Chalkstone Vessels from Bishop Gobat School, Mount Zion, Jerusalem

The coins and pottery retrieved from the excavation, and the chalkstone vessels uncovered in the fills, support the dating of the assemblage to the first century BCE–first century CE. The large amount of fine table ware produced on a lathe, and the kraters, attest that these vessels originated in the houses of affluent families. The kraters were produced on a large and complex lathe (Amit, Seligman and Zilberbod 2008:327–329), and were expensive compared to the “measuring” cups. It may be assumed that the assemblage found on the slopes of Mount Zion was part of the refuse thrown from the Upper City, where the wealthy families of Second Temple period Jerusalem resided. If these vessels were originally part of one assemblage, it might be suggested that the “measuring” cups, including those with a spout, were used for dipping into the kraters—a substitute for the ceramic dipper juglets used for ceramic and metal kraters.