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Abstract
The site of Mordot Arnona is located ca. 750 m northeast of Ramat Rahel and on the eastern outskirts of the Arnona neighbourhood of Jerusalem. Few sites around Jerusalem present a stratigraphy and settlement sequence that includes nine building and construction phases, dating from the Late Iron IIA (9th century BCE) to the Late Roman period (4th century CE). During much of this time, and especially between the late 7th century BCE and the 4th century CE, the site was a small agricultural settlement. In the late 8th and the first half of the 7th century BCE, however, Mordot Arnona held great significance in the physical and political landscape of the area south of Jerusalem, serving as an administrative centre, as evidenced by its monumental structures and the dozens of stamped jar handles. In this paper we present a preliminary description of the site and the main finds from the monumental stage in its history, along with our initial conjectures regarding the role of this site, together with Ramat Rahel, in the history of the Kingdom of Judah during the last 150 years of its existence.
Acknowledgements
The excavations were conducted on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority and funded by the Israel Land Authority, prior to the construction of a new neighbourhood and extensive development works throughout the area. Laticia Barda and Danit Levi conducted a development survey before the planning of the new neighbourhood. The excavations were directed by N. Sapir and N. Ben-Ari, with the help of area supervisors K. Arbiv, B. Monnickendam-Givon, R. Cohen, B. Storchan, Y. Tchekhanovets, Z. ʿ Adawi, Y. Billig, M. Zindel, M. Balila, A. Landes-Nagar and M. Samhuri and assistant area supervisor R. Zalut Har-Tuv. The staff included the following: N. Nehama and R. Abu Khalaf (administration); M. Kahan (drafting); Y. Shmidov, S. Halevi, A. Wiegmann and E. Aladjem (surveying, aerial photography and photogrammetry); A. Peretz (photography); S. Leshem and S. Mizrahi (preliminary inspections); E. Kamaiski (pottery restoration); S. Gendler and D. Tanami (metal detecting); R. Ben Chelouche and A. Riar (educational programme); Y. Asher (analytical laboratory); Y. Roskin (geology; OSL); A. Van-Zuiden (plaster analysis); Y. Gadot and N. Ben-Melech (OSL, Tel Aviv University); Y. Gorin-Rosen and T. Winter (glass); L. Freud, A. De Groot, D. Sandhaus and S. Dan-Goor (pottery, Tel Aviv University and Israel Antiquities Authority); and O. Lipschits (stamped handles). We wish to thank R. Amin-Cohen, U. Amichai, I. Litvak, M. Tchernin, M. Cohen, J. Uziel and the staff of the Dead Sea Scrolls Project (Israel Antiquities Authority), as well as Y. Zelinger, A. Reʾ em and Y. Baruch (Israel Antiquities Authority Jerusalem Region), for their support and assistance.
Notes
1 Remains of a mosaic floor from the Byzantine period and rock-hewn burial caves dating from the Early Roman to the Byzantine period were documented at Khirbat Ṣabiḥa within the framework of the survey. See Beʾeri Citation2011.
2 North of the site of Mordot Arnona, a quarry, a building and rock-hewn pits were excavated. These yielded a multitude of ceramic vessels from the Early Roman period, as well as a jar handle bearing a lmlk stamp impression from the Iron IIB (Landes-Nagar Citation2008; Solimany Citation2007). East of Mordot Arnona, down the slope, an Iron IIB–C olive press was uncovered, yielding over 100 Iron II holemouth jars. The site included a columbarium, a refuge system, a water reservoir and various quarrying installations, dated to the Early Roman period (1st century BCE–1st century CE; Vitto Citation2011), alongside other rock-cuts and caves from various periods, with pottery and other finds dated from the Iron II to the Byzantine period (Beʾeri Citation2011; Golani Citation2011a; Citation2011b). Northeast of these remains, further up the spur, a plastered water reservoir was excavated and was found to contain pottery sherds from the Iron II and the Persian period (Levi Citation2010). West of the village of Ṣur Bahir, on the opposite side of Naḥal Darga, on the ridge south of the Arnona neighbourhood and 600 m from the site of Mordot Arnona, a fortified tower from the late Iron II was excavated (Eisenberg and De Groot Citation2006). In addition, northeast of the excavation area, in the vicinity of Diplomat Hotel, sections of the lower aqueduct transporting water to Jerusalem were documented and excavated (Zilberbod Citation2011; Beʾeri Citation2014). Additional sections of the same aqueduct, likely constructed at the end of the 2nd or the early 1st century BCE and continuing in use until the early 20th century (Billig Citation2002; Mazar Citation2002), were uncovered at Ṣur Bahir, southeast of Arnona (ʿAdawi Citation2005; Billig Citation2019).
3 Area B includes the construction remains, rock-cuts, caves and installations, which appear throughout the intended area of development on the slopes at the foot of Area A and north of it (, B1–B7). Two sub-areas derived out of these points: Area C contains construction remains from the Early Islamic period, and Area D contains a columbarium dated to the late Second Temple period (1st century BCE–1st century CE). In Area E, previously unexposed parts of the lower aqueduct that transported water to Jerusalem were documented and excavated.
4 We do not discuss the other phases in the history of Mordot Arnona, from the Early Hellenistic period (Phase 4) to the Late Roman period (Phase 1), in which mainly agricultural production facilities and storage structures were found. Since the processing of the excavation finds has not yet been completed, all conclusions and conjectures presented below are preliminary. This is particularly true with regard to the pottery, the stamp impressions and the coins, which are crucial in the clarification of the stratigraphy and chronology of the various phases.
5 Some of the technical descriptions of the building phases at the site were published in Hebrew; see Ben-Ari et al. Citation2021.
6 Similar pottery vessels were found in Lachish Levels V–IV and in Beer-Sheva Stratum IV.
7 Since these remains are segmented and disconnected, it is not clear if they all belong to the same constructional phase.
8 For the preliminary publication of the ‘private’ stamp impressions, see Sapir et al., Citationforthcoming. On the lmlk stamp impressions, see discussion below.
9 Such vessels have parallels in Lachish Level III, Beer-Sheva Stratum II and the City of David Stratum 12.
10 Such vessels have parallels in the City of David, mainly Strata 12–11, but also Stratum 10, Ramat Raḥel Building Phase I, En-Gedi Stratum V and Lachish Stratum II.
11 We wish to thank Prof. Joel Ruskin (Department of Geography and Environment, Bar-Ilan University) for this preliminary observation.
12 The excavation in the southern part was carried out almost entirely by hand, with the exception of a few places where heavy mechanical tools were needed to remove stone piles.
13 These types have parallels in the City of David Strata 11–10, Ramat Raḥel Building Phase I, En-Gedi Stratum V and Lachish Level II.
14 These types have parallels in the City of David Stratum 10, Ramat Raḥel Building Phase II, En-Gedi Stratum V and Lachish Level II.
15 In this context some ‘private’ and early lmlk stamped handles were also found, spread along W2017. During the excavation of the foundation trench it appeared as though this fill was mixed with the later assemblage.
16 Similar types of bowls, cooking pots and storage jars assigned to the 6th century were found in the Babylonian-Persian pit at Ramat Raḥel (Freud Citation2021: .1:1–3, 4.5:1–6, 4.13:2) and Armon ha-Natziv (Billig, Freud and Bocher Citation2022). Similar Persian bowls, kraters with or without wedge decoration, cooking pots and yhwd storage jars were found in the City of David Stratum 9 (Zuckerman Citation2012) and Holyland Cave II (Ben-Arieh Citation2000).
17 One yhwd and one lion stamp impression appear on body sherds. Six of the lmlk stamped handles were also incised with concentric circles, so there are in fact 176 stamped or incised handles and two stamped body sherds.
18 On the date of these stamp impressions, see Lipschits, Sergi and Koch Citation2010; Lipschits Citation2021: 97–121, with further literature.
19 The contributions of the excavations at Mordot Arnona to this subject will be further examined after the processing of the finds has been completed.
20 The fortified tower is situated on the opposite side of Naḥal Darga, on the ridge south of the Arnona neighbourhood, 1 km east of Ramat Raḥel, on the main road that rises from the east and 600 m from the site of Mordot Arnona (Eisenberg and De Groot Citation2006).