Gwanghyun Choi E-mail: msgchoi@pluto.mscc.huji.ac.il Ph.D. dissertation topic: The Painted Decorations on the Local Pottery of Canaan from the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age I Advisor: Prof. Yosef Garfinkel

Abstract:

My research focuses on a systematic understanding of the painted decorations on local pottery from the Late Bronze and Iron I in Canaan, attempting to examine their cultural-historical implications in the contexts of inter-regional relationships within Canaan.  Painted pottery was at its zenith during LB, and apparently continued throughout Iron I. At many sites, however, it almost disappeared by the beginning of Iron II.  I seek answers to several questions: What caused this phenomenon in that period and what brought it to an end? Why did it occur just in that period in Canaan? Although the period including LB and Iron I was a time when Canaan as a whole was politically under Egyptian control, Egyptian influence on local pottery decoration was minute. How can this fact be explained?

An important part of my research is creating a data base of local painted pottery. Classification, statistics, structure analysis, and comparison of the decorative elements are also important tools.  Investigating what each of the decorative elements symbolizes or depicts is actually beyond the main concern of my research. Nevertheless, I am also interested in clarifying the origins and meanings of some symbols and figurative motifs, especially the double triangle symbol and the so-called “tree of life” motif that usually consists of a tree flanked by animals.