9/28/2023 0 Comments Cult of the lamb natural burialSymbolic behaviour (e.g., cult and ritual practices and their associated symbols) are inherent to daily economic and social life and play a fundamental role in structuring and organising society, e.g. Such opportunities to investigate household rituals are rare during the EB of the Levant since visible nonelite groups and practices are traditionally overshadowed by the focus on the priestly class in towering temples.Ģ. Therefore, this paper provides an opportunity to clarify the character of the donkey burials recovered from Area E, with regards to the intersection of ritual life, symbols, and the economy (outside of a temple and funerary setting) in a residential EB neighbourhood. Why were so many donkeys buried in an urban environment/context in this small part of the settlement at Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath? Was this practice simply a form of ‘disposal’ for beloved pets and work animals buried without ceremony, or did it have other meanings? While the ritual character of some donkey burials from EB excavations has lately been called into question, only a holistic treatment of the asinine burials from Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath may allow for a fuller investigation of the different ritual roles (sacred, symbolic, and economic) of asses in EB III households. The unusually large number of donkey burials from a very limited number of EB buildings is unprecedented and poses interesting questions regarding the identity of the inhabitants and the ritual, symbolic, and economic role(s) of asses in early urban society. The discussion centres on the excavation and analytical results of five complete and several incomplete burials of domestic asses found under the floors of private residential buildings exposed in an EB merchant neighbourhood (Area E). The results are subsequently grounded within a larger discussion on the nature of household rituals in the southern Levant during the EB. This holistic perspective includes a discussion of not only the traditional realms of archaeology (e.g., architecture, artefacts) but also the zooarchaeology of the site. EB is used when we refer to a phase or series of phases within the Early Bronze Age (e.g., EB II–III or EB III), while EBA refers to the period as a whole) III domestic residential neighbourhood at Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath, Israel are utilised to illustrate non-elite ‘ritual life’ and performance, both of which are poorly understood within the EB urban populations. Data from our recent excavations of an Early Bronze Age (EB) (Note: The abbreviations of EBA and EB are used in different ways in this paper, largely according to their conventional usage in the literature of the southern Levant. The goal of this paper is to investigate ritual and symbolic behaviours that occur within non-elite (lower stratum) households in early urban societies in the Near East. This integrated contextual perspective allows the sacred and symbolic role(s) of each to be understood and their importance for EB urban society to be evaluated. An integrated analytical approach to the architecture, figurines, foundation deposits, and domestic donkey burials found in lower-stratum domestic residences provides insights into the nature of household rituals. 2850–2550 BCE) deposits excavated at the site of Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath, Israel, are illustrative of the difficulty in identifying the nature of household rituals. This paper explores the zooarchaeological and associated archaeological evidence for household rituals in lower-stratum residences in the Early Bronze Age (EB) of the southern Levant. However, the vast bulk of the population would not have been able to fully participate in such public displays. Most studies of ritual and symbolism in early complex societies of the Near East have focused on elite and/or public behavioural domains. As the donkey burials are very limited in their location in these early cities, we propose that such residences were inhabited by merchant families. These provide insight into the role of ritual in everyday life for most people in these early cities. Our excavations at the site have uncovered the remains of early domestic donkeys and other goods that were buried as the neighbourhood was constructed and houses were renovated. We present the results of our recent excavations at the Early Bronze Age site of Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath, Israel. However, the bulk of the population lived in simple domestic residences and were not involved in the public ritual displays except as onlookers. Most archaeologists have concentrated their research on rituals taking place in the public and administrative areas of early cities (e.g., temples and palaces). The goal of this study is to increase our understanding of the role of ritual in the domestic residences of commoners in early complex societies in the ancient Near East.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |