Permanent Exhibit
Early Bronze Age I-III (3200 - 2400 B.C.)
The journey begins in the Early Bronze Age. The city of Ur characterized much of what was happening at this time. Urbanism was a major characteristic as city-states were established throughout Mesopotamia and Syria-Palestine. The dawn of urbanism gives way to monumental architecture, art, music, and trade. According to Genesis, this was a time when God called Abraham to leave the city of Ur—during the peak of its power in the Ur III period. Artifacts excavated at Ur demonstrate the rich background that urban inhabitants experienced in this culture. Archaeologists found that soon after this great renaissance, urbanism collapsed. There is no clear explanation of what happened or why the sudden collapse, but one reflects on the biblical story and the timeliness of God's call and Abraham's faith to follow it.
Early Bronze Age IV (2400 - 2000 B.C.)
After the collapse of urbanism, there was a major shift from the city to pastoral and rural life. Ruralism in the Early Bronze IV period meant that many lived in tents, much like the Bedouins of today. Salvage excavations at the cemeteries of Jebel Qa'aqir, 'Ain Samiyah, and Khirbet el-Karmil south of Hebron uncovered hundreds of shaft tombs arranged in straight rows that were dug into the hillside. Most of the tombs contained multiple burials, indicating that they were family tombs. All 46 skeletons excavated at Jebel Qa'aqir were disarticulated, which meant that the bones were not in their proper order. Archaeologists have suggested that as families moved from the highlands into the lowlands in the summer months, the deceased were buried and their bones later returned to the family burial ground. The biblical phrase "to be gathered to ones fathers" is an echo of this practice of secondary burial.
Middle Bronze Age I-II (2000 - 1750 B.C.)
The Middle Bronze Age ushered in a distinct material culture that had crystallized during this period in Canaan. City-states again emerged, boasting complex and massive fortifications, temples, and palaces. One Egyptian scene is taken from the tomb of Khnum-hotep at Beni Hassan and depicts trading Canaanites arriving in Egypt. Their distinct dress and facial features differentiate them from the Egyptians, who are dressed in white linen skirts. The women are wearing clothing over their left shoulders, presumably fastened with a toggle pin. The colorful clothing reminds us of the story of Joseph and his coat of many colors.
A shell plaque found at the city of Mari depicts a woman wearing a garment fastened with a toggle pin. Attached to the pin is a cord connecting to a cylinder seal used for identification and the sealing of documents.
Middle Bronze Age III (1750 - 1550 B.C.)
New urban centers spawned major technological advances as the need for mass-produced goods grew. The fast wheel revolutionized pottery technology. Due to the centrifugal force, it was now possible to work the clay into more elaborate shapes that were thinner and more even and finished in appearance. Carination and sharper edges were now introduced, along with trumpet bases and stands. Metal smiths added tin to bronze for the first time. This “true bronze” enabled production of new, better, and stronger tools and weapons.
Late Bronze Age I-II (1550 - 1300 B.C.)
Canaan was a land bridge that tied major empires together. Merchants and armies crossed its territory to interact with distant polities. Extensive trade routes through its lands made Canaan a corridor of commerce that connected major cities from Mesopotamia to Egypt. Sea routes extended Canaan's international impact, and Canaanites undoubtedly traded grains, olive oil, and pottery for copper from Cyprus, tin from Anatolia and Afghanistan, and luxury ceramic wares from Cyprus and Greece. Using archaeological evidence, researchers can trace the extent of Canaan's economic influence and reconstruct major routes overland and by sea.
Some luxury ceramic wares from Cyprus include milk bowls, Bucchero ware pitchers, Bilbils, “white-shaved” dipper juglets, and Mycenaean wares.
Late Bronze Age III (1300 - 1185 B.C.)
The Late Bronze Age was a period in which several new nations emerged in Canaan: namely, the Israelites and the Philistines. The Israelites are first recognized by the Egyptians during the reign of Merneptah in 1209 B.C., when they are already located in Canaan. The Philistines are described as a people coming from the sea or the Aegean world. Ramses III shows them in ships fighting against the Egyptians and in ox carts moving over land. The Philistines settled the southern coastal plain, occupying five major cities: Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron, Gaza, and Gath. Their vessels in both form and decoration display great similarities to Mycenaean wares, which may be indicators of their place of origin.
Iron Age I (1200 - 1000 B.C.)
The beit ab, or “house of the father,” was the basis of Israelite society. The father ruled over his household, as the king did over the house of Israel, and God over the children of Israel. Under this arrangement, the extended family lived together in one household, or family compound. Life revolved around agrarian activities that included animal husbandry and agriculture.
Weaving was an important aspect of life in Israel and was a skill passed on from mother to daughter from generation to generation. Most of the household cloth was woven from sheep's wool, though more durable goat hair was used for tenting and sackcloth. Raw wool was first spun into yarn with a hand-held spindle. The spindle was weighted with a ceramic weight called a “spindle whorl.” After being spun, the wool would be dyed and woven, using a loom, into cloth of various colors.
Olive oil played a part in almost every aspect of daily life in ancient Israel. It was used as the main source of dietary fat in food preparation, as fuel for lamps, and as a base for cosmetics, perfumes and ointments. It was also used in cultic settings where a priest or king was anointed. Olive trees and grapevines grew well in the hill country. Oil presses have been found at numerous sites, and this valuable commodity was exported throughout the Mediterranean world.
Oil from the first crushing, accomplished by rolling a stone over the olives on a flat rock-cut installation, produces virgin oil, which is extracted by pouring hot water over the crushed olives and skimming off the floating oil. Second-grade oil is produced by pressing the pulp with a beam press.
Iron Age (966 B.C.)
The united monarchy under David and Solomon ushered in a golden age of Israel’s history. David relocated Israel's capital to Jerusalem and under his son, Solomon, extravagant construction took place. The Temple was finished in his fourth year (966 B.C.) and was the crowning achievement of his building activity. The new Temple would be the center of Israel's worship and religion.
The description that the Temple was decorated in “cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers” (1 Kings 6:29) reflects the architecture of the period. Capitals found at Samaria, Megiddo, Hazor, and Ramat Rachel depict the drooping fronds of the palm tree's crown in a stylized manner. The columns beneath them were either square or round and could be understood as the trunk of the tree.
The word used for cherubim in biblical contexts is difficult to define. The cherubim are depicted as guardians to the holy realm of the divine. In Ezekiel's vision, they are described with human and animal features, including the faces of a lion, ox, eagle, and man. They are described with wings and with the soles of a calf's foot. Some scholars have equated these cherubim with the composite creatures found in temple contexts in Cyprus, Phoenicia, and Israel. An ivory plaque from Nimrud depicts such a composite creature among open flowers and palm motifs.
Iron Age IIA (1000 - 900 B.C.)
Solomon's building achievements reached beyond Jerusalem throughout Israel. Three other cities were refortified under his reign, and archaeologists have found the foundations of these gates at Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer. The type of architecture reflects Phoenician influence as found in the biblical description.
The typical six-chambered gates of the 10th century were one of the most secure of the ancient world. Consisting of two towers and four pairs of opposing piers with ends facing each other like the lines of two forks, defenders could position themselves in the towers and in the rooms between the piers with a 6-to-1 firing ratio within the gate tower. But the gate in ancient Israel served several functions beyond fortification. The rooms at Gezer had benches along the walls where the elders of the city could sit and talk and watch people pass by. This is also the place where legal transactions took place, as described in the story recorded in Ruth 4:1-12, where Boaz goes to the city gate of Bethlehem to gather 10 elders to witness their agreement. It was also at the city gate that judgments were often made for the people by the king.
Iron Age IIB (900 - 700 B.C.)
Following Solomon, the united kingdom was divided. Judah remained in the South with Rehoboam, Solomon's son, ruling in Jerusalem. The northern 10 tribes broke off and formed a new coalition. Jeroboam ruled from Samaria and established pagan centers of worship at Dan and Bethel. Beginning in the ninth century B.C., Assyria began a period of major expansion that culminated in the campaign of Sennacherib in 701 B.C. The campaign of the Assyrian king Sennacherib is one of the most widely recorded events in history. The descriptions in Isaiah, Kings, and Chronicles are confirmed by (1) pictorial reliefs of his siege against Lachish, found in Sennacherib's palace at Nineveh, the capitol of Assyria; (2) by several prisms written in cuneiform recording his campaigns against Judah; and (3) excavations at the city of Lachish, which uncovered hundreds of sling stones and arrowheads around the only siege ramp discovered in the ancient Near East.