ABSTRACT
Researchers on the region of the northern Negev suggest that during the Early Bronze Age I the region was occupied largely by small agricultural communities. In 2010 and 2011 the Israel Antiquities Authority conducted two extensive seasons of salvage excavations at Amaziya on the southern bank of Nahal Lachish. Ancient residents of Amaziya excavated the large silos in the natural rendzina soil, arranged in precise rows and aligned with the natural, sloping topography. All the silos were constructed of fieldstones without stone pavements. Several small, circular stone-lined pits and a constructed corridor leading to natural cave complex with several cavities linked to one anoter by narrow passages. Quantities of similar ceramic artifacts, including serekhs on fragments of Egyptian vessels from Tel Erani, Small Tel Malhata, Tel Ma'ahaz, and Arad, as well as Egyptian pottery from Amaziya, offer evidence of additional economic activity in the southern region, some of it seemingly under royal auspices.
