Asphalt in iron age excavations from the Philistine Tel Miqne-Ekron city (Israel): Origin and trade routes

Asphalts found as pure lumps or coatings on potsherds were excavated at the Philistine site of Tel Miqne-Ekron (12th to 7th century BC) in the southern Inner Coastal Plain of Israel. They were studied using the techniques of petroleum geochemistry and were compared to some natural asphalts from the area: Dead Sea floating blocks (Israel), Wadi Weida’a asphalt (Jordan) and Hasbeya (Lebanon).Tel Miqne-Ekron bitumens show evidence of weathering, indicating biodegradation and oxidation. They contain less aromatics and more asphaltenes than Dead Sea asphalt. Evaporation and biodegradation are recorded at a molecular level, especially via the phenanthrenes and dibenzothiophenes. However, several isotopic and molecular parameters allowed us to correlate the Tel Miqne-Ekron asphalt with the Dead Sea asphalt from the floating blocks. The asphalts of Hasbeya and Wadi Weida’a do not match the Tel Miqne-Ekron asphalt. The latter, in particular, is much more biodegraded, based on its steranes. The study shows that the Dead Sea asphalt was imported to Tel Miqne-Ekron over a 500 year period. This trade posed no problem in the 7th century BC when Philistia, Israel and Judah were at peace as part of the Pax Assyriaca of the Assyrian Empire. However, trade during the 12th century BC is puzzling since the asphalt had to be transported across Israelite territory that was hostile to the Philistines, as indicated in the Bible (e.g., Samson and Delilah, David and Goliath). Consequently it seems that profitable commerce surpassed ethnic, religious and political conflict, as can also be observed in the contemporary world.

在以色列南部内陆沿海平原的非利士遗址特尔米克尼 - 埃克伦（公元前12世纪至公元前7世纪）出土了以纯块状或陶片涂层形式存在的沥青。研究人员使用石油地球化学技术对其进行了研究，并将其与该地区的一些天然沥青进行了比较：死海漂浮块（以色列）、瓦迪韦达阿沥青（约旦）和哈斯贝亚（黎巴嫩）。特尔米克尼 - 埃克伦的沥青显示出风化的迹象，表明存在生物降解和氧化作用。与死海沥青相比，它们含有较少的芳烃和较多的沥青质。在分子水平上记录了蒸发和生物降解的情况，尤其是通过菲和二苯并噻吩体现出来。然而，一些同位素和分子参数使我们能够将特尔米克尼 - 埃克伦的沥青与死海漂浮块的沥青联系起来。哈斯贝亚和瓦迪韦达阿的沥青与特尔米克尼 - 埃克伦的沥青不匹配。特别是后者，从其甾烷来看，生物降解程度要高得多。研究表明，死海沥青在500年的时间里被进口到特尔米克尼 - 埃克伦。在公元前7世纪，当非利士、以色列和犹大作为亚述帝国的“亚述和平”的一部分处于和平状态时，这种贸易没有问题。然而，公元前12世纪的贸易令人费解，因为正如《圣经》中所记载的（例如，参孙和大利拉，大卫和歌利亚），沥青必须穿越对非利士人怀有敌意的以色列领土进行运输。因此，似乎有利可图的商业活动超越了种族、宗教和政治冲突，这在当代世界也可以看到。