Kurkar Ridge along Seashore Coastal Plain
The coast of northern Israel, between Tel Aviv and Haifa, is characterized by “kurkar” ridges. The term “kurkar” refers to sea-sand that has hardened into rock. This results from a mineral reaction between the sea water and shore sediments producing a carbonate cement. This naturally occurring phenomenon has preserved this part of the coast from development because the cement-like ridges posed an obstacle to the construction of sea ports.
Mortuary Temple of Ramesses III (Medinet Habu, Luxor, Egypt)
This image shows the burial-temple complex of Ramesses III (1186–1155 BCE), one of the last powerful Egyptian kings. The walls display an impressive array of inscriptions, hieroglyphics, and decorated reliefs. Some tell the story of the rise of the “Sea People” known as the “Peleshet.” These are the biblical Philistines, from which the modern term “Palestine” is derived. Ramesses inscriptions boast of victory over the Peleshet, but this probably includes more exaggeration than fact. Such boasting, at any rate, attests to the growing presence of sea-faring people into the eastern Mediterranean who sought to escape the economic crisis of the late Bronze Age. These “Sea People” ventured east and filled a power vacuum left by diminution of the Egyptians and Hittites.
This wonderfully preserved papyrus, probably created around 1,200 BCE, is one of the longest papyri that has been preserved from ancient Egypt (it is almost 138 feet long). It is divided into three parts; this section is in the part describing the reign of Ramses III (1184-1153 BCE) and the internal civil conflict that was present in Egypt at the beginning of the 20th Dynasty (which lasted from 1186-1069 BCE). In part it describes his battles against the Peoples of the Sea. The text is written in hieratic, which is a cursive script that evolved from hieroglyphics (and was easier and quicker to write than the cumbersome symbols of hieroglyphics).
This bronze figurine of Osiris (one of the two traditional Egyptian gods, the other being Isis) was found at Ashkelon and dates to the 4th century BCE. Both Isis and Osiris had become very popular throughout the Mediterranean, and although this figurine depicts Osiris in the traditional Egyptian attire and stance, it was found in the bronzesmith's shop and so is known to have been cast at Ashkelon.
This relief map shows the southern coastal plain from Jerusalem (in the east) to the coast (in the west), and from Joppa (the area of modern Tel Aviv - in the north) down to Gaza (in the south). In the period preceding the Israelite monarchies, this coastal plain was the territory of the Philistines. 'Philistia' - the name of the land of the Philistines - is the root of the word 'Palestine.' Note the distinctive topographical features of the region: the Central Hill, running from north to south, and the Shephelah (an intermediary hilly region) and the seashore plains to its west.
Six of the eleven altars that were found during the excavation of Tel Miqne (biblical Ekron) stand in front of the excavation's directors, Trude Dothan and Sy Gitin. They concluded that Ekron had a primarily Philistine population in the 7th century BCE, with some admixture of Israelites. Each altar except the round one at the very bottom of the photo has corner horns, and all but that one were found in an industrial building (the one without horns was found in the city's domestic quarter). Many scholars have suggested that this round, unhorned 'altar' from the domestic quarter might instead have been used for non-religious functions, such as mixing cosmetics or burning incense in homes simply to add a pleasant scent. Such discussions raise important questions about how we identify objects from archaeological excavations, especially religious ones.
This miniature clay chair with breasts and head stands 7 inches high and dates to the 12th century BCE. So many fragments of other chair figures such as this were uncovered at Ashdod that they came to be called 'Ashdod' figures. They were subsequently found at other sites identified as Phoenician. The concept of the throne-seat and the stylized shape of the head is similar to late Mycenaean representations of a seated female deity found on the Greek mainland, Rhodes, and Cyprus.
This faience mask, discovered at the Temple of Hathor near the copper mines of Timna in the eastern Sinai Desert, was made to be a representation of the goddess. The eyes are characteristically Egyptian, and clearly were colored. It was one of more than 11,000 small objects discovered to have been left at the shrine as a votive offering to the goddess.
This artist's rendition of a cult structure at Horvat Qitmit in the eastern Negev Desert has been identified as being Edomite, and as dating to the 7th-6th centuries BCE, on the basis of its pottery. In addition to the pottery, many fragments of clay figures and life-sized statues were also found. The building to the upper right has three rectangular rooms that open to the south. The floors were found to be under a foot of ashes. In front of the building were two major open-air installations: a 3-foot by 4-foot platform standing within a walled court (upper left) and a circular stone enclosure within which was found a stone altar, a 3-foot-wide plaster-lined basin and a 3-foot-deep stone-lined pit. Nothing is known of how these features were used, but the presence of figures and figurines, as well as the ashes in the rectangular rooms, have led scholars to suggest that these structures served religious purposes. Note the open-air characteristics of this structure, which may point to the nomadic nature of its builders/users.
This photo shows a small one-room temple enclosure near the copper mines of Timna in the eastern Sinai Desert. It was originally built to the Egyptian goddess Hathor in the 14th or 13th century BCE. Later in the 13th or early 12th century BCE the Egyptian shrine was refurbished by Midianites. The Egyptian hieroglyphs were removed and the Hathor pillared-images were moved (one was planted in the ground upside-down). It seems that in this period the object of worship was a copper serpent with a gilded head.
Amman: Model of a Shrine and 'Pillar Astarte' Figurines
This shrine model and pillar figurines were not actually found together, but have been photographed together because they are cult objects from the end of the Israelite period (8th-7th centuries BCE). The shrine model was made from an inverted water jug, one side of which was sliced off, after which the two pillars with double volutes were applied. The dove with spread wings (above the doorway) and the three figurines were closely associated with the cult of Astarte.
The pottery shown here is typical of Israelite pottery from the Iron II period (10th-7th centuries BCE). The folded shapes in the foreground are folded lamps. Oil would be placed in the bowl-like part and a wick would be placed in the narrow portion (note that soot is still visible there).
This incense stand from 10th BCE Philistine Ashdod shows 5 musicians playing double flutes, cymbals, and a lyre. Incense was placed on top and hot coals were placed inside. The incense would burn and release a pleasant smell.
The excavations at Tel Dor, on the coast of Israel between Tel Aviv and Haifa, are barely visibly on the rocky promontory in the low center of this photograph. Dor was one of the Phoenician harbors in antiquity, first settled in the 15th century BCE and inhabited well into the Roman period. It was especially prominent as a port city of maritime trade in the Persian and Hellenistic periods.
This slide shows the second monumental gateway (called by the Greek word for gateway, 'pylon') of the great mortuary temple of Ramses III at Medinet Habu in Thebes. To the left is a relief showing Ramses leading enemy captives, including a row of Philistines, before Amun, the god of Thebes. On the right is a long hieroglyphic inscription in which Ramses describes the advance toward Egypt of an alliance of Sea Peoples who were defeated by Ramses (according to him).
These pottery stands are shown in situ (as they were left in the 10th century BCE), in a shrine next to the main sanctuary. The stands held bowls, which were found with them. They were used in the temple complex for ritual offering of food to the Philistine gods. The two tall vessels were incense altars, which spread the smell of incense (which was put on the top plate) after coals were put in the hollow inside portion.
This distinctive type of painted pottery has been found at sites along the southern coast of Palestine from the 12th and 11th centuries BCE, which has led scholars to conclude that this is 'Philistine pottery,' as the Philistines were known to have lived in the area in this period. The decoration seems to be clearly derived from late Mycenaean painted pottery (i.e., painted pottery from Mycenae), which was produced in Greece in this period, and the shapes of the vessels seem to be a mixture of Mycenaean and Canaanite shapes. These similarities have led many scholars to conclude that the Philistines either originated in the Aegean or appropriated Mycenaean forms and styles through interaction with them.
The remains of this well-preserved house temple at Tel Qasile, near the exit of the Yarkon river to the Mediterranean in central Israel, dates to the 12th-10th century BCE. Excavators recovered a number of cult objects such as incense stands and libation bowls in situ (i.e., still in place). A worshipper would have entered the temple from the east (off the top of the photo) and would first come into the open courtyard (where the altar was located). He would have then entered the temple at its northeast corner, coming into an entrance room lined with narrow benches which probably held votive statuettes or vessels. He then would have entered into the main hall through the doorway facing west. Against the west wall he would have seen the cult statue on its raised platform. Perhaps only the priests would have had access to the small treasury room behind the platform.