Abstract
An assemblage of 72 carnelian and agate beads recovered from secondary debris removal associated with the Temple Mount Project, Jerusalem, provides new insight into the long chronology of human activity in an area that saw multiple periods of building, destruction, and rebuilding. Chronological attribution has been done by taking into consideration the overall shape and morphology of the beads, as well as aspects of production technology, specifically perforations made with distinctive types of drills. Based on stylistic, morphometric, and technological features, the earliest beads date to around the third millennium BCE, if not earlier, while others probably date between the Middle Bronze Age and the Iron Age. Most of the beads were made in styles and using technologies that date between the early centuries BCE/CE through the Medieval/Islamic period. A few beads appear to be very modern and attest to their continued importance to individuals active in the Temple Mount area. Carnelian beads are commonly associated with personal adornment in the form of necklaces, earrings, pendants, clothing decoration, or praying necklaces, and provide evidence for the deposition or loss of small articles atop this central location for over three millennia of human occupation in the vicinity of Jerusalem.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 115 |
| Journal | Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jun 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.
Funding
Data collection for this study was funded in part by the American Schools of Oriental Research Sheeler Award, the W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research in Jerusalem Borowski Fellowship, the K.N. Dikshit Award, the Mazursky and Berman Awards from the Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, research awards from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Departments of Anthropology, Classical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies, and the Center for South Asia, as well as the Tell el-Hesi Regional Project. Funding for the SEM analysis and Kenoyer’s ongoing study of bead technology has been provided by numerous grants over the years, and most recently by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation Award, donations from www.harappa.com and private donations. The Temple Mount Sifting Project is under the auspices of Bar-Ilan University, Israel, funded by private donors through the Israel Archaeology Foundation. The sifting activity operated with the cooperation and funding of the Ir-David Foundation. The 2019 movement of the sifting facility was funded by the American Friends of Beit Orot. We would like to thank the volunteers of the Temple Mount Project who sifted and carefully collected the beads reported in this study, to Franki Snyder for sorting and categorizing the entire beads assemblage for the TMSP, to Yael Elkayam for gemological identification of some of the beads, and to Dov Levitte for geological examination of some of the beads. Ludvik would also like to thank the scholars of the Israel Antiquities Authority who have facilitated access to other Levantine beads in the past, especially Amir Golani, Zvi Greenhut, and Alegre Savariego. Thank you to Jeff Blakely and Jimmy Hardin of the Tell el-Hesi Project. Additional thanks to Matt Adams and the staff of the W.F. Albright Institute in Jerusalem, as well as to Fr. Jose M. Abrego, S. J. and the Pontifical Biblical Institute-Jerusalem for accommodations and logistical help during this study. Kenoyer would specially like to thank the many scholars who have allowed him to study beads from their excavations in India, Pakistan, Oman, China and other countries. He would also like to thank his colleagues who collaborated on the study of beads in Khambhat, India, Dr. Kuldeep K. Bhan and Dr. Massimo Vidale and all the craftspeople in Khambhat who provided a detailed insight into traditional bead making technology. In addition, he would like to thank the many people he met in Idar-Oberstein, Germany, for the opportunity to study the traditional tools and diamond drills used in their workshops. Funding for Ludvik to study the Temple Mount beads and the comparative study of other beads from the Levant was provided in part by the American Schools of Oriental Research Sheeler Award, the W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research in Jerusalem Borowski Fellowship, the K.N. Dikshit Award, the Mazursky and Berman Awards from the Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, research awards from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Departments of Anthropology, Classical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies, and the Center for South Asia, as well as the Tell el-Hesi Regional Project. Funding for the SEM analysis and Kenoyer’s ongoing study of bead technology has been provided by numerous grants over the years, and most recently by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation Award, donations from www.harappa.com and private donations. We would like to thank the volunteers of the Temple Mount Project who sifted and carefully collected the beads reported in this study, to Franki Snyder for sorting and categorizing the entire beads assemblage for the TMSP, to Yael Elkayam for gemological identification of some of the beads, and to Dov Levitte for geological examination of some of the beads. Ludvik would also like to thank the scholars of the Israel Antiquities Authority who have facilitated access to other Levantine beads in the past, especially Amir Golani, Zvi Greenhut, and Alegre Savariego. Thank you to Jeff Blakely and Jimmy Hardin of the Tell el-Hesi Project. Additional thanks to Matt Adams and the staff of the W.F. Albright Institute in Jerusalem, as well as to Fr. Jose M. Abrego, S. J. and the Pontifical Biblical Institute-Jerusalem for accommodations and logistical help during this study. Kenoyer would specially like to thank the many scholars who have allowed him to study beads from their excavations in India, Pakistan, Oman, China and other countries. He would also like to thank his colleagues who collaborated on the study of beads in Khambhat, India, Dr. Kuldeep K. Bhan and Dr. Massimo Vidale and all the craftspeople in Khambhat who provided a detailed insight into traditional bead making technology. In addition, he would like to thank the many people he met in Idar-Oberstein, Germany, for the opportunity to study the traditional tools and diamond drills used in their workshops. Funding for Ludvik to study the Temple Mount beads and the comparative study of other beads from the Levant was provided in part by the American Schools of Oriental Research Sheeler Award, the W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research in Jerusalem Borowski Fellowship, the K.N. Dikshit Award, the Mazursky and Berman Awards from the Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, research awards from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Departments of Anthropology, Classical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies, and the Center for South Asia, as well as the Tell el-Hesi Regional Project. Funding for the SEM analysis and Kenoyer’s ongoing study of bead technology has been provided by numerous grants over the years, and most recently by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation Award, donations from www.harappa.com and private donations.
| Funders |
|---|
| Alegre Savariego |
| American Friends of Beit Orot |
| American Schools of Oriental |
| Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison |
| Center for South Asia |
| Israel Antiquities Authority |
| Israel Archaeology Foundation |
| Tell el-Hesi Regional Project |
| W.F. Albright Institute |
| Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation |
Keywords
- Agate
- Bead production
- Carnelian
- Jerusalem
- Palestine/Israel
- Trade
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