Biblical Archaeology Review

This was already suggested by Gideon Foerster in 1976 in “Art and Architecture in Palestine,” in Shmuel Safrai and Menachem Stern, eds., The Jewish People in the First Century, vol. 2: Historical Geography, Political History, Social, Cultural and Religious Life and Institutions (Assen: Fortress Press, 1976), pp. 971-1006.

According to Josephus, the “ceiling of the middle aisle was raised to a greater height, and the front wall was cut at either end into architraves with columns built into it, and all of it was polished” (Jewish Antiquities 15.416). The term προμɛτϖπɩδίον τοίχον, translated by Ralph Marcus as the “front wall,” literally means “the wall in front or on the forehead.” It seems that this description refers to the nave wall that rose above the ceiling of the side aisles.

Orit Peleg-Barkat, The Temple Mount Excavations in Jerusalem, 1968-1978, Directed by Benjamin Mazar, Final Reports, vol. V, Herodian Architectural Decoration and King Herod’s Royal Portico. Qedem series 57 (Jerusalem: The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2017). I am grateful to Dr. Eilat Mazar, head of the Publication Project of the Temple Mount Excavations and granddaughter of Benjamin Mazar, who enabled and encouraged me to study the architectural pieces from her grandfather’s excavations as the focal point of my dissertation.

Eli Shukrun, “Did Herod Build the Foundations of the Western Wall?” in Eyal Meiron, ed., City of David Studies of Ancient Jerusalem: The Thirteenth Annual Conference (Jerusalem: Megalim, 2012), pp. 14*-26*.

Camp, “Wise Women,” pp. 14, 26.

Also dating to this period is a large casemate building on the upper part of the tell that contained several special finds, including an exquisite head of a bearded male made of faience. See Naama Yahalom-Mack, Nava Panitz-Cohen, and Robert Mullins, “From a Fortified Canaanite City-State to ‘a City and a Mother’ in Israel: Five Seasons of Excavation at Tel Abel Beth Maacah,” Near Eastern Archaeology 81.2 (2018), p. 154.

Claudia V. Camp, “The Wise Women of 2 Samuel: A Role Model for Women in Early Israel?” The Catholic Bible Quarterly 43.1 (1981), p. 24.

The date of 2 Samuel 20 has been extensively discussed by many scholars, and some place Sheba ben Bichri’s rebellion in the eighth century B.C.E. It should be mentioned that our excavations at Tel Abel Beth Maacah to date have not identified an occupation stratum that can be clearly dated to this time or any destruction layer that can be attributed to Tiglath-Pileser III (as in 2 Kings 15). However, some pottery from the eighth century B.C.E. has been recovered in survey and debris.

We dedicate this article to the many wonderful “wise women” on our field and research staff who have contributed so much to the Tel Abel Beth Maacah excavation project: Dianne Benton, Ruhama Bonfil, Ortal Haroch, Christin Johnson, Carroll Kobs, Miriam (Mimi) Lavi, Fredrika Loew, Claire MacKay-Glasgow, Jennifer Maidrand, Ora Mazar, Lauren Monroe, Alla Rabinovich, Melissa Rosensweig, Bettina Schwarz, and many others, as well as to the many dedicated volunteers (female and male) who make our work possible.