Lahav I. Pottery and Politics: The Halif Terrace Site 101 and Egypt in the Fourth Millennium B.C.E.

by J. P. Dessel

Overview

This volume is the first in a planned series of reports on the investigations of the Lahav Research Project (LRP) at Tell Halif, located near Kibbutz Lahav in southern Israel. The LRP has focused widely on stratigraphic, environmental, and ethnographic problems related to the history of settlement at Tell Halif and in its immediate surroundings, from prehistoric through modern times. It is fitting that this LRP series begins by focusing on remains from Site 101, which was the first location excavated by the team in 1973. This initial effort involved investigation of a warren of shallow caves that had been exposed by efforts to widen the road into the kibbutz.

In this volume, J. P. Dessel reports on the excavation undertaken at Site 101 during Phase II and is also supplemented by his later research. The excavation itself was guided throughout by Dessel’s determination to require the total retrieval of all ceramic remains. It was his rigorous follow-through on all details involved in the analysis of materials that produced the pioneering results herein presented. Readers will find the book important for the archaeology and history of the southern Levant in the 4th millennium B.C.E. as well as for connections between the Levant and surrounding regions in that era.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781575061573
Publisher:	Penn State University Press
Publication date:	06/30/2009
Series:	Lahav
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.96(d)

Table of Contents

Series Editor’s Preface

Site 101 Field Staff

Acknowledgment of LRP Major Donors

Author’s Foreword

List of Figures

CHAPTER 1: Introduction

CHAPTER 2: The Halif Terrace

A. History of Research and Excavations

1. Site Location and Environment

2. Trade Route or Backwater?

3. Tel Halif as a Demographic Catchment Zone

4. Biblical Identification

5. The History of Archaeological Activity at Tell Halif and the Halif Terrace

6. Exploration on the Eastern Terrace

7. The Lahav Research Project

8. Nahal Tillah Project

B. The Comparative Stratigraphy of the Halif Terrace Occupation

1. Phase 10 / Stratum XIX: Terminal Chalcolithic

2. Phase 9 / Stratum XVIII: EB IA

3. Phase 8 / Stratum XVII: EB IB Early

4. Phase 7/6 Stratum XVI: EB IB Late

5. Phase 1 / Post Stratum XII Early Bronze IV Mixed Fills

6. Site 301 35

CHAPTER 3: Site 101 Ceramic Fabric Groups

A. Introduction

B. Local Fabric Types

1. Group 1, Calcite

2. Group 2

3. Group 3

4. Group 4

5. Group 5

6. Group 6

7. Group 7

C. Egyptian Fabric Types

1. Group 8

2. Group 9

3. Group 10

CHAPTER 4: Site 101 Form Types and Production Traditions

A. Local Form Types

1. Holemouth Jars

2. Group 1 Holemouth Cooking Pots

3. Group 2 Holemouth Cooking Pots

4. Holemouth Storage Jars

5. Jars

6. Vats

7. Jugs and Juglets

8. Mugs

9. Squared-Rim Bowls

9. Cups

11. Hemispherical Bowls

12. V-Shaped Bowls

13. Straw-Tempered Beakers

14. Cornets

15. Churns, Stands, and Trays

B. Egyptian Form Types

1. Rolled-Rim Bowls

2. Hybrid Rolled-Rim Bowls

3. Egyptian Lotus-Shaped Bowls

4. Bread Molds

5. Egyptian Holemouth Jars

6. Hybrid Egyptian Jars

7. Drop Juglets and Miniature Jars

8. Straight-Sided Bowls and White Cylindrical Bowls

9. Egyptian Storage Jars

CHAPTER 5: Production Traditions and the Organization of the Ceramic Industry

A. Ceramic Typology and Production Traditions

B. Organization of Production

1. Household Production

2. Household Industry

3. Workshop Industry

C. Craft Specialization

D. Household Production for Domestic Use

E. Workshop Production for Domestic Use

F. Egyptian Production Traditions

1. Egyptian Household Production for Domestic Use

2. Hybrid Vessels

3. Local Egyptian Workshop Production

4. Foreign Workshop Production

G. Summary

CHAPTER 6: Colonialism, Commerce, and Egypto-Levantine Relations at the Dawn of the State

A. Introduction

B. Conquest or Commerce: Static Views of Turbulent Times

C. The Long View of Egypto-Levantine Relations

1. Sporadic Contacts: Developed Chalcolithic / Naqada I-IIA

2. Entrepreneurial Exploration: Early Bronze IA / Naqada IIB-C/D2

3. Direct Settlement: Early Bronze IB/Naqada IIIA-C1 / Tomb U-j

4. Conclusions

D. Dynamic-Tension Model

1. Pace

2. Scale

3. Intensity

CHAPTER 7: Conclusions

A. A New Methodological Approach

B. Ceramic Industry on the Halif Terrace

C. Egypto-Levantine Relationship in the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Ages

Plate and Description Conventions

Works Cited