4 A DEPOSIT OF "DOMESTIC" POTTERY AT KERMA PETER LACOVARA A recurrent problem in the study of Egyptian ceramics is the distinction be- tween the everyday types of vessels used by the living and the pots chosen as grave goods. Since most of our standard typologies are composed of examples from tomb groups, utilitarian wares are often not represented (Bourriau 1986/87). This distinc- tion is even greater for the cultures of Nubia where we have far fewer corpora, par- ticularly from habitation sites. One such juncture that presents a series of problems is the Bronze Age cul- tures of Lower Nubia. Only now are we beginning to clarify the different develop- mental stages of the "Pan-Grave," C-Group, and Kerma cultures (Lacovara 1987; Wegner 1995). A particular concern is the distinction between domestic and luxury/ funerary ceramics. Our sample for Nubia is even more heavily skewed towards the material recovered from cemeteries than pottery corpora from Egypt. An important exception is a group of sherds from Reisner's excavations in the town at Kerma (Reisner 1923a, 30-32). During his excavations of the dependen- cies on the western side of the great mudbrick chapel known as the Western or Lower Deffufa (K I) at Kerma, Reisner came upon a large deposit of broken Egyptian stone vase fragments along with other raw materials and ceramics (Lacovara 1991). The complex building phases of the western "annex" to K I make interpret- ing the chronology and building history of the findspot very difficult. The excavation records indicate, however, that the vessel deposits found by Reisner must have been made at a fairly late stage in the building's construction. The stone vase fragments and ceramics were found beneath a layer of collapsed wall debris and above several superimposed floor levels. "Domestic" Pottery at Kerma The main deposits of stone vessels found in the annex came from rooms H (north and south), X1-3, and yl-3, all clustered around the entrance to K I. The stone vase fragments found in these areas were also associated with other materials, includ- ing fragments of decorated faience bowls, Tell el-Yahudiyah ware, a sherd from an imported Aegean vessel, mud seal impressions of Second Intermediate period date, as well as seals and pottery of local design. The ceramics form a unique group to contrast with the corpora from the Kerma culture cemeteries published by Reisner and Dunham (Reisner 1923a, 1923b; Dun- ham 1982). An overall distinction that one can observe between the two is condition. The vessels from the cemetery show little or no evidence of use-wear, suggesting many were manufactured exclusively for burial. The ceramics recovered from the K I annex, in contrast, show signs of burning, repair, and abrasion from use. The types of vessels and decorative motifs are also distinct. Incised wares appear to be far more common in the domestic context than in the cemetery context, while the burnished/ polished wares are more evident as grave goods. Some forms, such as the beaker shape (fig. 4.la) occur in both contexts; how- ever, the domestic beakers are less carefully finished and show traces of use and repair. The overall form, though, does correspond to beakers from contemporary tombs (fig. 4.lb). This is important to note, since many of the associated incised wares (fig. 4.2a-c) bear an overall similarity to vessels of the earlier phases of the Kerma civilization (fig. 4.3a-c). I would suggest that this is an example of the sur- vival of older traditions in domestic contexts. 7 - - * / . . 4 -- N \~~~~~ . I I . 'I- C- 0 - ( c~ I , _e-_-- Figure 4.la Blacktopped beaker from Kerma settlement. SU 29. Scale 1:1. Drawing by Yvonne Markowitz. n 81 82 Egyptian Pottery . ........... A :el '* 31 41 Figure 4.Jb Blacktopped beaker from cemetery context BMFA 13.4066/SU627. Scale 1:1. Drawing by Yvonne Markowitz. Also of significance is the distinction between the incised domestic ceramic complex of the Kerma culture as opposed to that of the C-Group and Pan-Grave cul- tures. While there is a similarity among these ceramics, just as in the case of the luxury wares, they can be separated out. The incised bowls of the Pan-Grave culture in general tend to be larger and less carefully made than those at Kerma. Also distinc- tive are the Kerma "cooking pots" with their applied lumps of clay on the bottom, perhaps to distribute heat more efficiently (fig. 4.4). These appear distinctive to the Kerma culture, and their occurrence in Egypt points to a resident population of this culture during the Second Intermediate period (Bourriau 1990). Indeed, Egyptologists should be careful not to automatically assume that all Nubian handmade wares found in Egypt belong to the Pan-Grave culture.! Lastly, the Kerma cooking bowls are also of importance as being an example of the survival of traditional forms in rough domestic wares. Both the beaker shape and rough cooking bowls with applied clay bottoms are found in rough wares associ- ated with some of the early Napatan period tombs at el-Kurru (fig. 4.5a-b), suggesting a cultural link between the two great Nubian empires. While the study of these ceramics is still in an embryonic state, the lines of research we have noted should help to refine much of our understanding of Bronze Age Nubia. Acknowledgments: I would like to thank Rita E. Freed, Curator of the De- partment of Ancient Egyptian, Nubian and Near Eastern Art of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston for permission to publish the material in this paper. I would also very much like to thank Lisa Heidom and Yvonne Markowitz both for the artwork used in this article and for their corrections to the text. "Domestic" Pottery at Kerma a. I 0 p. Figure 4.2 a) Incised bowl, wet smoothed exterior. SU 45. b) Incised rough bowl, brown surface. SU 13-14. c) Large, deep bowl with incised rim. SU 1. Scale 4:1. Drawings by Yvonne Markowitz. b. 7 : .7f777.;....Y C. 83 a. Figure 4.3 a) Incised bowl from KM 15. BMFA 15-2-320. b) Incised rough bowl from KM 48. BMFA 15-3-437. c) Large, deep bowl with incised rim from KN 164. BMFA 16- 4-1489. All from Dunham 1991. Scale 4:1. Drawings by Yvonne Markowitz. b. C. 84 Egyptian Pottery "Domestic" Pottery at Kerma Figure 4.4 Kerma "cooking - ~ ~ ~~~ / pot." BMFA 21.3079 (14-1- 561). Handmade, low-fired Nile silt with mat-impressed surface and applied clay on bottom. Traces of smoke C v = t stains on interior and exterior. C ' c scale 1:1. Drawing by Yvonne Q ' l '// Markowitz. Figure 4.5 a) Red polished beaker from Kurru Tomb 702. BMFA 19-4-19. Wheelmade, fine Nile silt with burnished red surface. Fire cloud at bottom. b) "Cooking Pot" from Kurru Tomb 702, BMFA 19-4-17. Handmade, low-fired a. Nile silt with mat-impressed surface applied clay on bottom. Traces of smoke stains on interior and exterior. Scale 1:1. Drawings by Yvonne Markowitz. '_' 41b. ~~ t. ~~ - 85 86 Egyptian Pottery NOTES Bourriau has suggested that Egyptian sources conflate the Pan-Grave peoples residing in Egypt in the late Middle Kingdom with individuals from the Kerma culture. REFERENCES BOURRIAU, JANINE 1986/87 "Cemetery and Settlement Pottery of the Second Intermediate Period to Early New Kingdom." Bulletin of the Egyptological Seminar 8: 47-59. 1990 "The Pottery." Chap. 15 in Deir el-Ballas: Preliminary Report on the Deir el-Ballas Expedition, 1980-1986, by PETER LACOVARA. American Research Center in Egypt Reports, vol. 12. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 15-22. 1991 "Relations between Egypt and Kerma During the Middle and New King- doms." In Egypt and Africa: Nubia from Prehistory to Islam, edited by VIVIAN DAVIES. London: British Museum Press in association with the Egypt Exploration Society, 129-44. DUNHAM, DOWS 1982 Excavations at Kerma, Part Vl: Subsidiary Nubian Graves, excavated by the late George A. Reisner in 1915-1916, not included in his Excavations at Kerma, I-1II and IV-V, published by him in the Harvard African Studies, V and VI, 1923. Department of Egyptian and Ancient Near Eastern Art. Bos- ton: The Museum of Fine Arts. LACOVARA, PETER 1987 'The Internal Chronology of Kerma." Beitrage zur Sudanforschung 2: 5 1-74. 1991 'The 'Stone Vase' Deposit at Kerma." In Egypt and Africa: Nubiafrom Prehistory to Islam, edited by VIVIAN DAVIES London: British Museum Press in association with the Egypt Exploration Society, 118-128. REISNER, GEORGE A. 1923a Excavations at Kerma, Parts I-III. 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