Strata: What Is It?

A. Byzantine shoehorn

B. Ottoman archaeological trowel

C. Canaanite wall plaque

D. Hellenistic incense shovel

E. Philistine strainer

Answer: (D) Hellenistic incense shovel

With a duck-headed handle, this incense shovel was uncovered at Khirbet el-Eika in Galilee last August—during the first season of excavations at the site led by Uzi Leibner of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The shovel is approximately 2,200 years old and dates to the Hellenistic period. It would have been used to shovel coals or to transport burning coals or incense.

Incense shovels were used in cultic settings, but they have also been uncovered in burials and domestic structures, suggesting that they could serve a utilitarian or funerary purpose as well. Exodus 27:3 describes bronze shovels and firepans for the Tabernacle. Such utensils were used to carry burning coals and incense to the Tabernacle’s altar.