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The Zeitah ExcavationsRon E. Tappy

Project Director, Principal Investigator, and

G. Albert Shoemaker Professor of Bible and Archaeology at

Pittsburgh Theological Seminary

Affiliated with

The W. F. Albright Institute for Archaeological ResearchThe American Schools of Oriental Research

J une 630, 2010

Tel Zayit: An Overview

An hours drive southwest of J erusalem, Tel Zayit(Arabic Zeitah, meaning olive tree) lies in Israelsfertile Beth Guvrin Valley roughly halfway between themajor Judahite city of Lachish and the Philistine city at

Tel es-Safi (biblical Gath). Tel Zayit belonged to theLibnah district of biblical Judah (Joshua 15:42), and itsancient identification may be associated with Libnahitself. The sites acropolis and lower settlement coverabout eight acresa manageable size for exposingthrough excavation the maximum amount of occupa-tional debris buried there.

The borderland site of Tel Zayit lies at the cross-roads of four major ancient roadways connecting Egyptand the plain of Philistia with Jerusalem and thehighlands of Judah. Because of its unique and strategiclocation, it makes for an ideal site to study life in an

ancient town that saw frequent opportunities for contactbetween people of diverse cultures.

Artifacts recovered from Tel Zayit reveal that itwas occupied from the Middle Bronze Age to thebiblical period and on through to Ottoman times. Overthe centuries, Zeitahs inhabitants undoubtedly tradedgoods with traveling merchants from all over theancient Near East, faced the devastating Assyrianassault under Sennacherib in 701 BCE, and watchedanxiously for the signal fires of Lachish and Azekahduring the Babylonian invasion of 587/86 BCE.

Under the sponsorship of Pittsburgh TheologicalSeminary, The Zeitah Excavations launched the archae-ological investigation of this strategically locatedbiblical town in 1999.

Tel Zayit is featured in a PBS NOVA special tele-vision presentation,The Bibles Buried Secrets, thataired on November 18, 2008.

The Zeitah website at www.zeitah.net containsdetailed information on all aspects of the excavationsprogram, including options for gaining academic creditfor participation as a volunteer excavator, a down-

loadable volunteer application, travel tips, and agallery of photographs. Volunteers need no previousexcavation experience, but they must be 18 years of ageor older and in excellent health.

The steep eastern slope of Tel Zayit, with additional excavatedareas on top of the tel, shows remains of continuous occupa-tion from about 1800BCE to the late ninth century BCE.

Contact

Dr. R. E. TappyThe Zeitah Excavations

Pittsburgh Theological Seminary616 North Highland Avenue

Pittsburgh, PA 15206

Phone: 4129241427

Email: tappy@fyi.net

Web: www.zeitah.net

Fax: 4129241827

Dr. Ron E. TappyG. Albert Shoemaker Professor

of Bible and ArchaeologyProject Director

mailto:tappy@fyi.netmailto:tappy@fyi.nethttp://www.zeitah.net/http://www.zeitah.net/http://www.zeitah.net/mailto:tappy@fyi.net

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The Tel ZayitAbecedary

On the final day of the 2005season, The Zeitah Excavations made adramatic discovery: a twenty-two-letterinscription bearing the oldest knownsecurely datable example of the com-

plete linear alphabet. The letters repre-sent a transitional script that developedfrom earlier Phoenician traditions andanticipated the distinctive features ofthe mature Hebrew national script.

All successive alphabets (includingnon-Semitic ones, such as Greek andLatin) derive from the forms seen here.

The importance of this discoverylies not only in its archaic alphabetictext, called an abecedary, but also in

the stones firmly datable archaeo-logical context (tenth century BCE)anextremely rare occurrence among thefew extant inscriptions of this nature.

West Semitic Research

An overlay of the twenty-two-letter Tel Zayit abecedary shows the tenth-centuryBCE forms that were incised into the stone itself.

Seasons Preview 2010J une 630, 2010

Since the appearance of literary remainsfrom tenth-century BCE levels at Tel Zayitplays an important role in the current

discussion of the archaeology and history ofIsrael in that period, we will concentrate ourexcavation efforts during the 2010 field seasonin the area of the tel where the stone was found.

Focusing on this area will help us toanswer, from an archaeological perspective,certain questions that remain concerning thestones significance. In the process, we willalso seek to clarify the historical significance ofthe site itself during the formative years of theUnited Monarchy.

During each excavation season, the Zeitahteam resides at nearby Kibbutz Galon, locatedin one of the most beautiful regions of Israelthe foothills of biblical Judah.

The Tel Zayit abecedary was inscribed with an extremely fine,probably iron point into a limestone boulder (shown above in situ).

The boulder was later incorporated into the wall of a building, withthe inscribed side facing the interior of a stone-paved room.

A bowl-shaped hollow groundinto the opposite side of the 38-pound boulder bearing the TelZayit Inscription added anotherintriguing element to the stonessignificance for the 2005 team.