DOI issue:
Egypt
DOI article:Rzeuska, Teodozja I.: The pottery, 2002
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.41370#0152
WEST SAQQARA
EGYPT
So far, practically no cultic vessels, such
as stands and bell-shaped bowls, have come
to light in the pottery assemblage from
chapels 13 and 14.
NEW KINGDOM POTTERY
The level of the Late Necropolis again
yielded some sherds of New Kingdom
date, but of unknown provenance.18) They
mostly belong to jars made of Nile silt B,
decorated under the rim with three
horizontal black bands painted prior to
firing (Fig. 7); these jars date back to the
early Eighteenth Dynasty. There are also
sherds of Marl clay B and Marl clay D.
LATE NECROPOLIS FINDS
A substantial part of the new material
discovered this season consisted of small
wheel-made juglets made of Marl clay A4
with wet-treated surface. An ensemble of
six pots in two varieties (Fig. 8) was found
in a layer of very hard and compact dakka,
approximately 50 cm below the surface.
The original provenience of the pots is not
known, but it seems probable that they
had belonged to one of the burials in the
Late Necropolis. Five of the vessels
represent a bulging vase with small mouth
and distinctly marked neck, where there
are two holes pierced before firing; a rope
had been passed through these holes to
suspend the juglet.l9) The sole represen-
tative of the other type is a slender juglet
with slightly open mouth. Finding the two
types together confirms the presumption
about their similar date.
Vessel SQ 02-1090 (Fig. 9) was found
with burial no. 304, and sherds of other
vessels of the kind have been noted in the
ceramic assemblage from the Late
Necropolis layer. Their presence in the
necropolis is hardly surprising in view of
their being putatively used in the
mummification process. This would be
suggested by the presence of resin inside
the' vessels and on the outer walls, as well
as the aperture made at two-thirds height
prior to firing. They must have been used
either to pour a bituminous mass on the
body or inside the various orifices. Many
burials mummified in this fashion have
been found at the necropolis and it was the
custom that anything that came into
contact with the deceased's body during
the process of mummification had to be
Fig. 7. New Kingdom jar
18) Cf. T. Rzeuska, “West Saqqara. The Pottery, 2001”, PAM XIII, pp. 156-7, Figs. 3-4.
19) A neck with string still tied around it had been found during the previous season.
150
EGYPT
So far, practically no cultic vessels, such
as stands and bell-shaped bowls, have come
to light in the pottery assemblage from
chapels 13 and 14.
NEW KINGDOM POTTERY
The level of the Late Necropolis again
yielded some sherds of New Kingdom
date, but of unknown provenance.18) They
mostly belong to jars made of Nile silt B,
decorated under the rim with three
horizontal black bands painted prior to
firing (Fig. 7); these jars date back to the
early Eighteenth Dynasty. There are also
sherds of Marl clay B and Marl clay D.
LATE NECROPOLIS FINDS
A substantial part of the new material
discovered this season consisted of small
wheel-made juglets made of Marl clay A4
with wet-treated surface. An ensemble of
six pots in two varieties (Fig. 8) was found
in a layer of very hard and compact dakka,
approximately 50 cm below the surface.
The original provenience of the pots is not
known, but it seems probable that they
had belonged to one of the burials in the
Late Necropolis. Five of the vessels
represent a bulging vase with small mouth
and distinctly marked neck, where there
are two holes pierced before firing; a rope
had been passed through these holes to
suspend the juglet.l9) The sole represen-
tative of the other type is a slender juglet
with slightly open mouth. Finding the two
types together confirms the presumption
about their similar date.
Vessel SQ 02-1090 (Fig. 9) was found
with burial no. 304, and sherds of other
vessels of the kind have been noted in the
ceramic assemblage from the Late
Necropolis layer. Their presence in the
necropolis is hardly surprising in view of
their being putatively used in the
mummification process. This would be
suggested by the presence of resin inside
the' vessels and on the outer walls, as well
as the aperture made at two-thirds height
prior to firing. They must have been used
either to pour a bituminous mass on the
body or inside the various orifices. Many
burials mummified in this fashion have
been found at the necropolis and it was the
custom that anything that came into
contact with the deceased's body during
the process of mummification had to be
Fig. 7. New Kingdom jar
18) Cf. T. Rzeuska, “West Saqqara. The Pottery, 2001”, PAM XIII, pp. 156-7, Figs. 3-4.
19) A neck with string still tied around it had been found during the previous season.
150