The Secret in the Desert: Preliminary Conclusions from the Excavation of a Unique Burial Complex in the Negev Highlands

Abstract In the course of a salvage excavation in the centre of the Negev highlands, near Tlalim Junction and Kibbutz Tlalim, a unique burial site dated to the middle of the first millennium BCE was discovered. The site appears to be located at the head of an ancient crossroad, and it seems that for generations it was used for communal graves and associated burial rituals carried out by travellers. Dozens of burials were found in the structures, along with an extraordinary wealth of special finds, most of which date to the middle of the first millennium BCE, from the end of the Iron II and the beginning of the Persian period. The site opens a gateway to multidisciplinary research related to identifying the origin of the finds, identifying the source of the burials and those interred, understanding its ritual significance, understanding the manner of burial and identifying ancient trade routes.

[1]  A. Bounia.  All Things Arabia: Arabian Identity and Material Culture , 2022, Journal of Arabian Studies.

[2]  P. P. Creasman,et al.  The Temple of the Winged Lions, Petra , 2021, Near Eastern Archaeology.

[3]  W. Zimmerle.  Frankincense and Its Arabian Burner , 2020, All Things Arabia.

[4]  Benjamin W. Porter,et al.  Assembling the Iron Age Levant: The Archaeology of Communities, Polities, and Imperial Peripheries , 2016 .

[5]  M. Pearson.  The stone tools , 2014 .

[6]  T. Erickson-Gini.  Nabataean Settlement and Self-Organized Economy in the Central Negev: Crisis and renewal , 2010 .

[7]  L. Kovács.  Vulvae, Eyes, Snake Heads: Archaeological Finds of Cowrie Amulets , 2008 .

[8]  Mary Beth D. Trubitt.  The Production and Exchange of Marine Shell Prestige Goods , 2003 .

[9]  E. Yamauchi.  Archaeology of the Land of the Bible II: The Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian Periods (732–332 B.C.E.) , 2003, Bulletin for Biblical Research.

[10]  L. Singer-Avitz,et al.  Beersheba – A Gateway Community in Southern Arabian Long-Distance Trade in the Eighth Century B.C.E. , 1999 .

[11]  J. Hassell.  Alabaster Beehive‐Shaped Vessels from the Arabian Peninsula: Interpretations from a Comparative Study of Characteristics, Contexts and Associated Finds , 1997 .

[12]  M. Haiman.  Early Bronze Age IV Settlement Pattern of the Negev and Sinai Deserts: View from Small Marginal Temporary Sites , 1996, Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research.

[13]  M. Haiman.  Cairn Burials and Cairn Fields in the Negev , 1992, Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research.

[14]  D. S. Reese.  THE TRADE OF INDO-PACIFIC SHELLS INTO THE MEDITERRANEAN BASIN AND EUROPE , 1991 .

[15]  W. Dever,et al.  Preliminary Report of the Second Season of the "Central Negev Highlands Project" , 1978, Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research.

[16]  W. F. Albright.  The Chronology of the Minaean Kings of Arabia , 1953, Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research.

[17]  Tsoming N. Shiah.  The Date of Certain Egyptian Stratified Eye-Beads of Glass , 1944, American Journal of Archaeology.

[18]  M. Schilder,et al.  Prodrome of a monograph on living Cypraeidae , 1938 .

[19]  G. Eisen.  The Characteristics of Eye Beads from the Earliest Times to the Present , 1916, American Journal of Archaeology.

[20]  J. Zias,et al.  Ancient Dentistry in the Eastern Mediterranean: A Brief Review* , 2016 .

[21]  A. Golani.  Jewelry from the Iron Age II Levant , 2013 .

[22]  Izak Cornelius.  Corpus der Stempelsiegel-Amulette aus Palästina/Israel: Von den Anfängen bis zur Perserzeit: Katalog Band IV: Von Tel Gamma bis Chirbet Husche, O. Keel : book review , 2013 .

[23]  S. Sidebotham,et al.  The late Roman harbor temple of Berenike. Results of the 2010 season of excavations , 2013 .

[24]  C. Naeser.  Nomads at the Nile. Towards an archaeology of interaction , 2012 .

[25]  L. Weeks,et al.  Death and burial in Arabia and beyond : multidisciplinary perspectives , 2010 .

[26]  A. Lemaire.  Chronologie sabéenne et minéenne et histoire du Proche-Orient , 2010 .

[27]  A. Agostini,et al.  Excavations of the Italian Archaeological Mission in Yemen: a Minaean necropolis at Barāqish (Wādī Jawf) and the Qatabanian necropolis of Ḥayd bin ‘Aqīl (Wādī Bayḥān). , 2010 .

[28]  J. Studer,et al.  Camel use in the Petra region, Jordan: 1st century BC to 4th century AD , 2008 .

[29]  D. Graf.  The Nabateans in the Early Hellenistic Period : The Testimony of Posidippus of Pella , 2006 .

[30]  Mikhal Dayagi-Mendeles.  The Akhziv cemeteries : the Ben-Dor excavations, 1941-1944 , 2002 .

[31]  J. Ryckmans.  François Bron Inventaire des Inscriptions sudarabiques. Tome 3 : Ma'In. Fasc. A : Les documents , 2001 .

[32]  Andrey Korotayev.  Ancient Yemen: Some General Trends of the Evolution of the Sabaic Language and Sabaean Culture , 1995 .

[33]  C. Andrews.  Amulets of ancient Egypt , 1994 .

[34]  A. Curtis.  Material culture of the land of the Bible in the Persian period 538-332 B.C. Ephraim Stern, English edition published by Aris & Phillips Ltd, Warminster, 1982, pp. xix + 287 , 1986 .

[35]  G. Clark.  Symbols of Excellence: Precious Materials as Expressions of Status , 1986 .

[36]  S. S. Weinberg,et al.  Material Culture of the Land of the Bible in the Persian Period, 538-332 B. C. , 1984 .

[37]  M. Puhvel.  The Mystery of the Cross-Roads , 1976 .

[38]  R. Macalister.  ["The excavation of Gezer: 1902-1905 and 1907-1909, vol. 2"] , 1912 .

[39]  Henri Dehérain.  Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres , 1910 .