Gamla 1997 Overview

THE HELLENISTIC AND ROMAN POTTERY FROM GAMLA
Andrea M. Berlin

My project is the complete publication of the Hellenistic and early Roman ceramics from Gamla, a Jewish village in the Golan Heights that was occupied from about 100 BCE to 67 CE. Fourteen seasons of excavation here revealed a prosperous town with blocks of houses, oil presses, and a large public building. Gamla's lively Hellenistic occupation is little known; the site is instead famous for its fierce destruction by the Roman general (and future emperor) Vespasian in the course of the First Jewish Revolt. The town was never reoccupied, with the consequence that thousands of artifacts were left in situ in houses and workshops. The pottery is the single largest category, as well as the one most illustrative of the habits, details, and economic connections of the site's inhabitants. Its publication will provide vivid testimony of rural Jewish life in the first centuries BC and CE.

Surveyors discovered Gamla in 1967, and excavations were conducted in long annual seasons from 1974 until 1987. The work was carried out by amateur archaeologists under the direction of Shmaryahu Gutman; at no time were provisions made for the eventual scholarly publication of the results. The pottery, along with the rest of the finds, was placed in storage in the Golan Archaeological Museum, Katzrin, Israel, where it remains today. In 1991, Mr. Gutmann invited me to study the ceramics, and the Israel Antiquities Authority agreed to publish the resultant mongraph in their series ‘Atiqot.

I have spent two full summer seasons living in Katzrin, identifying and recording the ceramics. I have worked through about 90% of the material so far, and anticipate needing one month more to complete this phase of the project. I estimate that putting all of this information into a data-base program will take about two months, and composition of the manuscript, including additional library work and the organization of drawings and photographs, will take about six months. Thus, the completion of a publication-ready manuscript will take one academic year. I am applying to this program for funds to cover a one-year salary replacement, a 30-day round-trip airfare to Israel, and the services of a graphic artist to prepare the final publication plates.