This book presents the final report of the excavations at Yotvata, the largest oasis in the Arabah Valley, conducted by the Sonia and Marco Nadler Institute of Archaeology of Tel Aviv University in 1974-1980 under the direction of Dr. Ze?ev Meshel. The report covers two central sites: a fortified Iron I site and an Early Islamic settlement. The Iron I remains consist of an irregular casemate wall surrounding a courtyard. The location of this site suggests that the settlement was established in order to protect the water sources and to overlook and supervise the nearby crossroads. Based on the relative proximity of the site to Timna, it may be concluded that the oasis formed the main source of water and wood for the population involved in copper production in that region. The rich finds uncovered at the Early Islamic settlement-including a large courtyard building and a nearby bathhouse, among other structures-point to habitation from the end of the seventh to the early ninth century CE. The proximity of the settlement to a sophisticated irrigation system (qanat) and the administrative/economic ostraca discovered at the site suggest that it served as the center of an agricultural estate owned by an elite Muslim family. Among the unique finds is a large assemblage of locally produced, handmade pottery, which is thoroughly studied here. The findings from the excavations at the Yotvata oasis have made a major contribution to the study of Early Islamic settlement and material culture in the greater Arabah region and beyond.
Lily Singer-Avitz is Recorder and Pottery Researcher at Tel Aviv University. She is the author of Beer-Sheba III: The Early Iron IIA Enclosed Settlement and the Late Iron IIA-Iron IIB Cities, also published by Eisenbrauns, as well as numerous scholarly articles. Etan Ayalon is an expert in ethno-archaeology and the material culture of the Land of Israel and has curated a variety of exhibitions in Israeli museums. He has participated in more than eighty archaeological excavations and archaeological and ethnographic surveys in Israel and published numerous books and papers.
Preface Chapter 1. Introduction: The Yotvata Oasis Ze'ev Meshel SECTION I: YOTVATA HILL-THE IRON I "FORTRESS" AND OTHER REMAINS Lily Singer-Avitz Part I: The Site in Context Chapter 2. Yotvata: A "Fortress" on a Road Junction Uzi Avner Part II: Architectural Remains Chapter 3. The Excavations and Architectural Components Lily Singer-Avitz Part III: Artifacts Chapter 4. The Pottery Assemblage of the Iron I Lily Singer-Avitz Chapter 5. Petrographic Analysis of the Iron I Pottery David Ben-Shlomo Chapter 6. The Ceramic Finds from the Nabataean Built Tomb Tali Erickson-Gini Chapter 7. The Chipped Stone Collections: Lithic Perspectives on an Oasis Site in the Arabah Steven A. Rosen Chapter 8. Shell Artifacts Daniella E. Bar-Yosef Mayer Chapter 9. Two Bone Objects Etan Ayalon Chapter 10. Ostrich Eggshells Lily Singer-Avitz Chapter 11. Ground Stone Tools Aaron Greener Chapter 12. Worked Wooden Objects from the Iron I Yigal Sitry Chapter 13. A Wood Coffin from the Nabataean Built Tomb Yigal Sitry Chapter 14. Cords and Basketry from the Iron I and Textiles from the Nabataean Built Tomb Naama Sukenik and Orit Shamin Part IV: Ecofacts Chapter 15. Archaeobotanical Remains from the Iron I "Fortress" and the Nabataean Built Tomb Nili Liphschitz Chapter 16. Charcoal Samples from the Chalcolithic/Early Bronze I Settlement Mark Cavanagh, Mordechay Benzaquen and Dafna Langgut Chapter 17. Dendroarchaeological Report on the Coffin from the Nabataean Built Tomb Mordechay Benzaquen, Mark Cavanagh and Dafna Langgut Chapter 18. Iron I and Chalcolithic/Early Bronze I Fauna Liora Kolska Horwitz Chapter 19. Radiocarbon Dates Israel Carmi, Dror Segal, Linda Scott Cummings, Peter Kovacik and Uzi Avner Part V: Concluding Remarks Chapter 20. Masosoeboth (Standing Stones) in Gates Uzi Avner Chapter 21. Summary and Conclusions Lily Singer-Avitz Addendum: Later Excavations in the Nabataean Built Tomb Uzi Avner List of Loci SECTION II: THE EARLY ISLAMIC SETTLEMENT Etan Ayalon Part VI: Architectural Remains Chapter 22. Architecture and Stratigraphy Etan Ayalon Part VII: Artifacts Chapter 23. The Pottery Itamar Taxel Chapter 24. Perfecting Local Production of Desert Pottery: Petrographic Analysis of Early Islamic Wares Paula Waiman-Barak and Willie Ondricek Chapter 25. Stone and Metal Objects Itamar Taxel Chapter 26. Glass Finds Ruth E. Jackson-Tal Chapter 27. The Ostraca Nitzan Amitai-Preiss with an Appendix by Itamar Taxel Chapter 28. The Coins Nitzan-Amitai-Preiss and Ariel Berman Chapter 29. Textiles, Textile Impressions and a Plait Orit Shamir Part VIII: Ecofacts Chapter 30. Identification of Dyes Naama Sukenik, Zohar Amar and David Iluz Chapter 31. Archaeobotanical Remains from the Early Islamic Site Nili Liphschitz Chapter 32. Faunal Remains Vered Kishon and Shlomo Hellwing Chapter 33. Molluscs Henk K. Mienis Part IX: Concluding Remarks Chapter 34. Discussion and Conclusions Itamar Taxel, Ze'ev Meshel and Etan Ayalon List of Loci
