Yasur-Lau Assaf. Household Archaeology in Ancient Israel and Beyond

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Figure 6. Tiryns, Northeastern Lower Town, Phase 2, LHIIIC Early 2: vessels

found in situ; painted neware; for vessel numbers, see the catalogue of

Stockhammer 2008.

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Figure 7. Tiryns, Northeastern Lower Town, Phase 2, LHIIIC Early 2: vessels

found in situ; painted neware (1186, 1193, 1197) and cooking ware (1207);

for vessel numbers, see the catalogue of Stockhammer (2008).

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(FS 215 and FS 240; Fig. 6: 1201C. 1201D) was placed on the oor

alongside one pair of kylikes; these were used either for drinking or

for lling the kylikes. e placement of the drinking vessels in pairs

is an obvious reference to palatial feasting. e frescoes in the pal-

aces of Knossos and Pylos depict pairs of drinkers and lead me to this

assumption. e hosts of this Post-Palatial feast probably wanted to

boast their family’s old tradition through this arrangement.

Another reference to palatial traditions can be seen in another

drinking vessel, the so-called mug (FS 226; Fig. 7: 1193). It is easy to

imagine that the large, marvelously painted mug, which was found

immediately south of the building, was oered to guests as a drinking

vessel during receptions. It was certainly produced by a Post-Palatial

potter who combined features of Palatial mugs of the late fourteenth

century bce with decorative elements characteristic of the early twelh

century. e ridges under the rim and at the waist, together with the

division of the painted pattern into two zones, point to LHIIIA2/B1,

because in LHIIIB2 the ridges disappear and the decoration runs con-

tinuously from rim to base. ese archaic features were eclectically

combined by the potter with an elaborate running spiral (FM 46) to

yield an updated product that was rooted in ancient tradition. It seems

likely that such an object was ordered by the aristocratic family who

resided in room 8/00 with its double row of columns. It is important

to consider that large mugs were not an important vessel type in the

palatial tableware, as exemplied in the Pylos assemblage; only three

mugs were found among the roughly 8540 vessels in the Pylos pan-

tries, representing only 0.035% of the assemblage.

e kylikes had a capacity of only 0.35–0.55 liters, and the mug

could be lled with up to three liters of alcoholic beverage. As this

is the drinking vessel with the largest possible volume, I suggest that

the social importance of this form rose in the context of the small-

scale aristocratic feasts of the Post-Palatial period. Because of its form

and capacity, the mug was best suited to be passed around among the

heads of the elite families of this time. I would like to explain the use of

the mug as a real or idealized representation of the Post-Palatial social

system as played out in feasting practices. By drinking from the same

vessel, the participants in a feast could demonstrate their identica-

tion as peers, at least in the ritual of common drinking. e host was,

therefore, only a primus inter pares and not some ruler dissociated

from the rest of the elite like the wanax. It remains an open ques-

tion how equal the aristocratic families of Post-Palatial Tiryns actually

household archaeology in lhiiic tiryns 225

were; the mug only suggests an idea of how an ocial image of power

relations might be represented in feasting rituals. It is of special inter-

est that only in Phase 1 of the Northeastern Lower Town were old

vessels taken from chamber tombs to be used for feasts. Only a few

years later, did the elite show obvious preference for eclectic or unique

vessels, like the mug, that combined old motifs with new. erefore,

elite self-representation in the form of objects and performance in the

context of feasting combine between references to the past and to the

present, as manifested in the pairs of drinkers and the mug. I consider

two very dierent processes as possible explanations; these, however,

are not mutually exclusive.

In the rst place, the replacement of a clear reference to the past

by a combination of references to present and past could reect the

fact that young aristocrats of the Post-Palatial period had no personal

experience with the palatial past as they were either not old enough

or not yet born when the palatial system broke down. Of course, the

memory of the palatial past was still very present in society. I assume

that an important number of contemporary witnesses were still alive

twenty to thirty years aer the catastrophe and were able to tell the

young generation about it. e appearance of a reference to the pres-

ent in the feasting dishes can therefore be explained as the beginning

of a transformation of memory from personal experience to narrated

history.

Another explanation for the change in references and the motiva-

tions behind them is suggested by ethnoarchaeological research by

D. Miller (1982, 1985) on the production and meaning of pottery in the

Indian village of Dangwara. Members of this community used pottery

in a systematic way to stress their own position within the hierarchi-

cal caste system (Miller 1982: 91–94; 1985: 154–160). Moreover, Miller

was able to demonstrate a dynamic process in this system of symbolic

communication: although the membership of a particular caste is xed

by birth, members of the lower castes intentionally use vessels that are

associated with the next higher caste. As a consequence, the represen-

tatives of the higher caste demand new vessel types from the potters

in order to dissociate themselves from the members of the next lower

caste. is emulation results in the creation of ever-changing forms of

status representation (Miller 1982: 89–90. 94–96; 1985: 185–187). It is

of particular interest that, in some cases, it was not so much the pres-

ence of elite pottery forms in lower castes that bothered the members

of the elite, but rather the improper use of these vessels that induced

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the elite to renounce these “contaminated” forms (Miller 1985: 187).

is may possibly explain why there was no continuous use of antique

dishes in Tiryns in the Phase 2 settlement in the Lower City. As old

vessels could be easily taken out of chamber tombs by non-elite seg-

ments of the society as well, the elite of early Post-Palatial Tiryns

quickly refrained from incorporating such dishes into their feasting

equipment.

However, the material evidence of the feast, which was so excep-

tionally preserved by the burned destruction of room 8/00, also shows

a second level of reference that was used by the family for the sake

of self-representation: a reference to geographical distance. is refer-

ence to remote places and the demonstration of knowledge of distant

people and customs is materialized in a number of dierent aspects.

e marvelous mug shows long-distance relationships, as exception-

ally designed mugs appear simultaneously and for the rst time in

Tiryns; in Miletos, on the coast of Asia Minor (Mountjoy 2004a: 191

Fig. 1.1; 196); and in Maa-Palaeokastro, on Cyprus (Karageorghis and

Demas 1988: Pl. 49: 239, 316, 352, 581). In my view, these ndings

indicate a supraregional idea of elite feasting.

An even more obvious sign of supraregional interaction and its

representation in feasting performance is seen in the other feasting

vessels, such as a krater, which was probably used to mix water, wine,

and spices, and would have been necessary to ll the abovementioned

pairs of kylikes. According to the evidence, a small krater (FS 281;

Fig. 7: 1197) with a volume of seven liters was found in the court-

yard. All four kylikes in the courtyard could be lled thrice with this

krater. e spices were presumably kept in a miniature vessel (Fig. 6:

1201B), and the wine in an amphora (Fig. 7: 1186), both of which were

placed directly beside the krater. Perhaps the water was taken outside

with the jug (Stockhammer 2008: cat. no. 1191) that was found near

the threshold of room 8/00. e amphora (Fig. 7: 1186) is of special

interest, as its closest comparison in form and decoration is found on

Crete, at Kommos (Watrous 1992: Pl. 50: 1345), and on Cyprus, e.g., in

Enkomi (Dikaios 1969: Pl. 124: 18 [235]; Pl. 76: 3 [4457/3]). However,

the context from Kommos is dated to LMIIIB and, therefore, slightly

earlier, and the context at Enkomi is slightly later (cf. Mountjoy 2005).

Together with the mug, then, the amphora points to the host’s wish to

demonstrate his far-reaching network of communication in the per-

formance of the feast.

household archaeology in lhiiic tiryns 227

e most obvious evidence for the staging of the family’s long-

distance relations is seen in the placement of a huge Minoan transport

stirrup jar (FS 164; Fig. 8: 1218) on the threshold right outside the

building. During Palatial times, these stirrup jars seem to have been

stored under lock and key in special places in Mycenae, ebes, and

Tiryns (Maran 2005: 417). Although it is probable that they were not

frequently displayed in public, their meaning as an import from sub-

jugated Crete—maybe as part of some tribute the island had to pay

(Maran 2005: 427–428)—was generally understood. It contradicts all

practical experience to place a huge transport vessel with a relatively

small base—and therefore relatively precariously poised—directly in

a place of maximum activity, such as a threshold. In my view, the

placement of the stirrup jar has to be interpreted as a deliberate act of

nonverbal communication. e architectural symbolism of its position

was quite impressive for Post-Palatial times. e room with its double

row of columns would have struck the visitor rst of all because of its

dimensions, which were unusual during this period. e monumental

character of the room was reinforced by the use of large single blocks

of stone in the foundation courses of the walls. Irrespective of the con-

tinuation of the tribute situation presumed for the Palatial period, the

Minoan stirrup jar standing in front of the model building demon-

strated that the head of the oikos had far-reaching contacts like the

wanax of Palatial times, and was still able to obtain those vessels from

Crete. e change of context from the Palatial period, during which

a large number of these stirrup jars were kept inside storage facilities,

to the Post-Palatial placement of a single imported stirrup jar in front

of one’s doorway, reinforces the change of meaning and the symbolic

revaluation of this vessel type in the Post-Palatial period.

Taken together with the elaborate architecture of room 8/00, the

exotic appearance of the feasting vessels and the huge imported stir-

rup jar were instruments in the family’s feasting performance, dem-

onstrating its extensive communication networks. e combination

of the references to these networks and to the Palatial past with the

placement of the kylikes in pairs and the historicizing form of the

mug turned the feasting in front of room 8/00 into an act of elite self-

representation in order to corroborate the claim for an outstanding

position of the family in Post-Palatial Tiryns. It remains unclear which

function should be attributed to the other three vessels placed in the

courtyard (Stockhammer 2008: cat. nos. 1185, 1217, 1219). Together

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Figure 8. Tiryns, Northeastern Lower Town, Phase 2, LHIIIC Early 2: Minoan

transport stirrup jar found in situ; for vessel number, see the catalogue of

Stockhammer 2008.

with the majority of the cooking pots, several other vessels, such as

the storage vessels, which were le standing in the long and narrow

storage room south of room 8/00, were not in use during the feast. e

same is true for a ceramic tube (Stockhammer 2008: cat. no. 1203) that

was probably used for vaporizing opium on a hearth (cf. Kritikos 1960:

69–70; Stockhammer 2008: 172–173). As the feasting took place in the

open air, the ceramic tube was le in the storeroom. At least it was not

a case of drug abuse that led to the re that destroyed room 8/00.

e elite status of the inhabitants of room 8/00 is also evidenced

by the absence of Handmade Burnished Ware (HBW). In Tiryns and

other settlements in Mycenaean Greece, HBW appeared, for the rst

time, in the Late Palatial period, in the thirteenth century bce. It can

most certainly be connected with emigrants from southern and central

Italy (Popham and Milburn 1971: 340 n. 8; Jung 2006: 24–39; Kilian

household archaeology in lhiiic tiryns 229

2007; for a detailed discussion, cf. Stockhammer 2008: 283–285) who

moved to the Greek mainland. e intense discussion about the ori-

gin of the HBW producers has resulted in a lack of inquiry into the

position of these migrants within Mycenaean society. Dierent sug-

gestions have been made about the status of the foreigners in Myce-

naean Greece, but these hypotheses have not been tested due to the

lack of meaningful archaeological evidence from Mycenaean settle-

ments. ese suggestions have varied from invading warriors in the

context of a supposed Urneld migration or a Sea Peoples’ invasion

(Deger-Jalkotzy 1977: 50–54, 62–89; Schachermeyr 1980: 53, 60–61),

immigrant workers (Kilian 1978b; Pilides 1994: 73, 111; Kilian 2007),

metal crasmen (Eder and Jung 2005: 486; Kilian 2007), merchants

and mercenaries (Pålsson Hallager 1985: 305; Eder and Jung 2005:

486), to foreign slaves (Banko et al. 1996: 200–204) who might have

been displaced to Mycenaean Greece. Whatever their status, this group

of people preserved their own cooking and eating practices abroad.

Outside their Italian homeland, the immigrants continued to produce

their traditional cooking, eating, and drinking vessels, either because

the repertoire of the Mycenaean and other eastern Mediterranean pot-

ters did not meet their needs or because they wanted to uphold their

own traditions.

e spatial distribution of the pottery in the Lower Citadel and

the Lower Town of Tiryns is of special interest with regard to the

social status of the producers of the HBW. Until recently, research on

HBW was dominated by the opinion that this pottery, as well as the

Mycenaean cooking ware, shows no meaningful spatial distribution

patterns within a settlement (Kilian 1980: 190 n. 144; 1983: 293; 1985:

82; 1988b: 133; Banko et al. 1996: 199). However, the spatial distribu-

tion of HBW and Mycenaean cooking ware has hardly been analyzed

and, in this context, the excavations in Tiryns can oer completely

new insights. Already, Kilian (2007) recognized the lack of HBW in

rooms with high quality furnishings (evidenced by small nds, rhyta,

etc.)

in the Palatial Lower Citadel, e.g., in Building I and Building VI

For the nds from Building I, rooms 7–10 (e.g., agate seal, lead seal, bird’s head

appliqué from the upper oor of Building I) and Building VI (cultic horns with stucco

covering in room 123; at least one conical rhyton with probable ritual function in

room 130): Rahmstorf 2008; Damm-Meinhardt forthcoming.

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Figure 9. Tiryns, Lower Citadel, architectural phase LHIIIB Developed,

pottery phase LHIIIB2 Late; marked with gray are rooms without HBW

(modied aer Damm-Meinhardt forthcoming).

(Fig. 9).

Quoting Kilian, the HBW is missing in “rooms of the upper

class” and seems “to be concentrated on areas of storage and service,

i.e., settlement spaces of more simple quality, during Palatial times”

(Kilian 2007: 51; my translation).

is picture is conrmed and extended by the results of my disser-

tation on the pottery from the Northeastern Lower Town of Tiryns.

Especially room 123 (cultic horns with stucco coating, hearth, platform); room

130 (hearth, platform, at least one conical rhyton); maybe also Linear B Linear tablets

that were found in the corridor between the rooms, but which may be earlier than

Building VI.

household archaeology in lhiiic tiryns 231

Figure 10. Tiryns, Northeastern Lower Town, phase 1, LH III C Early 1/2: small squares with

sherd count (light gray) and sherd weight (dark gray) in spit (Abuhb) XI and surface (Oberäche)

XII far above average of all excavated small squares.