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Abstract
The remains of a shrine located in the Iron IIB six-chamber gate at Lachish were recently published by Ganor and Kreimerman (2019). The excavators proposed that the chamber had a hierarchical layout comparable to that of the Arad sanctuary, and that the shrine and its cult furnishings had been desecrated in the course of Hezekiah’s cult reform. However, a critical re-evaluation of the published data indicates that (1) the inner plan of the chamber did not possess a hierarchical, three-part division with a ‘holy of holies’; and (2) the chamber was destroyed during the Assyrian campaign in 701 BCE without any indication of cultic reform. Bearing in mind the data from Ussishkin’s excavations, it is further suggested that two shrines were actually located in the gate—one on each side of the gateway—and that they were probably utilized in purification rituals by people entering the city. The two shrines at Lachish can be compared to the evidence from contemporaneous Kuntillet >Ajrud, which shows parallels in terms of architectural layout and cult paraphernalia.
Notes
1 This article is the result of a project entitled ‘The History of the Pentateuch: Combining Literary and Archaeological Approaches’, funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (Sinergia project CRSII1160785). The project―a joint venture of Zurich, Lausanne and Tel Aviv Universities―was directed by Konrad Schmid (Zurich), Christophe Nihan and Thomas Römer (Lausanne), and Israel Finkelstein and Oded Lipschits (Tel Aviv).
2 Even though I do not agree with the identification of the different spaces of Chamber 3 as individual ‘rooms’, for simplification the original terminology of Ganor and Kreimerman is used in this paper.
3 The destruction of Lachish Level III is well documented in biblical and extra-biblical sources. Taken together with the archeological evidence the event can be securely connected to the conquest by Sennacherib in 701 BCE (Ussishkin 2014: 312−316).
4 The excavators state that the object fell into the pit when the floor collapsed and that the pit did not constitute a later intrusion.
5 Note that the presented biblical verses (2 Kgs 10:26−28) are not connected in any way with the account of Hezekiah’s reform.
6 The lime fragment is not only just 5 cm wide but fragments of plaster can be found at this location on the inside of ‘Room 2’ as well (see Ganor and Kreimerman Citation2019: Fig. 8). If the door of ‘Room 2’ would have been sealed from the outside, traces of plaster would not have been found on its interior.
7 See the many examples of altars hewn from a single limestone, of which one example was also uncovered in the 1970s by Aharoni (Citation1975: Pl. 43: 7) at Lachish. For a general overview, see Gitin Citation1989 and 2011.
8 Few examples of altars constructed of multiple stones are given (Ganor and Kreimerman Citation2019: 218–219). None of them can serve as a good comparison. They either compose a completely different type of structure, closer to a platform (see the examples from Tel Dan [Biran Citation1986: Fig. 11], Khirbet >Ataruz [Ji Citation2012: and ] and Tel Moza [Kisilevitz Citation2015: Fig. 3]), or have very different building techniques (see the altars at Arad [Herzog Citation2010: 178], and Beer-sheba [Herzog Citation2016: 1478]).
9 If the ’horns’ had been molded from plaster, one could ask why there was damage directly to the stones.
10 The other comparisons presented by Ganor and Kreimerman are either found out of context or are of later date. The function of these objects as a toilet was not always clear to the excavators (e.g., at Busayra, where it was suggested that the object could also have been used as a press [Bienkowski Citation2002: 166]). Only in one later parallel from the City of David traces of fecal matter in sediment samples could indicate the use of the object; yet the data was only partly published in a popular journal and is therefore hard to assess (see Cahill et al. Citation1991).
11 The monolith was understood by De Groot and Bernick-Greenberg (Citation2012a: 100) to have served as a door jamb. As the object was located on top of a 90 cm high wall, this interpretation should be ruled out.
12 The small area to the west of the standing stone was filled with dozens of complete vessels (De Groot and Bernick-Greenberg Citation2012b: Figs. 4.57−59), including two partly preserved strainer jugs (De Groot and Bernick-Greenberg Citation2012b: Fig. 4.59: 2−3) that are rare in the Iron IIB, though found at Arad (Stratum IX; Singer-Avitz Citation2002: Type J 9) and at Lachish (Level III; Tufnell Citation1953: Pl. 86: 229, 237). The fill further comprised several chalk cylinders of unclear function (Hovers Citation1996: 179−180); similar items were found in Chamber 4010 in the northern wing of the gate (see n. 18 below). The ceramics and special finds might have been associated with the standing stone and the perforated stone object and thus support their cultic function.
13 The two narrow walls to the south and west of the stone object in the City of David are of the same height as the ‘double altar’ of the Lachish gate shrine and could also have been used for ritual purposes (De Groot and Bernick-Greenberg Citation2012a: Plan 47b).
14 No bones are reported, which speaks against the suggestion that body parts of animals were sacrificed on the ‘double altar’ (Ganor and Kreimerman Citation2019: 228).
15 This suggestion is supported by the FTIR analysis of the sediment samples from below the stone object, which did not indicate the presence of any special substances (Ganor and Kreimerman Citation2019: 222−223).
16 The option of a second cult room in Chamber 4010 was already noted by Liraz (Citation2018), who focused mainly on possible evidence for an intentional desecration event there. The proposed signs for the defilement of the space were not reported by Ussishkin but are supposedly visible today on one stone block located in the chamber (Liraz Citation2018: 271). Yet, damages on a limestone block that has been exposed since the 1970s cannot be taken as evidence and are therefore not usable for the discussion.
17 Unfortunately this object broke apart during the excavation and thus could not be better documented (Ussishkin Citation2004a: 641). However, it is described in the final publication and also indicated in the plan of the inner gate (Ussishkin Citation2004a: Fig. 12.18 and see Fig. 2).
18 Several chalk cylinders were found in this chamber and the adjacent rooms (Sass Citation2004: Fig. 28.26: 12−18), similar to the objects found in the City of David (see n. 12 above). Their possible connection to cultic activity should be the objective of future research.
19 In light of these findings future research should consider the original interpretation of the finds from Chambers 4034 and 4035 as well as from Storage Room 4014.
20 For a detailed description of the evidence from et-Tell (Bethsaida) and a summary of the finds from Tel Dan, see Bernett and Keel Citation1998: 1−53, as well as Blomquist Citation1999: 49−69.
21 See in general Meshel Citation2012. For the dating of the site, see Finkelstein and Piasetzky Citation2008. For the epigraphic works from Kuntillet >Ajrud, see Ornan Citation2016 and recently Blum Citation2019: 26−35 with earlier literature therein.
22 See Aḥituv, Eshel and Meshel Citation2012: Fig. 5.1. Other inscriptions were found in the two storage rooms of the building.
23 The cultic use of large storage containers, especially in the context of gateways, is a topic for future investigation. Of interest for this discussion is an inscription incised on the shoulders of a jar found at Tel Kinneret that reads “of the gate” (Ephʻal and Naveh Citation1993).
24 For the cultic use of liquids at other gate areas, see Blomquist Citation1999: Table 2.
25 The archaeological record from Lachish may shed light on the biblical account of Josiah’s cult- reform in 2 Kings 23:8, where it is stated that he “broke down the high places [bāmôt] of the gates” (for the plural form bāmôt, see, e.g., Emerton Citation1994 or Blomquist Citation1999: 151−163). The finds from the Lachish six-chamber gate make it possible to interpret the plural form in view of the archaeological record. I thank Nadav Na’aman for bringing this passage to my attention.