Ekron Temple Ritual Bowls & Storage Pots (850-720 BCE)
Ekron was an unfortified Bronze Age town which was destroyed and then settled by the Philistines in 1150 BCE, taken over by the Israelites in 975 BCE, sieged and taken over by Assyrian king Sennacherib in 730 BCE, and then destroyed by the Babylonians around 600 BCE. This temple complex seems to have been some sort of sacred space during the Philistine, Israelite, and Assyrian periods.
For translation methodology see: How to Translate Alphabetic Akkadian Texts
The 50 year long Great Drought of 1180 to 1140 BCE (Iron Age 1 period) is what ended the Bronze Age and the 5-year long Elijah drought of 845-840 BCE. The yellow gives the tree pollen level while the green gives the non-tree pollen level. (Langut and Finkelsein 2013)
Droughts Defined the Archaeological Periods in the Levant
(April 2, 2022) Droughts separate the archaeological periods in the Levant. States weakened by local droughts were often subject to raids right after the droughts by Mesopotamian empires which were unaffected due to their irrigation. Below is the latest widely accepted chronology proposed by Amihai Mazar in 2014 shown below:
Droughts According to Drought Chart
- 1180-1140 BCE - Great Drought
- 980 BCE
- 845-840 BCE - Elijah Drought
- 732 BCE - led to Assyrian invasion
- 605 BCE - led to Babylonian invasion
References
Langut, D. Finkelsein, I, Litt, T. (2013) Climate and the Late Bronze Collapse: New Evidence from the Levant. Tel Aviv 40:149-175. Online at https://www.academia.edu/6053886/Climate_and_the_Late_Bronze_Collapse_New_Evidence_from_the_Southern_LevantMazar, Amihai (2005) The Debate over the Chronology of the Iron Age in the Southern Levant: its History, the Current Situation and a Suggested Resolution. pp. 15-30 in: T. Levy and T. Higham (editors), The Bible and Radiocarbon Dating - Archaeology, Text and Science. London. Online at: https://www.academia.edu/2632501/The_Debate_over_the_Chronology_of_the_Iron_Age_in_the_Southern_Levant_its_History_the_Current_Situation_and_a_Suggested_Resolution_2005
Druid Spirals on Philistine Drinking Bowl From Ekron (1150-1100 BCE)
Druid Spirals on Philistine Drinking Pot from Hazor/Azor (1150-1100 BCE)
Non-Spiral Philistine Drinking Bowl (1150-1100 BCE)
Early Israelite Ekron Pottery Fragment (840 BCE)
(April, 22, 2023) This pottery fragment was found in a deep floor layer a storage room in the temple. Its letters are in style of Jerusalem tablet so it dates to the time of the Elijah drought (840 BCE).
Translation in Akkadian
(Read right to left. Capital letters on seal. Small letters are inferred Inner vowels. Verb is italic bold)- Ḫu Mu LaKu (Levant Text 37.4)
(Dual use letters are E/H, I/Y, U/W, and '/A in which vowel appears at beginning of words except for Yahu which is keeping its traditional Hebrew transliteration)
In English
- Hu makes weak the fertility-fluids
Hebrew Translation Attempt
The discovery publication (Gitin, Dothan, and Naveh, 1997) also assigned the letters as ḪMLK. From this they saw the name “Ahimelek” even though the letter "A" is not there.
References
Gitin, S., Dothan, T., and Naveh, J. (1997) "A Royal Dedicatory Inscription from Ekron," Israel Exploration Journal 47: 1-18
Ekron Temple Pottery Shard In Which Some Involvement Is Collapsing Nourishments (730 BCE)
(April 22, 2022) This pottery shard was found in temple support building 654 room E shown above. The temple had 5 support buildings in the elite zone of the city.
Translation in Akkadian
(read right to left)- D [2 letters] Bu (Levant 37.1.1)
- Ku QaPu Bu (Levant 37.1.2)
In English
- [2 words] nourishments
- Involvement is collapsing the nourishments
The discovery publication (Gitin and Ahituv, 2015) identified these letters as:
- B
- MṢRB
After a convoluted line of reasoning in which they changed two letters they claimed it meant "double gift."
References
Gitin, Seymour; and Ahituv, Shmuel (2015) Two New Cultic Inscriptions from Seventh-Century B.C.E. Ekron. Online at: https://www.academia.edu/19785649/Two_New_Cultic_Inscriptions_from_Seventh-Century_B.C.E._Ekron
Ekron Temple Ritual Bowl 2 (720 BCE)
(April 22, 2023) This pottery shard was found in temple support building 654 room E shown above. The temple had 5 support buildings in the elite zone of the city.
Translation in Akkadian
(Read right to left. Capital letters on seal. Small letters are inferred Inner vowels. Verb is italic bold)- TaṢû Ru IWu (Levant Text 37.2)
(Dual use letters are E/H, I/Y, U/W, and '/A in which vowel appears at beginning of words except for Yahu which is keeping its traditional Hebrew transliteration)
In English
- For pushing-away the eagle-vultures of redirection
Hebrew Translation Attempt
The discovery publication (Gitin and Ahituv, 2015) identified these letters as TŠRYM. All are correct except for the last letter. The /s/ letter is Ṣ in Alphabetic Akkadian and not the Š as it would be in Hebrew (Shibboleth change in Judges chapter 12).
The discovery authors could not give a Hebrew translation with these letters but instead arbitrary stated these letters formed one word and that word “should be equated” with the Hebrew word TŠWRE meaning “an interview fee.”
References
Gitin, Seymour, and Ahituv, Shmuel (2015) Two New Cultic Inscriptions from Seventh-Century B.C.E. Ekron. Online at: https://www.academia.edu/19785649/Two_New_Cultic_Inscriptions_from_Seventh-Century_B.C.E._Ekron
Ekron Temple Ritual Bowl 3 (720 BCE)
(April 22, 2023) This ritual bowl was found in a storage room of the temple.
Translation in Akkadian
(Read right to left. Capital letters on seal. Small letters are inferred Inner vowels. Verb is italic bold)- Bu Ne'u NuTu (Levant Text 37.3)
(Dual use letters are E/H, I/Y, U/W, and '/A in which vowel appears at beginning of words except for Yahu which is keeping its traditional Hebrew transliteration)
In English
- Nourishments for affecting the pruning (network editing)