Cult and Architecture in the Chalcolithic Period of the Southern Levant: The Case of En-Gedi and Teleilat Ghassul

Abstract

We studied the architectural remains of two Chalcolithic (Ghassulian) cultic complexes at En-Gedi and Teleilat Ghassul Area E in order to trace aspects of the architectural planning principles and methods involved in their design and construction. Architectural Formal Analysis has brought to light hitherto unnoticed spatial relations between architectural elements that seem to have structured the ritual activity at the two sites. The discerned geometric regularities imply that specific mathematical knowledge and the same set of design principles and methods were used in the planning of both complexes. The emerging pictures of highly structured ritual and of the use of geometry in Ghassulian cultic production may be used to support suggestions regarding some sort of cultic establishment (priesthood) during the Chalcolithic Ghassulian.

Keywords:

• Levant
• Chalcolithic
• Ghassulian
• En-Gedi
• Teleilat Ghassul
• Architecture
• Architectural planning
• Geometry; Cult

Acknowledgements

This paper was prepared for publication with support from the Israel Antiquities Authority.

Disclosure Statement

The authors report that there are no competing interests to declare.

Notes

1 Ussishkin used the terms ‘shrine’ (Ussishkin 1980) and ‘temple’ (Ussishkin 2014). See Gošić 2016 for a review of the terminology used in the literature.

2 Secluded open-air sanctuaries are known from the Southern Levant since the Neolithic period (Avner 2018). The En-Gedi case, however, is a ‘secluded built-up’ complex comprising roofed structures, and as such, it is the earliest in the region. It is beyond the scope of this paper to delve into the differences between Neolithic and Chalcolithic secluded cultic complexes in the Southern Levant.

3 A schema (an existing layout) that served as a reference point in the beginning of the design process.

4 E.g., the cultic structures at PPNB Nevali Cori (Hauptmann 1988) and the suggested Charnel House 12 at PPNB Bouqras (Merrett and Meiklejohn 2007).

5 This is, in a way, reminiscent of the idea of having a ‘deep’ part in temples that is not accessible to all participants of the events taking place at the temple but rather to a select group of those who ‘serve in the holy’ (priests?). Thus, a formal subdivision is created between the crowd on the outside, the actual practicing people inside (courtyard?) and the part allowing only the limited group (or person?) serving in the holy.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Gil Haklay

Gil Haklay: Archaeological Research Department, Prehistory Branch, Israel Antiquities Authority

Avi Gopher

Avi Gopher: The Sonia and Marco Nadler Institute of Archaeology, Tel Aviv University; email: [email protected]