The Riddle of Ramat Raḥel: The Archaeology of a Royal Persian ...

2period were discovered. 3 Sellin and Watzinger uncovered vestiges of a small village at Tell es-Sultan (Jericho), dated to the 5th and 4th centuries BCE. 4 In Biblical Mizpah - Tell en-Nasbeh(Stratum I), too, finds from the Persian period were excavated, but most of them uncovered in pitsscattered throughout the site. Persian period pottery vessels and stamp impressions were found atBethany, mainly in the fill level that was apparently created in the Middle Ages, not associatedwith specific architectural elements or with any archaeological context (Saller 1957: 222, 237).At most other sites in Judah the Persian period is hardly represented. Even at el-Jib (Gibeon),where there are indications of 6th century BCE activity (Stern 1982: 32–33; 2001: 433; Lipschits1999: 187–191; 2005: 243-245), no typical Persian-period pottery and no yhwd stamped handleswere found. The site at Tell el-Fûl, too, was probably deserted at the end of the 6th or at thebeginning of the 5th century BCE (Lipschits 1999: 177-178) and remained desolate until thebeginning of the Hellenistic period. Bethel, or at least part of the site, probably continued to beinhabited during the 6th century BCE (Stern 2001: 432). No yhwd stamp impressions and no otherclear evidence for a Persian-period occupation level were found there either (Finkelstein andAvitz-Singer 2009: 42). The conclusion from the archaeological data presented above is that thesettlements during the Persian period were relatively small and rural in nature (Lipschits 2003;2005: 206-257; 2011c: 188-194). Large and dense settlements did not exist in the province ofYehud, and no traces of administrative centers have been located within the borders of theprovince.This is the background against which the case of Ramat Raḥel has to be evaluated andunderstood. Ramat Raḥel projected an exceptional image. Just the sheer numbers of stamped jarhandles found there from the Persian period underscores that it functioned as the main Judahiteadministrative and collection center for agricultural products—mainly jars filled with wine and oil.No other Judahite site, not even Jerusalem, can challenge Ramat Raḥel’s record: Over 300stamped handles from the late Iron Age have been found at the site (Lipschits et al. 2011: 16-17),3 See De Groot 2001: 77-78; 2004: 15, and cf. Cahill 1992: 191–198, fig. 14. The early stage (9c) was dated to theend of the 6th and to the first half of the 5th century BCE, a sloping level of quarrying refuse was ascribed to thesecond stage (9b), dated to 5th century BCE, and few terrace walls and some floors with ovens were attributed tothe third stage (9a) of the Persian period (De Groot 2001: 77-78; 2004: 15).4 The pottery finds from Tell es-Sultan consisted of imported Attic vessels and fragments of vessels decoratedwith wedge-shaped and reed impressions, 10 yhwd and one lion stamp impression (Sellin and Watzinger 1913:79-82, 147-148; fig. 186; pl. 1, 3, 42). The excavations conducted by Garstang (1930-1936), as those byKenyon (1952-1958), added only scant information about the Persian period (Kenyon 1964: 201). The majorfind uncovered in these excavations was the ‘yhwd/'wryw’ stamp impression (Hammond 1957: 37-39, and cf.to Lipschits and Vanderhooft 2011: 107-110).