Incense burners: A special study

Abstract

Two incense burners that came from the excavation are described, and their significance is discussed. The first, made of clay, is dated to the end of the Iron Age or later, though it is unlike contemporary parallels which are made of stone. Ours likely came to Jerusalem by means of the Arabian trade relays which abounded following the domestication of the camel (dromedary) in the first millennium BCE. The second example is of stone and is dated to the medieval Islamic period at the end of the first millennium CE. The type has a wide distribution across the Near East and Central Asia.

Keywords Excavation, Intense burners, Clay, Iron age