No title

The

BIBLICAL

ARCHAEOLOGI

?orPublished by THE AMERICAN SCHOOLS OF ORIENTAL RESEARCH Jerusalem and Bagdad Room 102, 6 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, Mass.

No. 2

May, 1969

Vol. XXXII

Fig. 1. Tell Hesbn, the site of ancient Heshbon, from the northeast. Notice the contour of the mound with its acropolis and shelf between it and the lower slopes. Photo by George J. Unger.

Contents The 1968 Heshbon

Expedition,

by Siegfried

H. Horn

................................26

Ancient Greek Synagogue Inscriptions, by Floyd V. Filson .....................41 New American Schools Publications ..................................... .................46

26

THE BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGIST

(Vol. XXXII

is published quarterly (February, May, September, December) The Biblical Archaeologist 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 relate to the Bible. Editor: Edward F. Campbell, Jr., with the assistance of Floyd V. Filson in New Testament matters. Editorial correspondence should be sent to the editor at 800 West Belden Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, 60614. Editorial Board: W. F. Albright, Johns Hopkins University; G. Ernest Wright, Harvard University; Frank M. Cross, Jr., Harvard University; William G. Dever, Jerusalem. $3.00 per year, payable to the American Schools of Oriental Research, Subscriptions: 126 Inman Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139. Associate members of ASOR receive the journal automatically. Ten or more subscriptions for group use, mailed and billed to the same address, $2.00 per year apiece. Subscriptions run for the calendar year. In England: twenty-four shillings (24s.) per year, payable to B. H. Blackwell, Ltd., Broad Street, Oxford. Back numbers: $1.00 per issue and $3.75 per volume, from the ASOR office. Please make remittance with order. The journal is indexed in Art Index, Index to Religious Periodical Literature, and at the end of every fifth volume of the journal itself. Second-class postage PAID at Cambridge, Massachusetts and additional offices. Copyright by American Schools of Oriental Research, 1969. PRINTED

IN THE

UNITED

STATES

OF AMERICA,

PETERBOROUGH,

BY TRANSCRIPT

N. H.

PRINTING

COMPANY

The 1968 Heshbon Expedition SIEGFRIEDH. HORN Andrews

University

The first season of excavationsat Heshbon was planned for the summer of 1967. Sponsored by Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Michigan, the Heshbon expedition enjoyed the cooperationof the American Schools of Oriental Research. A staff had been assembled, including archaeologistswho had received their training at Shechem and at other sites; other professionals such as architect-surveyors,photographers,and an anthropologist;and teachers and studenitswho desired to receive training in practical field archaeology. By the end of May 1967 the ASOR tent camp and equipment had been moved to Tell Hesban, and some staff members had arrived in Jerusalem. First the rising political tension made a postponement of the expedition advisable, and finally the expedition had to be canceled altogether when on June 5 the Six-day War broke out. A new beginning had to be made. Many of the staff members were willing to try again and new ones were added. ProfessorG. Ernest Wright, president of the ASOR, gave his support by providing funds for equipment and a car to be used in excavations east of the Jordan, where, because of the new situation, the Jerusalem facilities were unavailable. Hence the first Heshbon expedition began field operations, after a year's delay, on July 15, 1968 and worked for seven weeks until August 30. It was directed by the writer of this article, while Roger S. Boraas of Upsala College served as

1969, 2)

THE BIBLICALARCHAEOLOGIST

27

chief archaeologist. The staff consisted of 42 foreigners' plus three men appointed by the Department of Antiquities of Jordan2and several students of the University of Jordan. One hundred sixteen villagers from HIesban and environs served as laborers. Tell Hesban is a large and prominent mound, even slightly higher than neighboring Mount Nebo, from which Moses is said to have viewed the Holy Land before his death. It is located twenty-six road kilometers southwest of Amman in the Transjordan, and some eleven kilometers north of Madeba, the present administrative headquarters for the district. A new hard-top road passes by the site and makes access easy. Four-fifths of the mound is government-ownedand is neither covered by houses nor cultivated. It thus begged for an archaeologicalinvestigation. In approachingthe mound from the northeast some striking topographical features of the tell are clearly visible. The summit, which we called the acropolis, is of a rectangularplan. It is surroundedon all sides by a gradually sloping shelf, forth to sixty meters wide, from which a rapid drop to lower levels is discernible on all sides except the southwest. The whole mound has a size of approximatelyfifty acres. Hence Heshbon compares favorably in size with other ancient sites of comparableimportance. The Adventist school building in Amman was the headquartersof the expedition. The available facilities made our stay pleasant and materially aided in the success of the work. The school auditoriumserved as dormitory for the thirty men. Five classrooms provided offices for registry operations, the architects and photographers,director and anthropologist, and sleeping quarters for the women; a room underneath a stairway was converted into a darkroomfor the photographers;the kitchen and storeroomwere the domain of the cook and his three assistants; the back yard provided space for the seven automobiles that gave mobility to the staff members- five VW buses, one Volvo limousine, and an old Chevrolet carryall, bought for the ASOR, which served also as truck. These vehicles made daily commuting to the mound possible. Work on the mound was carried on five days a week from 5 A.M. to 1:30 P.M. with a half-hour breakfast and a 15-minute tea break interrupting

1. Area supervisors and their associates were: Area A: Bastiaan Van Elderen and Mervyn Maxwell; Area B: Dewey Beegle and E. Grohman; Area C: Henry Thompson and D. Waterhouse; and Area D: Phyllis Bird and L. Geraty. Robert Little was anthropologist; Avery Dick and George Unger were photographers, and Bert De Vries and Paul Belton served as architect-surveyors. 2. Fawzi Zayadin, Ghazi Besha and Mohammed Odeh were representatives of the Department of Antiquities; Mustafa Tawfiq, a refugee from Balatah, was general foreman, and Mohammed Adawi of the American School in Jerusalem, now also a refugee in Amman, was the expedi-

tion's cook.

28

THE BIBLICALARCHAEOLOGIST

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the eight-hour work days. Staff meetings, lectures, registration of objects, pottery washing, daily pottery readings, drawing and registrationof potsherds were carriedout at the headquartersat Amman. 'Heshbon's

History

from Literary

Sources3

Heshbon is mentioned first in connection with the Israelite invasion of Transjordansome forty years after the Exodus. At that time Heshbon was the capital of Sihon, king of the Amorites. However, according to Numbers 21:26-30, Sihon had expelled the Moabites from Heshbon; hence the Moabites must have been in possession of that city prior to the arrival of the Amorites. This is further confirmed by the fact that in the Pentateuch the area surrounding Heshbon is called "the plain of Moab" or "the land of Moab" (Num. 22:1; 31:12; 33:48; 36:13; Deut. 34:5, 6). However, in Moses' time the northern border of Moab was the river Arnon, some forty kilometers south of Heshbon. When the Israelites arrived from Egypt they requested from Sihon of Heshbon permission to travel through his land. When this request was denied a war ensued, which the Amorites lost. Heshbon was taken and apparently destroyed; at least the biblical record speaks of "the children of Reuben" as having built (or rebuilt) Heshbon after the city was allotted to them (Num. 21:21-26, 34; 32:37; Josh. 13:15, 17). Later, the city seems to have changed hands, for according to Joshua 21:38, 39, it belonged to the tribe of Gad. The possession by Gad of the Heshbon area is confirmed by King Mesha of the 9th century, who claims in the Moabite Stone inscription to have taken the territory north of the Arnon from the tribe of Gad (lines 10, 11). By the time of Judge Jephthah, Heshbon had been a city in which Levites dwelt (Josh. 21:39; I Chron. 6:81). During Solomon's reign "the country of Sihon, king of the Amorites," in which Heshbon was situated, is mentioned as belonging to one of the districts into which that king organized his realm (I Kings 4:19). In Canticles 7:4 "the fishpools of Heshbon, by the gate of Bath-rabbim"are mentioned. Bath-rabbimseems to have been the name of a city gate. For two centuries the Bible is silent about Heshbon, but in the time of t;he prophet Isaiah (ca. 700 B.C.) Heshbon, together with Madeba, Elealah, and other cities which had formerly belonged to Israel, appears to have been in the hands of the Moabites (Isa. 15:2, 4; 16:8, 9). It is possible that the city fell to them as the result of Mesha's conquest of the Gadite territory described on the Moabite Stone, although Heshbon is not mentioned in that inscription. That conquest took place in the second half of 3. This brief account of the history of Heshbon as known before excavations began is based on a B.D. thesis presented by Werner Vyhmeister and deposited in the James White Library

of

Andrews

(henceforth

University.

A

condensation

abbreviated AUSS), VI (July

appeared

1968),

in

Andrews

158-177.

University

Seminary

Studies

1969, 2)

THE BIBLICALARCHAEOLOGIST

29

the 9th century and preceded Isaiah's prophecy by more than 100 years. In a prophecy of Jeremiah (48:2, 34, 45) Heshbon shares the prophet's denunciation with other Moabite cities, indicating Moabite possession in the earlier part of Jeremiah'sministry. However, in a later oracle of Jeremiah (49:2, 3), Heshbon appears to be an Ammonite city, having apparently changed hands during the prophet's life. How and when this happened is uncertain, but it has been suggested that Ezekiel 25:9, 10 casts light on this event. This passage refers to an invasion of eastern tribes and of the Ammonites, in connection with which Heshbon may have fallen into their hands. During the Hellenistic period a strong Jewish population developed in Transjordan.In order to bring this region into the Jewish state founded by the Maccabees, their rulers - Jonathan in 147 B.C. and John Hyrcanus in 129 B.C. - annexed territoriesbeyond the Jordan.Hyrcanus captured Madeba (Josephus, Antiquities xiii.9.1). Although Heshbon is not mentioned in the records dealing with these wars, there can be little doubt that it came into the possession of John Hyrcanus at that time, because it is listed among the cities of Moab that were in Jewish hands soon after, during the reign of Alexander Jannaeus, who ruled from 103-76 B.C. (ibid., 15.4). During the time of Herod the Great (40-4 B.C.), Esbus - as Heshbon was then called - became a fortress city guarding Herod's kingdom against the Nabateans in Transjordan. At the outbreak of the Jewish-Roman war in A.D. 66 the city was sacked by the Jews (Josephus, Wars, ii.18.1), but it does not seem to have been held by the Jewish rebels for any length of time. After the Emperor Trajan dissolved the Nabatean kingdom in A.D. 106, Esbus became part of the Roman province of Arabia Petraea. In the 3rd century it was even allowed by the Emperor Elagabalus to coin its own money. At what time Esbus became a Christian city is not known, but that it was the seat of a Christian bishop in the 4th century is attestedby the records of the Council of Nicea in 325, which repeatedlymention Bishop Gennadius of Esbus. Also the acts of the Council of Ephesus, held in 431, mention a bishop of Esbus whose name was Zosus. At that time the bishop of Esbus seems to have been subject to the patriarchof Antioch. Soon after the invasion of the Arabs in the 7th century, Esbus apparently ceased as a Christian city. The last evidence of the city's Christian character consists in correspondence of the 7th century between Pope Martin I and Bishop Theodore of Esbus concerning the latter's orthodoxy. After this correspondence, the name Esbus disappearsfrom the literary sources, reappearingonly centuries later in its Arabic form Hesban. After the Arab invasion a clear historical reference is not found until

30

THE BIBLICALARCHAEOLOGIST

(Vol. XXXII

1184, when ed-Din, a biographerof Saladin, the great Moslem leader who defeated the Crusaders, referred to Hesban as a village. In his history of Saladin, ed-Din says that the Franks, that is, the Crusaders, had taken up positions at el-Waleh (the biblical Elealah), while Saladin encamped close before advancing toward Kerak. Another Arab to a village called who died in 1331, said that "the capital of the Belka writer, Abu el-Feda, H.esban, is HusbMn."Also during the 13th century several other Arabic writers mention HesbMn.But after that there is complete silence with regard to this site until the 19th century, when, during the age of Near Eastern explorations, Ijesban is frequently described by travelers and explorers. However, they know it only as a ruin site, a desolate mound, void of inhabitants. The present population of the village of Hesbn consists of four families who until a few decades ago were Bedouin. They were settled on the eastern slopes of the mound by the Nabulsi family, wealthy landowners who had moved to the Hesbin area from western Palestine toward the end of the 19th century. It is therefore unlikely that the present villagers of connection with the people Hesbin have either a historical or an ethnic of ancient Heshbon, Roman Esbus, or even with the Hesbin of the early Arab periods. The Aims of the First Season

Since Tell Hesbin had never been subjected to any archaeological explorations, the first season was designed to provide as much information as possible with regard to its archaeological history. It was hoped that in this way enough evidence would come to light to show what could be expected from future seasons of excavations, in order to chart a long-range the program of exploration for this site. With this in mind four sectors of after mound were chosen for the initial excavations. The choice was made careful study of the configuration of the mound and of surface indications of ancient remains. The summit of the mound was of a rectangularplan with low mounds of debris and stones borderinga flat space on the north, west and south sides (see Fig. 2). Inside the rectangle a series of four column bases, running in an east-west line, gave the impression of being part of the roof support of a major classical structure. It was therefore decided to excavate this sector of the mound and ascertain the nature of the buildings which in ancient times were erected on the top of the hill. This sector became known as Area A. It consisted of four 6 by 8 meter Squares (we called "Square"any subdivisionof an excavationArea regardlessof its shape). Furthermore,it seemed advisable to make a deep sounding to ascertain in the shortest possible time how many occupation levels the mound possesses. A sector on the shelf just below and south of the acropolis was

THE BIBLICALARCHAEOLOGIST

1969, 2)

31

chosen for this purpose, since its surface gave no evidence of walls or other hints of major construction, thus allowing excavation as free as possible of buildings and similar major features. This sector, Area B, consisted of one Square, 7 by 7 meters in size.

AREA

/ CS •

...

(

\!

.

.......

AREA "A //VVStE'

?=202 3 Sr-F4LE-F

Fp•

9CfOPOLIS

I

BERT DEVRIES

Fig. 2. Contour map of the acropolis of Tell HesbAn. Contour lines are drawn at one-meter intervals of elevation. The Areas dug during the 1968 season are indicated.

In order to find the ancient city's defense wall a sector on the western slope was chosen for investigation. Here the slope drops rather steeply into the Wadi HIesbn, and it was thought any defense construction had ,that probably been located at the edge of such a natural contour. Furthermore, two parallel hillocks and a depressionbetween them gave an appearanceof a possible west-side gateway construction. For this reason four Squares running in a row from west to east were placed in this sector, called Area C. The south balks of these four Squares formed our main east-west axis of the north boundaries of Squares 1 and 2. mound, which in Area A marked .the

32

THE BIBLICALARCHAEOLOGIST

(Vol. XXXII

The fourthsectorof investigation,AreaD, was placedon the southern featuresgave somebasisfor suspecting slope of the summit.Ground-surface a main accessto the acropolisfrom the south or southwest.Three Squares were opened in this area along the main north-southaxis which in :ts northernextensionformedthe west balks of Squares2 and 3 of Area A. While the excavationswere going on the surveyorsbegan work on a contourmap of the mound,as theirotherdutiesleft them time for this job. The surveyof the acropolisand adjacentslopingshelf was completed.Also the base line of the tell was mappedout, but a surveyof the lower slopes of the mound and of the adjacentareasmust be made during the next season, because no reliablemap of the mound and its surroundingarea seems to exist. The Ruins of a Byzantine

Church in Area A

In the second week of excavationsit becameclear that the building to which the column bases, alreadyreferredto, had belonged was most probablya Christianchurch (Fig. 3). The evidencefor this identification, which in the following weeks increased,lay in a fragmentof a multicoloredmosaicfloorwith an arc-shapedborder(Fig. 4), parallelto which ran two coursesof a wall consistingof well dressedstonesthat had formed the apse of a building.The shape of this wall and its locationin the east side of the building, typical for the apse of a Byzantinechurch, gave us the first hint with regardto the characterof the building we were excavating. In the courseof excavationswe found that the apse mosaic,dated to the last half of the 6th century,4belonged to the last phase of the church, which in the course of its existence had experienceda number of reconstructions and alterations. The Arab invadershad destroyedit most thoroughlyand had not even left the foundationstones in some parts of the excavatedsectors of the building.However,it seemsclear that the four columnbases,which are well alignedwith the apse, separatedthe centralaisle from the northern side aisle. Of the north wall of the church three courseswere preserved. This wall, 1.10 m. wide, is of excellent constructionand consists fashion. In the of well dressedblocks of stones laid in header-stretcher central aisle another fragmentof a mosaic floor was discovered,but this may belong to an earlier phase of the church than the one found within the apse. Also south and outside the apse, mosaic floor fragments came to

light which belonged most likely to a side room.Their proximityto the 4. According to a letter of November 29, 1968, written to the author by Dr. Ute Lux, director of the German Institute for the Exploration of the Holy Land, and a recognized expert on ancient mosaics.

1969, 2)

THE BIBLICALARCHAEOLOGIST

33

south balk has so far prevented us from establishing their relationship to the structural remains of the church.

Fig. 3. Byzantine church of Heshbon, in the course of excavation in Area A. The apse is in the right foreground, with a cistern built in during the Arab period after the church had been destroyed. Three column bases dividing the central aisle from the north side aisle can be seen in the center; also visible is the northern outside wall running from left to right beyond the row of column bases. Arab water channels run through the ruin at the left. Photo by George J. Unger.

In the debris of the church numerous pieces of painted plaster were collected that once had covered the walls of the building. Among them was one that con~tainsthe Greek letters ]ANIE[ which are the central letters of the name of the prophet Daniel (Fig. 7, center). They are painted on the plaster in a semicircular arrangement which once was probably above the head of a painting of that prophet. The southern aisle of the church and the western portion with its entrance, lying under deeper layers of debris than the portions excavated in 1968, will be uncovered during the next season of excavations. In some parts of the excavations of Area A we reached bedrock just below the architectural features of the church, and it seems that for the construction of this Byzantine church the structural remains of all or most earlier buildings had been removed. At the time of the Arab invasion or sometime thereafter the church was thoroughly destroyed. Its area was converted into an open square bordered on three sides by stone buildings consisting of vaulted and other rooms. The eastern side apparently re-

34

THE BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGIST

(Vol. XXXII

mained free of buildings. This layout gave the courtyard exposure to the morning sun from the east and protection from the afternoon sun and prevailing winds form the west, which often can be very annoying as we found out to our discomfort. The courtyard seems to have been paved, if one can trust the memory of the villagers who claim to have removed the pavement stones for reuse in the building of their houses. Water channels were laid all over the area and a cistern was constructed in the apse, while another cistern lying between two column bases was also incorporated into the system of collecting rain water. Area B, a Deep Sounding

Shaft

As already stated, Area B consisted of only one Square and was chosen to reveal, if possible, the stratigraphichistory of the mound. First, layers of Arab remains were encountered under which was a thick layer of almost sterile gray-white huwwar, i.e., decomposed limestone. While it is possible that some of this huwwar is water-laid and came from the higher slopes of the acropolis, the huge amount of this material rather militates against this explanation. It is more likely that it had been brought in as a fill to create an open flat space, perhaps for a threshingfloor or courtyard. The limited size of the excavated area did not allow us to come to a definite conclusion with regard to the purpose of this layer. In the northern part of the Square, remains of what seems to have been a Late Arab lime kiln were found. This installation had been cut through all layers of occupation to a depth of more than three meters. Its remains badly disfigured the north balk of the Square and made it necessary for safety reasons to cut a sloping notch into the balk. The walls of the kiln, oval in plan, consisted of lining stones that were badly charred, cracked and discolored from the heat. The inside was filled with a tumble of cut stones that were not charred like the lining stones and therefore were probably not part of the collapsed roof. The remainder of the space inside the kiln contained burned limestones ranging from fist-sized to smaller cobbles. At the south end of the Square the huwwar layer was interrupted a wall, mostly robbed out. Underneath the huwwar layer a stratum by from Byzantine and Roman times came to light, as the pottery indicated. Then came a rebuild-phase of a 1.05 meter wide wall from Hellenistic times, to judge from the evidence provided by some Attic black ware, a Rhodian stamped jar handle, dated by the eponym's name to 220-180 B.C., and some local Hellenistic pottery. In this stratum was found the articulated skeleton, minus head, of a large feline, probably a lynx. One hind leg showed signs of burning. Whether this decapitated and partially burned animal had been used in a cultic ceremony could not be ascertained.

1969, 2)

THE BIBLICALARCHAEOLOGIST

35

Fig. 4. Glueing cloth on the mosaic floor fragment within the apse of the Byzantine church in preparation for removing it from its ancient cement bed. Photo by Avery V. Dick.

From the Persian period came a stone wall 1.05-1.10 m. wide, followthe perimeter of the mound in a slight curve from the southeast to ing the northwest. By the end of the season the wall had been excavated to a depth of 3.50 meters from its top, but the bottom was not reached. The balks revealed 15-25 centimeters-wide foundation trenches on both sides of the wall, indicating that for the construction of the wall a deep trench, about 1.50 meter wide, had been dug into which large field stones had been lowered. Spaces between the stones had been chinked with smaller stones (see Fig. 5). It seems therefore that this wall formed the foundation of a fortification wall-now completely razed-for the acropolis area and was intended to keep sappers from tunneling under the wall. At the east end part of a tower became visible, while three narrow walls ran from the main wall toward the south. It is possible that they were part of a gate complex with the small cubicles used as store-rooms.The pottery of the foundation trenches of the wall was Iron III and earlier; therefore it would appear that the wall was erected in the Persian period. During the last two days of the season a probe was made along the west balk with the purpose of reaching the bottom of the wall, an attempt which proved to be unsuccessful in the available time. However, this

THE BIBLICALARCHAEOLOGIST

36

(Vol. XXXII

probe produced the most exciting and important object found in Area B-an ostracon containing a text of five lines. The script indicates that it was written about 500 B.C. The broken text, badly faded and difficult to read, consists of a list of names, of which some are West-Semitic, one Egyptian and one Babylonian, a most interesting mixture. It is a surprise that the patronyms are preceded by the word ben, since one would have expected bar to be the common word for "son" in this area and period.5 Area C: a Thick Layer of Debris

The configuration of the ground surface on the western slope of the mound gave every appearance of being the most likely place where the ancient city's defense wall could be intercepted by a series of Squares placed in an east-west line. Unfortunately the work of the first season has not confirmed this assumption. Instead of a defense system a thick layer of wash was encountered in this Area C. During the past centuries layer upon layer of debris from upper parts of the mound had washed down upon its lower slopes. This debris was saturated with Arab painted and glazed pottery, Roman and Byzantine ware and some earlier sherds. Close to the ground surface a U-shaped wall spreading over Squares 1-3 was uncovered which seems to have enclosed the courtyard of a Late Arab house, of which one wall came to light in the south balks of Squares 2 and 3. Another domestic structure, apparently of the same period, was discovered in the northeastern part of Square 4. In the same Square a five-meter-deepcistern was found and cleared out during the last week of operations. It produced sixty-eight pails of pottery. In it several almost perfectly preserved, beautiful painted vessels (so-called Umayyid ware) were found, as well as enough fragments to restore several more jugs and jars. Bedrock has so far not been reached in Area C, except in Square 4 (at the cistern), in spite of the fact that the excavations have penetrated a depth of four meters of debris in some places. Toward the end of the season, architecturalfeatures of a complicated nature appeared in Square 1 which according to the ceramic evidence seem to belong to Roman times. Further work is needed to illuminate their nature and importance. While the work in Area C was frustrating and disappointing, it provided many interesting objects, large and small. One stone which must have been part of a monumental stone inscription in Greek or Latin showed a well-cut large A. Another huge boulder was covered on one side with an ornate decorative sculptured design, of which details can 5. The ostracon will be published by Professor F. IM. Cross, Jr., in the July 1969 number of the AUSS,

where

also extensive

reports on the first season

of excavations

at Heshbon

will

appear.

1969, 2)

37

THE BIBLICALARCHAEOLOGIST

be made out only with difficulty, because the stone is bady weathered. This touches on a problem encountered all over the mound. The limestone used in the constructions of ancient Heshbon is not very weatherresistent. For this reason most architecturalfragments of ancient buildings, such as capitals, architraves, doorsills, etc., are badly corroded, and have often lost their original shape or any decorations they once contained. .........: :::-I-:.---::-- ?:: i:;~:'i?~ :i:7 ::~:::I ::::::j? ...........:i.ll~:::j::: :::: 8i::,b. ?? : d~:: :?:~:?::?:::::::_::::::::::::? -?:-:::::::?-:-::.

. . :~ON~x.. :~

. . . . ... .

....... ...

::..

. .........

.41::::::::?:::r: :?:~i':..............-i :?:.10 .:

:: ...................:: ..... .......W ...... .. ..

x: :

...:~:

..

... ... ... .

.. . ... .. . .... .......... .S.

l~-

~~ :c

?~a~ w~e~i:

W-A~;::

............::i?.:i

...

i:~:~ -P

-r

L~Y'~P

-L- -

.

~~~ .

"~ ?~P-

.

l~e~Q;O~)~?U~

...

.

e~

n

~~

:?~l~?.....

I~Yi

.

..sgS:,'~

X:i:xiaauaIx:

x

. ~f~:3

Bgl~

s

.

i:

..

:

;x.

X.

.

:::::::: :::::: ::::j : : : i-:

~~ ~ s

~?'?~.??:~~

..

'.K::?::,::

ii8i

Fig. 5. The chinked foundation wall of a defensive system surrounding the acropolis from Persian times in Area B. Photo by George J. Unger.

Among other objects found in Area C is one of the charming but highly stylized bone dolls which in Egypt appear in 7th-9th century A.D. contexts (Fig. 7, right). It is triangular in form and terminates on one side in a carved human head while the other end is a blunt point which was originally inserted into a cloth body. The fragment of a huge bowl of Roman times contains the impression of a Roman seal in rectangular frame with the inscription C(aius) Bellici(us) Zmaragdi(us), the name of a Roman pottery manufacturer whose products from the western Mediterranean area found their wayvto eastern Palestine in the first or 2nd century (Fig. 7, left). The Ascent to the Acropolis

in Area D

Before work began Area D had the appearance of a hillside strewn with boulders and crowned with a stone heap. After the surface tumble was removed a different picture emerged. Along the south perimeter of the acropolis ran a broad enclosure wall 1.70 m. wide at the base. Rooms

38

THE BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGIST

v:

":iiii

(Vol. XXXII

~

...... ':::::::::?::.m.X'

~i~l~ii~ita"

,~::::i:i~gl sl~m:X~

:r

g:

:I'iS:l

:?:......

I

.:

~

.

.:::

~i: ;: : ~:

.

c.

. t~

~:~j:::::::::~:::...

I~i...

.

.

.

Fig. 6. Stepped ramp in Area D leading to the acropolis area. To the right is the eastern framing wall. Photo by George J. Unger.

and a courtyard were found inside (north of) the wall, while one meter or so below and outside (south of) the acropolis enclosure wall a level terrace, also enclosed by walls, was discovered. At its western end and extending into the west balk stood a gateway, estimated to have been

1969, 2)

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about one meter wide. In front of it (to the south) was a plastered porch to which access was gained by a broad stepped stone ramp (Fig. 6) which led from the lower levels of the mound toward the acropolis area. Along this ramp ran a low wall on the east (excavated) side, and another one probably also on the other side, thus framing the staircase to the acropolis. The gateway of the acropolis enclosure wall opened into a courtyard paved with giant flagstones, some being 1 by 1.50 m. in size. On both sides of this courtyard, to the east and west, lay vaulted rooms. One such room east of the courtyard lay in the excavated area and was examined. Its vaulted roof had collapsed, but the stones were preserved. The ground surface the west of the excavated area shows that some of the other ,to vaulted rooms are still intact. The structures so far described came from the Arab period, although they had incorporated into their architectural plans pre-Arab structures, such as the enclosure wall and the stepped ramp. In fact, a combination of the ceramic and architectural evidence indicates that the pre-Arab structures probably were taken over peacefully, for they show no evidence of violent destruction. Some of the existing features were modified and later must have experienced a destruction which seems to have occurred at the end of the Early Arab period. When this destruction and rebuilding came in terms of an actual date or in connection with known historical events has not yet been determined. At least two phases of rebuilding and remodeling could be distinguished in the remains of the structures erected after the destruction. By the end of the excavation season most of the Arab remains had been removed, and pre-Arab structures came to light which have not yet been studied. Underneath the courtyard within the acropolis enclosure wall a well laid tile floor became visible, and underneath the stepped ramp steps of well-dressed stones came to light. The pottery so far obtained from the context of these architectural features points to a Roman horizon. Only future excavations will bring certainty in this respect. While the structuresin Square 1 and 2 were continuous and belonged to the same building complex, Square 3 showed a different picture. Its area lay outside the zone of construction and occupation on the acropolis mound. Homogeneous architectural remains were not found, but several pits, and layers of surfaces ranging from Roman to Late Arab times. Near the bottom of one pit in the south of Square 3, remains from at least three human skeletons came to light. One of them came from a female, almost complete except for the lower jaw, left arm, and legs from the knees down. This skeleton was articulated from the base of the neck

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downward. However, the head, three cervical vertebrae and a shoulder blade were detached. The woman, estimated to have been about forty years old, appears to have died from a large tumor in the left chest, in the cavity of which its calcified remains were found, having the shape and size of an ostrich egg. None of the skeletal remains, including the other skull, long bones and jaw fragments, seem to have been associated with primary burials. All were more or less disturbed, resting in and among the heap of stones in the bottom of the pit. The meaning of such a disposition of human remains is not yet clear. The ceramic evidence associated with this level in the pit was characteristically ByzantineRoman.

I:F

-....... .

:::

•i:~..

..

.. .:•

::: 1

Fig. 7. Left: Latin deal impression of the first or 2nd century A.D., reading C(AIUS) BELLICI(US) ZMARAGDI(US). Center: a piece of wall plaster from the Christian church. The Greek letters painted on the white plaster must be completed to read [D]anie[l]. The name stood probably over the head of a painting of that famous prophet. Right: a Christian bone doll from the 7th to 9th centuries A.D. Photos by Avery V. Dick. Summary

The first season of excavations at Heshbon has been rich and varied in discoveries, although only the top strata have so far been uncovered. Early and Late Arab remains were encountered in every area. In Area A they consisted mainly of a storage complex and a system of channels and cisterns, in Area C house walls and a courtyard enclosure belonged to ,this period, but in Area D a complex of stone buildings with walls, gateways, and a stepped ramp came to light which showed that the Arab occupants of Heshbon were avid builders. The monumental building in Area A, which appears to have been a

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Byzantine church, was the main representative of the pre-Arab period. This building also went through several stages of rebuilding and remodeling during its existence. So far not many remains of the Roman period have been unearthed, although Area D seems to give promise of containing sizable structural features from that period. The Persian period is represented in Area B with the deep foundation wall and an ostracon. Evidence for earlier periods consists of some early pottery found in later strata, because no stratum earlier than the Persian level has been penetrated in excavations. It is expected that the next season, scheduled for 1970, will provide more evidence for the periods that during the first season have only been touched or have not yet been reached.

Ancient Greek Synagogue Inscriptions FLOYD

V.

FILSON

McCormick Theological

Seminary

Some of us will admit that we have not given the attention deserved to inscriptions of the period just prior to and contemporary with the emergence of rabbinical Judaism and the Christian Church. There are practical reasons for this neglect. The facts about the finding and wording of such inscriptions are usually found in excavation reports or technical journals not easily accessible to many students. The grasp of the meaning of the data calls for competence in a wide range of linguistic and historical material that gives the interpreting setting for such study. Moreover, the inscriptions are often - or, rather, usually - fragmentary,and so require extensive background information to perceive fully their reference and meaning. The date of the inscription often cannot be determined with certainty. Nevertheless, inscriptions offer a highly instructive source of historical information. They give specific data for the study of the period in which the inscription dates. They are almost always contemporarywith the people and events mentioned. They give not only historical data but also linguistic information about spelling and word forms in the place and time to which the inscriptions point. They give insights into the life of individuals and groups who never come alive or even appear in the written history of the period covered. The cumulative effect of the information which inscriptions yield is great. A good example of the light -which the study of inscriptions can throw on ancient history is the publication by B. Lifshitz entitled Donateurs et Fondateurs dans les Synagogues Juives. Its full title may be translated thus: "Donors and Builders in Jewish Synagogues: A Collection of Greek Dedications Relating to the Building and Repair of Synagogues."It appears

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as No. 7 in Cahiers de la Revue Biblique (Paris: J. Gabalda & Cie., 1967) and runs to ninety-four pages. The scope of this study is limited. It deals with relatively few of the numerous inscriptions by and about Jews of the ancient period. It selects and studies 106 inscriptions which record in Greek the contribution in work and especially in money of Jews who either built or more often repaired, adorned, or enlarged the synagogue where the inscription was found. In a few inscriptions, by the way, it is not certain that the benefactor was a Jew. The geographical range of these inscriptions is great. It extends from Egypt, Palestine, Asia Minor and the Black Sea on the east to Sicily and Spain in the west. Palestine, Syria and Asia Minor are most frequently represented. Rome and Italy, it is noteworthy, are not included. The date of the inscriptions included is doubtful in some cases. In general, they cover the period from the 3rd century B.C. to the 6th century A.D. This warns us not to treat these inscriptions as though they all applied fully to any one period. It suggests that recurrent features may have special importance. In a large number of the inscriptions, the individual or group who has built or repaired or adorned the synagogue is said thereby to carry out (tele6) or to fulfill (plirod) a vow (euchi); a good example is inscription No. 19 (hereafter, reference will be made to inscriptions by number in this manner). Often it is a prominent leader in the local synagogue who has made and fulfilled such a vow. It also occurs that a leader of a strong synagogue in a neighboring city steps in with help that includes financial assistance (No. 38). But perhaps most often it is an individual, or a family group (No. 63), who steps in with the resources needed, and at times such people do it as a kind of memorial. Sometimes a group of donors is listed, with the amount each has given carefully stated (No. 100). If an individual or family or other group has provided the funds for the project, it often is explicitly noted that the expenses were covered without touching at all the funds in the synagogue treasury (but see No. 2, a mosaic financed "from revenues of the synagogues"). The inscriptions use the word synagogue in two senses. It refers occasionally as in No. 10 to the synagogue as a community of God's people whose life centers in this building (e.g. laos and plethos), but more often it refers to the building itself. Words are used of the building which recall for us the temple of Jerusalem; these synagogue groups have taken over such words to express their life as centered in the synagogue with no thought of the old temple; they call their synagogue a house, a sanc-

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tuary (naos), a holy place, most holy, and a house or place of prayer (proseuchi). This last word, found in about ten inscriptions,deserves attention in connectionwith Acts 16:13, 16. Paul and his companions,on the first sabbathday after reachingPhilippi, "went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposedthere was a pliaceof prayer"(proseuchi). There they found some "womenwho had come together."This is widely taken to mean that Paul and his companionsattendeda synagogueserviceby the riverside.This can hardlybe the meaningof this puzzling verse, for a synagogueconsistedof ten or more Jewish men banded together for worship and study and communitylife. A group of women thus could not constitutea synagogue.Luke seems to know this, for he says, according to the most likely Greek text, that "we supposedthere was a place of prayer"by the riverside;whenever in Luke-Actshe uses "suppose" (nomiz6), he refersto a view falsely held. So it seems that Paul and his companionsset out to find by the riversidea place of prayer,a synagogue; but on their first try they found there only some Jewish women and a God-fearingGentile woman named Lydia. Later Paul and his companions found where the synagogue, the place of prayer (proseuchi), actually was (Acts 16:13-16). In any case, we find proseuchi (literally, a house or place of prayer) as a name attestedfor a synagoguein Acts and in about ten of the inscriptionswhich Lifshitzpresents.In these inscriptions, the word proseucheoccursalmostas often as the word synagogue. Several titles of synagogueofficialsare found. "Elder"(presbyteros) occurseight times, "ruler"(arch5n) half a dozen times, "synagogueruler" (archisynagogos)in twelve inscriptions,and "rulerof the councilof elders" (gerousiarchos)in one. A man whose name is now lost, with his wife and children,paved the porticoof a sanctuaryin Syria in the time of a certain Nehemiah, who is called hazzanaand diak5n (No. 40). The dedicationsof synagoguesare sometimessurprising.Ratherunexpected is the dedicationof certain synagaguesin Egypt to rulers of the Ptolemy line; in No. 93 and No. 94 the dedicationis to the reigning Ptolemyand Queen Cleopatrahis sister and Queen Cleopatrahis spouse. The dedicationto the reigningrulerwas not intendedto compromisethe monotheisticfaith of the Jews involved.This dedicationto a pagan ruler is found in Egypt but is not a generalpractice.Quite different,for example,is No. 35, the dedication"to the invincibleGod and to the honorable place of prayer"(tj kyriaproseuchi). Strikingalso is the dedication in No. 34 "to entire fatherland/homeland" (patris); Lifshitz ex,thethe the as plains patris Jewish community. It is not possiblehere to discuss in detail the personalnames that

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occur in these inscriptions. They are listed alphabetically in an index to the publication. One may note in passing the occurrence of the names Lazarus and Isouos; the latter name seems to represent the name Jesus. Of the names of the twelve Apostles found in the Gospels, only Jacob (that is, James) and Judas (Jutas) are found. Among the infrequent names found both in these inscriptions and in the New Testament are Zacharias, Cornelius, Saul, and Silas. More important is the noteworthy number of Greek (and Latin) names. Sometimes it is not clear whether the Greek name really refers to a Gentile donor to synagogue building or repairs, or whether - as it seems to be the case in at least a good many of the donors - we have to do with Jews who have Greek names. The ancient synagogue found at Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee has a mosaic pavement with the signs of the Zodiac and representationsof the four seasons; of the seven names now preserved only one is Semitic (No. 76). Among the inscriptions found at the synagogue on the island of Delos the fragmentary No. 8 has a special interest. It may date from the early part of the first century B.C. It does not now preserve the name of the Jew who put it up. But when we remember the role of ancient Delos as the outstanding slave mart of the ancient world, it stirs the imagination to read the two Greek words that remain of this inscription; they say simply "having become free" (No. 8). While the most common elements in these inscriptions are the donors' names and the fact that to fulfill a vow they paid for the building or the repair or the adornment of the synagogue or its setting, other concerns find expression. Brief prayers are often included: "Blessing" (No. 30), "Blessing on All" (No. 38), "Blessing on him. Amen" (No. 76), "Blessing on the people" (laos, No. 81), "Help, O God" (No. 90), "May he live" (No. 76), "May he be saved" (No. 76), "Save, O Lord. Amen" (No. 84), "Peace and mercy on all of our holy community" (pl2thos, No. 39), "Peace to the synagogue" (No. 78), "Sela" (No. 78), and the Hebrew formula "shalom"(No. 90). It is important to note that the verb "save" (s6z3) occurs twice and the noun "salvation"(sateria) sixteen times. The meaning here evidently is not - or is not mainly - an otherworldly saving of a soul from eternal punishment and his admission to final and eternal blessing. It centers rather on the divine gift of wholeness, health, and welfare in the entire range of life. This rich meaning is not fully paralleled in the New Testament, where we often sense more of an eschatological outlook than these inscriptions reflect. But the meaning of healing, health, and wholeness is present in the New Testament uses of these words more than is sometimes realized.

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Two important inscriptions show that sometimes rooms to provide lodging for traveling Jews were a part of the total synagogue structure. Widely known and very instructive is the Theodotus inscription concerning the synagogue built at Jerusalem in the first century, before the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 (No. 79), it reads: "Theodotus, son of Vettenus, priest and synagogue ruler, son of a synagogue ruler, grandson of a synagogue ruler, has built the synagogue for the reading of the Law and the teaching of the commandments, and (has built also) the quarters for strangers, both the rooms and the water provision, for the lodging of strangers who need it. The foundation (of the synagogue) had been laid by his fathers and the elders and Simonides." This Greek inscription was set up for the attention of Greek-speakingJews resident in Jerusalem or - especially - visiting in Jerusalem, particularly at special religious celebrations of the Jewish religious calendar. It is a reminder that at that time Greek would be widely spoken in Jerusalem both by residents and pilgrims, and that ceremonially acceptable accommodations would be a matter of importance, to Jews on pilgrimage. especi'ally for That this provision for suitable lodging traveling Jews was not a rare feature of ancient synagogues is indicated by a 3rd century inscription found at Stobi (No. 10). It is instructive to translate this inscription: "(Cl.) Tiberius Polycharmos, also named Achyrios, father of the synagogue (that is, the Jewish community centered in the synagogue) at Stobi, who has lived in every respect according to the prescriptions of Judaism, has built out of his own resources in fulfillment of a vow the rooms annexed to the holy place (that is, annexed to the synagogue building proper) and the dining hall with the quadriportico,without drawing at all on the funds of the synagogue." Tiberius Polycharmos adds that he reserves for himself and his heirs during their lifetime the use of the upper rooms, and he and his heirs will be responsible for the repair of the roof of the upper story. Any change in this arrangement, it is added, can only be made by paying to the patriarch 250,000 denarii. This evidently is intended to protect the life tenure of the heirs of the donor. It is hoped that the items noted will show how instructive for the study of ancient Greek-speaking Judaism the inscriptions Lifshitz has examined can be. It may be of value to make in conclusion three general observations. 1. These inscriptions, dating from days of the early Ptolemies to the close of the ancient period, warn us not to think that the fall of Jerusalem revolt in A.D. 135 ended in A.D. 70 and the crushing of the Bar-Coxdhba the ties of ancient Judaism with Hellenistic culture. It is true that the future of Judaism lay with its rabbis in Palestine and Mesopotamia and

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its linguistic setting of Hebrew and Aramaic, but it also is clear from these inscriptions that for centuries there was a widespread continuation of a Hellenistic Judaism that had cultural relations with the Greco-Roman world. 2. As one considers the many parts of the Roman empire from which such Greek inscriptions come, it is clear that while Palestine, Syria, and Asia Minor are prominent in the list, no one place stands out as the center of Hellenistic Jewish culture. The Jews were scattered over the GrecoRoman world, and wherever they were they built synagogues and left their mark in such inscriptions as Lifshitz has presented. 3. To one accustomed to think of Hellenistic Judaism and Jewish Christianity as centered in Jerusalem - as was the tendency in the light of the Old Testament history in the days of the life of Jesus and Paul - it comes almost as a shock, after reading these inscriptions, to realize that apart from the Theodotus inscription which antedates A.D. 70, Jerusalem and pilgrimage to Jerusalem play no role in this material. I do not doubt that this observation can be over-emphasized,and we must remember that after A.D. 70 Jerusalem and its temple were not available as a place of pilgrimage and a focus of Jewish life. Nevertheless, there are no references to the past temple or a future temple. The focus of attention is on the synagogue, and the titles that might have recalled the former temple - for example, "the most holy place" - are used of the synagogue. It has become the focus of Jewish life and piety, and no aspiration for a rebuilt temple appears and competes with this centering of worship and life in the synagogue.

New American Schools Publications Early March, 1969, witnessed the appearance of two new ASOR annuals, Nos. XXXVIII and XXXIX; this signals the sturdy attempt to get ASOR publications back on schedule and to meet the sky-rocketingcosts of printing; the first was printed in Amman and the second in London and both were bound in London. The two volumes constitute significant contributions to the archaeology of Palestine, dealing as they do with two important sites equidistant from Jerusalem, Beth-zur about 14 miles SSW and Bethel about 11 miles N. The first is the final report on the 1957 campaign at Beth-zur. Beth-zur was first excavated in 1931 under O. R. Sellers and W. F. Albright, and a report of that campaign, which gave firm definition to the cultural history of the site, was published in 1933 under the title Citadel of Beth-zur. Sponsorship came from Presbyterian (McCormick) Theological Seminary in Chicago with ASOR. The excavatorshoped to return to the site for further work within a few years of the first campaign,

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but the vicissitudes of depression and war delayed the prospect until 1957, when Dr. Sellers was again on appointment to the Jerusalem School and assembled a fine staff including H. Neil Richardson, Dr. and Mrs. Paul Lapp, Robert W. Funk, and John L. McKenzie. They present this report as a joint endeavor. The report itself underwent some of the same sort of difficulties which mounting the second campaign encountered: the Lapps' portion of the text was a casualty of a too-close inspection of the Rock of Gibraltaron the part of the ship they were taking to the Middle East; the completed manuscript was lost when an airline misplaced Dr. Sellers' baggage in 1960. To top off the difficulties, the manuscript was being type-set in Amman when war broke out in June, 1967, separating the editor, Dr. Lapp, from the press at the Schneller boys' school. We are lucky to have this valuable publication at all! Beth-zur shows major occupation in Middle Bronze IIC (late 17th and 16th centuries), Iron I (11th century), late Iron II (late 7th and early 6th centuries, probably ending with the Babylonian invasion), and Hellenistic (2nd century, B.C.). In MB IIC, fortificationswere built similar to those at Bethel and Shechem of the same period, and they were rebuilt to serve throughout the site's entire history; the two Iron age settlements may actually have had no fortifications,but it is clear that the Hellenistic settlers used the old MB lines. Chapters in the reportby Funk, McKenzie and Lapp detail the history of the site and the finds made in the three fields of excavation. Two subsequent chapters detail the pottery finds; the chapter by the Lapps on the Hellenistic pottery neatly fits the typology presented by Paul Lapp in his Palestine Ceramic Chronology 200 B.C.-A.D. 70. Dr. Sellers rounds out the volume with a study of the small objects, abetted by a tidy study of the beads by his wife, Katherine. This volume brings the Beth-zur evidence into convenient form for the archaeologist to use in comparative studies, and portrays for the interested reader the history of a fine little citadel on the road from Jerusalem to Hebron. Final production of the Beth-zur volume rested with William Clowes and Sons of London, who printed and produced the second new Annual, in which the results of four campaigns and a sounding at the importantsite of Bethel are published. Here too excavation was conducted before and after the war era. Dr. Albright first sounded the site in 1927, and a full-scale campaign took the field in 1934 under the sponsorship of Pittsburgh-Xenia Seminary and ASOR, with Dr. Albright as director and James L. Kelso as assistant. Twenty years later, in 1954, Dr. Kelso returned to the site, and in 1957 and 1960 additional work was done. In Annual XXXIX, again with the collaborationof associates, Dr. Kelso presents the final report on the entire undertaking. Collaboratorsare Lawrence A. Sinclair on the 6th

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century pottery, Paul Lapp on the late Hellenistic and early Roman pottery, and James L. Swauger on the early flints. Dr. Albright opens the volume with a discussion of the site and its identification. In some important ways, the Bethel and Beth-zur evidence interlocks, especially with the MB IIC fortifications at both sites and with the two pottery groups given special study by Sinclair and Lapp; in both the latter instances, the Bethel occupation was slightly later than that at Beth-zur. Bethel 6th century pottery suggests that the site survived the Babylonian invasion and was not destroyed by the advancing armies of Nebuchadrezzar. The 6th century destruction comes instead at or shortly after the middle of the century. Among many significant historical results emerging from the excavation and here fully documented is the oft-cited observation that the late 13th century B.C. destruction (attributable to the Israelites) is followed by the building of a town of quite different character.The architectureis markedly poorer, and it appears that distinctions between upper and lower-class housing observablein the Late Bronze age Canaanite city are not present in the succeeding Iron age Israelite town. This volume is of first-class importance in presenting the evidence for such a conclusion, a kind of conclusion which is among the most controversial an archaeologist is called upon to make. It remains to note that no trace has yet been found at Bethel of the temple placed there after the division of the monarchy, in the late 10th century. A 19th century B.C. building which the excavatorsdo identify as a temple suggests a religious associationof great antiquity for the town and goes some distance to explain the name of the town as witnessed in the patriarchal narratives - Bethel, the Sanctuary of El. These two important archaeologicalpublications are available from the publication office of ASOR at 126 Inman Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02139. Further annuals, including the publication of the tomb excavations at Bab edh-Dhra', are in the preparation stage. - the Editor. New Map Slides from England

The Palestine Exploration Quarterly for July-December, 1968, carries an advertisment concerning eight 2x2 inch transparencies taken of the maps prepared by the Palestine Exploration Fund showing Palestine with its distribution of population at various periods in its history: Prehistory, Early Bronze and EB-MB (Albright's MB I), Middle and Late Bronze, Iron, Persian-Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine-Arab.The eighth slide is a geological map. These are fine maps and the slides are helpful in getting across population patterns. The announced price is ?2. 10s. Od and the address is 2 Hinde Mews, Marylebone Lane, London W. 1, England.