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

===== 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)