ÄGYPTEN UND ALTES TESTAMENT 82

Oren Tal and Itamar Taxel

Samaritan Cemeteries and Tombs

in the Central Coastal Plain

Arhaeology and History

of the Samaritan Settlement
outside Samaria (ca. 300–700 CE)
 Oren Tal and Itamar Taxel

Samaritan Cemeteries and Tombs

in the Central Coastal Plain
Archaeology and History of the
Samaritan Settlement outside Samaria
(ca. 300–700 CE)

With contributions by
Dana Ashkenazi, Gabriela Bijovsky, Vered Eshed,
Ruth E. Jackson-Tal, Mark Iserlis and Lidar Sapir-Hen

© 2015, Ugarit-Verlag – Buch- und Medienhandel GmbH, Münster

ISBN Print: 978-3-86835-153-8 – ISBN E-Book: 978-3-86835-154-5
ÄGYPTEN UND ALTES TESTAMENT
Studien zu Geschichte, Kultur und Religion Ägyptens und des Alten Testaments
Band 82

Gegründet von Manfred Görg

Herausgegeben von Stefan Jakob Wimmer und Wolfgang Zwickel

© 2015, Ugarit-Verlag – Buch- und Medienhandel GmbH, Münster

ISBN Print: 978-3-86835-153-8 – ISBN E-Book: 978-3-86835-154-5
 Oren Tal and Itamar Taxel

Samaritan Cemeteries and Tombs

in the Central Coastal Plain
Archaeology and History of the
Samaritan Settlement outside Samaria
(ca. 300–700 CE)

With contributions by
Dana Ashkenazi, Gabriela Bijovsky, Vered Eshed,
Ruth E. Jackson-Tal, Mark Iserlis and Lidar Sapir-Hen

2015
Ugarit-Verlag
Münster

© 2015, Ugarit-Verlag – Buch- und Medienhandel GmbH, Münster

ISBN Print: 978-3-86835-153-8 – ISBN E-Book: 978-3-86835-154-5
Umschlag-Vignette: Pavel Shrago

Ägypten und Altes Testament, Band 82

Oren Tal and Itamar Taxel

With contributions by Dana Ashkenazi, Gabriela Bijovsky, Vered Eshed, Ruth E.
Jackson-Tal, Mark Iserlis and Lidar Sapir-Hen

Samaritan Cemeteries and Tombs in the Central Coastal Plain: Archaeology and
History of the Samaritan Settlement outside Samaria (ca. 300–700 CE)

© 2015 Ugarit-Verlag, Münster

www.ugarit-verlag.com
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photo-copying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior permission of the publisher.
Printed in Germany

ISBN 978-3-86835-153-8

e-ISBN 978-3-86835-154-5

ISSN 0720-9061

Printed on acid-free paper

© 2015, Ugarit-Verlag – Buch- und Medienhandel GmbH, Münster

ISBN Print: 978-3-86835-153-8 – ISBN E-Book: 978-3-86835-154-5
 Table of Contents

Table of Contents

List of Figures VIII

List of Tables XIII
List of Color Plates XIV
Introduction XV

Chapter 1: The Khirbet al->Aura/Tel Barukh Cemetery 1

1.1 The Burial Caves: Structural, Stratigraphic and Spatial Characteristics 2
1.1.1 Burial Cave 1 4
1.1.2 Burial Cave 2 8
1.1.3 Burial Cave 3 16
1.1.4 Burial Cave 4 20
1.1.5 Burial Cave 5 24
1.1.6 Burial Cave 6 27
1.1.7 Burial Cave 7 33
1.1.8 Burial Cave 8 37
1.1.9 The Animal-Bone Pit 39
1.2 Lamps and Pottery Vessels 41
1.3 Glass Vessels
Ruth E. Jackson-tal 57
1.3.1 Bowls 57
1.3.2 Jars 61
1.3.3 Bottles 61
1.3.4 Jugs 67
1.3.5 Amphoriskoi 74
1.3.6 Double Cosmetic Tubes 75
1.3.7 Oil Lamp 75
1.4 Coins
GabRiEla biJovsky 81
1.5 Small Finds 99
1.5.1 Jewelry and Other Personal Objects 99
1.5.2 Beads, Pendants and Inlays
Ruth E. Jackson-tal 108
1.5.3 Appendix: Material Characterization of Two Organic Beads
Dana ashkEnazi 117
1.5.4 Magical Objects 119
1.6 Human Bones
vERED EshED 121
1.6.1 The Burial Chamber 121
1.6.2 Loculus D 122
1.6.3 Courtyard of the Burial Cave (Locus 2) 122

© 2015, Ugarit-Verlag – Buch- und Medienhandel GmbH, Münster

ISBN Print: 978-3-86835-153-8 – ISBN E-Book: 978-3-86835-154-5
VI Table of Contents

1.7 Animal Bones: Possible Evidence for Death Rituals

liDaR sapiR-hEn 123
1.7.1 Methods 124
1.7.2 Results 124
1.7.3 Ritualizing at a Samaritan Cemetery? 125
1.8 Summary and Conclusions 128
1.9 Tables of Finds: Inventory and Provenience 129

Chapter 2: The Khirbet al-Ḥadra Burial Cave 139

2.1 The Burial Cave: Structural Characteristics 139
2.2 Lamps and Pottery Vessels 143
2.3 Glass Vessels
Ruth E. Jackson-tal 149
2.3.1 Jars 149
2.3.2 Bottles 149
2.3.3 Jug 149
2.3.4 Double Cosmetic Tubes 160
2.3.5 Pestle 160
2.4 Small Finds 161
2.4.1 Jewelry and Other Personal Objects 161
2.4.2 Beads
Ruth E. Jackson-tal 161
2.4.3 Magical Objects 170
2.5 Summary and Conclusions 172
2.6 Tables of Finds: Inventory and Provenience 174

Chapter 3: The Tell Qasile Burial Cave 177

3.1 The Burial Cave: Structural Characteristics 177
3.2 Lamps 179
3.3 Glass Vessels
Ruth E. Jackson-tal 182
3.3.1 Bottles 182
3.3.2 Double Cosmetic Tubes 184
3.4 Small Finds 184
3.4.1 Jewelry and Other Personal Objects 184
3.4.2 Beads
Ruth E. Jackson-tal 188
3.4.3 Magical Objects 190
3.5 Summary and Conclusions 190
3.6 Tables of Finds: Inventory and Provenience 191

© 2015, Ugarit-Verlag – Buch- und Medienhandel GmbH, Münster

ISBN Print: 978-3-86835-153-8 – ISBN E-Book: 978-3-86835-154-5
 Table of Contents VII

Chapter 4: Discussion: The Archaeology of the Samaritan Settlement on the

Central Coastal Plain in the Late Roman, Byzantine and Early Islamic Periods 193
4.1 The Tel Barukh, Khirbet al-Ḥadra and Tell Qasile Burial Caves:
Aspects of Religious and Ethnic Afinity 193
4.2 The Tel Barukh, Khirbet al-Ḥadra and Tell Qasile Burial Caves:
Aspects of Typology, Burial Practices and Material Culture 195
4.3 The Tel Barukh, Khirbet al-Ḥadra and Tell Qasile Burial Caves
within the Context of the Samaritan Settlement on the Central Coastal Plain 202

Appendix I: Selected Unpublished Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine

Remains in the Southern Sharon Plain 207
I.1 Tel Ḥashash: The Hellenistic Compound 207
I.2 A Group of Early Roman Pottery Vessels from Tel Barukh 208
I.3 Tell Qasile: The Foundation Layer of the Samaritan Synagogue 209
I.4 Tell Qasile: A Secondary Glass Production(?) Furnace
Ruth E. Jackson-tal, oREn tal anD itamaR taxEl 213
I.5 Hadar Yosef: A Pottery Production Kiln 216

Appendix II: Thin-section Analysis of Samaritan Oil Lamps and Incense Bowl
maRk isERlis 223
II.1 Method 223
II.2 Results 223
II.3 Reference 224

Appendix III: Archaeometallurgical Characterization of Samaritan Rings and

Amulets and Other Artifacts Made of Copper Alloys
Dana ashkEnazi 229
III.1 Non-Destructive Metallurgical Examination 229
III.2 Destructive Metallurgical Examination 229
III.3 Results 230
III.4 Discussion 241

List of References 251

Index 261
Color Plates 263

© 2015, Ugarit-Verlag – Buch- und Medienhandel GmbH, Münster

ISBN Print: 978-3-86835-153-8 – ISBN E-Book: 978-3-86835-154-5
ÄGYPTEN UND ALTES TESTAMENT 82

his book discusses Samaritan burial customs outside Samaria

based on the inds of yet unpublished tombs excavated in the
second half of the 20th century in the central Coastal Plain of
Israel (within the northern city limits of modern-day Tel Aviv,
whih forms part of the southern Sharon Plain). Oren Tal and Itamar Taxel
he burial sites analyzed here include the cemetery of
Khirbet al-®Aura/Tel Barukh, a burial cave at Khirbet al-Ḥadra/

Tal / Taxel • Samaritan Cemeteries and Tombs in the Central Coastal Plain
HaGolan Street and another one at Tell Qasile. he burial caves
excavated at these sites are associated with Samaritan rural
populations because of their location and the inds discovered,
whih include elements of Samaritan material culture (non-
epigraphic and epigraphic alike).
Our study constitutes a full report on the excavations
of these burial sites and ofers an arhaeological re-evaluation
of Samaritan setlement history and material culture. he
appendices complete this study by bringing forward small-scale
unpublished excavations of probable Samaritan setlements or
revising published material that normally bears relevance to
researh on this subject.
Our re-evaluation is holistic in nature, based upon the
sites we studied in full, as well as other published Samaritan sites
that have been excavated and surveyed in the central Coastal
Plain. his publication contributes to our understanding of
daily habits and aterlife beliefs of the Samaritans outside their
heartland in the heyday of their expansion to the Palestinian
lowlands.

Arhaeol

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