Pottery

The typical fine table ware of the Hasmonean period is called Eastern Terra Sigillata (or Eastern Sigillata). Terra Sigillata (Latin for “stamped clay") is so called because sometimes the potter stamped his name on the base of the plate or bowl. Eastern Sigillata was produced at centers around the eastern Mediterranean, including Phoenicia (where a variant called Eastern Sigillata A [ESA]

5.7 Painted Nabataean bowl. Photo by Jim Haberman.

Was manufactured). Eastern Terra Sigillata is made of a pale yellow or pink clay covered with a glossy, orange-red slip. The slip tends to be uneven, with darker and lighter patches, and it flakes off easily, revealing the light-colored clay beneath. Eastern Sigillata A is found at Hasmonean period sites in Galilee — not surprising, considering the region's proximity to Phoenicia — but does not appear in Judea until the middle of the reign of Herod the Great; even then, it tends to be limited to elite contexts (such as Herod's palaces and the wealthy mansions of Jerusalem's Jewish Quarter). Much of the local pottery of Judea during the Hasmonean period is undecorated.

The typical early Hellenistic mold-made oil lamps with a long nozzle continued to be used during the Hasmonean period. In Judea, these were supplemented by two locally produced types: cornucopia (or folded wheel-made) lamps and Judean radial lamps. Cornucopia lamps were made by pinching the sides of a bowl to form a spout, similar to the wheel-made lamps of the Iron Age, of which perhaps they represent a revival. Judean radial lamps are mold-made, with an elongated nozzle and a round body decorated with radiating lines encircling the filling hole.