Abstract:

Buried beneath 5-10 meters of sand dunes in the Gaza Strip lies a Late Bronze Age cemetery that originally contained at least 40 anthropoid clay coffins and large quantities of bronze, faience, and alabaster vessels, figurines, scarabs, jewelry of gold and semiprecious stones, and pottery from Mycenaean Greece, Cyprus, and Egypt, as well as local Canaanite vessels. Unfortunately, most of the graves had been plundered in clandestine digs over the years; some had even been robbed in antiquity. In this report, three excavated anthropoid coffins and their rich funerary offerings receive full publication. The skeletal remains of the nine individuals interred in these coffins are also analyzed. The concluding discussion refers to the larger picture of the cemetery gained through the illicitly dug finds as well as the excavated material. The volume is lavishly illustrated with photographs and line drawings.