Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (18.2006(2008))

BANGANARTI

SUDAN

363, Fig. 7) and Kom A in Old Dongola
(palace latrine depository, B.I.15).2
A short-necked bottle (red ware)
{Fig. 7 :d\ is of a style (N III) known from
northern Nubia (Adams 1986: 481-482,
Fig. 82/33).
Storage jar (white ware) has grooves
emphasized with red painted lines on the
shoulders {Fig. 7:c]; it is known from
northern Nubia (style N III) (Adams 1986:
483-484, Fig. 277/4).
The layer of broken amphorae was
again found in Trial pit 3- The containers
were all of the same type as already
described and one was even preserved
almost complete {Figs 4:h; j:d\. It is
a Dongolan product of the 6th through 7th
WESTERN
The ceramic assemblage from the chambers
of the Western Building lying west of the
Raphaelion (Upper Church) is generally
attributed to the 11th through the end of
the 12th century AD. The forms and
decoration are analogous to pottery dis-
covered at Old Dongola (the SW-E annex in
the monastery complex on Kom H, studied
by the author in 2006, see report in this
volume) and in northern Nubia (style N V,
cf. Adams 1986: 497-500).
Among the wheel-made vessels,
meriting mention are two bowls with
a black painted ornament typical of the post-
Classic period {Figs 8:a,f 10:a}. One bowl
(from Room 19) had a cross engraved on the
outside surface.
Room 19 also yielded an import from
Egypt — a fragment of glazed plate with rich
black and cobalt blue decoration {Figs 8:b;
10:b]. The production of such plates at
Fustat is dated to AD 1075-1175 (Mason
2004: 258-259), helping to pinpoint the
2 Studied by the author in 2003-2005 with the permissioi

century AD (see above, amphorae from
Trial pit 1).
The handmade vessels from the trench
included, as in the other trial pits dug this
year, bottles commonly referred to as beer
jars {Fig. 7:e-f\ of which one {Figs 7:f; 2:c]
had a richly decorated rim (four painted
radiating bands of red color and between
them impressed dots forming a triangular
pattern). A band of impressed dots accen-
tuated the top of the neck on the outside,
while the shoulders had a purple red band
around them. Similarly to the bottles from
the first two trial trenches discussed here,
these bottles date the foundation level of
the Lower Church in the 6th/7th century
(see above, bottle from Trial pit 1).
BUILDING
dating of the remaining pottery discovered
in this room, and thus contributing
significantly to typological and chronolo-
gical studies on post-Classic Nubian
ceramics.
The red and black decoration of other
vases (from Rooms 13 and 17) is also
typical of the Christian post-Classic period
{Fig. 8:c,el
The type of wine amphora with small
loop handles on the neck rising above rim
level {Fig. 8:g] places the occupation of the
Western Building in the 12th century AD
(Bagihska 2005: 451-455, amphora type
100).
Numerous bases of qadus pots used in
saqiyah installations for watering fields
were found in the Western Building. Some
were intentionally decorated with dots or
crosses impressed prior to firing {Fig. 8:7].
Their presence is indirect evidence for the
intensive agricultural development of
Makuria in the post-Classic period.
i of W. Godlewski, head of the excavations on Kom A.

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