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Iron Age Chronology
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Iron Age Chronology
Introduction
Biblical scholars, biblical historians and archaeologists have long been engaged in a
fierce debate on the nature of the United Monarchy of Early Israel. One of the main
issues of this debate has been the identification of strata that may be correlated
with the tenth century BCE. A summary of Israel Finkelstein's views on Iron Age
chronology, known as the Low Chronology, and especially on the role of Megiddo in
the chronology debate follows (see
bibliography and
articles sections).
The debate on the chronology of the Iron Age strata focuses on the finds
uncovered at several sites, the most important of which is Megiddo. Megiddo's key
role in the debate results from its multi-period stratigraphy and historical importance.
The critical layer at Megiddo is Stratum VA-IVB, which scholars long contended was
the Solomonic city. Finkelstein argues that much of the tenth century is represented
by Stratum VIA. At the time of Stratum VIA Megiddo was a significant settlement
with rather impressive buildings. Its material culture featured second millennium,
Canaanite characteristics. The city of Stratum VIA was annihilated in a terrible
conflagration that has become a marker in the stratigraphy of the site. According to
the Low Chronology system, Stratum VA-IVB, with its two ashlar palaces, should be
dated to the first half of the ninth century BCE.
Sparking the debate is the fact that there is not a single chronological anchor (that
is, a find carrying an absolute date, such as an inscription mentioning an Egyptian
pharaoh), between the end of the Egyptian 20th Dynasty rule in Canaan in the late
twelfth century BCE and the Assyrian campaigns in the late eighth century BCE. This
"Dark Age" of over four centuries covers most of Iron Age I, the days of the biblical
United Monarchy and most of the history of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Though
some inscriptions from this period have been discovered (the Mesha Stele from Dibon,
the fragment of a Shishak Stele from Megiddo and the Aramaic inscription from Tel
Dan), they were not found in clear stratigraphical contexts; hence they cannot
provide straight forward evidence for dating pottery assemblages of the Iron Age.
The Traditional View
Though lacking dateable anchors, archaeologists sought to identify tenth
century BCE strata throughout the country. "Solomonic Megiddo," with its
elaborate ashlar (dressed-stone) palaces, and the "Solomonic" four-entry
gates at Megiddo, Hazor, and Gezer, long ago became celebrated
case-studies in biblical archaeology. However, this widely accepted
chronological construct is a classic case of circular reasoning.
The archaeology of the tenth-ninth centuries BCE was born at Megiddo and has
remained focused on that site ever since the 1920s. The first step was the
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Remains of the Megiddo stables.
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attribution of Stratum IV to the days of Solomon, based on the connection the
University of Chicago's team made between the biblical references to the building
activity of Solomon at Megiddo (1 Kings 9:15), the mention of Solomonic cities
for chariots and horsemen (1 Kings 9:19) and the set of pillared buildings
uncovered at the site and identified as stables.
Soundings undertaken by Yadin in the 1960s brought about changes in the
stratigraphy and chronology of Iron Age Megiddo. The pillared buildings were linked
to Stratum IVA, which was dated to the period of the Omride Dynasty of Northern
Israel. The Solomonic city was identified with the preceding stratum, VA-IVB,
characterized by two ashlar palaces. Yadin's new order was based on the similarity
of the four-entry gates at Megiddo, Hazor, and Gezer, and the mention of
Solomon's building activities in these places in 1 Kings 9:15. He argued that the
gates represent a master plan designed by Solomon's architects. This means that
the whole structure of the conventional dating of the Iron II strata rests on a single
biblical verse.
The foundations of Yadin's dating, which seemed solid in the 1960s, were built on
shaky ground.
First, general considerations regarding Iron Age archaeology have made it difficult
to accept the conventional dating system: Territorial states emerged in the Levant
only in the ninth century BCE; Jerusalem failed to provide evidence for a great tenth
century United Monarchy, archaeological surveys have shown that 10th century
Judah was a sparsely settled region, etc.
Second, Ussishkin has shown that the four-entry gate at Megiddo should be affiliated
with Stratum IVA, later than Solomon's day even according to the prevailing chronology.
Third, similar gates were found in late Iron Age II contexts (at Lachish, Tel 'Ira and
Ashdod), and outside the borders of the supposed Solomonic state (at Philistine
Ashdod and at a site in Moab).
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Fourth, historians and biblical scholars have become more and more skeptical
about the biblical materials which describe the days of the United Monarchy.
Many scholars argue that the stories of King Solomon draw a picture of an idyllic
"Golden Age" and that the description of his time is filled with theological and
ideological goals, as well as historical realities of the time of the authors.
Accordingly, 1 Kings 9:15 could have reflected the memory in late-monarchic
Jerusalem, that Megiddo, Hazor, and Gezer had been the main
administrative centers of the Northern Kingdom in the lowlands, a memory
that was appended to the description of Solomon's kingdom.
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The four-entry gate at Megiddo.
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The Low Chronology
The Low Chronology system lowers the dates of the eleventh-ninth century
strata by 50-100 years.
There are two direct supports to this chronological construct. The first emerged
from Ussishkin and Woodhead's excavations at nearby Tel Jezreel. The pottery
assemblage from the compound, safely dated to the time of the Omride Dynasty,
was found to be similar to that of Stratum VA-IVB at Megiddo. Thus, the two sites
were destroyed at the same time, most probably in the mid-ninth century.
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Destruction debris of the Stratum VIA city at Megiddo.
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Remains of the Omride enclosure at Jezreel.
Ashlar blocks from the southern palace at Megiddo; note the mason's marks.
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The second clue comes from Samaria — the capital of the Northern Kingdom. As
noticed by Clarence Fisher, who excavated at Megiddo in the 1920s, John
Crowfoot, who excavated at Samaria in the 1930s, and Norma Franklin of the
current Megiddo Expedition, the building techniques in the southern palace of
Stratum VA-IVB at Megiddo resemble those traced in the palace of the kings of
Israel at Samaria. Most noteworthy, ashlar blocks used in the construction of the two buildings carry
identical mason's marks. This means that the two buildings—the Megiddo
palace conventionally dated to the tenth century and the Samaria palace built in
the ninth century BCE—were constructed at the same time, possibly by the same
team of masons. The biblical testimony that Samaria was built by the Omrides (in
the first half of the ninth century BCE) is supported by Assyrian sources, which
refer to the Northern Kingdom as bit omri, that is, they name the kingdom after
the founder of its capital.
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Radiocarbon Results
A relatively large number of short-lived samples (e.g., seeds and olive pits) from
several sites involved in the tenth-century debate have been tested. The readings
support the Low Chronology.
A series of short-lived samples from Stratum VIA at Megiddo—the city long believed
to have prospered in the eleventh century BCE—gave dates that cluster decades
later, in the tenth century BCE. Short-lived samples from other contemporary strata
in the north also provided measurements which are "lower" than the conventional
dating system.
Measurement of samples from several strata which represent the Megiddo VA-IVB
horizon provided dates in the 9th century BCE; they are summarized in the table
below:
14C dates for late Iron IIA strata in the north
| Site |
Dates |
| Hazor IX |
895-805/825-790 |
| Rosh Zayit IIa |
895-835/910-840 |
| Rehov IV |
877-840 |
| Dor 8b in Area D2 |
890-820 |
Megiddo H-5
(a phase of VA-IVB) |
900-805
1005-925 |
| Aphek X-8 |
832-800 |
Results from Tel Rehov, which were conceived as supportive of the conventional
dating, in fact back the Low Chronology. The last layer at Rehov characterized by
Iron IIA pottery assemblage (Stratum IV) came to an end in a big fire. Samples from
this stratum gave dates in the first half of the ninth century BCE. The contemporary
layer at Megiddo—that is, the stratum which closes the Iron IIA sequence—is
Stratum VA-IVB.
Conclusions
To sum-up, according to the Low Chronology, strata previously dated to the second
half of the eleventh century BCE, such as Megiddo VIA and Beth-shean Upper VI,
should be dated to the tenth century BCE (mainly its first half). And strata dated
to the 10th century BCE and associated with the United Monarchy of King Solomon,
such as Megiddo VA-IVB and Hazor X, should be down dated to the first half of the
ninth century BCE and associated with the Omride Dynasty of the Northern Kingdom.
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;)