Tracing the Source of the Elephant And Hippopotamus Ivory from ...

emains in the Syro-Palestinian region and Egypt, minus the canines or incisors which
could have been traded into the region, shall now be conisdered. Reese (1998) serves as
the fundamental publication for the osteological evidence, due to his thoroughness and
attention to detail, and many of the citations below are taken from this work. Further,
workshops and worked hippopotamus ivory are covered together in Chapter Five,
because often both hippopotamus ivory and elephant ivory are present in the same
workshop, or the materials of artifacts are misidentified or elude identification. Worked
material and workshops also represent separate stages in the exchange system.
Syro-Palestine
The only definitive Chalcolithic (4 th millennium B.C.) osteological evidence has
been recovered from Qatif on the Sinai coastal plain (a premolar and an astragalus)
(Reese 1998: 140). The Early Bronze Age (3 rd millennium B.C.) is represented by Tel
Aphek on the Yarkon River, Tel Dalit, Tell Gath (Tel Erani), and Tell Sukas (northern
Syria). However, the excavator of Tell Gath maintains that the humerus found there
“must have been brought as an offering” (Yeivin 1959: 417). EBA finds in the ecological
setting preferred by the hippopotamus include mandibles located near Nahal
Hataninim/Kebara Swamp, and near Tell Qasile on the Yarkon River (northern Tel Aviv)
(see Figure 10 for location of Tell Qasile). From the Middle Bronze Age came a single
cuboid from Tel Nagila, in addition to several more remains reported from Orontes River
sites in Syria from about 1500 B.C. (Bodenheimer 1960: 52). A jaw with teeth from Tel
Dor dates to MBA or later, and additional finds from Tel Dor include a molar (11 th -8 th
century B.C.) and an undated humurus (See Figure 10 for location). Tell Sukas also
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