Tel Rehov Open-Air Sanctuary and Horned Clay Altars
Neighborhood worship in the Northern Kingdom: a small bamah and dozens of pottery altars
Found 1997 — Amihai Mazar, Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Tel Rehov Expedition, 1997–2012), with Nava Panitz-Cohen
Where Tel Rehov (Tell es-Sarem), Beth Shean Valley (Israel)
Dates from c. 980–830 BCE · Iron Age IIA · Solomon to Jehu; Elijah and Elisha
Now at Finds in the Israel Antiquities Authority collections; shown in the 'It Is the Land of Honey' exhibition, Eretz Israel Museum, Tel Aviv (2016)
How Tel Rehov Open-Air Sanctuary and Horned Clay Altars was found
An open courtyard with a standing stone, benches and offering installations came to light next to a residential block in Area E of the lower city; fragments of ceramic altars turned up across the site, several with figurines attached, and a clay house-shrine was found in a Stratum IV building.
What it is
A small unroofed sanctuary with a standing stone and a low platform, apparently serving the surrounding households, plus a family of horned pottery altars up to about 45 cm tall with a parapet rising to rounded horns; some carry molded nude female figures. A clay box-shrine shows a lion holding two human heads. The assemblage ends in the destruction of Stratum IV around 840–830 BCE.
Why it matters for the Bible
Rehov gives a rare, well-dated look at everyday religion in the Kingdom of Israel in the century of Ahab, Elijah and Elisha. The tiny neighborhood bamah and the horned altars in ordinary houses match the biblical complaint that the people sacrificed and burned incense 'on every high hill' rather than at one central altar (1 Kings 22:43; 2 Kings 17:9-11). The female figures on some altars suggest a goddess was honored alongside, or instead of, YHVH — the mixing the prophets denounced. Which deity each altar served is unknown.
The Hebrew word: bah-MAH
בָּמָה
בָּמָה is pronounced bah-MAH and means high place, local shrine platform (Strong's H1116).
People this discovery connects to
- Elisha — אֱלִישָׁע (eh-lee-SHAH) — my God is salvation
- Jeroboam — יָרָבְעָם (yah-rov-AHM) — may the people increase
Places
- Rehob — רְחוֹב (re-CHOHV) — broad place, street
Events
Household and neighborhood worship in Israel · Jeroboam's high places (1 Kings 12:31) · Aramean wars ending Stratum IV
Tel Rehov Open-Air Sanctuary and Horned Clay Altars in Scripture
1 Kings 12:31 Jeroboam 'made houses of high places' in the Northern Kingdom.
2 Kings 17:9-11 Israel 'built high places in all their towns' and burned incense there — the neighborhood bamah and altars at Rehov show this in practice.
Hosea 8:11 'Ephraim has multiplied altars for sinning' — Rehov's hundreds of altar fragments make the prophet's words concrete.
Questions people ask
What is Tel Rehov Open-Air Sanctuary and Horned Clay Altars?
A small unroofed sanctuary with a standing stone and a low platform, apparently serving the surrounding households, plus a family of horned pottery altars up to about 45 cm tall with a parapet rising to rounded horns; some carry molded nude female figures. A clay box-shrine shows a lion holding two human heads. The assemblage ends in the destruction of Stratum IV around 840–830 BCE.
When was Tel Rehov Open-Air Sanctuary and Horned Clay Altars discovered?
It was found in 1997 by Amihai Mazar, Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Tel Rehov Expedition, 1997–2012), with Nava Panitz-Cohen, at Tel Rehov (Tell es-Sarem), Beth Shean Valley.
Where is Tel Rehov Open-Air Sanctuary and Horned Clay Altars today?
Finds in the Israel Antiquities Authority collections; shown in the 'It Is the Land of Honey' exhibition, Eretz Israel Museum, Tel Aviv (2016).
Which Bible verses does Tel Rehov Open-Air Sanctuary and Horned Clay Altars relate to?
1 Kings 12:31, 2 Kings 17:9-11, Hosea 8:11.
Related discoveries
- נָבִיאTel Rehov 'Elisha' Ostracon and Nimshi InscriptionsThe prophet's name inked on a sherd in a ninth-century house near Abel-meholah
- דְּבַשׁTel Rehov ApiaryThe oldest industrial beehives ever found, in a 'land of honey'
- נָעִיםNain (Nein)The village where Yeshua raised a widow's son
- בּוֹרDothan (Tell Dothan)The town where Yosef's brothers sold him
- שִׁישַׁקBubastite Portal of Shoshenq I (Shishak)Pharaoh's victory list at Karnak naming towns of Israel and Judah
- מְגִדּוֹMegiddo Shoshenq Stele FragmentA piece of Pharaoh Shishak's monument found in the city his list names
Sources
- A. Mazar, 'To What God? Altars and a House Shrine from Tel Rehov Puzzle Archaeologists', BAR 34:4 (2008)
- A. Mazar, 'Religious Practices and Cult Objects during the Iron Age IIA at Tel Rehov'
- Encyclopedia.com, 'Rehov, Tel'
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