The cemetery of Azor and early iron age burial practices

A new examination of the results of the excavations by Moshe Dothan at the cemetery of Azor (1958, 1960) is presented, indicating a variability in burial practices in a relatively small area. The different types of burials are discussed as well as the finds from the graves, which date to the late Iron I and Iron IIA. The variability of burial customs is evaluated in relation to the quantity and character of burial goods, and possible cultural, ethnic and socio-economic differences within the population. While other evidence on late Iron l-IIA burial customs is quite limited In the southern Levant, similar phenomena appear in somewhat earlier cemeteries as at Tell es-Sa'idiyeh. Thus, at Azor a continuation of Late Bronze II burial customs may be combined with certain components of Philistine material culture.