Settlement Processes in the Meron Ridges During the Iron Age I

Abstract

The aim of this study is to reconstruct the settlement processes in the Meron Ridges during the Iron Age I. Although Yoḥanan Aharoni’s pioneering survey in the Upper Galilee was the foundation for later studies on this subject, only a handful of excavations were carried out in the region. In 1976, the Israel Department of Antiquities conducted a salvage excavation at Mt. Adir and revealed a fortress consisting of three main construction strata dating to the period between the late 11th and 9th centuries b.c.e. The excavation results were never published, which has enabled assumptions regarding its date and geo-political status. In the framework of this study, I publish the hitherto unpublished Mt. Adir finds. In addition, I re-examine the previously published sites at Tel Harashim, Sasa, and Horbat ʿAvot. An analysis of these finds indicates that the fortress at Mt. Adir was built as a government center by a local leader who ruled over the Canaanite settlers of the Meron Ridges area during the Iron Age I period.