Biblical Archaeology Review - January-February 2018

Hazor stones

48 January/February 2018

eastern sides, the workshop lay outside the southern

wall of a large agricultural storeroom. It is not clear

how the workshop, which has not yet been fully

excavated, relates to the storeroom. Three layers of

beaten earth floor were identified in the workshop

containing unfinished basalt vessels and many basalt

chips as well as lots of ash, organic material, pebbles,

and pottery sherds scattered throughout. Two short

walls delineate a confined space in the northeastern

part of the workshop where seven loom weights

were recovered.

The iron chisels, flint tools, and basalt hammer-

stones found in the workshop may have been used

in the manufacture of the vessels, while the presence

of loom weights and spindle whorls may indicate

textile production in this same space.

The unfinished basalt vessels are made primarily

of compact, non-vesicular basalt and represent four

main typological categories: plates/platters, pedestal

bowls, tripod bowls, and bowls with everted (out-

turned) walls. The completely preserved specimens

from many Bronze and Iron Age sites, including

Hazor itself, give us a good idea of what these ves-

sels would have looked like had they been com-

pleted. With the exception of vessels in their initial

stages of manufacture (probably done off-site, at

quarries), our Hazor examples document all stages

of production. Many of the unfinished vessels have

evidence of battering, pecking, and chiseling on their

interiors and exteriors, which allows us to recon-

struct the manufacturing process and the use of vari-

ous tools in the carving of these vessels.

A geochemical and petrographic study of the

unfinished vessels and the basalt outcrops in the

vicinity of Hazor showed that at least two major

preferred sources were used, and these were not the

closest basalt sources to the site. In fact, there is a

basalt flow just along the lower city of Hazor, but

this material was not used to manufacture the arti-

facts found in the workshop. This raises questions

about access and control of desired raw material and

the choices made by the Hazor stone artisans, who

had to transport the partially worked basalt vessels

some distance to the workshop.

The location of the workshop in close proximity

to a large storeroom suggests state control of special-

ized craft activity rather than a domestic industry or

independent commercial operation.^4 Since the work-

shop is attached to an elite area, we propose that the

vessels were luxury items, in contrast to utilitarian

THE MOST POWERFUL CITY-STATE in the Bronze Age

southern Levant, Hazor remained a prominent city in the

Israelite period, when it was home to a wealthy ruling

class. A basalt workshop has recently been located in the

excavated area on the left in this photo.

ZEV RADOVAN/BIBLELANDPICTURES.COM