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 p...
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 ...
Tell Timai (Egypt/Delta/Lower Egypt)