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‘Atiqot 85 (2016)
ISBN 2948-040X
An Intermediate Bronze Age Cemetery at Qanat el-Ja‘’ar, near ‘En Ha-Naziv
(Hebrew, pp. 57*–86*; English summary, p. 108)
Zach Horowitz
Keywords: Bet She’an Valley, cemetery, burial goods, burial customs, interred, anthropology, typology, metal artifacts.
Excavations at Qanat el-Ja‘’ar revealed four rock-hewn caves dating to the Intermediate Bronze Age. The tombs had a vertical shaft, circular or square, at the bottom of which was a rectangular or trapezoidal passage that led to a burial chamber. A stone blocked the opening between the passage and the tomb chamber. The accompanying burial goods included large quantities of pottery vessels, including unique forms, such as three-nozzled lamps. Most of the pottery vessels were decorated with red paint and applied plastic decoration. Burial goods also included a stone pebble anthropomorphic figurine of a woman, a stone bead and metal weapons. The articulated skeletons provide evidence for repeated primary burial in a flexed position.