Appendix to My Reply to I. Finkelstein and N.

Na'aman "A Response to David Ussishkin" by Peter van der Veen (added on July 5, 2013) Thanks to a colleague in the United States, Mr. Michael Welch, who brought the following to my attention on July 4 (2013), I was remineded of the fact that I wrote a review of George Grena's book on the lmlk jar handles for www.amazon.com already soon after it had appeared in print. As this review was written on June 20 (2004) and as it includes an indubitable reference (it is actually the earliest traceable evidence outside my PhD thesis) to my views on the 7th century B.C. manufactured impressed royal jars, the relevant parts will be cited here. Those who wish to read the entire review must follow the link at the bottom of the page. "I agree with the author that the jars did not just precede the 701 BC invasion of Judah by King Sennacherib of Assyria! I think that some of the jars remained in use after 701 and some seem also to have been manufactured well into the 7th cent. BC. (an issue which is now increasingly held by leading scholars in the field)[*]. ... The solarization of Yahwism did not end with Hezekiah`s reign, however, but instead even increased during the reign of his son and successor Manasseh, during the first half of the 7th cent. BC. The solar icons of Hezekiah`s reign surely seem to have been misappropriated during Manasseh`s reign, who according to 2Kgs 23 changed Yahweh`s temple into an idolatrous solar shrine. ... All this gives me reason to think that several lmlk jar handles may still have been made during the reign of Manasseh, who then may have used them for different purposes or also for offerings paid to Yahweh`s temple (much in line [sic. with] George Grena`s exciting theory), where his more solarized representations of Yahweh were then worshipped." (emphasis mine)

[*] Peter van der Veen (July 5, 2013): Note that the phrase "an issue which is now increasingly held by leading scholars in the field" only related then to the prolonged use of older (late 8th century) jars and only to very few manufactured specimens that belong to the final years of Hezekiah, i.e. after the 701 BC catastrophy. I was thinking mainly of Amihai Mazar and George L. Kelm's work at Tell Batash-Timnah (see e.g. their book Timnah - A Biblical City in the Sorek Valley, Eisenbrauns, 1995, esp. p. 164) and of Ephraim Stern who argued in favor of extended use in his book Archaeology of the Land of the Bible Volume 2, Doubleday, 2001 (esp. 176-178). Note that Stern even played with the idea that some lmlk jar handles might actually date to the second half of the seventh century B.C. (p. 178): "We may perhaps also attribute to this period [= the late 7th century B.C.] a few two-winged lmlk seal impressions that continued in use." It remains uncertain, however, what he really meant by "continued in use", i.e. if he, like me, advocated the view of production or if he referred to the preservation of - by that time - rather old jars.

For the entire review follow this link: http://www.amazon.com/LMLK--A-Mystery-Belonging-Kingvol/dp/097487860X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1373006092&sr=81&keywords=George+Grena+LMLK It can be viewed