Middle Bronze Age Pottery from Tell Mirhan a Study Investigating the Potential Nature of the Site of Tell Mirhan Through Pottery Analysis

Abstract

The proposed thesis intends to highlight the importance of the Middle Bronze Age pottery from Tell Mirhan, ancient Chekka, to understand the changes in the MBA pottery material from North Lebanon. Indeed, in the Akkar Plain, Tell Arqa presents MBA pottery material that is distinct from the MBA material of Kfarabida and Byblos, for example. This evidence may lead to the assumption that Ras El Chakaa acted maybe as a natural border between Byblos and other southern sites and the sites extending north of the Chekka area. Starting with this assumption, the present research will undertake a comparative study of the pottery material of Tell Mirhan with that of the inland areas of Koura and Akkar, and that of the southern sites of Byblos, Kfarabida and Sidon. It hopes to verify whether the above hypothesis is grounded in evidence or not. Regarding the methodology followed, the pottery collected from the site of Tell Mirhan will be first drawn. A typological study and literature review will be conducted. After the results are analyzed, the nature of the site, its social and culinary habits as well as its import activities will be studied. the results will show whether the Tell Mirhan material is closer to that of Byblos or to that of Tell Arqa or whether it lies somewhere in between. In conclusion, the regional status of the site of Tell Mirhan and the role it played in the Bronze Age, and more specifically in the Middle Bronze Age, will be discussed, highlighting what additional information can be expected from future excavations.