Nubian clay beaker with black top decoration

An image of Vessel. Clay beaker, with black top decoration. Production Place: Egypt, Nubia (Southern Egypt/Sudan). Find Spot: Abydos Egypt; grave 4. Kerma beaker, with black top decoration. The vessel is made from Nile Silt clay and has very thin walls, measuring from 2-5 mm in thickness. The rim is asymmetrical and the interior was smoothed with fingers, and burnished (rubbed with a hard object horizontally). Outside there is a red wash on the lower section of the pot which was then polished. This type of ware is called red and black. This vessel came from the grave of a Nubian living in Egypt who belonged to a group of people called the Kerma culture. Only a few familes of the Kerma people found their way into Egypt. It is therefore of interest that they brought pottery with them, along with other goods, but chose a traditional Egyptian manner of burial. The base is rounded. The pot is complete, which is remarkable given its fragile structure. Clay, handmade, burnished and polished, diameter 14.2 cm, height, 11.7, cm, ca 1785-1650 BC. Thirteenth Dynasty; Middle Kingdom; Second Intermediate period.

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Vessel. Clay beaker, with black top decoration. Production Place: Egypt, Nubia (Southern Egypt/Sudan). Find Spot: Abydos Egypt; grave 4. Kerma beaker, with black top decoration. The vessel is made from Nile Silt clay and has very thin walls, measuring from 2-5 mm in thickness. The rim is asymmetrical and the interior was smoothed with fingers, and burnished (rubbed with a hard object horizontally). Outside there is a red wash on the lower section of the pot which was then polished. This type of ware is called red and black. This vessel came from the grave of a Nubian living in Egypt who belonged to a group of people called the Kerma culture. Only a few familes of the Kerma people found their way into Egypt. It is therefore of interest that they brought pottery with them, along with other goods, but chose a traditional Egyptian manner of burial. The base is rounded. The pot is complete, which is remarkable given its fragile structure. Clay, handmade, burnished and polished, diameter 14.2 cm, height, 11.7, cm, ca 1785-1650 BC. Thirteenth Dynasty; Middle Kingdom; Second Intermediate period.

Image data

Accession Number: E.13.1911
Photograph copyright © The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
Aperture: f/32.0
Focal length: 120
Camera: Hasselblad H4D-31
Photographer name: Andrew Norman
Image height: 1025 pixels
Image width: 935 pixels
Processed with: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.0 (Windows)
Filesize: 401.88kB
Exposure time: 1/125
ISO Speed: 200
Fnumber: 32/1

Key words

Abydos Ancient Egypt antiquity BC beaker black black top burnished clay drinking vessel Egyptian Fitz_ANT hand built handmade Middle Kingdom Nubian polished pottery red red and black ware Second Intermediate Period vessel

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