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Kuntillet Ajrud

Archaeological site in the Sinai Peninsula

Field	Value
name	Kuntillet Ajrud
native_name	كونتيلة عجرود
alternate_name	(חורבת תימן)
caption	Image on pithos sherd found at Kuntillet ʿAjrud below the inscription "Yahweh and his Asherah"
map_type	Egypt Sinai
relief	y
coordinates
region	Sinai
material	Stone
epochs	Iron Age
cultures	Israelite
excavations	1975–76
archaeologists	Ze’ev Meshel
website

Kuntillet ʿAjrud () or Horvat Teman () is a late 9th/early 8th centuries BCE site in the northeast part of the Sinai Peninsula. It is frequently described as a shrine, though this is not certain. The Kuntillet Ajrud inscriptions discovered in the excavations are significant in biblical archaeology.

Kuntillet Ajrud is in the north Sinai; carbon-14 dating indicates occupation from 801–770 BCE, and the eponymous texts may have been written c. 800 BCE. As a perennial water source in this arid region, it constituted an important station on an ancient trade route connecting the Gulf of Aqaba (an inlet of the Red Sea) and the Mediterranean. It was located only 50 kilometers from the major oasis of Kadesh Barnea. Additionally, despite its proximity to the Kingdom of Judah, it has an association with the northern Kingdom of Israel (Samaria): "elements of the material culture such as the pottery, the 'northern' orthography in certain inscriptions, and reference to YHWH of Samaria suggest that Kuntillet ʿAjrud was an Israelite outpost, or at the very least, had a strong Israelite presence".

Investigation

The site then known as "Contellet Garaiyeh", was identified in 1869 by Edward Henry Palmer as "Gypsaria" on the Tabula Peutingeriana: "Our own route, however, from Contellet Garaiyeh to the ruins in Lussan, was, as may be seen from the map, within a mile or so of the distance between Gypsaria and Lysa; and our discovery at the first-mentioned place of the remains of an ancient fort, renders its identity with the third station on the list more than probable."

Kuntillet Ajrud, then "Contellet Garaiyeh", in 1871

Inscription

Main article: Kuntillet Ajrud inscriptions

The site was excavated in 1975/76 by Tel Aviv University archaeologist , and the excavation report was published in 2012. The fortress-like main building is divided into two rooms, one large and the other small, both with low benches. Both rooms contained various paintings and inscriptions on the walls and on two large water-jars (pithoi), one found in each room.

The vigorously argued paintings on the pithoi show various animals, stylised trees, and human figures, some of which may represent gods. They appear to have been done over a fairly considerable period and by several different artists, and do not form coherent scenes. The iconography is entirely Syrian/Phoenician and lacks any connection to the Egyptian models commonly found in Iron Age IIB Israel art.

References

Citations

Bibliography

{{cite book |editor-last = Ganor |editor-first = Saar |editor-last2 = Kreimerman |editor-first2 = Igor |editor-last3 = Streit |editor-first3 = Katharina |editor-last4 = Mumcuoglu |editor-first4 = Madeleine |chapter-url = https://www.academia.edu/105620766
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{{cite book |editor1-last = Day |editor1-first = John |chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=sUuvAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA326
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{{cite book |editor1-last = Greenspahn |editor1-first = Frederick E. |editor2-last = Rendsburg |editor2-first = Gary A. |chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=TWZUDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA134
{{cite book |editor1-last = Farber |editor1-first = Zev I. |editor-last2 = Wright |editor-first2 = Jacob L.
{{cite book |editor-last = Hulster |editor-first = Izaak J. de |editor-last2 = LeMon |editor-first2 = Joel M. |chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=dPNzBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA84

References

(1 January 2012). "“I Bless You to YHWH and His Asherah”—Writing and Performativity at Kuntillet ʿAjrud". Maarav.
Bonanno, Anthony. (March 24, 1986). "Archaeology and Fertility Cult in the Ancient Mediterranean: Papers Presented at the First International Conference on Archaeology of the Ancient Mediterranean, University of Malta, 2-5 September 1985". John Benjamins Publishing.
[https://archive.org/details/desertofexodusjo02palmuoft/page/422/mode/1up Palmer: The desert of the Exodus Volume II], p.422–423
Context of Scripture pg II:171 s 2.47 P Kyle McCarter

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sinai-peninsula archaeological-sites-in-egypt populated-places-established-in-the-9th-century-bc populated-places-disestablished-in-the-8th-century-bc yahweh asherah

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