Interregional Trade in the Roman Period: A Diachronic Study of Common Kitchenware from Hippos of the Decapolis

Abstract

In this article we explore interregional trade at the polis of Antiochia Hippos during the Roman period. The discovery of chronologically well-defined Roman-period ceramic assemblages at the site provides an opportunity for a diachronic study of Roman period commerce between Hippos, the only polis in the southern Golan, and the neighbouring Galilee. Results of micromorphological analysis of common Roman period kitchenware indicate that while in the Early Roman period most of the Kefar Hananya types found at Hippos were imported from the Galilee, by the Late Roman period, most of the Kefar Hananya types found there were produced locally in the Golan.