Deus Artefacta: Dan

Tel Dan - Excavation and reconstruction
of the Eastern Bronze Age gate

Dan (Tel Dan)

Liberty Excavation Reports Requirements

INDEX of Sites

The official sites for Tel Dan are the Nelson Glueck School of Biblical Archaeology (LINK) and Tel Dan Excavations (Link). Be sure to discuss the Tel Dan Stele as it is relevant in the Iron Age and for our discussion of King David. Be sure to look at the controversy between Anson Rainey and Philip Davies over the inscription. Also, be sure to talk about the mud brick MB gate complex. It is interesting that we found the MB gate complex at Tall el–Hammam (Sodom?) that makes the Tel Dan gate look very small. We have just uncovered the largest MB gate complex that is known in the MB period LINK. Remember to provide "the historical background of the site (including history of previous archaeological excavations, if any), objectives of the current excavation, progress at the site, and significance of discoveries to biblical study." Make sure to choose a good encyclopedia, journal articles, and books that specialize in the subject. This will give you a cross section of material.

“Professor Avraham Biran, 1909–2008 In Memoriam.” Israel Exploration Journal 58, no. 2 (2008): 129–131. JSTOR
Ahituv, Shmuel. “Suzerain or Vassal? Notes on the Aramaic Inscription from Tel Dan.” Israel Exploration Journal 43, no. 4 (1993): 246–247. JSTOR
Athas, George. The Tel Dan Inscription: A Reappraisal and a New Interpretation. New York and London: T&T Clark International, 2003.
Ben–Dov, Rachel and Azriel Gorski. “A Metal Implement Wrapped in Linen at Tel Dan.” Israel Exploration Journal 59, no. 1 (2009): 80–85. JSTOR
Biran, Avraham. Biblical Dan. Jerusalem: Hebrew Union College, 1994.
Biran, Avraham., 1974. “Tel Dan.” BA 37, no. 2: 26–51;;
Biran, Avraham., 1980. “Tel Dan.” BA 43: 168–82;
Biran, Avraham., 1974. “An Israelite Horned Altar at Dan.” BA 37, no. 4: 106–107;
Biran, Avraham., 1981. “The Discovery of the Middle Bronze Gate at Dan,” BA 44 no.3: 139-44;
_____. “Two Discoveries at Tel Dan.” Israel Exploration Journal 30 no. 1/2 (1980): 89–98. LINK
_____. “Sacred Spaces: Of Standing Stones, High Places and Cult Objects at Tel Dan.” Biblical Archaeology Review 24, no. 5 (1998): 38–41, 44–45, 70.
_____. “An Israelite Horned Altar at Dan.” The Biblical Archaeologist 37, no. 4 (1974): 106–107. JSTOR
_____. “Tel Dan.” The Biblical Archaeologist 37, no. 2 (1974): 26–51. JSTOR
_____. “The Dancer from Dan, the Empty Tomb and the Altar Room.” Israel Exploration Journal 36, no. 3/4 (1986): 179–187. JSTOR
_____. “The Discovery of the Middle Bronze Age Gate at Dan.” The Biblical Archaeologist 44, no. 3 (1981): 139–144. JSTOR
_____. “The Triple–Arched Gate of Laish at Tel Dan.” Israel Exploration Journal 34, no. 1 (1984): 1–19. JSTOR
_____. “Two Bronze Plaques and the Hussot of Dan.” Israel Exploration Journal 49, no. 1/2 (1999): 43–54. JSTOR
Biran, Avraham and Joseph Naveh. "An Aramaic Stele Fragment from Tel Dan.” Israel Exploration Journal 43 no. 2, 3 (1993): 81–98. JSTOR
_____. “The Tel Dan Inscription: A New Fragment.” Israel Exploration Journal 45 no. 1 (1995): 1–18. JSTOR
Davis, Andrew R. “Tel Dan in its Northern Cultic Context.” The Johns Hopkins University, UMI Dissertations Publishing, 2010. Archaeological data from the Iron II temple complex at Tel Dan. Published by Society of Biblical Literature, 2013. ProQuest
Davies, Philip R. “'House of David' Built on Sand: The Sins of the Biblical Maximizers.” Biblical Archaeology Review 20 no. 4 (1994): 54–55. LOOKUP or BAR
Greer, Jonathan S. “An Israelite 'Mizraq’ at Tel Dan?” Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 358 (2010): 27–45. JSTOR
Greer, Jonathan S.“ New Archaeological Data for the Study of Ancient Israelite Religion and Society from Tel Dan.” The Ancient Near East Today, Current News About the Ancient Past: Friends of ASOR. 2, no. 1 (January 2014). LINK
Hagelia, Hallvard. The Dan Debate: The Tel Dan Inscription in Recent Research. Sheffield, UK: Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2009.
Freedman, David Noel and Jeffrey C. Geoghegan “House of David is There.” Biblical Archaeology Review 21 no. 2 1995 78–79. LOOKUP or BAR
Ilan, David. “'Stepped Rim’ Juglets From Tel Dan and the MBI–II (MB IIA–B) Transitional Period’.” Israel Exploration Journal 41, no. 4 (1991): 229–238. JSTOR
Ilan, David and Pamela Vandiver and Maud Spaer. “An Early Glass Bead from Tel Dan.” Israel Exploration Journal 43, no. 4 (1993): 230–234. JSTOR
Schniedewind, William M. “Tel Dan Stela: New Light On Aramaic and Jehu's Revolt.” Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 302 (1996): 76–90. PDF or JSTOR.
Laughlin, John. “The Remarkable Discoveries at Tel Dan.” Biblical Archaeology Review 7 No. 5. (1981): 20–37. LOOKUP or LINK
Na’aman, Nadav. “Three Notes on the Aramaic Inscription at Tel Dan.” Israel Exploration Journal 50 no. 1/2 (2000): 92–104. JSTOR
Ortiz, Steven M. “Deconstructing and Reconstructing the United Monarchy: House of David or Tent of David (Current Trends in Iron Age Chronology).” In The Future of Biblical Archaeology: Reassessing Methodologies and Assumptions, edited by James Karl Hoffmeier and Alan R. Millard, 121–47. The Proceedings of a Symposium, August 12–14, 2001 at Trinity International University. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2004. Amazon Look Inside
Ruderman, Abraham. “Excavations at Tel Dan.” Jewish Bible Quarterly 24, no. 2 (April 1, 1996): 129–130. EBSCO
Rainey, Anson F. “'The House of David’ and the House of the Deconstructionists: Davies is an Amateur Who 'Can Safely be Ignored.” Biblical Archaeology Review 20, no. 6 (1994): 47. BAR
Sasson V. “The Old Aramaic Inscription from Tell Dan: Philological, Literary and Historical Aspects.” Journal of Semitic Studies 40 (1995): 11–30.
Schniedewind, William M. “Tel Dan Stela: New Light on Aramaic and Jehu’s Revolt.” Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 302 (1996): 75. JSTOR
Shanks, Hershel. “BAR Interview: Avraham Biran – Twenty Years of Digging at Tel Dan.” Biblical Archaeology Review 13, no. 4 (1987): 12–18, 21–25. LOOKUP or BAR
_____. “The Tel Dan Inscription: The First Historical Evidence of King David from the Bible.” Bible History Daily: Biblical Archaeology Society,November 22, 2013. LINK
Spina, F. 1977. “The Dan Story Historically Reconsidered.” JSOT 4: 60–71.
Stager, Lawrence E. and Samuel R. Wolff. “Production and Commerce in Temple Courtyards: An Olive Press in the Sacred Precinct at Tel Dan.” Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 243 (1981): 95–102. JSTOR
Thompson, Thomas L. “House of David: An Eponymic Referent to Yahweh as Godfather.” Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament 9 (1995): 59–74. Request through ILL

Dictionaries and Encyclopedias:

The list of abbreviations can be found here. LINK

Biran, Avraham., 1975. “Dan, Tel,” EAEHL, 1:313–21;
Biran, Avraham., 1976. “Dan (City),” IDBSup, 205;
Biran, Avraham., 1992. “Dan (City),” ABD, 2:7–8;
Biran, Avraham., 1993. “Dan,” NEAEHL, 1:323–32;
Bruce, F. F., 1982. “Dan,” NBD2, 262;
Cole, D., 2003. “Dan,” HolBD, 332–34;
DeVries, L. F., 2006. “Dan,” in CBW, 163–8;
Driscoll, James F. “Dan.” in The Catholic Encyclopedia. 16 vols. Edited by Condé Bénoist Pallen, Charles George Herbermann, and Edward Aloysius Pace. New York, N.Y.: Appleton Company, 1913. LINK
Drouhard, R. L. “Tel Dan,” n.p. in The Lexham Bible Dictionary, edited by J. D. Barry. Bellingham, Wash.: Lexham, 2015.
Elwell, W. A., and J. F. Prewitt, 1995 “Dan,” ISBE2, 1:856;
Ilan, D., 1997. “Dan,” OEANE, 2:107–12;
Jennings, J. E., 1983. “Dan,” NIDBA, 148–49;
Lapp, N. L., 1996. “Dan,” HBD, 203–4;
Laughlin, J. C. H., 1984. “Dan, Tell,” MDB, 194–95;
Mobley, Gregory. “Dan (Place). " Pages 310–11 in Eerdman’s Dictionary of the Bible. David Noel Freedman, ed. Grand Rapids and Cambridge, UK: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2000.
Negev, Avraham, and Shimon Gibson, eds. “Dan (Tel; Tell el-Qadi).” page 131–132 in Archaeological Encyclopedia of the Holy Land. New rev., and updated. 1 vols. New York, N.Y.: Continuum International, 2001.
Schoville, K. N., 1978. “Dan,” BAF, 347–53;
Stern, Ephraim, Ayelet Levinson–Gilboa, and Joseph Aviram, eds. The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land. 4 vols. New York, N.Y.: MacMillan, 1993.
Van Beek, G. W., 1984. “Dan,” IDB, 1:759–60;
White Jr., W., 1975. “Dan (City),” ZPEB, 2:10–11;
Yadkin, Y. 1968. “And Dan, Why Did He Remain in Ships?” AJBA 1: 9–23. .