The Royal Judahite Storage Jar: A Computer-Generated Typology and Its Archaeological and Historical Implications

Abstract

The paper presents an objective, repeatable and independent computergenerated typology of the iron Age II Oval Storage Jar (OSJ), also known as the lmlk or Royal Judahite Storage Jar. It demonstrates that this jar was in use from the late 9th to the early 6th century BCe and that it was distributed beyond the confines of the Judahite administrative system. The OSJ first appeared as a local phenomenon that was limited to the Shephelah, with no particular political or ethnic affiliation. During the early to mid-8th century BCe, the production of some of the jars became standardized, which is evidence of the consolidation of the Kingdom of Judah and its territorial expansion into the lowlands region. By the late 8th century BCe, at least one or more of the workshops producing these jars became integrated into the royal Judahite administrative system that stamped jar handles, and this established the workshop's main function until the destruction of Judah in the early 6th century BCe.