ROMAN LEGIONARY POTTERY FROM JERUSALEM

Jodi Magness

Following the end of the First Jewish Revolt against the Romans, the Tenth Legion (Legio X Fretensis) was stationed in Jerusalem. The kiln site where the legion's pottery, bricks, and roof tiles were manufactured was located at Binyanei Ha'uma (modern Jerusalem's convention center). Binyanei Ha'uma lies about one and a half Roman miles from the ancient city (old city) of Jerusalem, close to the Roman road from Jaffa. Two small-scale salvage excavations were carried out at the site by Michael Avi-Yonah in 1949 and 1967. In 1992, a large-scale salvage excavation was conducted by Haim Goldfus and Benny Arubas. The remains revealed in the 1992 excavations included a potters' workshop and a series of kilns. Goldfus and Arubas are preparing the publication of the hundreds of bricks and roof tiles (many of which bear stamps of the Tenth Legion) recovered in their excavations. This paper focuses on the Roman pottery from the 1992 excavations, which I am preparing for publication.

The ceramic types from Binyanei Ha'uma are completely foreign (in terms of forms, surface treatment, and manufacturing techniques) to the local Levantine repertoire and traditions. Instead, parallels for most of the ceramic types represented at Binyanei Ha'uma come from Roman sites throughout Europe, especially military camps. These types comprise table wares (including oil lamps) and coarse cooking and kitchen wares. Although the pottery from Binyanei Ha'uma has European parallels, petrographic analysis has indicated that all of the vessels are made of local (Motza) clay and were therefore manufactured at the site. It thus appears that the pottery was manufactured in Jerusalem by military potters of European origin.

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