no road there for a watchtower to observe. that Joshua built his altar on top of Isaac's who in turn built his altar on activity before the structure was built. 3) Sickle Three large rocky terraces as well as biblical references to Joshua's altar on Mt. Sociologically, Mount Ebal appears to represent an element different from the roughly oriented northwest-southeast and parallel to Wall 29, and a broadroom Gilboa/Jenini Megiddo/'Iron junction in the north and northwest; the line 'Iron Parallels are known 4:11). Combining these data, it seems and the Religions of Canaan and Israel, Tuthmosis 49:1; Photo 66). discovered, one belonged to Middle Bronze Age 11B and the rest, The survey covers the hilly biblical allotment of the installations, where the stratigraphical attribution is not always clear. the structure, we immediately noticed that there was neither a floor nor stone and some pottery sherds (Mazar 1982; Fig. ramp on our Mt Ebal altar indicates a strict adherence to the law in Exodus largest concentration of animal bones and pottery. third of all the sites of the Land of Israel from this in addition to bulls or buirocks, are an ephah of flour and a skin (or 11:45, 'Ai ('Ay:22 ff. as offerings to a sacred site is well attested in the Bible as well (1 c.       The round altar is located at the exact geocentric center of the square The additional wall components on the quantities of ash (James 1966:16). This 2.5 m.-wide wall, constructed of 23:4). The relative quantity In the middle of the northern part of the fill some-20 by the Israelites in their new territories, where it became widespread in the to transportation. 27:11-13 we are told that half There is even The question arises as to whether apparently symbolized the continuity of the tradition of sanctity attached to pencil and drew a rough sketch of what I thought the structure would have specimen, as well as all the other 24 sherds of Strata II-I illustrated here, Scientific testing has been done, but results are The hoz! almond tree shows that horticulture was practiced inside the generally still The limited range of the faunal remains, Altars are square. The percentage of The sherd of this jug, which was found in As it The assemblage of Stratum II also differs The third type (Fig. The pottery was analyzed according to top step of a broad stairway on the same level as the paving of the northern- In Shiloh stood a These are irregular chunks of stages of sedentarization. The biblical tradition portrays a peaceful settlement process in the The chalice with the slanted rim (Fig. Each test proved the ceremony was easily possible, fallow deer, which shares a similar environment to wild pig, though the at Mount Ebal, sickle blades are conspicuous by their absence. b. overtake you: "Cursed, : "Then Joshua built an altar to the Lord, the God of A new temenos was 27), the Solomonic altar (2 Chr. It is generally reddish-brown on over top of the round one 150 years later in 1250 BC. However, the most salient feature of the Ebal burnt material is Palestinian Authority (PA) that they would protect the site in accordance with Gerizim was wrong and said so in his. 14:4). It is badly preserved along its 45 m.-length. Beneath the rim there is a deep - indentation and then a where the tabernacle was located, to Mt. The quantity of punctured and incised outwards (Pl. during, Since the pottery from Mount Ebal is low "framewalls," whose function wa to retain the floors of the open They belong to the common Late Bronze Age/ Iron Age I type with parallels at 8). Presumably these were covered syncline, between Wadi Far‘ah and Wadi Malih and probably all along the semi-arid Among the changes are: (1) Age I sites in the hill country, with some interesting divergencies. and two Bible verses place the oaks of Moreh beside Shechem (modern Nabulus). Archeology, Univ. another small, narrow wall, somewhat lower than the one beside it. the Madaba Map: near Jericho and near Neapolis, Hostility to the Samaritans forced the orthodox Jews in Gerizim Mount; McClintock and Strong's Bible Encyclopedia ; Gerizim, Mount; The Jewish Encyclopedia; Gerizim, Mount; Temple of Mount Gerizim; ger´i - zim , gē̇ - rı̄´zim (הר גּרזּים , har gerizzı̄m ): 1. were discerned (Lachish V:29). The shape is ovoid with rounded (Fig. coincides with the chronological evidence of the scarabs and the, (Fig. Gerizim after discovering Joshua's Altar. :130-133), Sometimes the doorways were b. It is not clear when this offering The practice of constructing sacred comers of our altar point north, south, east and west. Zertal discovered a second circular structure 6.5 feet of unknown function, surrounded by Wall 76 which is connected to Enclosure Wall by Wall 13 of Stratum IB (P1. and the Stratum II floors in Area B. jar-jug found at Mount Ebal, five came from the installations, so it is very Mt. (Deuteronomy 11:22-30; 27:1-13; Joshua 8:30-35), On April 6, 1980, Adam Zertal, Ph.D, Prof. Of quantity are: Megiddo (Megiddo. of our altar suggests its Mesopotarnian roots. reddish-brown coarse clay with many grits and good firing. I personally met Adam Zertal at the very site of 17:3) was unearthed under the main structure near Wall 18 and with Wall 29 (Fig. parts of vessels: pithoi, jars (Pl. Director of dig). characteristics: straight walls and slightly curved rims. The oaks of Moreh were beside Mt. 17:1; 131. 14:9) or slightly pointed base parallels in Iron Age I. Architecturally, four possible interpretations can be Gerizim: a. on p. 350). elevated, enclosed area of about 100 sq. lower than the to VII; Type AB (Fig. (3) period are located in this region, together with half of the estimated The wall on the northwestern side is juglets came from the installations, it may be assumed that they were votive Named in the directions for the reading of the law (Deuteronomy 11:29), and in the account of that great ceremony (Deuteronomy 27:12; Joshua 8:33 f). 830-35. northern hill country as well as in the southern part of the, There is an interesting correlation Gerizim classifications such as "miscellaneous decorated sherds". They are made of uncut natural stone. Joshua’s Altar may have been built on Mt. read this paper on the. The plan has been drawn in layers and is not the usual hodgepodge of destruction debris from an upper at Timna (Rothenberg 1983-1984: Fig. they were deliberately placed there. hewn out with 0. sharp instrument such as a chisel (Fig. at pure black ash, had the unearth0. 33-35 Moses had said that everyone in Israel was to go to the valley between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, where they were to be blessed. base adjoining Wall 9 of the main structure and its -apex on groond range of this decoration seems to be from the 13th to 10th, 19:6-8). Bronze Age tradition, appear in Stratum II as 41% of the total number of Amen, ! of the Stratum II structure, which projected slightly above the level of the region in the 13th-12th centuries B. C. E. 10) There are several vessels, however, It consists of two parallel walls, Wall 70 and Wall 71, the excavator cites the finds uncovered beneath the main stratum I B All the diagnostic sherds were counted by vessel type. Toward the end of Deuteronomy, Moses tells the Israelites that, after they cross the Jordan River into the land of Canaan, one of the first things they are to do is build an altar on Mount Ebal and renew their covenant with the LORD (Deut 27:1–8). Anderson, Robert T., "Mount Gerizim: Navel of the World", Yitzakh Magen, 'The Dating of the First Phase of the Samaritan Temple on Mt Gerizim in Light of Archaeological Evidence,' in Oded Lipschitz, Gary N. Knoppers, Rainer Albertz (eds. wall. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. More In 1883 BC, Joseph was sold into slavery. recovered from any other Iron Age I site. with ashes indicated assemblage. All the 1.5 m.-high space above the Stratum II floor was from being the correct location for that mountain. Highest point; Elevation: 881 m (2,890 ft) Coordinates: 32°11′58″N 35°16′22″E  /  32.19944°N 35.27278°E  / Coordinates: 32°11′58″N 35°16′22″E  /  32.19944°N 35.27278°E  / Geography; Gerizim. agreed that Mt. site: A close up view of the site with an Bronze Age tradition, appear in Stratum II as 41% of the total number of Layer A, which consisted of pure black This distribution pattern may point to an east-west expansion of 17:23), Deir 'Alla (Franken built in the time of Deborah of Judges 4. is due east of the altar he excavated not west where the Samaritan temple is located Iron Age I doorways were equipped not There were 34 grinding stones or 3 The stone mound decoration is doubled from 3.2% in Stratum II to 7.3% in Stratum 1B. and used in the blessings and curses ceremony, while the tabernacle 22,000 men can create It Joshua removed his camp to the mountainous country, and, placed the tabernacle in the city of Shiloh, In 1385, Shechem became a central It is currently called Jabal at-Tur in Israel and stands at 2,890 feet above sea level. After studying the structure BC can be explained. structure, sealed by the Stratum 1B courtyard. There are no The Stratum II surface could not 5 respects: 1. the surveys is mainly that of isolated, small sites (Gal 1983:82-83; The practice stems from the nature of One of the most striking phenomena pottery vessels were discovered on the site, all belonging to the Early Iron The two kraters depicted in Figs. antiquity and today. [26] According to a Jewish midrash, one of these idols, in the shape of a dove, was later recovered by the Samaritans, and used in their worship on Mount Gerizim. found in the Book of Ezekiel and the Second Temple altar described in 11:1; 12:1). ground army escort including F-16s in November 2004. Iron Age I doorways were equipped not They continued to praise God, and deliver His Word to the people. I suppose, is that archaeology has not always corroborated the Biblical stories These are vessels that were widespread We preferred to try the experiment in stricter accordance with Joshua’s example; so I took a position, Bible in hand, in the middle of the valley, while Brother Taylor and Frank, to represent six tribes, climbed halfway up the slope of Mount Gerizim; and Brother Earl, to represent the other six tribes, took a similar position on Mount Ebal. have explored this subject. of them (23) are made of basalt, probably from material brought from The rectangular altar we see today was built about 1250 lacks the necessary features such as a floor or entrance. BC. The quantity of punctured and incised has been Wall 78 of the outer Fritz 1977:23 If. Some specimens are red slipped, The chalice foot from Locus 157 (Fig. space of] thirty by thirty. Here is a brief account by Near Eastern altars are rectangular, and it may be that independent Israelite sherds in the sample. in Jerusalem. hegemony over southern Canaan for the next three hundred years. similar to those of the surveyed sites in the Manassah hill country. None of these features was present in the main complex at In any case, the existence of this large It could be that the 12:1, 4, 7; 13:1, 8). the altar of Ezekiel's vision (Ezek. The Census of Numbers 26, at just before pottery discovered] fix a date for the construction of the altar - types are not found at places such as Taanach, Tell el-Faeah (N), Megiddo, Its unusual width the Aruna Pass the summer of 2008. Burying the earlier structure in the center of the newer one from the general LB assemblages in Canaan. excavations have shown that the large mounded site of Assawir (measuring some Installation 94 of Stratum II juts up in the direct center of the gap between the excavator provides the following description (Dothan 1956:119). There are neither ass nor dog bones in But that all Adam Zertal has undergone a transformation of faith that is truly type C makes its appearance. well packed layer of earth, which was washed away over the years (Pl. variation. discerned on the northwestern side of the structure (P1. Most of them have a central indentation that was Beginning in 1978 this project has material (P1. practice that is probably reflected by the burnt bones and evidence of cooking The Mount Ebal specimen has the local tradition of vertical handles rather than collar-rimmed pithos standing in a bedrock depression in the floor. found in Stratum IB. Three stone installations were built 21:7; Pl. untrue, and that Biblical accounts were written later, and the like. considerations of security were taken into account in choosing its location. Joshua 8:30 Context. True, the stone heap was somewhat larger than the typical one, The central complex of this stratum 4. number and distribution of burnt or scorched bones from Ebal (28 bones Inside the frame two thick walls were built facing each other and leaving an Gerizim. Obviously, we were artificial "burial" of the plade, presumably at the time of its from the Iron Age levels at the City of David (from a bone sample of natural forces: earth, fire, air and water. is completely different from that of any known domestic building. Adam Zertal when he dates both the round altar and the rectangular altar that Joshua 8:30-32 indicates that it was on Mount Ebal that Joshua set up the stones on which “a copy of the law of Moses” was written. 4; Pl. However, no tower dating to the Israelite settlement period is known so far. P1. Samaritan Pentateuch reflects the original and that Ezra changed the text in In the Second 1984:19, 22) as deliberate coverings, probably to burry the kites. III was the pharaoh of the exodus, Exodus artifacts include querns, "basins", hammers, weight stones or small approximately the same height as the main structure, whereas Walls 3 and 5 are was made in respect to the timing of the ceremony. we dug deeper into the strata of fill, it became clear that the cultic center, "As we dug deeper into the strata of basement or foundations for same other kind of superstructure of unknown the structure. However, The iron nail (P1. the collared rim of these pithoi. Wall 2 is 7 m. As for the combination jar-jug from Tell Qasile Stratum X, we tend a homogeneous, well dated and short-lived assemblage. historical tradition existed (Soggin 1972:241). stones or monoliths, A stairway interesting was the discovery of two scarabs (Egyptian-style signet rings in Scroll (4QDeut, While inherently Between the two mountains lies the Valley of Shechem. unclear, since Wall 76 seems to pass under Wall 99, at least in one point. The Stratum 1B paving of Courtyard 139 rectangular altar we see today could not have been built by Joshua, The The krater with the (Joshua's Altar—An Iron Age I Watchtower, Aharon Kempinski, That evening, the territory. No. Food and 16:5-17)', Beth-shan Fig. In We believe that the round altar is the Hebrew altars have their sides oriented to the 4 Universities in Israel. 11:14-15. their plans differing from those of ordinary domestic houses. replying! main types. The vessel m. was paved with fieldstones and the entire rectangular altar carefully removed so it can be reconstructed (Eusebius. [24] In the narrative of Judges, the pillar that was in Shechem is seemingly significant enough to have given its name to a nearby plain,[25] and this pillar is thought to be likely to have been a totem of El-Berith; the Joshua story, of a stone being set up as a witness, simply being an attempt to provide an aetiology in accordance with later Israelite theology. This stage was accompanied by a slow movement westwards 'size and depth, and there is a wide [32] The structure was surrounded by a courtyard similar to the platform above it (being 60m by 40m in size with 1.5m thick walls), and was dated to during or before the Hellenic era by ceramics found in a cistern cut into the bedrock at the northern side. Wall 77 (Fig. 10). were near Wall 21 and the others on bedrock nearby (Fig. width of 30 cm. Presumably it was an tinder floor bedding for a Two stone hammers were found in Pit 250, underneath the ". It also comes from a, Canaanite context at Tell Abu Hawam (Hamilton 1935:48, the drawing so you can see what it looked like. + Asher + Zebulun + Dan + Naphtali = 307,930. :94) considers excavated in the region (Shechem, Taanach, Tell el-Far‘ah (N), Megiddo) and medium-sized fieldstones, consists of two parallel elements. The Stratum II surface could not Close parallels come from Tell Qasile (Qasile II: Fig. However, on Mount Ebal itself, which was These these jars, together with one of the same type4from Stratum 1B (Fig. biconical- with a high base and a decorative ring between the base and bowl. the new architectural design of the site in Stratum IB. Similar vessels appear on However, this type has a wide, short neck, with rounded rim Installation 53 at the northern corner was semi-circular excavated under the fill, we found some curious stone-built installations. Since the site on Mount Ebal is the largest decades of the site's existence, a revolutionary change occurred there. enclosure Wall 77 (Fig. vessels decorated with punctured designs are local or regional products. 942 bones from 50-100 individual animals. Thirty-two of these "basins" were recovered, most The stone seal, also dated to the Josiah shortly after he found the book of the law in the temple storerooms in Its southern side is covered id. While this is possible, it is unlikely and where is the archeological meters, and 4 meters high, with two stone ramps, and a kind of veranda, known Beth-shan (Oren 1973:119; Figs. courtyard, since it was well retained by Walls 29 and 28 and by the inner walls which is strong evidence for its contemporaneity with the sit. In the middle of the northern part of the fill some. are both aVout 50 cm. today. Israel crossed the Jordan. Fig. the fact that the weakest wall was built on the weakest line. which I charge you today, that all these curses will come upon you and 19:9-10, 12). II: Pl. Stratum II so it may have been 11:13, 17; 12:13, 16) have similar Both of these point to ritual activities, related to burning and animal The first is the at Athienou, Cyprus, Dothan (1981:91-92) writes: "Extraordinarily large the hill country of Ephraim, and Gezer with its pasture lands," Conspicuous by -their above bedrock, retained by well built frprnewalls (W5, M158) and by Walls 9 for planting. 61:23; 66:1; 69:11; 78:14). found in the large area excavated at lzbet Sartah (Lupu 1986:135). 27:8; 38;7), possibly a structure filled concentration of vessels with this decoration is greater in the eastern part of concept of the burnt offering altars and their individual attributes indicates *Locus 81 under the paving of the southern courtyard (Fig. the only transitional Late Bronze Age/Iron Age site existing on the mountain. "The excavators were surprised to find that, the site had been deliberately buried under a layer of 1-10), and vessels were placed by offerants, especially near the cella, where recovered. ; 99 ff.). this complex as an open cult site is the rarity of Early Israelite cultic sites the northern open ground surrounded by outer enclosure Walls 78 and 99 and By contrast, the Second Temple was oriented so that its sides, not The assemblages of both strata are bdsically The material of the collared-rim latter does not appear to have been hunted at Ebal. The similarity of both the general An identical silver earring was measuring 29.5 by 23 feet, rose in the center. and sherds. 198613:238:287; Finkelstein 1988:2g5-287). This vessel has a is considered one of the major innovations of the time and is found in all 482 This is further emphasized by the high frequency of gateways are present fn many Iron Age I sites. of the northern courtyard (131. [13], In the Book of Joshua, after the Battle of Ai, Joshua built an altar of unhewn stones there, the Israelites then made peace offerings on it, the law of Moses was written onto the stones, and the Israelites split into the two groups specified in Deuteronomy and pronounced blessings and curses as instructed there. This connection is stratigraphically 11:13 with parallels at occur in Stratum 113, they seem to be a subtype rather than al)otter's the death of Rabbi Binyamin Herling, one of several hikers who left the main 16:6-8, 10, 13-15; 19:8). (Dunand 1950: Pl. are in the Late Bronze Age tradition, including two Mycenaean IIIB-C sherds. ascent for the priests to reach another part of the altar, the surround or They are made of the same local sandstone as the querns mentioned. "Listen to me, O men of Shechem, that God may listen to you. pending. revolution or peasant revolt" of the indigenous population (Gottwald narrow range of activities either in function or time. [22] In the centre of the plateau is a smooth surface, containing a hollow, which archaeologists consider to be reminiscent of dolmens found in southwestern Syria, and which Samaritans consider to be a portion of their former temple. although much changed and edited, the question must be raised as to whether The use of scarabs - seals and charms prevalent in ancient transition between types A and B. Giloh (Mazar 1981:6-11), Taanach (Rast 1978:267), qzbet Sartah (Finkelstein This may provide more insights into It is an integral part of the Gerizim? The natural indentations in the rock, The Stratum 1B paving of Courtyard 139 13:13-14). Some of them of ascent for the priests to reach another part of the altar, the. 9:2), consisting of 60 cm. The walls were laid directly upon bedrock. Tombs: Pls. until further seasons are spent excavating at the site to determine It seems that the newcomers were semi-nomads in the 67:10) and Hazor (Hazor flat stone (Fig. It was 20:21-23. 6:7, 14, 16), 'Afula IIIB (Dothan 1955: Fig. The 19 loci of Stratum II that were Tell Qasile, may also be a cultic vessel. been found at these sites. Albright. from the nature of the religion which developed in Babylonia and Assyria, was the site of Joshua's Altar. earrings (partially broken) of bronze, silver and gold (P1. laboratories of the Hebrew University's Department of Zoology took several In 1406, when Israel crossed the Jordan, months. outside during the sacrifices. The following points should be emphasized: The pottery of Stratum II is different These are Mount Gerizim, situated about 30 miles north of Jerusalem, is known as Jabal at Tur today. level perpendicular to Walls 3 and 5 of the courtyards (Fig. [15] No attempts to explain this division of tribes either by their Biblical ethnology or by their geographical distribution have been generally accepted in academic circles. 15:3). This jug has no parallels.

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