| Summary: | The aim of this study is to illustrate the different types of unpainted pottery from the Petra excavations (1958- 1964), and to determine whether these types are restricted to the Nabataean sites and do not occur elsewhere. Since the study of the stratigraphy is not yet available, this is accomplished by conducting an intensive search for parallel examples of each type, if possible. Approximately fifty thousand small pottery fragments stored in the basement of the Institute of Archaeology, University of London, have been handled and examined. Thirteen hundred and fifty-five different types are recognized and sorted into the different classes of vessels to which they belong. Each of these classes is dealt with in a separate chapter. Then, the similar types in each class are carefully grouped into a specific family. 2 The form of each type and the ware of the illustrated examples are described. The similar parallel examples, mainly from within Palestine and East Jordan, but occasionally from without, are given. Consequently, a conclusion for each family is drawn from these parallels in order to establish the date of the similar examples and their geographical distribution. The majority of the pottery types cover the period of approximately 75 B. C. - A. D. 150, and in a few cases occur in a broader range from about the second century B. C. until the sixth century A. D. More than half the illustrated pottery types are restricted to the Nabataean sites and are rarely paralleled elsewhere. For this reason it is proposed to name these vessels 'Nabataean'.
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