In the region of Syene and Elephantine, modern Aswan/Upper Egypt a huge ceramic production emerge... more In the region of Syene and Elephantine, modern Aswan/Upper Egypt a huge ceramic production emerged in the 2nd century BCE. The vessels of the so-called Aswan Pink Clay were exported all-over Egypt from the early Imperial period onwards. At least for the late antiquity, an export beyond the borders is proven. Since, so far, no archaeological evidence for larger workshops in the vicinity of Aswan does exist, the question of a pottery production centre must remain open. The Aswan Pink Clay visually appearing in a pinkish colour and being associated to kaolinite was probably mined at many different extraction sites. To characterise the local clay deposits, a geological survey was conducted in the region of Aswan. The aim of these investigations was to determine the different clay deposits with the help of geological samples and to draw possible conclusions about the origin and homogeneity respective heterogeneity of the various clay pastes. Despite this massive local ceramic production, imports found their way to Aswan. Especially in the early Imperial period vessels of common wares were imported to ancient Syene.
Beiträge zur Ägyptischen Bauforschung und Altertumkunde, 2024
Elephantine was the southernmost city of the Roman Empire, along with Syene/Aswan. For thousands ... more Elephantine was the southernmost city of the Roman Empire, along with Syene/Aswan. For thousands of years, the island played an important role not only as a border fortress to Nubia, a trading centre and regional capital but also as one of the most important religious cult sites in ancient Egypt. In order to gain an insight into the everyday life of the inhabitants of Elephantine and Syene, the Austrian Archaeological Institute, under the direction of Sabine Ladstätter, initiated the project " Housing in Antiquity in Syene/Elephantine, Upper Egypt", which was carried out in cooperation with the Swiss Institute of Architectural and Archaeological Research on Ancient Egypt, Cairo. The present publication is part of this study and deals with the evaluation of ceramic material from three late antique house complexes at Elephantine. The primary aim was to narrow down the sometimes very long time spans of the vessel forms by critical analysis of the specialist literature and research on Elephantine pottery, as well as by contextual evaluation and comparison with other groups of finds. In addition, changes in decoration techniques and the genesis of individual ware groups can be recorded. Of particular interest in the available material is the locally produced fine ware, with supra-regional sales, especially from Late Antiquity onwards. The new fabric system developed in the course of the project, in conjunction with the typology developed in this work, has made it possible to show connections between ware groups, forms and production methods. The pottery finds are used to illustrate aspects of everyday culture in Upper Egypt and the cultural diversity of this region in terms of eating and drinking habits and trade.
Manufacturers and Markets. The Contribution of Hellenistic Pottery to Economies Large and Small, 2022
The volume brings together the papers of the fourth conference of the "International Association ... more The volume brings together the papers of the fourth conference of the "International Association for Research on Pottery of the Hellenistic Period e.V. (IARPotHP)", which took place from 11 to 14 November 2019 in Athens.
Beiträge zur ägyptischen Bauforschung und Altertumskunde 22, 2020
Situated on the first cataract, the Upper Egyptian city of Syene - the modern Aswan - was an econ... more Situated on the first cataract, the Upper Egyptian city of Syene - the modern Aswan - was an economic and political center in ancient times and formed an important connection between Egypt and Nubia to the south. Together with the opposite Nile island Elephantine, it functioned as a trade hub for the exchange of goods to and from Inner Africa, including luxury goods such as gold and ivory. With the development of new clay deposits, the region of Syene developed into an important production center for ceramics in the Ptolemaic period, whose products were exported within Egypt and later beyond its borders.
In a multi-year project of the Austrian Archaeological Institute (OeAI) in cooperation with the Swiss Institute for Architectural and Archaeological Research on Ancient Egypt, Cairo (SIK), the focus was on the study of everyday culture in Syene and Elephantine from Ptolemaic period to Late Antiquity on the basis of material legacies from residential buildings. Within the framework of this project, the Ptolemaic and Roman find material from several residential complexes in Syene was analyzed. These results are now presented in this volume. In addition to a detailed typochronology, the main focus of this work is the contextual analysis of the material and a comprehensive characterization of the pottery of that period, taking into account the different fabrics. A special feature is the locally produced tableware, the production start of which could now be put into the early 2nd century B.C. by this work. For the first time, the connections between the local groups of goods, vessel forms and fabircs as well as the differences between the Ptolemaic period and the Roman Empire are shown in detail. Using Syene's range of shapes, the adoption of foreign eating and drinking habits as well as innovations in the cooking process will be demonstrated. By evaluating the imported pottery, especially the sigillata and amphora fragments, it is also possible to draw conclusions about the trade relations between the apparently remote Syene and the Mediterranean region.
In the region of Syene and Elephantine, modern Aswan/Upper Egypt a huge ceramic production emerge... more In the region of Syene and Elephantine, modern Aswan/Upper Egypt a huge ceramic production emerged in the 2nd century BCE. The vessels of the so-called Aswan Pink Clay were exported all-over Egypt from the early Imperial period onwards. At least for the late antiquity, an export beyond the borders is proven. Since, so far, no archaeological evidence for larger workshops in the vicinity of Aswan does exist, the question of a pottery production centre must remain open. The Aswan Pink Clay visually appearing in a pinkish colour and being associated to kaolinite was probably mined at many different extraction sites. To characterise the local clay deposits, a geological survey was conducted in the region of Aswan. The aim of these investigations was to determine the different clay deposits with the help of geological samples and to draw possible conclusions about the origin and homogeneity respective heterogeneity of the various clay pastes. Despite this massive local ceramic production, imports found their way to Aswan. Especially in the early Imperial period vessels of common wares were imported to ancient Syene.
Beiträge zur Ägyptischen Bauforschung und Altertumkunde, 2024
Elephantine was the southernmost city of the Roman Empire, along with Syene/Aswan. For thousands ... more Elephantine was the southernmost city of the Roman Empire, along with Syene/Aswan. For thousands of years, the island played an important role not only as a border fortress to Nubia, a trading centre and regional capital but also as one of the most important religious cult sites in ancient Egypt. In order to gain an insight into the everyday life of the inhabitants of Elephantine and Syene, the Austrian Archaeological Institute, under the direction of Sabine Ladstätter, initiated the project " Housing in Antiquity in Syene/Elephantine, Upper Egypt", which was carried out in cooperation with the Swiss Institute of Architectural and Archaeological Research on Ancient Egypt, Cairo. The present publication is part of this study and deals with the evaluation of ceramic material from three late antique house complexes at Elephantine. The primary aim was to narrow down the sometimes very long time spans of the vessel forms by critical analysis of the specialist literature and research on Elephantine pottery, as well as by contextual evaluation and comparison with other groups of finds. In addition, changes in decoration techniques and the genesis of individual ware groups can be recorded. Of particular interest in the available material is the locally produced fine ware, with supra-regional sales, especially from Late Antiquity onwards. The new fabric system developed in the course of the project, in conjunction with the typology developed in this work, has made it possible to show connections between ware groups, forms and production methods. The pottery finds are used to illustrate aspects of everyday culture in Upper Egypt and the cultural diversity of this region in terms of eating and drinking habits and trade.
Manufacturers and Markets. The Contribution of Hellenistic Pottery to Economies Large and Small, 2022
The volume brings together the papers of the fourth conference of the "International Association ... more The volume brings together the papers of the fourth conference of the "International Association for Research on Pottery of the Hellenistic Period e.V. (IARPotHP)", which took place from 11 to 14 November 2019 in Athens.
Beiträge zur ägyptischen Bauforschung und Altertumskunde 22, 2020
Situated on the first cataract, the Upper Egyptian city of Syene - the modern Aswan - was an econ... more Situated on the first cataract, the Upper Egyptian city of Syene - the modern Aswan - was an economic and political center in ancient times and formed an important connection between Egypt and Nubia to the south. Together with the opposite Nile island Elephantine, it functioned as a trade hub for the exchange of goods to and from Inner Africa, including luxury goods such as gold and ivory. With the development of new clay deposits, the region of Syene developed into an important production center for ceramics in the Ptolemaic period, whose products were exported within Egypt and later beyond its borders.
In a multi-year project of the Austrian Archaeological Institute (OeAI) in cooperation with the Swiss Institute for Architectural and Archaeological Research on Ancient Egypt, Cairo (SIK), the focus was on the study of everyday culture in Syene and Elephantine from Ptolemaic period to Late Antiquity on the basis of material legacies from residential buildings. Within the framework of this project, the Ptolemaic and Roman find material from several residential complexes in Syene was analyzed. These results are now presented in this volume. In addition to a detailed typochronology, the main focus of this work is the contextual analysis of the material and a comprehensive characterization of the pottery of that period, taking into account the different fabrics. A special feature is the locally produced tableware, the production start of which could now be put into the early 2nd century B.C. by this work. For the first time, the connections between the local groups of goods, vessel forms and fabircs as well as the differences between the Ptolemaic period and the Roman Empire are shown in detail. Using Syene's range of shapes, the adoption of foreign eating and drinking habits as well as innovations in the cooking process will be demonstrated. By evaluating the imported pottery, especially the sigillata and amphora fragments, it is also possible to draw conclusions about the trade relations between the apparently remote Syene and the Mediterranean region.
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Despite this massive local ceramic production, imports found their way to Aswan. Especially in the early Imperial period vessels of common wares were imported to ancient Syene.
In a multi-year project of the Austrian Archaeological Institute (OeAI) in cooperation with the Swiss Institute for Architectural and Archaeological Research on Ancient Egypt, Cairo (SIK), the focus was on the study of everyday culture in Syene and Elephantine from Ptolemaic period to Late Antiquity on the basis of material legacies from residential buildings. Within the framework of this project, the Ptolemaic and Roman find material from several residential complexes in Syene was analyzed. These results are now presented in this volume. In addition to a detailed typochronology, the main focus of this work is the contextual analysis of the material and a comprehensive characterization of the pottery of that period, taking into account the different fabrics. A special feature is the locally produced tableware, the production start of which could now be put into the early 2nd century B.C. by this work. For the first time, the connections between the local groups of goods, vessel forms and fabircs as well as the differences between the Ptolemaic period and the Roman Empire are shown in detail. Using Syene's range of shapes, the adoption of foreign eating and drinking habits as well as innovations in the cooking process will be demonstrated. By evaluating the imported pottery, especially the sigillata and amphora fragments, it is also possible to draw conclusions about the trade relations between the apparently remote Syene and the Mediterranean region.
Despite this massive local ceramic production, imports found their way to Aswan. Especially in the early Imperial period vessels of common wares were imported to ancient Syene.
In a multi-year project of the Austrian Archaeological Institute (OeAI) in cooperation with the Swiss Institute for Architectural and Archaeological Research on Ancient Egypt, Cairo (SIK), the focus was on the study of everyday culture in Syene and Elephantine from Ptolemaic period to Late Antiquity on the basis of material legacies from residential buildings. Within the framework of this project, the Ptolemaic and Roman find material from several residential complexes in Syene was analyzed. These results are now presented in this volume. In addition to a detailed typochronology, the main focus of this work is the contextual analysis of the material and a comprehensive characterization of the pottery of that period, taking into account the different fabrics. A special feature is the locally produced tableware, the production start of which could now be put into the early 2nd century B.C. by this work. For the first time, the connections between the local groups of goods, vessel forms and fabircs as well as the differences between the Ptolemaic period and the Roman Empire are shown in detail. Using Syene's range of shapes, the adoption of foreign eating and drinking habits as well as innovations in the cooking process will be demonstrated. By evaluating the imported pottery, especially the sigillata and amphora fragments, it is also possible to draw conclusions about the trade relations between the apparently remote Syene and the Mediterranean region.