General Information

This cooking ware is dense, warm red-brown in color, with a noticeably sandy feel to the surface. In Persian and Hellenistic times, it is the most common cooking ware found at sites in the Carmel coastal plain, such as Dor, in and around 'Akko and northern coastal sites, and at sites in the Galilee. From the mid-first century BCE to the second century CE, it is well represented only at coastal sites; in the Galilee it was largely replaced by Kfar Hananya ware. Petrographic testing confirms a source in this area, on account especially of the small quantities (about 2%) of gastropod and mollusk shell (A. Shapiro, pers. comm.). This was a specialty ware for cooking vessels: small and medium-sized globular cooking pots; small, medium, and large-sized casseroles with straight or rounded walls and rims that form a straight ledge or angle upward; and wide slightly domed lids with a single small knobbed handle. 

Granular, somewhat porous, red brown (10R 4/6-2.5YR 4/8) with occasional small and medium white inclusions. Walls are even and fairly thin. At the break the ware can feel a bit crumbly. Vessels are either fully fired or with a thin dark grey brown core.

Dor examples: Brown to dark orange in color with occasional dark gray core and sharp orange-brown margins. Voids are narrow and elongated, usually parallel to vessel's wall. ‎Inclusions consist of poorly sorted sub-rounded to sub-angular white chalk and limestone, moderately sorted, sub-rounded brown-gray and yellow sand ‎quartz particles, from sources such as hamra and quartz. The matrix includes about 20% white calcites and 15-20% dark red-orange inclusions.

Tel Kedesh examples: Moderately soft, with a very granular, sandy texture and few to frequent subrounded white inclusions. Usually fired a warm red brown color (10R 4/6-2.5YR 5/8), though it is occasionally fired orange (5YR 5/4-5YR 5/6), it rarely has a gray core. Exterior surfaces are often blackened by fire.

Tel Anafa examples: dense fabric with granular texture, slightly thicker walls, often with a narrow grey core.

Akko Sandy Cooking Ware, Southern Phoenician Coastal Sandy Cooking Ware

'Akko, Harbor (Israel/Northern Coastal Plain)

Horbat Rodem (Israel/Beth She'an Valley)

Horbat Zefat 'Adi (Israel/Northern Coastal Plain)

Khirbet el-'Eika (Israel/Galilee)

Qedesh/Kedesh (Israel/Galilee)

Shiqmona (Israel/Carmel Mountains)

Tel Anafa (Israel/Hula Valley)

Tel Dor (Israel/Carmel coastal plain)