Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (15.2003(2004))

NAQLUN

EGYPT

everted rounded and undercut rim,
rounded wall and flat base. A similar bowl
originated from sector D (Nd.92.055).
The deposit included two beakers.
Nd.00.240 (Fig. 4:4) had a slightly flaring
rim, bulging body, massive handle and
weakly defined ring base. Nd.00.243
(Fig. 4:5) is virtually cylindrical near the
bottom, but otherwise it is very much like
the previous one in shape. Beakers of this
type are frequent finds at Naqlun. They
were recorded in layers from the second
half of the 8th through the beginning
of the 12th centuries, in room D.l
(Nd.88.197 and Nd.88.198),7) room D.28
(Nd.98.013), and sector D in general
(Nd.98.043, Nd.98.056), as well as E.E.3
(Nd.98.286). At Fihl, similar beakers
appear just before the middle of the 8th
century,8^ at Nishapur in the 10th cen-
tury.9) In Fustat, they are found in layers
from the end of the 10th and the 11th
century.10) The Naqlun beakers can be
assigned to the 9th-10th centuries.
Vase Nd.00.254 (Fig. 4:6) features
a banded rim that is undercut inside,
rounded walls and a ring base. The upper
part of the vessel is covered with a light
streaky slip. Vessels of the same type,
which appears to have been very popular at
Naqlun, were discovered in assemblages
from rooms D.3 (Nd.89.126, Nd.89.128),
D.9 (Nd.92.210), B.l of hermitage 25
and sectors E.E.3 (Nd.98.388) and D
(Nd.98.063). Variants made of Nile silt
and characterized by the same kind of band
rim, with a rounded or carinated body and

a light slip streaking on the upper parts of
the vase have also been found in rooms
AA.40.4 (Nd.00.293), AA.30.3, layer 1
(Nd.01.038), under the sebakh in courtyard
D.l5 and in sectors E.E.3 (Nd. 98.292,
Nd.98.293) and D (Nd.98.080). Not all
come from dated contexts. Based on
parallels with the vases from hermitage 25
and from room AA.40.4, the vase should
be placed in the 9th century.
The tall vase of red clay Nd.00.260
(Fig. 4:7) has a rounded rim with inside
ledge, virtually vertical walls and a round-
ed bottom. Similar vases were recorded
in room D.9 (Nd.91-208) and D.6
(Nd.89-364). Other examples, from room
AA.50.4 and from sector AA, are less tall
and have a flatter, although still rounded
bottom; unfortunately, they are not well
dated contextually. They resemble to some
extent the vases from Elephantine: not very
tall, with almost vertical walls and a flat-
tened rounded bottom, dated with
considerable probability to the 8th/9th
centuries.11)
The two qullae, Nd.00.257 and
Nd.00.258 (Fig. 4:7,8), feature bulging
bodies and a small, low ring base. They are
both of red clay. This type with its flaring
neck furnished with a strainer and a more
or less bulging body, occasionally a pair of
handles and mostly a small ring base, was
very common at Naqlun. Qullae with long
necks and relatively tall bodies were
recorded in rooms AA.30.2, layers 2 and 3;
sectors A.SE and E; qullae with handles —
in rooms AA.30.3, layer 3, and D.3 and

7) W. Godlewski, T. Derda, T. Gorecki, “Deir el-Naqlun (Nekloni), 1988-1989, Second Preliminary Report”, Nubica III/l
(1994), 228.
8) R.H. Smith, A.W. McNicoll, J.B. Henessy, “The 1981 Season at Pella of the Decapolis”, BAS0R 249 (1983), fig. 11.4.
9) C.K. Wilkinson, Nishapur. Pottery of the Early Islamic Period (New York 1973), pi. 341.37.
10) Kubiak, op. cit., 205, fig. 42.B.
11) R.D. Gempeler, Die Keramik romischer bis frtiharabischer Zeit, Elephantine X (Mainz am Rhein 1992), 166-167,
pi. 100.1.

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