Ceramics from Ain el-Gedida (Dakhleh Oasis): preliminary results

Abstract

The excavations conducted at the site of Ain el-Gedida provided an abundant quantity of pottery fragments of a rather homogeneous chronological range, spanning the period from the end of the third to the beginning of the fifth century. The catalogue includes a large variety of shapes, mainly of a local or regional source (more than 98% of all the material), and rarely from the Nile Valley. The major categories are storage jars, juglets and water jugs, cooking-pots, common wares to prepare and serve food, fine wares, and lamps. After a short presentation of the main fabrics, I will discuss the ceramics coming from the church complex and the unfired pottery fragments found in a building located in the west edge of the main hill of the site.