General Information

Philistine cooking ware was introduced into southern Canaan in the 12th century B.C.E. The ware was used to make a new type of cooking jug with a globular-to-ovoid body, ca. 20 cm in height, a rounded mouth with an everted rim, a short neck, rounded shoulders, and a disc or ring base. Most examples have a loop handle from the rim to the shoulder; only a few have two handles. Their volume is ca. 2-3 liters, and they were made on a fast wheel, as opposed to the Canaanite cooking pots, and commonly have soot marks on the exterior, usually on one side attesting to their use as cooking vessels. At Tel Miqne-Ekron, strata VII-VIB (12th century B.C.E.), this type, to a large extent, replaces the traditional Canaanite open cooking pots. In the following strata VIA and VC-A (11th century) the local-tradition open cooking pots appear once again, and exist side-by-side with the cooking jugs, the latter gradually decreasing in popularity. This pattern is not as clear at Philistine Ashdod, evidently because quantitative data on the pottery from the pertinent contexts is unavailable. Nevertheless, it seems that at this site the Canaanite cooking pot was not completely superseded by the cooking jug at any stage, and the latter type is widespread in strata XIII-XII of the 12th century B.C.E. and becomes less common in stratum XI of the 11th century. At both sites, as well as at Ashkelon, these vessels are found together with both Philistine 1 and Philistine 2 pottery, spanning most of the Iron Age I. Cooking jugs also appear in the Iron Age I levels of Tell es-Safi/Gath, and similar jugs are occasionally found at other Iron Age I sites in Philistia. It should be noted that outside of Philistia, even though they can be found at a number of sites, relatively speaking, they are very rare.

The origin of this vessel type can be traced to the Late Helladic IIIC Aegean (12th century B.C.E.), and their presence in Philistine contexts is widely considered as one of the explicit ethnic markers of the immigrants who arrived in Philistia during the Iron Age I. This interpretation is based on the argument that these vessels reflect distinct cooking practices and eating habits, both of which usually represent rather conservative behavioral patterns. The continued occurrence of the cooking jug after the initial stage of their settlement (i.e., after the emergence of the Philistine bichrome pottery style) has been linked to a continuing tradition of Philistine cooking practices.

In the later part of Iron Age I and in Iron Age IIA (11th-9th centuries BCE), these Aegean-style cooking jugs developed into several slightly different forms. One of them is identical to a previous type in everything but the rim which is straight and vertical, and with a rounded top. Another development is represented by a variety of cooking jugs with thickened or ridged rim, with either a short or an elongated neck, and a ring base. The distribution of these two later types is limited to Philistia, and they reflect the experimentation of the potters with various shapes, before the typical Iron Age IIA cooking jug form crystallized.

Philistine cooking ware jugs are globular vessels with a high, vertical or slightly swollen neck, a loop handle from rim to the shoulder, and a ring base. The details of shape and the size of this vessel type vary: at Tell es-Safi/Gath their capacity is usually between 2-3 liters, although smaller examples at 1.3 liters and larger examples at 7.8 liters also occur. This is probably the most common jug type in Philistia throughout the entire Iron Age II, but is remarkably less widespread in the neighboring regions. Many of these jugs have external soot marks, mostly on one of the sides, usually in the form of an elongated or rounded spot, suggesting that these vessels were used for cooking.
Yet another type of jug that may have been used for cooking appears in Philistia during the Iron Age IIB (8th century BCE) and becomes ubiquitous in the Iron Age IIC (7th century BCE). These vessels are much smaller than the previous type, and have a distinct ridged carinated rim and a ring base, and occasionally have external soot marks.

Khirbet Qeiyafa (Israel/Shephelah)

Tell Qasile (Israel/Central Coastal Plain)

Ashdod (Israel-Palestinian Authority/Southern Coastal Plain)

Tell es-Safi/Gath (Israel-Palestinian Authority/Southern Coastal Plain)