Abstract:

Qedem Reports 4 is the first volume of the final reports of the large-scale excavations conducted by the Institute of Archaeology of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem at Bet Shean-Scythopolis between 1980 and 1996. The present study constitutes the full publication of the local and imported clay lamps, lamp molds, bronze lamps and clay lanterns found by the expedition, ranging in date from the Hellenistic to the Mamluk periods. The volume opens with a short introduction to the excavations at Bet Shean, illustrated with plans and photographs, which places the lamps in their historical and stratigraphic context. Of approximately 2800 classifiable lamps and fragments found in the excavations, 534 are illustrated and discussed within the typological framework, and statistics are given for the different typological groups. The importance of this assemblage lies first and foremost in its having been found in an archaeological excavation, allowing most of the lamps to be dated on the basis of the contexts in which they were found. Some of the types have been discovered only at Bet Shean and lack parallels at other sites in Palestine or neighboring countries, while others attest to connections with other parts of the region that vary from period to period. The final chapter is dedicated to examining the connections between lamp finds from Bet Shean and different regions in Palestine, and the connections with the neighboring countries of Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Egypt.