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History of pottery in Palestine

The history of pottery in Palestine starts in Neolithic times, around the 8th millennium BC, when the art of pottery was introduced into the region — probably from the north, together with the agriculture. The potter's wheel was introduced in the Chalcolithic period, in the 5th millennium BC.

Neolithic Pottery (8500-4300)

This period is split into two pre-pottery periods (PPNA and PPNB) and two pottery ones. During the PPNA we see the domestication of plants (einkorn and emmer) and animals (goats, sheep) that probably originated in eastern Turkey (Göbekli Tepe ). Settlements are made up of round houses with floors of burnt lime. In the PPNB, houses get smaller, and the range of domesticates increases. While pottery was unknown, figurines made of burnt clay have been found in Nevali Cori, eastern Turkey. In the following cooking pot, which was constant throughout the age.

Again a handle classifies this period, this time we can begin to diagnose the period with the ledge handle. We can also see a clear difference between the northern and southern patterns. This is done by the decoration. The north used highly burnished red slip, which is rarely used in the south. The northerners would also use reddish brown paint and a rough brush, a technique known as “grain wash”. The inhabitants of the south on the other hand were more familiar with white slip and painting vertical orange lines on it, or using incision techniques.

An important part of describing the pottery of this period is the burial pottery. Much of this pottery consists of small jars and bottles with different types of handles and spouts. Some of these are bottles with narrow necks and lug handles, and cups with a high loop handle.

Middle Bronze Age I (2300-2000)

Although one could write about the Middle Bronze age by itself, I feel it important to distinguish this period from the rest. It is a time that is difficult to understand since civilization seemed to reduce considerably and many graves were found throughout the country.

Three major groups the Transjordan, the northern and the southern can define the pottery of this age. Despite this division of regional practices, there are still common aspects to the pottery as a whole throughout the land. Goblets, amphoriskoi (a small jar with two handles), and the “teapot” jar with the spout that gives it its name. Diagnostic to this period is the four-spout lamp.

The Transjordan grouping is to be found in sites like Bab edh-Dhra. It is marked by the burnished red slip, which barely appears in the other cultures, but is reminiscent of the previous Early Bronze Age.

The northerners are remarked by a pale red slip, and poorly decorated red stripes or circles. These northern sites are mainly in the areas of the Jezreel Valley, and Upper Galilee. They seem to have brought in much of the Early Bronze pottery onwards and still use ledge handles and formed them into the “envelope shape”. The northern family has also been found to be using imported Syrian gray/black ware. This foreign ware is “teapots” and goblets made on the wheel, and can be easily spotted due to the white horizontal/wavy lines.

The southerners of the central hill country, Jordan Valley, Shephelah and other sites are noted by their lack of red slip or painted decoration. They decorate using incision techniques, and a five tooth narrow comb. Apart from the countrywide norm, the south has handless jars with a wheel made flaring neck.

Middle Bronze Age (2000-1550)

This period is divided into three different sub periods: MBII A, B, and C. We shall see that B and C are closer linked than A. This period is diagnosed by the well-burnished red slip so often seen in the corresponding layers at digs. The slip is normally used on the smaller vessels of the period. Other decorating techniques found to be frequent amongst this period's pottery are horizontal sometimes triangular designs in black or red paint.

The second half of this period (B+C) is not seen by the burnished red slip, which all but disappeared during the eighteenth century, replaced by white/creamy slip. The astonishing event of this period is the mastery of the potters over the wheel. The pottery is often quite thinly walled and even kilned at high temperatures. Despite this, there is a progression of techniques from MBII A, which does denote continuity in society from then. Other noticeable traits of the period are a lack of painted design on most types of pottery and then only unicolored. The one color often tends to be stripes or circles with the odd bird making an appearance. These designs appear on ointment juglets.

The ointment juglet is the most important piece of pottery of the period. The fashion of juglets swings gradually from piriform ones to cylindrical. Amongst these vessels we find zoomorphic shapes like animals or human heads. These designs are often accompanied by “puncturing”, which used to be filled by white lime.

Lastly Chocolate on White Ware and Bichrome Ware are important pottery types appearing in the 16th century. The first of the two types consists of a thick white slip being applied followed by a dark brown paint. This type is found in the northern region of the country particularly close to the Jordan Valley. The Bichrome Ware the more important of the two can be found at Tel el-Ajjul and Meggido among others. Its “pendant” lines or stripes that come usually as black on white slip, or more commonly as red on black can help notice this type of pottery. Bichrome was imported from Cyprus.

Late Bronze Age (1550-1200)

Due to the influx of imported types of pottery, the pottery of this period must be divided into four sub groups:

Local Pottery

The local shows that there is a clear evolution of the pottery through the MB to this period. The difference that can be remarked between the two periods is that the juglets that were once of great dispersion go down in popularity and become gray as the Late Bronze age begins. In fact the local pottery is now mass-produced in a rough and cheap manner.

Paint decoration returns to fashion, even though it is simply added to the light buff slip, and sometimes without slip. The paint shows many different geometric shapes, and sometimes inside painted on rectangular panels called metopes a sacred tree flanked by two antelopes can be found.

The Bichrome Group

Again in this period we can see that the majority of this group is red paint on black background. The most common vessels that we find this type in are kraters, jars and jugs. This group, after being tested with neutron activation techniques shows that it was imported from eastern Cyprus. The major controversy is whether the Cypriot market produced Palestinian styles for exporting purposes, or whether Canaanites were producing the pottery for the home consumption in Israel. This pottery was also to be found in Megiddo locally made.

Cypriot Imported Pottery

This is a selection of handmade pottery in different Ware styles. These styles are called: Base Ring, White Slip, Monochrome, White Shaved, White Painted, Bucchero. Of these different kinds, Monochrome, White Slip, and Base Ring were most used. It appears as though this type of pottery was found to be decorative in nature rather than useful.

Mycenaean Imports

This pottery was produced on inland Greece and amongst the Aegean islands. The fabrication technique used was fast-wheel, with fine well-levigated clay. The slip was of a light cream color to give the background to the exquisite decoration normally done in dark-brown color. Vessel types were small and closed flasks or “stirrup jars”.

Iron Age I (1200-1000)

There are really two major types of pottery going on inside two separate societies in the Land of the Bible at this time. These are the Philistines and the Israelites.

Philistine Bichrome Ware

This is the descendant of the imported Mycenaean Ware of the past period, which is known also as Mycenaean IIIC1b. This new style of pottery is made locally. Neutron analysis proves that it could have even been made in the same workshop. It began at approx. 12th century and began to disappear towards the end of the 11th century. The style is slightly influenced by Egypt but mostly by Canaanite. The Mycenaean tradition holds a firm grasp over the shape of the pottery (for example “stirrup jars”), whereas bottles are found to share Cypriot styles (seen by tall and narrow necks). The decoration of this new ware has changed to red and black paints on a whitish slip. Birds and fish are found to be common on Mycenaean IIIC1b but less on the new style, in fact by the second half of the 11th century the bird which was once thought to be sacred disappeared from the pottery.

Israelite Pottery:

This is a lot cheaper and less refined than other pottery at this stage in history. The new Israelite settlers began by using very basic types of Canaanite pottery until they began developing just very simple copies of the purchased pottery so as to meet their needs. The hallmark of this early Israelite style is the pithoi. They are scattered over these sites. Many of the storage jars had The “Collard Rim”, which were most popular to the central part of Israel.

Iron Age II (1000-586)

During the period of the United Kingdom the Israelite pottery improved and showed a remarkable amount of red slip with irregular burnish and applied by hand. At the split, however, of the kingdom began to break off into two separate traditions.

Samaria Ware is a name given to the pottery of Israel (the northern kingdom), even though it is a description of a wide variety. This can be put into two separate groups though. The first is thick walled, with a high foot and red slip (sometimes burnished), which often come as bowls. The second is made of well-levigated clay, and decorated with concentric stripes of red/yellowish color.

Judean pottery is altogether a different story and slowly progresses into more, and more sophisticated types/styles. This although is not taking anything away from this pottery, because by the 8th/7th centuries the Jerusalem pottery was especially good. All over the southern kingdom, a technique known as “wheel burnish” was used describing how the orange/red slip was applied whilst the pot was on the wheel.

After 586 BC