The archaeology of cult in Middle Bronze Age Canaan: The sacred area of Tel Harbor, Israel

I first address the question of identifying cult in the archaeological record. Upon a review of both anthropological and archaeological approaches to religious behavior, I set out to create a theoretical model for determining cultic activity in the archaeological record. This model consists of a series of potential archaeological correlates for public religious behavior, which can be tested against the archaeological record. The first and primary test occurs against the proposed Middle Bronze Age sacred complex at Tel Haror, Israel. The sacred complex (in area K) is attested by architectural, material, and faunal remains. Architectural remains include a temple, courtyards, altar, bench room, and equid burial. The ceramic inventory is distinguished by large numbers of decorated vessels, especially bowls and stands, and miniature votives, while the faunal remains impress with sheer number as well as variety of species. Of the seventeen proposed correlates, thirteen are positively attested, meaning that the area is convincingly viewed as sacred in character. The model is then further applied to a variety of Middle Bronze Age Canaanite sites that may also potentially be considered cultic. Arranged from north to south, they are as follows: Hazor, Nahariya, Tel Kitan, Megiddo, a village near Kfar Rupin, Tell el-Hayyat, Tell el-Farah (North), Shechem, Kfar Shemaryahu, Gezer, Nahal Rephaim, Manahat, and Givat Sharett. Testing yields from strong to modest support in ten instances. Together with Tel Haror, these ten then serve as the basis for presenting an analysis of middle Bronze Age cultic activity in Canaan. In conclusion, I return again specifically to the sacred area at Tel Haror in an attempt to speculate about the underlying ritual behavior practiced there