In Josh 8:30-35, Israel constructs an altar on Mt. Ebal in
fulfillment of the command of Deut 27:1-8. This structure had very
important social, political, and religious implications for Israel,
for it was the first structure to be built after the people entered
the land of Canaan. Once the altar was completed, sacrifices were
to be offered on it, and a renewal of the covenant was to be
carried out (patterned after the ritual of Deut 31:9-13). This
covenant renewal was necessary to integrate the people into the
covenant who had not been a part of the Sinai experience. The event
was significant enough to establish nearby Shechem as the tribal
league shrine, and it was the first political and religious
ceremony that the Israelites undertook following their entry into
the land. As a covenant ratification, it could be described as
their ratification as a nation. The altar on Mt. Ebal and its
concomitant ceremony were, therefore, according to the claims of
the Hebrew Bible, of supreme importance in the life of ancient
Israel. In 1980, during the survey of the territory of Manasseh,
Israeli archaeologist Adam Zertal discovered a site on Mt. Ebal
dating to the period of Iron I, during which the Israelites began
to sedentarize in the central hill country of Canaan. The site was
excavated over eight seasons, from 1982 to 1989, under the auspices
of the University of Haifa and the Israel Exploration Society. In
1985, Zertal published an article in which he suggested that the
structure on Ebal may have been the altar of Josh 8:30-35. In The
Iron Age I Structure on Mt. Ebal, Ralph Hawkins reviews the
excavation on Mt. Ebal and its results, including the scarabs,
seals, and animal bones found there. He examines the architecture
of the site in relation to Mesopotamian watchtowers, altars, and
the descriptions of altars in mishnaic materials, Ezekiel, and
Deuteronomic passages. This fascinating book examines the Mt. Ebal
site using a comparative method for both the physical data and the
textual data. The site and its artifacts are analyzed and then
compared with alternative proposals and literary traditions. The
site is placed in its broader regional context in order to
determine how it might relate to the larger settlement picture of
Iron Age I. The primary purpose is to examine the data with a view
to determining the nature and function of the site and its possible
relation to Josh 8:30-35. A compelling read for biblical and
archaeological students and scholars, who will better be able to
envision sites of past events.
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