The Beersheba Chalcolithic sanctuary discovery

Record summary

Excavations in the northern Negev and Judean Desert during the 1960s, including work at Ein Gedi and related Chalcolithic sites, documented unusual monumental and ritual installations, copper objects and distinctive pottery. These finds contributed to debates about the emergence of organized ritual institutions before urban states in the southern Levant. The lead is useful for comparing sanctuary interpretation, craft specialization and chronology based on pottery and radiocarbon evidence. Terminology such as temple, shrine or sanctuary is interpretive, and the functions of several structures remain disputed.