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AI

(Heb. hāʿay)

Excavated area at et-Tell, including the Early Bronze Age temple and citadel (lower center)
and the Iron Age village (upper center) (J. A. Callaway)

One of the major sites conquered during the Israelite conquest of Canaan. According to the account in Joshua, the Israelites conquered Ai during the second military campaign (Josh. 8) following an earlier abortive attempt (ch. 7).

While the location of biblical Ai has been subject to debate, it has been generally identified with et-Tell (1747.1472), ca. 3-4 km. (2-2.5 mi.) E of Bethel. The site was initially investigated by John Garstang, who conducted soundings at the site in 1928. From 1933 to 1935 Judith Marquet-Krause directed the Rothschild expedition, which discovered ruins of both an Early Bronze city and an Iron Age I village. The most extensive excavations were conducted by Joseph Callaway from 1964 to 1972. The purpose of the Callaway excavations was to clarify the chronology of the Iron I village.

The excavations of Marquet-Krause and Callaway found that the site of et-Tell was occupied during two major periods — the Early Bronze Age (ca. 3100-2350 b.c.e.) and Iron I (ca. 1220-1050), with an 1100-year gap in occupation between.

During EB the site grew from a small village to a sizable city of ca. 11 ha. (27 a.), one of the major urban centers of Palestine. Archaeological evidence indicates that a small unwalled village was established at the site ca. 3100. The village underwent a major transition beginning ca. 3000 with the arrival of newcomers from North Syria and Anatolia who increased the size of the site and fortified it with a city wall. Ca. 2850 the defense system of the city was enhanced as the width of the wall was increased. Ca. 2700 the site experienced a radical change as the city was destroyed and rebuilt either by the Egyptians or under Egyptian influence. The new city was equipped with both a large rectangular temple and new earthen reservoir. The temple was constructed of field stones and designed with a row of pillars down the center, and the building techniques reflect Egyptian influence. The large reservoir, lined with stones, had a capacity of ca. 1.9 million l. (500 thousand gal.) of water. In spite of its massive fortification wall, however, the history of the EB city came to an end ca. 2350 as the city was destroyed.

After being unoccupied for nearly 1100 years, the site was inhabited once again ca. 1220. The new settlement, built on the ruins of the EB city, was a small Iron I village of only 1.2 ha. (3 a.). The Iron Age village was established by newcomers from the north, perhaps Hittites from Anatolia and North Syria. This was an unwalled agricultural úṝşşṓṟ with cobblestone streets. The houses, commonly referred to as pillar buildings or pillar houses, were designed with stone pillars or piers that apparently served as roof supports. The inhabitants of the Iron Age village engaged in farming using terrace farming or agricultural techniques, agricultural methods designed especially for the terrain of the area. The water supply was provided by cisterns hewed in the bedrock. Lined with plaster, some of these limestone cisterns were located in the rooms of houses.

Ca. 1125 the second Iron Age village was established at Ai by yet another new population wave. The newcomers who adopted and adapted the facilities of the former inhabitants expanded the size of the village and continued to use the pillar-building architectural design of the preceding era. One of the most notable changes was the construction of numerous silo granaries, grain storage facilities that were built on the cobblestone streets. The granaries reflect the strong agriculturally-based economy of the community and the continued usage of the terrace farming techniques that had been adopted from the village’s earlier population.

The Iron Age village also featured a sanctuary designed with a stone bench. Among the artifacts discovered in the sanctuary were small animal figurines and a large pottery offering stand or incense altar decorated with windows and lions’ paws.

On the basis of the archaeological evidence, Callaway identified the second Iron I village with the Israelites, thus dating the conquest of Ai to ca. 1125.

Bibliography. J. A. Callaway, “Ai,” NEAEHL, 1:39-45.

LaMoine F. De Vries

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

AI

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)