THE ‘BATHTUB COFFIN’ FROM TEL QITAF: A RE-EXAMINATION OF ITS CONTEXT AND FUNCTION

Abstract

Investigation of the ‘bathtub coffin’ from Tel Qitaf in the Beth Shean Valley indicates that its archaeological context is less secure than generally recognized. Additional research demonstrates that a large number of similar vessels in the Levantine corpus are also not found in burial contexts. This calls into question assumptions that such ‘bathtubs’ functioned solely as interment vessels and that their presence in the Iron II reflects foreign migrants or emulation of Mesopotamian burial traditions. While the function of clay ‘bathtubs’ cannot be answered here, any hypothesis of their intended use must take into account both burial and non-burial contexts. One possibility is that they had a primary function in crafts manufacture and were secondarily used for burial. The present study serves as a warning to be wary of circular arguments, in which an initial assignment of hypothesized function influences subsequent reconstructions of context that then supports further functional interpretations.

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