Pottery. Wheel–made, well potted, and commonly ring–burnished, the process beginning at the base of a vase and climbing spirally: little painted decoration: face usually dusky brown over pinkish body clay, but red and yellow–white faced wares also found: shapes, mostly bowls, open and half closed: ring feet, but no handles to vases: only occasionally lug–ears ([IX], Figs. 1,2,3,5,6). Rims well turned over belong to the latest period, in which elaborate ring–burnishing is common.
Beads, &c. Diamond–shaped, with incised decoration, in clay or stone, common. Pendants, &c., of shell, lapis lazuli, cornelian, crystal. Cylinders, of rude design like Babylonian First Dynasty, in stone and bone. Spindle–whorls in steatite and clay.
Illustration VIII: Syrian Pottery
III. Iron Age (Late Hittite).
To this belong the mass of 'Hittite' remains in Syria. Graves are unlined pits, with urn burials, the corpse having been cremated. Cylinders, &c., showing traces of fire, will belong to this Age.
Implements and weapons. Arrow–heads of bronze: spear–heads of bronze and iron: axes, knives, and picks of iron (miniature models occur in graves): daggers of iron. Fibulae , of bronze, semicircular and triangular (as in Asia Minor) ([IX], Figs. 4, 9, 11): plain armlets of bronze: pins, spatulae, &c., of bronze: thin appliqué ornaments. Bronze bowls (gilt) with gadroon or lotus ornament (moulded) in later period. Steatite censers, in form of a cup held by a human hand, are not uncommon ([IX], Fig. 7).
Pottery. Tall narrow–mouthed urns, bath–shaped vessels, and bell–kraters common ([VIII], Fig. 10): trefoil–mouth oenochoae and hydriae ; also amphorae ([VIII], Fig. 7).
In earlier period, white or drab slipped surface with geometric patterns (rarely rude birds) in black. In later period, pinkish glaze with geometric patterns in black–brown, concentric circles being a common motive. Tripod bowls in unslipped 'kitchen' ware ([VIII], Fig. 8). Blue or greenish glazed albarelli, with white, brown, or yellow bands, occur (as in Rhodes).