Necropoleis yield various archaeological data. Undisturbed, they contain quantities of intact objects, mostly pottery vessels, which can be dated using other artifacts such as scarabs found with them or by statistical techniques like seriation, which W. M. F. Petrie applied to Predynastic Egyptian necropoleis. Even necropoleis with no contents, as in Nabatean Petra, can be dated by the styles of decoration on elaborately built or carved burial monuments whose forms offer clues to chronology and cultural associations (McKenzie, 1990). So-called burial customs, the distinctive character of interments within necropoleis, have long been regarded as etlinic indicators. Differences in factors such as tomb size and shape, variety and quality of contents, and disposition of human remains were thought to betoken ethnically distinct peoples, as Kathleen Kenyon assumed for Middle Bronze Jericho (Kenyon, 1979). Alternatively, differences in tomb size, shape, location, and in quantity and quality of contents may reflect tire stratiflcation in tire society of tire living. Old Kingdom Egyptian necropoleis are blatantly stratified; pyramids were the prerogative of pharaohs, nonroyal elites built mastabas, and commoners dug cist graves (Lehner, forthcoming). Burial customs may also reflect kinship structures. Multiple interments accumulated in a single large chamber over a long time span may indicate an extended family resorting generation after generation to an ancestral tomb (Bentley, 1991; Bloch-Smith, 1992). Necropoleis also often contain large numbers of human skeletons that can be analyzed forensically, yielding information about ancient diet, diseases, causes of death, and overall demographic trends.
[5ee also Burial Sites; Catacombs; Pyramids; Skeletal Analysis; and Tombs. In addition, most of the sites mentioned are the subject of independent entries.]
BIBLIOGRAPHY
There is no general survey of necropoleis for the entire Near East. Published reports on specific necropoleis can be found under entries for the sites of which they are part. The brief list below concerns syntheses of archaeological materials from necropoleis,
Bentley, G. “A Bioarchaeological Reconstruction of the Social and Kinship Systems at Early Bronze Age Bab edh-Dhra', Jordan.” In Between Bands and States, edited by Susan A, Gregg, pp, 5-34. Southern Illinois University, Center for Archaeological Investigations, Occasional Paper, no. 9. Carbondale, 1991. Reconstruction of Early Bronze society based on results of forensic analyses of human skeletons from a large necropolis in tlie Jordan valley.
Bloch-Smidi, Elizabeth. Judahite Burial Practices and Beliefs about the Dead. Journal for the Study of tlie Old Testament, Supplement 123. Sheffield, 1992. Anthropologically informed investigation of mortuary practice tliat integrates archaeological data and biblical sources. Includes an annotated catalog of more than 850 Iron Age burials (c. 1200-600 BCE) discovered in modern Israel and Jordan.
Kenyon, Katlileen M. Archaeology in the Holy Land. 4tli ed. London, 1979.
In the Near East, based on recent excavations and surveys of Leh-ner’s Giza Plateau Mapping Project.
McKenzie, Juditli. The Architecture of Petra. British Academy Monographs in Archaeology, i. London, 1990. Richly detailed architectural and historical analysis of the funerary facades of Petra, proving tltat even empty tombs still hold meaning.
Morris, Ian. Death Ritual and Social Structure in Classical Antiquity. Cambridge, 1992. Model treatment of tlie relationship between the living and the dead in classical society, witli broad methodological applicability.
Joseph A. Greene
NEDERLANDS HISTORISCH-ARCHEOLOGISCH INSTITUUT TE ISTANBUL. The Neflt-erlands Historical-Archaeological Institute in Istanbul, Turkey, is an affiliate of the Netherlands Instimte for the Near East in Leiden, the Netherlands. Founded in 1953, the Istanbul branch became more fully operational with the opening, in 1958, of an actual institute in the building that had formerly been occupied by the Dutch embassy (Palais de Hollande). While the institutes’ financial resources are provided by the Dutch government through Leiden University, individual researchers are often funded independently by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research.
The purpose of the institute is to promote research on the archaeology, history, and languages of the countries and cultures of the Near East and to provide logistical support for scholars specializing in Near Eastern smdies. In addition, it seeks to foster cultural relations between the Netherlands and various countries in the Near East. The Institute sponsors the publication of tite annual Anatolica (since 1967), which serves as an international forum for examining the history and archaeology of the Near East in general and of Turkey in particular. Since 1956, the instimte has also published a series of monographs in English, German, and French, Publications de Tlnstitut Historique-Archeologique Neerlandais de Stamboul. By 1992, sixty-nine volumes had appeared. In them, individual scholars present the results of their research on various aspects of Near Eastern history and archaeology, from prehistoric to modern times. Since 1979, the instimte has participated in the archaeological rescue excavations at Hayaz Hoyuk and at Kumartepe, both in southern Turkey. In 1985, the instimte initiated a major, longterm archaeological project at Ilipinar, in northwestern Anatolia, south of Istanbul.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Nijland, C. “In Memoriam Arie Abraham Kampman.” Anatolica $ (1973-1976): 1-6. Brief account of factors leading to the founding of the institute in Istanbul.
Roodenberg, J., L. Thissen, and H. Buitenhuis. “Preliminary Report on the Archaeological Investigations at Ilipinar in NW Anatolia.” Anatolica 16 (1989-1990); 61-144. Preliminary but detailed report of die results of the Dutch excavations at Ilipinar, with special emphasis on the prehistoric period.
Leonard Victor Rutgers
NEGEV. The Negev comprises several different geographic regions, each with climatic, geologic, and topographic peculiarities that influenced the type of setdement it attracted and the course of its history. The regions are the northern Negev, whose most prominent area is the Beer-sheba basin, which prospered in die Chalcolithic period; the Negev highlands, an area in which setdement flourished in the Early Bronze Age, the Iron Age, and the Nabatean, Roman, and Byzantine periods; and the ‘Arabah, the eastern Negev, which flourished principally in the Iron Age and tite Nabatean, Roman, and Early Arab periods.
The first periods in tire history of the Negev can be characterized as alternating between prosperity and scarcity and abandonment. The region’s varied topography, semiarid climate, proximity to Egypt and Sinai as well as the Levant, and its geographic placement at die crossroads between East and West all contributed to the movement of people in and out of die area. It is only since the mid-twentieth century, as a result of numerous archaeological surveys and excavations of the region’s major sites—conducted by Nelson Glueck, Yohanan Aharoni, Beno Rotiienberg, and Rudolph Cohen—that some of the Negev’s ancient history has been recovered. The broadest of the surveys, the Negev Emergency Survey, was carried out by the Israel Department of Antiquities and Museums betvt'een 1978 and 1988. [See the biographies of Glueck and Aharoni.]
Prehistoric Periods. Surveys in the western Negev sand dunes, the Negev highlands, and the southern Negev have mapped 320 sites, with remains representing all of the prehistoric periods. A connection can be drawn between environmental changes and ongoing geomorphological processes, population growth, and setdement patterns in these periods. The region was extensively populated during the Epipaleolithic (18000-8000 bob) and, to a certain degree, in the Pre-potteiy Neolithic B (Neolitiiic 2). Avdat, Nahal Hemar, Har-Harif, Nahal Nessana, Nahal Issaron, and the ‘Uvda Valley are among the important prehistoric sites.
In the Chalcolithic period, a continuous chain of settlement existed from the Beersheba and Arad basins and Nahal Besor to the interior of the Negev highlands. In the east, sedentarization reached die fringes of the ‘Arabah and, in the south, the Timna' region. The focus of setdement, however, was the Beersheba basin. [See Timna‘ (Negev).]
During the course of the Chalcolithic period, groups of pastoralists and possibly hunters, originating in the Beersheba basin and Nahal Besor, penetrated die Negev highlands. There and in the ‘Arabah they established small, unwalled villages and utilized the region’s natural caves as dwelling places. In addition, temporary campsites and tent encampments were set up by nomadic or seminomadic ti'ibes who traversed this district, apparently engaged in seasonal animal husbandry and die transport of copper. Major Chalcolithic sites include Beersheba, Gilat, Shiqmim, Nahal Yattir, Arad, ‘Ein-Gedi, and the caves at Nahal Mishmar. Of special note are the buildings that are probably temples or cultic places, such as those at ‘Ein-Gedi and Gilat. [i'ee Gilat; Shiqmim; ‘Ein-Gedi. j
Early Bronze Age I-III. Widespread sedentarization characterizes the Early Bronze Age in the Negev. The most important Negev site to enjoy significant expansion in this period was tlie large walled city of Arad. Included among its several public buildings are a sacred area (EB II) with at least one strucmre its excavator, Ruth Amiran, identified as a temple. Contemporary settlements flourishing in the highlands were unwalled and can be classified as central (upward of 5 acres in area); large (2-4 acres); small (including 2-8 buildings); or temporary. The central and large settlements were located near permanent water sources. Characteristic EB II dwellings are structures witli several rooms arrayed around a central courtyard, one-room structures, and round buildings. [See Arad, article on Early Bronze Age Period.]
The EB II-III population of the Negev highlands included groups of immigrants from the urban culture that had developed to the north. These settlers preserved the pastoral way of life that had flourished in the Chalcolithic period. The Beersheba basin, the previous period’s settlement and cultural center, was almost totally abandoned in favor of more southern locations—reaching the southernmost boundaries of the Negev highlands—where the economy was based on agriculture, husbandry, and hunting, as at sites in the Sede Boqer, Ramat Matted, and Mispe Ramon areas, the ‘Uvda Valley, Har-Horsha, and Nahal Mitnan.
Early Bronze IV. Hundreds of EB IV settlements have been recorded, primarily in the Negev highlands and ‘Uvda Valley. None were found in the Beersheba and Arad basins. Excavations at Be’er Resisim, an important EB IV site, were conducted during three seasons by a joint American-Israeli expedition headed by William G. Dever and Cohen. New archaeological techniques focusing on a holistic approach to examining the site were employed. These techniques included climatic, geological, paleozoological, and paleobo-tanical studies. [&e Be’er Resisim.]
Arad, which had flourished during EB II, was destroyed and abandoned sometime after the mid-third millennium BCE, as were other larger centers in the Shephelah and southern Transjordan. Most of die population of the Negev highlands and bordering areas, however, was not displaced. In addition, a new ethnic group penetrated the Negev in EB IV, This population established large, dense villages near permanent water sources and lived alongside the settlements of the earlier inhabitants. The social and organizational
World History
