*5.1. Urban Iron Age II Israelite Settlement*

Iron II levels were exposed in dozens of sites in the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah, sometimes extensively so. Still, as noted above, practically no temples were found in archaeological excavations in these settings. For example, the site at Beth-Shemesh was excavated almost entirely by three expeditions (Bunimovitz and Lederman 2009; and additional references), but no temple was found. At Tell en-Nasbeh (biblical Mizpah), too, almost the entire Iron Age II city was exposed (Zorn 1993a, 1993b; and references; Figure 3), but no temples were found. The situation in Tell Beit-Mirsim is similar (Albright 1943, 1993; although its exposure was less massive). Large areas were excavated also in Beersheba (e.g., Herzog and Singer-Avitz 2016), but despite the search, no such temple was found (a dismantled horned altar was discovered, but no cultic building, and contrary to some assumptions, an altar did not have to belong to a temple). It should be noted that the excavation of Iron II levels at other sites—e.g., Megiddo, Hazor, and Tell el-Fara'h (N)—also greatly exceed most of the Late Bronze Age settlements, but no Iron II cultic buildings were unearthed there too. The contrast with the scarcely excavated Late Bronze Age towns is clear.

**Figure 3.** A plan of the mound of Tel Beth-Shemesh, with excavation areas marked. Despite the wide exposure of Iron II levels (in practice, all excavation areas, noted on the plan), no temples were uncovered (Bunimovitz and Lederman 2013, p. 7; courtesy of the Tel Beth-Shemesh excavations expedition).
