Post on 01-Mar-2023
IN THE HIGHLAND'S DEPTH
HALF-YEARLY JOURNAL FOR THE STUDY OF ARCHAEOLOGY AND HISTORY
OF THE HIGHLAND'S REGION AND UNDERGROUND CAVITIES
Volume 11/ Issue 1/ Spring 2021
EditorsAharon Tavger | Zohar Amar
Associate EditorAmichay Schwartz
Editorial BoardDr. Eyal Baruch Bar-Ilan UniversityProf. Yoel Elizur The Hebrew University; Herzog College; Jerusalem CollegeProf. Esther Eshel Bar-Ilan UniversityProf. Amos Frumkin The Hebrew UniversityProf. Itzick Shai Ariel University
In the Highland's DepthAn Academic Peer-reviewed Journal, Published Semiannually Every Year
The Department of the Land of Israel and ArchaeologyAriel University, Israel
Visit our website: https://www.ariel.ac.il/wp/ihd/in-the-highlands-depth-ihp/Email: ihd@ariel.ac.il
Copyrights © 2021 by Ariel University Press and Midreshet Harei GofnaAll Rights Reserved
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Email: publishing@ariel.ac.il
ISBN 978-965-91808-0-6ISSN 2521-9456 (print), 2706-7572 (online)
Cover Picture: Structure at Khirbet Fasayil, the Jordan Valley (photograph: B. Yang)
ContentsAharon Tavger and Zohar Amar Introduction
Avraham FaustIn Memoriam: Prof. Shlomo Bunimovitz, 1952–2020 1*
English Section
David Adan-Bayewitz, Chaim Ben David and Mechael Osband 5*Pottery Production Sites in Roman Gaulanitis: Identification and Investigation Using Evidence from Surface Surveys and Shovel Tests
English Abstracts of the Hebrew Section's Papers 37*
Hebrew Section
Yosef Garfinkel 5Research on the Kingdom of Judah in the Last Decade, 2010–2020
Reut Livyatan Ben-Arie 53A Destruction Layer from the Hellenistic Period at Tel Shiloh
Dvir Raviv and Aharon Tavger 73The Artabba Fortress (E.P. 364): The Discovery of a Hasmonean-Herodian Fortress on the Northern Border of Judea
Yinon Shivtiel and Zeev Safrai 97The Hiding Complex at Tel Mishmar Ha-‘emek (Abu-Shusha), Geva Parashim: A Jewish Defense System in a Gentile Polis
Zohar Amar and Elron Zabatani 121Sap and Oil from the Officinal Storax Tree
Hebrew Abstract of the English Section's Paper 141
1*
In Memoriam: Prof. Shlomo Bunimovitz1
1952—2020Avraham Faust
Shlomo Bunimovitz, one of Israel’s leading archaeologists, passed away on December 5,
2020, at the age of 68, after a battle with cancer.
Shlomo excelled in the field, in the library and in the classroom – he was a prominent
scholar and beloved teacher, a man of great integrity and a perfectionist in his research
and teaching.
Born in Tel Aviv on November 21, 1952, Shlomo began his undergraduate studies in 1975
at Tel Aviv University, where he would earn all his degrees. His master’s thesis was titled
“From Khirokitia to Enkomi: A Composite Model for Culture Change in Cyprus from the
Neolithic to the Late Cypriot Period”, and his groundbreaking dissertation was on “The Land
of Israel in the Late Bronze Age – A Case Study of Sociocultural Change in a Complex
Society”. Both were written under the supervision of Prof. Ora Negbi. In the course of his
studies, Shlomo participated in many excavations and surveys, including Moshe Kochavi’s
excavations at Aphek, where he was an area supervisor; excavations in the Sinai and at Tel
Ira under Itzhak Beit-Arieh; Zeev Meshel’s excavations at Kuntillet ‘Ajrud; Ram Gophna’s
survey in the Sharon region; and the excavations at Shiloh and survey of Mount Ephraim,
where he and Zvi Lederman served as co-directors together with Israel Finkelstein.
From 1978, when he completed his master’s studies, and until his passing, Shlomo
taught in the Tel Aviv University Department of Archaeology. He also taught for many
years in the Department of Land of Israel Studies at Bar-Ilan University.
In 1990, Shlomo started excavating Tel Beth-Shemesh together with Zvi Lederman. This
project, which continued until his death, was one of the highlights of his scholarly activity.
1 In writing this I was assisted by Dr. Zvi Lederman. I thank him for his help.
In the Highland’s DepthVolume 11, Issue 1, Spring 2021, pp. 1*–4*DOI: https://doi.org/10.26351/IHD/11-1/1ISSN: 2521-9456 (print); 2706-7572 (online)
2* Avraham Faust
At Tel Beth-Shemesh, one of the main Biblical-era sites in Israel, Shlomo and Zvi not only
furthered excavation techniques and introduced advanced technologies—the excavations
there were among the first to use computers as an integral part of the documentation
process—but also developed new interpretative frameworks. Unlike in most excavations,
at Tel Beth-Shemesh strong emphasis was placed not only on the major historical questions
but also on issues of identity, technology, intercultural relations, and more. The excavation
finds were presented in dozens of papers in journals and at conferences; climaxing with the
two-volume final report of the 1990–2000 seasons, published by the Tel Aviv University
Institute of Archaeology (Bunimovitz and Lederman 2016).
Shlomo will be remembered not only for the Beth-Shemesh excavation project, but also
for his leading role in introducing anthropological (processual and then post-processual)
approaches to the archaeology of the Land of Israel. These approaches, which focus on
social and cognitive questions, were not common in Israeli archaeology (except in the field
of prehistory), and some scholars objected to them vehemently. The socio-anthropological
approach—a cornerstone of archaeological research worldwide—was not part of the
agenda of Israeli archaeology, which looked mainly at historical questions, and Shlomo
was exposed to these research approaches when he wrote his master’s thesis about Cyprus;
his research led him to Colin Renfrew’s groundbreaking book about the emergence of
civilization in the Aegean world (Renfrew 1972), which he said opened up an entire
world to him. Shlomo was captivated by these approaches, which greatly influenced his
pioneering doctoral dissertation about the Land of Israel in the Late Bronze Age. Shlomo
became an expert in these approaches, lectured about them, and wrote about them. His
pioneering early research on Middle Bronze ramparts, the political structure in the Late
Bronze Age, and Philistine identity is still influential today. His comprehensive studies
on the Late Bronze Age, the Philistines, and relations between Israelites, Canaanites, and
Philistines—all with a socio-anthropological emphasis—are milestones in scholarship.
Shlomo also encouraged his students to develop their research in these directions;
many of them are spearheading the use of these approaches and making them accessible to
their students.
Shlomo was a perfectionist. He was meticulous about every word he wrote, and only when
he was sure that each sentence or paragraph was not only scientifically grounded but also
3* In Memoriam: Prof. Shlomo Bunimovitz
well-written, using rich language, did he go on to the next. As his student, I experienced his
full punctiliousness when I wrote the proposal for my master’s thesis on the rural settlement
in the Land of Israel in the Iron Age II. I was very proud of my choice of topic, the extensive
material I had managed to gather on a subject that had hardly been addressed until then, the
promising directions in which I believed the project could lead and especially the potential social
contexts of the data. After I submitted the first draft of my research proposal to Shlomo, I eagerly
waited for him to finish reading it and to hear his opinion. Shlomo came to our meeting with
my proposal covered completely in red (he usually wrote his comments in red ink). He spent
about three hours going over his comments with me without saying a single good word about
the topic, the large amount of material that I had found or the potential of the project. When he
had finished going over his comments and had made sure that I had understood them, I asked
him: “And what do you think about the idea?” Shlomo thought for a moment and replied: “With
all this mess I didn’t see any idea. Fix it, bring it back, and then we’ll talk about the idea”. For
several months we played ping pong with drafts of the proposal until he was satisfied. This
hard work made writing the research proposal a formative experience for me, and my academic
writing improved in those months more than at any other stage in my academic career. A similar
perfectionism characterized our work on papers that we published together, as well as his role
as chairman of the steering committee of the National Knowledge Center on the History and
Heritage of Jerusalem and Its Environs. I always knew—and this was as a great relief—that if
Shlomo approved a draft, there was no need to go over it again. It couldn’t get any better.
It should be stressed that Shlomo’s perfectionism was directed first and foremost at
himself. He wrote several books and dozens of articles, and each one was meticulously
written and edited, linguistically rich, up to date in terms of the professional literature,
data and theoretical approaches, and composed magnificently in terms of the argument
and structure. Furthermore, every paper that Shlomo presented at a conference introduced
something new and important and was worth publishing—and it is a shame that some of
these papers were not published. This perfectionism was, of course, also manifested in the
excavations at Tel Beth-Shemesh, which were among the most meticulous that I have seen
and have been privileged to take part in.
Despite his punctiliousness and high standards, Shlomo was a popular, beloved teacher.
Students who appreciated his intellectual abilities and integrity thronged his courses.
4* Avraham Faust
Notwithstanding his untimely death, Shlomo Bunimovitz left a significant imprint on the
archaeology of the Land of Israel, charted innovative, groundbreaking avenues of research
and produced generations of students.
He left behind his wife, Shosh, and his children Yonatan and Na’ama. As the Talmud
says: Alas for those who are gone and no longer to be found!
References
Bunimovitz and Lederman 2016Bunimovitz, S. and Lederman, Z., 2016. Tel Beth-Shemesh: A Border Community in Judah -Renewed Excavations 1990-2000: The Iron Age. Winona Lake and Tel Aviv.
Renfrew 1972Renfrew, C., 1972. The Emergence of Civilisation: The Cyclades and the Aegean in the Third Millennium B.C. London.
Prof. Shlomo Bunimovitz (photo: Z. Lederman)