DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49517#0494
388
HARVARD AFRICAN STUDIES
(а) Both sets of potters lived at the same place and the makers of the Delta pots (group i)
were the successors of the other set (group ii).
(б) The earlier set of potters lived at one place, and their products having been introduced were
taken up and imitated by another set of potters (those of the Delta jugs) who continued
to work after the cessation of the older workshop.
Now the distribution of the two groups of jugs is entirely different. The rarity and the
widely separated proveniences of the earlier group (which includes the Kerma jugs) indi-
cate its distribution from a common center of manufacture as a container of some valuable
substance such as perfumed oil or ointment. The distribution of a few examples of the
Delta jugs through Middle Egypt may also have been due to the fact that these jugs suc-
ceeded the earlier ones as containers. But at Tell-el-Yahudiyah itself the relatively large
numbers of jugs placed in each grave points to their use as a ceremonial vessel rather than
as a container of valuable substances. In any case, here was the one place where the jugs
were abundant and apparently cheap. It is, therefore, to be concluded that the center of
manufacture was not far from Tell-el-Yahudiyah. I am of the opinion, until some site is
found in or out of Egypt where these W. J. jugs occur in greater abundance, that Tell-el-
Yahffdiyah is the place marked out by the facts as the center of their manufacture.
The next question is whether the earlier jugs were made also in the Delta in the period
immediately preceding that of the Tell-el-Yahudiyah jugs, and distributed from there as
containers of perfume or something similar. A few examples of the earlier jugs occur at
that place.1 The distribution in graves elsewhere is that of practicable containers of valuable
substances. No place is marked by the occurrence of the examples as a center of distribu-
tion, as Tell-el-Yahudiyah is marked for the distribution of the later jugs. The material,
moreover, is only ordinary alluvial mud, such as is found all along the Nile Valley from
Khartoum to Alexandria. Now at Kerma the jug W. J. XII occurs in a period when white-
filled incised wares were abundantly made for ceremonial purposes, and similar patterns
were produced by exactly the same methods on the other W. J. types, as well as on Bkt.
and R. P. types. Further, the R. P. and the R. P. F. D. jugs of the same form are also of
wares abundant at Kerma, while the R. P. F. D. ware is one which I have never met with
elsewhere. Thus the form and the patterns are characteristic of Kerma products. One other
fact is significant. At both Huw and Abydos, the W. J. jugs are associated with Bkt.
beakers which are identical with the Kerma beakers and which were undoubtedly exported
from Kerma. Thus a certain plausibility is created for the theory that Kerma was the
center of distribution of this vessel. But the infrequence of its occurrence at Kerma and
our ignorance of a substance requiring such a container which might have been exported
from there, make me hesitate to reach that conclusion. The W. J. jugs are frequently called
“Italiote” or “Italian,” but without the evidence for their identification with Italian
vessels. The age of the dated Egyptian examples, and the undoubted occurrence of the
material, the technique, and the form in contemporary wares of known Kerman or Egyptian
manufacture, create a probability that the W. J. jugs are of Egyptian manufacture. In any
case, these facts make it necessary to bring indisputable evidence if an ascription of foreign
origin is to be established in an acceptable manner.
1 See Petrie, l.c., Pl. VII, no. 25; Pl. VIII A, nos. 75 and 83.
HARVARD AFRICAN STUDIES
(а) Both sets of potters lived at the same place and the makers of the Delta pots (group i)
were the successors of the other set (group ii).
(б) The earlier set of potters lived at one place, and their products having been introduced were
taken up and imitated by another set of potters (those of the Delta jugs) who continued
to work after the cessation of the older workshop.
Now the distribution of the two groups of jugs is entirely different. The rarity and the
widely separated proveniences of the earlier group (which includes the Kerma jugs) indi-
cate its distribution from a common center of manufacture as a container of some valuable
substance such as perfumed oil or ointment. The distribution of a few examples of the
Delta jugs through Middle Egypt may also have been due to the fact that these jugs suc-
ceeded the earlier ones as containers. But at Tell-el-Yahudiyah itself the relatively large
numbers of jugs placed in each grave points to their use as a ceremonial vessel rather than
as a container of valuable substances. In any case, here was the one place where the jugs
were abundant and apparently cheap. It is, therefore, to be concluded that the center of
manufacture was not far from Tell-el-Yahudiyah. I am of the opinion, until some site is
found in or out of Egypt where these W. J. jugs occur in greater abundance, that Tell-el-
Yahffdiyah is the place marked out by the facts as the center of their manufacture.
The next question is whether the earlier jugs were made also in the Delta in the period
immediately preceding that of the Tell-el-Yahudiyah jugs, and distributed from there as
containers of perfume or something similar. A few examples of the earlier jugs occur at
that place.1 The distribution in graves elsewhere is that of practicable containers of valuable
substances. No place is marked by the occurrence of the examples as a center of distribu-
tion, as Tell-el-Yahudiyah is marked for the distribution of the later jugs. The material,
moreover, is only ordinary alluvial mud, such as is found all along the Nile Valley from
Khartoum to Alexandria. Now at Kerma the jug W. J. XII occurs in a period when white-
filled incised wares were abundantly made for ceremonial purposes, and similar patterns
were produced by exactly the same methods on the other W. J. types, as well as on Bkt.
and R. P. types. Further, the R. P. and the R. P. F. D. jugs of the same form are also of
wares abundant at Kerma, while the R. P. F. D. ware is one which I have never met with
elsewhere. Thus the form and the patterns are characteristic of Kerma products. One other
fact is significant. At both Huw and Abydos, the W. J. jugs are associated with Bkt.
beakers which are identical with the Kerma beakers and which were undoubtedly exported
from Kerma. Thus a certain plausibility is created for the theory that Kerma was the
center of distribution of this vessel. But the infrequence of its occurrence at Kerma and
our ignorance of a substance requiring such a container which might have been exported
from there, make me hesitate to reach that conclusion. The W. J. jugs are frequently called
“Italiote” or “Italian,” but without the evidence for their identification with Italian
vessels. The age of the dated Egyptian examples, and the undoubted occurrence of the
material, the technique, and the form in contemporary wares of known Kerman or Egyptian
manufacture, create a probability that the W. J. jugs are of Egyptian manufacture. In any
case, these facts make it necessary to bring indisputable evidence if an ascription of foreign
origin is to be established in an acceptable manner.
1 See Petrie, l.c., Pl. VII, no. 25; Pl. VIII A, nos. 75 and 83.