoourunderstandingoflhe
Jewish community in Egypt and their assimilation to C::tna:lIlite and
Egypti:lI1culture.'!Ilowcver,evenmorethanthat,theirtextsdemonstrate
andillustrate theirloyalty 10 theirJewishcolleagues in Palestineand
theirdeferencetothemonmailersofobservance."Needless 10 say.their
IIIk7-'lldI'onen."E~YI')Ii.mAr.UlUic.:Te."l~. Or.A.\t:1::?IJ-19
9 J.lme,> Il.I'rIlchard.71)('A,,(wrt/,\carrASIAllAllfholl>,l{j'ofn'xt.~millI'icl/lres
(Prmeo.:lon I'rincClOnenile"ilyPre...., 19-3>.Z-8-S1(alsoal'ailahlcinA\fT191-92),The
<;(.H:alled-1'aS~)lerPapyru.."mdlclu:..lhedeJtrt"e 10 whKhtheJl'"'>mElepluntmellere
con('ern,-"(Iahoutproperoh",,:nanccofthepilfotrimfestilab.llhidlJpp:lrenllt hadtohe
apprull-dbytill:I'l'N:mauthorilie..,111(:'Icu('ris"rinenhylIananiah......'(·retar)'forJe"L"h
affaiNInAmme....satrapml'~~ypl 1')'iI')·I--'fO-B.Ct:.Al'OP)ufIheaUlhofi1.alionto
n--hllildthetempleofYahoIhereillu..tr:llc,>lheconlinuinJtimpon;lnccofIheircult.IIhich
the}o:ulcrnor"urJudahand~Imaria:lppruH.'dfur"llleal-uffcrin}o:,!lldm(en:.c