Excavations at Efrata: A Burial Ground from the Intermediate and Middle Bronze Ages 9789654065511, 9654060760, 9654065517

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IAA Reports, No. 12

Excavations at Efrata A

Burial Ground from the Intermediate and Middle Bronze Ages

r1vka g0nen

With contributions by Noemi Acreche, Daphna Ben­Tor, Liora Kolska Horwitz, Irina Segal

ISRAEL ANTIQUITIES AUTHORITY CIVIL ADMINISTRATION IN JUDEA AND SAMARIA ­ STAFF OFFICER OF ARCHAEOLOGY JERUSALEM 2001

Cover: Efrata ­ view to the west Middle Bronze Age jar from Cave 11 Intermediate Bronze Age assemblage from Cave 3

A

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Publications of the Israel Antiquities Authoirty

Editor­in­Chief: Ayala Sussmann Editors: Inna Pommerantz andA viva Schwarzfeld Layout and Cover Design: Yael Boverman Plans and Graphs: Iirna Berin, Natalia Zak Photography: Hanan Shafir Printed at The Old City Press Ltd. Jerusalem

eISBN 9789654065511

ISBN 965­406­076­0 ©THE ISRAEL ANTIQUITIES AUTHORITY P0B 586, Jerusalem 91004, Israel

I

Contents INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER

1

5

AREA A ­ THE SUMMIT OF THE HILL The Structure

:

9

9

The Tumulus The Long Walls Discussion

12

CHAPTER 2: AREA B ­ THE CEMETERY General Layout The Burial Caves

17

CHAPTER 3: INTERMEDIATE BRONZE AGE BURIALS Description of the Burial Caves Burial Customs The IB Pottery Assemblage Small Finds

21

15 15

17 19

21 29

30 32

Summary

33

CHAPTER 4: MIDDLE BRONZE AGE BURIALS Description of the Burial Caves Burial Customs The MBI/II Pottery Assemblage

34 35 80 80 87 88

Small Finds Absolute Chronology

CHAPTER 5: THE SCARABS FROM EFRATA Daphna Ben­Tor

90

CHAPTER 6: SKELETAL REMAINS FROM EFRATA AND OTHER BRONZE AGE SITES IN ISRAEL

95

Noemi Acreche

CHAPTER 7: ANIMAL REMAINS FROM EFRATA

1

10

1

19

Liora Kolska Horwitz

CHAPTER 8: CHEMICAL STUDY OF DAGGERS AND A PIN FROM EFRATA Irina Segal

CHAPTER 9: SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

121

REFERENCES FOR CHAPTERS 1­4 AND 9

124

BYZANTINE WINEPRESSES

127

APPENDIX

1

:

APPENDIX 2: INVENTORY OF FINDS

129

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Introduction

The archaeological site of Efrata is situated on a twin­ peaked rocky hill which runs parallel to the Hebron­ Jerusalem road, some 7.5 km southwestof Bethlehem and 4.5 km east­northeastof Kefar Ezyon. It is located slightly northeast of the junction between the main north­south highway and the road that leads eastward to the Judean Desert (map ref. 1645 1175; Plan 1). Both peaks are of virtually the same height, the northern being 944 m and the southern, 944.4 m above sea level (Plan 2). The town of Efrata now covers part of the excavation site. Various elements were visible on the hill prior to the excavations. Exposed circular shafts of burial caves had

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long been noted on the south and east slopes of the ridge (Fig. 1), as well as large and small piles of stones on both summits and slopes (Fig. 2). Long straight walls, some meeting at right angles, were also recorded. Following evidence of tomb robbery, a trial excavation of three burial caves was conducted in the winter of 1979 by Seif ed­Din Hadad, then Hebron Inspector of Antiquities. The encouraging results of this trial excavation, and plans to incorporate the area within the new town of Efrata, led to the organization of a full­fledged archaeological expedition. Excavations were carried out in a six week season in June­July 1979, on behalf of the Archaeological Staff Officer for Judea and Samaria (Permit No. L­216),1 and of the Institute of Archaeology of the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, under the supervision of Prof. Trude Dothan. It was funded by the Ministry of Housing. The excavation was headed by the author. The team included archaeologists Gary Lipovichof the Hebrew University, who was also the surveyor, and David Davis of the Israel Department of Antiquities. Twelve students of the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem and four from the American

School of Holyland Studies in Jerusalem excavated, photographed, surveyed, drafted plans, restored pottery and drew the finds (Fig. 3).2 The work was carried out by about twenty workmen from the Hebron area.3 Kibbutz Kefar Ezyon provided a shack and a shed for storage and pottery restoration.4 The three scarabs found were studied by Daphna Ben­Torof the Israel Museum (Chapter 5). Human skeletal material was submitted to Prof. Patricia Smith of the Hadassah Medical School, The Hebrew University, and Chapter 6 presents the results of the MA thesis of her student, Noemi Acreche.5 Animal bones submitted to the Department r Zoology, The Hebrew University, j were studied by j Liora Kolska Horwitz (Chapter 7). Irina Segal of the Israel Antiquities Authority analyzed the metallurgic composition of metal objects (Chapter 8). Yuval Goren of the Israel

6

INTRODUCTION 1

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\^**1‫^***rT^TT. with, though different in nature from the dozens of small from the MBII period.. .rt. ^ r t.,, t , tumuli containing cist graves recorded in the Judean Desert This group of vessels, together with the bowl from the /TT. .r,.,­oco .x , r,_.__ ., (Hirschfeld 1985:8*) and on the east slopesof the southern baseof the fill inside the structure, date the two main phases ^ , .,, ^m,.,r .^^ ^ ^ r , Samaria hill country (Magen and Finkelstein 1993:278). of construction and use of the structure and tumulus. No ^ , ,­ ^, r^ rt. , fOf the five, the Efrata tumulus is the only one to have been other finds were uncovered in the structure or the tumulus. , completely excavated. As it was an MBI/II tumulus built ^The TLong ,,7 over an IB rectangular structure, it differs from the Dhahr WallsAyr. , , ' Mirzbaneh tumulus, a stepped construction dating only to At a distance of 1.5to3 m south of the tumulus, a long the IB period (Finkelstein 1990:241­248). It also differs wall crossed the hill from east to west. Its north face was from Cairn No. 4 at Jebel Qa'aqir, which underwent two ­;\

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19

CHAPTER 2: AREA B

summit, although the chronological relationship between the structure and the walls could not be established (see above, pp. 15, 16).

n ~ The Burial Caves m

71

All caves were of the shaft type. The shafts were cut into the layer of hard limestone nari rock covering the hill, and most were round and fairly narrow 1.00­1.50 m in diameter just large enough to allow one person at a time to enter. The nari layer is fairly shallow along the ridge of the hill close to the east side of the cemetery, and becomes deeper towards the east and west slopes.2 As a result, the shafts vary in depth according to their location: shallower near the top (e.g. Cave 11­ 1.40m;Cave 12­ 1.00m; Cave 8­ 1 .50 m) and deeper downslope to the east and west (e.g. Cave 5­2.50 m; Cave 14­2.80 m; Cave 18­2.30 m). The caves were cut into the soft limestone, which underlies the hard nari layer. In the course of time, the limestone crumbled in some places, and the stones fell into the caves. This process also breached the walls of several adjacent caves. This was especially marked in the west cluster, where Caves 3, 11, 20, 21 and 24 were all joined by breaches. Though collapsed ceilings and walls changed the shape of some burial caves, the original IB shape­ one small chamber and one shaft­ could be discerned in those caves that had not suffered from erosion and had not been reused in the MBI/II (e.g. the intact Cave 12). In addition, the original contours could still be traced in several of the reused caves. The single­chambered cave with its circular shaft is the predominant type of IB burial cave in the central and southern hill country, as well as in the southern coastal plain (e.g. Dever 1975a:20*(. ' Twenty caves were reused in the MBI/II, and their shape was often modified. Several single­chambered IB caves were joined into one multi­chambered system, with more than one entrance shaft (Caves 1, 7, 13). Perhaps belonging to this group are Caves 21 and 25, both bilobate in shape. Chambers 21B and 25B may indeed have had their own shafts, but they could not be excavated becauseof the danger of collapse. Four caves on the eastern side of the cemetery, three close to one another (Caves 7, 8, 14) and the fourth (Cave

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13) at some distance, had a square shaft. Since all four were reused in the MBI/II, and since no undisturbed IB cave had such a shaft, it is possible that they were given this shape when they were reused. However, square or rectangular shafts are not unknown in IB burial caves. They are the fs*f / ^ 1r^o * rule in the northof the country (e.g. Oren 1973:19­22 and bibliography; Yogev 1985:93­1 10), and arenot uncommon in the south, especially on the coastal plain (e.g. Tell el­ 'Ajjul and Lachish Petrie 1931 PL LVI1280; Tufnell 1958:275­279) and in the lower Jordan Valley (Jericho Kenyon 1956:42^43; 1960b:181, 255­257, Figs. 93, 94, 102). They have not been found in most cemeteries in the central hill country, such as Dhahr Mirzbaneh, 'Ein es­ Samiya and Gibeon, but they have been recorded in a cave near Jerusalem (Sa'ad 1964), at Jebel Qa'aqir and in Cemetery B at Kh. el­Kirmil (Dever 1975a:20*) in the Hebron Hills. Thus, it cannot be ruled out that the square shafts at Efrata indeed date to the IB and are part of the original designof the burial caves. With few exceptions, the entrance from shaft to chamber was blocked by a large, flat, usually roughly rectangular stone, which in some cases was found in place. In Cave 5 two stones seem to have been used, originally placed one on top of the other. In several caves the blocking stone was missing (Caves 3, 6, 8, 10), perhaps removed during their re­use in the MBI/II period. Cave 7 featured a blocking stone not known elsewhere, with a rim cut around it so that the stone would tightly fit the cave entrance. The short 'dromos' between the shaft and the chamberof Cave 7 may well have been hewn in the original phase, as a similar feature found in a burial cave at Silwan near Jerusalem (Sa'ad 1964), was hewn and used exclusively in the IB. These features, in addition to the large size of the cave and the exceptionally rich finds, indicate that Cave 7 had a special status in the cemetery, which continued in the MBI/ II (see below). Soot stains on the ceilings of several caves (e.g. Caves 1A, 5, 6) indicate that both in the IB and in the MBI/II, burial was sometimes carried out by torchlight. Indeed, most of the IB pottery oil lamps from the caves were unused, while in the MBI/II only a few oil lamps were recovered.

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20

chapter 2: area b Notes

While the town of Efrata was built, I was summoned several times both by the regional archaeological inspectors and by residents of the town to examine what seemed to be new shafts. They all proved to be karstic depressions in the rock, and no futrher burial caves were added to the cemetery. 1.

2. As observed by the late Dr Ran Gerson of the Depatrment of Geography at the Hebrew University, when he visited the site

during the excavation season.

Chapter 3

Intermediate Bronze Age Burials

Description of the Burial Caves

were probably made by torches, as no lamp was found in

Intact IB caves which were not reused in MBI/II, are .‫י‬ .t , described in this chapter. .

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^!0grap ^ . , This small, intact cave, with a shallow shaft, was sealed ,,, ­ _, r fr r , , . , by a blocking stone. The cave was full of debris, and no potsherds or bones were found on the surface or in the debris. However, at a distance of c. 20 cm from the wall, two intact IB vessels jar and an amphoriskos were found in situ. The numerous soot­marks on the ceiling P

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Cave 4 (Plan 7, Figs. 15, 16) The small burial cave (only 0.85 x 0.50 m; Fig. 15), at the base of a deep (1.70 m) and wide (1.10 m) shaft (Fig. 16),

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22

CHAPTER 3: INTERMEDIATE BRONZE BURIALS

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No. Basket No.

Description

Fabric and Manufacture

Parallels

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Intact small jar, flat base, short neck, deep grooves on shoulder

Grey clay, wheel marks warped neck

Dever 1975a: Figs. 4:3 (shape, but without spout), 5:15; Amiran 1963: Fig. 22:13 (grooves)

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Intact amphoriskos, flat base, two crude lug handles, groups of non­parallel combed lines on shoulder made after handles were added

Brown clay with grey patches, many small and medium white grits, wheel marks on neck, finger marks inside at joint of neck and body

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23

CHAPTER 3: INTERMEDIATE BRONZE BURIALS

was full of stones and earth. No blocking stone was found between the shaft and the cave. Two burials were uncovered on the stone floor, among many large stones. One consisted of a few bones found about 10 cm from the entrance; the other, of a mandible with two teeth, placed face down about 30 cm to the right of the entrance. The burials were overlaid with medium­ sized stones and an earth layer. The cave contained only two small fragments of IB vessels.

Cave 10 (Plan 8, Fig. 17) The cave had an oval shaft (1.30 x 1.20 m, depth 1.20 m) and a chamberof irregular shape (2.60 x2.10 m). Although no blocking stone was found, earth had accumulated only

14­d

Cave 2. Two groups of disarticulated bones, lying on a fill of earth and small stones, were visible upon entering the cave. One was close to the shaft (Fig. 17); the other, which included the upper part of a skull, lay next to the west wall. The position of the bones indicates that the cave had been reentered after the interment. A few IB potsherds(two jars and three lamps) were recovered next to scanty remains of two females and a male over forty years of age, as well as of another male of undetermined age and a child. As no vessel could be restored, they may have been placed in the cave as fragments. After the finds had been removed, the

Cave 10

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Plan 8. Cave 10, plan and section.

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24

CHAPTER 3: INTERMEDIATE BRONZE BURIALS

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Fig. 17. Bones in Cave 10. fill of earth and small stones was carefully excavated and sifted, but nothing else was found. Two MB and one Byzantine sherd had washed into the cave. Burial on a fill rather than directly on the cave floor was quite common in the Efrata cemetery. In this case it difficult to determine whether the fill had accumulated naturally, perhaps due to the cave having been left open for some time before its use for burial, or whether it was an intentional element in the preparation for burial.

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