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‘Atiqot 78 (2014)
ISBN 2948-040X
Imported Pottery from the Late Mamluk and Ottoman Periods at the al-Wata Quarter, Safed (Zefat)
(pp. 143–151)
Edna J. Stern
Keywords: Galilee, ceramics, typology, economy, Mediterranean, maritime trade, Venetian merchants, Ligurian merchants, Tuscan merchants, harbor of Acre, minor good
Sixteen small sherds of imported pottery vessels dating to the late Mamluk and Ottoman periods (c. fifteenth–eighteenth centuries) were recovered from the residential quarter of Hâret al-Wata in Mamluk Safed,. These sherds belong to ceramic types that are rarely found in Israel, comprising types originating mainly in Italy, as well as Spain and Turkey. Only few such imports are known from the archaeological record. It seems that the presence of imported wares at Safed is related to the fact that it was the capital and main administrative center of Galilee during the Mamluk and Ottoman periods. This supports the economic importance of Safed as attested in the historical sources.