A Decorated Middle Bronze Age Reed from Wadi Murabbaʿat

This paper presents a recently discovered incised reed object from Wadi Murabbaʿat Cave 2, in the northern Judaean Desert, that dates to the early second millennium BCE. This is the first reed object from this period to be discovered in the Southern Levant. The incised decorations recall decorative motifs known from a plethora of objects of different materials, functionality and contexts. The reed belongs to a small group of Middle Bronze Age objects found in the cave in the 1950s, many of which are found in contemporaneous burials, including at Jericho. The study argues that the object was likely produced on site, and not by a professional craftsperson. The precise meaning of the object remains unknown, but the pervasiveness of the reed’s decorations within the artistic traditions of the region suggests a widespread cultural template that was rooted in long-term regional symbolism.