Philistine Bichrome Pottery
This pottery is a recognizable part of early Philistine material culture. Its local manufacture and mixture of artistic traditions illuminate cultural change and interaction in the biblical world.
About the Discovery
Philistine Bichrome pottery is a distinctive group of decorated vessels found at early Iron Age settlements in the southern coastal plain. Potters painted designs in red and black on a light-colored surface. Birds, fish, geometric patterns, and other motifs appear on bowls, jugs, and storage vessels.
The pottery developed from earlier locally made styles with Aegean connections and incorporated influences from Cyprus and neighboring Canaanite communities. Its changing forms and decoration help archaeologists trace the development of Philistine culture. A pottery style does not, by itself, establish the ancestry or identity of every person who used a vessel.
Scripture Reference
Judges 13:1; 1 Samuel 4:1; 1 Samuel 6:17 (general references to Philistine communities, not to these pottery vessels).