Egyptian ceramics

The mass ceramic material discovered by the Russian Archaeological Mission of the IOS RAS during 22 years of research in the eastern part of the ancient Egyptian Giza Necropolis belongs to a significant chronological interval from the reign of the Dynasty IV (26th–25th centuries B.C.) till the 19th century A.D. It is an indicator of the chronological multilayeredness of Giza, allowing to recreate a phased picture of the life of this archaeological site – from specific functional features of the ancient cemetery through periods of robberies and creation of secondary burials to the use of tombs as dwellings by Christian and Islamic population of Egypt. The full history of the formation and existence of the eastern part of Giza Necropolis is thus about 4.5 thousand years.

This paper is part of a Special Issue (https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/journal-of-archaeological-science-reports/special-issues) on Contributions of Experimental Archaeology to Excavation and Material Studies, guest edited by Frederik W. Rademakers, Georges Verly, Florian Téreygeol and Johannes Auenmüller.

Despite rich iconographic documentation, and the abundance of culinary ceramics discovered in archaeological sites, the process of bread production in moulds has intrigued Egyptologists for many years. Experiments presented in this article proposes a new chaîne opératoire for the production of bread in conical moulds dating from the early Middle Kingdom (2050–1900 BCE), mainly based on results from the site of Ain Sukhna. Thanks to a new analysis of the iconography, a re-examination of the ceramics, and a close collaboration with a farmer-baker using flours made from “old wheat”, experimentation produced perfectly baked breads that did not require breaking the ceramics to remove them from the moulds. The experiment also provides an explanation of the conical shape of the moulds, and the presence of several internal linings, as well as a better understanding of the role played by the use of low gluten flours, particularly starch-based flours, and the use of sourdough starter.

Archaeological exploration of Old Kingdom cemeteries provides us with a considerable amount of vessels containing inside traces or, in some cases, even thick layers of white substance, whether mortar, plaster or gypsum, coming from diverse contexts. While these vessels are undoubtedly part of what can be dubbed as repurposed and secondarily reused pottery, they should not be simply overlooked or ignored, as they often provide indirect evidence of rituals or activities closely connected to performing rituals. Their presence in the burial chambers, shafts and cultic areas can often signify either sealing or purifying rites that were executed during the burial or in the course of later ritual activities.

The Austrian archaeological team led by Manfred Bietak that excavated the palatial district at Avaris (Tell el-Dab‘a) has produced some significant results for illuminating Lower Egypt’s history of the 2nd millennium BC. While Bietak’s subsequent publications related to the New Kingdom primarily have focused on the exquisite Minoan wall paintings and the site’s association with Peru-nefer, much less attention has centered on the timing of the mid-18th-Dynasty abandonment that Bietak says occurred “after Amenhotep II,” and was followed by an occupational gap. Did the abandonment occur during the reign of Amenhotep II, at the end of his reign, or during the reign of Thutmose IV? The present work seeks to bring together all of the relevant data—from the archaeological evidence at the site, the epigraphical record, and corroborative evidence from Theban tomb paintings—in an attempt to determine more precisely the timing of the site's mid-18th-Dynasty abandonment.

The so-called tomb of Duapthah (AS 68a) was the first of a series of four rock-cut tombs, uncovered during the spring of 2012 in the complex of Princess Sheretnebty, who was most likely the daughter of King Nyuserre. This tomb is situated at the southwest corner of her open pillared court, with the entrance accessible directly from the court. The name of the main owner is preserved on two fragments of a lintel that was originally situated above the entrance. The tomb consisted of a simple, slightly irregular chapel that had two shafts sunk into its floor. The fill of the chapel consisted not only of Fifth Dynasty pottery but also late Sixth Dynasty ceramics that most likely evidences subsequent ritual activities or the robbing of the tomb. In this paper, ceramic finds uncovered in the funerary contexts of the tomb of Duaptah are discussed, especially the remains of the original tomb good deposited in the burial chambers and the remnants of possible shaft deposits in both burial shafts.

The primary aim of this case study is to offer a discussion of select archaeological contexts from the region of the Memphite necropolis that contained copper tools or their models. The selection is based on several main factors – primarily, the presence of both copper implements and chronologically relevant ceramic vessels from the same contexts. Thus, the primary focus is on the tombs of higher officials and members of the elite from Giza, Saqqara, Abusir and Meidum, presenting preliminary outline of development of burial customs concerning the pottery for the whole period of the Old Kingdom. The analysis shows that the study of ancient Egyptian pottery and its chronological development is a complex matter that cannot be easily summarized and simplified into a clear formula. There was no production of standardized ceramics during the Old Kingdom and even such close sites as Saqqara and Abusir may exhibit different types in the same period of time, attesting to the fact that unlike the copper tools and their models, most of the pottery was produced at a very local level and besides the technological experience of the given pottery shop, personal preferences of specific potters may have played a role in the creation of less common vessels.

The excavations of PETRIE and QUIBELL, respectively in Naqada and Ballas, at the end of the 19th century led to the discovery of thousands of tombs, and vast amounts of pottery from the early Predynastic period to the early Old Kingdom. These pots were then used by PETRIE to develop his system of sequence dating.
Problematic is that both PETRIE and QUIBELL used an identical tomb number system for approximately the first 900 graves, and during the later division of finds, objects from a tomb in one site ended up being assigned to a grave with an identical tomb number from the other site.
BAUMGARTEL tracked down many of these objects, and tried to identify the finds from Naqada tombs, thus creating her Naqada tomb catalogue supplement, clearly stating that nothing of Ballas is included in it, because she considered the Ballas tombs too poorly documented. Later on, PAYNE also made a list of further corrections and additions to this Naqada tomb catalogue.
A close examination of the edited tomb catalogue indicates that certain pots from Ballas were, nevertheless, still wrongfully assigned to Naqada tombs. This is most apparent with early Old Kingdom pottery forms, whereby these were incorrectly given a Predynastic date. As said before, mistakes were made during the division of finds, and these entered museum and institute records, which were consequently taken over by BAUMGARTEL. Had she consulted the Ballas notebooks, she would have recognized that these pots did not derive from a Predynastic Naqada tomb, but from the early Old Kingdom Ballas tomb with the identical tomb number. As a result, the appearance date of certain pottery types is wrongfully determined. The recent discovery of pottery slips, made by PETRIE, of Naqada and Ballas tombs, provide further proof of the mix-up.
Furthermore, comparing the Ballas notebooks with tomb drawings and associated pottery types in the end publication, revealed a number of additional errors, which again have led to dating problems.
In the presentation an overview of the issues raised above will be given, so that museum and other records can be adjusted, and that certain “Naqada” pots can be reassigned to the site where they were originally found, i.e. Ballas.

Bibliography
W. M. F. PETRIE and J. E. QUIBELL, Naqada and Ballas (London, 1896)
E. J. BAUMGARTEL, Petrie's Naqada excavation: a supplement (London, 1970)
J. C. PAYNE, 'Appendix to Naqada excavations supplement', JEA 73 (1987), 181-189.

Since its discovery by Battiscombe Gunn, it is believed that Saqqara's Ostrakon is able to improve our understanding of how Egyptians designed curved elements, but the geometric significance of the hieratic values is still uncertain. Indeed, in order to obtain an indisputable result, the distance between the vertical ordinates is required, and this distance is not explicitly indicated on the limestone artefact.
But since there were no algebraic formulas at the time of the Pharaohs, a simple grid-based procedure was developed such as those used by the Egyptians to reproduce the scale drawings, to try to decipher the geometric meaning of the curve drawn on the find.
To conclude, this simple process permits to understand that the five hieratic values of the Saqqara Ostrakon describe a segmental arch whose span and rise correspond to the architectural proportions of several Egyptian tombs and arches, and that the numerical sequence of the artefact could be considered the most "ancient" mathematical formula of the circle.

This article presents a Predynastic C-ware beaker currently in the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto (inv. 900.2.13). The exte- rior is decorated with two mirrored scenes containing an exceptional series of bound captives under the domination of two ‘vic- torious figures’, as well as several tassel-like motifs which we propose to (re)interpret as powerfacts perhaps representing flails, an artefact common in later royal iconography that has not previously been identified prior to the time of king Narmer. On the interior, the beaker is decorated with two depictions of hunted hippopotamuses set among geome- tric designs.
In modern times, a missing piece of the bea- ker was replaced with a sherd from a dif- ferent C-ware vessel with decoration that doesn’t match the rest of the vessel, a pheno- menon never encountered before in the cor- pus of C-ware vessels, which inadvertently proves the authenticity of the beaker and of its fascinating decoration.

Among the ceramic material unearthed within the precinct of Ptah at Karnak, Marl productions are well represented (c. 25%). They are illustrated by cups, basins, jars and qawadis that seem to be produced by local workshops and distributed only in the Theban region. The aim of this contribution is to define the typology and its evolution since the Roman times and to give the first clues to characterize the organization of the production of these hardly studied ceramics.

In the first part of this article I attempted to outline the historical and technological background to the production of “Fusṭāṭ Fāṭimid sgraffito” wares (“FFS”) between the 11th and 12th centuries, trough a selection of material now kept in the International Museum of Ceramics in Faenza (from the so-called “Martin Collection”) and in other important museum collections worldwide. Based on the same material, I shall discuss here the technical, morphological, and stylistic aspects of “FFS” within a plausible chronological framework. The third part of this article, still to be published, will deal with the trade of “FFS” within Egypt and across the Mediterranean, and with the impact that this distinctive production had on the Syrian and Iranian incised frit-wares of the 12th century and beyond.

Since its discovery by Battiscombe Gunn, it is believed that Saqqara's Ostrakon is able to improve our understanding of how Egyptians designed curved elements, but the geometric significance of the hieratic values is still uncertain. Indeed, in order to obtain an indisputable result, the distance between the vertical ordinates is required, and this distance is not explicitly indicated on the limestone artefact.
But since there were no algebraic formulas at the time of the Pharaohs, a simple grid-based procedure was developed such as those used by the Egyptians to reproduce the scale drawings, to try to decipher the geometric meaning of the curve drawn on the find.
To conclude, this simple process permits to understand that the five hieratic values of the Saqqara Ostrakon describe a segmental arch whose span and rise correspond to the architectural proportions of several Egyptian tombs and arches, and that the numerical sequence of the artefact could be considered the most "ancient" mathematical formula of the circle.

"The main point is that when one takes into account what we know about ancient Egyptian mathematics (based primarily on the Rhind Papyrus) and what we know about the system of measuring lengths in terms of "cubits," "palms," and "fingers" , everything involves  the number 7 and its multiple.

A re-examination of activity in Egypt's Western Desert which presents all of the available evidence,  with a particular focus on the ceramics.

Excavations at Mut al-Kharab began in 2000 and in recent years, evidence from the Third Intermediate Period temple has grown considerably. A range of artefacts has been unearthed – from decorated temple blocks to a large collection of well-dated ceramics. This suggests Mut al-Kharab was probably the most significant Third Intermediate Period site in the Western Desert.

In light of this new material, a re-examination of activity in the Western Desert during this period has been possible. This volume presents all the available evidence relating to the western oases during the Third Intermediate Period, with a particular focus on the ceramics. Occupation appears to have been more widespread than the limited evidence previously suggested; the Egyptian central administration continued to be interested in the Western Desert; and subtle yet distinct variations in the material record may reveal the existence of an oasis culture. As such, we are developing a much clearer picture of activity in this region.

Published 2021, Oxbow Books, 240 pages.

For more information visit:
https://www.oxbowbooks.com/oxbow/architecture/ancient-egypt-egyptology/the-excavations-at-mut-al-kharab-ii.html

Results of the 2002 field season of the Ahmose and Tetisheri Project, southern Abydos.  Major results included the identification and initial excavation of a previously unknown temple of Queen Ahmose-Nefertary, called Temple C; magnetic survey revealing the outlines of this and adjacent structures at the base of the Ahmose pyramid; and the identification of a massive enclosure wall surrounding the pyramidal shrine of Queen Tetisheri.  Important discoveries of architectural decoration include the earliest known image of a pile of severed hands, probably from the battle narratives of King Ahmose, as well as a depiction of the pharaoh standing in a bark.  Later votive material and evidence is also described.

As for the previous one, we will find here the proof before publication.

In this article, Guy (ceramics) and I (faunal remains) have been re-examinating the material from an animal cemetery he excavated in the valley of the Queens. For more details, please see the excavation report: G. Lecuyot, "Les tombes 9, 11 et 12 et le Deir Roumi (Rapport préliminaire) in Rapport 1987-1988 de l'Unité associée no 1064 du CNRS, Paris, 1988, p. 128-148, pl. XII, XVI, fig. 3.

One of several predynastic objects in the Eton Myers Collection at the University of Birmingham, ECM1868 (fig. 1 and fig. 2) 1 is a buff-coloured D-ware 2 globular shouldered jar which, from its style of manufacture and decoration, may be dated to the Naqada IIc-IId Period, 3 c 3200 BC, when the type occurs in funerary contexts over a wide area of Egypt. While little can be said concerning the exact provenance of the pot itself, 4 the vessel is, nonetheless, informative regarding the culture in which it was made.

Ritual activity during the period of the Old Kingdom is one of the most fascinating of subjects. Besides direct evidence, such as rituals mentioned in religious texts or other epigraphic sources, we can attempt to trace remnants of cultic activity also in the remains of material culture, e.g. clusters of objects uncovered in primary contexts during archaeological excavations. Among the numerous objects used during rituals, beer jars were the most common and most frequently attested. So far, relatively little attention has been paid to large accumulations of beer jars from certain contexts, such as the fills of shafts or from surface areas around the tomb, although these contexts offer substantial information about the cultic activity occurring in or around the tomb.
In this paper, the author would like to explore the extent and variability of possible intentional deposits of beer jars, exemplified by various clusters found within the whole Memphite necropolis, including the site of the Czech Institute of Egyptology at Abusir. There are several main types of beer jar deposits that have been identified so far. Each type shall be explored in detail from the viewpoint of their common features, as well as their differences, such as the quantity and quality of individual vessels, accumulation of other related finds and, thus, the diverse ritual meanings of each cluster.

This paper presents a preliminary analysis of Ptolemaic Period pottery from Mut al-Kharab in Egypt's Western Desert. It includes a discussion of key fabrics and forms, and identifies the features that characterise the Ptolemaic pottery assemblage.

This paper investigates the appearance of black-painted rims on Egyptian vessels between the late-17th and early-18th dynasties, and to what extent this stylistic innovation was influenced by Nubian populations, in particular with the Pan Grave culture. Recent research has demonstrated that the black-top technique for Pan Grave pottery developed over the course of the Second Intermediate Period from black-tops produced by firing to black-tops that were painted on or augmented. Two arguments will be proposed: firstly, that the chronological synchronicity of the appearance of painted black-tops suggests a Nubian influence upon Egyptian pottery traditions; and secondly the paper questions who was actually producing and using the Egyptian vessels with painted black-tops – Egyptians? or Nubians? This last question is significant in relation to issue of the supposed “Egyptianisation” of Nubian cultures at that time.

During the 1995-2000 seasons of the el-Mahâsna Archaeological Project in Egypt, a small proportion of the recovered fineware sherd assemblage was identified as having been manufactured using anomalous tempers relative to the majority of those recovered. This paper will discuss the results of an analysis of these ceramics conducted during the recent 2009/2010 excavation season. In particular, this study examined the relationship between fabric, form, and function within the fineware ceramics at el-Mahâsna in an attempt to determine if temper was related to vessel function or rather was the result of the region of origin of the vessels.
Results of this study suggest that at the site of el-Mahâsna, a limited number of forms within the fineware ceramics contain tempering agents that were intentionally included for functional purposes. Further, results from this study suggest that the remaining forms that contained marginal amounts of sand temper likely originated from within the Abydos region. Lastly, results indicate that tempered polished redwares may have been associated with the cultic building discovered at the site of el-Mahâsna.

Lors de la fouille dans le temple de Médamoud dans les années 1920, F. Bisson de la Roque
a mis au jour deux vastes zones de production de céramiques. Elles comptaient chacune au
moins huit fours. Ils sont situés à l’intérieur de l’enceinte du temple ptolémaïque et au sud du
Kôm. Cet exposé inventorie les principales productions céramique des ateliers de Médamoud
au Nouvel Empire, à la Basse Époque et à l’époque ptolémaïque.

T he article presents one group of Islamic vases in the Col- lection of the Byzantine and Christian Museum, which are dated to the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The most impressive piece is the bowl inv. no. BXM 23450 (Figs 1 and 2), which was formerly in the possession of the Armenian collector Dikran Kelekian. Decorating the bottom of the bowl, on a coat of white slip, are rotating fish painted in white as if in relief. The bowl belongs to a category of ce- ramics of Sultanaban type, a name linked with the homony- mous city in Persia. Modern research attributes Sultanabad ware to workshops in Kashan, during the period of domina- tion of the Mongol Ilhanid rulers, who in the mid-thirteenth century conquered territories in Iran, Asia Minor and Iraq. The Iranian vases were traded in the markets of Egypt and Syria during the period of domination by Mamluk officials and had a considerable influence on local ceramic produc- tion, mainly of the first half of the fourteenth century, which was in vogue. The diffusion of the style of Iranian ceramics is exemplified by three sherds donated by Antonis Benakis to the Byzantine and Christian Museum, and which are possi- bly products of Egyptian workshops. They belong to the technique of painted pottery with deep blue and black deco- ration under a transparent glaze, in the Panel Style (with ra- diate panels on the bottom), and are dated in the fourteenth century (Figs 3 and 4).
In the period of the military oligarchy of Mamluk officials
(1250-1517), large quantities of ceramics with incised or sgraffito decoration, alluding to creations in metalwork, were produced in Egypt. Fragments of sgraffito vases have been found in abundance in excavations at Fustat, which are represented in the Byzantine Museum and are dated to the fourteenth century. Predominant in the decoration of Mam- luk sgraffito vases are inscriptions (Figs 6, 8, 9 and 10), fre- quently combined with emblems-coats of arms (Fig. 10), while pictorial decoration is rather restricted. It should be noted that in the insignia of high-rank and low-rank officials, as also in the inscriptions with honorary titles, the strict or- ganization of the Mamluk State and the court’s insistence on social order and hierarchy are expressed. In the fifteenth- century Egyptian workshops, production of sgraffito vases gradually waned and was finally abandoned, whereas, on the contrary, the production of ceramics with under-glaze deep blue or black painted designs continued, examples of which are preserved in the Museum (Figs 15 and 16). Vases with the signatures of the Egyptian potters Gazal (Figs 16-18) and possibly the well-known Gaibi are included in the Museum’s collection (Figs 19 and 20). Obvious in this group is the influence of Chinese porcelain painted in cobalt blue, of the Yuan (1279-1368) and Ming (1368-1644) dynasties, which was imported to the Islamic world. Ceramics of this type en- joyed wide dissemination throughout the Mediterranean Basin.

Some finds of the Russian Archaeological Mission of the Institute of Oriental Studies (RAS) in Eastern Giza (Egypt) can be dated to the end of the Old Kingdom – the beginning of the First Intermediate Period. This demonstrates the continuation part of the Memphitic necropolis after the collapse of the country, albeit greatly reduced. The range of the plunders' activity also increased in scope at Eastern Giza at the end of the Dynasty VI with the beginning of the decline of the royal power, and disunity of the country.

The article is devoted to the interpretation of ancient Egyptian ceramic material of the second half of the 3rd millennium B.C., discovered by the Russian Archaeological Mission (IOS RAS) in the Minor Cemetery in front of the tomb of Tjenty I in the eastern part of Giza Necropolis. The pottery found in the filling of the burial shafts allows to consider various aspects of ancient Egyptian burial constructions. We can suppose that originally these ceramics belonged to the cult equipment of one of the great mastaba-tombs of the royal relatives on the Eastern Plateau of Giza, which was subsequently reused to fill more modest burial shafts on the eastern edge of Eastern Giza.