• Fig. 1 - Plan of Tell ej-Judeideh
  Figure 1
  
  General plan of the summit of Tell ej-Judeideh, showing the position of the five shafts (=S) and the six pits (Bliss 1900b: Pl. I, with corrections and additions based on PEF materials).
  
  Gibson (1994)
  from Gibson (1994)
• Pl. I - Plan of Tell ej-Judeideh
  Plate I
  
  Bliss (1900b)
  showing locations of excavation pits from Bliss (1900b)
• Fig. 4 - Plan of Pit 4 Iron IIB (upper phase)
  Figure 4
  
  Pit 4: Iron IIB (upper phase) structures
  
  (after a sketch and measurements by Macalister: PEF Archives: BLISS/l51/2).
  
  Gibson (1994)
  structures from Gibson (1994)
• Fig. 7 - Plan of Pit 5 Iron IIB (upper phase)
  Figure 7
  
  Pit 5: Iron IIB (upper phase) structures
  
  (after a sketch and measurements by Macalister: PEF Archives: BLISS/l51/2).
  
  Gibson (1994)
  structures from Gibson (1994)

• from Gibson (1994:223,230)

The Chronology of the Site

A new chronological scheme is here proposed for the Tell ej-Judeideh excavations. The following periods are represented at the site:

• EB III
• Intermediate Bronze
• Iron IIA(?)
• Iron lIB (two phases)
• Hellenistic
• Early Roman
• Byzantine

... Pottery dating from the Middle and Late Bronze Ages was notably absent (Bliss and Macalister 1902:51). Bliss wrote that "the almost entire absence of this late pre-Israelite ware, with the associated types, has been noted in all the clearances, a jump being made from the Jewish ware to the very earliest types" (l900b:202). Hence, it seems safe to assume that there was a settlement gap at the site between EB III and Iron II.

The remains from the Iron IIA(?) level (found in Pits 4 and 5) were poorly documented by Bliss and Macalister. All that is known about this level is that it contained the remains of structures (fairly substantial in Pit 5) which were destroyed in a massive destruction (a burnt human skeleton was found in Pit 4). The finds included a large number of iron objects. Nothing is known about the pottery. This level pre-dates the two Iron lIB phases and therefore has been tentatively assigned to Iron IIA, i.e. at the earliest to the 10th century B.C.E. when iron implements began to be more frequently used by the local population.

The Iron IIB level at the site has two building phases. The structures from the lower phase were apparently destroyed (in an earthquake?) and then, in the upper phase, were rebuilt roughly along the same lines. The pottery belonging to the lower phase did not contain the lmlk stamped handles so typical of the upper phase (Bliss 1900b:219). Therefore, the lower phase of the Iron lIB level at Judeideh may be the equivalent of Level IV at Lachish.

Well preserved structures were found in the upper phase of the Iron IIB settlement. It is unclear whether the settlement was fortified at this time. One complete house was unearthed in Pit 4 and two fairly complete storage structures in Pit 5. Silos were found associated with both, indicating that agricultural activities played an important part in the economy of this settlement. The structures had been destroyed by a devastating fire. A late 8th century B.C.E. pottery assemblage (Fig. 18) was found in a bed of ashes on the floors of the structures in Pit 4. A total of 37 lmlk stamped handles and 15 "private" stamped handles were found in the fills extending from the surface of the site down to the floors of the upper phase, at a total depth of between 2.13-2.74 m. in Pits 5 and 4 respectively (another two "private" stamped handles from the site were published by Ben-Dor 1947). Of these, 21 or 22 lmlk handles and 9 "private" stamped handles came from the floors and destruction fills of the structures. It is suggested, therefore, that this upper phase is the equivalent of Level III at Lachish and that the destruction of the settlement at Judeideh was carried out by the Assyrians in 701 B.C.E.

The appearance of Iron Age pottery in the surface fills of the site is the result of deep trenching activities during the Hellenistic period for wall foundations.

• from Gibson (1994:199, 201-204)

Pit 4

The best preserved stratigraphic sequence was obtained in Pit 4, with remains of five strata (as first noted by Bliss 1900b:20l; but later referred to as four strata in Bliss and Macalister 1902:50). These strata may be assigned to four periods: Hellenistic (and Roman ?), Iron lIB (2 phases), Iron IIA(?) and EB III.

... The Iron lIB stratum had an overall thickness of 2 m. and comprised two separate phases. The upper phase was distinguished by the presence of stamped jar handles (both lmlk and "private" stamps), while the lower phase was distinguished by their absence.

The deposits of the upper phase of Iron lIB were 1.24 m. thick. The walls of a fairly well preserved structure were encountered at a depth of 2.13 m. An extension (Pit 4 N) was then cleared to the north of the original pit with the aim of uncovering further structural remains from this level. These remains were all mapped (Fig. 4).

The structure uncovered in Pit 4 (S) measured II x 7.5 m. and had seven rooms (labelled a to g). Walls were about 76 cm. high and 35 cm. wide. The western wall of Room b consisted of a row of three monolithic pillars (1.45 m. high) with the spaces between them filled by a rubble wall which had a stone roof-roller built into it. A doorway may have existed between the second and third stone pillars. The earthen floor of Room b was reached at a depth of 2.89 m. A hearth surrounded by stones was found built against the western wall at floor level(Fig. 5) and a round "vat" (i.e. stone basin) was found sunk below the floor in one corner of the room. A clearly defined band of ashes marked on Macalister's plan between Rooms d and e, may be an indication that a wooden partition wall had originally separated the two rooms. Alternatively, it may represent burnt rafters. Two "vats" were found next to the western wall of Room e. Room f is a small room with a narrow platform in one corner with a step leading up to it. Perhaps this platform served as the base for a ladder to an upper storey or to the roof. A circular stone-lined silo (with an inner diameter of 1.80m.) was uncovered outside the structure next to the southern wall. A mass of stones, with a perforated stone on top, was found close to the northern wall of the structure. A small part of an additional structure was uncovered in Pit 4 North. A courtyard (5.40 m. wide) existed between the two structures with a connecting wall on the west. Macalister noted on his plan that the two best preserved rooms of the second structure (Rooms h and i) were separated by a "ridge" (25 cm. wide) in the earthen floor. This may also be an indication of a wooden partition wall. The earthen floor of Room i was reached at a depth of 2.26 m. indicating that this structure was at a slightly higher levelthan the structure to the south of it.

The structures in the upper phase of the Iron IIB stratum were destroyed in a substantial conflagration, and a large quantity of complete pottery vessels and other objects were found in a bed of ashes overlying the floors (Bliss 1900b:201; Bliss and Macalister 1902:102).The finds from the floors of the southern structure included jars (Fig. 18:1,3; Reg. No. 1013: Fig. 18:2), an amphoriskos (Reg. No. 1014: Fig. 18:5), cooking-pots with taw potter's marks on the handles (Reg. Nos. 1015 and 1016: Fig. 18:9-10), jugs (Reg. Nos. 1017 and 1019: Fig. 18:4), a juglet (Reg. No. 1018: Fig. 18:7), a bottle (Fig. 18:11), a zoomorphic vessel (Reg. No. 1020: Fig. 18:13), and two scarabs (of unknown types). In the general fills within the structure were four lamps, two heads of female pillar figurines, one spout in the shape of an animal head, an ovoid vessel with a broken handle, a small juglet, a bone point, and a quadrangular bone object with two holes for suspension. There were also eight stamped lmlk jar handles (four stamped with the four-winged emblem, one of swkh and one of 1}brn, and four with the two-winged emblem, one of swkh and one of zyp) and four "private" seal impressions: hws/spn [Hebrew text] and Inhm/bdi [Hebrew text], both types known from Lachish (Lachish III:341) and the latter from Nahal Arugot (Garfinkel 1984:50), spnyh [Hebrew text], and hns... [Hebrew text] (Reg. No. 1011; Bliss and Macalister 1902:119-120; PI. 56:20 or 30, 22).

The finds from the floors of the northern structure and courtyard included: a stamped lmlk mmst handle, a lamp with a flat base, a decorated jug (Reg. No. 1030: Fig. 18:12), a black juglet (Fig. 18:8), an ovoid vessel with one handle, a fragment of an animal figurine, an "Eye of Horus" amulet (Reg. No. 1024), a bone arrowhead (Reg. No. 1023: Fig. 18: 14), an iron implement (Reg. No. 1022) and flint blades. In the fills above the walls were 11 or 12 stamped jar handles of the lmlk type (six stamped with the four-winged emblem, three with the two-winged emblem, one of mmst, and two or three defaced), including five with "private" seal impressions sbnyhw /t)zryhw (m"T(37)/'il'):IlV), sbnyhw/(')zryh [Hebrew text], mnhm/ywbnh [Hebrew text] (also known from Jerusalem and Ramat Ral'el:Garfinkel 1984:50), /mk?(?d) [Hebrew text], and bnyhr/sryhn [Hebrew text] (Reg. No. 1021, Bliss and Macalister 1902:120-121; PI. 56:21,23,24,26). There were also two or three heads of ceramic figurines and a fragment of a stone draughtboard.

The deposits of the lower phase of the Iron lIB stratum were 75 cm. thick. In his notes, Macalister 0bserved that an earlier system of walls could be detected beneath the structures of the upper Iron lIB phase. A map of these walls does not exist. Macalister pointed out that many of the stones from the lower phase walls had been re-used in the upper phase walls. Hence, the upper phase walls probably more or less followed the lines of walls first established in the lower phase. Iron Age finds included a holemouthjar (Reg. No. 1047), a juglet (Reg. No. 1040: Fig. 17:1), a small black juglet (Reg. No. 1044),bowls (Reg. No. 1038:Fig.17:4; Reg. No. 1046), an iron arrowhead, a bronze leaf-shaped arrowhead (Reg. No. 1037), and a blue bead. The EB finds in these fills indicate deep trenching. They include an amphoriskos (Reg. No. 1036:Fig. 16:5) and flint blades.

Fills were encountered at a depth of 3.50 m. which date to a period earlier than the lower phase of the Iron lIB stratum, but still clearly within the Iron Age. These deposits (45 em. thick) are tentatively dated to Iron lIA (see below). A "calcined" human skeleton was found in a bed of ashes covering this level. Structural remains were not observed. Finds included a jug (Reg. No. 1039), a bowl, an iron knife, an iron arrowhead (10.7 em. long), fragments of iron nails, and small fragments of bronze "plates" with rivet-holes. The large quantity of iron objects from this stratum suggests an Iron II rather than Iron I date.

The Early Bronze Age stratum was about 92 em. thick, and bedrock was reached at a depth of 4.88 m. Finds included a small "rude" juglet (Reg. No. 1041: Fig. 16:10), a fragment of painted ware, a small square four-legged "bed-model?' (Reg. No. 1035:Fig. 16:12; cf. Beck 1993);bone spatulae, and a stone pestle.

• from Gibson (1994:204-209)

Pit 5

This pit was excavated at the northern end of the site. Remains were found belonging to four strata dating to the Hellenistic period, Iron lIB (two phases), Iron IIA (?) and the Early Bronze Age.

... Walls belonging to the upper phase of the Iron lIB stratum were encountered at a depth of 1.82 m. Floors were reached at a depth of 2.13 m. The remains of three structures were found (Bliss's "middle stratum") and these were mapped by Macalister (Fig. 7). The structure in the northeast corner of the pit consisted of five narrow rooms (a to e) of varying width and of unknown length. Walls were about 46 cm. wide. A round "vat" (stone basin) was found at the southern end of Room d. The wall separating Rooms d and e was plastered. A doorway (1.60 m. wide) connected Room d with Room e. This structure bears a resemblance to the "storehouse" type known from numerous Iron Age sites (Herzog 1992:223-228) but not enough was excavated to be certain. Access to the structure was probably from the north. A large open courtyard existed to the south and southwest of the structure. A large flat stone was embedded in the surface of the courtyard to the south of Room a. A round stone-lined silo (with an inner diameter of 2.20 m.) was found outside the structure to the south of Room d.

Another structure with an overall size of about 9.40 x 7.80 m. was uncovered in the eastern part of the pit. It consisted of six rooms (fto k). Walls were about 30 cm. wide. A perforated stone was found lying on the west wall of Room g. A single "footing" (i.e. bench) was built along one side of Rooms i,j and k. The walls and floor of Room k were coated with red-painted plaster. Two small round depressions were sunk in the floor on opposite sides of the room. An upright monolith (28 x 48 cm., 1.67 m. high) was built into the eastern wall of Room k. Two stone-lined silos were built in the open courtyard to the southeast of the structure. The eastern of the two silos (2 m. in diameter) was enclosed on three sides by a wall. Access to the silo was from the south.

Of the third structure only the corner of a single room was uncovered in the southeastern part of the pit (Room 1).Two benches were found against its northern wall.

Finds from the floors of the structures on the east side of the pit (Rooms a-e and Room 1)included a juglet (Reg. No. 1032), a flat-based lamp, a jar handle with a stamped geometric seal impression (Reg. No. 1031; cf. Bliss and Macalister 1902: PI. 56:47; for a similar example from Tell Beit Mirsim, see TBM I: Fig. 15:6), and a fragment of an iron blade. Finds from the general fills within the structures on the east side of the pit included ajar handle with a lmlk hbrn stamped impression (Reg. No. 1055), a jar handle with a "private" stamped impression ..Ins../..br' [Hebrew Text] (Reg. No. 1056), a lamp with a high-disc base, a fragment of a small lamp, a head of an animal figurine, and a brick fragment.

Finds from the floors of the structure on the west side of the pit (Rooms f-k), include a flat ceramic disc with a hollow tube through the centre, perhaps a spindle-whorl (Reg. No. 1067:Fig.20:6), an ovoid vessel of the "common Jewish" type, a jug on a hollow disc-base (Reg. No. 1068), a dome-shaped weight of the nsf type in red stone (Reg. No. 1066),and a band of baked clay (described by Macalister as a "phallus") 20.2 cm. long (Reg. No. 1069). The latter may be similar to the "sausage-shaped clay objects" from Lachish attributed to Level VI (Ussishkin 1978:74-76; 1983:154-155). Finds from the fills within the structure on the west side of the pit included a holemouth jar and fragments of another (Reg. No. 1034; according to Macalister it was similar to one from Pit 4:Fig. 18:1),a bowl (Reg. No. 1049), ajuglet (Reg. NO.1048), an animal-head spout, a torso of an animal figurine (Reg. No. 1051: Fig. 20:8), another animal figurine (Reg. No. 1054), two bone spatulae, an inscribed dome-shaped stone weight [unknown Text] marked with numerical signs (Reg. No. 1052; Bliss and Macalister 1902:146; Fig. 58:6), a stone loom (?) weight (Reg. No. 1053), and animal and human figurines made of soft chalk. Carbonized seeds and animal bones were also found but not preserved.

The deposits of the lower phase of the Iron lIB stratum were ca. 30 cm. thick. No structural remains were observed and very little was recorded. Iron Age finds included two ceramic jugs (Reg. No. 1071:Fig. 17:2; Reg. No. 1072:Fig. 17:3).

Beneath the lower phase of the Iron lIB stratum was an earlier stratum (Iron IIA?) which corresponds to a similar stratum found in Pit 4 (see above). This stratum was reached at a depth of 2.44 m. Its depth was not recorded. Remains of a very large building were uncovered (Bliss's "lower stratum'') and mapped (Fig. 8).It was of indeterminate plan and the walls were ca. 80 cm. thick. Bliss reported that these remains were found covered by a layer of "small calcined stones, whose condition was evidently the result of the destruction of stone buildings by severe fire" (1900b:201). None of the finds from this stratum (presumably mainly potsherds) were recorded except for a solitary bronze knife blade (Fig. 9) which appears to have come from the destruction level (Reg. NO.1070, Bliss and Macalister 1902:PI. 80:1).The blade is 23 cm. long with a central tang (broken off at the end). A good parallel for this knife comes from a cache of bronze 0bjects in Lachish Level VI, one of which bore a cartouche of Rameses III (Ussishkin 1983:124;Fig. 14:5;PI. 31:1). 34 knives of this type, dating from the 14th through to the early 10th century RC.E., are known from sites in Israel (cf. Mazar 1990:148-150). The date of the knife from Judeideh is uncertain. It may have been an isolated, out-of-context find from Iron I, or perhaps just and heirloom surviving into Iron IIA. Alternatively, this type of knife may have continued in use during Iron Age IIA.

Very little is known about the EB stratum from this pit, except that "older walls" (one of which was curvilinear) were observed by Macalister on the northern side of the pit running beneath the walls of Bliss's "lower stratum" (Fig. 8). This stratum was excavated down to bedrock at an unspecified depth, and no finds were kept or recorded. Bliss reported that bedrock was exposed in one third of the area (1900b:200). Three tunnels were eventually excavated horizontally from the bottom of the pit northwards in the direction of what Bliss suspected might be "the remains of an Acropolis, but no such construction was found" (1900b:201).

• Figure 3 - Time-stratigraphic correlation
  FIG. 3
  
  Time-stratigraphic correlation chart of Iron IIb excavations throughout an extensive region of Israel and Jordan. Datum for correlation is earthquake debris or rebuilding horizons assigned to a single, 750 B.C. seismic event. Locations of cities are shown in Figure 1. Strata names at each site are from primary archaeological reports.
  
  Symbols
  
  

  • P = pottery date
  • C-14 = radiocarbon date
  • T = dated text material
  • D = military destruction layer with historical date assigned
  • A = historically dated architectural style
  • E = earthquake destruction layer
  • E ? = probable earthquake destruction layer (significant rebuilding horizon without evidence of military conquest)

  
  
  Austin et. al. (2000)
  chart of Iron IIb excavations throughout an extensive region of Israel and Jordan from Austin et. al. (2000)

J. Jeremias, PJB 29 (1933), 42-53; Abel, GP 2, 392

Aharoni, LB 54, 90, 292, 314, 339.

Bliss-Macalister, Excavations 7, 8, 44ff., 89-90. 107, 195, 199.

N. Sagiv, Tel Goded—Moreshet Gath (M.A. thesis), Ramat-Gan 1994 (Eng. abstract)

M. Broshi, ABD, 3, New York 1992, 1103–1104

S. Vargon, VT 42 (1992), 557–564

N. Sagiv, ESI 13 (1993), 95–97; 14 (1994), 112–114; 18 (1998), 99; id. (& B. Zissu), JSRS 7 (1997), xiv–xv; id. (et al.), ‘Atiqot 35 (1998), 159–161; id. (et al.), The Aqueducts of Israel, Portsmouth, RI 2002, 177–186

S. Gibson, TA 21 (1994), 194–235

P. T. Crocker, BH 31 (1995), 21–24

D. W. Manor, OEANE, 3, New York 1997, 259–260

A. Kloner (& B. Zissu), IEJ 49 (1999), 242–248; id., BAIAS 19–20 (2001–2002), 114–115

Y. Dagan, The Settlement in the Judean Shephelah in the 2nd and 1st Millennium B.C.: A Test-Case of Settlement Processes in a Geographic Region (Ph.D. diss.), Tel Aviv 2000 (Eng. abstract)

Y. Levin, PEQ 134 (2002), 28–36.

F. J. Bliss, P EQ 32 (1900), 87-10 I, 199-222

H. Thiersch, Archaeologischer Anzeiger (1908), 384ff.

Watzinger, DP 2, 28-30

Weippert 1988, 607, 614.