Geomagnetic Intensity of Hellenistic Pottery and Stamped Rhodian Wine Amphorae From Jerusalem

ABSTRACT

Stamped amphora handles produced on Rhodes during the Hellenistic period are well suited for archaeointensity studies because they often bear the names of annually appointed magistrates (eponyms) and fabricants, allowing dating to narrow time intervals. In this study, archaeointensity experiments were conducted on stamped Rhodian amphora handles recovered from the City of David and the Jewish Quarter in Jerusalem ( n  = 17; success rate 41%), together with locally produced Hellenistic storage jars from the Givati Parking Lot excavation ( n  = 7; success rate 57%). The results provide new geomagnetic intensity datapoints for the eastern Mediterranean during the third to first centuries

and confirm a sharp decline in field intensity during the early second century previously identified in Levantine datasets. The tightly dated Rhodian handles demonstrate the considerable potential of this artifact class for high‐resolution archaeomagnetic research and for refining the chronology of individual stamped handles and their associated magistrates. Comparison with archaeointensity data from the southern Levant and the Balkans indicates coherent geomagnetic field behavior across distances of at least ~1500 km, supporting the use of broader regional compilations for archaeomagnetic dating. The results also contribute to refining the chronology of Hellenistic pottery from Jerusalem, including a storage jar recovered from the foundation of a glacis at the Givati Parking Lot that has been associated with the Seleucid Akra.