Page 285 - Life & Land Use on the Bahrain Islands (Curtis E Larsen)

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bowls from Thaj are not glazed. An association with Antioch and Nippur places the
rim form and its characteristic glaze in the third or late fourth century B.C. Oates
shows a rim form similar to 59n as Assyrian through Hellenistic in northern Iraq
(Oates 1976, fig. 15, no. 37). The bowls 591-m, are confined to the lowermost level
in the Achaemenid-Seleucid-Parthian component. Thus, it may be a transitional
form linking the underlying Neo-Babylonian and Neo-Assyrian levels with the
Achaemenid-Seleucid-Parthian levels above.

Burnished Ware
Two burnished wares are present in the Achaemenid-Seleucid-Parthian levels.
These are burnished gray and burnished red bowls. Burnishing often follows a radial
pattern and is applied to the interior of the various bowls. The bowls are generally
made of buff clay. Both red and gray slips were confined to the interiors of the
bowls. The gray variety is illustrated in Figure 59c and Figure 45k. In Bibby^s
presentation (Bibby 1971), these appear to be more frequent in the lower levels of
the Hellenistic range while the red variety is spread throughout the sequence.
Figure 55 suggests a Seleucid range for the former and a Seleucid through early
Parthian range for the burnished red ware. The red varieties are illustrated in a
number of bowl forms in Figures 60a-d and g. Bowl 60a, for example, combines

Fig. 58. Achaemenid-Seleucid-Parthian Pottery

a. 518.BO, Profile Level K„; dark gray, fine ware.
b. 518.V, Pit IN, Level IV; dark reddish gray ware.
c. 518.L, Pit 1, Level 3c; sand-tempered red ware with Barbar grits.
d. 518.N, Pit 1, Level 3e; straw-tempered, buff ware.
e. 518.M, Pit 1, Level 3d; sand-tempered, dark red ware.
f. 518.L, Pit 1, Level 3c; sand-tempered red ware with Barbar grits.
g. 518.BP, Profile, Level K.; cream slip on sand-tempered red ware
with Barbar grits.
h. 518.M, Pit 1, Level 3d; cream slip on sand-tempered red ware.
i. 518.M, Pit 1, Level 3d; sand-tempered red ware.