Ramat Rael VI

This is part of a three-volume final report of the renewed excavations at Ramat Rael by the Tel AvivHeidelberg Expedition (20052010). It presents the finds from the Babylonian-Persian pit, one of the most dramatic find-spots at Ramat Rael. The pit yielded a rich assemblage of pottery vessels and yhwd, lion, and sixth-century private stamp impressions, including, for the first time, complete restored stamped jars, jars bearing two handles stamped with different yhwd impressions, and jars bearing both lion and private stamp impressions on their bodies. Residue analysis was conducted on many of the vessels excavated from the pit to analyze their contents, yielding surprising results. The finds contribute to our understanding of the pottery of the Babylonian and early Persian periods (6th5th centuries BCE) and to the study of the development of the stamped-jar administration in the province of Yehud under Babylonian and Persian rule. Also available from Eisenbrauns: Ramat Rael III: Final Publication of Aharoni's Excavations at Ramat Rael (1954, 19591962) by Oded Lipschits, Yuval Gadot, and Liora Freud; and Ramat Rael IV: The Renewed Excavations by the Tel AvivHeidelberg Expedition (20052010): Stratigraphy and Architecture, by Oded Lipschits, Mandred Oeming, and Yuval Gadot.