Ptolemaic-Roman Nile Silt Common ware
Egypt/Upper Egypt
6th century BCE - 3rd century CE
Late Period, Hellenistic/Ptolemaic, Roman
General Information
This ware includes all vessels that were primarily used as storage vessels. Since the function of the individual vessels cannot always be precisely determined they are simply assigned to the use in everyday life. This ware is almost entirely classified on the basis of its appearance. The repertoire of shapes includes all open shapes, such as lids, basins, cups, bowls, and plates, as well as closed shapes, such as amphoriskoi, beakers, bottles, pitchers, pots, and unguentaria. This ware was manufactured from different clay pastes of Nile silt clay and is found in all periods, however, significantly declines in Syene in the Roman period. Its later version is the Byzantine-early Islamic Nile Silt Common ware.
The majority of these vessels are fairly coarse and have a slip that hardly differs from the color of the fabric and is usually applied in a very thin coat. In some cases no slip can be identified on the vessels. Some vessels of this group are also decorated with a so-called “cord decoration.” This was created by wrapping a string or rope around the damp and unfired vessel in order to create notch-like impressions. Strings were primarily used as an aid in the production of large vessel because they held the vessel together while it dried or before it was fired. This decorative element is commonly found on large storage vessels and has been retained over millennia and sometimes still appears on water vessels.
Abu Rahal, Abu Rahal Hill (Egypt/Eastern desert/Red Sea Coast)
Aswan, Elephantine (Egypt/Upper Egypt)
Aswan, Syene (Egypt/Upper Egypt)
