Caesarea Islamic

Caesarea Maritima Islamic pottery from the Drew University field seasons of the Joint Expeditions

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Field C, Area 5, Locus 5044. Combed body a large jar/zir.

Typical of both Late Byzantine and Umayyad Period with examples at Tiberius (Stacey 2004: 127, Figure 5.35)

Gray Bag Jar with white paint, C80 C21.1262, Storage jar with multiple white line decorating the shoulder and body of the gray surface. Similar to examples from many sites in Jordan and Tiberius in Israel (Stacey 2004:126-7, Figure 5.34.2).

Lamp fragment from Field C, Area 19, Locus 19043 found in 1976. Fragment typical of the 7th century AD.

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Bodysherd decorated with white stripes from Area C, Field 5, Locus 5045, reg. no. 4, found on 7/13/1972. Similar to Arnon (2008:156, vessel 821h).

Barbotine ware body sherd found in Area 18, Locus 18013, Reg. no. R.4 on 6/6/1976 Body sherd with stamped & incised decoration; pale yellow (5Y8/2) fabric with some small to medium sized inclusions; stamped decoration of multiple circles with dots in the middle, and incised straight and curved lines; fabric and decoration similar to Arnon 2008, nos. 922a, p. 165, reg no. 7/95 Z 0415.L.083.001 and 932a, p. 24, reg no. CC51.0248.L.063.001 (Stratum VIIIa-VI).

Left: Splash glaze with fleur-de-lis sgraffito design on interior of a bowl found in Area 18, Locus 18013, Reg. no. R.6 on 6/6/1976 Polychrome underglaze slip bowl base (flat); reddish yellow (5YR6/6) fabric with some small to medium sized inclusions; white (5Y8/1) slip over whole of vessel; transparent glaze over interior and bottom foot of vessel only, with yellow and green colored.

Center: Bodysherd with blue/black glaze on interior of a bowl found in Area 18, Locus 18026, Reg. no. A.4 on 6/7/1976 Decorated body sherd (green and black glazed); pale yellow (2.5Y8/2) ware with some small to medium sized inclusions; same color slip (2.5Y8/2) with traces of black and green glaze in center; exact period indeterminate; 8th-13th c. CE.

Right: Brown glaze sgraffito design on interior of a bowl found in Area 18, Locus 18013, Reg. no. R.6 on 6/6/1976 Monochrome glazed bowl body sherd with sgraffito decoration; red (10R4/6) ware with some small to medium-sized inclusions; slipped pinkish-white (5YR8/2) with a single incised (sgraffito) line, covered with a deep yellowish-brown (10YR6/6) glaze. Arnon 2008, types 231, 241, 251, 261, 272; 9th-13th c. CE.

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Left: Red glazed frying pan. Area C, Field 26, Locus 260xxx, reg. no. 7 found during the 1980 field season.
Right: Globular Cooking Pot with plain rim from Area C, Field 26, (Locus 26?) found during 1980 field season. See Avissar and Stern 2005:92, Figure 39.1 and 2.

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A thin, arching handle with a problematic maker’s mark was discovered during the 1978 field season in Field C, Area 23.

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Fragment of the neck of a large pottery jar with intact strainer at base of the neck from Field 10, locus 10005, found on 5/22/1974. Basket C10.29.

The filter is a very typical Arabic inscription Allahu Akbar (Arabic, God is great). The filter measured approximately 3 to 4 cm in diameter. White slipped ware; classified as Umayyad during pottery reading in 1974. Core is 5YR7/4 (pink) and the slip is 5YR7/2 (light gray). Associated pottery included Byzantine, Late Byzantine, Arab, Early Arab (Umayyad), and Middle Arab (Abbasid and Fatamid). Photo no. C74 10308 and 10309.

Left: Weather/opalescent glaze ware sherd with ring base found in Field C, Area 5, Locus 5056, reg. no. 4, on 7/19/1972. Arnon (2008:256, type 251a). Right: Blue glazed vertical wall vessel on glaze on both interior and exterior. Similar to the chamber pot illustrated by Arnon (2008:178, type 231k), Area C, Field 5, Locus 5041, reg. no. 1 on 7/10/1972.

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References Cited

Arnon, Ya’el D.

2008 Caesarea Maritima, the Late Periods. British Archaeological Reports International Series 1771.

Avissar, Miriam and Edna J. Stern
2005 Pottery of the Crusader, Ayyubid and Mamluk Periods in Israel. Israel Antiquities Authority, Jerusalem.

Stacey, David
2004. Excavations at Tiberias, 1973 – 1974: The Early Islamic Periods. Israel Antiquities Authority, Jerusalem.

Black lustrous ware rim sherd found in Field C, Area 25, Locus 25003, reg. no. 5 on 6/11/1980. Arnon (2008:103, type 128a). Stacey (2004:94-95) suggests that this distinctive ware was “produced for a limited period, perhaps no more than between c. 800 – 850 CE, either in Tiberias or Caesarea.”

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Field C, Area 5, Right: Field C, Locus 5045 on 7/13/1972. Rim a jug with combed decoration just below rim. Similar to Arnon (2008:204, type 531f)

Black lustrous ware rim sherd found in Field C, Area 25, Locus 25003, reg. no. 4 on 6/11/1980.

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Two views of a Carinated Whiteware jug from 1972 field season. Study Slides of Professor Edgar Krentz.

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Michael Fuller

Left: Brown glaze sgraffito design on interior of a bowl found in Area 18, Locus 18061, Reg. no. R.3 on 6/17/1976. Monochrome glazed bowl base (ring) with sgraffito decoration; red (2.5YR5/6) ware with some small to medium-sized white grit inclusions; slipped pinkish-white (5YR8/2) on interior, with a deep yellow (2.5Y7/6) glaze over top; sgraffito decoration. Arnon (2008, types 231, 241, 251, 261, 272; 9th-13th c. CE.)
Center: Green glaze interior of a bowl found in Area 18, Locus 18061, Reg. no. R.5 on 6/17/1976. Islamic-period green-glazed body sherd; fabric is coarse, lightweight, pale yellow (2.5Y8/2) fabric with some small to medium sized inclusions; sherd is slipped and glazed both interior and exterior, with a green glaze; probably dated to 8th-13th c. CE.
Right: Green glaze interior of a bowl found in Area 18, Locus 18162, Reg. no. A.14 on 7/22/1976. Green glazed (interior only) body sherd (indeterminate vessel); Islamic period sherd; lightweight, very pale brown (10YR8/2) fabric with many small inclusions; green (GLEY1/5/2) on interior only; probably dated to 8th-13th c. CE.

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Left: Splatter of white glaze interior of a bowl found in Area 18, Locus 18028, Reg. no. A.2 on 6/8/1976 Islamic period storage jar body sherd with white paint; reddish yellow (5YR6/6) surface, with traces of white paint on exterior; fabric is light red (2.5YR6/6) in color, with a pink (7.5YR7/4) core and many small to medium-sized inclusions (Arnon 2008 nos. 513, 522, 534).
Center: Wall and rim to a red glazed frying pan. Area C, Field 25, Locus 25003, reg. no. 4 found on 6/11/1980
Right: Red glazed frying pan. Area C, Field 25, Locus 25003, reg. no. 3 found on 6/11/1980

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