Ancient Cult Sites in the Negev and Sinai Deserts

ʿUvda Valley, in the southern Negev, Israel, is an extreme desert area. It is characterized by summer temperatures above 40°C, low precipitation of 28 mm annual average, with an annual evaporation rate of 4,000 mm. The significance of these figures is more apparent when compared with those of the Negev Highland desert, 100 km to the north, with 100 mm average annual precipitation and 2,000 mm evaporation potential. Obviously, the water balance of the southern Negev is very negative. Since vegetation is restricted to wadi beds, the carrying capacity of the area is low for vegetation, for animals, and for man who subsists on both. Accordingly, only limited archaeological remains would be expected, i.e. the markers for human presence and activity in the past. Indeed, most of the southern Negev is characterized by a low density of ancient sites. Yet, contrary to expectations, archaeological remains in the southern-most Negev are exceptionally abundant. From Ueda Valley in the north to Eilat in the south, some 1,200 km2, 1,600 sites are known today, even though only 16% of the area has been surveyed in detail.

Settlement, Agriculture and Paleoclimate in ʿUvda Valley, Southern Negev Desert, 6th–3rd Millennia BC

Negev rock art comprises a large and diverse corpus of motifs and compositions developed over the course of several millennia. As dating of specific elements is at present not possible, the rock art was analyzed statistically through the study of individual panels where internal sequences of engraving could be discerned. Examining the set of such individual sequences, larger scale reconstruction of engraving phases, sequences and patterns were recognized. Additional chronological markers, such as the presence of domestic camels or other chronologically diagnostic features, offer benchmarks for tying the general trends to more absolute frameworks. The reconstructed patterns reflect the long term history of the Negev and some of the most significant cultural and social transitions in the region are reflected visually through the rock art, notably a form of self-expression, a crucial complement to the historical sequences derived from sedentary peoples living farther north. For example the introduction of the domestic camel and its symbolic and economic significance is well evident in the rock art. Similarly, the emergence of Islam is expressed through the mark makers' preference for "abstract" (non-figurative) motifs. One motif found throughout all engraving phases, transcending the religious, political and economic structures of Negev society, is the "ibex". Although Negev societies have all focused, to one degree or another, on sheep and goat pastoralism, these animals are rarely present in the Negev rock art and never as herds. Ibex, whose role in the diet and daily

https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0752/2/4/225/pdf

Chronological Trends in Negev Rock Art: The Har Michia Petroglyphs as a Test Case

(1993). Oil Production in the Golan Heights During the Chalcolithic Period. Tel Aviv: Vol. 20, No. 2, pp. 133-146.

Oil Production in the Golan Heights During the Chalcolithic Period

(1984). The Basalt Vessels of the Chalcolithic Period and Early Bronze Age I. Tel Aviv: Vol. 11, No. 1, pp. 11-19.

The Basalt Vessels of the Chalcolithic Period and Early Bronze Age I

Located about 30 kilometers east of Beersheba, Tel Arad has preserved its name since biblical times. Joshua 12: 14 mentioned the site among the conquered Canaanite cities, although there is no account of its conquest. It was known to the Egyptians also, being listed as \"the citadels of Greater Arad\" by Pharaoh Shishak after his campaigns in the fifth year of Rehoboam's reign. Much later, Eusebius mentioned a village of Arad situated about 20 miles from Hebron, a distance that agrees with the location of Tel Arad. In modern times, Edward Robinson identified the tell in his Biblical Researches in Palestine (1841), and the site was explored and identified by David Alon (1953) and Nelson Glueck (1957) as having Chalcolithic, Early Bronze, and Iron Age remains. Excavations in 1962, the first season, were directed jointly by Amiran and Aharoni, and work was concentrated mainly upon the high mound on the northeast side of the site. It became apparent, however, that the high mound was a citadel belonging to the biblical period, while the lower city was much earlier, dating to the Early Bronze Age. For the remainder of the excavation, therefore, a division of responsibility was agreed upon, and Aharoni devoted his efforts to the citadel while Amiran excavated the lower city. This report covers Amiran's work in the lower city through the fifth season, in 1966, although it should be noted that a second phase of excavations began in 1971 and has continued to the present. In the remarks that follow, the reader should bear in mind that the present volume was in the hands of the publishers by 1971; for unexplained reasons, they required seven years before it appeared in print. The pottery plates were kindly made available to the reviewer in 1970 for use in preparation of the first cAi (et-Tell) report, but countless others interested in the Early Bronze Age were denied access to this important work because of the excruciating pace of the publishers. Five major strata have been identified in the relatively shallow remains of the ancient site. They are numbered from the top down, or from latest to earliest, in the order in which they were excavated. Thus, Stratum V represents the Chalcolithic, or earliest, remains; Stratum IV is assigned to the second half of EB I, contemporary with the first two kings of the Egyptian First Dynasty (p. 115), and is pre-urban in that it precedes the construction of the walled city; Strata III-II are assigned to EB II and represent the great urban occupation phases at Arad. A well-planned city with strategically located fortifications and a water supply was constructed, in some cases with city walls on top of the preceding Stratum IV village houses. This city flourished during the major period of the Egyptian First Dynasty, from Djer to Semrekhet. The city was apparently destroyed at the end of this period, terminating Stratum II, and Stratum I is assigned to the scrappy remains of what Amiran calls a brief \"after the destruction\" occupation (p. 116), which, by Amiran's interpretation of the brief

Naftali Rosenan

Papers

A Review of "Arad" I@@@Early Arad: The Chalcolithic Settlement and Early Bronze City. I, First-Fifth Seasons of Excavations, 1962-1966