Assaf Kleiman

This article presents an exceptionally rich assemblage of over one hundred basalt vessels documented at Tel Hadar, a small community on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee. A detailed analysis of these vessels, including attention to their quantity, morphology, style, use-wear, and function, reveals high frequencies of specific vessel types, several unique items, and a few unfinished and experimental products. These findings indicate localised production at the site during the Iron Age IIA (late ninth century bce) that specialised in the manufacture of basalt vessels, most likely tripod bowls with crossbars. Overall, the evidence points to the production of basalt vessels outside the workshop discovered at nearby Tel Hazor, thereby providing an important source of comparative material and expanding current understanding of this little-known yet significant craft tradition in the Levant.