The City Gate in Ancient Israel and Her Neighbors: The Form, Function, and Symbolism of the Civic Forum in the Southern Levant

Description

"In The City Gate in Ancient Israel and Her Neighbors, Daniel A. Frese provides a wide-ranging portrayal of one of the most prominent social institutions in the kingdoms of the southern Levant during the Iron II period: the use of the city gate as a hub for numerous and diverse civic functions. The book provides an up-to-date description of the architecture of gate complexes based on archaeological evidence, and a systematic description of the many functions of the gate seen in hundreds of texts from theHebrew Bible and the broader ancient Near East. The final chapters of the book discuss the conceptual significance of gates in Israelite culture, based on idiomatic and symbolic gate terminology in the Hebrew Bible"-- The City Gate in Ancient Israel and Her Neighbors: The Form, Function, and Symbolism of the Civic Forum in the Southern Levant Copyright Contents Acknowledgements List of Figures List of Abbreviations Introduction 1 Sources, Goals, and Methodology 2 Goals of the Present Study 3 Synchronic Analysis 4 The Hebrew Bible 5 Archaeological Data 6 Assyrian Reliefs 7 Gates and the Rural Population of Ancient Israel 8 Corpus of Gates 1 Gatehouse Architecture: The Ground Floor 1 Building Materials 2 "Gatehouse" in the Hebrew Bible 3 Gatehouse Passage and Chambers 4 Gatehouse Doors 5 Posts and Pivots 6 Metal Bands 7 Thresholds 8 Locking the Gate 2 Gatehouse Architecture, Part 2: the Upper Floor 1 Ceilings 2 Doorways 3 Windows 4 The Second Floor 5 The Gatehouse Roof 6 Towers 3 The Architectural Purpose of the Gatehouse 1 Three Sets of Doors? 2 Emergency Blockage? 3 Guardrooms? 4 Horse Hitching Stalls? 5 The Architectural Function of Piers and Chambers 6 Metrological Data 7 Contemporaneous Architecture in the Southern Levant 8 Stacked Broad Rooms 9 Middle Bronze Gatehouse Architecture 4 The Use of the Gatehouse 5 Gate Complexes and City Planning 1 Plazas 2 Number and Location of Gates 3 Water Drainage 4 Considerations Affecting Gate Size and Building Materials 5 Public Works in the Gate Complex 6 The Gate as a Public Space 1 Public Notice 2 Public Assembly and Public Address 3 Display of Corpses or Body Parts 4 Public Humiliation 5 Propaganda 6 Privacy in the Gate 7 The City Council in the Gate 1 Elders, Kings, and Honor in the Gate 2 Legal Transactions in the Gate 3 Judicial Proceedings in the Gate 4 Punishment in the Gate 5 Governmental Functions in the Gate 8 Other Gate Functions 1 Cultic Functions in the Gate 2 Commercial Use of the Gate 3 Agricultural Functions in the Gate 4 Military Functions of the Gate 5 Indirect Entry Gates 6 Social Functions of the Gate 9 Figurative Gates 1 "Gates" in the D Source "Gates" as Towns Literal Gates? "Gates" as Towns Other Than Jerusalem? "Gates" as Tribal Associations of People? "Gates" as Israelite Towns "Gates" as a Covenantal Gift of Yahweh Conclusions 2 The Entrance to the Tabernacle Courtyard 3 The Desert Encampment "Gate" 4 Other Figurative Uses of ??? Exod 2010 1 Kgs 837 (= 2 Chron 628) Ruth 311 Ruth 410 Jer 142 Mic 19 Ps 872 5 Possible Figurative Uses of ??? Jer 157 Gen 2217; 2460 Isa 1431; 2412 Conclusion 6 "Entering" and "Exiting" at the City Gate Gen 3424 Gen 2310, 17-18 10 Gate Symbolism 1 Monarchs and Building Projects 2 New States, New Buildings 3 City on a Hill 4 Designed to Impress 4.1 Ashlar Masonry 5 Conspicuous Consumption 6 The Gate as a Symbol of Community Well-being 6.1 Military Security 6.2 The Gate as a Social Institution 6.2.1 Isa 24 6.2.2 Lam 1 6.2.3 Lam 2 6.2.4 Lam 5 6.2.5 Neh 13 7 Gates and Prophetic Discourse 11 Gates as Boundaries 1 Gates and Liminality 2 Gates as Literal and Symbolic Boundaries 3 Magic and Ritual at the Gate 4 Dangerous Gateways? 5 Evaluation of Liminality Summary and Conclusion Appendix A: Chart of Gatehouse Dimensionsa Appendix B: Chart of Average Gatehouse Dimensions Appendix C: Plans of Gates in Corpus