A Zebu-Shaped Weight from tel Beth-Shemesh.

In 2007, a bronze zoomorphic weight, shaped as a humped bull or zebu, Bos indicus, was found in a Late Bronze Age context in the renewed excava tions at Tel Beth-Shemesh. The similarity of this object to other figurines and balance weights not only demonstrates commercial and cultural ties among Late Bronze Age sites, but also indicates familiarity with this sub-species of cattle, usually associated with South Asia. Despite its excellent state of preservation, this weight does not reveal much about its particular position in the Beth-Shemesh economy because it was made with a hollow cavity used to modulate its mass. This zebu-shaped weight provides us with further evidence of the frontier status of Beth-Shemesh and points to the site's connections with the Eastern Mediterranean trade network of the Late Bronze Age. In the 2007 season of the renewed excavations at Tel Beth-Shemesh, a beautifully designed and well-preserved bronze weight in the shape of a crouching bull (fig. 1) was discovered in the ruins of a Late Bronze Age building.1 The object was identified as a weight since it is consistent with the basic criteria for identifying weights (Birney and Levine 2011: 473) and since it bears close affinity to bull shaped weights in Ancient Near East weighing scenes and similar weights found in excavations elsewhere (see below). Of special interest is the fact that the weight depicts a humpback bull, known as zebu. While other zebu weights and figurines have been found in the eastern Mediterranean, mainly in Lebanon, Syria and Cyprus (see below), the image of this Indian-type bull is quite rare in the Land of Israel. In this article we shall discuss the zebu weight from Beth-Shemesh within its archaeological, metrologica! and cultural contexts. ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONTEXT The zebu weight (reg. no. 5449.01) was found in Area A, Square A20, layer 1 Since 1990, the renewed excavations at Tel Beth-Shemesh have been directed by Shlorao Bunimovitz and Zvi Lederman and are currently conducted under the auspices of the Institute of Archaeology in Tel Aviv University. Participating consor tium institutions include Indiana University, Bloomington; Louisiana College; Harding University; Lethbridge University; and Brooklyn College. We deeply thank Marilyn and Norman Tayler (Bethesda MD) for their generous and continuous support of the excavations project. We would also like to extend our thanks to the Goldhirsh Foundation for their important support in recent years. The research was also supported by the Israel Science foundation (grants nos. 898/99,980/03 and 1068/11). /E/61 (2011): 146-161 146 This content downloaded from 207.46.13.24 on Mon, 12 Sep 2016 06:04:03 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms A ZEBU-SHAPED WEIGHT FROM TEL BETH-SHEMESH Fig. 1. The zebu-shaped weight from Tel Beth-Shemesh (photo by A. Hay) L1413, near the corner of two walls — F862 and F843 (Bunimovitz and Lederman 2009: photos on pp. 120, 122). The two walls are remnants of a build ing that was destroyed in a heavy conflagration; layer L1413 consists of fallen mudbricks, apparently the superstructure of the walls. The stratigraphical position of the building is not easy to determine. Since Square A20 is situated on the steep northern slope of the mound, it suffered severe erosion that completely removed the upper debris layers down to the beginning of the Iron Age/Late Bronze Age. However, excavation in adjacent squares, where well-preserved remains of a 'Patrician House' from Level 6 were exposed, indicates that the archaeological context of the weight is earlier than Level 6 (mid-twelfth century BCE; for the stratigraphy of the Iron Age I remains in Area A, see Bunimovitz and Lederman 2009: 116, 120-124). Moreover, further excavations in Areas A and D, which revealed well-preserved remains from Levels 8 and 9 (thirteenth and fourteenth centuries BCE, respectively), lend support to the idea that the weight should be assigned to one of these levels. Of special interest are the remains of Level 9 — a large building, presumably a palace, full of rich assemblages of pottery and other unique finds (see, e.g., Ziffer, Bunimovitz and Lederman 2009); it was completely burned and sealed under a heavy mantle of fallen mudbrick walls. On the basis of its character and stratigraphical position, destruction layer L1413, in which the zebu weight was found, seems to be related to the eventful destruction of the four teenth-century BCE palace of Beth-Shemesh and its environs. However, since Square A20 is disturbed, the possibility that the weight originated from Level 8 (the thirteenth century BCE) is also a viable option. This content downloaded from 207.46.13.24 on Mon, 12 Sep 2016 06:04:03 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms ELY LEVINE, SHLOMO BUNIMOVITZ AND ZVI LEDERMAN

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