Women at Work in the Deuteronomistic History - International Voices ...

HIDE AND SEEK: MISCELLANEOUS WOMEN | 225
one should make a distinction between large industrial complexes, located
especially in areas in which access to metal and to furnaces was possible—in
which case it would seem logical that men (or more men than women) would be
involved—and domestic production of pots, vessels, and beads for bijouterie
(and perhaps small amulets and also seals?). The evidence for this type of
“small” pottery is hard to be made visible. This does not preclude their
existence, of course.
There is evidence for the spreading of a particular kind of hand-made
ceramic artifacts called “Negevite,” left behind by nomadic autochthonous
Negevite and Transjordanian groups as they migrated within the region. This
kind of pottery is found in archaeological sites ranging from the Bronze to the
Early Islamic periods and is especially typical of the Iron Age. A recent
dissertation has proposed that, rather than presupposing a “guild” of specialized
producers of this pottery for commercial purposes, it was domestically
manufactured as needed. 182 It served local and momentary needs and it was left
behind as the seminomadic groups moved or as it broke. In my opinion, there is
no reason to exclude female activity in this task, especially if men were involved
with cattle, commercial activity, or defense.
In one of her articles on ethno-archaeology applied to ceramics, Gloria
London tells how it is still customary for potters in the Philippines and in Cyprus
to allocate the domestic space according to pressing needs. During the summer
months, hundreds of pots were produced, dried, and stored wherever they could
store them. Afterwards, the same rooms were used for other needs and there
remained no evidence of the production after the season. “If women in antiquity
were responsible for making pottery, and they carried out the work in the
confines of their house exteriors or courtyards as they undertook myriad other
daily and seasonal chores, it will be difficult for archaeologists to recognize
pottery production areas.” 183 This means, for our study, that women would be
the primary pottery-makers, at least of domestic artifacts, since they would work
at home, while realizing and supervising other tasks. Armijo Navarro-Reverter
reports on archaeological findings of beads and molds used for necklaces and
other uses (perhaps amulets?) concentrated specifically in the “T33, T35 and
T36 quadrants, where the humble houses abound” in the village of Amarna,
which indicate to her a localized working spot, with which women would
generate some extra income. 184
182
Juan M. Tebes, “Tribus, Estados, cobre e incienso” (Ph.D. diss., Facultad de Filosofía y Letras,
Universidad de Buenos Aires: Buenos Aires, 2010), 190–8.
183
Gloria London, “Fe(male) Potters as the Personification of Individuals, Places, and Things as
Known from Ethnoarchaeological Studies,” in The World of Women in the Ancient and Classical
Near East, 160. Papers in this collection come from conferences between 2000 and 2007.
184
Armijo Navarro-Reverter, “La vida de las mujeres egipcias,” 132.