IEJ Vol. 74/2: CONTENTS AND ABSTRACTS
 
1 MICHAEL FREIKMAN, OREN ACKERMANN, TIFFANY OKALUK, KRISTINA S. REED AND DAVID BEN-SHLOMO: ꜤAujah el-Foqa: A Middle Bronze Age Fortified Site in the Jordan Valley ABSTRACT: ꜤAujah el-Foqa, located in the southern Jordan Valley, was identified as an Iron Age II fortified site in the Manasseh Hills Survey and has been excavated since 2019. A massive, square structure on the site’s northern slope was dated to the Middle Bronze Age IIB–C according to pottery and radiocarbon data and identified as a free-standing tower. The structure contains two occupation phases and was not used or rebuilt in subsequent periods. The finds from the excavation are briefly presented, along with initial portable optically stimulated luminescence dating results. The isolated nature of this structure in time and space within its landscape and the broader region raises questions about its style and function. This massive construction is suggested to be an observation tower that was part of the inter-settlement road system network of the Middle Bronze Age IIB–C in this marginal region.
 
30 PATRICIA SMITH, GILA KAHILA BAR-GAL, EMANUEL EISENBERG, HELENA ROTH, SHANNON SIEGEL, LEV COSIJNS AND LIIORA KOLSKA HORWITZ: Burial Contexts and Skeletal Bioanthropology of Bronze Age Populations from Naḥal Refaʾim in Jerusalem ABSTRACT: Salvage excavations carried out at the site of Naḥal Refaʾim on the outskirts of Jerusalem uncovered ruins of a settlement and tombs dating to the Intermediate Bronze Age and Middle Bronze Age I–II (~2500–1750 BCE). The tombs contained the skeletal remains of a minimum number of 188 individuals associated with funerary assemblages that varied in quality and quantity. Here, we describe the human skeletal remains (paleodemography, morphometry, and paleopathology) in relation to their burial type in order to assess the extent to which tomb type or chronology was associated with differences in life history.
 
59 MICHAEL LANGLOIS: The Tel Dan Inscription after 30 Years: A Fresh Look ABSTRACT: Three decades after the discovery of the Tel Dan stele, new imaging techniques allow for a fresh look at the inscription, starting with the script. This paper uses Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) and digital tools to argue that fragments A and B feature two different, yet similar handwritings. These fragments were inscribed by two engravers or by a single engraver whose handwriting evolved. In any case, the placement suggested by the editors must be abandoned.
 
80 RON LAVI AND ADI ERLICH: A Newly Discovered Aqueduct at Paneas ABSTRACT: Recent excavations in front of the Pan Grotto at Paneas exposed a hitherto unknown aqueduct. The aqueduct, dated to the first century CE, drew water from the grotto and was part of a royal dining compound in the style of a Roman nymphaeum-triclinium. The aqueduct kept the water level in the grotto at a certain elevation and protected the compound from floods. A massive rock at the center of the pool in the grotto was a focal point in the median axis of the compound; the aqueduct ensured that it stayed constantly exposed above the water level. Stratigraphic and radiometric data indicate that the complex was erected during the reign of Agrippa II in the last third of the first century CE. The aqueduct’s gabled ceiling and plaster type serve as chronological markers for aqueducts in Judaea from the early and middle Roman periods.
 
102 TZILLA ESHEL, YOAV BORNSTEIN AND HAIM SHAHAR: Chemical Analysis of a Rare Byzantine Brass Weight with a Silvery iinlay from the Temple Mount in Jerusalem ABSTRACT: Ten Byzantine copper-based flat weights from the Temple Mount Sifting Project, one of them a rare four-keratia weight with a ΚΔ inlay, were subjected to chemical analysis. The results show that the four-keratia weight was made of brass (copper-zinc alloy), and the inlays of silver. It differs in its weight and chemical composition from the nine other weights which contain zinc, tin, and lead (and occasionally arsenic and silver) in varying ratios, and have no apparent inlays. Preserved silver inlays are rare, and this is the smallest of thirteen weights with such inlays found in the Southern Levant. The results therefore single out the four-keratia weight as unique not only in size and style, but also in chemical composition. The use of pure brass indicates that the weight was skillfully produced in comparison to the other weights, which were made of recycled metal. Brass was possibly selected for its contrasting tint, easy casting, and corrosion resistance.
 
115 NOA RANZER, JORDAN WEITZEL, KAREN COVELLO-PARAN, OMER SERGI AND IDO KOCH: A Bronze/Iron Age Scarab in a Middle Islamic Context: The Use of Ancient Objects in Later Periods ABSTRACT: Excavations at Ḥorvat Tevet in the Jezreel Valley exposed a cemetery dated to the Middle Islamic period. One skeleton was accompanied by a scarab bearing the throne name of Thutmose III, a popular motif decorating scarabs since the New Kingdom in Egypt. While scarabs are often found in burials that date to the Bronze and Iron Ages, the deposition of a scarab in later burials is also known. This Middle Islamic burial marks the latest attestation of this phenomenon. This article presents the burial context, the findspot of the scarab near the neck of the skeleton suggesting its use as part of a necklace, and the scarab itself. The subsequent discussion explores the appropriation and use of ancient objects in the past. Despite the resemblance to the use of scarabs found in Bronze and Iron Age contexts as ornaments, the thousands of years separating the production and final use of this scarab raises doubts about whether its last owners possessed the knowledge of its original function or the significance of the Egyptian hieroglyphs. This case allows us to explore the affordances of scarabs, emphasizing their role as an active agent of the past and how they induced people to re-use them over time.