Jewelry has always had an irresistible allure yet in the past also had a significance and function within society that went far beyond ornamentation. Jewelry is an important, if often forgotten facet of material culture. Its study is inter-disciplinary, involving archaeology, anthropology, art history, historical/textual studies, and research of materials and manufacturing techniques. While the renowned jewelry from regions such as Egypt and Mesopotamia has been studied, that of the southern Levant has received only limited attention, yet research of its archaeological/contextual, technological and socio-cultural perspectives is illuminating. The book is a final publication of the author's doctoral dissertation made available to the archaeological and academic community at large. The book is geared to be a working tool for archaeologists dealing in this period and region and to scholars who study its arts and crafts. It provides a handy typological structure for jewelry classification as well as a comprehensive and useful catalogue for research in this and related fields. In addition, the book illustrates the significance, meaning and functions of jewelry and the development of the jeweler's craft in the southern Levant during the first and second millennia BCE.

Color was not the most important trait of earrings, nose rings, bangles, and rings, which were overwhelmingly made of metal. In those cases, size, location of wear, and available wealth appeared to be more important. These objects could, at a minimum, convey information on wealth, social status, and marital status to a viewer.

The Early Iron Age period of the southern coastal plain of the Levant (ca. 1200-900 BCE) displays certain new features that suggest the appearance of the Philistines or other Sea Peoples. The early stages of this period represent a departure from Late Bronze Age traditions and evidence of cross-cultural influences within the eastern Mediterranean. This volume contributes to the discussion of the origin of the Sea Peoples by examining the role of adornment in the portrayal of cultural identity. Metal jewellery is assessed from 29 sites in the southern Levant, the Aegean, and Cyprus, resulting in the creation of the first multi-regional typology of metal jewellery for the Iron Age I-IIA eastern Mediterranean. By examining various categories of metal jewellery from the southern Levant and its western neighbours, this study contributes to the debate about the relations and exchanges that affected the region during this pivotal period in history. The formation, maintenance, and communication of group identification through physical appearance is assessed through a phenomenological view of cultural material to explain what is termed cultural intention.

This interdisciplinary volume is a ‘one-stop location’ for the most up-to-date scholarship on Southern Levantine figurines in the Iron Age. The essays address terracotta figurines attested in the Southern Levant from the Iron Age through the Persian Period (1200–333 BCE). The volume deals with the iconography, typology, and find context of female, male, animal, and furniture figurines and discusses their production, appearance, and provenance, including their identification and religious functions. While giving priority to figurines originating from Phoenicia, Philistia, Jordan, and Israel/Palestine, the volume explores the influences of Egyptian, Anatolian, Mesopotamian, and Mediterranean (particularly Cypriot) iconography on Levantine pictorial material.

Annotation Filling a gap in classroom texts, more than 60 essays by major scholars in the field have been gathered to create the most up-to-date and complete book available on Levantine and Near Eastern archaeology. The book is divided into two sections: "Theory, Method, and Context," and "Cultural Phases and Topics," which together provide both methodological and areal coverage of the subject. The text is complemented by many line drawings and photographs. Includes a foreword by W.G. Dever.

Color versions of select print images available on the Resources tab (or here: www.cambridge.org/heymans). This book shows how money emerged and spread in the eastern Mediterranean, centuries before the invention of coinage. While the invention of coinage in Ancient Lydia around 630 BCE is widely regarded as one of the defining innovations of the ancient world, money itself was never invented. It gained critical weight in the Iron Age (ca. 1200 – 600 BCE) as a social and economic tool, most dominantly in the form of precious metal bullion. This book is the first study to comprehensively engage with the early history of money in the Iron Age Mediterranean, tracing its development in the Levant and the Aegean. Building on a detailed study of precious metal hoards, Elon D. Heymans deploys a wide range of sources, both textual and material, to rethink money's role and origins in the history of the eastern Mediterranean.

Numerous metallic artefacts, deposited in a hoard in ancient times, came to light by chance on the campus of the Sultan Qaboos University in Al Khawd, Sultanate of Oman. Mostly fashioned from copper, these objects compare well with numerous documented artefact classes from south-eastern Arabia assigned to the Early Iron Age (1200–300 BCE).