Avraham Biran
[Professor Avraham Biran, formerly Director of the Israel Department of Antiquities, is now Director of the Nelson Glueck School of Biblical Archaeology of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Jerusalem.]
I have often wondered why the Bible speaks with such vehemence of the “sins of Jeroboam.” True, setting up the golden calf at Dan was sin enough to rouse the ire of the prophets and priests. But was that fact sufficient in itself to call for the continuous Biblical denunciations of Jeroboam throughout the history of the northern kingdom? Or perhaps there was more to it than just the setting up of the golden calf. This is one of the questions I am hoping to find an answer to before we finish our excavations at Tel Dan, where we have already been working for nine seasons.
Dan a Prominent City
Tel Dan was a northern frontier post from time immemorial. Founded in the third millennium B.C.E., and originally called Laish, it changed its name when it was conquered by the tribe of Dan in the 12th century B.C.E., and it was when King Jeroboam set up the
BSP 5:1 (Winter 1976) p. 23
golden calf there, after the division of what had been Solomon’s kingdom into Israel and Judea, that it achieved prominence and fame.
Objects found at Tel Dan. (Top left) Scarab of Rameses II, 13th century B.C.E. (Left centre) Roman coins of the 4th century C.E. Bottom left, juglet of the Middle Bronze Age II, about 1800 B.C.E. All other objects of the Israelite period, 11th century B.C.E.: pyxides (on the right and top centre), chalice and oil lamp.
BSP 5:1 (Winter 1976) p. 24
Situated as it is — and always was — on the main trade and military crossroads from the Phoenician coast to Damascus and from the south to Aleppo in Syria, the city was subject to the many vicissitudes that befell the area. This year a significant discovery was made during the fourth week of work. A scarab of Rameses II was found in a probe on the eastern side of the mound. Rameses II passed through this country in about 1285 B.C.E. on his way from Egypt to battle with the Hittites at Kadesh on the Orontes. He left his statues and inscriptions at Nahr el Kalb, north of Beirut. But he must have controlled the whole area. The fact that his scarab was found at Dan may be added proof of his activities, military or commercial, in northern Galilee.
The development of the high place did not cease with Ahab. Another king, Jeroboam II, who also fought the Aramaeans and extended the boundary of the land northward, added to its magnificence. The steps which now form part of the monumental structure were erected in the eighth century B.C.E., probably by Jeroboam II. And the people no doubt flocked to worship at the sanctuary of Dan, first set up by Jeroboam by the springs which feed the river Jordan. Thus the sins of Jeroboam had set a pattern which was elaborated and developed by his successors. The prophets had ample reasons to oppose and condemn the sanctuary at Dan.
The site continued to be hallowed in later periods. Whether the fountain house which was built during the early Roman period is to be associated with the sanctuary we cannot say. This year’s excavations enabled us to study the technical system whereby the water was drawn from the spring through terra cotta pipes into the plastered basin, while the overflow returned to the Dan springs by a covered stone channel.
We found very few objects in this area, but we did uncover a large assemblage of pottery vessels in the southern part of the mound, where we attempted to establish the stratigraphic sequence of the occupation. It was a thrilling experience for the students to come across large jars used for storage, cooking pots, jugs, juglets and chalices, in the various levels of destruction of the city from the 12th to the 10th centuries.
The Tel Dan excavations are sponsored by the Nelson Glueck School of Biblical Archaeology, the Israel Department of Antiquities and the Harvard Semitic Museum. For this summer’s seven-week season we had some 70 students and volunteers from the United States, Canada, England, Holland, South Africa and Australia — as well as, of course, from Israel. Their different backgrounds and languages did nothing to upset the complete harmony of the expedition.
BSP 5:1 (Winter 1976) p. 25
The American contingent had a dramatic introduction to their enterprise when, during their first night in the country early in June, the quiet of Galilee was shattered by the roar of guns and the drone of planes. Perhaps this encounter with present-day life on the northern border not only added excitement to their task but enabled them to view philosophically the history of the site they were about to excavate.
Part of Sacred Enclosure Uncovered
During last year’s dig we had discovered an Israelite horned altar near the steps of the bamah, or high place, which had been excavated in previous seasons. Near the altar we could see an ashlar stone, which seemed to belong to a corner of a building. It occurred to us then that this could be a building connected with the sanctuary of the Israelite period of which the high place was a part. We decided to explore the possibility this year.
Excavation was slow and difficult, because the ashlar stones were covered with a mass of fallen stones and earth from Roman and Hellenistic periods. Our first task, therefore, was to remove the accumulated debris of these later periods. Huge boulders and much earth had to be excavated and carted away, and every detail had to be properly recorded. Nevertheless, the enthusiasm of the students did not lag and they were rewarded when, towards the end of the dig, the stone floor of a relatively large structure was uncovered.
It is eight metres wide and situated about ten metres south of the high place. Unfortunately, none of the walls was found in the area excavated. The stones had been removed during the Roman and Hellenistic periods and used for building elsewhere on the tell. However, the circular base of the columns which had once stood in the centre of the structure could easily be discerned. Could this have been a temple or sanctuary connected with the worship of the golden calf, perhaps related to the small bamot excavated in previous seasons? It is an intriguing possibility. It is more likely, however, that this season we have uncovered the structure through which the people entered the compound of the high place. If the architecture was as elaborate as that found at a later date in other parts of the ancient Near East, we may well have here an authentic propylaeum, a temple entrance. In any event, this structure, which is located in the centre of the courtyard surrounding the high place and faces it, formed part of the fairly large temenos, or sacred enclosure, at Dan, about one and a half dunhams1 in size. It must have served as the main religious centre for the northern kingdom of Israel during the 10th-8th centuries B.C.E.
BSP 5:1 (Winter 1976) p. 26
Dan a Major Religious Center
So far we have not uncovered much from the days of Jeroboam, but it appears that whatever structure he erected was on a modest scale compared with what his successors did, and especially King Ahab. Ahab, who defeated the Aramaeans and established markets in Damascus, no doubt fortified Dan in the middle of the ninth century B.C.E. Probably it was he who built the great city wall and gate uncovered in the southern part of the tell.
Ahab was the mighty king who built the magnificent water systems at Hazor and Megiddo. He apparently decided that the people needed a major religious centre in the north of the country. Dan, which claimed a tradition going back to the days of the Judges, and where Jeroboam had already set up the golden calf, would be an obvious choice. The high place built of ashlar stones laid in headers and stretchers is dated archaeologically to the ninth century B.C.E. The high place was surrounded by a large courtyard of beaten earth and plaster. Smaller bamot, or places where worshippers could congregate, were also built.
Finally, the structure which we uncovered this season and which may have served as the main entrance, was also erected at the same time. The only king who had the means and the power to construct such an imposing complex was Ahab. How the worship was conducted, and what part the golden calf played in it, we cannot tell, but it can be assumed that Ahab’s building activities served to give the cult place even greater importance. Dan became a major religious centre and vied with Jerusalem for the people’s allegiance.
Israelite Remains Found
A level of occupation consisting almost entirely of pits was the main contribution this season to the history of the early settlement of the Israelites on the site. The tribe of Dan, which was still semi-nomadic, seems to have settled in tents or perhaps huts, on the ruins of the Canaanite city of Laish; the people dug pits and silos for storage purposes. A generation or two later, they built well-planned houses in which we have found remains of their rich material culture. At the same time they developed a metal-casting industry to produce bronze objects. In a number of rooms we found crucibles and clay pipes forming part of the bellows for the furnaces.
It will be recalled that when Hiram, King of Tyre, sent Solomon a master craftsman to help him build the Temple and its vessels, Hiram
BSP 5:1 (Winter 1976) p. 27
made a point of saying that the man’s mother was from Dan. Possibly Hiram was trying to tell Solomon that the artisan he was sending brought with him a long established tradition of craftsmanship.
The city that preceded Israelite Dan, Canaanite Laish, had a long history. It reached its zenith in the first half of the second millennium B.C.E. when huge earthen ramparts were built for defense. This season we uncovered remains of buildings of the Middle Bronze Age II (first quarter of the 2nd millennium B.C.E.). Under the floor of one of the buildings was a child buried in a jar. A decorated juglet accompanied the burial. This discovery lends support to our theory that the earthen ramparts were built in the Middle Bronze Age II B, towards the end of the 18th century B.C.E.
(Reprinted from the August 26, 1975 issue of The Jerusalem Post Weekly.)
In the Garden
In a far off garden
The Saviour prayed alone,
‘Neath the shadow of an alive tree
He knelt beside a stone.
In that peaceful garden
The birds were fast asleep,
Who can tell but they awaked
To hear the Saviour weep.
In that lovely garden
‘Twas called Gethsemane,
The earth was stained with blood drops
Beneath the olive tree.
In that lonely garden
He prayed, “Thy will be done.”
Angels came to strengthen Him,
God’s beloved Son.
In that far off garden,
The Saviour knelt in prayer,
Not one of us will ever know
How much He suffered there.
Anne Moore
Copyright 1959 by the Rodeheaver Co.
Used by permission.
BSP 5:1 (Winter 1976) p. 28