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77-634: Ancient Kellis , now known as Ismant el-Kharab ('Ismant the ruined' in Arabic), was a village in Upper Egypt during the Hellenistic , Roman , and Byzantine periods. It was located about 2.5 kilometers (1.6 mi) east-southeast of present-day Ismant in the Dakhleh Oasis , and about 11 kilometers (6.8 mi) northeast of Mut (more fully Mut el-Kharab), which is the capital of the oasis. In ancient times, Mut

154-484: A "Saharo-tropical African variant". Keita also added that it is important to emphasize that whilst Egyptian society became more socially complex and biologically varied, the "ethnicity of the Niloto-Saharo-Sudanese origins did not change. The cultural morays, ritual formulae, and symbols used in writing, as far as can be ascertained, remained true to their southern origins." The proto-dynastic kings emerged from

231-423: A "vigorous new element to Syro-Palestinian archaeology." While the importance of stratigraphy, typology and balk grew in the mid-twentieth century, the continued tendency to ignore hard data in favour of subjective interpretations invited criticism. Paul W. Lapp, for example, whom many thought would take up the mantle of Albright before his premature death in 1970, wrote: "Too much of Palestinian archaeology

308-520: A 2005 study on mummified remains found that "some Theban nobles had a histology which indicated notably dark skin ". In the eleventh century, large numbers of pastoralists , known as Hilalians, fled Upper Egypt and moved westward into Libya and as far as Tunis . It is believed that degraded grazing conditions in Upper Egypt, associated with the beginning of the Medieval Warm Period , were

385-675: A circle." In 1974, William Dever established the secular , non-biblical school of Syro-Palestinian archaeology and mounted a series of attacks on the very definition of biblical archaeology. Dever argued that the name of such inquiry should be changed to "archaeology of the Bible " or "archaeology of the Biblical period" to delineate the narrow temporal focus of Biblical archaeologists. Frank Moore Cross , who had studied under Albright and had taught Dever, emphasized that in Albright's view, biblical archaeology

462-530: A department of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism (Turkey) . Levantine archaeology encompasses excavations, salvage, conservation and reconstruction efforts, as well as off-site research, interpretation, and other scholarship. The geographical scope of Levantine archaeology includes the Hatay Province of Turkey , Syria , Lebanon , Israel , Palestine , Jordan , and Cyprus . The terminology for archaeology in

539-467: A focus on tell archaeology on the one hand (H. Taha and M. Sadeq ) and on the investigation of the indigenous landscape and cultural heritage on the other (K. Nashef and M. Abu Khalaf)." The Palestinian Archaeology Institute at Bir Zeit University in Ramallah was established in 1987 with the help of Albert Glock , who headed the archaeology department at the university at the time. Glock's objective

616-453: A less dominant position, functioning as a "big tent" incorporating multiple archaeological practices. The Levant has displayed cultural continuity during most historical periods, leading to the increased study of the region as a whole. From prehistoric times through the Iron Age, chronological periods are usually named in keeping with technological developments that characterized that era. From

693-572: A link between Biblical Hebrew and Mishnaic Hebrew . Some 120 scrolls are written in Aramaic, and a few of the biblical texts are written in Ancient Greek . Israel purchased some of the parchments, believed to have been composed or transcribed between 1 BCE and 1 CE, after they were first unearthed by a Bedouin shepherd in 1947. The remainder were acquired by Israel from the Rockefeller Museum in

770-774: A perspective can also be seen in the practices of Hamdan Taha, the director of the Palestinian National Authority 's Department of Antiquities and Cultural Heritage, responsible for overseeing preservation and excavation projects that involve both internationals and Palestinians. Gerrit van der Kooij, an archaeologist at Leiden University in the Netherlands who works with Taha, says that, "It doesn't surprise me that outsiders become frustrated [... Taha] sticks by his policy of equal partnership. That means Palestinians must be involved at every step," from planning and digging to publishing. In Van der Kooij's opinion, this policy

847-623: A pivotal three-volume study entitled Biblical Researches in Palestine and the Adjacent Regions: Journal of Travels in the Year 1838 . In Syria, Ernest Renan carried out research in the 1860s and Howard Crosby Butler of Princeton University carried out surveys of Byzantine Christian sites (1904–1909). In the early 1900s, major projects were set up at Samaria , Gezer , Megiddo and Jericho . An early school of modern Levantine archaeology

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924-408: A relatively rapid pace and is conducted according to generally high standards. Excavators return each year to a number of key sites that have been selected for their potential scientific and cultural interest. Current excavated sites of importance include Ashkelon , Hazor, Megiddo, Tel es-Safi , Dor , Hippos , Tel Kabri , Gamla and Rehov . Recent issues center on the veracity of such artifacts as

1001-505: A second- to fourth-century village at Beth She'arim and a synagogue in Bet Alpha . Early archaeological pioneers in 1920s and 1930s included Nahman Avigad , Michael Avi-Yonah, Ruth Amiran , Immanuel Ben-Dor, Avraham Biran , Benjamin Mazar , E.L. Sukenik , and Shmuel Yeivin . By the 1950s, in contrast to the religious motivations of Biblical archaeologists, Israeli archaeology developed as

1078-476: A secular discipline motivated in part by the nationalistic desire to affirm the link between the modern, nascent Israeli nation-state and the ancient Jewish population of the land. Paleolithic archaeology was of little interest, nor was archaeology of Christian and Muslim periods. Yigael Yadin , the pioneer of the Israeli School of archaeology, excavated some of the most important sites in the region, including

1155-589: A site, one hole with Jordanians and 20 holes with Americans digging in them. After the work, usually it's the Americans who explain to the Jordanians what they've found." The involvement of Palestinians as practitioners in the study of Palestinian archaeology is relatively recent. The Archaeological Encyclopedia of the Holy Land notes that, "The 1990s have seen the development of Palestinian archaeological activities, with

1232-423: A sub-field of biblical archaeology. "The archaeology of ancient Israel," is described by Franken and Franken-Battershill as, "but a small part of the far greater study of Palestinian archaeology." in A Primer of Old Testament Archaeology (1963). In a survey of North American dissertations, the overwhelming emphasis has been on the southern Levant . However it is only when considering the northern Levant alongside

1309-508: Is "fully justified and adds more social value to the project." Dever submits that the recent insistence that Palestinian archaeology and history be written by "real Palestinians" stems from the influence of those he terms the " biblical revisionists ", such as Keith W. Whitelam, Thomas L. Thompson , Phillip Davies and Niels Peter Lemche . Whitelam's book, The Invention of Ancient Israel: The Silencing of Palestinian History (1996) and Thompson's book, The Mythic Past: Biblical Archaeology and

1386-485: Is an inflated fabrication [...] Too often a subjective interpretation, not based on empirical stratigraphic observation, is used to demonstrate the validity of another subjective interpretation. We assign close dates to a group of pots on subjective typological grounds and go on to cite our opinion as independent evidence for similarly dating a parallel group. Too much of Palestinian archaeology's foundation building has involved chasing ad hominem arguments around in

1463-684: Is drawn from the definitions provided by the Mercer Dictionary of the Bible . For periods thereafter, the terminology and dates come from Sauer and Hoppe. Prehistory is defined as the period preceding the advent of writing, which brought about the creation of written history. For the Levant the introduction of writing occurs at varying moments, but the Late Bronze Age is considered as the first period firmly outside prehistory. To avoid sub-regional conflicts,

1540-642: Is primarily due to the strong cultural and geographic continuity of the Levant, the northern sections of which were generally ignored in Syro-Palestinian archaeology. Towards the end of the twentieth century, Palestinian archaeology and/or Levantine archaeology became a more interdisciplinary practice. Specialists in archaeozoology , archaeobotany , geology , anthropology and epigraphy now work together to produce essential environmental and non-environmental data in multidisciplinary projects. A central concern of Levantine archaeology since its genesis has been

1617-597: Is the archaeological study of the Levant . It is also known as Syro-Palestinian archaeology or Palestinian archaeology (particularly when the area of inquiry centers on ancient Palestine ). Besides its importance to the discipline of Biblical archaeology , the Levant is highly important when forming an understanding of the history of the earliest peoples of the Stone Age . Current archaeological digs in Israel are carried out by

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1694-548: The 11th , 12th , 17th , 18th and 25th dynasties, reunified and reinvigorated pharaonic Egypt after periods of fragmentation. For most of Egypt's ancient history, Thebes was the administrative center of Upper Egypt. After its devastation by the Assyrians, the importance of Egypt declined. Under the dynasty of the Ptolemies, Ptolemais Hermiou took over the role of the capital city of Upper Egypt. Shomarka Keita reported that

1771-582: The Bible outside of the Levant (e.g., Egypt or Persia ) and it takes into account the use and explanation of biblical texts, which Levantine archaeologist ignore. Beyond its importance to the discipline of classical archaeology, the region of the Levant is critical for an understanding of the history of the earliest peoples of the Stone Age In academic, political, and public settings, the region's archaeology can also be described in terms of ancient or modern Israel, Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Cyprus, and

1848-600: The Church of the Nativity to the UNESCO World Heritage List have been initiated. The Dead Sea Scrolls are 981 parchments discovered in 11 caves in the hills above Qumran between 1947 and 1956. The discovery of the scrolls was dubbed "[u]nquestionably the greatest manuscript find of modern times" by William F. Albright, and the majority are transcribed in a unique form of Hebrew now known as "Qumran Hebrew", and seen as

1925-524: The Early Dynastic period . Upper and Lower Egypt became intertwined in the symbolism of pharaonic sovereignty such as the Pschent double crown. Upper Egypt remained as a historical region even after the classical period. The main city of prehistoric Upper Egypt was Nekhen . The patron deity was the goddess Nekhbet , depicted as a vulture. By approximately 3600 BC, Neolithic Egyptian societies along

2002-756: The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), and in the areas governed by the Palestinian Authority (PA), by its Ministry of Tourism and Antiquity, working under the auspices of the IAA. The Palestinian Authority prohibits unrestricted excavation at sites of archaeological importance. There are equivalent and similarly named authorities in Jordan and in Cyprus , a Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums in Syria and

2079-658: The Jehoash Inscription and the James Ossuary , as well as the validity of whole chronological schemes. Amihai Mazar and Israel Finkelstein represent leading figures in the debate over the nature and chronology of the United Monarchy . After the 1948 Arab-Israeli war , the West Bank was annexed by Jordan (1950), and archaeological excavations in the region were carried out by its Department of Antiquities, as had been

2156-572: The Journal of Palestinian Archaeology in July 2000 entitled, "The Debate on 'Ancient Israel': A Palestinian Perspective", that explicitly names the four "biblical revisionists" mentioned above, as evidence for his claim that their "rhetoric" has influenced Palestinian archaeologists. In the editorial itself, Nashef writes: "The fact of the matter is, the Palestinians have something completely different to offer in

2233-526: The Nile based their culture on the raising of crops and the domestication of animals. Shortly thereafter, Egypt began to grow and increase in complexity. A new and distinctive pottery appeared, related to the Levantine ceramics , and copper implements and ornaments became common. Mesopotamian building techniques became popular, using sun-dried adobe bricks in arches and decorative recessed walls. In Upper Egypt,

2310-481: The Qumran Caves , Masada , Hazor and Tel Megiddo . Yadin's world view was that the identity of modern Israel was directly tied to the revolutionary past of the ancient Jewish population of the region. He therefore focused much of his work on excavating sites related to previous periods of Israelite nationalistic struggles: Hazor, which he associated with the conquest of Canaan by Joshua in c. 1250 BCE, and Masada,

2387-563: The prehistory as a category is left out of the list. Modern Levantine archaeology began in the late 19th century. Early expeditions lacked standardized methods for excavation and interpretation, and were often little more than treasure-hunting expeditions. A lack of awareness of the importance of stratigraphy in dating objects led to digging long trenches through the middle of a site that made work by later archaeologists more difficult. Edward Robinson identified numerous sites from antiquity and published his findings with Eli Smith in

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2464-445: The 'biblical archaeology'. I regret to say that all who would defend Albright and 'biblical archaeology' on this ground, are sadly out of touch with reality in the field of archaeology." In recent decades, the term Levantine archaeology has generally replaced Syro-Palestinian archaeology. Electronic database results reveal an "overwhelming adoption" of the term ‘Levant’ when compared to ‘Syria-Palestine’ for archaeological studies. This

2541-526: The 1967 war. When 350 participants from 25 countries gathered at a conference at the Israel Museum marking the fiftieth anniversary of their discovery, Amir Drori , head of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), said that the 2,000-year-old documents were legally acquired and an inseparable part of Jewish tradition. A Palestinian academic, Hamdan Taha , responded that Israel's capture of

2618-711: The Babylonian era onward, naming is based on historical events. Scholars often disagree on the exact dates and terminology to be used for each period. Some definitions for the temporal scope, particularly earlier on tended to exclude events after the Byzantine Period, but the temporal scope of Levantine archaeology has expanded over the years. In 1982, James A. Sauer wrote that the Islamic periods (630–1918 CE) were part of Levantine archaeological research, and that while some periods had been "ignored, neglected, or even discarded for

2695-566: The Civil Administration (ADCA). Though the Hague Convention prohibits the removal of cultural property from militarily occupied areas, both foreign and Israeli archaeologists mounted extensive excavations that have been criticized as overstepping the bounds of legitimate work to protect endangered sites. Vast amounts of new archaeological data have been uncovered in these explorations, although critics say that "relatively little effort

2772-733: The Delta cultures, where the direct Western Asian contact was made, further vitiates the Mesopotamian-influence argument". Similarly, Christopher Ehret , historian and linguist, stated that the cultural practice of sacral chiefship and kingship which emerged in Upper Egypt in the fourth millennium had originated centuries earlier in Nubia and the Middle Nile south of Egypt. He based this judgement on supporting, archaeological and comparative ethnographic evidence. These cultural advances paralleled

2849-451: The Hatay province of Turkey. Archaeologists may define the geographic range more narrowly, especially for inquiries that focus on 'Israel' or 'Palestine,' whether construed as ancient or modern territories. The shifting terminology over the past 50 years reflects political tensions that operate within and upon the field. Levantine archaeology in the 21st century has relegated biblical concerns to

2926-762: The Kellis excavations have been funded by the Australian Research Council , administered by Monash University . Thousands of writing fragments have been unearthed at Kellis, many pertaining to Manichaeism , whose adherents at Kellis apparently lived alongside Christians in ancient times. Archeologists at Kellis have also found wooden books, glass vessels, tools, other domestic items, as well as cemeteries with mummies covered with masks and other cartonnage elements. 25°30′57″N 29°05′44″E  /  25.51583°N 29.09556°E  / 25.51583; 29.09556 Upper Egypt In ancient Egypt, Upper Egypt

3003-522: The Late Bronze or Early Iron Age that connected the city at the top of the hill to its water source at the bottom, a spring known as Bir es-Sinjib. The tunnel allowed inhabitants to walk through it undetected, particularly useful during times of siege. There is evidence that the tunnel fell into disuse in the 8th century BCE, and that the entrance was subsequently rehabilitated some time in the Roman period, while

3080-525: The Levant has been defined in various, often competing or overlapping ways. Prior to and during the period of the British Mandate in Palestine (1920–1948), archaeology of the region was typically described as Palestinian archaeology or Biblical archaeology . Under the influence of William F. Albright (1891–1971), biblical inquiry and narratives became increasingly important; indeed, Albright conceived of Palestinian archaeology or Levantine archaeology as

3157-598: The Myth of Israel (1999) were both translated into Arabic shortly after their publication. Dever speculates that, "Nashef and many other Palestinian political activists have obviously read it." Harshly critical of both books, Dever accuses Whitelam's thesis that Israelis and "Jewish-inspired Christians" invented Israel, thus deliberately robbing Palestinians of their history, of being "extremely inflammatory" and "bordering on anti-Semitism ", and Thompson's book of being "even more rabid." Dever cites an editorial by Nashef published in

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3234-695: The Naqada region. Excavations at Hierakonpolis (Upper Egypt) found archaeological evidence of ritual masks similar to those used further south of Egypt, and obsidian linked to Ethiopian quarry sites. Frank Yurco stated that depictions of pharonic iconography such as the royal crowns , Horus falcons and victory scenes were concentrated in the Upper Egyptian Naqada culture and A-Group Lower Nubia . He further elaborated that " Egyptian writing arose in Naqadan Upper Egypt and A-Group Lower Nubia, and not in

3311-482: The Palestine Oriental Society was founded by, most prominently among them Tawfiq Canaan . The work of this society was more ethnographic and anthropological than archaeological. Interest in archaeological fieldwork increased as West Bank universities emerged in the 1980s and cultivated a new approach to Palestinian archaeology. A new generation of Palestinians, like Albert Glock , introduced innovations to

3388-607: The Small East Church is the oldest known church building in Egypt. The site was occupied from the late Ptolemaic Period , was abandoned sometime after the year 392, and has remained unoccupied since then, except for a time in the 1940s, when some Bedouin camped there. Many buildings are buried beneath the sand. The tops of some are visible from the surface; others are hidden, waiting to collapse as an unwary tourist crosses. Archaeological exploration of Kellis began in 1986. Since 1991

3465-523: The area of El-Ayait, which places modern-day Cairo in Lower Egypt . The northern (downriver) part of Upper Egypt, between Sohag and El-Ayait, is also known as Middle Egypt . It is believed to have been united by the rulers of the supposed Thinite Confederacy who absorbed their rival city states during the Naqada III period (c. 3200–3000 BC), and its subsequent unification with Lower Egypt ushered in

3542-677: The authors contend that research exploring the degree to which Phoenician art and symbolism penetrated into the different areas of Syria and Palestine will make little progress. Jewish interest in archaeology dates to the beginnings of the Zionist movement and the founding of the Jewish Palestine Exploration Society in 1914. Excavations at this early stage focused on sites related to the Bible and ancient Jewish history and included Philistine sites in Afula and Nahariya , as well as

3619-577: The case throughout the British Mandate in Palestine . Made up of Muslim and Christian officials and headed by the British archaeologist Gerald Lankester Harding until 1956, field archaeology was conducted primarily by foreigners. Large-scale expeditions included those of the American Schools of Oriental Research at Tell Balata (1956–1964), the British School of Archaeology at Jericho (1952–1958), and

3696-496: The creation of independent Arab states in the region, national schools of archaeology were established in the 1960s. The research focuses and perspectives of these institutions differed from those of Western archaeological approaches, tending to eschew biblical studies and the search for theological roots in the Holy Land and concentrating more, though not exclusively on Islamic archaeology. In doing so, Arab archaeologists added

3773-788: The debate on 'ancient Israel,' which seems to threaten the ideological basis of BAR (the American popular magazine, Biblical Archaeology Review , which turned down this piece - WGD): they simply exist, and they have always existed on the soil of Palestine ..." According to the Palestinian Authority's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquity, in the West Bank and Gaza Strip there are 12,000 archaeological and cultural heritage sites, 60,000 traditional houses, 1,750 major sites of human settlement , and 500 sites which have been excavated to date, 60 of which are major sites. Excavation in Israel continues at

3850-541: The field by studying Islamic and Ottoman period ruins in village contexts. Belameh, located a little over one mile (1.6 km) south of Jenin , is an important Bronze Age site identified with the ancient Ibleam , a Canaanite city mentioned in the Egyptian Royal Archive that was conquered by Thutmose III in the 15th century BCE. Ibleam is also mentioned in three passages of the Hebrew Bible . The location

3927-634: The first to undertake joint missions with Palestinian archaeologists in the West Bank, which were possible only after the signing of the Oslo Accords . The first joint project was conducted in Jericho and coordinated by Hamdan Taha, director of the Palestinian Antiquities Department and the University of Rome "La Sapienza", represented by Paolo Matthiae , the same archaeologist who discovered

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4004-422: The gaps made some headway at the Durham conference, though it was recognized that agreement on a single method of ceramic analysis or a single definition of a type may not be possible. The solution proposed by Dessel and Joffe is for all archaeologists in the field to provide more explicit descriptions of the objects that they study. The more information provided and shared between those in related sub-disciplines,

4081-399: The inhabitants of Upper Egypt and Nubia had the greatest biological affinity to people of the Sahara and more southerly areas", but exhibited local variation in an African context. S. O. Y. Keita, a biological anthropologist also reviewed studies on the biological affinities of the Ancient Egyptian population and characterised the skeletal morphologies of predynastic southern Egyptians as

4158-539: The more likely it is that they will be able to identify and understand the commonalities in the different typological systems. Levantine archaeology also includes the study of Phoenician culture, cosmopolitan in character and widespread in its distribution in the region. According to Benjamin Sass and Christoph Uehlinger, the questions of what is actually Phoenician and what is specifically Phoenician, in Phoenician iconography , constitute one well-known crux of Levantine archaeology. Without answers to these questions,

4235-443: The political unification of towns of the upper Nile River, or Upper Egypt, while the same occurred in the societies of the Nile Delta , or Lower Egypt . This led to warfare between the two new kingdoms. During his reign in Upper Egypt, King Narmer defeated his enemies on the delta and became sole ruler of the two lands of Upper and Lower Egypt, a sovereignty which endured throughout Dynastic Egypt. In royal symbolism, Upper Egypt

4312-426: The predynastic Badari culture was followed by the Naqada culture (Amratian), being closely related to the Lower Nubian; other northeast African populations, coastal communities from the Maghreb , some tropical African groups, and possibly inhabitants of the Middle East . According to bioarchaeologist Nancy Lovell, the morphology of ancient Egyptian skeletons gives strong evidence that: "In general,

4389-662: The region, with many of these projects centered in Arab countries, primary among them Jordan and Syria, and to a lesser extent in Lebanon. The most significant British excavations include the Tell Nebi Mend site ( Qadesh ) in Syria and the Tell Iktanu and Tell es-Sa'adiyah sites in Jordan. Other notable European projects include Italian excavations at Tell Mardikh ( Ebla ) and Tell Meskene ( Emar ) in Syria, French participation in Ras Shamra ( Ugarit ) in Syria, French excavations at Tell Yarmut and German excavations at Tell Masos (both in modern-day Israel), and Dutch excavations Tell Deir 'Alla in Jordan. Italian archaeologists were

4466-612: The root cause of the migration. In the twentieth-century Egypt, the title Prince of the Sa'id (meaning Prince of Upper Egypt ) was used by the heir apparent to the Egyptian throne. Although the Kingdom of Egypt was abolished after the Egyptian revolution of 1952 , the title continues to be used by Muhammad Ali, Prince of the Sa'id . The following list may not be complete (there are many more of uncertain existence): Nowadays, Upper Egypt forms part of these 7 governorates : Large cities located in Upper Egypt: Levantine archaeology#Ceramics analysis Levantine archaeology

4543-453: The sake of other periods," it is now "an almost universally accepted principle that archaeological evidence from all periods must be treated with equal care." Leslie J. Hoppe, writing in 1987, submits that Dever's definition of temporal scope of Levantine archaeology excludes the Early Arab period (640–1099), the Crusader period (1099–1291), the Mamluk period (1250–1517) and the Ottoman period (1517–1918). However, Dever's definition of

4620-410: The site itself shows occupation into the medieval period. Plans have been drawn up to turn the site into an archaeological park. G. Schumacher had described the water tunnel in 1908, and a small-scale excavation was conducted by Z. Yeivin in 1973. The water passage of Belameh is important for the understanding of ancient water systems in Palestine. As of April 2007, the procedures to add Bethlehem and

4697-471: The site of Ebla in 1964. Unlike the joint missions between Americans and Jordanians, this project involved Italians and Palestinians digging at the same holes, side by side. Apart from Israeli archaeologists, Americans make up the largest group of archaeologists working in Israel. Joint American-Jordanian excavations have been conducted, but Nicolo Marchetti, an Italian archaeologist, says they do not constitute genuine collaboration: "[...] you might find, at

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4774-671: The site where Jewish rebels held out against the Romans in 72-73 CE. Masada was extensively excavated by a team led by Yadin from 1963 to 1965 and became a monument symbolizing the will of the new Israeli state to survive. Today, Israeli universities have respected archaeology departments and institutes involved in research, excavation, conservation and training. Notable contemporary archaeologists include Eilat Mazar , Yoram Tsafrir , Ronny Reich , Ehud Netzer , Adam Zertal , Yohanan Aharoni , Eli Shukron , Gabriel Barkay , Israel Finkelstein , Yizhar Hirschfeld , and many more. European archaeologists also continue to excavate and research in

4851-473: The southern that wider archaeological and historical questions can be addressed. While both Classical archaeology and Levantine archaeology deal with the same general region of study, the focus and approach of these interrelated disciplines differs. Even scholars who have continued to advocate a role for Classical archaeology have accepted the existence of a general branch of Levantine archaeology. In addition, Classical archaeology may cover areas relevant to

4928-487: The study of ceramics . Whole pots and richly decorated pottery are uncommon in the Levant and the plainer, less ornate ceramic artifacts of the region have served the analytical goals of archaeologists, much more than those of museum collectors. The ubiquity of pottery sherds and their long history of use in the region makes ceramics analysis a particularly useful sub-discipline of Levantine archaeology, used to address issues of terminology and periodization. Awareness of

5005-440: The sub-discipline was cut off from other branches of ancient Near Eastern studies, apart from occasional references to Northwest Semitic epigraphy and Assyriology , as exemplified in the Mesha Stele , the Sefire Stelae , and the Tel Dan Stele . As a result, widely varying principles, emphases, and definitions are used to determine local typologies among archaeologists working in the region. Attempts to identify and bridge

5082-411: The temporal scope of the field in What Did the Biblical Writers Know, and When Did They Know It? (2001), indicates that Hoppe's critique is no longer valid. There, Dever writes that the time-frame of Levantine archaeology, "extends far beyond the 'biblical period,' embracing everything from the Lower Paleolithic to the Ottoman period." The list below, from the Paleolithic Age to the Byzantine period,

5159-542: The value of pottery gained early recognition in a landmark survey conducted by Edward Robinson and Eli Smith , whose findings were published in first two works on the subject: Biblical Researches in Palestine (1841) and Later Biblical Researches (1851). Ceramics analysis in Levantine archaeology has suffered from insularity and conservatism, due to the legacy of what J.P Dessel and Alexander H. Joffe call "the imperial hubris of pan-optic 'Biblical Archaeology.'" The dominance of biblical archaeological approaches meant that

5236-416: The work of Khaled Nashef  [ de ] , a Palestinian archaeologist at Bir Zeit and editor of the university's Journal of Palestinian Archaeology , who writes that for too long the history of Palestine has been written by Christian and Israeli "biblical archaeologists", and that Palestinians must themselves re-write that history, beginning with the archaeological recovery of ancient Palestine. Such

5313-423: The École Biblique at Tell el-Farah (1946–1960) and Khirbet Qumran (1951–1956). Rising nationalistic pressures led to Harding's dismissal in 1956 and thereafter, the Department of Antiquities was headed by Jordanian nationals. After Israel occupied the area during the 1967 war , all antiquities in the area came under the control of the Archaeological Staff Officer, who is the head of the Archaeology Department of

5390-430: Was called Belemoth during Roman-Byzantine times, and Castellum Beleismum in the Crusader sources. The site was initially discovered by Victor Guérin in 1874, then by Gottlieb Schumacher in 1910, and Bellarmino Bagatti in 1974. Later on, excavations in Khirbet Belameh, led by Hamdan Taha of the Palestinian Antiquities Department, began in 1996. These have focused on a water tunnel carved out of rock sometime in

5467-424: Was called Mothis, and thus Kellis was in the Mothite nome . The village was 1,050 meters (3,440 ft) long and 650 meters (2,130 ft) wide, built almost entirely of mud brick on a low terrace with wadis to the southeast and northwest, and surrounded by fields. Small businesses included weaving, handcrafted pottery and blacksmithing. Attractions in Kellis included the Temple of Tutu and three churches;

5544-656: Was known as tꜣ šmꜣw , literally "the Land of Reeds" or "the Sedgeland", named for the sedges that grow there. In Arabic , the region is called Sa'id or Sahid, from صعيد meaning "uplands", from the root صعد meaning to go up, ascend, or rise. Inhabitants of Upper Egypt are known as Sa'idis and they generally speak Sa'idi Egyptian Arabic . Upper Egypt is between the Cataracts of the Nile beyond modern-day Aswan , downriver (northward) to

5621-476: Was led by William F. Albright, whose work focused on biblical narratives. Albright himself held that Frederick Jones Bliss (1857–1939) was the father of Levantine archaeology, although Bliss is not well known in the field. Jeffrey A. Blakely attributes this to Bliss' successor at the Palestine Exploration Fund , R.A.S. Macalister (1870–1950), who underplayed his predecessor's achievements. After

5698-566: Was made to preserve or protect archaeological remains from the later Islamic and Ottoman periods, which were of direct relevance to the areas Muslim inhabitants." By 2007, the ADCA had been involved with over 6,000 archaeological sites in the West Bank including surveys and excavations, the vast majority of which had been kept from public and academic knowledge.. In the early 20th century, Palestinians focused on investigating Palestinian "material culture," as it relates to folklore and customs . In 1920,

5775-408: Was not synonymous with Levantine archaeology, but rather that, "William Foxwell Albright regarded Palestinian archaeology or Levantine archaeology as a small, if important section of biblical archaeology. One finds it ironical that recent students suppose them interchangeable terms." Dever agreed that the terms were not interchangeable, but claimed that "'Syro-Palestinian archaeology' is not the same as

5852-489: Was represented by the tall White Crown Hedjet , the flowering lotus, and the sedge. Its patron deity, Nekhbet, was depicted by the vulture. After unification, the patron deities of Upper and Lower Egypt were represented together as the Two Ladies , to protect all of the ancient Egyptians, just as the two crowns were combined into a single pharaonic diadem. Several dynasties of southern or Upper Egyptian origin, which included

5929-547: Was to establish an archaeological program that would emphasize the Palestinian presence in Palestine, informed by his belief that, "Archaeology, as everything else, is politics, and my politics [are those] of the losers." Glock was killed in the West Bank by unidentified gunmen in 1992. The first archaeological site excavated by researchers from Bir Zeit University was undertaken in Tell Jenin in 1993. Glock's views are echoed in

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