Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (17.2005(2007))

NAQLUN

EGYPT

flaring in the smaller bowls from Fustat,
dated to the 11th century.6 Shallower than
our example are the plates from Ele-
phantine, discovered in layers dated to the
6th/7th - mid 7th century. Our plate
Nd.05.138 can be dated to the 8th-9th
century.
Plate Nd.05.l4l, one more plate of Nile
silt preserved fragmentarily, is big (Dia.
29-0 cm), rather shallow, red-slipped, with
strongly flaring, carinated walls and weakly
profiled rim. This is a fairly popular form in
Naqlun. A similar plate was found this
season in sector S.l (Nd.05.232) and in
previous years in sector A.G (Nd.05.039)
and in room D.15, the fill of which is dated
to the 9th-Nth century.8 Shallow plates
with carinated walls are typical of the 9th-
10th century. A similar plate was discovered
in House X in Tebtynis, in a layer dated to
the second half of the 9th-early 10th
century.9 Similar plates were also found in
Elephantine.111
Plate Nd.05.139 of Nile silt is of similar
shape, but with less emphasized tectonics.
Preserved fragmentarily, it is of substantial
size (Dia. 32 cm), rather shallow, with
strongly flaring, gently carinated walls.
Similar plates have been found previously in
sector D: Nd.92.159 in Building DB I,
Nd.92.354 in room D.15. Despite an
insignificant difference of form, it should
thus be dated also to the 9th-10th century.

Plates Nd.05.151-Nd.05.152 are pre-
served as fragmentary bottoms with ring
bases and parts of walls, sufficient for the
plate depth to be roughly estimated. They
are also of the Egyptian Late Roman type.
The rather high, slightly angled and
triangular in section ring base of thin-
walled Nd.05.152 merits attention. It
resembles the bases of plates Nd.01.050
(AA.20.2, layer 4, 7th-8th century) and
Nd.01.011 (AA.20.2, layer 2, 9th century,
probably the end)11 and Nd.02.244
(slightly lower, AA.40.2, floor level, 9th
century, probably the end). Our plate
should be dated also to the 9th century. The
ring base of plate Nd.05.153, even, flaring,
strongly flattened, is typical of bases found
on glazed vessels.
All of the bowl fragments (Nd.05.203-
Nd.05.207) come from big, not very thick-
walled vessels made of Nile silt with
diameters ranging from 36 to 45 cm; they
feature slightly flaring walls and a rim
which is triangular in section. The rim
shape of bowls Nd.05.203 and Nd.05.207
is typical of 10th-century vessels.12
Basin Nd.05.143 is a thick-walled, big
and relatively shallow vessel of Nile clay, on
a ring base (Dia. 22.0 cm), with flat bottom,
vertical walls and flaring rim. The pro-
portions are unlike anything found so far on
the site. Smaller and more slender examples
were found in 2002 in sector A.NE at

6 W. Kubiak’s unpublished typology of domestic wares from Fustat.
7 Gempeler, op. cit., 87, PI. 31.5.
8 T. Gorecki, "Deir el Naqlun 1992: the pottery'", PAM IV. Reports 1992 (1993), 62.
9 Marchand, Rousset, op. cit., PI. 42.
10 Gempeler, op. cit., 64-65, PI. 7.7, classified them as type T202. He considers it probable that they originated from the
North African type Hay'es 9B.
11 Jar Nd.00.225 (from tomb T.225 dug into the fill of room AA.40.2) has an equally well made base; the vessel was made
of marl clay with streaks of glaze on the shoulders.
12 Forms with similar rim shape thus dated by W. Kubiak "Roman-type pottery in Medieval Egypt , in: Coptic and
Nubian Pottery': International Workshop, Nieborow, August 29-31, 1988, part 1, ed. W. Godlewski, National
Museum in Warsaw, Occasional Paper (Warsaw 1990), 75.

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