How ancient seeds are rewriting the history of biblical-era trade with Arabia |
Biblical history is being rewritten thanks to recent radiocarbon dating of a few grains of cereal.
New research from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) uses C14 dating of preserved organic samples taken from one of two ancient fortresses in the Arava in southern Israel. The findings suggest they were built by the biblical kingdom of Israel almost 2,800 years ago, and not by the Assyrian empire decades later.
The study, which was published in the peer-reviewed journal Levant last month, sheds new light on how Israel controlled international trade with Arabia and its hegemony over the region, as echoed in the biblical text, according to the lead author of the study, Dr. Doron Ben-Ami, a senior researcher at the IAA.
“This is the beauty of archaeology,” Ben-Ami told The Times of Israel in a phone interview. “For years, you are captivated by a certain hypothesis, even though you do not have the smoking gun, and you try to fit everything in, and then you actually find out you were proceeding in the dark, thanks to a bunch of cereal seeds.”
The study focuses on the fortresses at Ein Hatzeva, south of the Dead Sea, and at Tell el-Kheleifeh, in modern-day Jordan, just kilometers from the Israeli border and the city of Eilat.
They are both located on ancient routes associated with the very profitable trade between the Levant and Saudi Arabia. According to Ben-Ami, this kind of structure both played a symbolic role, showing who controlled trade, and served to protect merchants and travelers and provide services to them.
“[Hatzeva] is an enormous fortress, the largest in the southern Levant, but, for many years, it was neglected,” the scholar said.
The site was excavated by IAA archaeologists in the 1990s, but the results were never published, and Ben-Ami has been working to do so for several years.
With no systematic data or information to rely upon, the consensus among scholars was that the fortress, built over a perfect square measuring 100 meters (328 feet) per side, was erected at some point in the late Iron Age, the scholar explained, referring to the period between 1200 and 586 BCE.
In light of the striking architectural similarities, experts have always believed there was a clear association between Hatzeva and Kheleifeh.
“All scholars dealing with these [fortresses], including myself, are of the opinion that there was one architect behind the two, and they were constructed at the same time,” Ben-Ami said.
According to the study, the similarities include the squared layout, corner towers with the four corners oriented towards the cardinal points, a wide open area inside the fortress, and a four-chambered gate.
Some of the architectural elements featured by the fortresses were strongly associated with the Assyrians.
“[The fortresses] were built on a massive foundation field that created a high artificial platform, and had retaining walls surrounding the fortifications,” Ben-Ami said. “These elements are considered an indicator of Assyrian architecture.”
According to the scholar, the information from Kheleifeh was also not published........