Adam Zertal Explained

Adam Zertal (Hebrew: אדם זרטל; 1936  - October 18, 2015) was an Israeli archaeologist and a tenured professor at the University of Haifa.[1]

Biography

Adam Zertal grew up in Ein Shemer, a kibbutz affiliated with the Hashomer Hatzair movement. Zertal was severely wounded in the Yom Kippur War. He later told a reporter for The Jerusalem Post, “I spent a year at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, and I became interested in archaeology. Although I had argued that the Bible was full of myths, I decided after my recovery to travel the land by foot to look for archeological evidence.”[2]

Archaeology career

See also: Manasseh Hill Country Survey. Zertal claimed to have identified several sites he worked on as being connected to sites, events and characters from the narratives in the Hebrew Bible:

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Adam Zertal, Israeli Archaeologist Who Identified Joshua's Altar at Mt. Ebal, Dies at 79 . 21 October 2015 .
  2. Web site: Long time archaeological riddle solved, Canaanite general was based in Wadi Ara . Judy. Siegel-Itzkovich. July 2, 2010. Jerusalem Post.
  3. Web site: Shechem and Mount 'Ebal in the Bible: Is this indeed Joshua's altar?. Adam. Zertal. University of Haifa. 2010-07-02. 2021-10-19. https://web.archive.org/web/20211019051243/http://ebal.haifa.ac.il/ebal06.html. dead.
  4. Web site: Archaeological mystery solved . University of Haifa press release . July 1, 2010 . 2010-07-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100705114906/http://newmedia-eng.haifa.ac.il/?p=3309 . 2010-07-05 . dead .
  5. John Black (International Christian Embassy Jerusalem), "Footprints of Ancient Israel: Unusual stone circles may mark biblical 'Gilgal'", first published in The Jerusalem Post Christian Edition, January 2013 http://int.icej.org/news/special-reports/footprints-ancient-israel
  6. Book: Zertal . Adam . Ben-Yosef . Dror . Bedhat esh-Sha'ab: An Iron Age I Enclosure in the Jordan Valley . 517–529 . Schloen . J. David . Exploring the Longue Durée: Essays in Honor of Lawrence E. Stager . . 2009 . 978-1575061610 . 9 April 2021 . No access to relevant passage. Fully accessed in December 2015 on A. Zertal's homepage, p. 10, note 6 .
  7. Web site: Lefkovits. Etgar. Huge Roman-era cave found by Jericho. Jerusalem Post. June 21, 2009.
  8. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090622103831.htm Cave Dating From The Year 1 A.D. Exposed In Jordan Valley
  9. Book: Hawkins, Ralph K. . The Iron Age I Structure on Mt. Ebal: Excavation and Interpretation . Penn State Press . 2012 . 978-1-57506-243-3 .
  10. Book: Antti Laato . Koskenniemi . Erkki . Vos . Jacobus Cornelis de . Holy Places and Cult . 2014 . Pennsylvania State University Press . 978-952-12-3046-2 . 55 . 30 April 2022 . The Cult Site on Mount Ebal: A Biblical Tradition Rewritten and Reinterpreted ..
  11. Book: Ulrich . Eugene . The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Developmental Composition of the Bible . 14 April 2015 . BRILL . 978-90-04-29603-9 . 61 . 30 April 2022.
  12. Rachel Feldman [Haifa University official blog): ''Enormous 'Foot-Shaped' Enclosure Discovered in Jordan Valley'' [http://newmedia-eng.haifa.ac.il/?p=218] He explained the term "aliya la-regel" (lit.: "rise to the foot"), commonly translated as "pilgrimage", as derived from these enclosures, and saw the use of the expression in connection with the mandatory pilgrimage Temple in Jerusalem as an adaptation of the term to a new situation. He saw a direct connection between the foot shape of the enclosures and the biblical concept of taking ownership over a territory by walking on it, or in other words setting one's foot on it, as seen for instance in 13:17 and 11:24 , or of more generally "stepping in someone's shoes" and inheriting their property as in 4:7-9 .[5] Zertal discovered five such sites: Bedhat esh-Sha'ab (near Moshav Argaman), Masua (4) (near Masua), Yafit (3) (near Yafit), el-'Unuq, and the inner and outer enclosures at Mount Ebal.[6]
    • Underground quarry (possibly identified as biblical Galgala). In 2009, Zertal headed a team that discovered an ancient underground quarry in the Jordan Valley.[7] He associated the cave with two Byzantine-period place names, Galgala and Dodekaliton (Greek for "Twelve Stones"), marked on the Madaba map next to each other and at a distance from Jericho that matches the cave's distance from the city. He offered the interpretation that the Byzantines had identified the site as Gilgal, where the Children of Israel had set up the twelve stones they had taken from the Jordan River while crossing it (4:20 ).[8]

    Zertal's work was not without controversy, and, in particular, his claims about Mount Ebal, where he worked for nine years, never gained traction within the wider archaeological community. While many archeologists agree that the structure was a site of an early Israelite cultic activity, its identification with Joshua's altar is disputed.[9] [10] [11]

    Selected publications

    Bibliography

    • Book: His Inheritance: A Memorial Volume for Adam Zertal . Ugarit-Verlag . 2021 . 978-3-86835-336-5 . Hawkins . Ralph K. . Alter Orient und Altes Testament . 454 . Gass . Erasmus . Ben-Yosef . Dror.

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