MycIIIc and Philistine Monochrome Pottery in Israel: Their date and 'Significance'
Amihai Mazar

I. The small corpus of MycIIIc pottery found in northern Israel include two vessels and small number of sherds. The new finds from Tel Beth Shean will be published soon by S. Sherratt and the author. The main points to be emphasized are:
1. Over 20 sherds from the new excavations at Beth Shean were found in two distinct strata (S4 and S3), both belonging to the time of the Egyptian 20th Dynasty. This context is the best chronological anchor for this group of pottery to be found so far.
2. Stylistic considerations led S. Sherratt to suggest that all the sherds from Beth Shean were imported from LCIII Cyprus.
3. This limited import to selected sites is a distinct phenomenon when compared to the wide-scale trade of the preceding LB period. The lack of such ware at major sites like Megiddo Stratum VIIA should not be understood to reflect chronological phasing, but rather as related to functional differences. The appearance of such pottery at Beth Shean (and to some extent at Akko and Tell Keisan) is perhaps related to some connections with Cyprus; mercenaries in the Egyptian garrisons in Canaan could be responsible for such limited import.

II. The term Philistine Monochrome is used here for the locally produced "MycIIIc -derived" pottery and the accompanying domestic ware of Aegean types found in the major cities of Philistia (mainly at Ashdod and Tel Miqne). I will defend my position first published in 1985 that this pottery is the earliest Philistine pottery and that it is a manifestation of immigration, produced during the latter part of the 20th Dynasty; the transition to Philistine Bichrome was gradual. The lack of such pottery in contemporary Canaanite cities in the region such as Lachish and Gezer demonstrates the cultural isolation of the immigrants, and should not be taken as evidence for chronological differentiation.