Today, I paid a short visit to Tell es-Safi/Gath. Besides the fact that the site and region were really nice (green fields, colorful flowers, etc. – “amechayeh” in Yiddish), the visit was very interesting for several reasons.
1) The main purpose of the visit was to discuss the possibility of conducting some archaeometallurgical research at the site this summer. In the late LB building in Area E, on the eastern side of the tell, analysis of samples taken from the eastern balk of this buillding by Steve Weiner and his team from the Kimmel Center of Archaeological Science at the Weizmann Institute revealed an unusual high quantity of metal finds. This being the case, in conjunction with the new project directed by Israel Finkelstein and Steve Weiner: “Reconstructing Ancient (Biblical) Israel: The Exact and Life Sciences Perspective”. We went to the site today to discuss the options for checking out in the coming season. The group included Israel Finkelstein, Steve Weiner, Itzik Shai, Yuval Gadot, Shirly Ben-Dor Evian, Naama Yahalom-Mack, Adi Eliyahu Behar and yours truly. Perhaps, sometime in the next month or so, we will come out to the site for a day to recheck the specific section once again.
See here a picture of the group checking out the relevant section.
See here, a preliminary suggested reconstruction of the LB building (drawn by Anat Perko)
2) While we visited the site, we saw something that is a combination of being very funny and very maddening. In Area A, just next to the location of the apparent late 9th cent. cultic room, some of the local beduins put up a little tent in the middle of one of the squares, setting up beds and matresses. As one of our group said, this is a good example of “squatters” on site!
Here is a view of the “squatter’s quarter” from above and below.
3) Sasha Pitchura, a very talented archaeological artist, is working on a isometric reconstruction of part of the siege system. In order to get a better idea of the topography of the site, he came out with me as well, and we discussed the possibilities for the reconstruction. I do hope that in the near future, a nice reconstruction will be available.
And finally, what is really nice – is this is the first of many visits to the site in the next few months – harbingers of the upcoming season!
Aren
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March 31, 2009 at 11:16 pm
achish melek gat
Two items on the LB II building of Area E (which, as the really old-timers will recall, was dubbed Jeff’s House when Achish and Lamashtu first revealed it during the 2002 season, Rotem :), I see that my yellow plaster floor is prominently colored in the excellent reconstruction drawing. More importantly, however, recall that we found small samples (globlets) of slag as we exposed the cobbled surface opposite the yellow floor (in the area where the still famous “scorpion krater” was found). No surprise at all, then, that Steve’s tests should indicate probably metal working in the area — it was suggested in the 2002 report for those squares. All in all, great work on the park of Itzick’s Area E team!
May 27, 2009 at 2:05 pm
re: Pre-Season work at Tell es-Safi/Gath « The Tell es-Safi/Gath Excavations Official (and Unofficial) Weblog
[...] out the possible evidence for LB metalurgical activities in Area E on the eastern side of the tell. As I noted awhile ago, in analyses of materials from the western section of Area E carried out at the Kimmel Center for [...]