Editing Openai/680fb62a-7c94-8002-8f67-b9a2a8c7c7ef (section)

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By the Middle Bronze Age (ca. 1900–1550 BCE), Tell el-Ajjul prospered as Egypt’s gateway to Asia. Abundant Egyptian artifacts testify to intense exchange. Petrie’s finds included Middle Kingdom pottery, scarabs, and sealings imported from the Nile Valley. In the Hyksos period (c.1650–1550 BCE), Gaza’s rulers were in close contact with the Delta. Scarab seals of Sheshi and Apepi, Hyksos kings, were found in Ajjul’s stratified cemeteries, suggesting diplomatic or commercial ties during this era. One remarkable scarab bears the throne name of King Sheshi encircled by royal titles – a tiny object encapsulating geopolitical links between an Egyptian Pharaoh and Canaanite Gaza. Egyptian wine jars with hieratic dockets have also turned up, including reports (in Luxor) of amphorae labeled with “wine of Gaza”, indicating that Gaza’s vineyards supplied the Pharaoh’s table in the New Kingdom. This flow of wine and oil in standardized Canaanite amphorae is a hallmark of Late Bronze Age commerce. Gaza’s role as an export hub for Levantine wines likely began even earlier, under the Hyksos and continued under Egyptian New Kingdom rule.

 Scarab seal underside inscribed with the cartouche of Hyksos Pharaoh '''Sheshi''' (c.1650 BCE), discovered at Tell el-Ajjul. Such Egyptian-style amulets in Gaza reflect Hyksos-era exchange and vassalage. (Walters Art Museum, CC0)

===== Throughout the Middle and Late Bronze Ages, Tell el-Ajjul maintained vibrant maritime links with Cyprus. Petrographic analysis of pottery from Ajjul’s tombs and houses shows a high proportion of Cypriot wares, more than nearly any Levantine site. Over 200 sherds of White Slip I pottery (the classic Cypriot “milk bowl” with white slip and painted bands) were found at Ajjul – a remarkable number, as White Slip I is “rarely found outside of Cyprus”. The presence of these fine serving bowls (often used for libations) signals direct trade or Cypriot residents at the port. Later Cypriot styles appear as well: White Slip II bowls, Base-Ring jugs and juglets (the so-called bilbil flask, perhaps for opium or perfumed oil), Bichrome wheel-made ware, and Red Lustrous spindle bottles have all been identified in the Ajjul assemblage. Such variety indicates continuous import traffic from the Cypriot Late Bronze Age (c.1600–1200 BCE). =====

Alongside pottery came metals. Cyprus, famed as Alashiya in cuneiform, was the Bronze Age’s copper powerhouse. Copper ingots likely reached Gaza’s port, to be traded onward or crafted locally. Indeed, molds and crucibles found in situ suggest metalworking at Ajjul, possibly to recast Cypriot copper into tools or jewelry. One of Ajjul’s gold hoards contained a mix of finished jewelry and scrap metal, hinting that Canaanite goldsmiths were melting and reforging precious metals on-site. It is tantalizing to think that some of this gold or copper arrived via Cypriot merchants anchoring offshore.

 Late Bronze Age '''Base Ring Ware''' bull figurine (Cyprus, 1400–1200 BCE)commons.wikimedia.org<ref>{{cite web|title=commons.wikimedia.org|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cypriot_Terracotta_Bull_figurine,_Base_Ring_Ware,_1400-1200_BCE,_Ashmolean_Museum.jpg#:~:text=Description%20Cypriot%20Terracotta%20Bull%20figurine%2C,1200%20BCE%2C%20Ashmolean%20Museum.jpg|publisher=commons.wikimedia.org|access-date=2025-12-13}}</ref>. Such cult objects and pottery styles from Cyprus reached Tell el-Ajjul, indicating robust seaborne trade. (Ashmolean Museum, photo © Mary Harrsch, CC BY-SA 4.0)

===== Tell el-Ajjul’s international reach extended to the Aegean world. Archaeologists have recovered Mycenaean Greek pottery (16th–13th c. BCE) at the site. Among the finds are fragments of Mycenaean stirrup jars and painted amphorae typical of Mycenae or Crete, likely used to transport oils or wines. Petrie’s team reported “Mycenaean pottery and such from Upper Egypt” in Late Bronze layers – the phrasing hints at both Mycenaean and Egyptian wares co-occurring. The Mycenaean pieces at Ajjul include fine decorated vessels that may have arrived as diplomatic gifts or high-value trade goods. For example, a Cretan-style amphora of the 16th century BCE (contemporary with early Mycenaean palace era) was found, suggesting Minoan influence or trade via Cypruscommons.wikimedia.org<ref>{{cite web|title=commons.wikimedia.org|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Amphora_either_imported_from_Crete_or_inspired_by_Minoan_design_Mycenae_16th_century_BCE_NAM_Athens.jpg#:~:text=Description%20Amphora%20either%20imported%20from,jpg|publisher=commons.wikimedia.org|access-date=2025-12-13}}</ref>. By the 14th–13th centuries, Mycenaean traders dominated Aegean-Levantine exchange; goods from the Greek mainland (e.g. pottery, painted kraters) would have reached Gaza’s port either directly or through Cypriot middlemen. These exotic ceramics in Canaanite contexts show that Ajjul was plugged into the “international age” of the Late Bronze Age, when merchants speaking different tongues bartered in its warehouses. =====

 Late Bronze Age '''painted amphora''' (16th c. BCE) from Mycenaecommons.wikimedia.org<ref>{{cite web|title=commons.wikimedia.org|url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Amphora_either_imported_from_Crete_or_inspired_by_Minoan_design_Mycenae_16th_century_BCE_NAM_Athens.jpg#:~:text=Description%20Amphora%20either%20imported%20from,jpg|publisher=commons.wikimedia.org|access-date=2025-12-13}}</ref>. Similar Aegean vessels reached Gaza, carrying oils or wine. Ajjul yielded Mycenaean ceramics amid its Canaanite stores, evidence of far-flung exchange. (National Arch. Museum Athens, photo © Mary Harrsch, CC BY-SA 4.0)

In summary, Ajjul’s material record reads like a who’s who of Bronze Age cultures: local Canaanite pottery and luxury crafts mingled with Egyptian scarabs, Cypriot copper and ceramics, and Mycenaean tablewares. Petrographic studies confirm that many pottery fragments at the site were made from non-local clays (Cypriot and Anatolian), corroborating written records of exchangeen.wikipedia.org<ref>{{cite web|title=en.wikipedia.org|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tell_el-Ajjul#:~:text=excavations%20www,23%E2%80%9341|publisher=en.wikipedia.org|access-date=2025-12-13}}</ref>. Tell el-Ajjul was truly a cosmopolitan entrepôt – a Bronze Age “global” port long before the modern era of globalization.