The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of the Levant c. 8000-332 BCE

This Handbook aims to serve as a research guide to the archaeology of the Levant, an area situated at the crossroads of the ancient world that linked the eastern Mediterranean, Anatolia, Mesopotamia, and Egypt. The Levant as used here is a historical geographical term referring to a large area which today comprises the modern states of Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, western Syria, and Cyprus, as well as the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and the Sinai Peninsula.

Unique in its treatment of the entire region, it offers a comprehensive overview and analysis of the current state of the archaeology of the Levant within its larger cultural, historical, and socio-economic contexts. The Handbook also attempts to bridge the modern scholarly and political divide between archaeologists working in this highly contested region. Written by leading international scholars in the field, it focuses chronologically on the Neolithic through Persian periods - a time span during which the Levant was often in close contact with the imperial powers of Egypt, Anatolia, Assyria, Babylon, and Persia. This volume will serve as an invaluable reference work for those interested in a contextualised archaeological account of this region, beginning with the 'agricultural revolution' until the conquest of Alexander the Great that marked the end of the Persian period.

Margreet L. Steiner, Independent scholar,Ann E. Killebrew, Associate Professor, The Pennsylvania State University

Margreet L. Steiner is an independent scholar in Leiden, The Netherlands. She has, together with Henk Franken, published the results of the large trench of Kenyon's excavations in Jerusalem. For the past thirty years she has participated in or directed excavations in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and the Palestinian Territories. Currently she is co-director of the renewed excavations of tell Abu Sarbut, Jordan. She has published widely on the archaeology of the Levant.


Ann E. Killebrew is an Associate Professor in the Department of Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies and Jewish Studies program at the Pennsylvania State University. She has directed or participated in dozens of excavations in Israel, Turkey, and Egypt during the past thirty-five years. Currently she co-directs the Tel Akko Total Archaeology Project in Israel. She is author of numerous publications relating to archaeology of the Levant, including the award-winning book, Biblical Peoples and Ethnicity: An Archaeological Study of Egyptians, Canaanite, Philistines, and Early Israel 1300 - 1100 B.C.E. (2005).

List of Figures
Introduction, Ann E. Killebrew and Margreet L. Steiner
Section 1: Archaeology of the Levant: Background and definitions
1. Historical geography of the ancient Levant, Matthew J. Suriano
2. Peoples and languages of the Levant during the Bronze and Iron Ages, Holger Gzella
3. History of research, Thomas Davis
4. Levantine chronology, Ilan Sharon
Section 2: The Levant as the crossroads between empires: Egypt, Anatolia, Mesopotamia, and Persia
5. Egypt and the Levant, Gregory D. Mumford
6. Anatolia (Hittites) and the Levant, Horst Klengel
7. Mesopotamia (Assyrians and Babylonians) and the Levant, Tammi J. Schneider
8. Achaemenid Persia and the Levant, Josette Elayi
Section 3: The archaeological record
Subsection 1: The Neolithic period
9. Introduction to the Levant during the Neolithic Period, Bill Finlayson
10. The northern Levant during the Neolithic period: Damascus and Beyond: Neolithic settlement dynamics in Syria and Lebanon, Peter M. M. G. Akkermans
11. The southern Levant (Cisjordan) during the Neolithic period, A. Nigel Goring-Morris and Anna Belfer-Cohen
12. The southern Levant (Transjordan) during the Neolithic period, Alison Betts
13. Cyprus during the Neolithic period, Joanne Clarke
Subsection 2: The Chalcolithic period
14. Introduction to the Levant during the Chalcolithic Period: Regional Perspectives, Thomas E. Levy
15. The northern Levant during the Chalcolithic period: The Lebanese-Syrian Coast, Gassia Artin
16. The southern Levant (Cisjordan) during the Chalcolithic period, Yorke M. Rowan
17. The southern Levant (Transjordan) during the Chalcolithic period: Jordan (c. 4500-3500 BC), Zeidan A. Kafafi
18. Cyprus during the Chalcolithic period, Edgar J. Peltenburg
Subsection 3: The Early and Internediate Bronze Ages
19. Introduction to the Levant during the Early Bronze Age, Raphael Greenberg
20. The northern Levant (Syria) during the Early Bronze Age, Lisa Cooper
21. The northern Levant (Lebanon) during the Early Bronze Age, Hermann Genz
22. The southern Levant (Cisjordan) during the Early Bronze Age, Pierre de Miroschedji
23. The southern Levant (Transjordan) during the Early Bronze Age, Suzanne Richard
24. Cyprus during the Early Bronze Age, Jennifer M. Webb
25. The northern Levant during the Intermediate Bronze Age: Altered trajectories, Harvey Weiss
26. The southern Levant during the Intermediate Bronze Age, Kay Prag
Subsection 4: The Middle Bronze Age
27. Introduction to the Levant during the Middle Bronze Age, Aaron A. Burke
28. The northern Levant (Syria) during the Middle Bronze Age, Daniele Morandi Bonacossi
29. The northern Levant (Lebanon) during the Middle Bronze Age, Hanan Charaf
30. The southern Levant (Cisjordan) during the Middle Bronze Age, Susan L. Cohen
31. The southern Levant (Transjordan) during the Middle Bronze Age, Stephen J. Bourke
32. Cyprus during the Middle Bronze Age, David Frankel
Subsection 5: The Late Bronze Age
33. Introduction to the Levant during Late Bronze Age, E. Susan Sherratt
34. The northern Levant (Syria) during the Late Bronze Age: Small kingdoms between the supra-regional empires of the international age, Marta Luciani
35. The northern Levant (Lebanon) during the Late Bronze Age, Marlies Heinz and Sabina Kulemann-Ossen
36. The southern Levant (Cisjordan) during the Late Bronze Age, Nava Panitz-Cohen
37. The southern Levant (Transjordan) during the Late Bronze Age, Peter M. Fischer
38. Cyprus during the Late Bronze Age, Louise Steel
Subsection 6: The Iron Age I period
39. Introduction to the Levant during the Transitional Late Bronze Age/Iron Age I and Iron Age I periods, Ann E. Killebrew
40. The northern Levant during the Iron Age I period, Helene Sader
41. The southern Levant (Cisjordan) during the Iron Age I period, Ayelet Gilboa
42. The southern Levant (Transjordan) during the Iron Age I period, Larry G. Herr
43. Cyprus during the Iron Age I period (Late Cypriot IIC IIIA): Settlement Pattern crisis (LC IIC IIIA) to the restructuring (LC IIIB) of its settlement pattern, Maria Iacovou
Subsection 7: The Iron Age II period
44. Introduction to the Levant during the Iron Age II period, Margreet L. Steiner
45. The Aramean states during the Iron Age II-III periods, Stefania Mazzoni
46. Phoenicia during the Iron Age II period, Maria Eugenia Aubet
47. Philistia during the Iron Age II period, David Ben-Shlomo
48. Israel during the Iron Age II period, Ann E. Killebrew
49. Judah during the Iron Age II period, James W. Hardin
50. Ammon during the Iron Age II period, Randall W. Younker
51. Moab during the Iron Age II period, Margreet L. Steiner
52. Edom during the Iron Age II period, Piotr Bienkowski
53. Cyprus during the Iron Age through the Persian period: From the eleventh century BC to the abolition of the city-kingdoms (c. 300 BC), Maria Iacovou
54. The Levant during the Babylonian period, Jeffrey R. Zorn
55. The Levant during the Persian period, Gunnar Lehmann
Index