The Akkar Plain Survey, Lebanon (1997, 1999): The Late Bronze Age.

Proceedings of the 12th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East Volume 2 Proceedings of the 12th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East 06-09 April 2021, Bologna Edited by Nicolò Marchetti, Francesca Cavaliere, Enrico Cirelli, Claudia D’Orazio, Gabriele Giacosa, Mattia Guidetti, Eleonora Mariani 2023 Harrassowitz Verlag · Wiesbaden Proceedings of the 12th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East Volume 2 Field Reports Islamic Archaeology 2023 Harrassowitz Verlag · Wiesbaden Cover illustration: © David Hawkins and Giulia Roberto Typesetting: Federica Proni This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (BY-SA) which means that the text may be used for commercial use, distribution and duplication in all media. For details go to: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en. 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Printing and binding: Hubert & Co., Göttingen Printed in Germany ISBN 978-3-447-11903-0 Ebook ISBN 978-3-447-39354-6 DOI 10.13173/9783447119030 Contents of Vol. 2 Nicolò Marchetti, Francesca Cavaliere, Claudia D’Orazio, Gabriele Giacosa, Eleonora Mariani Foreword to the Section “Field Reports” 1 Field Reports Adelheid Otto A New Archaeological Response to an Old Question: When and how Did Ur Recover in the Old Babylonian Period? 5 Alexander Ahrens Preliminary Report on the Results of the Excavations at Tall Bleibil in 2018 and 2019 19 Firas Al-Haj Ali The Church Mosaic Pavement of Tell Bajer (Syria) 33 Michel Al-Maqdissi, Georges Mouamar The Akkar Plain during the Bronze Age: Preliminary Notes 45 Anna Anguissola, Silvana Costa, Antonio Monticolo Growth, Ownership, and Circulation: New Research in the Northern Necropolis of Hierapolis, Phrygia (Turkey) 55 Simone Arnhold, Paata Bukhrashvili, Shorena Davitashvili Zurab Tskvitinidze New Data on the East Georgian Late Iron Age 67 Edward B. Banning, Kevin Gibbs A Yarmoukian Site in Wadi Quseiba, Northern Jordan 81 Shay Bar Tel Esur: Ten Seasons of Excavations and a Long-Lasting Community Archaeology Project 89 Felix Blocher, Paata Bukhrashvili, Shorena Davitashvili Excavations at Nazarlebi (East Georgia) 2017–2019: A Late Bronze/Early Iron Age Sanctuary 103 VI Alessandra Caselli Jebel al-Mutawwaq and the Middle Wadi az-Zarqa Region during the 4th Millennium BC: Results of a Comprehensive Research Based on the Reanalysis of the Hanbury-Tenison’s Survey 115 Antonietta Catanzariti, Terri Tanaka, Amy Richardson Results from the 2018 and 2019 Excavation Seasons at Ban Qala, Iraqi Kurdistan 129 Hanan Charaf The Akkar Plain Survey, Lebanon (1997, 1999): The Late Bronze Age 143 Franco D’Agostino, Philippe Quenet, Anne-Caroline Rendu Loisel Tell Abu Shahrayn – Eridu: Les nouvelles recherches de l’équipe AMEr (2018-2021) 161 Roberto Dan, Annarita S. Bonfanti, Priscilla Vitolo, Soseh Aghaian, Artur Petrosyan From Urartu to the Orontids: Seven Years (2013-2019) of Armenian – Italian Excavations at the Site of Solak-1/Varsak (KSP016), Hrazdan River Valley, Armenia 177 Rita Dolce A Look Upstream from Qasr Shemamok. Soundings at the Site of Kandara Qal (Iraqi Kurdistan) 191 Itai Elad, Yitzhak Paz ‘En Esur: An EB IB Urban Center in the Coastal Plain of Israel and its Role in the Early Urbanization of the Southern Levant 203 Peter M. Fischer Hala Sultan Tekke, Cyprus: A Trade Centre’s Intercultural Contacts in the Bronze Age 217 Elisabetta Gallo, Romel Gharib, Licia De Vito, Gaia Cecconi, Michele De Marco, Lorenzo Nigro Khirbet Al-Batrawy in North-Central Jordan: New Discoveries in the Early Bronze Age Palace, 2018-2020 229 Boris Gasparyan, Roberto Dan, Levon Aghikyan, Priscilla Vitolo, Soseh Aghaian, Ani Adigyozalyan, Chiara Zecchi, Annarita Bonfanti, Artur Petrosyan Preliminary Results of the Excavation of an Urartian Burial in Aghavnadzor, Vayots Dzor, Armenia 243 Francesca Giusto The Sanctuary of Kal-e Chendar (Shami) and its Setting 257 VII Giuseppe Guarino, Daniele Alaimo Magnetometry in the Outer Town of Karkemish: New Discoveries 271 Hidemasa Hashimoto, Hisao Kuwabara, Takuzo Onozuka, Shuichi Hasegawa Excavating at the Lower Shelf of Tel Rekhesh 281 Kristen Hopper, Elena Rova, Davit Kvavadze Kurgans, Churches and Karvasla: Preliminary Results from the First Two Seasons of the Lagodekhi Archaeological Survey, Georgia 293 Krzysztof Jakubiak From Catastrophe to Catastrophe. Changes, Destructions, and Other Factors. Research on the Small Iron Age Town of Metsamor (Aras Valley Armenia) 305 Vakhtang Licheli, Roberto Dan, Tamar Chogovadze, Priscilla Vitolo, Tornike Chilingarashvili, Andrea Cesaretti The Samtskhe-Javakheti Project: Preliminary Results of the 2019 GeorgianItalian Archaeological Expedition in Southern Georgia 319 Carlo Lippolis Some Considerations on the Archaeological Area of Tulūl Al-Baqarat (Wasit, Iraq) 333 Romolo Loreto Dūmat al-Jandal, Ancient Adummatu. An Appraisal of 12 Years of Archaeological Activities in a North Arabian Oasis: from the Prehistory to the Assyrian Period 349 Eleonora Mariani, Giulia Roberto Digging in the Excavation Records: The Case of Woolley’s 1913 Yunus Notebook 363 Maria Grazia Masetti-Rouault Qasr Shemamok: Late Bronze Levels, and Before. A Report about the 2018 and 2019 Campaigns 373 Davide Nadali, Andrea Polcaro Tell Zurghul, Ancient Nigin, Iraq: Preliminary Report of the New Results from Recent Excavations 387 Lorenzo Nigro Jericho. From the Neolithic to the Bronze and Iron Ages: The Urban Diversity 399 VIII Takahiro Odaka, Osamu Maeda, Kazuya Shimogama, Yuichi S. Hayakawa, Yoshihiro Nishiaki, Nawshirwan A. Mohammed, Kamal Rasheed Late Prehistoric Investigations at Shakar Tepe, the Shahrizor Plain, Iraqi Kurdistan: Preliminary Results of the First Season (2019) 415 Aynur Özfırat The Region of Mount Ağrı during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age (Kura-Araxes) 429 Nino Pataridze, Davit Darejanashvili Paravani Archaeological Project, Expedition Results (2018-2020) 449 Metoda Peršin The Lebanon Mountain Range in the Middle Bronze Age: The Case of Qornet ed-Deir, Jabal Moussa Biosphere Reserve 461 Artur Petrosyan, Andrea Cesaretti, Priscilla Vitolo, Boris Gasparyan, Onofrio Gasparro, Roberto Dan Kaghsi-2, Meghradzor-1 and Berdi Glukh: Three Recently Discovered Kura-Araxes Sites in the Kotayk Region, Armenia 475 Luca Peyronel The Italian Archaeological Expedition in the Erbil Plain (Kurdistan Region of Iraq). A Summary of Four Seasons of Excavations at Helawa (2016-2019) 487 Andrea Polcaro, Juan Ramon Muniz The 2018 and 2019 Spanish-Italian Archaeological Campaigns at Jebel alMutawwaq: the Early Bronze I Site and the Megalithic Necropolis 499 Babak Rafiei-Alavi, Ali Shojaee-Esfahani, Yaser Jebreili The Center of the Iranian Plateau during the Early Bronze Age: New Archaeological Excavations in the Eastern Zone of the Zāyandehrud River Basin, Varzaneh 511 Suzanne Richard, Jesse C. Long, Marta D’Andrea Shedding Light on the Urban/Rural Nexus about 2500 BCE: The 2019 Excavations at Khirbat Iskandar, Jordan 523 Giulia Roberto The Evidence for Iron Age II Funerary Rituals in the Necropolis of Yunus in Light of the Turco-Italian Excavations 537 Licia Romano, Franco D’Agostino Abu Tbeirah: Preliminary Report on the 2018-2019 Excavations 549 IX Elena Rova, Davit Kvavadze Two Seasons of Excavations at the Chalcolithic Site of Tsiteli Gorebi 5 (Lagodekhi Municipality, Georgia) 559 Mahnaz Sharifi New Evidence of Early, Middle and Late Chalcolithic Periods at Chelamiran Gheshlagh in the 5th Millennium BC 573 Hakob Ye. Simonyan, Gregory E. Areshian Empire Beyond its Palaces: New Discoveries at the Urartian Necropolis of Karmir-Blur (Armenia) 587 Aline Tenu Kunara: An Early Bronze Age City in the Zagros Foothills. The 2018 and 2019 Seasons of Excavations 603 Stefano Valentini, Bakhtiyar Jalilov, Nicola Laneri, Guido Guarducci, Lorenzo Crescioli A Preliminary Report on a Mid-Late Fourth Millennium BC Kurgan in Western Azerbaijan 619 Regis Vallet Larsa and Tell El ‘Uwaili (Iraq), Preliminary Results (2019-2021) 629 Margherita Andrea Valsecchi Gillmeister Landscape Survey in Cross-check. Comparing the Late Bronze Age Survey Assemblage, Excavation Data and Geophysical Prospections at Oymaağaç Höyük/Nerik (Turkey) 647 Mattia Guidetti Foreword to the Section “Islamic Archaeology” 661 Islamic Archaeology Daniel Varga, Federico Kobrin A Settlement from Late Antiquity and the Beginning of the Middle Ages at Sderot 665 Ignacio Arce Two New Umayyad Mosques at Abila of the Decapolis and at Shuqayra alGharbiyye, Jordan 679 X Martin Gussone Umayyad New Urban Palatial Satellite Settlements. The Caliphal Residence of Resafa – Rusafat Hisham in the Context of Early Islamic Transcultural Urbanism 699 Itamar Taxel, Joel Roskin An Early Islamic Groundwater-Harvesting Plot-and-Berm Sand Agroecosystem to the South of Caesarea: Preliminary Results of Its 2020 Survey and Excavation 717 Alastair Northedge Akyrtas, Early Islamic Architecture in Central Asia, and its Near Eastern Models 735 Andrea Luigi Corsi A Morphological and Technical Analysis of the Architectural Stuccoes from the Early Abbasid Friday Mosque of Isfahan (767 CE) 749 Ana Marija Grbanovic Between Tradition and Innovation: the Art of Ilkhanid Stucco Revetments in Iran 763 Marco Rossi La phase islamique de Tell Deinit (Idlib), Syrie 779 Valentina Gallerani, Valentina Vezzoli Islamic Europos: Preliminary Results of the Turco-Italian Archaeological Excavations 793 Vadim V. Gorbunov, Alexey A. Tishkin, Nikolay N. Seregin An Early Medieval Sword from Altai: Comprehensive Analysis and Analogies 805 Iman Aghajani, Maryam Moeini, Moslem Mishmastnehi Imāmzāda ‘Abdallāh at Kūdzar, Iran: New Insights Regarding its Architectural Revetments 819 Lorenz Korn The Earliest Monumental Dome Chambers in Iranian Mosques. Archaeological Evidence for the History of Architecture 837 Christian Fuchs, Bahram Ajorloo The Rab‘-e Rashīdī Site in Tabriz (Iran) and its Architectural Remains 851 XI Thomas Lorain, Bahram Ajorloo, Lorenz Korn Preliminary Results of the Iranian-German Archaeological Campaign at the Rab‘-i Rashīdī Complex in Tabriz 867 Soraya Afshari, Leila Afshari, Mohammad Rahmatpour Emergency Excavations in the Area Around the Kabood and Modavar Towers in Maragheh, North-West Iran 879 Amin Moradi, Marco G. Brambilla The Mega-Structure of Ali-Shah at Tabriz: Mosque or Mausoleum? 887 Karel Nováček, Miroslav Melčák Meaning in Flux: A Reconsideration of the Shrines of Badr al-Din Lu’lu’ in Mosul 905 Valentina Bruccoleri, Jacopo Bruno Timurid Imitations of Chinese Porcelain in Turkmenistan 917 Luca Colliva, Serenella Mancini The Erbil Citadel Ceramic Corpus: A preliminary Analysis of the Main Productions and Their Relationships with Archaeological Stratigraphy 931 Stephanie Döpper Mud-Brick Villages and Open-Air Mosques: The Late Islamic Landscape of the Al-Mudhaybi Region in Central Oman 945 Foreword to the Section “Field Reports” Nicolò Marchetti, Francesca Cavaliere, Claudia D’Orazio, Gabriele Giacosa and Eleonora Mariani Field reports generally represent the largest relative share of papers at the ICAANE. Reassessments of old excavations fall in this category as well. In Bologna, 95 papers were presented in four parallel sessions and 49 of them are published here. They have been simply arranged according to the alphabetic order of first authors (with the exception of course of the keynote paper, opening this section). They attest to a diversity of agencies, methods, perspectives and urgencies which represent a singular asset of our field. While new digital architectures of knowledge are about to deeply transform the ways of our scientific dissemination, these reports do supply in the meanwhile loads of new information on near eastern sites, as well as on neighbouring areas, which are all too often insufficiently considered in our discussions. DOI: 10.13173/9783447119030.001 Field Reports The Akkar Plain Survey, Lebanon (1997, 1999): The Late Bronze Age Hanan Charaf1 Abstract Of the 89 sites examined within the Akkar Plain Survey (1997 and 1999), only 11 yielded Late Bronze Age (LBA, c. 1550– c. 1200 BCE) pottery attesting to a substantial – but not surprising – reduction in human occupation of the plain during this period. Out of the hundreds of sherds found at those 11 sites, only 66 dated to the LBA. Most of the LBA pottery collected from the survey came from the sites of Tell Humaira and Tell Biri, both located by the Nahr el-Kebir River (ancient Eleutheros). As it is typical of ceramic material from surveys, most of the pottery was in sherd form. The only complete objects were from a looted tomb at Tell Humaira that yielded local and imported material. Study of the ceramic material shows a ceramic repertoire that belongs to the productions of the Akkar Plain known from the site of Tell Arqa, indicating that these 11 eleven sites belong to a homogeneous local cultural sphere. The Akkar Plain Survey Project took place in 1997 and 1999 in the Akkar Plain in northern Lebanon2. The Akkar Plain is the largest coastal plain in the Levant covering an area of more than 450 km2. Today, it is divided between Lebanon and Syria, and the river Nahr el-Kebir River (the ancient Eleutheros) acts as the dividing border between the two countries. The German-Lebanese survey project was directed by Karin Bartl (Freie Universität, Berlin) and Anis Chaaya (Directorate General of Antiquities-DGA and the Lebanese University). This joint expedition followed a Lebanese field survey in 1996 directed by A. Chaaya on behalf of the DGA in the southern and eastern parts of the plain. The two survey campaigns covered the coastal plain of Akkar and the surrounding hilly region. They revealed extensive human occupation of this coastal area throughout history. This is not exceptional as the strategic location of this plain offers with its surrounding hilly area, one of the rare natural openings in the Mount Lebanon-Ansariyeh mountain chains towards inland Syria, an opening traditionally known as the Homs Gap. This study presents the archaeological results from the Late Bronze Age, focusing primarily on the pottery collected from the field surveys. Historically, the three-city political system that prevailed over the Akkar in the Middle Bronze Age (MBA) and during the first part of the LBA, collapsed and was replaced, by the Egyptians, by a central administration that ruled from the city of Simira/Sumur (Tell Kazel). Archaeologically, Level 12 of Tell Arqa witnesses total destruction that can be rea1 2 Lebanese University. My deepest thanks go to Karin Bartl for entrusting me with the study of the Late Bronze Age results from the surveys. I am indebted to the late Anis Chaaya for involving me in this project. DOI: 10.13173/9783447119030.143 144 Hanan Charaf sonably attributed to Thutmose III, as testified to in his Annals (Pritchard 1955: 241). Level 11 of Tell Arqa, dated to the LB II, marks a noticeable shift from a prosperous city to a rural settlement. The cities of Irqata (Arqa) and Simira/Sumur are cited several times in the Amarna tablet which mention also the Habiru, disenfranchised West Semitic and other peoples, many evidently semi-nomadic, who lived on the outskirts of the cities and in the hills of Syria-Palestine, and posed a significant threat to cities in the Akkar region like Tell Kazel and Tell Arqa killing eventually the king of this latter city, Aduna (Moran 1987: 253, EA75). Internal politics during the reign of Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten) and Tutankhamun contributed to a shift of focus away from the Levant that benefited the Hittites and the kingdom of Amurru, that included the northern hills and mountains of Lebanon and the northern part of the Bekaa Valley (Van de Mieroop 2004: 156). Abdi-Ashirta and his son Aziru were the first known princes of this kingdom. A study based on petrographic analysis of the Amarna tablets suggests that Ardata (modern Arde in northern Lebanon) was “the capital of Amurru during the later years of Abdi-Ashirta and the early years of Aziru” (Goren, Finkelstein and Na’aman 2003: 9). Aziru will then transfer his seat of power to Irqata from where he will conduct destructive raids into Simira/Sumur and Tunip (modern Tell Asharneh in Syria). Settlement Patterns of the Late Bronze Age in the Plain of Akkar The German-Lebanese surveys identified 89 sites divided into tells, tombs and necropoleis, dwellings/farms/hamlets, and areas with cut rocks that could be unfinished tombs or quarries. The 1997 survey was published in several preliminary articles (Bartl 1998-1999; 2002a; 2002b) but the final results of the entire project are still awaiting publication. Out of the 52 surveyed sites in 1997, 42 were labeled as archaeological. Out of those, 18 were ancient mounds or tells easily recognizable in the flat landscape of the plain (Fig. 1). The 1999 survey added 47 new identified archaeological sites but those results are still unpublished. Of the 89 sites surveyed in 1997 and 1999, only eleven yielded LBA pottery (Tell Bibi, Tell Biri, Tell Cheikh Mohammad, Dahr es-Sultan, el-Qlouaa, Tell Hayat I, Tell Humaira, Khirbet Jindi, Tell Kiri, Tell Arqa and Tell Sebeel). However, since three sites (Tell Cheikh Mohammad, Tell Hayat I, and Dahr es-Sultan) had very few LBA material, their proper existence in the LBA period can be reasonably questioned. The 1986-1987 surveys in the Syrian part of the plain conducted by J.-P. Thalmann and M. al-Maqdissi identified 17 sites, all of them tells, and six of those sites (Mandara, Qubaibe, Abou Abid, Frach, Bseise, and Jamous3) yielded LBA material (al-Maqdissi and Thalmann 1989). The distribution of the LBA sites in the Lebanese part of the Akkar revealed that nearly all sites were located either by a river (Tell Biri and Tell Humaira by Nahr el-Kebir, Tell Bibi and Tell Abbas el-Gharbi by Nahr el-Estouene, Tell Arqa by Nahr Arqa), or at the foot of the hills (el-Qlouaa). These locations provided means of subsistence (river) or shelter (hills). Except for Tell Sebeel and Tell Kiri, other sites in the proper plain and not located by a river seem abandoned during the LBA. This settlement pattern is replicated in the Syrian Akkar where the sites of Jamous, Frach, Bseise, Abou Abid and Tell Kazel are located by rivers while Mandara and Qubaibe occupy the northern edge of the plain. Note that in the entire plain, only one site, Cheikh Zenad, was found by the seashore and dates to the Iron Age and the classical period (Bartl 2007–2008). All the sites that exhibit timid LBA presence were quite prosperous during 3 The prominent site of Tell Kazel, probably the most important tell for the LBA in the Akkar Plain, was not surveyed since it was already under excavations by the American University of Beirut Museum. The Akkar Plain Survey, Lebanon (1997, 1999): The Late Bronze Age 145 the previous Early Bronze Age (EBA) II–III and MBA periods, the two main occupation periods in the Akkar Plain as attested in both Syrian and Lebanese-German surveys. For example, the excavations at Tell Arqa have revealed a prosperous city during the EBA and MBA but also during the LB I (Charaf 2016: 734-735; Thalmann 2000: 63-71; 2006: 69-79), and the city’s decline came immediately after its destruction, presumably by Thutmose III. Level 11 dated to the end of the LBA uncovered flimsy structures indicating a sharp decline in occupation of the site (Charaf 2020: 46-53). The settlement pattern in the Akkar plain resembles that of the Levant during the LBA, when the region witnessed a dramatic change. The southern Levant was affected early on in the LB I with the destruction and abandonment of numerous MBA sites (Gonen 1992: 216-217; Bunimovitz 1995). During the LB II, more cities were resettled or were newly established but their average size of 5 ha, far less than the large MBA settlements, denotes probably also a decrease in the size of the population (Mazar 1992: 240). By contrast, studies of the LBA settlement patterns in Syria and Lebanon are still rare and do not provide a very thorough picture of human occupation. However, they do confirm the low levels of occupation during the LBA. For example, surveys of the Bekaa Valley revealed a 50% decline in occupation during the LBA with only 46 sites with LBA pottery (Marfoe 1995: maps 22 and 23; Bonatz 2002: 300). The reasons for settlement decline in the Akkar in the latter part of the LB I and in the LB II are still unknown even if several theories have been suggested (climatic, political or military). The restructuring of the plain led to the establishment of one center, Tell Kazel, which controlled the entire plain until the end of the LBA. At this time, Tell Arqa and Tell Jamous are small rural sites administratively dependent on Kazel. The smaller sites that lived in the shadow of the three main sites during the Early and Middle Bronze Age periods were abandoned. Excavations of the LB II levels at Tell Arqa (Level 11) and at Tell Kazel (Level 6) confirm this pattern. The Late Bronze Age pottery Most of the LBA pottery collected from the survey came from Tell Humaira (36 vessels) and Tell Biri (18 vessels). As is typical to ceramic material from surveys, all the recovered pottery was unfortunately in sherd form. The only complete objects were from a looted tomb at Tell Humaira that were stored in a villager’s house. Luckily, K. Bartl was able to take some pictures of these objects on display (Fig. 4: 8–14). The pottery gathered from the survey was sorted according to period. Out of the hundreds of sherds found on the various sites, only 66 were dated to the LBA (Fig. 2). This amount included nine Cypriot sherds and one Mycenaean fragment. Rims and handles constitute the bulk of shapes found in the survey along with some bases (Fig. 3). Other well-attested forms are pithoi (9 examples) and cooking pots (5 rims). Even on stratified sites, cooking pots are rarely preserved in their entirety, unless they are found in situ. This is best explained by their friable fabric made with a coarse temper that resists badly the hard taphonomic conditions and by their repeated exposure to high temperatures fragilizing the vessel. Plates Three plates came from three sites: Tell Kiri, Tell Humaira and Tell Biri. The two rims from Tell Humaira (Fig. 4: 1) and Tell Kiri (Fig. 4: 2) belong to large platters that span the entire LBA. These platters appear already in the Levant during the MBA, but with incurved rims 146 Hanan Charaf and frequent radial burnishing. The Tell Humaira vessel is made from fine buff clay that was completely oxidized. It has straight sides and a round rim, and most probably had a flat base according to examples from Tell Arqa (Charaf 2004: fig. 4). Parallels for this type of plate are found all over the Levant from Tell Ajjul (Fischer and Sadeq 2002: fig. 51: 1, H1), Megiddo (Loud 1948: pl. 54: 2, 7-9, 12, pl. 61: 13-16), Hazor (Ben-Tor and Bonfil 1997: fig. II.20: 2, 5; fig. II.27: 17), Pella (McNicoll, Smith and Hennessy 1982: pl.111: 10), Beth Shan (Oren 1973: fig. 188: 2, 8, 11), Kamed el-Loz (Marfoe 1995: fig. 84: 4), Tell el-Ghassil (Doumet-Serhal 1996: pl. 52: 1), Tyre (Bikai 1978: pl. LIIA: 8), Sidon-Dakerman (Saidah 2004: fig. 13: 22, fig. 32: 75), Sidon-College Site (Doumet-Serhal 2011-2012: pls. 23-26, pl. 34: 2-7, 10), Sarepta (Anderson 1988: pl. 23: 7, pl. 24: 10, pl. 27: 12), Beirut (Badre 1997: fig. 23: 10-11, 13), Arqa (Charaf forthcoming: fig. 6: 1-4; Thalmann 2000: fig. 59), Tell Kazel (Badre et al. 1994: fig. 62), Tell Afis (Mazzoni 2002: pl. VIII: 8), Ugarit (Monchambert 2004: figs. 1, 9-10, 12; Schaeffer 1949: fig. 54: 2, fig. 58: 2), Alalakh (McClellan 1989: fig. 35: 3b) to Tarsus (Goldman 1956: fig. 384: 1125). The Tell Kiri plate has an interior-thickened rim found more frequently in the LB II and similar to parallels found at Hazor (Yadin et al. 1958: pl. CV: 7; 1961: pl. CCLXXXVIII: 5; Ben-Tor and Bonfil 1997: fig. II.16: 3, fig. II.20: 8-9), Dan (Ben-Dov 2002: fig. 2.54: 2-3), Kamed el-Loz (Hachmann 1980: pl. 1: 2), Sidon-Dakerman (Saidah 1977: pl. 11: 16, pl. 15: 24, pl. 42: 108-109), Sidon-College Site (Doumet-Serhal 2011-2012: pl. 15: 12–20), Sarepta (Anderson 1988: pl. 21: 18, pl. 23: 17, pl. 24: 1), Beirut (Badre 1997: fig. 23: 13) and Ugarit (Schaeffer 1949: fig. 82: 12; 1969: fig. 4: j). In the Akkar region, such plates were found at Tell Kazel (Badre et al. 1994: fig. 42: e), Tell Arqa (Thalmann 2006: pl. 117: 11) and in the megalithic tombs of Haklet Bou Dib 1, Mellul Bur 4, Djabouriyeh and Kseir (Steimer 1996: pl. XI: 3). Closed bowls Closed bowls were not found in quantity in the survey material. Only three closed bowls came from two sites: Tell Humaira and Cheikh Mohammad. The bowl from Tell Humaira (Fig. 4: 3) is made from an orange fabric popular during the LB II in the Akkar Plain. The tapered upper body could belong to smooth-carinated bowls that appeared during the 13th century BCE. Outside of the Akkar region, Dan produced a similar bowl in a LB II context (Ben-Dov 2002: fig. 2.30: 7). It could also be a pedestal bowls similar to examples found at Hazor (Yadin et al. 1958: pl. LXXXVII: 8, pl. CVII: 10; 1960: pl. CXVIII: 25). Another closed bowl from Tell Humaira (Fig. 4: 4) doubtlessly belongs to the Akkar Plain, and especially to one peculiar stylistic pattern from this region most likely imported from northeastern Syria. The rim of this bowl is incised with three fine lines on leather-hard clay. Such décor is known at Tell Arqa since the MBA on the shoulders of cooking pots or jars and the neck or rims of globular or carinated closed bowls (Thalmann 2006: pl. 87, pl. 95: 11, pl. 99: 1, 4, pl. 100: 5-8, pl. 105: 1-6, pl. 107: 13-20, pl. 110: 5-6). This type of decoration was also found on MB II closed bowls in the collective tomb at Tell Sukas (Thrane 1978: fig. 59). It continues into the LB I on carinated bowls (Charaf 2004: fig. 4) and small closed bowls (Charaf 2004: fig. 5), but it ceases to exist in the LB II. Jugs and Juglets Six jugs and juglets were found in the Akkar Plain Survey. They all belong to shapes known elsewhere in the Levant. The jug from Tell Bibi (Fig. 4: 5) has a rim typical to all the jugs and juglets from LB I contexts at Tell Arqa with oval body, flat base and vertical strap handle The Akkar Plain Survey, Lebanon (1997, 1999): The Late Bronze Age 147 (Charaf 2004: fig. 5; Thalmann 2000: fig. 58; 2006: pl. 109: 1–5). Such rim can be circular or pinched to form a spouted mouth. The jug from Tell Humaira (Fig. 4: 7) belongs to the same type but with a simple rim that has good parallels in the LB II at Levantine sites like Pella (Smith 1973: pl. 51: 155), Lachish (Tufnell 1958: pl. 75: 695), Hazor (Yadin et al. 1960: pl. CXXXIX: 14), Dan (Ben-Dov 2002: fig. 2.57: 30-31), Sidon-Dakerman (Saidah 1977: pl. 9: 12), Kamed el-Loz (Hachmann 1970: pl. 6: 6; 1980: pl. 33: 1), Tell Kazel (Badre et al. 1994: fig. 47: c), Tell Nebi Mend (Bourke 1993: fig. 22: 2) and Ras Ibn Hani (Bounni, Lagarce and Lagarce 1998: fig. 152: 2). A private collection kept in the home of a villager at Tell Humaira contained four juglets. Two were complete in form and two had the neck missing. These jugs must have come from a looted tomb on the tell since many robber trenches were identified on the mound during the survey. These juglets have an orange to red clay tempered with coarse grits of limestone. Since I was not able to see these objects in person the present description is based on photos provided by K. Bartl. The juglet with ovoid body and flat base (Fig. 4: 8) has a wide, tall neck, a pinched mouth and a strap handle. It is simply wet smoothed. Such juglets, though rare, were found on Levantine coastal sites such Tell Kazel (Badre and Gubel 1999-2000: fig. 9: g, fig. 11: g-j, fig. 24: l-n) and Alalakh (McClellan 1989: fig. 34: 50). However, a perfect parallel was found in the tomb of Tell Jatt which was dated by the excavators to the LB I (Yannai 2000: fig. 4: 54). Based on petrographic analysis, E. Yannai, A. Gorzalczany and M. Peilstocker believe that this type of juglet reached Palestine from the Syro-Lebanese coast (Yannai, Gorzalczany and Peilstocker 2003: pl. 1: 18). If true, then this might support a northern origin for this shape. Unfortunately, given a lack of thorough analysis of the fabric composition, I can neither confirm nor rule out its Akkar origin. Two sites in the southern Levant, Dan and Hazor, known to gravitate towards the northern cultural sphere have yielded similar juglets, but with a narrower neck and dated to LB I/II (Ben-Dov 2002: fig. 2.30: 18; Ben-Tor and Bonfil 1997: fig. II.15). The similar juglet but with a narrower base (Fig. 4: 11) is well attested in LB II contexts at Sidon-Dakerman (Saidah 2004: fig. 11: 19, fig. 40: 106) and Ugarit (Schaeffer 1939: 82, fig. 74: ZA). The wet-smoothed juglet with ovoid body and button base (Fig. 4: 10) is a popular shaped during the MB II and the LB I. It was mainly found in MBA tombs at Megiddo (Loud 1948: pl. 20: 12, pl. 24: 8), Hazor (Ben-Tor and Bonfil 1997: fig. II.10: 3) and Pella (McNicoll et al. 1982: pl. 107: 12, pl. 110: 10). However, this type of juglet is not limited to the MBA and continues into the LB I at Tell Arqa where it was also found mainly in tombs (Charaf 2004: fig. 7). The last juglet from the villager’s collection belongs to the dipper juglet type with an ovoid body, round base and a round mouth instead of a pinched one (Fig. 4: 9). Similar juglets were found in the tombs of Sidon-Dakerman (Saidah 2004: fig. 7: 7). Cooking pots Five cooking pots were recovered from the survey material at four sites: Tell Humaira, Tell Kiri, Tell Biri and el-Qlouaa (one vessel each). All the cooking pots present the same MBLB typological form: a short neck and a triangular externally folded rim. The orientation of these rims can be everted or somewhat vertical, although the former tend to appear more in LB I than in LB II. The cooking pots from el-Qlouaa (Fig. 5: 1) and Tell Humaira (Fig. 5: 2) illustrate perfectly an LB I cooking pot from the Akkar Plain. In the MB II, the rim was often slightly everted and of round shape. In the LB I, the rim begins to take on a more triangular form. By LB II, the rim is fully formed in its distinctive triangular shape. Parallels to this 148 Hanan Charaf cooking pot were found at Hazor (Ben-Tor and Bonfil 1997: fig. II.14: 24, 27, fig. II.15: 12; Yadin et al. 1958: pl. XCVIII: 22, pl. CXXXVIII: 1-3, 10, pl. CXXXIX:12, 13, 17), Tyre (Bikai 1978: pl. XLIX: 23) and Arqa (Charaf 2004: fig. 8), all dated to the LB I. However, this type continues to be attested until the end of the LB II at Kamed el-Loz (Penner 2006: fig. 6, 1, fig. 147: 6, 1), Sidon-College Site (Doumet-Serhal 2011-2012: pl. 30: 3) and Arqa (Charaf forthcoming: fig. 12: 5). The three other cooking pots have tapered upper body and straight and fully formed rectangular rims (Fig. 5: 3–5). This type of cooking pot appears already in the LB I at Hazor (Yadin et al. 1961: pl. CCLXV: 7) but is better attested in the LB IIA (Yadin et al. 1960: pl. CXIX:15). The Tell Kiri example (Fig. 5: 3) has a perfect parallel at Tell el-Ghassil (Doumet-Serhal 1996: pl. 56: 8) and in the LB I at Tell Afis (Mazzoni 2002: pl. LIX: 26). It continues into the LB IIA at Tell el-Ghassil (Doumet-Serhal 1996: pl. 56: 4) and Tyre (Bikai 1978: pl. XLVIII: 1) and in the LB II at Dan (Ben-Dov 2002: fig. 2.55: 2021), Kamed el-Loz (Marfoe 1995: fig. 90: 6) and Tell Kazel (Badre et al. 1994: fig. 42: g-h, fig. 47: i). It is still attested at Arqa in a level dated to the beginning of the 12th century BCE (Charaf forthcoming: fig. 12: 17). The cooking pot from Tell Biri (Fig. 5: 5) has sharper-edged triangular rim. It appears timidly during the LB I at Hazor (Yadin et al. 1958: pl. CXXXIX: 18; 1961: pl. CCLXV: 9, pl. CCLXXXI: 1), Pella (McNicoll et al. 1992: pl. 45: 4) and Kamed el-Loz (Marfoe 1995: fig. 77: 1) before it spreads widely in the Levant during the LB II, at Megiddo (Finkelstein and Zimhoni 2000: fig. 9.11: 9) and Kamed el-Loz (Hachmann 1980: pl. 15: 3, pl. 17: 8-9; Marfoe 1995: fig. 90: 6). It particularly shows up during the latter part of the LB II at Beth Shan (James and McGovern 1993: fig. 43: 6), Hazor (Yadin et al. 1961: pl. CCXCII: 3, 5-6), Tell Kazel (Badre 2011: fig. 7: e, fig. 8: a), Tell Nebi Mend (Bourke 1991: fig. 23: 4-6), Ugarit (Montchambert 2004: fig. 90: 1249) and Alalakh (McClellan 1989: fig. 36: 152a), and well into the 12th century BCE at Sarepta (Anderson 1988: pl. 30: 3), Tell Kazel (Badre et al. 1990: fig. 41: f) and Tell Afis (Venturi 1998: fig. 9: 11). Jars Twenty-four jar fragments were found in the survey: 18 handles and 6 rims from Khirbet Jindi, Tell Biri and Tell Humaira. The jars found at Tell Humaira and Tell Biri (Fig. 5: 6-7) are typical of the Canaanite LB I jar. They retain many MB II features in the tall neck and triangular rim. The bodies are ovoid with flattened or round bases and they have two handles attached to the middle of the body. The bases are usually flattened or slightly rounded. Both jars are simply wet smoothed. But at Tell Arqa, jars with similar rims are usually vertically burnished, which is another carry-over from the MBA period. Such jars are extensively distributed in the Levant, most without burnishing, such as at Tell Ajjul (Fischer and Sadeq 2002: fig. 17: 9), Dan (Ben-Dov 2002: fig. 2.56: 24), Hazor (Yadin et al. 1958: pl. CXXIV: 14), Pella (Smith 1973: pl. 54: 269, pl. 56: 132), Kamed el-Loz (Marfoe 1995: fig. 77: 3, fig. 98: 10), Tyre (Bikai 1978, pl. XLVIIA: 10, pl. XLIX: 8), Beirut (Badre 1997: pl. 22: 4), Arqa (Charaf 2004: fig. 9; forthcoming: fig. 15: 2) and Tell Nebi Mend (Bourke 1993: fig. 22: 2). A coarser version of this jar appears at Tell Humaira (Fig. 5: 8) with thicker walls. Evidence of the rills from wheel turning is visible on the interior wall of the neck. The crude appearance of this jar suggests a later date in the LBA. Similar jars were found at Megiddo (Finkelstein and Zimhoni 2000: fig. 9.12: 11), Tell el-Ghassil (Doumet-Serhal 1996: pl. 53: 7) and Sarepta (Anderson 1988: pl. 23: 21) – all in LB II levels – as well as in tombs at Ugarit dated to the end of the LB I and to the LB II (Schaeffer 1949: fig. 62: 17). Jars with narrow openings and rolled rims (Fig. 5: 9) are quite popular during the second half of the LB II. They were found The Akkar Plain Survey, Lebanon (1997, 1999): The Late Bronze Age 149 in the northern Levant at Sarepta (Anderson 1988: pl. 26: 3), Sidon-College Site (DoumetSerhal 2011-2012: pl. 28: 43) and Tell Afis (Venturi 1998: fig. 7: 5). Painted vessels are not common in the Akkar Plain, at least in the early part of the LBA. Tell Arqa did not produce enough decorated vessels to consider painting a characteristic of the LBA at the site. The excavations at Tell Kazel, on the other hand, have produced several painted vessels dated to LB II. But most of these came from Area IV (the Temple Area) and Area II (the Residential Area) suggesting targeted (élite?) productions. It seems that painting in the Akkar Plain is not a striking characteristic of the pottery productions and cannot be compared at any level with the profusion of painting to the north at Ugarit, for example, or to the south at Timnah (Kelm and Mazar 1995: fig. 4.14). Two painted vessels from the Akkar Survey came from Tell Humaira and Tell Kiri: a jar covered with white wash and painted with black and red horizontal bands on the neck (Fig. 5: 10) that has a perfect parallel at Megiddo (Loud 1948: pl. 43: 2, pl. 34: 17) and Arqa, and a fragment of a closed pot burnished vertically and painted with two horizontal red bands (Fig. 5: 15). Pithoi Ten pithoi were found in the Akkar Plain Survey, at Tell Humaira (6), Tell Biri (2), Tell Kiri (1), Tell Sebeel (1) and el-Qlouaa (1). The pithos from Humaira (Fig. 6: 1) is a typical LBA pithos from the northern Levant even though earlier examples are attested timidly in the MB II at Kamed el-Loz (personal observation) and Tell el-Ghassil (Doumet-Serhal 1996: pl. 39: 15). Similar pithoi were found during the LB I in abundance at Hazor (Yadin et al. 1958: pl. LXXXVIII: 11, pl. CXLI: 8; 1960: pl. CXXII: 6, pl. CXLV: 3) and Tel Dan (Ben-Dov 2002: fig. 2.31: 14) and are believed to be of northern influence. These pithoi are well attested at Arqa (Charaf 2004: fig. 10; forthcoming: fig. 17: 1-4, 6) in the LB I and continue throughout the LB II. They are present in the LB II at Hazor, Kamed el-Loz (Marfoe 1995: fig. 89: 2), Tell el-Ghassil (Doumet-Serhal 1996: pl. 55: 2), and as far north as Tarsus (Goldman 1956: fig. 390: D). Another north-Levantine pithos is the one from Tell Biri (Fig. 6: 2) and Tell Humaira (Fig. 6: 3, 6). This type is characterized by a macehead-type rim. It is made from a fabric rich in chaff to reduce the firing time. This type of pithos was also found in LB II levels at Kamed el-Loz (Kulemann-Ossen 2010: pl. 8: 3), Sarepta (Anderson 1988: pl. 26: 5), and as far south as Tel Dan (Ben-Dov 2002: fig. 2.30: 5) and as far north as Ugarit (Schaeffer 1949: fig. 56: 6, fig. 86: 21-22). In the Akkar Plain, it is attested at Tell Kazel (Badre et al. 1994: fig. 41: c-e), Arqa (Charaf forthcoming: fig. 17: 7-9) and in the Haklet Bou Dib megalithic tomb in Akkar (Steimer 1996: pl. IX: 3). Square-rim pithoi exist also in the plain of Akkar, precisely at Tell Humaira (Fig. 6: 4) and Tell Biri (Fig. 6: 5). Even though their shape appears during the MB I/II in the Bekaa Valley at Tell el-Ghassil (Doumet-Serhal 1996: pl. 7: 9-11) and Douris (Charaf 2021: fig. 27: 4-5), square-rim pithoi were found all over the Levant during the LBA at Megiddo (Finkelstein and Zimhoni 2000: fig. 9.12: 24), Hazor (Ben-Tor and Bonfil 1997: fig. II.32: 4), Tell el-Ghassil (Doumet-Serhal 1996: pl. 55: 4) and Tarsus (Goldman 1956: fig. 379: B). The Imported material Amongst the dozens of local vessels from the Akkar Plain Survey were ten sherds of imported pots. They belong to vessel types that were widely imported and distributed in the Levant during the MB II and especially in the LB. They originate from Cyprus and Mycenae. 150 Hanan Charaf The Cypriot pottery One of the best known imports to the Levant is Cypriot White Slip II (WSII). It was distributed throughout the Levant and reached the wider Mediterranean (Greece and Sicily). The bowl is the most common imported WSII vessel, but tankards and juglets have also been found in the Levant. The WSII bowl from Tell Kiri (Fig. 5: 12) is a standard hemispherical handmade bowl, covered in a thick cream slip inside and outside, and painted in brown color on the exterior. It has one handle in the form of a wishbone. The Tell Kiri sherd exhibits one of the typical WSII decorations made of a horizontal ladder and a vertical dotted line. Dozens of similar bowls were found in tombs at Ugarit and Minet el-Beida (Schaeffer 1949: fig. 51: 6, fig. 54: 18, 20, fig. 57: 2, fig. 65: 8; Yon 2001: fig. 4), Tarsus (Goldman 1956: fig. 329: 1248) in the northern part of the Levant,4 at Tell Arqa (Charaf-Mullins 2006: pl. 130: 20-21) and Tell Kazel (Yon and Caubet 1990: fig. 4: 96; Badre et al. 1994: fig. 54: a) in the Akkar region, in the tombs of Byblos (Salles 1980: pl. 9: 6) and Beirut (Saidah 1993-1994: pl. 27: 3a+b), at Sarepta (Koehl 1985: fig. 2: 52), Tyre (Bikai 1978: pl. XLIII: 9, pl. XLVIIA: 32), Lachish (Tufnell 1958: pl. 79: 833-834) and Tell Ajjul (Fischer and Sadeq 2000: fig. 8: 2). WSII bowls that resemble the bowl of Tell Kiri were found in major LBA sites in Cyprus, mainly in tombs at Enkomi (Dikaios 1969: pl. 195: 18-19, 22, 27; Courtois 1981: fig. 134: 6), Kazaphani (Nicolaou and Nicolaou 1989: pl. XXV: 255) and Kition (Karageorghis 1974: pl. XI: 2-3, 6-7, 9, 12, 15-16). The collection of the villager’s tomb at Tell Humaira has three Red Lustrous Wheel Made Ware (RLWMW) bottles (Fig. 4: 12-14). It is impossible from the pictures to know if one of the two necks fits on the body of the bottle in the collection. It is also impossible to know if these bottles were made from Levantine fabrics or imported ones or if the base of the bottle bears any Cypro-Minoan sign as some of these bottles do. Much has been written on the RLWMW in the archaeological literature. This ware attracted the curiosity of many archaeologists mainly because of its fabric and manufacture. The RLWMW, as its name indicates, is wheelmade from fine well fired orange levigated clay. The body is completely covered with a thick bright orange slip burnished to a high luster. RLWMW bottles have been found all over the Levant and Egypt, mainly in tomb contexts such as at Ras el-Bassit (Courbin 1977-1978: fig. 19), Ugarit (Schaeffer 1949: fig. 51: 17, 19, fig. 113 for a summary of the RLWMW bottles found in the tombs), Tyre (Bikai 1978: pl. LIIA: 9), Enkomi (Courtois 1981: 90) or Kazaphani (Nicolaou and Nicolaou 1989: 95). But they do also exist in cultic structures at Tell Kazel (Badre and Gubel 1999-2000: 25) and Lachish (Tufnell 1940: pl. 51: 273), or in residential areas at Alalakh (Woolley 1955: pl. CXXVI: ATP/38/184), Tell Kazel (Badre and Gubel 1999-2000: fig. 25: p), Tell Arqa (Charaf-Mullins 2006: pl. 132: 1), Beirut (Badre 1997: fig. 29: 5) and Kamed el-Loz (Hachmann 1970: pl. 23: 9). The RLWMW dates to the LB I and LB II contexts. It disappears at the end of the 14th century BCE. Earlier Cypriot material was found at Tell Humaira. Two handmade White Painted V/VI (WPV/VI) sherds highly burnished and decorated with red bands were found at Tell Kiri (Fig. 5: 14-15). They belong to jars or large jugs commonly imported to Egypt and the Levant. WP V/VI material was found in large quantities in Lebanon in the Bronze Age levels of Tell Arqa (Charaf-Mullins 2006: pl. 130: 1-7) and Sidon (Charaf 2022: fig. 4: 2, 10, 13-18). 4 For a full survey on the White Slip Ware in the northern Levant, see Yon 2001. The Akkar Plain Survey, Lebanon (1997, 1999): The Late Bronze Age 151 The Mycenaean pottery Only one sherd identified as Mycenaean was found at Tell Kiri (Fig. 5: 13). It belongs to a closed pot, most likely a stirrup vase. It is lustrated and painted with thin red lines and large bands, a décor characteristic of stirrup vases dated to LH IIIA:2 or LH IIIB. Stirrup vases are common in the Levant during the LB II. They were found in the cella of the LB II temple at Sidon-College Site (Karageorghis 2011-2012: 375, no S/38026/1202), in the Necropolis K of Byblos (Salles 1980: pl. 12: 4), and in Cypriot tombs at Enkomi (Courtois 1981: fig. 147: 1, 5, fig. 144: 5-6, fig. 177: 3) and Stephania (Hennessy 1963: pl. XXV: 4). The study of the LBA ceramic material from the Akkar Plain Survey Project shows an equal representation of the LB I and LB II even though less than 13% of the sites surveyed in the plain yielded surface material dated to the LBA. Tell Humaira yielded the largest quantity of LBA material mostly dating to the LB I. This strongly suggests a large settlement judging from the material and the presumable tomb found on the site. Similarly, Tell Kiri and Tell Biri have solid LBA evidence but anchored more in the LB II according to the cooking pots with triangular rims, macehead rim pithoi, Cypriot and Mycenaean pottery. 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Berytus 38, 98-118. 156 Hanan Charaf Akkar N Tripoli LEBANON Beirut SYRIA Na hr el- SYRIA Ke bir 50km 0 Cheikh Ayyash Tell Humaira Tell Biri Tell Bibi Tell Kindi Na hr el- Es Cheikh Zennad Darine II Tell Taaleb to ue ne Tell Saadine Tell Kiri Tell Abbas el-Gharbi Tell el-Qlaiat AKKAR PLAIN Mediterranean Sea Qaabrine Khirbet el-Jindi Tell Hayyat Cheikh Mohammad Tell Sebeel d Na hr rn de Ar mo qa roa Tell Arqa 0 2km Fig. 1: Map of the southern part of the Akkar Plain with the localization of the 18 tells surveyed in 1997 (adapted and updated from Bartl 1998-1999: fig. 3) The Akkar Plain Survey, Lebanon (1997, 1999): The Late Bronze Age Fig. 2: Distribution of pottery by site Fig. 3: Distribution of pottery by type 157 158 Hanan Charaf 3 Tell Humaira 1 Tell Humaira 4 Tell Humaira 2 Tell Kiri 5 Tell Bibi 6 Khirbet Jindi 0 10 7 Tell Humaira 20 30 40 cm 9 8 10 0 10cm 11 13 0 5cm 14 Tell Humaira 12 0 5cm Fig. 4: LBA pottery: plates (1-2), bowls (3-4), jugs (5-11) and RLWMW bottles (12-14) 159 The Akkar Plain Survey, Lebanon (1997, 1999): The Late Bronze Age 1 el-Qlouaa 6 Tell Humaira 2 Tell Humaira 7 Tell Biri 3 Tell Kiri 8 Tell Humaira 9 Tell Humaira 4 Tell Humaira 10 Tell Humaira 5 Tell Biri 12 Tell Kiri 11 Tell Humaira 13 Tell Kiri 14 Tell Kiri 0 10 16 Tell Kiri 15 Tell Kiri 20 30 40 cm Fig. 5: LBA pottery: cooking pots (1-5), jars (6-11), WSII bowl (12), Mycenaean stirrup vase (13), WPV/VI (14-15) and painted (16) 160 Hanan Charaf 1 Tell Humaira 2 Tell Biri 3 Tell Humaira 4 Tell Humaira 5 Tell Biri 6 Tell Humaira 0 10 Fig. 6: LBA pottery: pithoi found in the survey 20 30 40 cm