Lower Galilee during the Iron Age.

• Author: Liebowitz, Harold A.

This comprehensive study of the lower Galilee by Zvi Gal grew out of a small-scale survey that he conducted in the region in the mid-1970s. Drawing upon topographical, ecological, and archaeological data (both survey and excavation), he has produced the most thorough and up-to-date study of the region as a discrete entity.

Gal knows the region and its topography thoroughly from numerous on-site inspections. This is at once a strength and a shortcoming in his presentation. Intimately aware of the geographical features of the region, he fails to recognize the need for ample maps to guide the less geographically sophisticated reader. This problem is apparent from the very first page of his otherwise useful introductory chapter, "Ecological Environment." The only general map is a cluttered fold-out map at p. 118, which notes only a few of the many features discussed, features essential if the reader is to follow his description. A simplified map, such as the one on p. 52, but with the key geographical features cited, would have been helpful. Moreover, in a short paragraph (pp. 9-10), he too briefly informs the reader that the "units of landscape settlement" by which he organizes his study do not necessarily accord with the geographical units just discussed, without adequately explaining his reasons for this deviation.

In chapter two Gal presents the results of his surveys, providing the reader with information about the geological setting, the size, availability, and location of water sources, and previous surveys of each site. However, I would have appreciated also an assessment comparing the results of the various surveys of any given site. To be sure, he notes (p. 63) that the results of the survey at Tel Mador accord with the results of his subsequent excavation of the same site. By contrast, his survey of Beit Gan which yielded Iron II sherds (p. 33) does not accord with the results of my excavation of the same site, which yielded Late Bronze, Iron I, Iron II, Roman, Byzantine, and Mameluke pottery! This discrepancy points out the limits of surveys. They can...