Preface 1. Macroseismic information 2. Evaluation of macroseismic data 3. Catalogue of earthquakes 4. Evaluation of instrumental data 5. Long-term seismicity 6. Future challenges Appendix: Photographs of researchers in the field References Index.

Earthquakes in the Mediterranean and Middle East: A Multidisciplinary Study of Seismicity up to 1900

▪ Abstract I survey recent literature about early cities in the regional traditions of Southwest Asia, Egypt, South Asia, China, Mesoamerica, Andean South America, Sub-Saharan Africa, Greece, and Rome. Major themes include the importance of theorizing individuals and their practices, interests, and emotions; the extent to which the first cities were deliberately created rather than merely emerging as by-products of increasing sociopolitical complexity; internal structure of cities and the interplay of top-down planning and bottom-up self-organization; social, economic, and political relations between cities and their hinterlands; interactions of cities with their physical environments; and the difficult “city-state” concept. Some axes or dimensions for describing settlements are proposed as better than typological concepts.

http://www.arch.mcgill.ca/prof/sijpkes/arch528/fall2001/lecture4/Origins%20of%20urbanism.pdf

ORIGINS AND DEVELOPMENT OF URBANISM: Archaeological Perspectives

Silica skeletons (fossilized sections of epidermal tissue) are frequent components in Near Eastern archaeological sediments. Culm (straw) and husks (grain bracts) produce different cell patterns that allow determination of plant part; this in turn provides information about use of activity areas. Identification of taxa is still preliminary; data is presented for wheat, barley, date palm, and three genera of weedy grasses. The distinctive anatomical characteristics of wheat, barley and date palm have not yet been compared to all possible wild confusers. However, within Levantine archaeological sites, strong suggestions of these cultigens can be proposed based on phytolith evidence.

Preliminary Identification of Silica Skeletons from Near Eastern Archaeological Sites: An Anatomical Approach

https://www.paleodiversitas.org/PDF/174.pdf

Phytolith-rich layers from the Late Bronze and Iron Ages at Tel Dor (Israel): mode of formation and archaeological significance

The article deals with the chronology of the early-Iron II strata in Palestine. A careful examination of the archaeological and textual data indicates that there is no safe chronological anchor between the early-twelfth century BCE (the battles of Ramses III with the Sea Peoples) and the late-eighth century BCE (the Assyrian campaigns to Palestine). The most important clues for this time-span are the Philistine Bichrome pottery and the results of the excavations at Arad and Jezreel. Following a study of the Philistine chronology, the author suggests an alternative dating for the main strata of the early Iron II. According to this ‘Low Chronology’, Stratum VA-IVB at Megiddo, Stratum XI at Arad and Stratum V at Beer-sheba should all be dated to the ninth century BCE. Consequently, the tenth century is represented by Stratum VIA at Megiddo, Stratum XII at Arad and Stratum VII at Beer-sheba. The new dating calls for a re-evaluation of the historical, cultural and political processes that took place in...

The Archaeology of the United Monarchy: an Alternative View

Analysis of settlement traits in Judah during the Iron Age IIA generates fresh insight into the process of state formation in the Kingdom of Judah. Our conclusions are based on observation of the settlement patterns, combined with detailed review of the pottery typology. Instead of assigning the Iron Age IIA to a single century (10th century BCE in traditional High Chronology or 9th in Finkelstein's Low Chronology), we maintain that the period covers about 150–200 years, from the mid 10th to the late 9th or mid 8th centuries BCE. The period is further divided into two sub-phases: the Early Iron Age IIA, characterized by rural settlements, mostly organized in an 'enclosed settlement' pattern, and Late Iron Age IIA, which presents the first introduction of fortifications and water supply systems. Such understanding reduces the gap between the debated low and high chronology. Furthermore, the process did not emerge in the Judean hill country but rather in the Shephelah and in the Beersheba Valley to ...

Redefining the Centre: The Emergence of State in Judah

(2002). The Fortress Mound at Tel Arad an Interim Report. Tel Aviv: Vol. 29, No. 1, pp. 3-109.

The Fortress Mound at Tel Arad an Interim Report

Archaeology of the City: Urban Planning in Ancient Israel and its Social Implications

In an earlier paper we discussed the 'high/low' chronology dispute as it relates to the archaeology of southern Palestine and suggested a solution that assigned two sub-phases to the Iron Age IIA. Here we suggest a similar solution for the northern regions of the country.Using the assemblages of Jezreel as a typological starting point we examine the artefacts and stratigraphy of several key northern sites. We maintain that northern Israel went through different social processes during the Iron Age IIA than did its neighbours to the south and that its Iron Age IIA chronology should be divided into three sub-phases: the Early Iron Age IIA, dated to the second half of the 10th century BCE, and the Late Iron Age IIA, with two sub-phases—the main phase, which dates to the first two-thirds of the 9th century, and the final phase, which dates to the last third of the 9th century.This observation should solve the on-going debate between the 'low' and 'high' chronologies. The different routes to statehood ...

Sub-Dividing the Iron Age IIA in Northern Israel: A Suggested Solution to the Chronological Debate

Recent excavations at the City of David have revealed a set of massive walls constructed of large undressed stones. Excavator Eilat Mazar has presented them as the remains of a single building, which she labelled the 'Large Stone Structure'. Mazar interpreted the 'Large Stone Structure' as part of a big construction complex, which had also included the 'Stepped Stone Structure' on the slope. She dated her 'Large Stone Structure' to ca. 1000 BCE and identified it as the palace of King David. We argue that: (1) the walls unearthed by Mazar do not belong to a single building; (2) the more elaborate walls may be associated with elements uncovered by A1acalister and Duncan in the 1920s and should possibly be dated to the Hellenistic period; (3) the 'Stepped Stone Structure' represents at least two phases of construction—the lower (downslope) and earlier, possibly dating to the Iron IIA in the 9th century BCE, and the later (which connects to the Hasmonaean First Wall upslope) dating to the Hellenistic ...

Ze'ev Herzog

Papers

Redefining the Centre: The Emergence of State in Judah

The Fortress Mound at Tel Arad an Interim Report

Archaeology of the City: Urban Planning in Ancient Israel and its Social Implications

Sub-Dividing the Iron Age IIA in Northern Israel: A Suggested Solution to the Chronological Debate

Has king david's palace in jerusalem been found?