Beth She'an Valley Hellenistic Semi-Fine Ware is a characteristic production of the Beth She'an Valley region through the Hellenistic period. The ware was identified and defined based on the pottery assemblage from the dwellings of Tel Istabbah - Nysa/Scythopolis. It was used to make small and large table and personal vessels, such as incurved rim bowls, table amphorae, lagynoi, and unguentaria. Vessels were hard-fired, with smoothed surfaces.
The ware was defined based on a visual study but has not yet been analyzed petrographical. Many of the vessels produced in Beth She'an Valley Hellenistic Semi-Fine Ware are identical or very similar to ones produced in other regional semi-fine (i.e., non-slipped) productions. ...
The exterior is reddish-yellow in color (75YR 6/6), while the interior is light brown (7.5YR 6/4), with gray and black inclusions. The surface finish depended on the shape. Incurved rim bowls, amphoras, and lagynoi were often covered with red slip, usually on the upper part of the vessels. Some vessels (usually lagynoi and unguentaria) seem to have been better levigated, with more evenly smoothed surfaces.
Tel Istabbah (Israel/Beth She'an Valley)
Acknowledgments to Gaby Mazor and Rachel Bar-Nathan, the directors of Tel Istabbah's excavations.
