DOI issue:
Egypt
DOI article:Szymańska, Hanna: Tell Atrib: excavations, 1999
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.41274#0084
TELL ATRIB
EGYPT
EXCAVATIONS IN SQUARE LLL
The layer of debris in square LLL reached
the same depth as that in the abutting sec-
tor KKK, except for the eastern part,
where the disturbed stratum thinned out
toward the east. As in square KKK, the
pottery assemblage in LLL includes many
sherds from different periods starting with
the 3rd century BC and ending in Islamic
times. Deserving mention is a complete
ampulla decorated with palmettes.
Remains of three kilns occupied this
part of the sector (cf. Fig. 1). The largest
one, 1.80 m in diameter, had its floor made
of red-fired bricks and stones. To judge by
the evidence of two coins of Ptolemy VI,
found directly under its floor, it could be
dated to the 2nd-1st century BCA The lay-
ers explored under the kiln, stratum by
stratum, revealed all the periods of settle-
ment in this sector in chronological order.
Coming from here is an amphora of local
production, as well as big and small jars,
some of them painted with a simple deco-
ration of red stripes. Hellenistic lamps,
both local and imported, were also found in
this assemblage. Next to the kiln, on its
southern side, a large basin for kneading
clay was discovered. Made of very coarse
clay, it is round in shape and has very thick
walls. Remains of two other kilns were
uncovered side by side toward the north of
the square. A thin layer of ashes is visible
under one of the kilns and additionally in
the abutting eastern wall of the trench. The
basin and three kilns, as well as the finds
from other kilns in the abutting square III
prove that this area was a southern exten-
sion of the workshop district producing
pottery in Late Ptolemaic times.
In its western end, square LLL reveals
a stratigraphy that is completely different
from both its eastern part and the neigh-
boring sectors. At a depth of 1.20 m below
the above-described kilns, an undisturbed
archaeological layer appeared. The dating
to the 3fd century BC, provided by a coin
of Ptolemy IV, was confirmed by amphora
sherds characteristic of this period.
Immediately below this stratum two
Palestinian amphorae were found; one of
these, covered with a stone, was used pre-
sumably as a storage vessel. Amphorae of
this kind are rare froyn Tell Atrib, but the
few that have been discovered all come
from layers dated to the end of the 4th and
the beginning of the 3rd century BC.
3> Coins of Ptolemy VI remained exceptionally long in circulation, cf. A. Krzyzanowska, "Remarks on the coins of
Ptolemy VI found in Egypt", Notae Numismaticae III/IV (Cracow 1999), 45-49-
EGYPT
EXCAVATIONS IN SQUARE LLL
The layer of debris in square LLL reached
the same depth as that in the abutting sec-
tor KKK, except for the eastern part,
where the disturbed stratum thinned out
toward the east. As in square KKK, the
pottery assemblage in LLL includes many
sherds from different periods starting with
the 3rd century BC and ending in Islamic
times. Deserving mention is a complete
ampulla decorated with palmettes.
Remains of three kilns occupied this
part of the sector (cf. Fig. 1). The largest
one, 1.80 m in diameter, had its floor made
of red-fired bricks and stones. To judge by
the evidence of two coins of Ptolemy VI,
found directly under its floor, it could be
dated to the 2nd-1st century BCA The lay-
ers explored under the kiln, stratum by
stratum, revealed all the periods of settle-
ment in this sector in chronological order.
Coming from here is an amphora of local
production, as well as big and small jars,
some of them painted with a simple deco-
ration of red stripes. Hellenistic lamps,
both local and imported, were also found in
this assemblage. Next to the kiln, on its
southern side, a large basin for kneading
clay was discovered. Made of very coarse
clay, it is round in shape and has very thick
walls. Remains of two other kilns were
uncovered side by side toward the north of
the square. A thin layer of ashes is visible
under one of the kilns and additionally in
the abutting eastern wall of the trench. The
basin and three kilns, as well as the finds
from other kilns in the abutting square III
prove that this area was a southern exten-
sion of the workshop district producing
pottery in Late Ptolemaic times.
In its western end, square LLL reveals
a stratigraphy that is completely different
from both its eastern part and the neigh-
boring sectors. At a depth of 1.20 m below
the above-described kilns, an undisturbed
archaeological layer appeared. The dating
to the 3fd century BC, provided by a coin
of Ptolemy IV, was confirmed by amphora
sherds characteristic of this period.
Immediately below this stratum two
Palestinian amphorae were found; one of
these, covered with a stone, was used pre-
sumably as a storage vessel. Amphorae of
this kind are rare froyn Tell Atrib, but the
few that have been discovered all come
from layers dated to the end of the 4th and
the beginning of the 3rd century BC.
3> Coins of Ptolemy VI remained exceptionally long in circulation, cf. A. Krzyzanowska, "Remarks on the coins of
Ptolemy VI found in Egypt", Notae Numismaticae III/IV (Cracow 1999), 45-49-