Scholar’s Bookshelf

060

Ancient Pottery of Transjordan: An Introduction Utilizing Published Whole Forms, Late Neolithic Through Late Islamic

Ralph E. Hendrix, Philip R. Drey and J. Bjornar Storfjell

(Berrien Springs, MI: Institute of Archaeology/Horn Archaeological Museum, Andrews University, 1996) xii + 342 pp., $18.95 (loose-leaf)

More than 35 years ago, Israeli archaeologist Ruth Amiran published Ancient Pottery of the Holy Land. Although we have learned an enormous amount about pottery, including its dating and development, since that time, Amiran’s book, strangely, is still the only overall treatment of the subject. The concise Ancient Pottery of Transjordan, by Hendrix, Drey and Storfjell, does for Transjordan what Amiran’s book did for Cisjordanian pottery (today her title would never refer to the Holy Land; that sounds too theological). Their book does not share the elegance of Amiran’s volume, but that is probably due more to changes in the publishing industry than in scholarship. While Amiran’s book is printed in large format on fine paper with excellent photographs and drawings, the Transjordan volume is a small loose-leaf production printed on uncoated paper. Some may find that this format makes it easier to handle, however. In any event, it will be required reading (and study) not only for students of Jordanian archaeology, but also for Israeli archaeologists. It will be used in the field as well as in the classroom.

Three introductory chapters provide background for the major forms of pottery that extend from the Neolithic to the Late Islamic period, illustrated with 469 examples drawn to scale. The authors’ discussion of pottery terminology will be helpful to both beginners and experts. Two short chapters also explain how to analyze ancient pottery. All in all, an important accomplishment.

The Water-Supply System of Susita

Zeev Meshel, Tsvika Tsuk, Henning Fahlbusch and Yehuda Peleg

(Tel Aviv and Lübeck: Institute of Archaeology, University of Tel Aviv and Fachhochschule, 1996) 131 pp., $25.00 (paperback)

Susita, one of the cities of the Roman Decapolis, sits on a thousand-foot-high promontory overlooking the Sea of Galilee. The view is magnificent. The Greek name of the site, Hippos, meaning horse, may reflect an awareness of the shape of the promontory.

Obtaining water, here as elsewhere in the ancient world, was critical, and the ingenuity with which our ancestors accomplished this can make for a fascinating study. This modest volume, a binational as well as an interdisciplinary collaboration (between archaeologist and hydraulic engineer), presents the results of their study of the water-supply system at Susita, which have been the focus of study ever since Gottlieb Schumacher discovered the aqueducts in 1885. The material is exceedingly important, but the amateur nature of the publication is a constant distraction. The photos are of poor, photocopy quality, the drawings are of uneven execution and reproduction, and the text is very rudimentary—the kind usually distributed by expeditions to staff, friends and interested colleagues at the end of each season. There is much data of importance here, but only the most determined student of ancient water systems will succeed in extracting it.

Mediterranean Peoples in Transition: 13th to Early Tenth Centuries B.C.E.

Sy Gitin, Amihai Mazar and Ephraim Stern, eds.

(Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society, 1998) 504 pp., $90.00/$70.00 for IES members (hardback)

The papers that make up Mediterranean Peoples in Transition were presented at a symposium held in the spring of 1995 at Hebrew University, in Jerusalem. The volume is fittingly dedicated to the distinguished symposiarch, who was the prime mover in organizing the symposium: Trude Dothan, emeritus professor of archaeology at Hebrew University, leading field archaeologist, the world’s foremost authority on the Philistines and, most recently, recipient of the prestigious Israel Prize, who is also the author of one of the most insightful papers in the volume, “Initial Philistine Settlement: From Migration to Coexistence.”

The entire volume is a beautiful production, as we have come to expect from the Israel Exploration Society, and serves as a fitting tribute to one of Israel’s most respected and admired archaeologists.

Every one of the nine sections contains important new material for our understanding of the cultural dynamics of change in the eastern Mediterranean from the 13th to the 10th centuries B.C. The peoples, places and pottery that shaped the diverse cultures of that region are all presented with exquisite care and precision. What a wonderful tribute to the person who has immersed herself in that subject for half a century!

Ancient Pottery of Transjordan: An Introduction Utilizing Published Whole Forms, Late Neolithic Through Late Islamic