Zurich Open Repository and Archive University of Zurich Main Library Strickhofstrasse 39 CH-8057 Zurich www.zora.uzh.ch Year: 2010 Yavneh I: The Excavation of the ’Temple Hill’ Repository Pit and the Cult Stands Edited by: Kletter, Raz ; Zifer, Irit ; Zwickel, Wolfgang Abstract: In the words of late Professor Moshe Kochavi, the Philistine repository pit at Yavneh is the kind of discovery made only once every ffty years. It is the richest repository pit ever found from Bronze and Iron Ages Israel/Palestine, containing thousands of cultic fnds originating from a temple, including an unprecedented number – more than a hundred – of cult stands (so-called ‘architectural models’) carrying rich fgurative art, dozens of fre-pans, chalices and other objects. The present volume includes the full publication of the excavation, the stratigraphy, the cult stands and the fgures detached from cult stands, several clay and stone altars and some pottery vessels related to burning of plant material, most likely incense. This exceptional book raises a host of highly important and intriguing questions. Is this a favissa, or even a genizah? Why are many cult stands badly broken, while some are intact – were cult stands broken on purpose? What is the explanation for the unique stratigraphy and for the layer of gray ash in the pit – was fre kindled inside as part of a ritual? How do we know that these fnds are Philistine? Are they part of the ‘furniture’ of the temple or objects dedicated by worshipers as votives? Do the fgures on the cult stands represent mortal beings, or divinities? If divinities, can we relate them with Biblical or extra-biblical data on the gods of the Philistines? What was the function/s of cult stands? Were they models of buildings, supports for images, oferings tables, altars, or perhaps incense burners? Why are female fgures dominant, while male fgures are virtually absent? In discussing such topics, Yavneh I treats issues that are central to many felds of study: religion and cult in Iron Age Israel/Palestine; the history and archaeology of the Philistines and their ‘western’ relations; Near Eastern iconography, the meaning of cult stands/architectural models and the understanding of votive objects and of repository pits in general. Literally salvaged from the teeth of the bulldozer, these rare fnds are now published. Generations of scholars will discuss and reinterpret them – there is no ‘fnal word’ for such fnds and hence, this fnal excavation volume is not an end, but a beginning. Posted at the Zurich Open Repository and Archive, University of Zurich ZORA URL: https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-142371 Edited Scientifc Work Published Version Originally published at: Yavneh I: The Excavation of the ’Temple Hill’ Repository Pit and the Cult Stands. Edited by: Kletter, Raz; Zifer, Irit; Zwickel, Wolfgang (2010). Fribourg, Switzerland / Göttingen, Germany: Academic Press / Vandenhoeck Ruprecht.