A Local Temple in the Iron Age Village? Reassessing a Building Complex at Tell Mastuma in the Northern Levant

Abstract

Between 1993 and 1995, a large building complex was excavated in the Iron Age settlement at Tell Mastuma by the Ancient Orient Museum, Tokyo. This paper seeks to reassess the function of that complex both within the settlement and in the broader context of the Iron Age northern Levant, taking a stage further the interpretation presented in the final site report. This has involved: 1) a detailed architectural analysis employing data obtained from the excavation records; 2) a consideration of comparable Iron Age religious structures encountered in the immediate neighborhood of Mastuma as well as across the wider Levant; 3) are- examination of excavated finds from the building and from other parts of the Mastuma, focusing on those of a potentially cultic nature; 4) a consideration of the physical positioning of the building within the Mastuma settlement, and the possible relevance of that location; 5) possible links with the historical record. The essential conclusion reached is that the Mastuma building represented a local “temple” functioning at least in part as a center of provincial control for the local Iron Age polity based at Tell Afis/Hazrak.