The Near East in the Southwest: Essays in Honor of William G. Dever.

AuthorCrowell, Bradley
PositionBook review

The Near East in the Southwest: Essays in Honor of William G. Dever. Edited by BETH ALPERT NAKHAI. The Annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research, vol. 58. Boston: AMERICAN SCHOOLS OF ORIENTAL RESEARCH, 2004. Pp. xiii + 184, illus. $84.95.

The Near East in the Southwest is a tribute by some of William Dever's most accomplished students on the occasion of his retirement from the University of Arizona in 2003. Dever, a well-known figure in Syro-Palestinian archaeology since the 1970s, has never avoided controversy. His interests span from the Early Bronze Age through the Iron Age, and he has passed on his passions to his students. The editor of the volume, Beth Alpert Nakhai, opens the volume with a brief academic biography of the honoree and a list of students who have received the Ph.D. under his supervision. While the contributions range from the Neolithic period through the Iron Age, there is no general introduction to the volume and the contributions are presented in alphabetical order by the author's last name. Here I treat the articles in chronological order.

In "The Birth of the Ancestors: The Meanings of Human Figurines in Near Eastern Neolithic Villages" (chapter 5), Jonathan B. Mabry draws on comparative ethnographic data to present an interpretation of the numerous human figurines from the Neolithic that are typically understood as charms to increase the likelihood of pregnancy or depictions of the "mother goddess." These figurines, which are typically female, are usually found broken in refuse dumps. Mabry suggests that they are depictions of recently deceased ancestors, which were used in rituals performed to contact and consult with the ancestors. Mabry also points out that these rituals emphasized the continuity of lineages and functioned economically to legitimize the family's claim to the inheritance of property.

Alexander H. Joffe's contribution, "Slouching toward Beersheva: Chalcolithic Mortuary Practices in Local and Regional Context" (chapter 3), examines the material remains from Chalcolithic burials and their implications for understanding social organization during this period. There was little social differentiation during the Chalcolithic and society was not well integrated above the village level. Joffe suggests that the few burials of elites are not those of regional chiefs, as is usually theorized. On the basis of the grave goods and their relationship to ritual, Joffe suggests that the Chalcolithic...

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