Yasur-Lau Assaf. Household Archaeology in Ancient Israel and Beyond
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62 assaf yasur-landau
only in the idealized realm of cuneiform texts, is more easily translat-
able into the reality of the large Syrian plains or the at Mesopotamian
landscape than to the fractured geography of the Levant. us, in real-
ity, the springs of Dan and Kabri dictated a slightly dierent shape for
the layout of each mound, as well as the positioning of the gates. At
Kabri (Fig. 2), the exclusion of the ʿEin Giah spring from the area of
the site created the irregular shape of the northern part of the tell and
dictated the positioning of the northern gate at the northwest corner
of the site. In addition, the location of the western gate was pushed a
little to the south in order to facilitate the draining of ʿEin Shefaʿ. us,
awed as it is, a city is born. As Greenberg (2002: 109) argues for the
symbolic value of the ramparts: “the ramparts were used by its build-
ers to give concrete form to a pre-existing concept of ‘city;’ it was a
conventional symbol of urbanism.”
As we shall see below, the aws were not only in the implementa-
tion of an ideal plan on less than ideal geography, but also in the lack
of consideration for the impact that such building programs had on
private households.
Figure 2. Aerial view of Tel Kabri (aer Kempinski 2002: Fig. 1.1).
impact of urbanization 63
Megiddo: Fortication and Resistance
At Megiddo, the considerable height of the Early Bronze Age tell hin-
dered any possibility for a considerable enlargement of the site’s area
to accommodate both the building of the MBI fortications and the
natural development of domestic areas. us, as one might expect, the
plan of the site, especially of the area adjacent to the walls, reects an
acute friction and power struggle between the rulership and private
households through most of the Middle Bronze Age.
MBI habitation started in Stratum XIV, which is dated to the early
part of the MBI. At that time, the site was an unfortied village. Stra-
tum XIII in Area AA at Megiddo, dated to the middle part of MBI,
is characterized by the appearance of a well-planned, elaborate for-
tication system (Loud 1948: 6–8, Fig. 378; Burke 2008: 291–292)
(Fig. 3). It includes a stepped approach, a gate, a brick city-wall, and an
inner tower or small fort (4014)—a solid, rectangular structure similar
in shape to the one found by the south gate at Gezer (Herzog 1997:
Fig. 4.20).
Since the excavators did not reach Stratum XIV in Area AA, there
are no data available regarding the impact of the building of forti-
cations on earlier domestic structures. House remains from Stratum
XIII are less well preserved, but they are evident through a series of
small tombs dug below the oors, such as T. 4088, 4095, and 4103. In
Stratum XII (Fig. 4), the gate to the town was presumably moved to
the east, while in Area AA, the formal architecture of the Stratum XIII
gate and tower was replaced by at least three large courtyard houses
(Loud 1948: Figs. 23, 378). eir northern wall is adjacent to the city’s
fortication and a street runs to their south. Burials were dug below
the oors of these houses (T. 4094, 4099, 4107, 4108); the scale of their
grave oerings, mostly little more than a handful of jugs and bowls,
continues the traditions of Stratum XIII.
e pendulum swung again in the direction of rulership initiatives
in Stratum XI, the transition between MBI and MBII (Loud 1948: Fig.
379; Burke 2008: 292) (Fig. 5), when a new fortication program was
implemented, including the addition of an eastern rampart, a glacis,
and a gate. e elaboration of the fortications erased the courtyard
houses of Stratum XII. A new street separated the fortications from
a new group of houses built to the south, facilitating quick access to
the wall, unhindered by private houses.
64 assaf yasur-landau
Figure 3. Megiddo Stratum XIII (aer Herzog 1997: Fig. 4.2).
impact of urbanization 65
Figure 4. Megiddo Stratum XII (aer Herzog 1997: Fig. 4.3).
66 assaf yasur-landau
Figure 5. Megiddo Stratum XI (aer Herzog 1997: Fig. 4.17).
impact of urbanization 67
It is expected that the manifestation of the rulership’s power to reshape
the public sphere at the expense of the private, domestic sphere met
with dissent and resistance from those whose houses were destroyed.
is resistance may have channeled itself into a new venue of legiti-
mization of private ownership in this stratum: the multiple burial
tombs. Such built tombs were found under the oors of each of the
three houses excavated in Area AA: T. 4055 + 4056, 3175, and 4099
(Loud 1948: Figs. 29, 32) (Fig. 6). ese tombs had a main burial
chamber with a dromos leading to it from one of the inner rooms of
each house. e large volume of the burial chamber allowed multiple
burials over a time span of generations. e long list of grave goods
found in Tombs 4055 + 4056, including metals and scarabs, indicate
that multiple burials were indeed practiced in this phase.
is was a site-wide phenomenon, for similar built tombs appear in
the same stratum also in Area BB: T. 3075 and 3085 (Loud 1948: Fig.
218) both contained enormous amounts of pottery, as well as metal
objects and jewelry. In constructing these tombs, the house became
not only the residence of its current inhabitants, but a manifestation
of a lineage, which includes both the living and their ancestors. ese
may have been reciprocal relations. e living honored the dead, per-
haps also with oerings and feasts, and the dead, ever present in their
own subterranean room of the house, gave historical depth and legiti-
macy to the claims of the living regarding their property.
Dan: Buried Houses and Instability
Dan was fortied during the latest part of the MBI or during the tran-
sition to MBII (Biran 1994: 62; Ilan 1996: 164–165; Greenberg 2002:
35) (Fig. 7). e impressive fortication system included a rampart
with a stone core encircling the entire tell, and a gate found in Area K.
is massive, six-pier brick gate reects imported Syrian architectural
traditions. Surprisingly, the fortication system was used for only a
brief period of time. It was built during Stratum XI, the latest phase of
the MBI period. A small pottery assemblage found on the latest oor
of the gate provides a terminus ante quem for its use (Biran 1994: 82
Fig. 50), and it is assigned to the same stratum, possibly dating to
transitional MBI–MBII.
e construction of ramparts at a site that had not been previously
fortied created a dramatic change in the use of available habitation
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and fortication space. In Area B, MBI habitation levels belonging to
Stratum XII were buried under the rampart (Biran 1994: 51). e pos-
sible clash between ancestral rights over land and the needs of the
rulership is seen in Area Y, where T. 1025 and 902c–d, probably origi-
nally located below the oors of houses, were also sealed by the ram-
part (Ilan 1996: 164, 202–208).
Figure 6. Megiddo T. 4055 + 4056, 3175, and 4099 (aer Loud 1948:
Figs. 29, 32).
impact of urbanization 69
e building of fortications on top of domestic structures, without an
enlargement of the size of the site that would allow those aected to
rebuild their houses within the new boundaries of the ramparts, was
no doubt an action dictated in part by the politics of inclusion and
exclusion. However, it is possible that this, in turn, created social insta-
bility, which contributed to the rapid decline of Dan soon thereaer.
During the MBII period, Dan’s magnicent Syrian gate was blocked
up, and nds from tombs indicate that Dan’s links to trade and inu-
ence from outside the region were almost completely severed. In fact,
it is likely that the site became subordinate to Hazor and was incorpo-
rated into the kingdom of Hazor (Maeir 2000: 39).
Figure 7. Tel Dan (aer Herzog 1997: Fig. 4.7A).
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Kabri: Recreation of the Tell and Synoikism
e settlement of the early and middle phases of the MBI at Kabri was
very likely limited to the area of the oval 7.5–8 ha Early Bronze Age
tell (Kempinski 2002: 449–450) (Fig. 8). However, during the later part
of the MBI, an ambitious building program enlarged the area of the
site to at least 34 ha including the construction of a massive earthen
rampart with a stone core. According to Kempinski, the earlier tell
was levelled in some places to create a large, at surface for the new
building program.
Besides the fortications, the urbanization of Kabri included the
construction of a palace in the eastern part of the tell, in Area D. e
early phase of the palace, Stratum 4, was dated by Kempinski and Nie-
meier to the late MBI period. It was followed by several later phases
Figure 8. EB and MB tells at Kabri (aer Kempinski 2002: Fig. 17.1).
impact of urbanization 71
belonging to the MBII period in Stratum 3 (Oren 2002: 55–70). e
renewed excavations at the site, directed by Eric H. Cline and the pres-
ent author, found that the MB palace is considerably larger than origi-
nally estimated by the previous excavators. It is at least 3000–4000 m
2
,
rather than 2000 m
2
, and extends further to the north, east, and west
than previously thought (Cline and Yasur-Landau 2007: 158).
Excavations during the 2008 season in Area D-West, at the core
of the palace, established the monumental nature of the palace from
its very foundation, exposing a 2 m thick internal wall belonging to
the late MBI period, as well as two adjacent rooms (Yasur-Landau
and Cline 2008: 6–7) (Fig. 9). e construction technique of Wall 733,
which used roughly draed, large boulders, bears much resemblance
to that of the outer wall of the MB rampart surrounding the tell, which
can be seen in Area T, exposed by Kempinski (Kempinski et al. 2002:
Fig. 4.25). is similarity in construction style strengthens the hypoth-
esis that the construction of the palace and the rampart was conducted
at the same time as part of the same building program.
Figure 9. Kabri Area D-West: Wall 733 and rooms from the early phase of
the palace (aer Yasur-Landau and Cline 2008: Fig. 9a).