The Jar of the Gate

Ephʿal, Israel; Naveh, Joseph

doi:10.2307/1357364

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…Theoretically, this could have been done by pouring the content of a jar into smaller, standard vessels, possibly at the gate of the city (Ephal and Naveh 1993). Yet, besides the inevitable loss of some valuable liquid, this would have been time-consuming when dealing with a large number of vessels.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Computing Abilities in Antiquity: The Royal Judahite Storage Jars as a Case-study

Zapassky

Finkelstein

Benenson

2009

J Archaeol Method Theory

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Studying the volume of ancient pottery vessels can shed light on the development of complex societies and state apparatus by revealing the means taken to standardize trade and taxation. It can also shed light on the cognitive abilities of ancient people by investigating their knowledge of computing. This paper explores, as a case study, the volume and shape of the lmlk ("belonging to the king") royal storage jars, which probably represent the highest level of standardization in eighth century BCE Judah. To estimate the volume of these vessels we constructed a computer 3D model for each jar. The variation in the jars' linear dimensions is about 2-3%, a number that is characteristic of human-made objects produced by professionals without employing measurement tools. Had the potters produced jars of the same height, they could have easily reached 3-4% accuracy in the volume. Surprisingly, the variation in the jars' volume is 7-10%. We hypothesize that rather than height the potters focused on the jars' shape and wall width, estimating the volume according to the jars' outer measurements. We propose a simple way that these measurements could have been taken and suggest a formula that could have been employed by the potters and customers for quickly calculating a jar's volume.Keywords Royal jars . Administration and standardization in ancient societies . Computing in ancient societies . Biblical units of length and volume

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%