Jar of the Day Feb 10, 2014

One of two handles with the rim attached that we excavated Feb 10th in the corner of the square (16B1) from the Roman Bath complex building. We found several pieces in the same area so we bagged them for possible mendable.

I'm holding the jar of the day admiring its size and shape. Tall el-Hammam is visible in the background over the top of the jar.










Once we washed up the pieces we found that much of the top of the jar was mendable. It really helps to see the stance of the jar once the pieces are put together.









A few days later I was visiting the new St. Lot Museum at the southern end of the Dead Sea and spotted this same style vessel. It is a similar Byzantine transport amphora jar that dates to the 6th century AD. Such pots were used to store honey, a product of monasteries. Amihai Mazar, an Israeli archaeologist and Professor at the Institute of Archaeology of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, also had just lectured for us on his discovery of the 30 unusual ancient Beehives at the ancient city of Rehov. It was interesting to see a reference to honey from the land of Milk and Honey.