תואר: מוסמך

דוא"ל: ala.rabinovich@gmail.com

תקציר:

My MA thesis “The Iron Age Metal Assemblage of Khirbet Qeiyafa: A Glimpse into the Transition from Bronze to Iron in the Early Iron IIA” was written under the supervision of Prof. Yosef Garfinkel and Dr. Naama Yahalom-Mack and was completed in December 2016. I worked on the metal assemblage from the Iron Age layer of Khirbet Qeiyafa, a relatively small site in the Elah valley, understood as a fortified town at the border of the ancient Judaean kingdom. The town was remarkably well preserved, with a massive casemate wall encircling the site, two gates, several dwelling quarters and two public structures. It was destroyed shortly after its construction, with many remains found below the ruins of the buildings. Based on 14 C dating of the organic material found in the destruction layer, the life span of the site was dated to the late 11th – first third of the 10th century B.C.E. In the terms of relative chronology, based mainly on the ceramic assemblage, the site was dated to early Iron Age IIA.

The assemblage of the metal finds collected in the different levels of the site comprises about 1000 objects. Of those, 94 items were found in the clear Iron Age IIA contexts. Iron and bronze are the main materials used, in almost equal proportions. The finds were classified into four major typological categories: tools/weapons, jewelry, varia and production remains, as well as 21 unidentified fragments.

In Chapter 2 of the thesis a catalogue of the finds is provided, with a detailed description of most of the finds and a list of parallels. A discussion on morphology, function, technological development and other aspects follows in certain cases. The catalogue starts with the Tools/Weapons category. Notably, 15 iron blades were found at Khirbet Qeiyafa, being one of the largest assemblages of iron blades known from this period in the Southern Levant. Especially interesting are the three long curved blades, to which no exact parallels were found. In the thesis I argued, as opposed to the opinion of the excavators of the site, that these blades are not swords but agricultural tools. Among the bronze tools and weapons are fragments of two daggers, a complete javelin-head and a complete axe/adze, all typical Canaanite products that were widespread in the Late Bronze Age and/or early Iron Age and appeared only sporadically in the Iron Age IIA. In my view, these objects testify to the presence of indigenous Canaanite population at the site. In the Jewellery category, the six iron bracelets are especially important because such bracelets have been found until now in most of the cases as burial gifts dated to Iron Age I. The bracelets from Khirbet Qeiyafa might be the earliest ones to originate in a domestic context, showing that iron was losing its prestigious status at the beginning of the Iron Age IIA. Another remarkable find is the bronze fibula, of roughly triangular shape, to which no parallels are known. It is essentially a pin bent in such a way that the two ends meet, and the pointed end is inserted into the catch-plate. My suggestion is that it is a local invention of the smith who had heard of closed garment fasteners (just a few had appeared in the Southern Levant prior to the time Khirbet Qeiyafa was built, all of them at northern sites) or had arrived at that idea himself. Another interesting find, in the Varia category, was two tiny pieces of golden foil, that may have been used to coat a figurine. The foil was found in the same area as a portable clay shrine. The shrine was found empty, however the foil might be an evidence that it did contain a cultic object. Some evidence of metal production was found at Khirbet Qeiyafa too. The bronze production is testified to by two crucibles, one of which contained a layer of adhering bronze slag. The crucibles are of a type widespread in the Iron Age I (similarly to some of the bronze tools and weapons, mentioned above). The iron production remains are very meager and are not concentrated in one place. However, a hearth was discovered on a floor of the administrative building found at the top of the hill on which the site is situated. This suggests that the iron production might have been linked to the central administration of the town.

In Chapter 3 of the thesis the spatial distribution of the finds is described and analysed, with several maps representing the distribution of the finds according to the material and to the category they were ascribed to. Several clusters of objects (in three domestic buildings) are described in detail.

Chapter 4 summarises the data and the results of the analysis of the material, and highlights the methodological and typological conclusions. It is noted that the research was based only on the finds from completely secure contexts, and special attention was paid to the strictly morphological definitions of the objects.

Chapter 5 contains the discussion and final conclusions concerning various aspects of the metal assemblage of Khirbet Qeiyafa: the general character of the material culture, possible foreign influences, status of bronze- and ironworking at the site, and the socio-economic implications of the acquired data. First of all, the metal assemblage of Khirbet Qeiyafa includes typical examples of Canaanite bronze work (the javelin-head, the daggers, the axe), as well as numerous iron objects that characterise the beginning of iron production and the transition to utilitarian use of iron (such as: knives, bracelets and additional objects). The typology and the chemical composition of the finds show that they were not imported but likely produced in the Southern Levant. Moreover, there is evidence for metalworking at the site, including the crucible with the bronze slag in one of the domestic buildings and the iron working installation in the administrative building. It seems that there might have existed a dichotomy between what appears to be an autonomous bronze production and iron production under the auspices of the city administration. Such a dichotomy was not observed in any of the other sites. Some of the metal artefacts from Khirbet Qeiyafa – such as the long iron blades and the fibula – show a certain connection to the Cypriot/Aegean tradition, which itself might be influenced by European material culture of Iron Age I, while the iron bracelets attest to a connection with Transjordan. The amount of iron objects in the metal assemblage of Khirbet Qeiyafa, and the fact that most of them were found in domestic contexts, are exceptional in light of the site’s early date and in comparison with other contemporary sites. However, the extensive use of iron is combined in Khirbet Qeiyafa with strong Canaanite tradition of bronze working. It is suggested in the final paragraphs of the thesis that, since there seems to be a correlation between the dissemination of iron and the territory known to be ruled by the Judaean kingdom, the extensive use of iron at Khirbet Qeiyafa confirms its affiliation with Judah. However, its population probably was mixed and included Canaanites that continued their traditional bronze production