Two Steles and Incense Altars from Tel Arad

Two Steles and Incense Altars, Iron Age II, eighth century BCE, Limestone, Tel Arad, Israel.

The ancient fortress city of Arad in the eastern Negev was an important defensive city which controlled the main road to Edom and Elath. The temple at Arad was uncovered by archaeologist Yohanan Aharoni in 1962. The incense altars and two steles or masseboth may have been dedicated to Yahweh and Asherah.

yahweh-asherah-stele

A northern Negev archaeological site. A citadel and sanctuary were found.

Literally "mound," a small hill-shaped site containing numerous occupational layers of a town or city built on top of one another over millennia.

Canaanite mother goddess

The stage of development during which humans used iron weapons; in the ancient Near East, approx. 1200 to 500 B.C.E.

Sacred megalithic monuments

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