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Transcript of Badre Tell Kazel-Simyra, 2006
Tell Kazel-Simyra: A Contribution to a Relative Chronological History in the EasternMediterranean during the Late Bronze AgeAuthor(s): Leila BadreSource: Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, No. 343 (Aug., 2006), pp. 65-95Published by: The American Schools of Oriental ResearchStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25066965 .
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Tell Kazel-Simyra: A Contribution to a
Relative Chronological History in the
Eastern Mediterranean during the
Late Bronze Age
Leila Badre
Archaeological Museum
P.O. Box 236-9
American University of Beirut
Beirut, Lebanon
badre @aub.edu.lb
The archaeological results of 18 excavation campaigns at Tell Kazel have shed con
siderable light on relations between the ancient city of Sumur/Simyra and the eastern
Mediterranean. The vast number of Cypriot imports from the late 14th until the begin
ning of the 12th century B.c. at Tell Kazel shows a significant quantitative contrast with
other sites in the Horns gap. Both Cypriot and Mycenaean pottery tend to disappear
before the major destruction of the site during the transitional LB Il/Iron I phase. It
was during this same phase that the imported pottery was replaced by locally made
Mycenaean ceramics as well as by two new wares: Handmade Burnished Ware and
Grey Ware.
THE SITE
Tell Kazel is situated on the Syrian coast, 3.5
km from the shore, 8 km north of Nahr-al
Kabir al-Ganubi (ancient Eleutheros), and 18
km south of Tartous. It overlooks the al-Abrash River
to the south.
The tell has an oval shape with a surface of 350 x 325 m at its base and 200 x 200 m at its top. Its
height reaches 25 m above the level of the surround
ing Akkar Plain. It has a flat top and sharp edges which mark the presence of fortifications around the
city. Two depressions in the center of the west and
south sides indicate the existence of two correspond
ing city gates with sloping approaches leading up to
them.
Tell Kazel was first surveyed in 1956 and sub
sequently excavated in 1960-1962 by M. Dunand, A. Bounni, and N. Saliby (Dunand and Saliby 1957;
Dunand, Bounni, and Saliby 1964: 3-12) (fig. 1). Their objective was to identify the site with Sumur or
Simyra, whose name appears many times in ancient
texts including Genesis, the Annals of Thutmosis III,
the el-Amarna tablets, Assyrian texts, and classical
authors. This identification became the subject of a
lengthy discussion started by M. Dunand (Dunand and Saliby 1957) and later extensively developed by
H. Klengel (1984). The preliminary reports of these early excavations
provide an account of the chronological sequence
of the site from the Hellenistic period back to the
Middle Bronze Age, and indicate that the Persian
and Late Bronze periods were the most important at
the site. The Department of Antiquities in Syria has
not yet published a full report of these excavations.
After a lapse of 23 years, a joint expedition from
the Syrian Department of Antiquities and the Mu seum of the American University of Beirut (AUB) resumed work at Tell Kazel in 1985. Starting with
the second season, the entire concession to the site was granted to the American University of Beirut
Museum under the directorship of Leila Badre.
In addition to the goal of investigating further
the identification of Tell Kazel?either with Simyra or with another, unknown ancient city?there were
other objectives that led the AUB Museum team to
65
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66 LEILA BADRE BASOR 343
Al-Mina
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Jable Tell Soukas
Paltos Banyas
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Beirut
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0 1
Fig. 1. Location of Tell Kazel on the Mediterranean coast, and its region (inset).
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2006 TELL KAZEL-SIMYRA 67
consider the reexcavation of this site. Tell Kazel
(along with Tell cArqa and Tell Gamus) is one of the
three largest sites of the Akkar Plain and the Horns
gap which stretches toward the sea (Thalmann and
al-Maqdissi 1989: 98). Its geographical location on
the main passage between the Mediterranean coast
and inland Syria, at the unique break point between
the two long mountain chains of Mount Lebanon and
Jabal al-Ansariyeh, gives it a strategic role in control
ling access to this major regional trade route. More
over, surveys of the many tells on the Akkar Plain
allowed Thalmann and al-Maqdissi to conclude that
these settlements were all deserted at the end of the
Late Bronze Age in favor of Tell Kazel (see above). Their conclusion added considerable weight to
the tell's identification with Sumur, stronghold of the
former kingdom of Amurru and counterpart in the
northern Akkar to the site of Tell cArqa in the south
ern half of these coastal plains. Dunand described significant Iron Age levels that
were brought to light in the early excavation seasons
at Tell Kazel. With the exception of the excavations
at Al-Mina, Ras al-Bassit, Ras Ibn Hani, and Tell
Sukas, the Iron Age period, which is present on the
Syrian coast, is rich in historical documents but poor in the results of archaeological investigations. The
opportunity to fill in the gap in our knowledge of the
transitional period between the Late Bronze Age and
the Iron Age, the time corresponding to the invasion
of the "Sea Peoples," was another important factor in
our selection of Tell Kazel.
Having pointed out the main objectives of the re
newed excavation, it is appropriate now to analyze some conclusions drawn from our 18 excavation cam
paigns. It is important to note that the identification
of Tell Kazel with Sumur has not yet been estab
lished by any inscription found on the site. It is, how
ever, quite evident that Tell Kazel is to be equated with Sumur on the basis of its strategic situation in
the Horns gap and its very rich Late Bronze and Iron
I and II levels, the period when Sumur played a dom
inant role in Amurru.
This article will discuss the pottery of the Late
Bronze Age II and the transitional Late Bronze-Iron
Age period at Tell Kazel, with a particular emphasis on the appearance of the Handmade Burnished Ware
and the Grey Ware and their considerable importance for establishing a relative chronology in coastal Syria.
The pottery belonging to these two periods was
found in two main sectors at Tell Kazel: Area II, which occupies the southeastern part of the site, and
Area IV, which lies to the west side of it (fig. 2) (cf. Badre and Gubel 1999-2000 and Capet 2003).
LATE BRONZE AGE II
The Late Bronze Age II in Area IV includes Level
6 with its two superposed floors as well as the lower
floor of Level 5. In Area II, the lowest level reached
so far is Level 6 which corresponds stratigraphically to the Level 5-lower floor of Area IV. The correla
tion between the levels in Areas II and IV are sum
marized in Table 1 (Capet 2003: 117).
Area IV: Level 6
Area IV is the area of the Temple complex which
to date has yielded three (and possibly four) super
posed celia (fig. 3), all oriented east-west.
The celia of Temple 6 is the smallest of the
three (9.50 m in length; its width has not yet been
established), but it is the richest in terms of material
finds. It presents the characteristic features of the
Langbau-type temple: an entrance from the west
with a threshold and two offering tables on the east
ern end, preceded by two stone bases of circular col
umns, along with a mudbrick bench on the lateral
side.
Level 6 included two superposed floor layers in
side the celia and outside to the north of it in the rect
angular courtyard (Badre and Gubel 1999-2000:139). The two floor layers of Level 6 belong to the begin
ning of the LB II period. They yielded a large and
varied assortment of material culture items, the ma
jority of which were concentrated on the lower floor
of the courtyard. The finds included locally made
and imported pottery vessels of different sizes and
functions, metal objects, stone items, cylinder seals,
and luxury items such as frit and glass beads as well
as faience objects (Badre and Gubel 1999-2000: 139
69). The imported material reflects a wealthy city that
maintained commercial relations with the eastern
Mediterranean. It is this category of imported items
that will form the bulk of the present study.
The Cypriot Imported Pottery: Area IV, Level 6, Upper and Lower Floors
The strong relations between Tell Kazel and Cy
prus are reflected in the very large concentration of
Cypriot pottery found in Level 6. Barbara Vitale is
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68 LEILA BADRE BASOR 343
AF AG AH AI
EFGHI JKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZAAAB
Tell Kazel Contour map & grid plan (Voronine 1960, implemented by R.Yassin)
I...::'. J Modern village in 1955
D.GAM. Excavations (1956-1961)
A.U.B. Excavations (1985-2001)
Fig. 2. Grid plan.
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2006 TELL KAZEL-SIMYRA 69
Table 1. Correlation between the Levels in Areas II and IV
Dates Area II Area IV
LB II early
LB II late
Transitional LB-Iron
Iron I
Not yet excavated
Level 6 lower floor
Abandonment
Level 6 upper floor
Destruction by fire
Level 5
Destruction by fire
Level 6
Level 5 lower floor
Abandonment
Level 5 upper floor
Destruction by fire
Levels 4-3
Destruction by fire
Fig. 3. Temple, Area IV, Levels 3-7.
preparing a detailed analysis of this imported Cyp riot material for publication.
The material presented below gives but a general
representative picture of the items that were im
ported to Tell Kazel. This presentation takes into
consideration the qualitative rather than the quanti tative distribution of the Cypriot material: a selec
tion of typological samples of this imported pottery has been made in order to set the chronological
background for the major discovery of the Hand
made Burnished Ware and the Grey Ware.
White Slip Ware (fig. 4). The White Slip WS I
Ware and the transitional WS IIA sherds were found
in minute quantities (Barbara Vitale, personal com
munication). Quantities of Cypriot White Slip II Ware
sherds, popularly called '''milk bowls," were collected
in the Temple complex, mostly in the courtyard but
also some in the celia. This WS II bowl type forms
the largest category in the Cypriot pottery repertoire (35% of the Late Bronze Cypriot pottery in terms
of sherd count, according to Vitale). It is handmade
and hard-fired and has an average diameter between
12 and 20 cm. These bowls have a globular shape, a rounded base, and a single wishbone handle. The
walls of the bowl are very thin and have a thick slip
generally of a light cream color. They are decorated on the exterior with a brown painted lattice frieze on
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70 LEILA BADRE BASOR 343
6 7
Fig. 4. White Slip Ware (1-4) and Monochrome Ware (5-7) from Area IV, Level 6. Scale: 1/3.75.
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2006 TELL KAZEL-SIMYRA 71
the rim and vertical ladder bands hanging from the
upper frieze. Different combinations of bands and
motifs are attested on the Tell Kazel specimens?for
example,
Simple horizontal lattice bands and dotted rim.
Hanging rows of lozenges or dots. They can be
simple or cross-hatched, framed or free style (fig.
4:3-4). Similar Cypriot milk bowls were found in
ancient Beirut (cf. Badre 1998: 75, fig. 1:10) and
at Ugarit in Tombs T. 81 (Schaeffer 1978: 284, fig.
30:20), T. 4253, and T. 35 (Yon 2001: 119, figs. 2J, 4).
Base Ring Ware (fig. 5). A large number of
Base Ring Ware (BR) fragments were found in Level
6 of the Temple complex. They are very close in
terms of the percentage of sherds (32% of the Late
Cypriot pottery) to the White Slip category (35%). The BR ware is hard-fired to a nearly metallic-like
clay. Its color varies from metallic gray to brown and
is covered with a dark or red/orange slip. This cate
gory displays the widest variety of forms:
The bowls are characterized by their high carina
tion and their high wishbone handle (fig. 5:15). The juglet is the most widely represented shape in
this ware. There are a few plain lustrous juglets of
Base Ring I Ware, with a gray or light brown slip
(fig. 5:1,10; no. 10 differs from all other juglets by its trefoil rim and its higher handle starting from
the rim). The majority of the Base Ring II Ware
juglets have the usual piriform bodies, ring bases, and long, tapering necks. They are painted over
with groups of parallel horizontal, oblique, and
crossing lines (fig. 5:2-8). Another Base Ring II
Ware juglet, with a fusiform body, imitates the
"spindle bottle" (fig. 5:11). This juglet is painted with regular, vertical, white lines crossed at right
angles with groups of three horizontal lines. A
similar juglet was found at Ugarit (Schaeffer 1978:
290, fig. 32:3). A lentoid flask of Base Ring II
Ware (fig. 5:9) with a handle from mid-neck to
mid-body is painted in white with encircling lines on the neck and with groups of four or six par allel lines crossing one another (cf. Astr?m
1972: fig. 53:13). An exceptional jug with a straight neck (fig. 5:12) is covered with a red slip. It is burnished vertically on the neck and horizontally on the globular body. This type may be a local imitation of the Cypriot Base Ring Ware jugs.
Monochrome Ware (fig. 4). A significant num
ber of Monochrome Ware fragments and complete
profiles (fig. 4:5-7) were also found in the celia of the
temple. They come from small globular bowls with convex bases and flat-sectioned wishbone handles.
They are covered with a light brown slip. This cate
gory, according to Vitale, represents about 13 percent of the Cypriot fragments.
White Shaved Ware (fig. 6). The White Shaved
Ware sherds appear in about the same percentage as
that of the Monochrome Ware (i.e., 13%). However, a larger number of complete Cypriot White Shaved
juglets was found among the ex-votos in the court
yard of the Temple (Badre and Gubel 1999-2000: fig. 24, CD ROM pis. 1-2). The great majority of them were found on the lower floor of Level 6 (fig. 6:1
9). They have pinched rims and pointed bases. The
most interesting discovery was that of some bronze
sheet figurines which were discovered set inside these
White Shaved juglets, either singly or in pairs (see
below). Other, similar bronze figurines found scat
tered around the broken White Shaved juglets prob
ably were originally associated with these juglets. A series of similar juglets with pinched rims but
with flat bases (fig. 6:10-14) correspond most prob
ably to the Plain White Wheel Made I Ware of ?s tr?m's typology (Astr?m 1972: fig. 67:1). Their ware
is coarser than that of the White Shaved juglets: it is
gritty and pinky buff/yellow.
Red Lustrous Wheel-Made Ware (fig. 5:14). A
complete spindle bottle, along with some fragmen
tary sherds of orange lustrous ware, belong to the
Red Lustrous Ware type, which is another negligible
category in terms of the percentage of sherds. The
complete bottle has a conical shape, a handle from the neck to the shoulder, and a ring base that has an
incised potmark on its exterior.
Bucchero Ware (fig. 5:13). A small, complete
juglet of Cypriot Bucchero Ware (LC IIB) was found
among the temple offerings. It is handmade, with ver
tical, applied ribbing on the body (cf. Astr?m 1972:
425, fig. 78:1). Only a very few sherds of this type have been found.
Mycenaean Imported Pottery: Area IV, Level 6,
Upper and Lower Floors
The imported Mycenaean pottery found at Tell Kazel is the subject of a thorough study undertaken
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72 LEILA BADRE BASOR 343
=# (&
10
12
13
15 14 Fig. 5. Base Ring Ware juglets from Area IV, Level 6, lower floor (1-12) and BR bowl (15); Bucchero Ware (13); and Syrian bottle (14). Scale: 1/3.75.
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2006 TELL KAZEL-SIMYRA 73
Fig. 6. White Shaved juglets from Area IV, Level 6: lower floor (1-14); upper floor (15). Scale: 1/3.75.
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74 LEILA BADRE BASOR 343
by Reinhard Jung (Jung in press a). The Mycenaean collection is a very rich and promising one in terms
of typological and chronological information. Ac
cording to Jung, this Mycenaean collection "makes
Tell Kazel one of the richest sites for Mycenean pot
tery finds in the Near East?comparable in find den
sity to Sarepta and Tell Abu Hawam." The collection
includes a wide spectrum of types. A few represen tative specimens are described below to illustrate the
main types.
The lower floor of Level 6 in the Temple complex has yielded the following Mycenaean types:
A small, almost complete piriform amphoriskos
(fig. 7:3) with three horizontal handles. It is painted in black with large and thin horizontal bands as
well as oblique lines over the shoulder. A close par allel is from Mycenaean Nauplion and dated to
LH IIIA Late (1325-1300 B.c.) (Mountjoy 1986:
70, fig. 81:1). Another parallel was found at Ugarit (Hirschfeld 2000: 80, cat. no. 23).
An upper part of a kylix (fig. 7:5), which is made
in very fine clay with a self-same slip and is highly burnished. It is decorated with motifs of fish and
hybrid flowers, painted in red/orange to brown.
Jung believes that the fish motif on this vessel
shape is unique, and he dates the kylix in combi
nation with the hybrid flower motif between LH
IIIA Late and LH IIIB Early (cf. Jung in press a). A conical rhyton (fig. 7:1) with painted motifs of
bivalve chains and octopuses. Jung has noted that
this combination of motifs is unique and has no
Aegean parallels. The rhyton is dated by the con
text of its discovery with the rest of the pottery from Level 6 to LH IIIA Late.
A shallow bowl with strap handles. It is decorated
with painted horizontal bands (fig. 7:2). Jung indi
cates that comparable linear bowls are attested
since LH IIIB Early (Jung in press a and b). He
cites two parallels: one from Mycenae (French 1965: 177, fig. 7:26) and another one from Tiryns
(Schonfeld 1988: 155, Tab. 1:59). Both parallels are dated to LH IIIB Early, the Mycenaean complex
having been redated from LH IIIA Late to LH IIIB
Early on the basis of the stratigraphy at Tiryns.
The Upper Floor of Level 6 in the
Temple Complex
The continuity of use of the two consecutive floors
of Level 6 was clearly described in the third prelim
inary report on the Tell Kazel excavations (Badre and
Gubel 1999-2000: 145). The stratigraphy excludes
the possibility of a period of abandonment between
the two levels.
The upper floor yielded fewer Mycenaean objects than the lower one. Among them are the following:
A zoomorphic rhyton (fig. 7:6) in the shape of an
animal's head (possibly a boar). It is of buff clay with a light slip and is highly polished, decorated
all over with the hybrid unvoluted flower motif,
painted in deep red/orange. The ears are pinched out in semicircles, and the large oval eyes are in
relief and painted over in the same color. An al
most identical Mycenaean rhyton with a more
ovoid body, but with similar features and decora
tion, was found "near a tomb" in the lower eastern
city at Ugarit (Schaeffer 1949: 222-23; Yon 1997:
160, fig. 37). It is dated to LH IIIA-IIIB Early. A kylix (fig. 7:4) with a row of vertical whorl
shells. Jung indicates that both its shape and motif
suggest a date between LH IIIB Early and IIIB
Middle (Jung in press a and b).
The Levantine Bronze Sheet Figurines (fig. 8). We noted above the very interesting discovery of
some bronze flat sheet figurines which were found in
side the White Shaved juglets (single or in pairs), and
nearby broken ones, probably associated with these
latter ones. This group of bronze sheet figurines in
cludes 12 figurines with schematized bodies that are
peg-shaped or arrowhead-shaped. Their anatomical
features are barely distinguishable: breasts and navel are usually indicated in the repouss? technique. One
figurine has a suspension loop in the center (fig. 8:5). Six of them have rounded heads, while five others
have a high triangular headdress which recalls those worn by several sheetmetal specimens of Palestinian
origin found at Hazor, Gezer, Megiddo, and Tell el
cAjjul (Negbi 1976: 97). Similar sheet idols, in silver or in bronze, were found in the Late Bronze Age
temple at Kamid el-Loz (Hachmann 1980: pis. 15
16). It is possible that the rounded-headdress figu rines represent female ex-votos, while the elongated ones represent male figurines. Our knowledge of
terracotta figurines (Badre 1980: 123: e) makes this
hypothesis quite possible. Two pairs of the two types
(the rounded headdress and the high headdress) of
such figurines were found inside a juglet; in this
situation they could represent a couple. Moreover, the almost equal distribution of "male" and "female"
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2006 TELL KAZEL-SIMYRA 75
w'm
Q I
Fig. 7. Mycenaean pottery from Area IV, Level 6. Scale: 1/3.75.
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76 LEILA BADRE BASOR 343
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V 12
Fig. 8. Bronze sheet figurines from Area IV, Level 6. Scale: 1/1.
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2006 TELL KAZEL-SIMYRA 77
bronze sheet figurines may indicate that male-fe
male couples were placed inside the juglets, but un
fortunately these figurines were not all found within
the juglets. The presence of these bronze sheet figurines at
Tell Kazel raises the question of their origin: Pales
tinian, local, or local imitation of Palestinian. This
question is complicated further by their association
with the White Shaved juglets, which in turn may raise the question as to their own origin: Cypriot or
local imitation. Pending the results of the chemical
analyses, we would conditionally suggest that the as
sociation of both juglets and bronze sheet figurines is
unique to Tell Kazel.
With this information at hand, and pending the
completion of the detailed study of the imported ma
terial, we have tentatively related the two phases of
Level 6 as follows: the lower phase to the Amarna
period (Sumur is mentioned in the Amarna tablets:
Briquel-Chatonnet in Badre et al. 1994: 354), and the
upper phase to the beginning of the Hittite period of
Amurru.
Area IV: Level 5
Level 5 in Area IV was built directly over the
destruction layer of Level 6. The temple of Level 5
consists of a large rectangular celia (16.5 x 7.5 m) surrounded by architectural annexes on both its
northern and southern sides, while the southwestern
side is bordered by a street composed of alternating
clay and ashy layers. The temple of Level 5 has the
best-preserved celia with monumental features: large walls (average width of 1.35 m) of stone substruc
tures, and mudbrick superstructures with ashlar stones
at the angles. It has two occupation phases, indicated
by two superimposed floors for the same architecture.
The Cypriot Imported Pottery: Area IV, Level 5, Lower Floor
The lower occupation points to a continuation of
external relations with the West, as the following se
lected examples make clear. It yielded a large amount
of Cypriot pottery, the greatest majority of which is
fragmentary and residual. This pottery presents a simi
lar repertoire of Cypriot ware types as was found in
the upper phase of Level 6, which yielded a larger
quantity of Cypriot pottery except for the case of
White Slip ware. Below are a few complete or nearly
complete profiles:
A White Slip II bowl (fig. 9:1), found in the east
ern room of the temple celia. It belongs to the sim
ple, late, parallel line style. It is decorated with a
set of four parallel lines: two outer thicker lines
and two inner thinner lines. They are painted around the exterior of the rim from which other
sets are descending. Another White Slip II "milk bowl" (fig. 9:2) with
an elaborate painted design. It has an unusual
ledge handle with two small perforations. The
painted decoration consists of two parallel, hor
izontal rows of dots around the interior of the
rim and a similar row on the exterior. Underneath
is a cross-hatched horizontal band. Descending from this band is a vertical row of dotted lozenges enclosed on each side by a straight, vertical line
which in turn is framed by a vertical row of dots.
Another free row of continuous dotted lozenges is
parallel to the first one. A similar bowl was found
at Ugarit (Schaeffer 1978: 282, fig. 30:3). Mer
rillees ascribes a similar bowl from Thera Akrotiri
to WS I (Merrillees 2001: 93, figs. 3-4), and Kara
georghis attributes another parallel from Palaepa
phos Teratsoudhia to LC IB (Karageorghis 1990:
42, 44, pi. 33:B. 13, B. 52). However, the speci men from Tell Kazel definitely dates from LB II, and it could therefore belong to a transitional White
Slip I?II type.
A local imitation (?) of a shaved juglet (Badre and
Gubel 1999-2000: 172, fig. 31:a) with a flat bronze
object (Badre and Gubel 1999-2000: fig. 31:o) was
pointed at one end (figurine ?) and was set inside the
juglet.
The Mycenaean Imported Pottery: Area IV, Level 5, Lower Floor
Below are some representative Mycenaean-type
specimens from Tell Kazel. They resemble the vari
ety found at other Levantine sites and especially those found at Ras Shamra/Ugarit.
Several fragments of an amphoroid krater deco
rated with a chariot scene (fig. 10:6). The lower
part of the chariot is oriented from left to right. The
chariot wheel shows four spokes. Directly above
the wheel is the chariot box (?) filled with a row
of horizontal hatches. The shape of the krater in
dicates a date from the LH IIIB (Early-Middle ?).
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78 LEILA BADRE BASOR 343
m[z-::::f F
Fig. 9. Cypriote White Slip II from Area IV, Level 5-Lower.
Scale: 1/3.
This type of krater with chariots is widely repre sented in the eastern Mediterranean, where several
examples were found on the Syrian coast, mainly at Ugarit (Schaeffer 1949: 214-17, pi. 35) and in
Palestine (e.g., at Tel Dan, Beth Shemesh, Ashdod, and Tell Abu Hawam), and belong to the LH IIIB 1
period.
A krater (fig. 10:5) of open shape with the base and
handles missing. The main body is decorated with an octopus motif. This octopus motif is frequently found on various Mycenaean shapes at Ugarit: on
a large stirrup jar in Tomb 2698 from the end of LH
IIIB (Schaeffer 1978: 344, fig. 53:6) and on a large krater (Schaeffer 1978: 346, fig. 54:2). Horizontal
bands are painted on the interior and exterior of the
rim. According to Jung, this kind of rim decoration
is not attested before LH IIIB Middle and contin
ued to be produced in LH IIIB Developed and Late
(Jung in press a and b).
A chalice with a series of standing human figures
(fig. 10:1) and a stem painted with large horizontal
bands and thin lines. A similar decorative motif
of standing figures is found on a Mycenaean con
ical rhyton from Ugarit (Schaeffer 1978: 310, fig. 37:1). Jung indicates that the style of these human
figures is typical of LH IIIB Early and Middle
(Jung in press b). A conical rhyton painted with hybrid flowers (fig.
10:2-3) belongs to LH IIIB1 (Mountjoy 1986:
109:1). A stirrup jar (fig. 10:4) with missing spouts and
handles. The upper part is squat with a sloping shoulder, and the lower part is conical with a ring base. The body is decorated with wide horizontal
bands, thin lines, and a horizontal band of chev
rons, all painted in red. Jung indicates that this
type was not produced before LH IIIB Middle
(Jung in press a and b).
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2006 TELL KAZEL-SIMYRA 79
?=*
m~)
Fig. 10. Mycenaean pottery from Area IV, Level 5-Lower. Scale: 1/3.75 except no. 6: 1/7.5.
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80 LEILA BADRE BASOR 343
A shallow cup (fig. 10:7) with a painted spiral de
sign, found at the entrance of the celia. For a par
allel, cf. Mountjoy 1986: fig. 136:1, from LH IIIB
Early Mycenae. The lower occupation phase of Level 5 ended
with an abandonment, leaving few material remains, which made its dating practically impossible.
Area II: Level 6
In its earliest Level 6 (corresponding to Temple Level 5), Area II, which occupies the southeastern
part of Tell Kazel (fig. 2), represents the residential
sector of the city. It consists of a large building com
plex, Building II.
Building II
Building II is a large complex formed by what
could be considered a single, very large building or
a group of three parallel buildings consisting of a
large rectangular hall to the north, bordered on the
east and south sides by square rooms. These are con
nected by narrow passages.
Building II is characterized by its luxurious archi
tectural features: mudbrick walls coated with plaster and the surface entirely encrusted with shells. Its
floor is paved with the same type of shells, as it is at
tested in several rooms of Building II (cf. Capet 2003: figs. 13, 25). Within this floor was set stand
ing a large biconical krater (fig. 11). This particular shell decoration on the walls is unique in the Levant,
while the shell paving on the floor is known from
Stratum VIIB in the palace of Megiddo (Loud 1948:
figs. 50, 52).
Level 6, Lower Phase
(= Lower Phase of Level 5
in the Temple Area)
The excavated surface of the lower floor of Level
6 in Area II is almost equal to the excavated surface
area of the lower floor of Level 5 in Area IV (see the
correlation in table 1), but the material it yielded is
by far less abundant, due to the fact that this floor of
Area II was largely emptied before its restoration
and reoccupation in the second phase (upper phase of
Level 5). Because of its scarcity in this area, the imported
pottery will be presented as a simple typological dis
Fig. 11. Shell floor from Area II, Level 6.
tribution of the Cypriot and Mycenaean pottery, with
no statistical data.
The Cypriot Imported Pottery: Area II, Level 6-Lower
This group is represented by the few following
examples:
A White Shaved juglet (fig. 12:1) was found with
a bronze sheet figurine in its vicinity (Capet 2003:
fig. 15), repeating the same combination of figu
rine/juglet as in the temple area (cf. Badre and
Gubel 1999-2000: 148-49). A few others were
also found in the same level (fig. 12:2). A Base Ring II Ware jug (Capet 2003: fig. 7f ) and
a bowl of the same Base Ring II ware (Capet 2003:
fig. 32d) were found on the early floor of Level 6
in Building II (fig. 12:3-4).
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2006 TELL KAZEL-SIMYRA
Fig. 12. Cypriot (1-3) and Mycenaean (5-11) pottery from Area II, Level 6-Lower. Scale: 1/3.75 except no. 9: 1/7.5.
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82 LEILA BADRE BASOR 343
The Mycenaean Imported Pottery: Area II, Level 6-Lower
This group is represented by the following
examples:
An amphoroid krater with a chariot scene (fig.
12:9) (Capet 2003: fig. 12a; from LH IIIB Early). It may have an origin in the Argolid (Jung, per sonal communication).
A series of stirrup vases (fig. 12:10-11) from LH
IIIB (Capet 2003: fig. 7e; 27a). Two fragmentary figurines of the psi type (fig.
12:7-8) (Capet 2003: figs. 22j, 29b).
From the same level of Area II but in Building I (to the west of Building II), a well-preserved, spouted conical bowl was found along with a straight-sided
pyxis (Badre et al. 1994: figs. 44b, 45g). For com
paranda, cf. Furumark 1972: 52, fig. 15, and Mount
joy 1986: 91, fig. 111:300 (in LH IIIA2) and 118, fig. 145:2, 3(inLHIIIBl).
At the end of its first phase (Level 6, lower), Build
ing II was almost completely emptied and abandoned.
This abandonment corresponds to the similar situa
tion in the early phase of Temple 5, where for the
same reasons (namely, the lack of material evidence), it has been difficult to date the phase.
THE TRANSITIONAL
LATE BRONZE AGE II-IRON AGE I
This transitional period was almost completely devoid of imported material and must correspond to
the time of the trade embargo imposed by the Hit
tites. This situation is clearly stated in the treaty con
cluded between the Hittite king Tuthaliya IV and
Shaushga-muwa, the last attested king from the
Amurru dynasty (ca. 1250-1230 B.c.). In the words
of H. Klengel, "Shaushga-muwa was forbidden to
send a merchant to Assyria or to receive/let pass merchants from this hostile country. . . . The trade
with the country of Ahhiyawa (i.e. the Aegean) should
be stopped, that means the landroute from the sea
shore to Assyria should be blocked up by the king of
Amurru" (Klengel 1991: 173). This trade embargo is clearly reflected in the field.
Cypriot and Mycenaean imports are almost com
pletely absent from the upper phase of Level 5; we
found only a few imported vessels, while locally im
itated ones were found in larger quantities.
Area IV, Level 5, Upper Phase
The following examples are representative of
the ceramics found in the upper phase of Area IV, Level 5.
A Cypriot White Slip II bowl (fig. 13:1), found
in the southern complex of the temple. It is a
large fragment of a hemispherical bowl decorated
around the rim with two sets of two parallel, hori
zontal lines which frame a horizontal band of
cross-hatched lozenges. The vertical space shows
a set of four vertical parallel lines. Several com
paranda have been noted in LC IIB-C contexts in
Cyprus: at Kalavassos-Ay/?s Dimitrios (South and
Steel 2001: 68, figs. 3-4), in Tomb 90:2 at Kathy data (Astr?m 1972: 445, fig. 51:3), and at Ugarit
(Schaeffer 1978: 282, fig. 30:12). Two almost complete kraters in the local imitation
style of Mycenaean prototypes, found in the celia
of this upper phase of Level 5. (These kraters were
incorrectly attributed to Level 5-Lower in the third
preliminary excavation report [Badre and Gubel
1999-2000: 172, fig. 31:j-k].) One of the kraters is
plain (fig. 13:2), while the other (fig. 13:3) is deco
rated with red painted designs: the body with large bands and lozenges, and the neck with metopes embellished with a cross-hatch pattern alternating
with a design of two antithetic triangles.
Jung also notes the appearance of large quanti ties of unpainted, Mycenaean-style vessels in this
phase, the most common of which are the carinated
kylikes (see fig. 18:6) and the deep bowls (see fig, 18:8). He also points out that the rare, painted
Mycenaean pottery from the same contexts was
most probably locally produced (see the results of
neutron activation analysis: Badre et al. 2005: 30) and can be dated to the beginning of LHIIIC Early in Aegean terms (cf. Jung in press a and b).
The importation of foreign pottery from the West
to Tell Kazel was replaced in this transitional phase
by the first appearance of the new Handmade Bur
nished Ware (HMBW), or Barbarian Ware as it is
otherwise known. This ware is made of coarse clay with coarse micaceous inclusions. It is handmade at
a time when the wheel was in full use, and it is fired
at low temperatures which results in a surface that is
uneven in color, changing from reddish-brown to
black and brittle. This surface is well smoothed and
highly (but crudely) burnished.
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2006 TELL KAZEL-SIMYRA 83
Fig. 13. Mycenaean local Imitations from Area IV, Level 5-Upper. Scale: 1/3.75.
The HMBW vessels discovered in Area IV were
found in the annexes surrounding the celia of Temple 5 (fig. 14). They are distributed as follows:
The Southern Complex
This complex, which so far is known to have five
small, square rooms (fig. 15) with a well-preserved
hard-beaten floor, yielded a rich assortment of mate
rial culture items.
Room A. Along with the usual group of domes
tic material?pithoi, storage jars, miniature cups (cf. Badre 2003: 90, fig. 6:1)?this room yielded a very rare shape of HMBW vessel. It is a tall cylindrical container (fig. 16:1) with a flat disk base and a loop
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84 LEILA BADRE BASOR 343
Fig. 14. Handmade Burnished Ware from Areas II and IV.
handle attached slightly above the middle of its height. Two plain cordons are applied below the rim and
above the base. The clay is brown with a black core.
The surface is reddish-brown with gray-black patches. Its excavator, Dib Vitale, has compared it with a mea
suring container used in present-day Syria, called a
qirata in Arabic, which is made of reeds, put together as a structure, and covered up with clay. In Syria today it is used to measure any one of the following: 14 kg of wheat, 12 kg of oats, or 14 kg of lentils. The
Tell Kazel container has a capacity of 13.250 liters. This type of vessel is, as of now, a unique form in
the Handmade Burnished Ware repertoire.
Room B. The only nearly complete profile found in this room is that of a Barbarian Ware jar (fig. 16:2) of the well-known type found at Maa-Palaeokastro
(Pilides 1994: fig. 20:1) from an LHIIIC Middle con
text. It has a flat base with convex sides narrowing toward the rim, and is decorated with an applied fin
ger-impressed cordon below the rim. The cordon is
interrupted by two or possibly four lug handles. An
other plain cordon is applied around the body slightly above the base.
Room D. In the third room, Room D, a rim sherd
of an unusual shallow plate shape (?) (fig. 16:3) was
found.
The Northern Complex
The Northern Complex is a large building of ap
proximately 200 m2. It is bordered by two streets on
its northern and western sides. The complex consists
of ten rooms, two of which are large; the others are
of the same small size. The very rich material dis
covered there attests to an area of domestic activities.
Room A. This is the largest room in this com
plex. It has a floor that is partly paved with stone
slabs, while the other half is earthen. The bulk of the
pottery finds was concentrated above the paved strip, while the stone objects (basalt mortars, grinders, and
roof rollers) were gathered on the earthen floor. Two
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2006 TELL KAZEL-SIMYRA 85
?t^t-L ""
(j
Tell Kazel ; (1993-2003) t
Area IV *
Level 5 Architects : Ahmad Yehia
Amale Mkeis Topographer : LDebavelaere
Fig. 15. Plan of Area IV, Level 5.
HMBW rim sherds (fig. 16:4-5) were found within
the collection of the common pottery. They have
characteristics similar to those of the above-men
tioned Maa-Palaeokastro jar type (Pilides 1994: fig. 20:1).
Room E. Room E is one-quarter the size of
Room A. Its destruction layer yielded a very rich col
lection of finds, among which was a large and almost
intact Handmade Burnished Ware jug (fig. 16:7). The
closest comparison to this vessel is a jug from Tiryns (Pilides 1994: fig. 7:1), but the body of the latter has
a more piriform shape and the attachment of its
handle is lower than that of the Tell Kazel specimen. Inasmuch as the Tiryns vessel is somewhat different
from the HMBW jug at Tell Kazel, the latter may be
considered another unique type in the HMBW reper toire. Chronologically, Klaus Kilian has explained the
presence of HMBW in Tiryns before the destruction
levels of LH III2B as indicating that there may have
been a gradual infiltration of these ceramics at the end
of LH IIIB which increases and makes its presence felt in the LH IIIC levels: "This ware should be linked
to a small, foreign population element, not bigger
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86 LEILA BADRE BASOR 343
I
V
l>ca
Fig. 16. Handmade Burnished Ware pottery from Area IV, Level 5-Upper. Scale: 1/4, except nos. 1-2: 1/8.
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2006 TELL KAZEL-SIMYRA 87
than, e.g., the Cypriote one in Tiryns," both integrated into Mycenaean households. These people formed a
minority and did not cause the end of the palace sys tem (Pilides 1994: 15; Kilian quoted in this source).
A sherd of a deep goblet (fig. 16:6) was found
in the corner of a room in the northeast section of
the Northern Complex. It has straight sides that are
slightly curved inward toward the rim and is decorated
with a raised horizontal cordon just below the rim.
The Southwestern Complex
A recently excavated area southwest of the paved entrance of the celia has yielded a house that is not
yet completely excavated. Its thick destruction layer
produced a relatively large quantity of Handmade
Burnished Ware sherds. These have not yet been re
stored, and it therefore would be difficult at this stage to discuss their types. They are mostly sherds of stor
age jars with a glossy burnished surface (fig. 17:1-6). The Handmade Burnished Ware was associated in
this Southwestern Complex with the appearance of
another new category of pottery, the wheelmade lus
trous Grey Ware, also known as Trojan Grey Ware.
The clay of this ware was fired to an even gray or
sometimes a mottled tan; it was then incised in linear
patterns of alternating bands of wavy and straight horizontal lines (Allen 1994: 39).
Grey Ware (fig. 17:7-12). This category is rep resented so far by five nearly complete profiles.
1. Two carinated bowls (fig. 17:9-10). 2. The upper part of a storage jar (fig. 17:12). 3. A deep bowl with two handles. This is very
likely the upper part of a kylix (fig. 17:8). 4. A deep bowl with horizontal handles. This
shape is very much like the local Mycenaean
product, according to Jung's classification.
5. A flat base (of an open bowl?).
Along with this group is a one-handled small cup, which bears a strong Mycenaean influence and is
very likely a local imitation of the Aegean style. Because neutron activation analysis has been
conducted on only a few sherds, it is still premature to identify the manufacturing origin of this type. S.
Allen, in her study of Trojan Grey Ware, notes that
"in Cyprus and the Levant, Grey Ware is found with
the Standard Mycenaean cargo, suggesting that Troy was part of the wide-ranging network of the koine"
(Allen 1994: 42). She suggests that the trade of this
Grey Ware material was indirect, made by Aegean
emigrants possibly via Cyprus. The recent chemical analysis on some of the above
Grey Ware sherds (fabric G2) confirmed the attribu
tion of some sherds to northwestern Asia Minor, since samples of this fabric form the chemical group that matches the Trojan chemical group TRO-B. This
group is found not only in Grey Ware but also in
Mycenaean pottery at Troy and was common in the
LH IIIB period, the period to which the Tell Kazel
pieces of fabric G2 also belong (cf. Badre et al. 2005:
31-32, n. 48). However, more research is necessary
before it is possible to say when the imported Grey Ware was replaced by the second Grey Ware fabric, which so far is of undetermined provenance, possibly of local imitation (Badre et al. 2005: 36).
The association of the Grey Ware with the Hand
made Burnished Ware at Tell Kazel may suggest a
similar origin for both (see below). It is clear from the above that although the textual
documents pertaining to the reign of Shaushga-muwa do not provide any information as to whether the king abided by the embargo treaty, the archaeological re
sults, including the scarcity of the imported material
in Level 5, are the best evidence for it.
The end of Level 5 is marked by a thick layer of
ashes from the heavy fire which burnt and destroyed the Level 5 Temple complex.
Area II: Level 6, Upper Phase
(= Upper Phase of Level 5 in
the Temple Complex)
A similar situation concerning the absence of im
portations occurs in the contemporary level of Area II.
In its last phase of Level 6, Building II was reoccupied by squatters, who fortunately left behind them few but
significant material remains, among which appeared the first Handmade Burnished Ware mug.
The Cypriot and Mycenaean Imported Pottery: Area II, Level 6-Upper
As in the Temple area, imports in the equivalent level of Area II are almost absent, but their memory is preserved in the local imitation of some of the
Mycenaean shapes. Some examples of actual imports could be reused vessels from the previous period.
A very few imported Cypriot and Mycenaean
pots were found together inside a silo (1 m deep) located in the southeast corner of a very small
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88 LEILA BADRE BASOR 343
1
1
H
If
y>
V
( 10
12 Fig. 17. Handmade Burnished Ware (1-6) and Grey Ware (7-12) from Area IV, Level 5-Upper. Scale: 1/4.
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2006 TELL KAZEL-SIMYRA 89
room in the southern part of Area II (AA21NW). This silo belongs to the final phase of Level 6. It
is not unlikely that the material, which was found
almost complete on the floor of the silo, belonged to an earlier assemblage (possibly that of Level 6
Lower) that was intentionally hidden there for its rare value. This material included three Cypriot vessels along with one Mycenaean jar: a Base
Ring Ware jug (fig. 18:3); a White Slip II bowl (fig.
18:2); two White Shaved juglets (fig. 18:4-5); and a Mycenaean stirrup jar (fig. 18:1). Two fragments of a Mycenaean kylix (a rim with
a group of vertical whorl shells around the interior
and a base; fig. 18:7) were found in this level (Ca
pet 2003: fig. 3Id). This resembles the Zygouries
type (FT 258 A) of LH IIIB Early-Middle.
Local Imitations. Other shapes that look Myce naean are actually local imitations of Mycenaean pot
tery. The most common among these are the unpainted
pottery of Mycenaean inspiration.
An unpainted conical kylix (fig. 18:6) imitates
the Mycenaean conical kylikes from the LH
IIIB-IIIC.
A fragment of a carinated bowl (fig. 18:9) in dark
brown clay may show some Aegean inspiration.
Finally, some Mycenaean deep bowls (fig. 18:8) with horizontal handles and decorated with verti
cal strokes around the interior of the rim were
noted by R. Jung as a local product which has no
parallel anywhere, either in the Aegean or in the
Levant, and which he attributes to a local "Amurru
style" (cf. Jung in press a: fig. 8:4).
In a few rooms of the eastern part of Building II, several pottery assemblages were found that have
some interesting features. A first assemblage, known as the "kitchen group" or Room P (Capet 2003: fig. 20-21), includes a large and varied group of local
pottery, among which is a krater (Capet 2003: fig. 2In) in the imitation of the amphoroid Mycenaean kraters, identical with the one found in the temple of
Level 5 (cf. fig. 13:3). Another krater, with a row of painted deer (Capet
2003: fig. 21m, nn. 41, 42), is locally made and has no known parallel. Its decoration, however, is known
from the "pictorial style" Mycenaean krater.
To the south of Room P, another ensemble of three
pots was found, in what is considered a corridor or
passageway. This group included a complete Hand
made Burnished Ware mug and two other sherds of the same ware, as described below.
The HMBW cup (fig. 19:4) or mug-shaped vessel
(Capet 2003: fig. 24c; Badre 1998: fig. 5) has a
cylindrical body, slightly everted rim, flat base, and vertical handle. It is decorated with an applied horizontal band with rough finger depressions. It
has a close parallel with the handmade cup of Lef
kandi (Euboea), from the earliest phase of the LH
IIIC (Popham and Sackett 1968: 18, fig. 34). A sherd of another, larger HMBW deep bowl (fig. 19:1) was found in the same context as the pre
vious one (Capet 2003: fig. 24d). It has incurved
sides and a raised horizontal cordon below the rim.
The burnishing is done horizontally above the
band and vertically below it.
Another deep bowl (fig. 19:2), which is similar to
figure 19:1 but has straight sides, belongs to the
same chronological context as the goblet shown in
figure 19:4.
A fourth fragmentary cup (fig. 19:5) has a cordon
impressed with a rope motif. It comes from the last
phase of Room W (Capet 2003: fig. 31m).
This last phase of Building II was destroyed in a
general fire, which must correspond to the same
fierce fire that burned the temple of Level 5, bring
ing a final end to the Late Bronze II period. Follow
ing this destruction, the area was reoccupied shortly afterward, certainly and at least partly by the same
population who continued to live there. That the pe riod separating the two levels was a short one is in
dicated by the fact that parts of the walls were reused
in the following phase: the stone substructure was re
used, and a new mudbrick superstructure was con
structed on top with bricks of new shapes and sizes.
The Origins of the Handmade
Burnished Ware
It is important at this stage to locate the origins of the Handmade Burnished Ware which is associated
with the level of this transitional period of the Late
Bronze II/Iron Age I. How did it reach the Mediter ranean coastal sites?
Despina Pilides has studied the question of these
origins at some length in her dissertation on "Hand
made Burnished Wares of the Late Bronze Age in
Cyprus" (Pilides 1994), where the presence of HBW was analyzed both in the West (Greece, South Italy,
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90 LEILA BADRE BASOR 343
>
K7
JL
?
l
Fig. 18. Cypriot (2-5) and Mycenaean (1) pottery in silo; local Mycenaean imitations (6-9) from Area II, Level 6
Upper. Scale: 1/4.
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2006 TELL KAZEL-SIMYRA 91
*
r
\ v
J
Fig. 19. Handmade Burnished Ware pottery from Area II, Level 6-Upper. Scale: 1/3.33.
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92 LEILA BADRE BASOR 343
the Balkans, Troy, and Cyprus) and, but on a minor
scale, in the Levant.
In Greece, HBW seems to occur as early as LH IIIB
Middle in very small quantities, reaching its "peak" in
LH IIIC. What is clear, concludes E. Chatzipovliov, is that "this pottery is alien to the Mycenaean pottery so far known and was therefore produced by foreign tribes" (Chatzipovliov in Demakopoulo 1988: no.
298). This new pottery type seems to have appeared
later in Cyprus than in Greece. The ware is easily
distinguished from any of the local, traditional fab
rics. Its first appearance with the influx of LH IIIC
painted pottery in Cyprus argues for some connec
tion between the bearers of the ware and the presence of Mycenaean elements on the island from the be
ginning of LCIIIA through LC IIIB: it is still present at Kition in early CG IA times (Pilides 1994: 108). Pilides develops her research further in the direction
of the Near East: "It would also be extremely inter
esting if a project was undertaken to identify HBW
in the Near East, especially on sites such as Ras Ibn
Hani and Tell [sic] Miqne, where large quantities of
'Myc. IIIC: lb,' the pottery associated with HBW in
Cyprus, were found" (Pilides 1994: 40). Our quick survey in this direction showed that:
At Ibn Hani, a special handmade grey ware pot
tery called "c?ramique ? la steatite" appeared in
the settlement of the 12th century b.c. (cf. Bounni
et al. 1979: fig. 27:1-2), which was built immedi
ately following the destruction of the palace. This
pottery, produced mainly in the shape of cooking pots, was associated with a locally made pottery
imitating the Mycenaean IIIC1 style. This same "c?ramique ? la steatite" was noticed
by L. Courtois in "La maison aux alb?tres" at
Ugarit (Lagarce and Lagarce 1974: 21). Its date
(the Late Bronze Age) is earlier than that at Ibn
Hani. In view of the recent appearance at Ugarit of a great quantity of Mycenaean pottery from
the second half of the 13th century and the be
ginning of the 12th century, which probably came
from workshops established outside Greece nearer
to its foreign customers (Yon 2003: 44), further
research on the "c?ramique ? la steatite" and Bar
barian Ware is necessary.
At Ras al-Bassit, our colleague Leone du Pied
identified a similar pottery "? la steatite" in an
Early Iron Age context. Other Handmade Bur
nished Ware pottery from Ras al-Bassit is being studied by Pascal Darque.
A sherd discovered in the excavations of Beirut
Town Center/Bey 003 (Badre 1998: 76, fig. 4a-b) is made of coarse grey ware with a light brown, smoothed surface and is decorated with an incised
motif. Vassos Karageorghis identified this sherd as
HMBW. It was found within a fill of a rock-cut
tomb where Mycenaean IIIA:2b sherds were also
found. If this context were conclusive, the Beirut
Barbarian sherd would be the earliest HMBW
known so far, but unfortunately a fill is not neces
sarily a reliable context.
Concerning the presence of the Handmade Bur
nished Ware on the eastern Mediterranean coast, we
may conclude that:
A new pottery type (HMBW) has made a sudden
and short appearance in the Levantine pottery se
quence. This new pottery is always associated with
a destruction layer very much related to the date of
the Sea Peoples. This pottery may have come along a route from
the Aegean via the west coast of Asia Minor and
Cyprus, down along the Near Eastern Mediterra
nean coast.
It is essential that large-scale neutron activation
and p?trographie analyses be conducted on this pot
tery. Preliminary results of neutron activation analy
ses conducted on a few HMBW specimens (Badre et
al. 2005) indicate local production of the Handmade
Burnished Ware in the Akkar Plain. This pottery may become a decisive element in the relative chronology of the transitional Late Bronze/Iron Age period.
CONCLUSIONS
The historical events corresponding with the end
of the Late Bronze II period at Tell Kazel (Level 5
in Area IV and its contemporary Level 6 in Area II) include the fall of the Hittite Empire, on the one
hand, and the arrival, settlement, and departure of
the Sea Peoples, on the other. As a hypothesis, we
may attribute the architectural achievements of this
period to the part-Hittite dynasty of Amurru around
1300 B.c., and the evacuation of the city toward the
end of LB II, when the city was emptied (Area IV
Level 5-Lower and Area II Level 6-Lower).
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2006 TELL KAZEL-SIMYRA 93
The city was reoccupied shortly afterward (Area IV Level 5-Upper and Area II Level 6-Upper), in part
by the same population reusing the existing temple,
probably for cultic purposes, and partly by a group of newcomers who brought with them the style and
technique of the Handmade Burnished Ware pottery. This group may correspond to a first peaceful wave
(of the Sea Peoples?) who pitched their camps in this
region sometime before the eighth year of the reign of
Ramses III, possibly related to the first inscription of
Medinet Habu from the fifth year of Ramses III, which mentions a "king of Amurru" (whose name has
disappeared) and that the people of Amurru were cap tured and dispersed, and finally submitted (Klengel 1991: 184).
The final destruction of Level 5 is due to a fierce
fire which may be attributed to a second and larger wave of Sea Peoples, who vanquished both the popu lation and the country of Amurru. We may imagine that the inscription of year 8 of Ramses III (from
Medinet Habu) could refer to this second wave. The
various analyses in progress may well shed further
light on the problem.
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