ARAD: A Biblical City in Southern Palestine

Author(s): YOHANAN AHARONI and RUTH AMIRAN

Source: Archaeology, Vol. 17, No. 1 (MARCH 1964), pp. 43-53
Published by: Archaeological Institute of America
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41667401
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By YOHANAN AHARON 1 and RUTH AM IRAN

Mapofthevicinity
ofTellArad.
ARAD

A Biblical in Southern Palestine

City

The firsttwoseasonsof excavationwerecarriedout of the easternNegev duringthe Canaaniteand Is-

duringthespringof 1962 and thesummerof 1963, raeliteperiods.At thetimeof Israel'swanderingin
sponsoredby the Hebrew University, the Israel De- thedesert"theCanaanitekingof Arad,who dweltin
partment of Antiquitiesand the Israel Exploration theNegev (South)" (Num. 21:1) controlled a good
Society.The Arad DevelopmentProject,whichis in partof thissouthern area. He is describedas theIs-
chargeof theconstruction of a new citynearby,car- raelitetribes'mainobstaclein theirattempt to pene-
ried a largepart of the expedition'sexpenses.The trateCanaanfromthedesert,and he is said to have
firstseason'sworkwas directedbyYohananAharoni defeatedthemutterly at the cityof Hormah(Num.
and Kuth Amir an, assistedby AvrahamEitan and 14:45, 33:40; Deut. 1:44).
Moshe Kochavi.The secondseason'sworkwas di- We do notknowtheexactdateof theconquestof
rectedbyYohananAharoni( RuthAmiranbeingoc- CanaaniteArad,butthekingof thetownis mentioned
cupiedat Tell Nagila), assistedby Moshe Kochavi. amongthe thirty-one rulerswho were conqueredby
Joshuaand thechildrenof Israel (Josh.12:14) and
Tell Arad, situated20 mileseast of Beersheba,is we learnaboutfamiliesof Keniteswho cameto live
the firstmajor biblicalsite to be excavatedin the in "theNegev of Arad" (Judg.1:16). Later,Arad
Negev,the semi-aridarea of southernPalestineon appearsin the citylist of Judah,the secondname
theborderof theSinai desert.The firsttwo seasons' mentioned in theimportantNegevdistrict (= Ederof
campaignscarriedout here show this to be an un- the Massoretictext,Josh.15:21). As we have no
usuallyrichand promising site,important in relation further to Arad,it is onlythe ex-
biblicalreferences
to manybiblicalproblemsand theearliesthistory of cavationswhichtestify to its importance duringthe
Palestine.The remainsof thevariousperiodsare re- periodof the Israelitemonarchy. The citadelsbuilt
markably well preservedowing to the drynessand hereby thekingsof Israel and Judahprotected the
remoteness of theregion. boundariesof thekingdomand controlled the main
Aradis knownfromtheBible as thecentraltown road to Edom and Elath. This road had a primary

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 commerce withSouthArabia.The latestreference to
Arad continued
Aradis in theOnomasticon of Eusebius(ca. 264-ca.
importance for the kingdom,owing to the copper 340), who mentionsa village named Arad twenty
minesof the Wadi Araba and to tradewithSouth RomanmilesfromHebron.
Arabia,wherespicesand perfumes were purchased.
Caravanssuch as that of the queen of Sheba, de- The mound of Arad consistsof a small,highcita-
scribedin theBible,cameto Aradon theirwayfrom del and a largelowercity.As a resultof twoseasons'
thesouth,and heretheypassedtheborderof Judah work,seventeenstrataof habitationhave been dis-
proper.ShishakI of Egypt,who invadedPalestine covered,beginningwiththe Chalcolithic period(ca.
ca. 920 B.c., fiveyearsafterKing Solomon'sdeath, 3500 B.c.), and endingin theArabperiod(ca. A.D.
mentionsin his inscription that he conqueredthe 800). The workof the firstseasoncenteredmainly
citadelof Arad and a place called Geber,whichis on thehighpartof themound,wherevariouscitadels
probablybiblical Ezion Geber, near Elath, at the datingfromthe time of Solomonto the Roman
head of theGulfof Aqaba. We mayassumethatone periodwerediscovered. Duringthesecondseasonthe
s workwas dividedbetweenthecitadeland thelower
of Shishak'saimsin thiscampaignwas to stopJudah'

Plan of Tell Arad,showingexcavation

of citadel,fortification
wall and sectionof
town,inwestern area,whichhasbeenexcavated.
Arrowpointsto Israelitesanctuary.
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 onlybrushed
DetailoftheEarlyBronzeAgewallwitha tower,
fromabovebutnotyetexcavated.

(Right)A typicalEarlyBronzehouse,withthebencharound
thewall,thestone andthedoorinonelongwall.
table,

General is thelowertell,withpartof theEarlyBronzeAge fortifica-

viewof thesiteof Arad:in theforeground
tionwallandoneof thesemicircular andin thebackground
towers, is thehighcitadelmound.

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 in thewestern
The excavations partof thelowertell,showing houses,theround
therectangular
and,attheright,
granaries wall.
thecity

Arad continued Protodynastic periodin Egypt.However,hereforthe

firsttimein Palestineit is possibleto lay bare the
city,bringingto lightin the latterarea partof the generalplan of a cityof this earlyperiodand its
earlycityand its fortifications. These provedto be fortification.
one of the mostinteresting discoveriesmade so far, Four different stratahave been discoveredin the
belongingto thebeginningof urbanization in Pales- city,and the wall is definitely connectedwith the
tine. second and thirdlevels. The thirdstratumis re-
The earliestChalcolithic settlementwas apparently markably richin findsand the generalplan of one
an unfortified village,similarto thoserecently exca- of the quartersand its architecture has alreadybe-
vated in the vicinityof Beersheba.However,while gun to emerge.Thoughthebuildingsare of different
thelatterweredesertedbeforethe beginningof the dimensions and orientation, theirplan is moreor less
thirdmillennium B.c., at Arad a largecity was con- identical.The typicalbuildingis a rectangular house,
structed an
during earlyphase of the Canaanite pe- with the door in the center of one of thelongerwalls,
riod (EarlyBronzeAge I-II, 3150-2600B.c.). Built stepsleadingdown,doorshingedon theleft,benches
ca. 3000 B.c., thistowncoveredan area of about25 aroundthewallsof thesingleroomand a worktable
acresand was surrounded by a stonewall 2.30 m. of stonenearthemiddle.In one of thesebuildingsa
thick.The line of the wall was tracedon the ridge claymodelof a housewas found,paintedwithred
of the hill fora distanceof morethana kilometer, stripes, thusmakingit possibleto reconstruct theup-
and threeprojectingsemicircular towerswere dis- per parts of the houses, which must have had flat
covered. Similar fortifications of this period have roofs.
been excavatedat Ai and at Jericho.They are not On the floorsnumerousobjectswere found,in-
confinedto Palestinebut are a commonfeaturein cluding,besidespottery, stonevessels,copperawls
the architecture of the ancientNear East; we may with bone handles,ornaments of bone, shell and
deduce this fact from similar half-towers in the ivory, and animal figurines clay. Most welcome
of
EarlyDynastic levels at Uruk (Warka), in Mesopo- among the finds are jars of theclasswhichhas been
tamia, and from several and
drawings carvings of the found in the royal tombsof the FirstDynastyat

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 ClaymodelofanEarlyBronzehouse.

Pottery of theEarlyBronzeII period.The jar

abovewas foundin thesecondstratum andthe
jar belowin thethirdstratum.Bothtypeshave
beenfoundin Egyptin FirstDynasty context,
hence fordating.
areimportant

A stonemortar of grain.The sizemaybe judged

withremains
bythe10-cm.
scale.

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Airviewof thecitadelmoundat theendof thefirstseason:1) Romanwall; 2) Israelite
wall; 3) theareaof the
whichwas discovered
sanctuary, at theendof thesecondseason.

are probablyfoundationsof large granaries.The

Arad continued
problemof intensive agriculture in thisnowsemi-arid
Abydosand in othercemeteries in Egypt.Outstand- areademandsspecialattention andfurther research.
ing among them are jars decoratedwith a redpainted The ancient town was destroyedduringEarly
herringbone design and trianglesfilledwith dots, BronzeAge II (not laterthanca. 2700 B.c.) and
examplesof whichareknownin Egyptfromthelate mostof it was neverrebuilt.For thisreasonthe re-
First Dynasty,thus establishingthe date of this mainswerefoundonlya fewcentimeters below the
stratumwith considerableaccuracy.In the second surface,whichmakesit unusuallyeasyto uncovera
stratuma commontypeis a beautifully burnished jar townof thisearlyperiod.Owing to its remarkable
havingledge handlesand also a pillarhandlefrom preservation, itpromises to makea majorcontribution
rim to shoulder.Similarjars have been found in to our understanding of theearlystagesof urbaniza-
Egyptin a mid-First Dynastycontext.These wares tionin Palestineand theneighboring civilizations.
aretermed byEgyptologists "foreignpottery"originat- As thereare no remains at Tell Arad fromthelater
ing fromPalestineor Syria,and it seemsprobable Canaaniteperiod,therearisesthe questionof the
thatArad was one of the centersof theirmanufac- locationof theCanaanitecitymentioned in theBible.
ture.Lumpsof asphaltfromthe Dead Sea, which Thereis hardlyanydoubtthatTell Arad is thesite
werefoundin manyof therooms,apparently also be- of IsraeliteArad; thisnot onlyis borneout by the
long amongthe typesof goods exportedto Egypt. preservation of the nameat the tell and the precise
This productwas in greatdemandthere,and Arad indication of Eusebius,buthas beenfurther strength-
dominatedthe main traderoutebetweenthe Dead ened by the discovery of the name Arad Crd) in-
Sea regionandEgypt. scribedon a bowl seven timesin ancientHebrew
Remainsof grainand manygranaries foundin the letters.This is one of the few instances in Palestine
cityshowtheimportance in theeconomy whenan inscription
of agriculture withthenameof theplacebeing
of thetown.The earlierof thetwo levelsassociated excavatedhas beenfoundduringtheexcavation, and
withthewall is fullof largecircularstructures which it wouldbe difficult to believethattheoccurrence of

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Ashlar
masonry citadels.
oftheIsraelite

(Above)Head ofa terracotta

figurineof the
Heightca. 4 cm.
goddessAshtoreth.

(Left) Fragment witha

of shelldecorated
lotusdesign,whichmayhavebeenpartof
a cosmeticbox.Photo:J.Schweig.

(Below)IronAgejarsandjugletsaftertheir
The whitepartof thescale at
restoration.
lowerleftis 10 cm.

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 Hebrewseal inscribed
Idrsyhw bn ' . . . (be-
to Derashyahu
longing sonof '...).

Fragments of a bowl whichare inscribed

seven
timeswiththename'rd (Arad),in reversed
(neg-
Photo:J. Schweig.
ative)lettering.

Oneof theAramaic
ostraca.

Arad continued of whichis perhapsconnected withbiblicalJerahmeel

andthe"Negevof theJerahmeelites" (I Sam.27:10) .
thenameis accidental. Butthequestionstillis,Where It seemsnow thatarchaeology providestheexplana-
mustwe look forthekingof Aradand his cityat the tion for this: apparently
Solomonbuilttwo citadels
timeof theIsraeliteconquest ? in thisarea,one on thesiteof CanaaniteArad,then
On thebasisof thearchaeological survey,theonly inhabitedby the Yerohamfamily,and the otheron
major tell in this area whichwas inhabitedduring thesiteof theEarlyCanaanitetownto thenorthof it.
the later phases of the Canaaniteperiod is Tell He chosethe latterforits strategicsituationon the
Malhata (Tell el-Milh), some 12 km. southwest of mainroad to theWadi Arabaand probablyalso be-
Tell Arad.This is theonlyplace whichcan be taken causeof itstraditional
rleas a highplaceduringthe
intoconsideration as themainstronghold in thearea Early Israeliteperiod.We shall returnagain to the
duringtheLate BronzeAge, butif it was Canaanite lastpoint.
Arad,how can we explainthe shiftof the namein
the Israeliteperiodto anothertell, 12 km. distant, Fortresses of various periods werediscovered on
while Tell Malhata was still occupied?Fortunatelythecitadelmound.These weredestroyed and rebuilt
the list of citiesin the inscription
of Shishakcomes abouttentimesbetweenthetimeof Solomonand the
to our aid in solvingthisvexingproblem.In it two Romanperiod.
citadelsnamed Arad are mentioned,"Arad Rabat" To beginwiththelastmentioned, theRomancita-
(Arad the Great) and "Arad of thehouse (family) del was partof theearlylimes(border) fortification
of Yeroham."The Shishaklistproves,therefore, that of theRomanempireon theedgeof thedesertbefore
in theperiodof Solomonthereexistedin thisregion theoverthrow of theNabataeankingdom(a.D. 106).
two citadelscalled Arad,one themajorfortress and At thebeginning of theArabperiodthisfortress
was
theotherinhabited bytheYerohamfamily, thename converted intoa largerbuilding,whichwas perhaps

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 wall,builtduringthelaterpartof theeighthcentury
The casemate b.c.,on top of
Thiswall marksthedestruction
thesanctuary. of thesanctuary.

partlyused as a khan (inn) fortravelers. In one of of an artificial

filling.Below this,tracesof a settle-
its roomsa treasureof glasswareand otherobjects mentwerefound,withsome silos and remnants of
was discovered, whichwas hidden therewhen the houses.This settlement, whichbelongsto thebegin-
placewasabandoned. ningof thetenthcentury b.c., was apparently an un-
During the Hellenisticperiod a solid tower was fortified
villageand was erected on
immediately top
built,whosefoundations have been preservedup to of remains of theEarlyBronzeAge.
a heightof 5-6 meters, and aroundit smallerrooms The abundanceof potteryfound indicatesthat
werebuilt.At its foota deep plaster-covered water thosewho livedin thecitadelwerenot onlysoldiers
poolwasfound. butalso merchants and artisans.Hundredsof vessels
The strongest and mostimposingfortresses built werefoundon the successivefloorsof the citadel's
at thissite belongto the Israeliteperiod.Some of roomsand its court.It is obviousthattheplace was
themare built of ashlar masonry,an exampleof subjectedto a numberof suddenconquestsand that
whichhas not hithertobeen found in the Negev. itsinhabitants wereunableto savemanyof theirpos-
Fromthisit maybe deducedthatAradwas themain sessions.In thecourtyard of thecitadelwereseveral
royalcitadelin thearea; it defendedthebordersof industrialinstallations, some of themprobablycon-
Judah and dominatedthe importantroad to the nectedwith metalworkingand perfumedistilling.
Araba,Edomand Elath.Remainsof six Israelitecita- Some weightsfound,a pim and severalinscribed1,
dels havebeenrevealed,datingfromSolomonto the 2, 4 or 8 shekels,point to commercialactivities.
end of theFirstTemple:one fromthetenthcentury, Worthyof mentionare cult and art objectssuch as
two each fromthe ninthand eighthcenturiesand Ashtoreth figurines,a Hebrewseal and a decorated
one fromthe end of the seventhcentury. The last shell whichprobablyservedas a cosmeticpalette.
twoweresurrounded bycasematewalls withproject- The precisestratification providedby Arad and the
ing towers.An imposingfortressof the eighth wealthof pottery fromthedifferent stratawill be the
century,fromapproximately thetimeof Uzziah,was basisfora moredefinite chronology of Judahin the
builtpartlyof ashlarmasonry, and therichfindsgive IronAge.
evidenceof itswealth.In theninthcentury, perhaps A fact of greatimportance is the abundanceof
duringthe reignof Jehoshaphat, the fortresswas written materialpreservedbecauseof the aridityof
surrounded by a massivewall four metersthick, theclimate.The inscriptions, written in ink on pot-
whichmaybe classedamongthe strongest walls of sherds(ostraca),are partlyin ancientHebrew-Phoe-
thisperiodknownin Palestine.The excavationof nicianletters,fromthe Israelitestrata,and partlyin
thefortress of the levelwhichprobablydatesto the Aramaicscript,fromthe Persianperiod. Most of
daysof Solomonis still in an earlystage,and its themare fragments of docketsand businessdocu-
plan is not yetdefined.However,it is alreadyevi- ments;someare letters.In one letterpartsof fifteen
dentthatthiswas the earliestcitadel,builton top lineshave beenpreserved. Foundin a levelof about

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 knowif it was builtin thetenthcentury, whichseems
Arad continued
verylikely.However, its stage alreadyclear:a
final is
thetimeof Hezekiah,it is themostancientHebrew casematewall whichcuts throughthe roomsof the
letterhitherto discovered. Unfortunately it is incom- sanctuarydates its destruction to sometimein the
plete,although several names and many words are second half of the eighthcentury. It is probablethat
readable.Some of the bestpreservedostracabelong the destruction is to be associatedwith the joint
to thefourth centuryb.c.; thesecontainlistsof names Aramaean-Israelite-Edomite attackon Judahin the
and goods. The scriptis identicalwiththaton the days of Ahaz, in 734 b.c. (cf. II Kings 16:6; II
ostracadiscoveredat Ezion Geber,and this points Chron. 28:17), and that the fortressabove, sur-
againto theconnections betweenthetwoplaces. roundedbythecasematewall,was builtbyHezekiah.
This richepigraphic materialneedsthorough study It is interesting that Hezekiahis the firstking of
beforeany conclusionsare possible.However,since Judahabout whom we are told that "he removed
herefor the firsttimea seriesof ostracaextending the high places and brakethe images (masebot)"
fromthe ninthto the fourthcentury has been dis- (II Kings 18:4, 22), whileevena virtuous kinglike
coveredat one site,thematerialmakesan important Jehoshaphat did not interfere with the worshipin
contribution to establishingthechronology of Hebrew thehighplaces(I Kings22 :43) .
palaeography. The discovery of theIsraelitesanctuary raisesmany
problems and questions which cannot be dealtwith
The highlight of the discoveriesin the Israelite hereand whichmustwaitforthemorecompleteex-
citadelswas a sanctuary, whichwas uncoveredon the cavationof this unique building.However,a royal
lastdaysof thesecondseason.Thus faronlypartof sanctuary could hardlyhave been builtherewithout
the Holy of Holies has been excavated.Three steps an earliertradition. We havein theBible an interest-
led to its entrance, whichwas flankedby two stone ing passage statingthat the Kenite Hobab family,
altars,thelargerof whichis 51 cm.high.The altars relatedto Moses,settleddownin thevicinity of Arad
are beautifully dressedand smoothed, and in concave (Septuagintversionof Judg. 1:16). We owe to
depressions in theirupper surfaceswere foundthe ProfessorMazar the ingenioussuggestionthat the
remainsof some organicmaterial,apparently burnt biblicalemphasison thisspecialfamilyand its rela-
offerings.In the entrance, betweenthe altars,was a tionto Moses hintsat its important role in connec-
gutterslopingfromrightto left.In the roomitself tionwithYahwisticworshipat variousplaces.This
was a raisedplatform(bama) of stoneand aroundit idea may becomemostfruitful for the solutionof
stoodthreestelae(masebot).The largestof theseis someproblemsof earlyIsraelitehistory and religion,
well cutand smoothedand on its face are tracesof and it makestherole of Arad in theIsraeliteperiod
redcolor. more understandable. The prominenthill of Tell
Althoughthe excavationof the sanctuary is just Arad was probablychosenby the Hobab familyas
beginning,some vital facts alreadyemergequite theircentralplace of worshipin theregionof Arad.
clearly.This is not a smallshrineor highplace,but This is probably a furtherreasonwhySolomonchose
a well constructed building of large dimensions. thisplace forhis mainfortress in thearea,givingit
Judgingfromthewalls uncoveredto date,it seems the nameof Arad Rabat.The traditional highplace
thatthe sanctuary includedthreeadjoiningrooms, was converted intoa sanctuary withinthe royalcita-
the entrancefacingeast and the Holy of Holies to del, using the honoredKenite priestswho traced
thewest.This is exactlytheprincipleof theplan of theirgenealogy to Moses.The sanctuary is, of course,
theSolomonicTemplein Jerusalem, accordingto its, an important partof theroyalcitadel,whichwas the
description in theBible. Sincethesanctuary is within administrative and military centerin thisborderre-
thearea of theroyalcitadelat Arad,thereis hardly gion. Exactlythe same motivesapparentlyguided
anydoubtthatthisis a royalIsraelitesanctuary, the Jeroboam in the construction of his two mainroyal
first
onediscovered through excavation.
scientific sanctuariesat Beth-eland Dan, bothon theborderof
The sanctuary existedduringtheninthand thefirst thekingdomand bothvenerated through ancienttra-
half of the eighthcentury and was repairedseveral ditions.
times.We have not yet penetratedto the earlier Someof ourconclusions are of coursehypothetical,
levels in this area, and only next season shall we and we are waitingwitheagernessfortheirverifica-
tionor alteration in thenextseason,plannedforthis
summer.It is alreadyclear,however,thatTell Arad
is one of themostinteresting and promising sitesin
(Oppositepage) Holy of Holies of Israelitesanctuary,southern Israel.
withaltar at each sideofentrance. Photo: J.Schweig.

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