Fortress, Temple, and Administrative Evidence in the Negev

Tel Arad is an Iron Age fortress whose excavations uncovered a small temple within the fortress, administrative rooms, and a corpus of inscriptions and bullae, showing how Judahite practices extended into frontier zones.

Cultic Assemblage and Inscriptions

The Arad temple yielded cultic installations, altars, and small cultic objects; associated inscriptions and bullae document administrative activity and provide epigraphic anchors for local officials.

Broader Implications for State Reach and Local Practice

Arad’s combination of military, administrative, and cultic evidence shows how the Judahite state projected power into peripheral areas while allowing local religious forms to persist, informing models of territorial control and resource management.

Sources

Arad excavation reports; inscription corpora

Tel Arad publications (Aharoni; Mazar)

Other Information About Tel Arad

Aharoni Y.; Mazar A.; epigraphic studies on Arad bullae.