Stocking up wine for the other world

Reserves for a long trip Tel Aviv, Israel
While strolling in Tel Aviv I stumbled into some sort of partly open-air yardshop with lots of stuff, books and the usual things found in flea markets, yard sales or thrift shops. This was in a dead-end passage between two buildings on Rehov (street) Hamelekh George just after leaving Allenby boulevard. I leafed through a couple of books, one being a recent, Hebrew-only book about archeological findings with nice pictures. The owner of this place then showed me a more ancient book in English with black and white pictures of archeological sites, this second book which was published in 1948 was titled The Quaterly Of The Department Of Antiquities In Palestine Volume XIII NOS 3-4, published in Jerusalem "For the Government of Palestine by Geoffrey Cumberlege, Oxford University Press" in London E.C. 4 - 1948.
My attention was aroused by several of the pictures which were shot in the early 1940s' in a Bronze-age era cemetery at Dhahrat El Humraiya. This archeological site was unearthed in 1942 (april 24 to june 2) at a distance of about 12 kilometers south of Jaffa-Tel Aviv, and south-west of Rishon Le Zion where by the way the Baron de Rothschild built one of his two wineries in the late 19th century. The place may be built-on today as Israel is quite developped and urbanized, and I don't know what remains of this archeological site.

Another well-stocked tomb Whatever, it made me think to this ancient burial site in Armenia and there may be wine involved in this Palestinian cemetery too : many of the dead had been buried with various clay containers, bowls, jugs and amphorae next to them as if to have food and drink at easy reach for their last voyage. Man, these Bronze-Age people were caring and civilized indeed... While nothing in the text of the book says anything on what could contain these amphorae, I felt compelled to think that it could likely be wine, especially that the jars often contained one or two dippers. One body even had a small amphora in between its hands. You wouldn't take only olive oil even for a long trip, and wine is one of the few liquids that could stand storage without turning sour or spoiled in those times. Holding the amphora with the feet This burial position is particularly interesting here, with the feet of the deceased almost holding the top of the amphora. The remains are shown on the pictures in the position they had when the burial took place. The book says at one point : Of the fifty-six graves containing pottery deposits, a certain number contain purely Middle Bronze II types (Class A), the majority have Middle Bronze II types with the addition of painted jugs of Cypriote origin (Class B). A third group consists of graves with pottery exclusively of the Late Bronze Age (Class C). Let's remind that the Middle Bronze Age is about 1800 B.C. I'll keep that one on my laps if you don't mind... Extract :
Frequently a group of bowls and dishes was placed near the feet, and occasionally near the head or thigh as well. A number of small juglets, mostly of the button-base type, of a well- levigated ware and covered with a lustrous deep red slip, was usually placed near the mouth or hands of the deceased. In some graves the body seems to have been interred with a small amphora in between its hands Couple with a big jar Extract :
The relative proximity and the disposition of some of the burials suggested family graves. In grave 11 [the one shown here] the female burial, lying on the left side of the male, seems to have been a secondary interment. In such secondary burials a jar or amphora, but generally few other objects, seem to have been added to the original deposit. On the other hand, single female burials contained by far the finest deposits. Various food and drink containers and dishes Different dishes and jugs found on the site resources :
The beginning of winemaking in the Ancient Near East [Pdf]
Wine artifacts from the Bronze Age (from a commercial gallery in Jerusalem). There were many cats in this open-air thrift shop...

Comments

[Fiano]

This pictures made my day.

[Eden Valley_Syrah]

A very interesting topic. Helpful and informative! Great job!

[Lesley Bushnell]

Wonderful. I have been looking for this archaeological paper for ages. It has some very interesting pots that I am studying for my PhD. The small pots I think were for perfumed oil. But I love wine too.