10140 The Archeology of Ancient Israel in the Biblical Period

Credits: 6 intermediate credits in Ancient History of the Jewish People or in Land of Israel Studies or in Archeology

Prerequisites: none

Authors: Amnon Ben-Tor, Ofer Bar-Yosef, Rivka Gonen, Ram Gophna, Aharon Kempinski, Amihai Mazar, Gabi Barkai, Benjamin Sass

The course deals with the archeology of the land of Israel from the Neolithic period up to the destruction of the First Temple, a period of over 7,000 years. It focuses on archeological research methods, the material culture of the inhabitants of the Land of Israel and the social and historical processes that took place during this period. The course includes a number of one-day field trips, some of which are mandatory.

Topics: Introduction – definition of the field of archeology; The Neolithic period – the beginning of agriculture; The Chalcolithic period – farmers and coppersmiths; The early Bronze Age – the urban revolution; The intermediate Bronze Age – material culture of a semi-urban society; The middle Bronze Age – renewed creation of Canaanite city-states; The late Bronze Age – the Canaanite culture in the shadow of Egyptian rule; Iron Age I – Israelites, Philistines and Canaanites; Iron Age II-III – formation of an Israelite material culture during the First Temple period; Writing and inscriptions.