“And in Length of Days Understanding” (Job 12:12) Essays on Archaeology in the Eastern Mediterranean and Beyond in Honor of Thomas E. Levy

This two-volume book presents cutting-edge archaeological research, primarily as practiced in the Eastern Mediterranean region. These volumes’ key foci are inspired by the work of Thomas E. Levy. Volume 1 provides an in-depth look at new archaeological research in the southern Levant (primarily in modern Israel and Jordan) inspired by Levy’s commitment to understanding social, political, and economic processes in a long-term or “deep time” perspective. Volume 2 focuses on new research in several key areas of 21st century anthropological archaeology and archaeological science.

Volume 1 is organized around two major themes: 1) the later prehistory of the southern Levant, or the Neolithic, Chalcolithic, and Bronze Age, and 2) new research in biblical archaeology, or the historical archaeology of the Iron Age. Each section contains a combination of new perspectives on key debates and studies introducing new research questions and directions.

Volume 2 is organized aroundfive major themes: 1) the archaeology of the Faynan copper ore district of southern Jordan, a key region for archaeometallurgical research in West Asia where Levy conducted field research for over a decade, 2) new research in archaeometallurgy beyond the Faynan region, 3) marine and maritime archaeology, focusing on issues of trade and environmental change, 4) cyber-archaeology, an important 21st century field Levy conceived as “the marriage of archaeology, engineering, computer science, and the natural sciences,” and 5) key issues in anthropological archaeological theory. In addition to presenting the reader with an up-to-date view of research in each of these areas, the volume also has chapters exploring the connections between these themes, e.g. the maritime trade of metals and cyber-/digital archaeological approaches to metallurgy.

The work contains contributions from both up-and-coming early career researchers and key established figures in their fields. This book is an essential reference for archaeologists and scholars in related disciplines working in the southern Levant and the Eastern Mediterranean.

List of Contributors.- Volume I: The Southern Levant from Prehistory to the Present.- Introduction: Thomas E. Levy and Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology in the 21st Century (Erez Ben-Yosef and Ian W. N. Jones).- Foreword: Levy in Paradise: From Israel to San Diego (Richard Elliott Friedman).- Part 1.1: The Later Prehistory of the Southern Levant.- Chapter 1. Tom Levy and “Deep Time”: Forays into the Neolithic (Alan H. Simmons).- Chapter 2. The Neolithic of the Jordanian Badia (Bill Finlayson and Pascal Flohr).- Chapter 3. The Emergence of Fruit Tree Horticulture in the Chalcolithic Southern Levant (Dafna Langgut and Arik Sasi).- Chapter 4. The Animal Economy in the Chalcolithic of the Southern Levant (Linoy Lamdar and Lidar Sapir-Hen).- Chapter 5. Butchering patterns and technology in a Chalcolithic settlement: analysis of the butchered fauna from Shiqmim, Israel (Haskel J. Greenfield and Jeremy A. Beller).- Chapter 6. The Concept of Burial Modes as a Research Tool in the Late Prehistory of the Southern Levant (Ianir Milevski).- Chapter 7. Home on the Range: Late Neolithic Mixed Hunting-Pastoral Economy in the Black Desert, Eastern Jordan (Gary Rollefson).- Chapter 8. Tel ‘Ein Jezreel in the Neolithic and Chalcolithic Periods: New finds, new insights (Tamar Shooval, Ian Cipin, Sonia Pinsky, Jennie Ebeling, Norma Franklin, and Danny Rosenberg).- Chapter 9. Interpreting the Chalcolithic Steles of the Southern Levant (David Ilan and Yorke M. Rowan).- Chapter 10. The En Gedi Shrine and the Cave of the Treasure in Nahal Mishmar: Untangling the Entangled (Uri Davidovitch).- Chapter 11. The Galilean Sub-Culture in the Late Chalcolithic period (Dina Shalem and Nimrod Getzov).- Chapter 12. The Late Chalcolithic in the Valley of Elah, Israel (Yosef Garfinkel).- Chapter 13. Cultural, Socio-Economic and Environmental Influences on Health Status of Chalcolithic Populations in the Northern Negev (Patricia Smith, Marina Faerman, and Liora Kolska).- Chapter 14. Socio-Economic Complexity in Chalcolithic Villages: A Re-Evaluation in Light of New Excavations (Yael Abadi-Reiss).- Chapter 15. Perforated and Unperforated Flint Discs from Late Chalcolithic Fazael: A Note on Their Characteristics and Possible Implications (Danny Rosenberg, Sonia Pinsky, and Shay Bar).- Chapter 16. V-shaped Bowls and Feasting Ceremonies in the Late Chalcolithic Period in the Southern Levant:  The Case Study of Neve Ur (Michael Freikman, David Ben-Shlomo, Jacob Damm, and Oren Gutfeld).- Chapter 17. Pottery Production in Late Phases of Early Bronze I in the Southern Levant (Eliot Braun).- Chapter 18. The Outline of Fortified Cities of the Early Bronze Age IB and II (Nimrod Getzov and Ianir Milevski).- Chapter 19. An-Naq‘ and Fifa in the Southern Ghor, Jordan: A Tale of Two Cemeteries (Mohammad Najjar).- Chapter 20. A Note on the Earliest Appearance of the Hand-made Straight Sided Cooking Pot in the Southern Levant (Yitzhak Paz and Na‘ama Waltzer).- Chapter 21. Can DISH be a Markerfor Greater Social Stratification? Jericho’s Early Bronze IV and Tell Atchana/Alalakh (Rula Shafiq).- Part 1.2: New Directions in Biblical Archaeology.- Chapter 22. Theoretical and Methodological Comments on Social Complexity in Biblical Archaeology (Erez Ben-Yosef and Zachary Thomas).- Chapter 23. History without Texts: Interdisciplinary Interpretive Methods for Understanding the Early Iron Age (Sarah Malena).- Chapter 24. What is the Name of Our Discipline? Or, the Onomastic Stew that is Archaeology in the Southern Levant (Zachary Thomas).- Chapter 25. “Their voice carries throughout the earth, their words to the end of the world” (Ps. 19, 5): Thoughts on long-range trade in organics in the Bronze and Iron Age Levant (Aren Maeir).- Chapter 26. The site of Khirbet ‘Aujah el-Foqa: Identifying Its Iron Age Architecture (David Ben-Shlomo).- Chapter 27. Die Like an Egyptian: Burial Customs in Iron Age I Philistia (Shirly Ben-Dor Evian and Mario A. S. Martin).- Chapter 28. Philistine RuralTemple Economy: The Early Iron Age Fauna from Nahal Patish (Edward F. Maher and Pirhiya Nahshoni).- Chapter 29. The Hesi Region: a regional perspective on interaction and integration processes during the Iron Age I/II Transition (James W. Hardin).- Chapter 30. Agriculture and economic changes in the Judean Shephelah throughout the Iron Age II as a result of geopolitical shifts: A view from Tel Burna (Itzhak Shai).- Chapter 31. Gezer Destructions: A Case Study of a Border City (Steven Ortiz).- Chapter 32. Jerusalem’s Settlement History: Rejoinders and Updates (Israel Finkelstein).- Chapter 33. The Interconnections between Jerusalem and Samaria in the 9th–8th Centuries BCE: Material Culture, Connectivity, and Politics (Yuval Gadot, Assaf Kleiman, and Joe Uziel).- Chapter 34. Tel Beth-Shean in the 10th–9th Centuries BCE: a Chronological Query and its Possible Archaeomagnetic Resolution (Yoav Vaknin, Amihai Mazar, Ron Shaar, and Erez Ben-Yosef).- Chapter 35. Time and Paradigm at Tel Megiddo: David, Shoshenq I, Hazael and Radiocarbon Dating (Hendrik J. Bruins).- Chapter 36. The Buqei‘a Plateau of the Judean Desert in the Southern Levant during the Seventh to Early Sixth Centuries BCE: Iron Age Run-off Farmland or a Pastoralist Rangeland? (Shimon Gibson, Rafael Y. Lewis, and Joan Taylor).- Chapter 37. Recognizing Ceramic Traditions: Moabite Painted and Decorated Wares (P. M. Michèle Daviau).- Chapter 38. The Qasr at Balu‘a (Kent Bramlett, Monique Roddy, Craig Tyson, and Friedbert Ninow).- Chapter 39. The Case for Jalul as Biblical Bezer (Randall W. Younker).- Chapter 40. Remarks on the typology and chronology of Iron Age and Persian period winepresses (Samuel Richard Wolff).- Chapter 41. Remarks on the typology and chronology of Iron Age and Persian period winepresses (Samuel Richard Wolff).- Chapter 42. Merenptah and Amenmesse: Egyptian rumours concerning the Exodus (Michael Bányai).- Chapter 43. Moses the Egyptian? A Reassessment of the Etymology of the Name ‘Moses’ (Thomas Schneider).- Chapter 44. The Heraclitus Law and the Late Period shaft tombs of Abusir (Miroslav Bárta).- Chapter 45. Hala Sultan Tekke, Cyprus: Trade with Egypt in the Bronze Age (Peter M. Fischer).- Volume II: From Archaeological Sciences to Archaeological Theory.- List of Contributors.- Preface (Erez Ben-Yosef and Ian W. N. Jones).- Part 2.1: New Research on the Archaeology of Faynan, Southern Jordan.- Chapter 46. Organizing Principles in Early Bronze Age Copper Manufacturing (Aaron D. Gidding).- Chapter 47. Maps and Models: Applications of GIS and Image-Based Modeling to Field Archaeology in Faynan, Jordan (Matthew D. Howland and Brady Liss).- Chapter 48. Archaeological evidence of casual snacking and resource provisioning at Khirbat al-Jariya (ca. 11th to 10th centuries BCE), an Iron Age copper production site (Luke Stroth, Arianna Garvin, Brady Liss, Matthew D. Howland, and Jade d’Alpoim Guedes).- Chapter 49. City of Copper, Ruin of Copper: Rethinking Nelson Glueck’s Identifications of Ir Nahash and Ge Harashim (Marc A. Beherec).- Chapter 50. Assessing the Circulation of Arabah Copper (Timna vs. Faynan) from the end of the Late Bronze and Iron Age in the Southern Levant by Combining Lead Isotopic Ratios with Lead Concentrations (Naama Yahalom-Mack, Daniel M. Finn, and Yigal Erel).- Chapter 51. Copper Trade Networks from the Arabah: Re-assessing the Impact on Early Iron Age Moab (Stanley Klassen and Andrew Danielson).- Chapter 52. The Negev Highlands –– A Corridor for the Copper and Incense Trade during Nonconsecutive Periods between the Chalcolithic and Roman Periods (Chaim Ben-David).- Chapter 53. Fragments of an Archaeology of Late Roman Religion at Phaino (Khirbat Faynan, Southern Jordan) (Ian W. N. Jones).- Part 2.2: Archaeometallurgy Beyond Faynan.- Chapter 54. Lead in human bones and teeth reflecting historical changes in lead production: Rome and the Levant (Yigal Erel).- Chapter 55. The source of Levantine silver and lead during the Hellenistic Peri

Erez Ben-Yosef is Professor of Archaeology at Tel Aviv University. He directs the Central Timna Valley Project in southern Israel, where he and his team have unearthed evidence of intense copper production from the time of David and Solomon. His research focuses on ancient technologies, especially metal production, and on the archaeological sciences.  Ben-Yosef studied archaeology and geology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (BA, BSc, MSc) and archaeology and anthropology at the University of California, San Diego (MA, PhD). His postdoctoral research at Scripps Institution of Oceanography focused on the ancient copper mines of Cyprus and the application of slag material in geomagnetic research. Ben-Yosef won multiple awards and research grants, including a Fulbright Fellowship, an ERC - Marie Curie Career Integration Grant (CIG), and the Kadar Family Award for Outstanding Research (2018). Since August 2020 he serves as a member of the Archaeological Advisory Board of Israel's Ministry of Culture. In 2022 he was elected as a member of The Israel Young Academy, the leading body of Israeli academics under 45 years old.