No title

BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGIST .of. IN "k

Published By

The American Schools of Oriental Research (Jerusalem and Baghdad) Drawer 93A, Yale Station, New Haven, Conn.

Vol. XX

December, 1957

No. 4

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1A 40;4

Fig.

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1 2

The site of ancient Shechem with the modern village of Balatah resting View from Mt. Gerizim, Mt. Ebal rises at the left; looking northeast. 'Askar lies on its slope in the center: in the lower right corner within church is Jacob's Well.

on its slopes. the village of the unfinished

Contents The Second Indices

Season

to Volumes

of Excavation XVI-XX,

at Biblical Shechem. L. E. Toombs ...... by Thorir Thordarson

by H. C. Kee and .................................... .....................................

S2 106

82

THE BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGIST

(Vol. XX,

'The Biblical Archaeologist is published quarterly (February, May, September, Decemb6r) by the American Schools of Oriental Research. Its purpose is to meet the need' for a readable, non-technical, yet thoroughly reliable account of archaeological discoveries as they are related to the Bible. Editors: G. Ernest Wright and Frank M. Cross, Jr., with the assistance of Floyd V. Filson in New Testament matters. Editorial correspondence should be sent to one of the above at 2330 N. Halsted St., Chicago 14, III. Editorial Board: W. F. Albright, Johns Hopkins University; Millar Burrows, Yale University. Subscription Price: $1.00 per year, payable to the American Schools of Oriental Research, Drawer 93A, Yale Station, New Haven, Conn. Ten or more subscriptions for group use, mailed and billed to one address, $0.50 per year for each. Subscriptions run for the calendar year. IN ENGLAND: seven shillings, six pence per year; payable to B. H. Blackwell, Ltd., Broad St., Oxford. BACK NUMBERS: Available at 35c each, or $1.35 per volume. Entered as second-class matter, October 2, 1942, at the Post Office at New Haven, Connecticut, under the act of March 3, 1879. Copyright

by American

Schools

of Oriental

Research,

1957

THE SECOND SEASON OF EXCAVATION AT BIBLICAL SHECHEM Part I. What Goes On At A Dig? Howard C. Kee Theological

Seminary,

Drew

University

Among the questions addressed to archaeologists returning from a season in the field are certain to be the following: What do you do on the dig? Do you do any of the actual digging? How do you know where to begin digging? Do you have to remove the entire mound when you excavate a site? Rather than attempting to answer these questions in generalized terms, this article seeks to illustrate from a major, complex excavation how archaeological work in the field is carried out. This summer a second season of work wasi conducted at Tell Balatah, the site of biblical Shechem in Jordan by the Drew-McCormick Expedition, jointly with the Amerioan Schools of Oriental Research. With Professor George Ernest Wright of McCormick Theological Seminary as Archaeological Director, the excavations were carried out by a staff of twenty-seven people, including besides twenty Americans and four Jordanians, a Canadian,an Australian, and a German. Dean Bernhard Anderson and Dr. David Graybeal of Drew served as Administrative Director and Manager respectively. Supervisors of other aspects of the dig included Drs. H. Neil Richardson, Robert Funk and Ovid R. Sellers of the Jerusalem School, and Professors W. R. Farmer, Lawrence Toombs, Robert J. Bull and Howard C. Kee of the Drew Faculty. A generous grant from the Bollingen Foundation of New York aided the expedition, especially in the matter of helping to make possible the participation in the dig of graduate students from Johns Hopkins and Drew Universities. In charge of surveying was Mr. G. R. H. Wright, already well-kown for his work as archaeological surveyor and architect in Turkey and Libya. The operation at Balatah involved a larger stkff and more

BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGIST .of. IN "k

Published By

The American Schools of Oriental Research (Jerusalem and Baghdad) Drawer 93A, Yale Station, New Haven, Conn.

Vol. XX

December, 1957

No. 4

?~~'or

f

?

A6

~?'?W,~71

?

1A 40;4

Fig.

1.

.24L

1 2

The site of ancient Shechem with the modern village of Balatah resting View from Mt. Gerizim, Mt. Ebal rises at the left; looking northeast. 'Askar lies on its slope in the center: in the lower right corner within church is Jacob's Well.

on its slopes. the village of the unfinished

Contents The Second Indices

Season

to Volumes

of Excavation XVI-XX,

at Biblical Shechem. L. E. Toombs ...... by Thorir Thordarson

by H. C. Kee and .................................... .....................................

S2 106

THE BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGIST

1957,4)

83

elaborate operation than most excavations of the past thirty years, so that it cannot be classified as typical dig. But its very complexity will serve to show how great is the massl of detail and how wide-ranging a perspective must be included in a modern archaeological undertaking. Long before work in the field begins, the staff must engage in careful survey of the site, studying both biblical and non-biblical literary sources that may shed light on its history, and accounts of earlier surface surveys or exoavations on the site. In the case of Balatah, there was a vast amount of material, both from the Old Testament and from other ancient Near r, ?IL. ~lb~;? ~?n ~1 ,rr ?3:?, ?? ,I ?,-?: .?15 ?i w:?;. 1*:,t?1? 1... s~ ?1 ., i B: Fl~p?-~l ?l~jy ~r ?~: ? af?.ia~. I~p?

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Eastern records, that provides information about crucial events in the life of the city. From the Tell el-Amarna letters we learn of the efforts of Egypt to bring into submission the wily, self-willed Lab'ayu, governor of Shechem. In the Old Testament we hear of Abraham and later Jacob visiting Shechem during the patriarchal period. In the book of Joshua, Israel's covenant with Yahweh is renewed at Shechem. In Judges, Abimelech is crowned king at Shechem (For details see Biblical Archaeologist for February 1957, Vol. XX, No. 1.). On the basis of such scattered literary remains, archaeologists must construct a tentative - though necessarily fragmentary - history of the site. Since a series of excavations by German archaeologists had been carried

84

THE BIBLICALARCHAEOLOGIST

(Vol. XX,

on at Balatah between the years 1913 and 1934, it was imperative that the reports, plans, photographs and materials from the earlier work be studied before the present operations began. In addition to the records themselves, the Drew-McCormick-American Schools expedition had the benefit of the prescence of Dr. Hans Steckeweh, who supervised the last season of German excavation at Balatah in 1934. A necessary part of the preparation for excavating a site like Balatah is to have membersi of the staff familiarize themselves with publications that describe the finds at nearby sites, or at sites elsewhere in Palestine that correspond to the levels of occupation at Balatah. These resources must be available at the site for constant reference in studying the pottery and other artifacts as they emerge during the excavation process. Finally, a oareful survey of the surface must be undertaken, in order to get a picture from the sherds exposed on the sides of the tell as to the periods of occupation of the site, and to discover remains of walls or other structures that protrude from the surface of the mound. In the ease of Balatah there were of course many walls and ruins of buildings exposed to view by the German excavators. Part of the preparation for the new work at Shechem was to select areas that had not been dug but that seemed to give promise of new evidence for the story of the tell. In consultation with the members of the staff, the Archaeological Director decided that excavations should begin at the following sectors: the vicinity of the East Gate. which had been partially excavated by the Germans and then again by the preliminary work of the Drew-McCormick expedition in the summer of 1956; the area just south of the temple complex; a new section of the mound where nothing more than a few trial trenches had been dug by previous excavators. These were designated respectively, Fields I, II and III.

Before the actual digging could begin, it was necessary to set up the camp and assemble the equipment that would be needed. Arrangements for rental of the land had to be made with the owners of the site through the Mukhtar of the village of Balatah, which sits on and just below the southeastern slope of the mound, and which raises a considerable part of its fruit and vegetables: on the relatively level top of the mound. Negotiations for the fig trees and the tomato plants growing on the tell had to be concluded before the first pick was sunk into the soil. The Mukhtar proved to be both highly intelligent and fully cooperative, so that not only did the expedition benefit from his work as arbiter in the negotiations for land rental. but his continued interest in the excavations was of immeasurable aid in protecting the equipment and in employing laborers and foremen from among the men and boys of the village. On more than one occasion,

1957,4)

85

THE BIBLICAL ARCIIAEOLOGIST

some of the women of the village intervened in behalf of a husband or a son who had been fired, or at least not hired, so that he had opportunity to demonstrate his skill in dealing with both men and women. In this work he was aided by his charming, perceptive assistant, Mohanuned Mustapha, who doubled as camp guard and interpreter for the Mukhtar. The location chosen for the camp was on a level spot northeast of the tell, adjoining the three-room schoolhouse that serves the village of Balatall.

,

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v.

Fig.

3.

?

,

. .

in 1957. In the foreground, The staff of the Shechem expedition Mr. Khoury of the Palestine chief guard. 1st row, left to right: Mustafa, Hotel, Nablus and Mohammed R. Funk, W. R. Farmer, O. R. Sellers, H. N. Richardson, G. E. Wright, B. Anderson, H. Steckeweh, Farah Ma'ayeh, L. E. Toombs. R. Bull. 2nd. row, left to right: G. L. Sinclair, A. Talbert, L. Ellenberger, S. Yahshan, E. F. Campbell, Jr., Buchanan, I). Graybeal, H. C. R. and J. Boling, N. and 1P. Iapp, P. Hollenbach, Y. Yahshan, Tawflq. Mustafa Absent G. I. H. Wright. Imran 'Abudayyeh, Kee, J. Stewart.

A quadrangle of tents was erected, including nine used by the staff for sleeping purposes, one that served as a mess tent, and one that doubled as kitchen and pottery mending shop. Other tents were used to store equipment and t: house guards and six specialists from Jericho trained by the Kenyon expedition there. One of the rooms in the school was used for surveying and photography work; another was the location of the. recording and drawing operation described below. The thick stone walls cf the school provided welcome relief from the burning summer sun, and protection at night from the cool, damp wind that roared nightly eastward through the narrow pass between Ebal and Gerizim, where Balatah is, located.

86

THE BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGIST

(Vol. XX,

Water had to be brought from the village spring on donkey-back, and some of it had to be processed before it could be used for drinking purposes. A tank trailer belonging to the American Schools was of great assistance in providing water for the camp until the old Pontiac which pulled it broke down. A generator was set up to provide lights to operate the phc.tographing of objects, but as a by-product, it furnished a welcome luxury in the form of lights in the tents during the evenings. Then the whir of electric shavers could be heard on the plain before Shechem. The size of the staff of the Drew-McCormick expedition required that there be a full-time camp manager, with one or two assistants under him to keep the camp in order, to see that food was provided for the breakfasts served in camp and that transportation was arranged when the staff ate its daily lunch and dinner at the Palestine Hotel in nearby Nablus. After the fields were chosen - and, of equal importance, the spots selected for dumping the debris, so as not to interfere with future operations - supervisors were appointed for each field. In those fields where digging was going on in only one or two areas at a time, a supervisor was appointed for the field as a whole. In a more extensive field, like that of the East Gate, supervisors were designated for each area. Working with each supervisor was a foreman. The foremen were all Jordanians, chosen either by reason of previous experience in this capacity, or because they manifested unusual intelligence coupled with leadership ability. One of the men from the village who was appointed a foreman demonstrated a particularly great talent in increasing the efficiency of the laborers under him and in comprehending the meaning of the work he was directing. Next in order of prestige after the foremen came the pickmen. In most cases these were older men. Their job is a coveted one, since they have first chance at discovering coins, scarabs and other objects, for which the workmen receive special reward in the form of "baksheesh."The amount of the baksheesh varies with the relative worth of the object, but must be carefully calculated: if it is too high, it might encourage "planting" objects in the mound - something which is frequently attempted anyway; if it is too low, the workmen may grow careless, and miss something significant or they may keep what they find for later sale. The supervisors discourage the workmen from cleaning the objects they find, since the presence of dirt and perhaps corrosion,assists in establishing whether the coin or scarab was in fact found where it is purported to have been. Behind each pickman stands at least two hoemen, whose tools are a cross between our hoes and a spade. The hoeman scrapes up the dirt into baskets, which he holds in place between his feet. A sharp-sighted

87

THE BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGIST

1957,4)

hoeman may find more objects than a less observant pickman. Surrounding each hoeman is a group of boys - two to four in number, ranging in age from twelve to fifteen - whose job it is to carry the dirt out to the debris heap and dump it. Instead of baskets woven of reeds or rushes, the boysi .•

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