Why Is a Bilbil Called a Bilbil?

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Why is a certain kind of pot that is frequently found in excavations in Israel called a “bilbil”?

The problem is not earth-shaking, even if archaeological. But, then again, like the apple that fell to the ground, it requires a solution.

I have seen several pots labeled “bilbils” both in the shops of antiquities dealers and, more recently, at the Brooklyn Museum of Art. At neither the antiquities dealers nor at the museum could I get an explanation of the name “bilbil.”

Some readers of this short communication may not know what a bilbil is and looks like, let alone why it is called a “bilbil,” so instead of calling on my own inexpert knowledge of the subject, I asked Joe Seger, Professor of Middle Eastern Archaeology at the Cobb Institute of Archaeology, Mississippi State University, and director of the excavations at Tell Halif (Lahav) in Israel, to provide a short explanation of what a bilbil is. This is his reply:

“The term ‘bilbil’ is a general designation used in more popular Near Eastern archaeological literature to describe the jugs and juglets of Cypriot-made Base Ring Ware I and II class vessels. These vessels have a distinctive form with a globular body set on a low, flaring ring or trumpet base, and with a tall neck that narrows slightly to a small, flaring mouth. The form is completed with the addition of a strap handle that runs from the neck just below the flaring mouth down to the shoulder of the globular body.

“When finished, the necks on these jugs and juglets slant back slightly in the direction of the handle, giving them an appearance of graceful imbalance.

“In fabric and style of decoration, these jugs and juglets are divided into two major classes. Base Ring I vessels are regularly decorated with raised, relief patterns on the neck and body and with incised markings on the handles. They are finished with a black or red to red-brown slip which is burnished evenly to produce a smooth, high luster.

“On Base Ring II Ware, the decoration is different; patterns are created by flourishes of mat and white paint; Base Ring II vessels are finished with only a very thin slip varying widely in color from red-brown to dark-brown, buff, black or mottled black and gray-brown. They are either very lightly burnished or simply wet smoothed, rarely giving a lustrous effect to the surface.

“These vessels were produced in Cyprus beginning in the 16th century B.C. and became a popular export to Egypt, Palestine and the northern Levantine coast in the 15th and 14th centuries. In Palestine, the appearance of imported Base Ring I bilbils is a chronological indicator of the 15th century B.C. (Late Bronze I B). Base Ring II bilbils signal 14th-century B.C. culture (Late Bronze II A). By the 13th century B.C., we rarely find true Cypriot imports, but we do find large quantities of local imitations of the old imported form.”

When I attended the First International Congress of Biblical Archaeology in 1984, I took the occasion to ask the late Professor Yigael Yadin what the origin of the name “bilbil” was.

“Of course,” he replied. “It’s the sound that liquid makes when poured out of the pot: Bl, Bl.” He also suggested that when the vessels were imported from Cyprus they may have contained narcotics.

On my return to the United States, I began to wonder: How could anyone know that this was why they are called “bilbils” or that the pots contained narcotics unless some were found?

I composed a letter to Prof. Yadin raising these questions, but before I mailed it I read in BAR that he had suddenly died (in the summer of 1984). The letter was never mailed.

Prof. Seger suggests that the name “bilbil” may be derived from the Arabic word (also used in Hebrew) “bulbul,” which refers to a type of thrush-like songbird. Perhaps a similarity was noted in the bilbil’s long, bird-like neck. But he admits to having heard Prof. Yadin’s explanation as well.

Can BAR readers help? It occurs to me that bilbils—with their slanted, off-center necks—look a little tipsy, even drunk. Perhaps that is why the liquid comes out of the vessel saying “bilbil.”