Beyond the Southern Horizon: The Early Iron IIB Shephelite Ceramic Repertoire

The recent excavation and publication of material from a number
of sites in the Shephelah, Hill Country, Beersheba‒Arad Valley and Sinai have
prompted a revaluation of the ceramic horizon of the Iron Age IIB (c. late ninth
and eighth century BCE) in Judah. In this article we report on the discovery
of a ceramic assemblage situated within a short-term refuse pit at Tel Azekah,
which has further contributed to this growing corpus of material. A typological
assessment of these material remains suggests a new ceramic peg for the region
— one that rests between the existing pegs of Tell eṣ-Ṣafi/Gath Stratum A3
(c. late ninth century BCE) and Lachish Level III (c. late eighth century BCE),
and aligns with material from Tel Beth Shemesh Level 3 (c. late ninth‒early/
mid-eighth century BCE). The identification of such a ceramic horizon provides
the opportunity to elevate the current chronological resolution of the Iron IIB
ceramic horizon into ‘early’ and ‘late’.