Israel's Ethnogenesis: Settlement, Interaction, Expansion and Resistance by Faust Avraham

Author:Faust, Avraham [Avraham Faust]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781134942152
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Urbanization

The Philistine cities were large and prosperous during the Iron Age I. According to Stager, Ashkelon in the late twelfth century BCE had expanded to urban proportions, with finds including fortifications such as a mud-brick tower protected by a glacis. Stager adds, 'The fortification continued in use throughout the Iron Age II, and protected a Philistine seaport, not of 15 a. as Garstang suggested, but of 150 a. [app. 600 dunams]' (1993: 107). Dothan and Gitin had a similar view of Ekron; according to them, the Iron Age I city covered the entire site, reaching approximately 200 dunams (1993: 1054). Stager also believes that from its establishment as a Philistine city, Ekron was a large and planned city, which had a line of fortification, an industrial zone, private dwellings and, in the center, a public building including a temple-palace complex (1998: 166). As for biblical Gath, the new expedition to Tel Zafit, combining excavations and a sophisticated, detailed survey concluded that the Iron Age I site was 230 dunams large (Uziel 2003: 42, 62). Signs of advanced town-planning and complexity were also found at other sites, such as Tel Qasile (A. Mazar 1980, 1985a).

The Philistine urban centers were therefore the largest in the region at the time. Stager summarizes: 'Ashkelon, like Miqne/Ekron and Ashdod, was a large heavily fortified Philistine city' (1993: 107). The large size of these sites, their public structures and fortifications, clearly indicate social complexity, particularly in comparison to other parts of the country, mainly the highlands, where, as we have seen, small sites of only a few dunams were the norm.

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