Ashkelon 1: Introduction and Overview.

• Author: Uziel, Joe
• Position: Book review

Ashkelon 1: Introduction and Overview. Edited by LAWRENCE E. STAGER, J. DAVID SCHOLEN, and DANIEL M. MASTER. The Leon Levy Expedition. Winona Lake, Indiana: EISENBRAUNS, 2008. Pp. xvi + 708, illus. $125.

The ancient site of Ashkelon is one of the most prominent and important tells in the southern Levant. Located along the coast, between Ashdod and Gaza, it is one of the largest sites in the region, and has been meticulously excavated by the Leon Levy Expedition for over twenty years, under the direction of Lawrence E. Stager and his students. The present volume is the first of a projected ten volumes (note that the second volume on imported Roman and Late Roman pottery has also already appeared) that will be published on the findings of the first phase of the Ashkelon excavations. While the project at the site continues, the publication of reports of the first twenty years of finds will certainly enlighten archaeologists on the city's glorious past. Publication of archaeological excavations is a difficult and tedious task (and all the more so for such a large excavation), and the completion of such a report should be commended in and of itself.

This volume is very well edited, and the high quality of illustrations, including color photos, maps, and sections provides visual aids at a level which is not usually encountered in archaeological reports. The inclusion of studies published elsewhere is welcome, as it brings these into the general context of research on the site. The volume is divided into eight parts, which can further be divided roughly into four main topics: background on the site, methodology of the expedition, a stratigraphic overview, and studies on choice finds.

The background studies on the site, included in the first two parts (ten chapters), present studies on Ashkelon and its natural setting, as well as archaeological research conducted at the site beyond the current expedition (underwater surveys, regional surveys, past excavations). By providing information beyond that obtained by their excavations, the authors have set the stage for a better understanding of the site itself. Informative studies are provided on the inhabitants of the city, its physical environment, the settlements surrounding the site, the water sources available to the inhabitants, and some of the occupations that those inhabitants may have been involved in.

The presentation of early maps and records (F. L. Koucky) is quite interesting, although the...