In the Ba‘al Cycle’s description of the threshold separating the realms of the dead from that of the living, the key reference point is described as “the two tells (at) the boundary of the netherworld” (CAT 1.4 viii, 4). The specific word used to describe both topographical features is tl, the tell, an object well known in the archaeology of the…[Read more]

The poetry of Micah’s oracle of doom (Mic 1:8-16) combines two undeniable motifs, the motif of the lament and that of geography. The latter motif is not well understood due to the obscurity of the place names found in vv. 10a-12b. A careful study of the oracle’s geographical con-text, however, will lead to a more precise understanding of the top…[Read more]

The Hebrew Bible often portrays Sheol in a manner evocative of the tomb. In texts such as Psalm 88 the tomb is a dreary and isolating symbol. Yet this contrasts with the positive role of the family tomb where the dead are reunited with their ancestors. The ritual analysis of Judahite bench tombs, however, reveals a dynamic concept of death. This…[Read more]

The story of the Philistines as Mycenaean or Aegean migrants,
refugees who fled the Aegean after the collapse of the palace societies c.1200
BC, bringing an Aegean culture and practices to the Eastern Mediterranean, is
well known. Accepted as essentially true by some, yet rejected as little more
than a modern myth by others, the migration…[Read more]

The study of the collapse of past societies raises many questions for the
theory and practice of archaeology. Interest in collapse extends as well into the
natural sciences and environmental and sustainability policy. Despite a range of
approaches to collapse, the predominant paradigm is environmental collapse, which
I argue obscures…[Read more]

The collapse of palatial society at the end of the Greek Bronze Age in c.1200 BC has long been a subject of fascination and contention. This monograph re-evaluates the different theories on this collapse and possible areas of continuity, making full use of recent archaeological data as well as the latest theoretical work on collapse in the…[Read more]