General Information

In Ptolemaic times, pottery was made throughout the Nile Delta for the use of households in this region. While all producers used Nile silt as their chief medium, from west to east, and north to south, there seem to have been slightly different regimes of tempering and firing - as well, perhaps, as slightly different amounts of iron and other minerals, which may suggest regional ware family groupings.

Eastern Delta Ptolemaic Nile Silt common ware ranges in color from red (2.5YR 4/6) to brown (5YR 4/4), and with a consistent admixture of lime inclusions. The production tradition is consistent in terms of the treatment of the clay, surface treatments, finishing, and general workmanship of the vessels. A wide range of vessels are produced, including table vessels, cooking, and general utilitarian uses.

Currently, the definition of this ware is based entirely on observations of pottery from Tell Timai, where vessels of this ware were definitely produced. This ware family is the regional analog to Western Delta Ptolemaic Nile Silt Common Ware, and Southern Delta Ptolemaic Fine Ware. All of these are group names that likely encompass multiple small producers throughout the agricultural villages of the Nile Delta. 

The building block for the ware is Nile silt, which is naturally abundant of small to large mineral and organic inclusions. The Nile silt used to make East Delta Hellenistic Ware 1 has been washed of its larger inclusions, leaving a slightly micaceous, relatively well-levigated matrix of silt and fine sand particles with tiny to small inclusions visible in section. Fully fired biscuits range in color from red (2.5YR 4/6) to brown (5YR 4/4), though most examples have a clearly defined core that trends towards light reddish gray (10R 5/3) or dark red (10R 4/6). The smallest inclusions that are visible to the naked eye consist of round and sub-angular gray mineral particles and the larger are generally limited to small rounded yellowish-white lumps of lime. The lime inclusions frequently rupture the surfaces of vessels whereas the smaller mineral inclusions do not. Surfaces also have occasional shallow elongated voids created by burnt out small bits of cut chaff.

Surfaces of vessels in EDHW1 tend to be carefully trimmed and smoothed. Trimming, especially around the rims of table vessels, can result in spatulation of the surface. The process of smoothing the surfaces, especially interior surfaces of table vessels, sometimes was performed with either a wet sponge or cloth, resulting in a thin, mat self-slip that bonds completely with the clay body and is most commonly orange-red (2.5YR 5/8). The interior of open vessels in this ware (bowls, saucers, casseroles) are generally uniformly self-slipped and smooth. The exterior walls of the same tend to be plain except where smoothing efforts address to the rims have created a self-slip that drips down the sides onto otherwise plain surfaces that are generally fired red (10R 4/6) to reddish brown (5YR 5/6).

Tell Timai (Egypt/Delta/Lower Egypt)