What Are the Stones Whispering?

Ramat Raḥel: 3,000 Years of Forgotten History

Oded Lipschits, Yuval Gadot, Benjamin Arubas, Manfred Oeming

• Publisher: Eisenbrauns
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9781575064987
• eBook ISBN: 9781575064994
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Ancient History
• Index: Social Sciences

The excavations at Ramat Ra?el, just south of Jerusalem, revealed a complex of structures that existed for hundreds of years in which the Kingdom of Judah was a vassal of diverse empires. Over some 500 years, jars bearing seals were stored at the site. The findings throw new light on the late First Temple period and on most of that of the Second Temple. During these centuries Ramat Ra?el was the administrative contact point between Judah and the ruling empires. This is what enabled independent Judean control of Jerusalem and the Temple, and the ability to maintain Jewish identity within Jerusalem almost without outside intervention and supervision. All this came to an end during the Hasmonean revolt.

Table of contents

• Table of Contents
• Preface
• Introduction
• Ramat Raḥel—Excavation Staff 2005–2010
• Chapter One: Strategic Location, Natural Surroundings and Processes in Site Formation
• Chapter Two: The Question of the Site’s Ancient Name
• Chapter Three: History of Research
• Chapter Four: Historical Introduction to the First Building Phase—Judah under Assyrian Rule
• Chapter Five: First Building Phase (Late 8th / Early 7th century BCE)
• Chapter Six: Historical Introduction to the Second Building Phase–Judah under Egyptian and Babylonian Rule
• Chapter Seven: Second Building Phase (Late 7th Century BCE)
• Chapter Eight: Historical Introduction to the Third Building Phase—Judah under Persian Rule
• Chapter Nine: Third Building Phase (Late 6th or 5th Century BCE)
• Chapter Ten: Destruction and Obsolescence of the Administrative Center at Ramat Raḥel
• Chapter Eleven: Fourth Building Phase—The Hasmonean and Early Roman Periods
• Chapter Twelve: Fifth Building Phase—Late Roman and Byzantine Period Settlements
• Chapter Thirteen: Abbasid to Ottoman Periods (660–1517 CE)
• Chapter Fourteen: Coins and Hoards
• Chapter Fifteen: Subterranean Space Surveyin the Southern Ramat Raḥel Hilltop
• Chapter Sixteen: “Landscape Archaeology” in the Western Slopes of Ramat Raḥel
• Chapter Seventeen: Modern Period—the Kibbutz Ramat Raḥel Story
• Conclusion: The Ramat Raḥel Excavations, and a Few Thoughts about the Significance of Archaeology for Understanding the History of Judah
• Endnotes
• Bibliography
• List of Figures