Pottery of Hazor
Most of the Mycenaean vessels found at Hazor are closed shapes, with only a few open vessels and several zoomorphic and anthropomorphic figurines (Leonard 1994; Wijngaarden 2002). This type of assemblage is typical to inland Levantine sites, and is different from that of the major coastal emporia, such as Ugarit and Tell Abu-Hawam, and Cypriot centers such as Enkomi and Kition (Leonard 1981). Based on her study of these finds, Hankey suggested a possible link between Hazor and the port at Tel Abu-Hawam (Hankey 1967, 123-125) but such a claim is yet to be tested by other means, such as chemical analyses (cf. Gunneweg and Michel 1999).
The spatial distribution of the Mycenaean pottery at Hazor shows clear preference to burial contexts over public and domestic contexts. A majority of Mycenaean vessels found in the lower city of Hazor-were found in burial contexts in areas F (13 complete or almost complete vessels in tomb 8144 alone) and
D. A detailed contextual study of the published Mycenaean pottery of Hazor can be found now in WIJNGAARDEN (2002). His interpretation of the spatial distribution of Mycenaean sherds and vessels emphasizes the existence of such sherds in all excavation areas at Hazor, although their dominance in public and especially funerary contexts is admitted (WIJNGAARDEN 2002, 94-97). Wijngaarden explains the restricted access to Mycenaean pottery in the tombs as reflecting consumption strategies of urban social groups, not necessarily belonging to the elite (ibid. 270-273). However, the scarcity of tombs of the LB II inside the city of Hazor, together with the architectural elaboration of tomb 8144-8145 and the rich repertoire found in it, are a hint to the high (possibly elite) status of those buried in it. The rest are small sherds found scattered throughout all the excavation areas. Noteworthy is the scarcity of Mycenaean sherds in cultic contexts, such as the temples in areas H (One Zoomorphic figurine and two sherds) and C (small sherds in the vicinity of the temple and a figurine on the surface outside the temple) (Yadin et al. 1958, 109, Yadin et al. 1960, 80, Yadin et al. 1989, 271). Similar distribution pattern was observed at Megiddo, where Mycenaean vessels and figurines were found mainly in tombs and in public contexts, and are absent from cultic contexts (Leonard and Cline 1998, 15-16). This type of limited distribution stands in sharp contrast to the situation in coastal sites such as Tell Abu-Hawam and Ugarit, where Mycenaean vessels were found throughout all excavation areas in a variety of contexts (Monchambert 1983, Yon et al. 2000, 6-10, 68-69). Concentration of imported vessels in graves and their absence in contemporary settlement contexts is a known phenomenon in Levantine and Cypriot sites throughout the 14th and 13th centuries BC (Cadogan 1993, Steel 2002, Ben-Dov 2002). A relatively large number of Mycenaean vessels, usually consisting of closed vessels such as stirrup jars, piriform jars, pixides and flasks, is characteristic of rich high-status burials. Well-known examples are the “Governor’s Tomb” at Tel el-cAjjul (Steel 2002, 39-44), The “Persian Garden” at Akko tombs (Ben-Arieh and Edelstein 1977), the “Mycenaean Tomb” at Tel Dan (Ben-Dov 2002) and Tomb 8144-8145 at Hazor (Yadin et al. 1960, pl. CXXXVII: 1-13).
This phenomenon has far-reaching implications for understanding the process of enhancing social hierarchy in Canaanite city-states, and the accumulation of wealth and economic control in the hands of elite groups (Steel 1998). The goods stored in these vessels, mainly wine, perfumed oils and unguents, were used in the Aegean area in contexts of commensal meals and feasts and incorporated within rituals of competitive consumption (Hamilakis 1996, 1999). Their appearance in local contexts in Cyprus and the Levant might hint to the emulation of such habits by the local elites, as part of their participation in the koine of the eastern Mediterranean in the Late Bronze Age (Sherratt and Sherratt 1991, Cline 1994, Steel 1998, Steel 2002, 42-43). In any case, the consumption of Mycenaean pottery at Hazor, a city on the edge of the maritime trade system during the Bronze Age, is uncommon and limited mainly to certain contexts of elite burials, a situation similar to that noted by Steel for Tell el-cAjjul (Steel 2002, 44-46). The historical context within which such a phenomenon can be explained is the 14th century BC, and more specifically the Amarna period. This is the time of major building activities initiated at Hazor by its powerful kings, such as Abdi-Tirshi mentioned in the Amarna correspondence (Moran 1992, 288-290, 362). Most of the Mycenaean vessels probably arrived to Hazor during that period, for funerary and ceremonial use by the elite groups. In the end of the 14th and the beginning of the 13th century BC, only a small number of vessels were consumed by the same, now weakening elite groups of the deteriorating city. The exact length of time of this last phase of trade and consumption cannot be assessed with certainty, but can be estimated by its meagre remains to have been of a relatively short duration.
Conclusions
Our current knowledge of Mycenaean pottery at Hazor is constantly expanding, and the renewed excavations at the site enable a fresh look at different aspects of the distribution of this imported ware at the site and its vicinity.
However, Mycenaean pottery by itself can no longer be regarded as the sole chronological tool for dating the Late Bronze Age levels of Hazor. see the recent discussion of the methodological problems inherent in the use of Mycenaean pottery for dating Near Eastern Contexts (Yasur-Landau 2004). An answer to the thorny question of dating Hazor’s destruction should rely on a variety of means, such as Egyptian written sources and objects, cuneiform tablets, 14C datings and, above all, the rich assemblage of local pottery found in the destruction level. such a comprehensive discussion is beyond the scope of this paper and will be presented elsewhere. suffice it to say that the Mycenaean pottery discussed above, taken in conjunction with other lines of inquiry, seems to support an early date for the destruction of Hazor in the first (rather than the second) half of the 13th century BC (ZUCKERMAN 2003).
A project of NAA analyses of Mycenaean sherds from Hazor and related sites in northern Israel is planned by the author for the near future. Recent studies of Mycenaean pottery, found at sites such as Tel-Dan, Akko and Tell Abu-Hawam in Israel and Tell el-Amarna and Qantir-Piramesse in Egypt, point to an intricate international trade and intraregional distribution system of these desirable items (Hoffmann and Robinson 1993; Gunneweg et al. 1992, 1999; Hankey 1997; Mountjoy and Mommsen 2001). The on-going efforts to establish the existence of pottery production centers on mainland Greece will no doubt open new horizons for the reconstruction and understanding of these trade patterns (Mommsen et al. 2001).
Bibliography
Ben-Arieh, S. and Edelstein, G.
1977 Akko: Tombs near the Persian Garden, cAtiqot 12 ES.
Ben-Dov, R.
2002 The Late Bronze Age “Mycenaean” Tomb, in: A. Biran and R. Ben-Dov (eds.), Dan II - A Chronicle of the Excavations: The Late Bronze Age “Mycenaean” Tomb, Jerusalem.
Ben-Tor, A.
1998 The Fall of Canaanite Hazor - The “Who” and “When” Questions, 456-467, in: S. Gitin, A. Mazar and E. Stern (eds.), Mediterranean Peoples in Transition, Jerusalem.
Ben-Tor, A. and Rubiato, M.-T.
1999 Excavating Hazor - Did the Israelites Destroy the Canaanite City?, BAR 25, 22-39.
Cadogan, G.
1993 Cyprus, Mycenaean Pottery, Trade and Colonisation, 91-99, in: C. Zerner (ed.), Wace andBlegen: Pottery as Evidence for Trade in the Aegean Bronze Age 1939-1989, Amsterdam.
Cline, E. H.
1994 Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea: International Trade and the Late Bronze Age Aegean, BAR IntSer 591, Oxford.
Dothan, T., Zuckerman, S. and Goren, Y.
2000 Kamares Ware at Hazor, lEJ 50, 1-15.
Finkelstein, I.
1996 The territorial-political system of canaan in the Late Bronze Age, UF 28, 221-255.
Franken, H. J.
1992 Excavations at Tell Deir cAlla - The Late Bronze Age Sanctuary, Louvain.
Furumark, a.
1941 The Chronology of Mycenaean Pottery, Stockholm.
Garstang, J.
1931 Joshua Judges, London.
Gunneweg, J., Asaro F., Michel, H. V. and Perlman, I.
1992 On the origin of a Mycenaean IIIA Krater and other related Mycenaean pottery from Tomb 387 at Laish/Dan, Eretz-Israel 23, 54-63.
Mazar, a. 1997
Gunneweg, J. and MiCHEL, H. V.
1999 Does the Different Layout of the Late Bronze Age Tombs at Laish/Dan and Akko in Northern Canaan Reflect Different Trade Relations? An instrumental Neutron Activation Study on Mycenaean Pottery, JAS 26, 989-995.
Hamilakis, Y.
1996 Wine, oil and the dialectics of power in Bronze Age Crete: A review of the evidence, OJA 15(1), 1-32.
1999 Food technologies/technologies of the body: the social context of wine and oil production and consumption in Bronze Age Crete, WA 31:38-54.
Hankey, V.
1967 Mycenaean Pottery in the Middle East: Notes on Finds Since 1951, ABSA 62, 107-147.
1993 Pottery as evidence for trade: the Levant from the mouth of the Orontes to the Egyptian border, 101-108, in: C. Zerner (ed.), Wace andBlegen: Pottery as Evidence for Trade in the Aegean Bronze Age 1939-1989, Amsterdam.
1997 Aegean Pottery at El-Amarna: Shapes and Decorative Motifs, 193-218, in: J. Phillips (ed.), Ancient Egypt, the Aegean, and the Near East - Studies in Honour of Martha Rhoads Bell, San Antonio.
Hankey, V. and Aston, D.
1995 Mycenaean Pottery at Saqqara: Finds from Excavations by the Egypt Exploration Society of London and the Rijkmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden, 1975-1990, 67-91, in: J. B. Carter and S. P. Morris (eds.), The Ages of Homer: A Tribute to Emily Townsend Vermeule, Austin.
Hoffmann, S. M.A. and Robinson, V. J.
1993 Neutron Activation Groupings of imported Material from Tell Abu Hawam, 7-10, in: C. Zerner (ed.), Wace and Blegen: Pottery as Evidence for Trade in the Aegean Bronze Age 1939-1989, Amsterdam.
Jung, R. and Weninger, B.
2004 Kastanas and the Chronology of the Aegean Late Bronze and Early iron Age, 209-228, in: T. Higham, C. Bronk Ramsey, and C. Owen, (eds.) Radiocarbon and Archaeology - Fourth International Symposium, Oxford University School of Archaeology Monograph 62, Oxford.
Leonard, A.
1981 Considerations of Morphological Variation in the Mycenaean Pottery from the Southeastern Mediterranean, BASOR 241, 87-101.
1994 An Index to the Late Bronze Age_, Aegean Pottery from Syria-Palestine, SiMA 114, Jonsered.
Leonard, A. and Cline, E. H.
1998 The Aegean Pottery at Megiddo: Appraisal and Reanalysis, BASOR 309, 3-39.
Maeir, a.
2000 The Political and Economic Status of MB ii Hazor and MB Trade: An inter - and intra - Regional View, PEQ 132, 37-58.
Area P, 353-384, in: A. Ben-Tor and R. Bonfil (eds.), Hazor V: An Account of the Fifth Season of Excavation, 1968, Jerusalem.
Metzger, M.
1993 Kamid eJ-Loz, 8. Die Spatbronzezeitlichen Tempelanla-
Gen. Die Kleinfunde. Saarbrucker Beitrage zur Alter-tumskunde 40, Bonn.
Mommsen, H., Hein, I., Ittameier D., Maran, J. and
Dakoronia, P.
2001 New Mycenaean Pottery Production Centers from Eastern Central Greece Obtained by Neutron Activation Analysis, 343-354, in: Y. Bassiakos, E. Aloupi and Y. Facorellis (eds.), Archaeometry Issues in Greek Prehistory and Antiquity, Athens.
Monchambert, J.-Y.
1983 La Ceramique de Fabrication Locale a Ougarit a la Fin du Bronze Recent: Quelques Exemples, Syria 40, 25-45.
Moran, W.
1992 The Amarna Letters, Baltimore.
Mountjoy, P. M.
1986 Mycenaean Decorated pottery: A Guide to Recognition, SIMA 53, Goteborg.
Mountjoy, P. A. and Mommsen, H.
2001 Mycenaean Pottery from Qantir-Piramesse, Egypt, ABSA 96, 123-155.
Nacaman, N.
1997 The Network of Canaanite Late Bronze Kingdoms and the City of Ashdod, UF 29, 599-621.
Pulak, C.
1997 The Uluburun Shipwreck, 233-262, in: S. Swiny, R. L. Hohlfelder and H. W. Swiny (eds.), Res Maritimae: Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean from Prehistory to Late Antiquity, Atlanta.
Sherratt, S.
1999 E pur si muove: pots, markets and values in the second millennium Mediterranean, 163-211, in: J. P. Crielaard, V. Stissi and G. Wijngaarden (eds.), The Complex Past of Pottery: Production, Circulation and Consumption of Mycenaean and Greek Pottery (sixteenth to early fifth centuries BC), Amsterdam.
Sherratt, A. and Sherratt, S.
1991 From Luxuries to Commodities: The Nature of Mediterranean Bronze Age Trading Systems, 351-386, in: N. Gale (ed.), Bronze Age Trade in the Mediterranean, Goteborg.
Steel, L.
1998 The Social impact of Mycenaean imported Pottery in Cyprus, ABSA 93, 285-296.
2002 Consuming Passions: A Contextual Study of the Local Consumption of Mycenaean Pottery at Tell el-Ajjul, JMA 15, 25-51.
Stubbings, F. H.
1951 Mycenaean Pottery from the Levant, Cambridge.
Warren, P. and Hankey, V.
1989 Aegean Bronze Age Chronology, Bristol.
Wiener, M.
1998 The Absolute Chronology of Late Helladic IIIA2, 309-319, in: M. S. Balmuth and R. H. Tykot (eds.), Sardinian and Aegean Chronology: Towards the Resolution of ReJative and Absolute Dating in the Mediterranean, Oxford.
Wijngaarden, G. J.
2002 Use and Appreciation of MyccMaean Pottery in the Levant, Cyprus and Italy (ca. 1600-1200 BC). Amsterdam.
Yadin, Y.
1972 Hazor - The Schweich Lectures of the British Academy 1970, London.
Yadin, Y., Aharoni, Y., Dunayevski, E., Dothan, T.,
Amiran, R. and Perrot, J.
1958 Hazor I: An Account of the First Season of Excavations, 1955, Jerusalem.
1960 Hazor II: An Account of the Second Season of Excavations, 1956, Jerusalem.
1961 Hazor III-IV: An Account of the Third and Fourth Seasons of Excavations, 1957-1958, Plates, Jerusalem.
Yadin, Y., Aharoni, Y,. Amiran, R., Ben-Tor, A., Dothan, M.,
Dothan, T., Dunayevski, E., Geva, S., and Stern, E.
1989 Hazor III-IV: An Account of the Third and Fourth Seasons of Excavation, 1957-1958, Text, Jerusalem.
Yasur-Landau, a.
2004 The Chronological Use of Imported Mycenaean Pottery in the Levant: Towards a Methodological Common Ground. A&L 14, 339-346.
Yon, M., Karageorghis, V. and Hirschfeld, N. (eds.)
2000 Ceramiques myceniennes, Ras Shamra-Ougarit 13, Paris.
Zuckerman, S.
2003 The Kingdom of Hazor in the Late Bronze Ageo Chronological and Regional Aspects of the Material Culture of Hazor and its Settlements, unpublished Ph. D. Dissertation, Hebrew University. Jerusalem (Hebrew)
Forthc. A “Royal Portal” at Hazor: Towards a new Interpretation of Hazor’s Acropolis during the Late Bronze
Age, in: Proceedings of the 3ICAANE Conference.
UNTERSUCHUNGEN DER ZWEIGSTELLE KAIRO DES OSTERREICHISCHEN ARCHAOLOGISCHEN INSTITUTS
Herausgegeben in Verbindung mit der Kommission fur Agypten und Levante der Osterreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften von Manfred Bietak
Band I Manfred Bietak, Tell el-Dabca II. Der Fundort im Rahmen einer archaologisch-geographischen Untersuchung uber das dgyjj-
Tische Ostdelta. Wien 1975.
Band II Labib Habachi, Tell el-Dabca and Qantir I. The Site and its Connection with Avaris and Piramesse. Aus dem NachlaB her
Ausgegeben von Eva Maria Engel. Unter Mitarbeit von Peter Janosi und Christa Mlinar. Wien 2001.
Band III Joachim Boessneck, Tell el-Dabca III. Die Tierknochenfunde 1966-1969. Wien 1976.
Band IV Manfred Bietak und Elfriede Reiser-Haslauer, Das Grab des cAnch-Hor, Obersthofmeister der Gottesgemahlin Nitokris
(mit einem Beitrag von Erhart Graefe). Wien 1978.
Band V Manfred Bietak und Elfriede Reiser-Haslauer, Das Grab des cAnch-Hor, Obersthofmeister der Gottesgemahlin Nitokris.
Teil II (mit Beitragen von Joachim Boessneck, Angela von den Driesch, Jan Qaegebeur, Helga Liese-Kleiber und Helmut Schlichtherle). Wien 1982.
Band VI Diethelm Eigner, Die monumentalen Grabbauten der Spatzeit in der Thebanischen Nekropole (mit einem Beitrag von Josef
Dorner). Wien 1984.
Band VII Manfred Bietak, Tell el-Dabca IV. Stratigraphie und Chronologie (in Vorbereitung).
Band VIII Manfred Bietak, unter Mitarbeit von CHRISTA Mlinar und Angela Schwab, Tell el-Dabca V Ein Friedhofsbezirk der Mitt-
Leren Bronzezeit mit Totentempel und Siedlungsschichten. Wien 1991. Denkschriften der Gesamtakademie, Bd. 9.
Band IX Eike M. Winkler und Harald Wilfling, Tell el-Dabca VI. Anthropologische Untersuchungen an den Skelettresten der Kam-
Pagnen 1966-69, 1975-80, 1985. Wien 1991.
Band X Joachim Boessneck und Angela von den Driesch, Tell el-Dabca VII. Tiere und historische Umwelt im Nordost-Delta im 2.
Jahrtausend anhand der Knochenfunde der Ausgrabungen 1975-1986. Wien 1992.
Band XI Karl Kromer, Nezlet Batran. Eine Mastaba aus dem Alten Reich bei Giseh (Agypten). Osterreichische Ausgrabungen
1981-1983. Wien 1991.
Band XII Manfred Bietak, Josef Dorner, Hans Egger, Joachim Boessneck und Ursula Thanheiser, Tell el-Dabca VIII. Inter-
Disziplinare Studien (in Vorbereitung).
Band XIII Peter Janosi, Die Pyramidenanlagen der Koniginnen. Untersuchungen zu einem Grabtyp des Alten und Mittleren Reiches. Wien
1996.
Band XIV Manfred Bietak (Hrg.), Haus und Palast im Alten Agypten. Internationales Symposium 8. bis 11. April 1992 in Kairo. Wien
1996.
Band XV Ernst Czerny, Tell el-Dabca IX. Eine Plansiedlung des fruhen Mittleren Reiches. Wien 1999.
Band XVI Perla Fuscaldo, Tell el-Dabca X. The Palace District of Avaris, The Pottery of the Hyksos Period and the New Kingdom (Areas
H/III and H/VI), Part I. Locus 66. Wien 2000.
Band XVII SUSANNA Constanze Heinz, Die Feldzugsdarstellungen des Neuen Reiches - Eine Bildanalyse. Wien 2001.
Band XVIII Manfred Bietak (Ed.), Archaische Griechische Tempel und Altagypten, Internationales Kolloquium am 28. November 1997 im Institut fur Agyptologie der Universitat Wien. Mit Beitragen von Dieter Arnold, Anton Bammer, Elisabeth Gebhard, Gerhard Haeny, Hermann Kienast, Nanno Marinatos, Erik 0stby und Ulrich Sinn, Wien 2001.
Band XIX Bettina Bader, Tell el-Dabca XIII. Typologie und Chronologie der Mergel C-Ton Keramik. Materialien zum Binnenhandel des
Mittleren Reiches und der zweiten Zwischenzeit. Wien 2001.
Band XX Manfred Bietak und Mario Schwarz (Eds.), Krieg und Sieg. Narrative Wanddarstellungen von Altagypten bis ins Mittelal-
Ter, Interdisziplinares Kolloquium, 29.-30. Juli 1997 im Schlofi Haindorf, Langenlois. Wien 2002.
Band XXI Irmgard Hein und Peter Janosi, Tell el-Dabca XI, Areal AjV, Siedlungsrelikte der spaten Hyksoszeit. Mit Beitragen von
K. Kopetzky, L. C. Maguire, C. Mlinar, G. Philip, A. Tillmann, U. Thanheiser, K. Grosschmidt. Wien 2004.
Band XXII Nadia el-Shohoumi, Der Tod im Leben. Eine vergleichende Analyse altagyptischer und rezenter agyptischer Totenbrauche. Eine
Phanomenologische Studie. Wien 2004.
Band XXIII David Aston in collaboration with Manfred Bietak, and with the assistance of Bettina Bader, Irene Forstner-Muller and Robert Schiestl, Tell el-Dabca XII. A Corpus of Late Middle Kingdom and Second Intermediate Period Pottery. Volume I: Text; Volume II: Plates Wien 2004.
Band XXIV Peter Janosi, Giza in der 4. Dynastie. Die Baugeschichte und Belegung einer Nekropole des Alten Reiches, Band I, Die Mastabas der Kernfriedhofe und die Felsgraber. Wien 2005.
Band XXV Peter Janosi, Structure and Significance. Thoughts on Ancient Egyptian Architecture. Wien 2005.
VERLAG DER OSTERREICHISCHEN AKADEMIE DER WISSENSCHAFTEN
Forthcoming IRENE Forstner-Muller, Tell el-Dabca XVI. Die Graber des Areals AjII von Tell el-Dabca.
Forthcoming ROBERT Schiestl, Tell el-Dabca XVII. Die Palastnekropole von Tell el-Dabca. Die Graber des Areals FjI der Straten dj2 und dj1.
Forthcoming Vera Muller, Tell el-Dabca XVIII. Opferdeponierungen in der Hyksoshauptstadt Auaris (Tell el-Dabca) vom spaten Mittleren
Reich bis zum fruhen Neuen Reich. Tell I: Katalog der Befunde und Funde; Teil II: Auswertung und Deutung der Befunde und Funde.
Forthcoming Manfred Bietak, Nanno Marinatos and Clairy Palivou, Taureador Scenes in Tell el Dabca (Avaris) and Knossos (with a
Contribution by Ann Brysbaert)
World History
