These Hellenistic-period rollers for packing and leveling plaster floors were found at Mt. Gerizim, the holy mountain of the Samaritans, which was excavated by Dr. Yitzhak Magen. As Magen explains in a recent publication, “Corbelling is a construction technique unknown in the Land of Israel prior to the Hellenistic period, and very unusual even in later periods. Wooden or stone beams were laid upon flat stone corbels projecting from the two lengthwise walls, creating second-story floors and ceilings. The beams were covered in plaster, then leveled and packed by a roller, dozens of which were found at Mt. Gerizim. Corbelling precluded the need to insert beams into the walls, which would have greatly encumbered and weakened the structure.”1
A. Egyptian neck pillows
B. Neolithic chariot wheels
C. Petrified paper towel rolls
D. Hellenistic floor rollers
E. Canaanite necklace beads
065 Answer: (D) Hellenistic floor rollers
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Lawrence E. Stager, “Chariot Fittings from Philistine Ashkelon,” in Seymour Gitin, J. Edward Wright and J.P. Dessel, eds, Confronting the Past: Archaeological and Historical Essays on Ancient Israel in Honor of William G. Dever (Winona Lake, IN:Eisenbrauns, 2006), pp. 169–176. See also Trude Dothan and Alexandra S. Drenka, “Linchpins Revisited,” in J. David Schloen, ed., Exploring the Longue Durée: Essays in Honor of Lawrence E. Stager (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2009), pp. 97–101.
