The Final Destruction of Beth Shemesh and the <I>Pax Assyriaca</I> in the Judean Shephelah

Keeping Up with the Demand for Oil? Reconsidering the Unique Oil Presses from Late Bronze Age IIB to Iron Age IIA in the Southern Levant

“…And several oil presses have been uncovered in the renewed excavations at Tel Beth Shemesh (Bunimovitz and Lederman 2009;.…”

The Judahite Shephelah in the Late 8th and Early 7th Centuries BCE

“…Conventional theory has argued that after Sennacherib's campaign in 701 the Shephelah of Judah was abandoned for a significant period, and that Judahite settlement there resumed only in the days of Josiah (e.g., Barkay 1992:356;Bunimovitz and Lederman 2003). Renewed investigation of the archaeological data seems to present a different picture.…”

“…Comparing these descriptions to the situation in Tell Beit Mirsim and Tel B-alif, one could propose that Stratum IIc represents a reoccupation of the site in the early 7th Seventh century activity is attested only in the water system of the site (Bunimovitz and Lederman 2003). century, a short time after Sennacherib devastated it, and that this settlement was abandoned before the introduction of the Lachish II pottery repertoire.…”

Urban City Planning in the Eighth Century: A Case Study of Recent Excavations at Tel Gezer (Reading between the Lines: Uzziah's Expansion and Tel Gezer)

“…The results of recent archaeological investigations and scholarly research have focused on the geopolitical development during the eighth century in Judah and the southern coastal plain. 8 Current archaeological projects include the Beth Shemesh project under the direction of Schlomo Bunimovitz and Zvi Lederman; 9 the excavations at Tel Gath under the direction of Aren Maeir of Bar Ilan University; 10 In the second half of the tenth century BCE the village of Beth-Shemesh became a regional administrative center with evidence of city-planning and building construction. The city had an elaborate fortification system with a massive wall and a retaining tower in front of it along with a series of casemate rooms adjoining the wall.…”