Symbiosis, Symbolism, and the Power of the Past

Preface

Opening Remarks: Greetings

PART 1 Historical and Political Landscape: The Levant and Beyond<

Palace Economies in the Late Bronze Age and The Dark Age That Never Was (Iron Age I)

Islands in the Sea: Aegean Polities as Levantine Neighbors Sarah P. Morris

The Case of Ugarit and Carchemish: A Contrast Annie Caubet

Greece and Anatolia in the Early Iron Age: The Archaeological Evidence and the Literary Tradition James D. Muhly

The Mediterranean Economy: “Globalization” at the End of the Second Millennium b.c.e. Susan Sherratt

The Dynamics of Statehood (Iron Age II)

The Patrimonial Kingdom of Solomon Lawrence E. Stager

City-States to States: Polity Dynamics in the 10th–9th Centuries b.c.e. Israel Finkelstein

Remarks on Biblical Traditions and Archaeological Evidence concerning Early Israel Amihai Mazar

Assyria’s Expansion in the 8th and 7th Centuries and Its Long-Term Repercussions in the West Simo Parpola

Egyptian Interventions in the Levant in Iron Age II Kenneth A. Kitchen

Imperial Interventions (The Persian, Hellenistic, and Roman Periods)

Early Achaemenid Iran: New Considerations David Stronach

Palestine among the Empires from the 4th to the 1st Century b.c.e.: Impact and Reaction Doron Mendels

Part II Religion and Distinction

Shadow-Boxing the Canaanites (The Late Bronze Age)

Temple or “Bêt MarzeaД? Manfred Bietak

Amarna and Later: Aspects of Social History Anson F. Rainey

Emerging Forms and Practices (Iron Age I)

The Aegean and the Orient: Cultic Interactions Trude Dothan

The Cult of Astarte in Cyprus Vassos Karageorghis

False Dichotomies in Descriptions of Israelite Religion: A Problem, Its Origin, and a Proposed Solution Ziony Zevit

The Formative Period of State Religion (Iron Age II)

Mesopotamian Imperialism and Israelite Religion: A Case Study from the Second Isaiah Peter Machinist

When the Heavens Darkened: Yahweh, El, and the Divine Astral Family in Iron Age II Judah Mark S. Smith

Israelite and Philistine Cult and the Archaeological Record in Iron Age II: The “Smoking Gun” Phenomenon Seymour Gitin

Cult—Coast and Interior (The Persian Period)

Phoenician Cult Expressions in the Persian Period Edouard Lipin!ski

The Phoenician Source of Palestinian Cults at the End of the Iron Age Ephraim Stern

Late Israelite Astronomies and the Early Greeks Baruch Halpern

Romans, Jews, and Christians

The Jewish World and the Coming of Rome John J. Collins

Helios and the Zodiac Cycle in Ancient Palestinian Synagogues Jodi Magness

Part III The History of the Family: Continuity and Change

Units and Cultural Unities (Iron Age I)

Nine Months among the Peasants in the Palestinian Highlands: An Anthropological Perspective on Local Religion in the Early Iron Age Karel van der Toorn

Building Identity: The Four-Room House and the Israelite Mind Shlomo Bunimovitz and Avraham Faust

Household Economy (Iron Age II)

Material Remains and Social Relations: Women’s Culture in Agrarian Households of the Iron Age Carol Meyers

The Clan-Based Economy of Biblical Israel Baruch A. Levine

At Home with the Goddess Susan Ackerman

Families, Houses, and Homes

(The Persian, Hellenistic, and Roman Periods)

The Family in Persian Period Judah: Some Textual Reflections H. G. M. Williamson

Roman-Period Houses from the Galilee: Domestic Architecture and Gendered Spaces Eric M. Meyers

Apocryphal Women: From Fiction to (Arti)fact Amy-Jill Levine

Part IV Closing Remarks

Syro-Palestinian and Biblical Archaeology: Into the Next Millennium William G. Dever

Special Public Lecture

Jerusalem as a Royal and Cultic Center in the 10th–8th Centuries b.c.e. David Ussishkin

Discussions

Part I. Historical and Political Landscape: The Levant and Beyond

Palace Economies in the Late Bronze Age and The Dark Age That Never Was (Iron Age I)

The Dynamics of Statehood (Iron Age II)

Imperial Interventions (The Persian, Hellenistic, and Roman Periods)

Part II. Religion and Distinction

Shadow-Boxing the Canaanites (The Late Bronze Age)

Emerging Forms and Practices (Iron Age I)

The Formative Period of State Religion (Iron Age II)

Cult—Coast and Interior (The Persian Period)

Romans, Jews, and Christians

Part III. The History of the Family: Continuity and Change

Units and Cultural Unities (Iron Age I)

Household Economy (Iron Age II)

Families, Houses, and Homes (The Persian, Hellenistic, and Roman Periods)

Special Public Lectures

Appendix I

Opening of the Israel Museum Exhibit Thundering on High: Images of the Canaanite Storm God in Honor of the Albright/ASOR Centennial

Appendix II

Greetings Presented at the Israel Exploration Society Reception on Behalf of the Archaeological Institutions in Israel Held at the Israel Museum

Indexes

Index of Authors

Index of Scripture

Index of Ancient Texts