Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (19.2007(2010))

TELL EL-RETABA

EGYPT

high on the neck points to a date in the mid
8th-7th century BC (Aston 1999: 159,
96-98, PL 60:1798).
The open forms presented below are also
firmly placed in the late New Kingdom
through Third Intermediate Period
timeframe. A bowl with internal ledge
[Fig. 3:1] is made of marl clay. Its surface
bears a thick pinkish coat on the interior and
exterior. The form is very similar to a bowl
from Qantir dated to the Twentieth-
Twenty-first Dynasty (Aston 1998: 620-621,
Fig. 2515).
This characteristic bowl with external
ledge and two rows of string impressions
[Fig. 3:2] seems to be an innovation of the
Ramesside period (Aston 1998: 15). It is

made of Nile B2 fabric with significant
amounts of sand. The vessel is typical of the
late New Kingdom (Spencer 2002: 25,
PL 25:E2), although it appeared also later in
the Third Intermediate Period (Aston
1999: 15, 17, PL 1:1; Brunton, Engelbach
1927: PL XXXIII:12A; Quibell 1898:
PL XIE9).
Simple uncoated bowls with flaring walls
[Fig. 3:3], also made of Nile B2 sandy clay,
appear to be one of the most common
ceramic vessels known from Tell el-Retaba
(Redmount 1989: 372-373, Fig. 54:97-98).
Their surface is usually smoothed without
any additional treatment. On the basis of
parallels from other sites the type can be
dated to the late New Kingdom (Ramesses


155

Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean 19, Reports 2007