Page 279 - Life & Land Use on the Bahrain Islands (Curtis E Larsen)

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jar with a flaring rim (Figure 56a). This vessel is illustrated in situ in Bibby
(1971:75). A second example of this same type of vessel was found at Qala'at al-
Bahrain containing a silversmith’s hoard (Bibby 1969, Plate 17). The hoard included
a Phoenician signet ring dated to about 650 B.C. Other jars from related levels of
Site 519 are shown as Figures 56b-d. Examples 56c and d are similar to jars from
the Achaemenid levels at Ur (Wooley 1962, Plate 48, no. 130), but once again, the
relationship is not exact and there is some doubt regarding the precision of
Woolley’s dating of these materials (M. Gibson, personal communication). An easily
recognizable hole-mouth jar (Figure 56g) has been recovered from Pit 1 in close

association with these jars.
Other pottery indicators identified as Neo-Babylonian and Neo-Assyrian
by the use of this technique are contained in the Cfetkammer (East room) basal
layer of the Profile pit, and Levels 3g, 3h, and 3k of Pit L The most distinctive
vessels from these levels are a variety of bowls. With few exceptions, these are
made of a sand-tempered, light brown ware covered with a buff slip. Examples are
shown in Figures 57a-i.
The pottery forms in Figures 54, 56, and 57 make a recognizable
assemblage for use in the field. Tliere are sufficient parallels and chronological
markers to assign them to the approximate Neo-Babylonian and Neo-Assyrian
period in the gulf, but the absolute time range remains in doubt. The lower time
limit is insecure, and parallels with the Achaemenid levels at Ur may extend the
upper limit for this occupation into this subsequent period of Persian control in
Mesopotamia.

Tlie Achaemenid-Seleucid-Parthian Occupation (Levels K^-Qbtkammer)
Tlie ceramic display in Figure 55 shows five pottery types that define the
boundaries of this component. These are a variety of hole-mouth jars commonly
found among the cooking wares at Thaj (Bibby 1973), burnished gray ware bowls,
green and white glazed bowls, gray-white, crackled-glazed bowls, and short-necked