Folia Theologica 16. (2005)
Solomon Pasala: Archaeological Evidences for Solomonic period
138 S. PASALA 9/15 and the Shoshenq stele which came from a dump, the only clue for dating the Megiddo strata is furnished by the Philistine pottery"37. Finkelstein says that a close examination of the available data (Dothan 1982) indicates that the genuine Philistine Bichrome came form stratum V1B, and that the "Philistine" pottery of stratum VIA is comprised mainly of degenerated forms somewhat similar to stratum X at Tel Qasile38. Such a sequence would put stratum VIA in the mid-tenth century, the period of Unedited Monarchy. The total destruction of this stratum can then be related to Soshenq's campaign. Consequently, stratum VB could be placed c. 900 BC and stratum VA-1VB (widely accepted as the Solomonic city) should be pushed to the ninth century. Finally stratum IVA could be dated to the late ninth-first half of eighth century BC39. 3.1.2. Amihai Maznr: A. Mazar, giving a reply to Finkelstein refutes the position of Finkelstein, saying: "Pushing the date of the Philistine Monochrome pottery phase (local Myc. IIIC) beyond the end of the Egyptian presence in Canaan is based on a debatable assumption. The extension of the Iron Age I material culture into the late tenth century BC is unjustified and leads to a distorted archaeological picture of the period of the United Monarchy and ultimately, to misleading historical conclusions"40. Further he argues that the absolute chronology itself is a matter of debate in the archeology of the Levant41.Shoshenq's (most probably Biblical Shishak) raid, dated by most Egyptologists to c 925 BC, remains the most reliable event, since it is documented by both Egyptian and biblical sources. In this fluid situation, there were several points of consensus. One of them was the dating of Megiddo Stratum VIA and related assemblages to the late eleventh century 37 I. FINKELSTEIN, «The Archaeology», 181. 38 I. FINKELSTEIN, «The Archaeology». 182. 39 I. FINKELSTEIN, «The Archaeology», 83. 40 A. MAZAR. «Iron Age Chronology: A Replv to I. Finkelstein», Levant 29 (1997) 157. 41 A. MAZAR. «Iron Age Chronology», 157.
