Atlas of Agriculture in the Southern Levant
(Bronze Age and Iron Age)

Table of Content

Part I: Text

1. Introduction

1.1 Topics and Aims (Jens Kamlah and Simone Riehl)

1.2 Sources for the research on agriculture in the Southern Levant

1.2.1 Archaeological and textual sources for agriculture in the Southern Levant (Jens Kamlah)

1.2.2 History of research on the archaeological and textual sources for agriculture in the Southern Levant (Marlen Bleiholder)

1.2.3 Archaeobotany of the Middle East. A source of early agriculture, dietary preferences and environmental knowledge (Simone Riehl)

1.2.4 The significance of anthracology for the reconstruction of chronology, environment and agriculture, as well as timber trade and forest management in the Southern Levant (Katleen Deckers)

1.2.5 Faunal remains and our understanding of animal husbandry in the Southern Levant (Britt M. Starkovich)

1.3 The origins of agriculture in the Ancient Near East (Simone Riehl)

1.4 The origins of animal husbandry in the Ancient Near East (NN, Britt M. Starkovich, Shyama Vermeersch)

2. Natural conditions of the Southern Levant

2.1 Geography of the Southern Levant (Jens Kamlah, Andrea Orendi and Laura Wörner)

2.2 Climate, geomorphology and soils of the Southern Levant (Thomas Scholten and Karsten Schmidt)

2.3 Climatic conditions in the Levant during the later Holocene (Simone Riehl)

2.4 Vegetation history of the Southern Levant (Frank Neumann)

2.5 The location of settlements in relation to aquifers using the example of the Early and Middle Bronze Age (Konstantin Pustovoytov)

3. Selected plant and animal taxa and their valuing as food [re]sources

3.1 Cereals (barley, emmer, naked wheat) (Simone Riehl and Laura Wörner)

3.2 Lentils (Cornelia Bischof, Jens Kamlah and Simone Riehl)

3.3 Grass pea and other legumes (Simone Riehl)

3.3 Grapevines (Lukas Gansky, Jens Kamlah, Simone Riehl and Laura Wörner)

3.4 Olives (Simone Riehl, Valentina Tumolo and Laura Wörner)

3.5 Flax (Andrea Orendi)

3.6 Pomegranates (Lukas Gansky, Jens Kamlah and Simone Riehl)

3.7 Date palm (Katleen Deckers, Adriano Orsingher and Marco Nicoli)

3.8 Minor crop species and wild plants (Simone Riehl, Katleen Deckers, Laura Wörner)

3.8 Ovicaprids (Shyama Vermeersch, Effrosyni Roditi, Britt M. Starkovich)

3.9 Cattle (Shyama Vermeersch, Effrosyni Roditi, Britt M. Starkovich)

3.10 Pigs (Shyama Vermeersch, Effrosyni Roditi, Britt M. Starkovich)

3.11 Equids (Shyama Vermeersch, Effrosyni Roditi, Britt M. Starkovich)

3.12 Fish (NN, Britt Starkovich)

3.13 Game (NN, Jens Kamlah, Britt Starkovich)

4. Development of agriculture in the Southern Levant from the Early Bronze Age to the Iron Age

4.1 Early Bronze Age I (Jens Kamlah, Simone Riehl, Valentina Tumolo, Britt M. Starkovich, Shyama Vermeersch and Adriano Orsingher)

4.2 Early Bronze Age II–III (Jens Kamlah, Simone Riehl, Valentina Tumolo, Britt M. Starkovich, Shyama Vermeersch and Adriano Orsingher)

4.3 Early Bronze Age IV (Jens Kamlah, Simone Riehl, Valentina Tumolo, Britt M. Starkovich, Shyama Vermeersch and Adriano Orsingher)

4.4 Middle Bronze Age (Andrea Orendi, Valentina Tumolo, Britt M. Starkovich, Shyama Vermeersch and Adriano Orsingher)

4.5 Late Bronze Age (Andrea Orendi, Valentina Tumolo, Britt M. Starkovich, Shyama Vermeersch and Adriano Orsingher)

4.6 Iron Age I (Marlen Bleihoder, Jens Kamlah, Simone Riehl, Britt M. Starkovich, Shyama Vermeersch and Adriano Orsingher)

4.7 Iron Age II (Marlen Bleihoder, Jens Kamlah, Simone Riehl, Laura Wörner, Britt M. Starkovich, Shyama Vermeersch and Adriano Orsingher)

5. Studies on plant cultivation in the Southern Levant

5.1 Archaeobotanical investigations at Ḫirbet ez-Zeraqōn (Early Bronze Age II-III) (Simone Riehl)

5.2 Archaeobotanical investigations at el-Kabrī (Middle Bronze Age) (Marco Nicoli)

5.3 Agricultural installations in Qubur el-Waleyide (Late Bronze Age to Iron Age I) (Gunnar Lehmann and Juliane Stein)

5.4 Archaeobotanical investigations at Tell el-Burak (Iron Age II)) (Andrea Orendi and Katleen Deckers)

5.5 Stone and metal sickles in Palestine (Jens Kamlah and Valentina Tumolo)

5.6 Representations of ploughing from the ancient Near East and the Eastern Mediterranean (Valentina Tumolo)

5.7 Metal ploughshares in Palestine (Jakob Kempendorf)

5.8 The semantic fields "plough" and "harvest" in the Old Testament (Jakob Kempendorf and Laura Wörner)

6. Studies on animal husbandry in the Southern Levant

6.1 Zooarchaeological and archaeobotanical investigations at Lachish (Middle Bronze Age II to Iron I) (Marco Nicoli and Shyama Vermeersch)

6.2 Zooarchaeological investigations at Tell el-Burak (Iron Age II) (Shyama Vermeersch)

6.3 Developments in the ritual use of animals (NN, Britt M. Starkovich)

6.4 Pig consumption taboo (NN, Shyama Vermeersch)

6.5 Honey and Beekeeping in the Ancient Near East (NN, Adriano Orsingher)

6.6 Iconography of animals in the Southern Levant (A05 working group "iconography of animals")

6.7 Iconography of hunting in the Southern Levant (Jens Kamlah)

7. Studies on food in the Southern Levant

7.1 Agriculture and food at Kinneret in the late 8th cent. B.C. (Atlas-team)

7.2 Commensality in ancient Israel/Judah according to Old Testament sources (Laura Wörner)

7.3 Social differentiation through food: Philistines – Judahites – Israelites (NN, Jens Kamlah, Simone Riehl, Shyama Vermeersch)

8. Synthesis

8.1 Agricultural ResourceCultures in the Southern Levant (Atlas-team)

8.2 FoodCultures in the Southern Levant (Atlas-team)

Appendix

List of sites and their settlement phases