CHAPTER FOUR ATHENIAN IMPORTS IN THE PERSIAN PERIOD Ronald Marchese INTRODUCTION an excellent illustration of the volume of commercial activ­ ity in the eastern Mediterranean during the Persian period. n recent years much attention has been paid to the Persian It is this extensive use of imported wares, primarily Athe­ >eriod in Palestine. Passive politically but active culturally, nian, which provides the necessary reference material for he region formed part of a much larger area within the locally developing ceramic types and the chronological hori­ ~chaemenid administrative district of 'Beyond the River,' zons for individual architectural strata. hat is today's Syria and Israel (Rainey 1969: 51-52; Rainey The imported assemblage from the Greek world at Tel 988). Archaeologically, little is known of the region during Dor can be divided into two categories: ( 1) East Greek pot­ he approximately two and a half centuries of Persian rule. tery (see Chapter 3) and (2) pottery from the Greek main­ [his is best illustrated by the development of a number of land. The latter is exclusively represented by Athenian wares egional and sub-regional cultural zones which indicate dating from the middle-late 6th to 4th centuries BCE. rarying degrees of cultural uniformity and diversity (Singer­ Though a vast assortment of shapes is evident, many \ vitz 1988). By far the best support for such a view appears imported for their own sake and not as containers of goods, n the local ceramic assemblages. Initially it was believed the ceramic remains at Tel Dor are both fragmentary and hat there was slight variation in form and shape, with the difficult to identify. Their dating is complex, since many of ocal ceramic tradition changing very little throughout the the types have a long use in Athenian contexts (Agora XII). :hronological parameters of the Persian period (Amiran Given these limitations in the total assemblage from Dor, 1969). However, with an ever-increasing number of exca­ approximately 850 sherds from Areas A and C were studied. rated sites yielding varying amounts of ceramic material All are of Athenian manufacture and cover the full extent of 'rom the Persian period, subtle changes have become more Persian period occupation at the site, i.e. the mid-6th to 4th ~vident (Stern 1978; Stern 1983; Singer-Avitz 1988). Over­ centuries BCE. ill, the study of the material remains of the period is still The range of Athenian wares is impressive and features a 1ampered by a lack of the large body of data necessary in complete repertoire of shapes and styles. This can be divided )fder to construct an all-embracing relative chronology of into three categories: (1) limited quantities of Black Figure; >tylistic change. Since local typologies are not uniform and (2) excellent examples of Red Figure of high artistic quality; may cover a long chronological range, it is difficult to date and (3) a vast assortment of plain Black Painted wares which >pecific architectural strata in the Persian period on the basis comprise the bulk of the imported assemblage. First appear­ of the local ceramic tradition alone. This, however, can be ing before the end of the 6th century, Attic wares become partially rectified by the appearance of cross-cultural commonplace by the middle of the 5th century, are abun­ remains originating in the Greek world, which offer a frame­ dant in the last quarter of the century, and continue almost work for the relative dating of individual strata. Such mate­ without interruption to the end of the 4th century. Although rial has proved very useful in establishing basic Black and Red Figure are evident, the most common types chronological divisions within the broader architectural are the totally Black Painted varieties, which will therefore strata of excavated sites of the Persian period (Marchese be treated first; a separate section presents Attic material 1988). from Area Cl excavated in 1986-87. Cross-cultural references - primarily ceramic material Black Painted Attic wares are represented by a variety of originating in the East Greek, mainland Greek, and Cypriot shapes and styles (see Tables 4.1-2). They include typical worlds - are found throughout Palestine. Such references Athenian bowls with thickened incurving rims, the most offer excellent chronological limits for the local ceramic tra­ common shape in the 4th century (Fig. 4.1; Photo 4.1 ); bowls dition (Singer-Avitz 1988; Marchese 1988). Through the with tapered projecting rims (Fig. 4.2:1-3); bowls with Phoenician cities to the north and the northern coastal cen­ rounded projecting rims (Fig. 4.2:4-6); bowls with flat pro­ ters of today's Israel, goods of high value were distributed jecting rims, rare even in Athens and dated mostly to the end along the entire Levan tine coast and further afield into the of the 5th century (Fig. 4.3:1 ); bowls with rounded and interior. Such items, rarely imitated by local potters, appear tapered rims (Fig. 4.3:2-3); and finally bowls with thickened to have been highly prized for their own sake and have been in curving and projecting rims (Fig. 4.3: 5-15). Stacked on found in quantity at a number of sites (Marchese 1988). This top of one another and easily transported in bulk, the assort­ is evident in the occupational strata at Tel Dor, providing ment of bowls indicates an extensive trade in ceramic forms 127 Table 4.1. Black painted wares: distribution of types. Bmv! with incurving rim Askas Rilled rim plate Shallow body I Impressed Thin rim/shallow bowl 22 Guttus type 2 Total Thickened rim 26 Total 3 Total 48 Rolled rim plate Salt cellar Bowl with projecting rim Sma!l Concave wa!l 2 Large Rounded and tapered 8 Thick foot 3 Total Flat and projecting 10 Total 5 Rounded and projecting, tight curl 51 Oil/amp Slightly projecting/flaring 2 Stopper/disk Total 71 Spout Total Footed Total Concave/convex bmt·! Lid!lekanis Narrow foot 15 Body sherd Total 6 Broad foot 8 Open vessel II Total 23 Closed vessel 0/pe White banding Reserve banding Total Stemmed cup Total 12 Foot 7 Total 7 Mug Total 4 Stemmed dish Amphoriskos Foot 4 Total Total 4 Elongated lekythos Stemless cup Rim Rim 15 Broad disk base I Handle 20 Narrow disk base I Body 2 Total 3 Base 15 Total 52 Bulbous black bodied lckythos Total 7 Balsa! Straight rim 19 Projecting rim II Kantharos/cup kantharos Base 13 Handle 5 Molded body 8 Total 48 Handle 2 Pedestaled foot 5 Total 15 Skyphos Rim 28 Oinochoc Handle 10 2 Torus foot 37 Total Body sherd 6 Rim and handle !9 Total !00 Fish plate Low ring base 7 High molded base 2 Rim and shoulder 15 One-handler Total 24 Thickened rim II Plain 18 Total II Rouletted I 128 Table 4.2. Black painted wares: distribution of types. Body Sherd 120 Lid/Lekanis lllilll6 Stopper I Oil Lamp iill!li!IB Oinochoe 2 Kantha:ros/Cup Kantharos iiiii7 15 Lekythos Amphoriskos I Mug iil4 Olpe 1 Salt Cellar Askos ~5 One Handler I Skyphos -11 100 Balsa! 48 Stemless Cup 52 Stemmed Dish/Cup I Concave/Convex Bowl -11 23 I Bowl with Projecting Rim 71 1 Bowl with lncurving Rim 48 Rolled Rim Pia te I Rilled Rim Plate 2 Fish Plate 24 I I 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 Sherds Frequency Bowls with thickened and incurving rims make up the majority of the impressed wares. Though rim profiles are not preserved for many vessels, ring bases and lower shoulder profiles also represent this class at Dor. Twenty-eight exam­ ples exist as bases with black undersides and central nipples. Impressed designs consist of rouletting and alternately linked palmettes. This is the most common shape in the 4th century. A variety of bowls are classified as bowls with projecting rim. Rims are rounded and tapered, flat and projecting, and rounded and projecting. The earliest examples form a tight curl and are attached to straight or angular shoulders. Bowls become popular at the end of the 5th century and are very common at Athens in the 4th century. The tightly curled rim and angular wall give way to a more projecting rim and a flaring wall, forming a double cnrve in profile. c )hoto 4.1. Bowls with incurving rim. a: surface; b: Reg. No. c 10469/3, L4098; c: Reg. No. 46536/2, L4652. or their own sake and not as containers ofgoods. Additional arms include stemmed and stemless cups, bolsals (Fig. 1.4: 1-2; Photo 4.2:a-b), Attic Type A skyphoi (Fig. 4.4:3-7; 'hotos 4.2:d, 4.3), cup skyphoi, one-handlers, askoi (Photo L4), two types of salt cellar (concave walled and footed), lids b md stoppers, lekane, olpe, jugs, mugs (Fig. 4.5:1; Photo 4.2:c), amphoriskoi, elongated and squat black bodied II IIIII ekythoi, kantharoi/cup kantharoi (Fig. 4.5:2-3), oinochoe, trays, plates, stemmed dishes, fish plates (Fig. 4.5:4-6; Pho­ tos 4.5-4.6), rilled and rolled rim plates (Figs. 4.5:7-12, Photo 4.2. a: bo1sal, Reg. No. 11710/9, L1212; b: bo1sal, Reg. No. 4.6: I; Photo 4. 7), and finally four types of oil lamps - 43136/1, L43l8; c: mug, Reg. No. 46573/1, L4627; d: skyphos, Types 23 A, 24 A, 25 A and B (Howland 1958). Reg. No. 1190/5, L40. 129 b a c a Photo 4.5 Fish plates. a: Reg. No. 48073/2, L4804; b: Reg. 1\ 48008/4, L4803. b d e Photo 4.3.