A New Administrative Center for Persian and Hellenistic Galilee: Preliminary Report of the University of Michigan/University of Minnesota Excavations at Kedesh
We present the main findings of three excavation seasons at Kedesh. At the southern end of the lower mound we have uncovered an enormous Hellenistic building (56 m east-west by 40 m north-south), abandoned shortly after the middle of the second century B. C. E. and built over a Persian-period predec...
| Authors: | ; |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
The University of Chicago Press
2003
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| In: |
Bulletin of ASOR
Year: 2003, Volume: 329, Pages: 13-59 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (JSTOR) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Parallel Edition: | Non-electronic
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| Summary: | We present the main findings of three excavation seasons at Kedesh. At the southern end of the lower mound we have uncovered an enormous Hellenistic building (56 m east-west by 40 m north-south), abandoned shortly after the middle of the second century B. C. E. and built over a Persian-period predecessor. The size, internal fittings, and especially the finds of the Hellenistic building-including on archive represented by 2043 stamped clay sealings-indicate that this was a public administrative center, probably housing either the governor of the eparchy of Galilee or the strategos of Coele-Syria. The finds show compelling affinities with the material culture of Hellenistic Phoenicia with a considerable admixture of Greek culture. Some parts of the building were reoccupied shortly after its abandonment by people living in a much less grandiose manner, but whose material culture also reflects Hellenistic Phoenician remains. These discoveries are relevant to larger historical issues, including the Persian administration of the region from the fifth century B. C. E., and relations between the Tyrians, the Seleucids, and the Jews in the first half of the second century B. C. E. The nature and timing of the abrupt dissolution of this administrative base just after the middle of the second century B. C. E. reflect significant changes in the balance of power in the region, which we believe are relevant to contemporary developments in Judaea. |
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| ISSN: | 2161-8062 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: American Schools of Oriental Research, Bulletin of ASOR
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.2307/1357821 |