Potter's Workshop Research Articles

Biblical Theology

Biblical Theology John Thomas Willis, Christopher T. Begg, Thomas Hieke, and William J. Urbrock 1353. John Barton, "Old Testament Ethics: Story or Style?" Sibyls, Scriptures, and Scrolls, 113-29 [see #1505]. Conservatives deal with the Bible on the lines of legalism, opposing same-sex marriage, while endorsing keeping the Sabbath, tithing, and capital punishment. Liberals oppose the idea of normative OT regulations such as the laws in Leviticus, and highlight rather the overall character, drift, and emphasis of OT texts based on loving God with all the heart and one's neighbor as oneself. B. proposes that the best course in thinking about OT ethics is to read the OT as a guide to a style of living, a source of mottos and epigrams for the good life, and a text that can shape the reader in significant ways. It may be time for the domination of narrative in Christian readings of the OT to yield to a more wisdom-centered approach, and for the Bible to be seen as contributing to the construction of a lifestyle, rather than as telling a story meant to serve as a paradigm for the story of our own lives.—J.W. 1354. Luigi Castangia, "Abissi del cosmo e dell'uomo. Gli inferi nel pensiero biblico," HT 26 (2017) 47-60. C.'s essay deals with the underworld in the Bible, with a focus on poetic texts. In so doing, he presents an etymological analysis of the Bible's main "underworld terms" (šĕʾôl, šaḥat, tĕhôm, and mĕṣûlâ) that serves to highlight the close connections between biblical and ANE texts regarding the underworld. The meaning of each term is sketched by C. in light of the contexts in which it occurs. The second part of C.'s essay focuses on Jonah 2 and Proverbs, noting that in these texts the Bible's cosmological language for the underworld undergoes an anthropological and ethical transposition, in which cosmological depths become an abyss of distress or a chasm of evil and sin. This metaphorical dynamic does not, however, occur in all cases. Rather, certain underworld terms remain anchored in their cosmological sense, while others [End Page 461] more readily lend themselves to the above-mentioned shift. [Adapted from published abstract—C.T.B.] 1355. Cyprien Comte, "L'espoir de Dieu: Conversion (Shoûv) humaine et repentir (Niḥām) de YHWH dans la Bible hébraïque," BLE 119 (2018) 73-89. Five texts of the Hebrew Bible present human conversion (šûb) as the cause of Yhwh's own "repentance" (niḥām). In 1 Samuel 15, Saul "turns away" (šûb) from God's will, with the result that God "repents" of having made him king of Israel and announces his rejection. The other four texts, i.e., Jer 18:1-12 (Jeremiah's visit to the potter's workshop); Jeremiah 26 (Jeremiah's trial); Joel (the prophet's call to repentance); and Jonah 3–4 (Jonah in Nineveh) report a prophetic summons to repentance and—in most instances—the hearers' response to these. Divine "repentance," grounded as this is in Yhwh's mercy, i.e., his readiness to "adapt" his own behavior in response to humans' behavior in the face of his words to them, surfaces particularly in contexts of prophetic discourse, the aim of which is to evoke conversion from the hearers. [Adapted from published abstract—C.T.B.] 1356. Alexander Deeg, "'Auch für dich' und das messianische 'Heute.' Überlegungen zur Hermeneutik des Alten Testaments aus homiletischer Perspektive," Hermeneutik des Alten Testaments, 166-87 [see #1531]. D. is a professor of practical theology in the Evangelical Faculty of the University of Leipzig who is heavily involved in the Christian-Jewish dialogue. His essay features reflections concerning the use of the OT in Christian preaching. The essay's five overarching headings are as follows: (1) The Co-existence of Christianity and Judaism and Israel's Bible, or: The Setting in Life of Christian Hermeneutics of the OT; (2) Contemporary Challenges for a Sermon on the OT; (3) The OT as a Context for Truth and Tonality in the Church's Proclamation: Hermeneutical Considerations; (4) "For You...

A potter's workshop from Middle Bronze Age Cyprus: new light on production context, scale and variability

When fire swept through a workshop at Ambelikou Aletri on Cyprus in the nineteenth or twentieth century BC it brought a sudden halt to pottery production, leaving the latest batch of recently fired vessels. The remains of the kiln and its immediate surroundings provide a rare opportunity to gain direct insight into the technology and organisation of a Middle Bronze Age pottery workshop in the eastern Mediterranean. Analysis of the batch of cutaway-mouthed jugs adjacent to the kiln reveals a level of standardisation focused more on vessel shape than capacity, and shows that at a detailed level, no two jugs were alike. This pottery production site provides vital background for the study of contemporary pottery assemblages on Cyprus and elsewhere in the broader region.

Lessons from the Potter's Workshop: A New Look at Jeremiah 18.1–11

Jeremiah 18.1–11 is a familiar passage, describing Yahweh in terms of a potter and Judah as his clay. Yet despite its familiarity, interpretations of the passage vary wildly. It is understood by various interpreters as a message of doom, a message of hope, a neutral message of neither doom nor hope, and a message of doom reworked into a message of hope by a later editor. Some commentators believe that Yahweh's sovereignty is the point of the text; others think that Yahweh has only partial control. Still others think the point is that the clay (Judah) has the capacity to thwart the potter's (Yahweh's) purposes. Scholars are united, on the other hand, in regarding Yahweh's contingent plans for ‘nations’ in vv. 7–10 as an interpretation of the potter's symbolic pot-making in vv. 1–4. In this article, this approach, which has led to the divergent and mutually exclusive views of the passage, is critiqued. Following a brief analysis of symbolic actions in Jeremiah and in the larger prophetic corpus, an alternative understanding is presented wherein vv. 7–10 are not directly related to the actions of the potter. Verses 1–6 and 7–10, rather, serve distinct but complementary roles in service of the larger purpose of vv. 1–11, which is to call the people of Judah to repentance.

The Oboda potter's workshop reconsidered

The Oboda potter's workshop reconsidered

Evidencias de un taller de vidrio en la ciudad romana de Augustobriga (Talavera la Vieja, Cáceres)

Recientes trabajos de prospección llevados a cabo en la antigua ciudad de Augustobriga (Cáceres), han permitido descubrir un fragmento de molde destinado a la decoración de la botella prismática de vidrio. El descubrimiento e identificación de este molde nos permiten situar, en este sitio, un taller de vidrio que trabajaría en relación con un alfar. Este hallazgo reviste gran importancia, ya que se trata, hasta el momento, del único molde localizado no sólo en España sino en toda la Península Ibérica, donde los indicios sobre talleres vidrieros siguen siendo muy escasos.

The source of raw materials for Roman pottery from Leptiminus, Tunisia

AbstractLeptiminus, a Roman port city on the west coast of Tunisia, North Africa, exported olive oil and a garum fish paste to Rome. Excavations have uncovered many facilities including kilns and a potter's workshop, indicating an extensive ceramic industry. The vessels, manufactured at Leptiminus, included African red‐slip fineware, coarseware, and amphorae. A petrographic study of pottery sherds showed them to contain very similar temper, rounded aeolian sand grains and limestone, but varying in proportions to produce different textures. An investigation of the source of raw materials for the pottery found three distinct types of clay within a 50 km radius of Leptiminus: grey Miocene, brown Pliocene, and green Late Pliocene clay. Statistical analysis of trace element compositions, using induced neutron activation, of clays and sherds showed that the Pliocene brown clay was used to create all types of pottery. The specific clay horizon, used in Roman times, has apparently been removed by quarrying. However, a lateral continuation of this bed was found 7 m beneath the Leptiminus site 290. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Did the potter's wheel go out of use in Late Bronze Age Palestine?

Wheel-thrown pottery was widely produced in ancient Palestine during the Middle Bronze Age. However, evidence from two sites in Jordan has led to recent suggestions that this technique went out of use throughout the region during the Late Bronze Age. Investigation by xeroradiography of the pottery-forming techniques used in a Late Bronze Age potter's workshop at Lachish, Israel, suggests that the situation may be more complex and that further research is needed before generalized conclusions can be drawn.

A Late Bronze Age Potter's Workshop at Lachish, Israel

A Late Bronze Age Potter's Workshop at Lachish, Israel

Drawing Circles: Experimental Archaeology and the Pivoted Multiple Brush

This study explores a variety of multiple brushes that have been used by potters of different periods and places to decorate their wares. Following an overview of the history of scholarship on these devices, special attention is given to the mechanically drawn circles and semicircles of various Mediterranean wares in the Early Iron Age, particularly Aegean Protogeometric. Earlier arguments put forward to show that such concentric motifs could not have been drawn with a multiple-brush device are challenged. To this end, alternative types of multiple-brush devices were made and tested and the result of these experiments was the construction of a pivoted multiple brush that could easily replicate all the details observed on ancient pottery, including errors and idiosyncracies. This device, fashioned from material readily available to ancient potters, is presented in this article. The question of the origin of this "technical innovation" is discussed and an attempt is made to place it where it belongs: in the potter's workshop.

Roman amphorae from the puente Melchor Kiln (Villanueva, paso a nivel: Puerto Real, Cádiz)

A preliminary repport of the roman amphorae made in the potter's workshop Puente Mel- chor (also known as Villanueva, paso a nivel) in Puerto Real (Prov. Cadiz) is presented in this paper. The workshop remained making pottery four centuries, from the age of Augustus to that of Constantinus.

Quelques découvertes fortuites à Etroeungt et à Larouillies (céramiques et voie romaine)

J.-L. Boucly : A few accidental discoveries at Etroeungt and at Larouillies : ceramics and Roman way. In 1975 the trench dug across Avesnois to install a gas pipe-line cut through a small Roman dwelling and a Roman way at Etroeungt. At Larouillies it allowed partial observations on the remnants of a 14th century potter's workshop.

Vikingetidens og middelalderens keramik i Århus

Vikingetidens og middelalderens keramik i Århus

Arabiens arkæologi

Arabiens arkæologi

Excavations of Iron-Age dwellings on the Calf of Eday in Orkney

Further excavations of a group of Iron Age dwellings. The largest is a substantial stone-built circular structure identified as a 'potter's workshop' due to the large quantity of associated pottery and peat fires within. Three less substantial circular structures are located close by. The fourth stone-built structure is rectangular and thought to be of later date. The excavator identified two phases of occupation. Animal bone and worked stone were present.