Image Details

After cleaning and repair, a group of Iron Age I vessels, supported by modern iron tripods, awaits photographic recording. Telltale marks of burning from the destruction at the end of the Iron Age I period (mid-11th century B.C.) are visible. The large vessels in the back row are collar-rim storage jars (see photograph of jars in situ). Smaller storage jars with narrow necks stand in the foreground. Two handles on the body of each storage jar enable lifting and transportation of the jars with their contents—wine, oil or water. The multihandled krater (see close-up photograph), a deep bowl characteristic (though not very common) of Iron Age I pottery from the hill country, has a continuous row of 14 decorative handles.

These vessels were used for storage. The building in which they were found may have been an annex to the sanctuary which was probably located nearby, on the summit of the tell. The Iron Age pottery of Shiloh is one of the richest accumulations of pottery finds at any early Israelite site.