Philistine pottery from Ashdod, on the Mediterranean coast south of Tel Aviv. In the center, a stylized bird and multiple parallel lines, all in black and red paint, decorate a sherd that once was part of a vessel. At the top of the sherd a portion of the vessel’s rim is seen. Philistine potters fashioned their distinctive ware in the 12th century B.C., not long after they settled in Canaan.