As mentioned previously, on May 4-6, 2016, a field workshop was conducted by center members and guests at sites in NE Israel, relevant to the study of the interaction between Israel and Aram during the Iron Age.
The workshop included visits to the following sites:
Day 1:
Tel En Gev (guided by Assaf Kleiman)
Tel Hadar (guided by Assaf Kleiman)
Tel Dan (guided by Yifat Thareani)
In the evening, we conducted a short seminar on the Iron Age inscriptions from various sites in the region led by Esti Eshel
Day 2:
Hazor ((guided by Amnon Ben-Tor)
Tel Kinrot (guided by Amit Dagan)
Bethsaida (guided by Vanessa Workman)
Abel Beth Maacha (guided by Nava Panitz Cohen)
Day 3:
Rehov (guided by Nava Panitz Cohen)
At the sites and in between, the group members conducted excellent discussions (at times, quite passionately) on various issues related to archaeology, historical geography, Bible, ancient near east and other related topics. These vibrant discussions made it clear that the questions and issues related to the interactions between Israel and Aram during the Iron Age – and even the very definition of when a site can be related to a specific ethnicity/culture and what are the parameters for such definitions, are far from explicitly understood.
The very definitions of ethnonyms/cultural groups such as the Geshurites and Maachites are far from clear and need to be thoroughly studied – something we hope to continue to do in future Center activities.
Finally, it should be stated that all participants agreed that the format of the workshop – visits to sites and intense discussions along with is a format which was very successful p- and we hope to conduct additional, similar workshops in the future.
Here are some pictures of the workshop and members during the trip – taken by Maria Enukhina from the Safi team. Do notice the picture of the flower taken on Tel Abel – the Iris Mesopotamica – which is called in Hebrew איריס ארם נהריים – fitting for a group looking for Arameans.