Egyptians at Ashkelon? An assemblage of Egyptian and Egyptian-style pottery

The 2004 excavations of the Leon Levy Expedition in Grid 38 at Ashkelon uncovered a mudbrick wall of what appears to be another 'Egyptian fortress' in Late Bronze Age Canaan. In context with this building as well as in contemporaneous layers elsewhere on the tell (Grid 50) appear considerable amounts of Egyptian ceramic forms alongside the usual Canaanite ceramic material. The bulk of the Egyptian forms consists of locally produced household wares, mainly simple bowls and beer jars. Due to Ashkelon's coastal location the Egyptian assemblage is enriched with a nice collection of Egyptian imported transport containers. Together, Egyptian forms account for ca. 30% of the retrieved ceramic material. The 'Egyptian fortress' and the considerably large assemblage of characteristic Egyptian household wares argue for the presence of Egyptians among the site's inhabitants somewhere at the end of the Late Bronze Age. This 'Egyptian' phase is directly succeeded by the first 'Philistine' phase (first appearance of locally produced Mycenaean IIIC wares) with no evident signs of destruction. Morphological properties of the Egyptian-style beer jars date the end of the 'Egyptian' phase - and the end of the Late Bronze Age at Ashkelon - into the beginning of the twelfth century BCE at the earliest.