Queries & Comments

Readers’ Solution to the Mysterious Pot from Tel Batash

Concerning the “Mysterious Pot from Tel Batash” in the January/February issue (“Excavating in Samson Country—Philistines and Israelites at Tel Batash,” BAR 15:01), I have seen such pots here in Africa. The pots in Nigeria have about the same size and distribution of holes, but the shapes of the pots are slightly different. They vary in size and are without handles. Upon seeing the “mystery pot” I took the article to some of our female students to ask them what it was used for. In Nigeria, they told me, they are used for drying meat or fish for preservation. Raw meat is placed inside the pot, which in turn is placed over a low flame fire. The smaller versions of such pots (about 6” in diameter) are used for burning incense. Hot coals are placed in the pot and incense is sprinkled over them.

My chemist husband, who is also a gardener, says the pot is a hanging flower pot—that it can be immersed in water to saturate the soil and drain to keep it from being water logged.

My immediate thought was that the jar was for storing root crops that need air circulation, like potatoes or onions. By the size of the pot, my guess would be onions.