5. Sea Peoples of the Northern ? Aegean-Style Pottery from Early Iron Age

HE basic goal of this study was to elucidate the seventy-five years ago, the only analysis of Early Iron TAegean ceramic repertoire at Tell Tayinat in terms Age pottery produced thus far has been an unpublished of its cultural roots, internal development and tempo­ dissertation written by Gustavus Swift over fifty years ral position, based on the assumption that this pottery ago (1958). This study represents an attempt to begin was the result of local industry and reflects an intru­ to fill that longstanding lacuna at Tell Tayinat and in the sive western culture otherwise alien to the region. The Amuq Valley. Thanks to the efforts of the AVRP and exception appears to be the earliest traces of mate­ the TAP, investigations at the sites of Chatal Hoytik, rial in Field Phase 6c, which preliminary petrographic Tell Judaidah, Tell Tayinat, and Tell Atchana have analysis suggests may be imported. This initial deposit been renewed, making the prospects for research in contains certain stylistic eccentricities and appears to the Amuq more promising than ever. be mirrored by findings at nearby Chatal Hoytik, where A survey of the history of Mycenaean pottery in small amounts of LH IIIC material discovered in the Chapter 1 revealed that research goes back over a cen­ earliest Iron Age deposit (Level lO_fil) have been iden­ tury and a half, to the time of Heinrich Schliemann tified as imports (Pucci 2013: 95; see Chapter 3: section in the 1860s, who first identified and excavated the 3.2.2, for discussion). ancient city of , as well as engaging in extensive Furthermore, the phenomenon of initial imports investigations at other key sites, including Mycenae, finds parallel at sites in the northern Levant, such as Tiryns, and Ithaka. Perhaps the greatest contribution at Ras Ibn Hani (Bell 2006: 94) and Tell Kazel (Badre to the scholarly study of Aegean ceramics was made et al. 2005: 36), as well as a number of southern sites, by Arne Furumark. To his enduring credit, the system including Sarepta (Koehl 1985: 25-26, 146-47), Tyre of classification he developed in the 1940s, based on (Bikai 1978: 65-66), Acco (D'Agata et al. 2005: 373- the stylistic analysis of shape and decoration, remains 74), Tell Keisan (Balensi 1981; Gilboa 2005: 57; Gun­ the standard scheme in use by specialists even to the neweg and Perlman 1994), and Beth-Shean (D'Agata present day. et al. 2005: 371-81; Mazar 2007: 572; Mommsen et Many scholars have advanced the study of Aegean­ al. 2009: 510-18). Some of these vessels are petro­ style pottery, but the work of Penelope Mountjoy has graphically linked to areas in Cyprus, while others become integral to all such efforts. Her meticulous cannot be determined with certainty (Yasur-Landau classification of the stylistic development of Aegean 2010b: 840-41; see Warren and Hankey 1989: 162-65 ceramics throughout Mainland Greece, the Aegean, for summary). However, in contrast with sites in the Cyprus, and more recently the Levant has further Amuq and Ras Ibn Hani, these other assemblages do refined the system devised by Furumark, and it has not feature large amounts of Aegean-style pottery, and resulted in the publication of several volumes that most likely represent the last remnants of the Bronze have become standard references for the field. The Age trade networks. tripartite arrangement of the stylistic phase most rel­ The corpus for this study consisted primarily of evant to this study, LH IIIC, has been further subdi­ stratified pottery excavated from Field 1 at Tell Tayinat, vided on the basis of the work of Mountjoy, as well which represents the most complete Early Iron Age as new refinements by Elizabeth French (and Philipp deposit found at the site thus far. Using an intensive Stockhammer) from the excavations at the key sites typological and stylistic analysis consisting of shape of Mycenae and Tiryns. and decoration, the assemblage was further delimited The production of local Mycenaean pottery in the to Aegeanizing pieces as defined by comparable Main­ Levant is obviously of paramount importance to this land and regional sequences across the Mediterranean analysis. The best known of these assemblages are Basin. The context of this subset was discerned as found in the Philistine cities of Ashkelon, Ashdod, much as possible within both its stratigraphic position Ekron, and Gath, all of which either have been or are and its relationship to indigenous potting traditions, presently being investigated. However, with the benefit in order to avoid the fallacy of evaluating the entire of several recent final reports, it is becoming increas­ assemblage on the basis of exotic or imported ware. ingly clear that the Sea Peoples phenomenon of the However, as the study has demonstrated, distinguishing twelfth century was not limited to the south. Several what is intrusive from what is local is not always self­ important sites on the Syrian and Anatolian coast, in evident, particularly in assemblages exhibiting unique addition to Cyprus, have yielded important Aegean­ regional development such as Tell Tayinat. izing deposits. Despite the extensive excavations conducted by the Despite recent refinements to the Furumark system Syrian-Hittite Expedition in the Amuq Valley over of stylistic classification, however, it does not come

115 116 Sea Peoples of the Northern Levant? without certain problems. The application of parallels Swift appears to have been not only shorter, but more over considerable distances constitutes one of its limi­ complex and uneven than originally conceived. tiations. It is the view here, however, that comparing the The Late Bronze-Iron Age transition (Amuq Phase Tayinat assemblage to sites as far as the Greek Mainland M to Phase N) witnessed a dramatic increase in sites is justified, given the well-established evidence for trade bearing Aegean-type ceramics. Whereas in Phase M, and commerce between the two regions, particularly LH IIIA/B material was reported at only three loca­ during the preceding Late , and the apparent tions, Phase N sites with LH IIIC pottery numbered at derivative quality of its pottery in the Early Iron Age. least twenty-three, and as many as twenty-nine, as part Nonetheless, it is important to note that the existing sys­ of an overall increase in the number of settled Iron Age tem of classification is based on developments in style sites. Thanks to renewed excavations, new light is also that are not always anchored in stratigraphic reality, nor being shed on the relationship between Tell Atchana is it clearly understood to what degree the application of and Tell Tayinat, closely related twin settlements, as Mainland standards is relevant to regional sequences in their occupational sequences alternated and may have the east. Finally, it must be conceded that ceramic inno­ even overlapped during the Phase M-N transition. vation, long thought to originate at sites in the Argolid, Chapter 4 comprised the core of the study, with may have been at times inaugurated elsewhere in the the typological descriptions proceeding from open to Aegean, perhaps even Cyprus and the Levant. None­ closed forms. The Aegean-style deep bowl is one of theless, the traditional approach to form and painted the most common vessels in the Tayinat assemblage, ornamentation remains highly valuable and still forms and was marked by a wide range of shapes and sizes the foundation for all pottery analysis. and a low degree of standardization. The group shows Chapter 2 consisted of a comprehensive review of strong signs of regional development, including short sites in the region yielding LH IIIC pottery. Its pur­ rims, stub handles, and a tendency toward carinated pose was to provide a broad and detailed comparative shapes. The closest affinities to the Tayinat bowls are context for the Tayinat assemblage. In addition to the found on the island of Cyprus, particularly at the sites ceramic, cultural, and historical data contained therein, of Enkomi (Levels IIIB Late and IIIC) and Kition several observations emerged as a result: Wavy Line (Floors III-I). These in turn were linked to Mainland decoration, which is a prominent feature of the Tayinat examples of the Wavy Line Style, which first appeared repertoire, appears to be a tradition virtually exclusive at Mycenae during LH IIIC Late. Wavy Line decoration to the northern Levant and Cyprus, and represents a is strongly associated with the Granary Style, which later stage of Aegean style, dating primarily to the LH consists largely of simple linear motifs. In sum, the IIIC Late phase in Aegean terms. A second finding was deep bowl assemblage at Tayinat generally corresponds that the stemless open spiral motif typical of the Tay­ stylistically to the LH IIIC Middle 2 (Advanced), LH inat repertoire may well represent a later development IIIC Late, and Submycenaean phases. of longrunning spiraliform decoration, which became Kraters were the centerpiece of the Mycenaean popular subsequent to the antithetical version of the drinking set, and were often the focal point of civic design commonly found in LH IIIC Early and Middle gatherings where they were used to mix water with style in Mainland sequences. wine. Not surprisingly, examples of these vessels often Chapter 3 was comprised of an examination of the bore elaborate painted scenes to suit such occasions. archaeology of the Amuq Valley, including an analysis They were truly the palette of choice for ceramic arti­ of settlement patterns in the area. The long decades of sans of the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages. Shapes scholarly neglect are finally being reversed by intensive from the Aegean repertoire found across the Medi­ investigations and publications from past and ongoing terranean Basin included primarily three: stemmed, projects. The new data show that the valley experi­ bell-shaped, and amphoroid, the latter of which was enced decline during the Late Bronze Age, as measured particularly popular in Cyprus and the northern Levant. by the number of sites and overall settled area, possibly The krater analysis demonstrated the presence of two of as a result of mass deportations imposed by the Hittite these three types in the Tayinat assemblage-the bell Empire in the late fourteenth century. However, this krater and the amphoroid krater-amongst a number occupational interlude was not uniform throughout the of others that descended from Late Bronze Age ante­ area as many Phase M sites, such as Chatal Hoyiik, cedents, such as the carinated krater. The typological continued to be inhabited in the Iron Age, even though study of rims also showed that, much like the deep some of these may have consisted of mere village-level bowl group, production of kraters at the site was any­ settlement. The two-century hiatus first proposed by thing but standardized, and reflects ceramic industry