Description
Book SynopsisIn 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 the Hebrew 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.
Table of Contents Acknowledgments List of Figures List of Abbreviations Introduction 1Sources, Goals, Methodology 2Goals of the Present Study 3Synchronic Analysis 4The Hebrew Bible 5Archaeological Data 6Assyrian Reliefs 7Gates and the Rural Population of Ancient Israel 8Corpus of Gates Section 1: Gate Architecture 1Gatehouse Architecture: the Ground Floor 1Building Materials 2“Gatehouse” in the Hebrew Bible 3Gatehouse Passage and Chambers 4Gatehouse Doors 5Posts and Pivots 6Metal Bands 7Thresholds 8Locking the Gate 2Gatehouse Architecture, Part 2: the Upper Floor 1Ceilings 2Doorways 3Windows 4The Second Floor 5The Gatehouse Roof 6Towers 3The Architectural Purpose of the Gatehouse 1Three Sets of Doors? 2Emergency Blockage? 3Guardrooms? 4Horse Hitching Stalls? 5The Architectural Function of Piers and Chambers 6Metrological Data 7Contemporaneous Architecture in the Southern Levant 8Stacked Broad Rooms 9Middle Bronze Gatehouse Architecture 4The Use of the Gatehouse 5Gate Complexes and City Planning 1Plazas 2Number and Location of Gates 3Water Drainage 4Considerations Affecting Gate Size and Building Materials 5Public Works in the Gate Complex Section 2: Gate Functions 6The Gate as a Public Space 1Public Notice 2Public Assembly and Public Address 3Display of Corpses or Body Parts 4Public Humiliation 5Propaganda 6Privacy in the Gate 7The City Council in the Gate 1Elders, Kings, and Honor in the Gate 2Legal Transactions in the Gate 3Judicial Proceedings in the Gate 4Punishment in the Gate 5Governmental Functions in the Gate 8Other Gate Functions 1Cultic Functions in the Gate 2Commercial Use of the Gate 3Agricultural Functions in the Gate 4Military Functions of the Gate 5Indirect Entry Gates 6Social Functions of the Gate Section 3: Figurative Gates And Gate Symbolism 9Figurative Gates 1“Gates” in the D Source 2The Entrance to the Tabernacle Courtyard 3The Desert Encampment “Gate” 4Other Figurative Uses of שער 5Possible Figurative Uses of שער 6“Entering” and “Exiting” at the City Gate 10Gate Symbolism 1Monarchs and Building Projects 2New States, New Buildings 3City on a Hill 4Designed to Impress 5Conspicuous Consumption 6The Gate as a Symbol of Community Well-Being 7Gates and Prophetic Discourse 11Gates as Boundaries 1Gates and Liminality 2Gates as Literal and Symbolic Boundaries 3Magic and Ritual at the Gate 4Dangerous Gateways? 5Evaluation of Liminality Summary and Conclusion Appendix A: Chart of Gatehouse Dimensions Appendix B: Chart of Average Gatehouse Dimensions Appendix C: Plans of Gates in Corpus Bibliography Index
