Attic black and red-figure pottery in the Southern Levant

Thesis

Attic black and red-figure pottery from excavations in Israel and the Palestinian Territories can provide valuable insight into the processes of trade and cultural interaction in Canaan during the period of Achaemenid rule (539–332 BCE). The metric of “incorporability”, or the facility with which an object can be incorporated into a cultural framework, is here proposed as a lens for understanding these trade dynamics. To interpret this material, which is highly fragmentary, a wide-ranging study of both published and unpublished material is conducted. A survey of the shapes and find contexts of black and red-figure pottery from throughout Canaan reveals that the pottery was used primarily in domestic settings and comprised a limited range of shapes favouring the consumption of wine and perfume. This limited functional range is reflected neither in assemblages of local pottery, nor in Attic pottery assemblages in other export markets or Athens itself. This indicates that local cultural factors, which assigned particular social significance to wine and perfume, likely influenced the purchasing and use patterns. The Marzeah, a traditional Near-Eastern elite banquet, is the clearest manifestation of this social significance, and likely served as the context-of-use for imported Attic fineware. The range and popularity of figural motifs on Attic pottery in Canaan likewise differs from the wider repertoire present at Athens. This too likely reflects local cultural values, as the most popular themes (sympotic and equestrian imagery) reflect and reinforce the value placed on feasting and horsemanship as markers of elite status in the art and culture of the Achaemenid Levant. Rather than indicating the presence of Greek settlers or a Hellenization of local consumption patterns, Attic pottery in Canaan was evidently purchased primarily by local elite members of Levantine society to demonstrate and reinforce their status within preexisting local modes of consumption and expression.

Authors: Levine, A

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-7jkvpxnkb
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: Phoenician; levant; vases; Israel; Achaemenid; Attic pottery; red-figure; black-figure; Canaan; Athenian pottery
• Subjects: Pottery, Phoenician; Vases, Greek, in art; Archaeology; Classical antiquities; Vases, Black-figured; Excavations (Archaeology); Civilization, Ancient; Phoenicia--Civilization; Pottery; Judaea (Region); Vases, Red-figured