Phoenician Mushroom-Lipped Jug

Posted at Apr 09/2007 09:23AM:
omur:

Objects just like people have life histories, specific stories and events that happen to the object. A type of biography can be told of objects, a life cycle about their creation, meaning, function. No object is isolated from other objects or people, they are intertwined into a dense network of relationships. Therefore these interactions can change an object and can make the object fit a more specific niche in a network. I will explore in this essay the biography of a specific mushroom-lipped jug from a Phoenician grave. This biography approach to describing this ancient artifact will clarify questions about Phoenician ceramics.

Phoenician Civilization

Phoenician civilization was an enterprising maritime trading culture that spread across the Mediterranean during the first millennium BC, between the period of 1200BC to 900BC. The city-state ports and the islands along other coasts of the Mediterranean Sea were ideally suited for trade between the Levant areas. The economy of the area was based on metals worked into jewelry, weapons, and ceramics. Pottery vessels played a role in almost every aspect of life in the Iron Age. Easily shaped and enduring, pottery provides a continuous record of changes in economic conditions, technology and social values. Pottery can also serve as a chronological indicator for archaeologists and also provides evidence for the movement of people and the distribution of their traded goods around the Mediterranean.

The vessels know as mushroom-lipped jugs are often referred to as the Phoenician “calling card” and are known from Early Iron Age contexts all over the Mediterranean from the Levant to as far west as Morocco. This particular mushroom-lipped jug was found in a tomb in Sardinia. The form is one that is common in the Levantine site in the Mediterranean in the Early Iron Age, but this single vessel, its history, context, and form, allows a greater story to be told, particularly signs of a second wave of Levantine exploration and colonization.

Where it was found

This particular mushroom-lipped jug was found in a burial in San Giorgio di Portoscuso in Sardinia. The tombs discovered at San Giogio were cremations of a type often found in Phoenician sites both in the east and the west in which the incinerated remains were placed in a large vessel. Accompanying the jug was an amphora, a trefoil mouthed oinochoe, a one-handled mug or cooking pot, a small plate and what appears to be a lump of silver. These goods are also typical of western Phoenician burials, particularly from the central Mediterranean, but they do have some precedents in the east. The burial is reminiscent of tombs in sandy deposits from coastal site in the Levant, but the grave goods seem closer to inland Levantine sites. The date of the burial points to the late eighth or early seventh century. The lack of evidence for later burials or settlement indicates that this was either a trading post that was later abandoned or a settlement similar to Monte Sirai, an area that was set up to secure Phoenician access to the minerals trade in the region. Both situations point to an area that was important in trade, which is a good indicator of economy and changes in culture.

The Vessel

The location of the vessel is a curious one as well as the vessel itself presents some curious characteristics. The vessel is 16.6cm high and had a discoid base that is rather higher than usual. The body is globular and quite thin-walled, almost perfectly spherical except that the angle at the top is faintly less, creating a very slight shoulder. Usually mushroom-lipped jugs just have a neck that widens at the middle and then tapers to the lip, however this vessel is cylindrical for its entire length. The neck terminates in a wide mushroom lip, flat and tapering towards a fine edge. Some archaeologists consider the shape of the lip curious because the lip could not facilitate in pouring of a liquid such as oil, wine or water. The function of most jugs of this size would have been holding oil, wine or water that would be poured. However, the mushroom lip is similar to the Greek aryballoi, which were well suited to apply oil to the body. The jug has also been burnished both wheel-burnished and hand-burnished. On the surface, a slip was painted on making the color a dark red almost plum red. The overall outer surface is an excellent quality, smooth red finish that may have its origins in attempts to imitate copper vessels.

Development of the globular jug

The globular shape of the jug had a long period of use from early Iron Age through Late Phoenician period. The development of the globular jug began with the flask, the development proceeded first through spherical, and then ring-based forms of the globular jug, to the squared-off rim form mode, finally reaching the classic mushroom-lip jug. There is definitely a distinct chronological development in shape and rim type. It was accompanied not only by changes in decoration and burnishing method, as well as relating to the method by which the vessels were manufactured. Evidence from Sarepta, Tyre, and Tell Keisan provides support that the sequence in development of the globular mushroom-lip jug is as follows: 1. Two handled flask, 2. Spherical jug, 3. Ring-based jug with simple rim, 4. Ring-based jug with squared-off rim, 5. Ring-based jug with horizontal body decoration, 6. Mushroom-lip jug.

The basic function of these types of vessels and methods by which they were manufactured gives us more information for the transformation to the mushroom-lip jug. Trade and commerce, whether local or long distance, requires satisfactory containers for commodities. The Phoenician flask is comparable to the Helladic stirrup jar. They both functioned as a container for the distribution and pouring of a thin oil. Larger jars were used to transport oil in large quantities over longer distances, while smaller jars, were more decorative and would have functioned at the local, retail and house hold levels for individual consumption. Therefore, the transformation to the globular jug is a fairly simple one, like the flask, it existed in various sizes and could have functioned well as containers and dispensers for oil.

The transition from flask to globular jug may have also been influenced by the shape and method of manufacture of the Mycenaean/Minoan globular flask. In the beginning the flasks were constructed from two bowls thrown on the wheel and then cemented together. That procedure differs considerably from the method by which the globular jug was made. The globular jug was fashioned on the wheel in two stages from a continuous cone of clay. The first stage consisted of centering the clay on a wheel and opening it. Then you raise and thin the walls. Next you enclose the vessel and smooth the entire piece. Lastly you cut off the vessel from the wheel and invert the piece and allow it to stiffen. The second stage consists of putting the piece back on the wheel in a chuck. Then you raise and thin the walls. Again, you enclose the vessel and smooth the entire piece. To finish the vessel cut a hole on top and add the neck and handles. The process of making ceramics was dynamic, influenced both by local innovation and external stimuli. The most pivotal factor for Phoenician pottery was commerce. The process by which it originated and became established most likely resulted from the need to devise containers for goods partly to remain competitive, partly to replace products no longer available, and partly due to ongoing improvements in potty techniques.

Origin

The vessel from San Giorgio, Sardinia, has some curious characteristics. Because of theses characteristics it is believed that the vessel is not native of the area. This is an understandable deduction given the rarity of such a quality red-slip in the west. It was first considered to be from Carthage because Carthage was a center of pottery production. However, from recent excavations at Carthage there is little in the way of red-slipped mushroom-lipped jugs. The vessel is most likely to have been an import from the Levant, specifically the Tyrian colonies. Mushroom-lipped jugs are indeed quite common in sites such as Motya, a Tyrian colony. Imports form the Levant continued to arrive in the west in a fairly continuous flow from the eighth century down well into the third century. However, as with all pottery, it is difficult to know if the origin of the vessel is Levantine made or an inspiration.

The vessel is also evidence of a so-called second wave of colonization by Tyria. The second wave of colonization is said to have been concerned with the establishment of secondary settlements in the vicinity of the earlier sites, to secure contacts with the interior of the land. An example, similar to San Giorgio is Monte Sirai. Monte Sirai was established in the first half of the seventh century, and is described as a stronghold, probably linked to Sulcis, securing the coastal plain of Palmas and the Cixerri valley, thus controlling the rich mineral deposits of the southern Iglesient mountains. San Giorgio is another of these sites associated with Sulcis to secure the region of the Iglesient Mountains. If this is the case, San Giorgio di Portoscuso is the earliest of such a second wave colony, having a late eighth century settlement by Tyrian colonists securing the territory around Sulcis for their trade with the interior.

The nature of the vessel, its globular, high quality slip is a rare type in comparison to the most common pear shape in Tyrian colonies, suggests that this may have been the grave of a traveler from the northern Levant. Also, during this time, northern Levant is being pressured by Assyrians, causing distress in the area. Therefore, it would be easy to picture a Levantine traveler fleeing the disturbances of his homeland, and possibly from an inland site, making his way to a major Phoenician city. While the traveler was seeking his fortune in Sardinia, he may have found his end at a small settlement newly established by Tyrians from Sulcis and was buried with those vessels considered most important and fitting for his funeral, vessels he may have brought with him from the east. The mushroom-lipped jug was probably the best of these vessels, but may have significance beyond its original simple funerary purpose.

Bibliography

1.) 2006. Fletcher, Richard. “The Cultural Biography of a Phoenician Mushroom-lipped jug.” Oxford Journal of Archaeology. 25(2) 173-194

2.) 1990. Anderson, William. “The beginning of Phoenician Pottery: Vessel Shape, Style, and Ceramic Technology in the Early Phases of the Phoenician Iron Age.” Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research.

3.) 1999. University of Pennsylvania Museum. http://www.museum.upenn.edu/Canaan/Phoenicians.html