Archaeology of the Ostraca House at Israelite Samaria

Robert Jehu Bull was the emeritus director of the Drew University's Institute for Archaeological Research, later the Joint Expeditions to Caesarea Maritima, where he excavated from 1971 to 1996, exposing major parts of the city's street plan, warehouse complex, a residential quarter, and parts of the hippodrome. Before excavating at Caesarea, he excavated and led excavations at Shechem, Balatah, Ai, Pella, Tell er-Ras, and Khirbet Shema'. Andrew H. Bobeck His book "Techniques for Improving Digital Photographs" by OutSkirts Press covers in depth the graphics technique he used to recover the faded colours of the Caesarea fresco. Jane DeRose Evans is a Professor of Art History and is affiliated with the Department of Greek and Latin Classics at Temple University. She has excavated in Greece, Italy, England, Israel, and France. Currently, she is the specialist numismatist for the Archaeological Exploration of Sardis (Harvard and Cornell universities) and Bir Madkhour (George Washington University). Robert S. Fritzius has published the Introduction and First Part of an English translation of Walter Ritz's "Recherches critiques sur l'Électrodynamique Générale", and served as staff artist for the excavations at Elusa, Israel.  He is a member of the American Astronomical Society, the Committee on Space Research, and the Venus Exploration and Analysis Group. Alexandra L. Ratzlaff is a Fellow at the Albright Institute of Archaeological Research in Jerusalem and a University Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Maritime Civilizations at the University of Haifa. She recently completed a two-year Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Haifa. Her research and publication projects focus on the Roman army, Roman and Byzantine ceramics, the Late Antique maritime economy and trade networks of the Mediterranean world.

• List of Illustrations List of Tables Preface Acknowledgements Abbreviations Chapter 1 - Introduction and Background A. The Site: Physical Setting and Early History B. The Backstory: Early Challenges for the Harvard Expedition C. The Harvard Expedition: Excavation Strategy, Methods, and Ensuing Challenges 1. 1908 Fieldwork 2. 1909 Fieldwork 3. 1910 Fieldwork D. Summary Chapter 2 - Horizontal Axis: The Ostraca Building's Original Footprint and Surrounding Area A. The Ostraca House 1. Wall A: Ahab's "Main Wall" 2. The Ostraca House: Entrance Halls, Storerooms, and Eastern Corridors (Long-Rooms) 3. Reconstructions 4. Later Additions (?) B. The Osorkon House C. Problems North and East of the Ostraca and Osorkon Houses D. Summary Chapter 3 - Vertical Axis: The Ostraca Building's Complex Depositional History A. Stratigraphic Analysis: Summary of Sections Published by the Harvard Expedition B. Stratigraphic Analysis: Discussion of Sections Relevant to the Ostraca House 1. Principal Longitudinal Section CD 2. Principal Lateral Section GH 3. Subsidiary Lateral Section AB C. Summary Chapter 4 - Ceramic Considerations A. The Harvard Excavations and the Joint Expedition: Collating the Data B. Reisner's Presentation of Pottery: A Meager Repertoire C. The 1910 Ostraca: Spatial Distribution D. The 1910 Ostraca: Typological Notes E. The 1910 Ostraca-related Pottery: Typological Notes F. The 1910 Ostraca and Ostraca-related Pottery: Comparative Ceramic Analysis 1. Epigraphic Pottery 2. Bowl Types Representing Parallels for Ostraca Pottery Forms 3. Non-epigraphic Pottery from the Same Findspots as the Ostraca 4. Comments on Some Jar Types Associated with Ostraca Pottery Forms G. Summary Chapter 5 - The Samaria Ostraca and Modern Scholarship Chapter 6 - Back to the Backstory: The Characters and Concerns behind the Harvard Expedition to Samaria Appendix A - Ostraca: Provenance Data and Vessel Descriptions Appendix B - Ostraca: Sequence of Discovery Appendix C - Non-epigraphic Pottery with Provenance Data Matching those of the Ostraca Appendix D - D. G. Lyon's Report to the President of Harvard University for the Academic Year 1898-1899, Showing the Financial Generosity of Jakob Heinrich Schiff Appendix E - Reisner's Field Drawings of Selected Ostraca Plates Bibliography Indices Biblical References Author Index Subject Index