Between the Highland Polity and Philistia: The United Monarchy and the Resettlement of the Shephelah in the Iron Age IIA, with a Special Focus on Tel ʿEton and Khirbet Qeiyafa

Abstract

The Shephelah, one of Judah’s 8th century b.c.e. settlement hubs, was sparsely settled during the Iron Age I, when only a small Canaanite enclave survived in its eastern part. The resettlement of the Shephelah, beginning during the Iron Age I–II transition and lasting over 200 years, was a complex process that had two different facets. The first, better-known facet is the gradual establishment of dozens of new sites, the vast majority of which had clear connections to the highlands polity (e.g., Lachish, Tel Zayit, Tel Burna). The second, less-discussed facet is the transformations experienced by the few settlements that existed in the region in the Iron Age I, most notably Tell Beit Mirsim, Beth-Shemesh, Tel ʿEton, and Tel Halif. After presenting background data, the article will offer a detailed reconstruction of the processes through which the Shephelah became part of the highland polity, with a special focus on Tel ʿEton and on the enigmatic, earlier, and short-lived site of Khirbet Qeiyafa. The paper will conclude with a detailed refutation of the recent suggestion that the small Iron Age I Canaanite enclave that existed in the eastern Shephelah developed into a large Iron Age IIA Canaanite polity.