Revisiting Late Iron Age En-Gedi: A Stratigraphic Reassessment of Stratum V at Tel Goren

Avraham Mashiach, Uri Davidovich

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The oasis of En-Gedi, on the western shore of the Dead Sea, served during the late Iron Age as a regional hub for the Judahite activity in the Judean Desert. The main Iron Age site in En-Gedi is Tel Goren, a small mound in the oasis plain, excavated in the 1960s by Benjamin Mazar and Immanuel Dunayevsky. The exposed Iron Age remains, attributed to the lowermost occupation (Stratum V), yielded substantial material assemblages associated with a thick destruction layer dated to the early 6th century B.C.E. The excavators interpreted the site as an unfortified, short-lived agricultural estate dedicated to the production of high-valued commodities. Drawing on a critical reassessment of past excavations, coupled with new evidence gathered in small-scale excavations conducted in 2020, it is suggested that the development of late Iron Age Tel Goren was a gradual process that involved at least two major phases, as well as the construction of a fortified compound on the summit of the hill. The implications of this suggestion are further examined within the broader regional and historical context, shedding new light on the multiphase trajectory of Judah’s expansion into its eastern fringe during the late monarchic period.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)179-205
Number of pages27
JournalBulletin of ASOR
Volume392
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 American Society of Overseas Research. All rights reserved.

Keywords

  • chrono-stratigraphy
  • Dead Sea Valley
  • desert oases
  • fortified enclosures
  • Iron Age IIC
  • Late Monarchic Judah

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