Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

POTTERY

(Israel Department of Antiquities and Museums)

Iron II pottery in situ, Gezer Field VII (Phoenix Data Systems, photo by Robert A. Lyons)

Pottery is one of the most common and abundant finds at ancient Near Eastern sites. This is because everyone possessed ceramic vessels, and because once the clay was fired in a kiln, it could break but not disintegrate like organic materials. Pottery can provide a great deal of information about various aspects of ancient life, including trading patterns, ethnicity, diet and culinary habits, and cult and ritual. However, pottery is still used primarily as a means of dating. Though petrographic and neutron activation analysis can help determine the source of the clay, absolute dates are arrived at by creating systems of classification, or typologies, which group ceramic vessels on the basis of stylistic characteristics

Stylistic Characteristics

The stylistic characteristics used to classify pottery include ware, technique, firing, morphology, and decoration/surface treatment. The ware is the material from which the vessel is made. It includes the clay and trace elements in the soil, inclusions, and temper. Inclusions are impurities that remain after the clay has been cleaned by the potter.

Temper is material such as ground rock or straw that is added by the potter to the clay as a binding agent. The technique refers to the process of manufacture: by hand (pinching, coiling), on a wheel, or in a mold, or any combination of these. The earliest vessels were made by hand, and handmade pottery continued to be manufactured in various parts of the Near East up to modern times. Wheelmade pottery became dominant once it was introduced ca. 2000 b.c.e. Molds, which were introduced in the Hellenistic period, were usually used for the production of oil lamps and certain types of bowls.

The process of firing dehydrates the vessel and thus determines its relative hardness. The temperature of the kiln and the amount of oxygen it contains also affect the color of the vessel. For example, vessels fired in a kiln with little or no oxygen will absorb the smoke and turn grey or black, while a kiln with lots of oxygen will produce red-colored vessels.

Morphology refers to the overall shape, size, and proportions of the vessel. Open vessels, such as bowls, cups, and plates, are those whose largest diameter is at the rim. Closed vessels, such as jars, jugs, and juglets, are those whose rim is narrower than the width of the body. Partially open or closed vessels, such as cooking pots, fall between these two categories.

There are many kinds of decoration or surface treatment, most of which are applied before the vessel is fired in the kiln. Among the most common is a slip, a thin solution of clay mixed with water that is applied to the surface of the vessel before firing (if applied after firing it is called a wash). Paint can be similar in composition to a slip, but is applied with a brush to form patterns. Different incised designs such as combing, grooving, puncturing, and engraving can be made using various instruments. Plastic decoration refers to pieces or strips of clay applied to the surface of the vessel. Ribbing, which first appeared in the Persian and Hellenistic periods, consists of undulating horizontal bands created by the potter while turning the vessel on the wheel. Burnishing is the polishing of the vessel’s surface by rubbing it with a pebble, a shell, or even a handful of grass. Burnishing can be applied directly to the surface of the vessel or over a slip. It can also be used to create a pattern of darker lines contrasting with the unburnished areas. True glaze consisting of a glassy coating over the vessel’s surface did not become common outside of Iran and Iraq before the early 9th century c.e.

Though the precise use of every vessel type cannot always be determined with certainty, it is possible to establish broad functional categories based on the stylistic characteristics outlined above. Table wares include vessels used for eating or drinking, such as plates, bowls, and cups, and dishes used for serving, such as jugs and decanters. Like contemporary fine china, table wares tend to be more highly decorated than other categories of vessels. Cooking vessels include cooking pots, which have a relatively narrow rim diameter, and casseroles, which are more open in form. Proceeding from the largest to the smallest in size, storage vessels include pithoi, jars (usually two-handled), jugs (one-handled), and juglets (smaller versions of jugs). The small size and narrow neck of juglets reflects their use as containers for precious liquids such as perfumes and scented oils. Oil lamps lit interior spaces. They developed in form from ordinary open bowls to bowls with a pinched spout to closed, moldmade vessels.

Ceramic Types

Following are the main ceramic types characteristic of Palestine from the Neolithic to Byzantine periods.

Pottery Neolithic Period
(ca. 6000-4000 b.c.e.)

Pottery appeared throughout the Near East ca. 6000 b.c.e. The Neolithic period witnessed the transition from an economy of food-gatherers (hunting and collecting) to an economy of production (livestock and agriculture). Whether pottery was introduced from outside Palestine or developed locally from such pre-pottery Neolithic features as polished plaster floors and plastered human skulls is still debated. Neolithic vessels are handmade and have simple shapes, with flat bases and globular bodies. The clay contains a great deal of straw temper and grits, and tends to be friable due to low firing temperatures. Some vessels are decorated with cream slip that is partially covered by a burnished red slip, with the reserved portions of the cream slip forming chevrons, triangles, or similar designs. Others have bands containing herringbone incision with a red slip covering the rest of the vessel.

Chalcolithic Period (ca. 4000-3300)

The pottery of this period is still handmade. Impressions on the flat bases of some of the vessels suggest that they were manufactured while being turned slowly on a mat. Common types of decoration include red paint on the rims of bowls and cornets, and heavy rope-molding on large jars. Common vessel shapes include V-shaped bowls, which have straight walls and slightly flaring rims; cornets, a distinctive Chalcolithic shape resembling an ice cream cone; goblets, which are cups on a high ring base; footed bowls and chalices; holemouth jars with loop or lug handles; pithoi decorated with bands of rope-molding; and churns, which have a horizontal barrel-shaped body with loop handles at either end and a short, narrow neck. The last, which represent a distinctive Chalcolithic type, are thought to have been used for churning milk into yogurt, butter, or cheese.

Early Bronze Age (ca. 3300-2000)

The Early Bronze Age is subdivided into four major phases: Early Bronze I, II, III, and IV, based primarily on changes in ceramic types. Most of the pottery is still handmade. Three main groups of pottery distinguished in form and decoration are found in the EB I period. The first is characterized by a hand-burnished red slip, which decorates hemispherical bowls with an omphalos (concave) base, large bowls with an incurved rim, jugs and juglets with a high loop handle, and teapots (jugs with spouts). The second group is characterized by red or brown lines painted in groups or smeared in streaks over a buff background, with shapes corresponding to those of the first group. The third group is a grey-burnished ware with sharply carinated shapes imitating metal vessels. It is called Jezreel Valley or Esdraelon ware, after the area where it is most commonly found. The pottery of the EB II-III periods forms a single corpus. The vessels have thick, heavy walls and large, flat bases. The decoration consists mostly of an evenly burnished or pattern-burnished red slip. The pattern-combing found on some vessels gives them a metallic ring. Characteristic shapes include platters; piriform (pear-shaped) juglets; tall, slender jars with a flat base and flaring rim; and so-called Abydos jugs, which have a tall, elegant body, small flat base, and flaring rim with single handle. During the EB III period a distinctive type of pottery called Khirbet Kerak ware makes a brief appearance, named after the only site where it is found in abundance. The profiles of these vessels are characterized by an S-shape and by the highly burnished black exterior with a red rim and red interior, produced by firing.

The pottery of the EB IV period (William F. Albright’s MB I and K. M. Kenyon’s Intermediate EB-MB) demonstrates elements of continuity and change from the previous period. Some vessels are partly handmade and partly wheelmade. Most tend to have relatively thin walls, with a light yellow or tan fabric common in the south and a dark grey fabric common in the north. New shapes include teapots with a very broad, flat base; small cups; goblets; and open, four-spouted oil lamps. Though some red-burnishing continues, new types of decoration include incised straight or wavy lines and white-painted lines on dark clay. The new vessel shapes and dark ware with light painted decoration reflect Syrian influence.

Middle Bronze Age (ca. 2000-1500)

The pottery of the Middle Bronze Age represents an almost complete break with the EB traditions, both in terms of forms and decoration. Though burnished red slip is still common at the beginning of the period, later vessels tend to be plain. Painted decoration is rare. The technique changes too, with a fast wheel facilitating the production of thin-walled, carinated vessels with high ring bases. The characteristic shapes include bowls with carinated walls and high ring bases, at first with a burnished red slip, but later made of a thin, white (“eggshell”) ware. A special shape now appears for cooking pots, instead of holemouth jars which were previously used for this purpose. At the beginning of the period the cooking pots have a flat base and straight walls with rope molding. These are replaced by deep bowls with carinated walls and flaring rim, which continue to develop into the Late Bronze Age. Jars have a rounded or small flat base, an egg-shaped body, and loop handles or no handles. Juglets have an egg-shaped body, a small flattened base, and multiple (double or triple) loop handles. Oil lamps consist of a deep bowl with a single, slightly pinched nozzle. One distinctive type of the latter part of the period is Tell el-Yehudiyeh ware, named after the Egyptian site where it was first found. It is usually represented by piriform juglets with a loop handle and button base made of a dark ware with burnished grey slip, punctured by incised lines and dots filled with white chalk.

Late Bronze Age (ca. 1500-1200)

Although some new wares and elements appeared in Palestine during the Late Bronze Age, most of the pottery represents a development of MB types. In general, there is a marked deterioration of the local wares during LB. At the same time, the number of imports increases, especially from Cyprus and Mycenaean Greece. Two fine painted wares are characteristic of the transition from MB to LB. The first, Cypriot bichrome ware, has black and red painted designs on a light background. The painted decoration is divided into zones containing animals. The second, local “chocolate on white” ware, is covered with a burnished creamy white slip over which geometric designs in a thick dark brown or reddish brown paint are drawn. The influence of these two wares is reflected in the popularity of painted decoration on local LB pottery. At the beginning of the period, much of the painting is bichrome (red and black or brown), and the motifs are elaborate and well executed. A later deterioration is reflected by the use of monochrome brown paint and simpler motifs. In addition, the carination of the bowls gradually becomes less pronounced, and their walls and bases become thicker. The shoulders of the cooking pots become more carinated, and they develop a thicker, undercut rim. The egg-shaped jars of MB develop angular shoulders and an elongated, pointed base. Oil lamps become larger and heavier, the nozzle is more deeply pinched, and the bowl develops a flange (rim) all the way around.

Iron Age (ca. 1200-586)

The pottery found at the small hill country sites usually associated with the Israelite settlement during the early Iron Age is crudely made. The walls are thick and poorly fired, and the vessels seem to have been turned on a slow wheel. There is little decoration aside from a light buff slip. Many of the shapes, such as the cooking pots, represent developments of LB forms. Collared rim jars, a type of large storage jar common at these sites, have an elliptical body, a thick rim with a raised ridge at the base of the neck, and two loop handles on the body. At the same time, a distinctive type of fine decorated table ware is found at sites associated with the Philistine settlement in the coastal region. The painted decoration (at first brown, and later black and red), geometric and bird motifs framed by “metopes,” and shapes (including kraters with horizontal handles, stirrup jars, and “beer jugs”) reflect the apparent Aegean origin of the Philistines. During the latter part of the Iron Age (after the establishment of the United Kingdom), this ware disappears, and Phoenician influence becomes evident in terms of form and decoration. There is also an overall improvement in the quality of the local pottery. Painted decoration is rare, and many vessels are now covered with a burnished red slip. At first, the slip is dark red and the burnish covers the entire vessel in irregular patterns. On later vessels the slip is orange-red, and the burnishing was done on the wheel. This produces a spiral pattern, with the burnished lines becoming spaced more widely apart as time progresses. Characteristic Iron II shapes include large carinated bowls with thick walls and everted rim; cooking pots with a short triangular rim; decanters (jugs with a tall ridged neck); asymmetrical flasks; and small open oil lamps with deeply pinched nozzles and wide flanges.

Persian, Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine Periods (ca. 586 b.c.e.–640 c.e.)

The period of Persian rule over Palestine corresponds with the flourishing of classical Athens. However, it was not until Alexander the Great’s conquest (332 b.c.e.) that Greek culture began to make a significant impact on the material culture of Palestine. In terms of pottery, this is reflected mainly by the oil lamps, which become closed, moldmade, and decorated, and by changes in fine table wares. From the 5th to 3rd centuries, table wares covered with a shiny black slip (misnamed black glaze) were popular in Greece. Imported fragments of this ware are occasionally found at Near Eastern sites. During the 2nd and 1st centuries, it was gradually replaced by pottery covered with a shiny red slip (misnamed red glaze). By the 1st century b.c.e., red-slipped pottery, called terra sigillata, was produced at sites around the eastern Mediterranean and is common at Roman sites throughout Palestine. Red-slipped table wares remained popular until the Muslim conquest; those produced from the 4th to 7th centuries c.e. are called Late Roman red wares. The more utilitarian types of pottery continue the local traditions, with storage jars having the bag-shaped body, and cooking pots the globular body that appeared during the Iron Age.

Bibliography. R. Amiran, Ancient Pottery of the Holy Land (Jerusalem, 1969); J. W. Hayes, Late Roman Pottery (London, 1972); P. W. Lapp, Palestinian Ceramic Chronology, 200 b.c.–a.d. 70 (New Haven, 1961); J. Magness, Jerusalem Ceramic Chronology circa 200-800 c.e. JSOTSup 103. ASORMS 9 (Sheffield, 1993); A. O. Shephard, Ceramics for the Archaeologist (Washington, 1971); E. Stern, The Material Culture of the Land of the Bible in the Persian Period, 538-332 b.c. (Warminster, 1982).

Jodi Magness

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

POTTERY

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)