Abstract
The pottery corpus from the city on Sai Island, one of the characteristic colonial towns in New Kingdom Nubia, comprises a majority of Egyptian style vessels and Nubian style ceramics as well as ‘hybrid’ pieces. This paper presents the Eighteenth Dynasty Nubian pottery from Sai city, focussing primarily on quantities, shapes, wares and parallels from various sites in context, and discusses its social and cultural implications. A key concern is how much Sai represents an elite urban phenomenon that differs from rural contexts in the hinterland of the city.
The Nubian style pottery as an integral part of the corpus of Sai attests to social practices of a local group with a specific cultural identity. The community practices reflected in the pottery show that the legacy of the Kerma empire was never completely abandoned but adapted in relation to the new political, social and religious circumstances in a colonial context.
Introduction: Sai City
As a large Nile island (12 x 5.5 km) in the area between the Second and the Third Cataract (Upper Nubia), Sai provided good conditions for settlement and cultivation over millennia (Fig. 1). The city is located at the southern end of the Batn el-Haggar, which can be regarded as a position of strategic value (Vercoutter 1986; Geus 2004; Doyen 2009; Budka 2020a:15–16). Within Sai’s long history of occupation, extending from prehistory to Ottoman and modern times, the Egyptian New Kingdom (c. 1550–1070 bce) was one of the heydays. With its temple town and elite cemetery, the island represents one of the most important illustrations of the Egyptian settlement policy in Upper Nubia during the Eighteenth Dynasty (e.g., Vercoutter 1986:11–16; Geus 1994; Geus 2004; Minault-Gout & Thill 2012; Budka 2017a:48–59; Budka 2020a:395–407; Budka 2021).
Map of location of Sai Island in Sudan
Citation: Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia 5, 1 (2025) ; 10.1163/26670755-04020011
As Davies (2005:51) pointed out, Sai can be regarded as a “bridge head” into the realm of the kingdom of Kerma and its important character in this respect originates from a strong Kerma presence on the island prior to the New Kingdom (see Arkell 1950:33–34; Gratien 1986; Vercoutter 1986:12). There are remains attributed to the Kerma horizon from as early as the Old Kerma phase.1 The peak of the city’s importance was probably reached during Classic Kerma times when monumental tumuli were erected in the large cemetery skc (Gratien 1986), presumably for ‘princes of Sai’ who governed this part of the kingdom from one of the “subordinate centres” (Williams 2021:187) of the Kerma empire. There is also evidence for the transitional period between Classic Kerma and the New Kingdom on the island, in particular with cemetery sac4, which was dated to so-called Recent Kerma and that yielded early Eighteenth Dynasty ceramics (Gratien 2002:220–224; Gratien 2014:97; Miellé 2014:391).2
The Egyptian name for Sai Island, respectively the region (see below), is well-attested by epigraphic evidence as 5Aa.t (for this identification see Vercoutter 1956:73; Vercoutter 1958:147; Posener 1958:57–60; for lists with references, see Zibelius 1972:154–155; Devauchelle & Doyen 2009:33–37; Ullmann 2020:52). Records of the Egyptian kings of the Eighteenth Dynasty are also preserved in considerable quantity from the site, in particular for the rulers Ahmose Nebpehtyra, Amenhotep i and Thutmose iii, as well as for Thutmose i, Amenhotep ii and Amenhotep iii (Vercoutter 1956; Vercoutter 1973; Minault-Gout 2007; Gabolde 2012). High officials of the Egyptian administration including the viceroys of Kush are also well-attested, not only during the Eighteenth Dynasty but also in Ramesside times (Gabolde 2012; Davies 2017; Auenmüller 2020; see also Budka 2017b:35–39).
The New Kingdom town of Sai (Fig. 2) is located on the eastern side of the island, at an ideal position for controlling river traffic and to facilitate the landing and loading of ships (Budka 2020a:61–63). The town has the shape of a fortified settlement with an orthogonal layout, measuring approximately 238 m north–south and 118 m east–west, with a total of 27,600 m2 (2.76 ha).3 Like the other major Egyptian settlements in Upper Nubia, the town on Sai falls into the category of the so-called Nubian temple towns – fortified towns built in the New Kingdom with an enclosure wall and a sandstone temple (Kemp 1972:651–656; Vieth 2018; Budka 2020a:65–68). Temples as key elements of these towns are attested from Thutmoside times onwards and seem to be connected with the character of the Abri-Delgo Reach as a region rich in gold ore (Klemm & Klemm 2013:9 and passim; cf. also Budka 2020a:403–407).
Sectors of the New Kingdom town of Sai
Citation: Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia 5, 1 (2025) ; 10.1163/26670755-04020011
The Excavated Sectors within the New Kingdom Town
The excavated areas of the town of Sai illustrate that the city comprises various sectors which contrast slightly regarding their layout and dating (Fig. 2). Two of these sectors were excavated by French missions (northern and southern part, sav1 North and sav1 respectively sav1 South), and two others by the AcrossBorders project (eastern and western, sav1 East and sav1 West).4 A common feature for the specific urban layout of Egyptian temple towns that is also present at Sai, in particular in the southern sector, is the limited domestic space. Much of the room was instead occupied by storage facilities and magazines, obviously connected with the Egyptian colonial administration of Kush (Budka 2017c).
The northern sector of the town, sav1 North, was excavated between 2008–2012 by the Sai Island Archaeological Mission of Lille 3. Several building phases, from the early Eighteenth Dynasty to Ramesside times and Post-New Kingdom eras, were documented (Doyen 2009; Doyen 2014; Budka & Doyen 2013:168–171; Budka 2016a; Doyen 2017). The earliest strata at sav1 North (Levels 5 and 4) are only scarce architectural remains and some occupational deposits. Remains of the enclosure wall were uncovered to a length of 39.32 m, being 4.26 m thick, belonging to Level 3 of the area. Thanks to stratigraphic evidence and the pottery, this enclosure can be dated to the second half of the long reign of Thutmose iii (Budka 2017d:150–151).
The architectural remains in sector sav1 North adjacent to the town wall do not correspond to the general town planning visible in the southern sector. The structures are markedly different but find close parallels in the new excavation area sav1 West, stressing the variability of individual sectors within the planned settlement of Sai. The building units at sav1 North include typical Egyptian tripartite houses, considerably smaller than the houses in the southern sector, but comparable to houses in Middle Kingdom Nubian fortresses (e.g. at Uronarti and Buhen). Other building units at sav1 North do not find close parallels within Egyptian orthogonal settlements and are distinct in both size and ground plan from the houses in sav1 (see Doyen 2017; Budka 2020a:151–153).
sav1 East is located in the eastern part of the town to the north of the stone temple, Temple A, and was excavated by the AcrossBorders project between 2013–2017 (Budka 2020a:70–122). The main structure in this part of the town is a terrace building, Building A, with a presumed administrative function. sav1 East also yielded large magazines and cellars, making this sector comparable to the southern part of the town. The main phases of use at sav1 East comprise the mid and late Eighteenth Dynasty, corresponding to the periods of building activity at Temple A. The earliest building phase is connected with the foundation of the town in the early Eighteenth Dynasty with rather small buildings and plenty of storage facilities and silos.
sav1 West, excavated by the AcrossBorders project between 2014–2017, comprises the western enclosure wall and is located north of the main city gate (Budka 2020a:122–151). Remains of several mud-brick buildings were found toward the east of the town wall. According to the pottery, these date to the mid-Eighteenth Dynasty, staying in use until the late Eighteenth Dynasty and possibly also the early Ramesside period. In addition, a building phase prior to the town wall was confirmed at sav1 West. Simple mud brick structures comparable to finds in sav1 North are earlier than the town wall. Overall, the remains of Eighteenth Dynasty structures along the enclosure wall in sav1 West are very similar to findings in sav1 North (Budka 2020a:152). Both areas within the Pharaonic town are markedly different from the southern part and sav1 East because no large structures of a possible administrative function and no substantial magazines were found but rather simple domestic buildings of small dimensions with oven installations, grindstone emplacements, small sized cellars and storage bins.
Despite its character as a colonial state-built foundation, sectors sav1 North and sav1 West exemplify short-term buildings and complicated processes within the town area of Sai, which was part of a dynamic world that underwent remarkable changes during the New Kingdom (Budka 2020a:424–427). This varying architectural context as well as the respective stratigraphy must be kept in mind when assessing the pottery corpus from Sai city. A similar variability within individual sectors was also documented at the temple town of Amara West and seems to be one of the key aspects of New Kingdom colonial sites in Nubia,5 illustrating both the character of these urban sites as microcosms with specific local dynamics and the common aspects of colonial settlement patterns (Budka 2020a:395–407).
The Corpus of Nubian Style Pottery in Sai City
Within the AcrossBorders project, the prime focus of the pottery analysis was considering the potential of ceramics to address questions of lifestyles and the cultural identity of the inhabitants of Sai (Budka 2018; Budka 2020a). The functional, economic and social significance of ceramics were explored in order to answer these questions. Scientific analyses of materials, especially ceramic petrography, contributed to the archaeological interpretation of pottery from Sai (D’Ercole & Sterba 2018; D’Ercole 2024). It soon became clear that multiple functions can be attributed to the pottery and in particular to individual vessels and an approach from various perspectives is necessary, always considering the specific archaeological context.
Both wheel-made and hand-made pottery traditions are attested from New Kingdom sites located in Nubia and this also holds true for Sai Island and the New Kingdom town (for an overview see Budka 2019a). Wheel-turned pottery is usually associated with Egyptian ceramic traditions and hand-made with Nubian, although there are of course also hand-made Egyptian vessels (e.g. bread cones and bread plates). Coil-building as one of the hand-shaping technique is well-attested in both traditions, in particular for large Egyptian style storage vessels or zirs.6 Nubian style pottery, which appears quite regularly within the Sai material and shows relations to the local Kerma corpus (Gratien 1986), is hand-made as a rule and often decorated with impressed and/or incised patterns (see below). Several archaeological case studies from various regions in the ancient world have illustrated that there might be “close links between ceramic technological production and cultural identity” (Pierce 2013:529; cf. also D’Ercole et al. 2017; Budka 2018). Nubian case studies suggest that individual choices and group dynamics may sometimes be more significant than cultural identities (Spencer 2014:47; Budka 2017e:440). We have to consider multiple lifestyles within the colonial state-built foundations in New Kingdom Nubia which first of all reflect social practices rather than ethnicity or identity.7 Therefore, we do not use terms such as ‘Kerma’ as cultural category for the Nubian pottery from Sai, but rather ‘Nubian style’ (versus ‘Egyptian style’, see below).
Sometimes locally produced Nile clay pottery vessels have been modelled on Egyptian types, but with a ‘Nubian’ influence regarding the surface treatment, manufacturing technique or decoration. The appearance of such ‘hybrid’ types or ‘cross-over’ pieces (Rose 2017:466) combining various traditions and representing something new is significant, but not straightforward to explain. Such pots – attested also at other Egyptian colonial sites in Nubia like Aniba, Amara West and Sesebi as well as at peripheral Kerma sites like H25 near Kawa and sites in Egypt like Elephantine and Edfu8 – might be products of a temporary or local fashion but could also refer to the cultural identity of their users or be the result of more complicated processes which have taken place in contact spaces like the Middle Nile (Smith 2003b).9 All in all, they attest to what emerges as a complex mixture of lifestyles at New Kingdom sites (Budka 2017d; cf. also Garnett 2014:62; Ruffieux 2016:518–519, fig. 13; Kilroe 2019:82) which transformed both the indigenous and the colonial society and resulted in the new diversity which shaped New Kingdom Nubia (Smith 2021). Neal Spencer has rightly stressed that “hybridization and entanglement have a temporal dimension” (Spencer 2014:57; see also Pappa 2013:36–37; Smith 2014a:3) and therefore a diachronic approach for the individual sites and on a macroscale is necessary (Budka 2017e).
Sai can be used as a case study of local pottery workshops and traditions in New Kingdom Nubia. The local production of ceramics on the island comprised wheel-thrown Egyptian style Nile clay vessels as well as hand-made Nubian vessels plus the so-called hybrid products (Budka 2020a:204).10 The identity of the potters and of the users of the vessels remains difficult to assess. For Middle Kingdom Nubia, episodic work of Egyptian potters as itinerant craftsmen travelling from site to site could be reconstructed (Reshetnikova & Williams 2016; Budka 2020a:423; also Smith 2014b). At major sites, industrial workshops showing local features produced ceramics on a large scale, whereas the production at other sites was for much smaller demands. Nubian style pottery is traditionally considered to have been produced in small scale workshops or domestic contexts (D’Ercole 2017:151 and passim). For highly specific wares like the Classic Kerma beakers, such a scenario is unlikely, and we must consider specialised Kerman workshops producing considerable amounts of fine wares (for arguments for several production centres for Kerma black-topped fine ware see Knoblauch 2020). On New Kingdom Sai, an industrial workshop for the Egyptian style pottery seems likely, but details relating to the ceramic production remain unclear.11 Close interconnections between Egyptians and Nubians are evident and it seems most likely that Nubian potters were trained in the wheel-made production by Egyptians. Thus, production patterns and the identity of the potters underwent transformations during the use life of the town of Sai and resulted in a colonial pottery workshop that could produce vessels of both traditions as well as the new style showing specific local aspects.
Some of the Nubian fine ware found at Sai may have been imported from the Third Cataract region, the heartland of the Kerma empire, but others attest to a local (or maybe regional) pottery manufacture producing diverse Nubian style vessels.12 In particular, large Nubian storage vessels can be associated with local potters and suggest that this craftmanship was established on the island during Kerma times and may have continued well into the Eighteenth Dynasty. The same can be proposed for the pottery types which represent the majority of the material, namely basket-impressed cooking pots. These are firmly rooted in a Kerma tradition of shaping pots in a concave hole using mats/baskets but show an intriguing change of technique in the early Eighteenth Dynasty which is present at sites between the Dongola Reach and southern Upper Egypt.13
Within New Kingdom Nubia, regional style in ceramics was mostly expressed by surface treatment and decoration (Miellé 2014). The main difference to Egyptian style pottery corpora from sites located in Egypt proper is the predominance of Nile clay wares, even for shapes usually produced in Marl clay. This is, of course, related to the accessibility of raw materials at the colonial sites, which always needs to be considered.
In the following, hand-made wares of Nubian tradition will be presented. The comprehensive corpus of New Kingdom pottery from Sai will be published elsewhere (Budka in prep.; for overviews of ceramics from sectors sav1 East and sav1 West see Budka 2020a:196–226) and an overview of sector sav1 North is already available (Budka 2017d; see also Miellé 2012). A complete list of pottery found in the framework of the AcrossBorders project in Sai city is accessible at: https://data.ub.uni-muenchen.de/222/ (doi: 10.5282/ubm/data.222).
Overview of Nubian Style Pottery (Fabrics, Wares, Shapes)
The Nubian style ceramics from Sai city are all produced in Nile clay variants which can be divided in four main fabric groups with variations (see below). The firing conditions usually result in black sections, but narrow oxidised zones at the external surface are possible.14
Nubian style ceramics are only one portion of the corpus of New Kingdom material from Sai and therefore it is essential that they are accurately quantified. In general, archaeological quantification of ceramics is an important and still much debated issue (see, e.g., Rice 1987; Orton et al. 1993:166–181, Bader 2009; Rice 2015:259–275). In the case of Sai, among the methods of quantifications like sherd count, minimum number of individuals (mni) or minimum number of vessels (mnv), and sherd weight, it was decided to count the number of sherds (Budka 2017d:120).15 Here, it is important to note that sherds that likely represent a single vessel were counted as one piece in the individual categories of ware, rim sherd, body sherd, base sherd or handle.16 A post-excavation reconstruction of the mnv would without doubt add important data relating to the use and function of the vessels, but this was not realised for the present paper.17 The detailed documentation of individual wares and sherd preservation that was carried out makes it possible to assess the main functional aspects and to provide statistical observations.
In total, 4784 Nubian style sherds were documented during the AcrossBorders excavations in the two sectors sav1 East and sav1 West which accounts for 2.1% of the New Kingdom ceramics according to the sherd count method (for the sherd count, quantities and statistics see Budka 2020a:196–199). This is a rather small amount for a site located in Nubia but as will be specified in the following, there are certain undisturbed contexts which show a considerably higher proportion of Nubian wares, especially within the diagnostic pieces. There are slightly more Nubian style sherds from sector sav1 West, but this area also yielded considerably more New Kingdom material in total.18
In general, there is a large spectrum of both Nubian types and wares in Sai city. Hand-made Nubian wares are not only attested as cooking pots but also storage vessels, very coarse wares and fine wares including cups and beakers (Fig. 3). This compares to the “vollständige Formationspräsenz” of Nubian pottery on Elephantine (Raue 2015:55; see also Raue 2018:31–34) and strongly suggests that the occupants of the New Kingdom town also included persons who were local to Upper Nubia and intermingled with the Egyptian colonists (Budka 2020a:409–411 with references).19
Nubian ceramic assemblage from sav1 West, sav1w p103
Citation: Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia 5, 1 (2025) ; 10.1163/26670755-04020011
photo: m. gundlach © acrossborders projectNubian Fabrics of New Kingdom Sai
The division of four main Nubian fabrics in the New Kingdom town of Sai (Fig. 4) was undertaken by Giulia D’Ercole in 2013 based on a macroscopic analysis of the Nubian ceramic assemblages from sav1 North and could be applied to the other excavation sectors of the site (D’Ercole 2014). The observation was conducted using a lens with 20x magnification (tm 20 Eschenbach) and the division is based on the content and the typology of the main non-plastic inclusions present in the paste.20 Distinction between these fabrics is not sharp, with subtle boundaries between the groups (D’Ercole 2014; see also Budka 2017d:123–124). There is a general preference of specific fabrics for different types of vessels. Unsurprisingly, the material finds very close comparisons with the partly contemporaneous colonial site of Sesebi located 75 km further south, another temple town within the wider region of the Abri-Delgo Reach and most importantly a site of comparable social milieu.
Examples for the four main Nubian fabrics from Sai city
Citation: Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia 5, 1 (2025) ; 10.1163/26670755-04020011
photos: n. bozet © acrossborders projectNubian Fabric 1 – Fine Wares, Dung Tempered
This fine fabric is characterized by a rather dense and homogeneous sandy-silt matrix, containing numerous micaceous inclusions, a variable amount of very small (< 0.5 mm) angular mineral grains and some small white particles (micritic calcite aggregates; likely to be natural inclusions of unsorted or poorly sorted clay). Ceramics of this group are tempered with a limited proportion of fine tubular organic inclusions (possibly herbivore dung or finely crumbled straw remains). Nubian Fabric 1 is attested for very fine, small open shapes of black-topped vessels like Kerma cups and beakers with well-polished and shiny-micaceous surfaces, sometimes showing the typical Classic Kerma silvery-white band. It compares to Fabric sh4 at Sesebi (Rose 2012:14, figs. C, F).
Nubian Fabric 2 – Medium Wares, Straw-Dung Tempered
This fabric is characterized by a sandy-silt matrix, containing frequent very small (< 0.5 mm) angular to sub-rounded minerals, grains, mica and a variable number of white particles (micritic calcite aggregates). Organic tempers are common and include both fine tubular inclusions (dung and/or chopped straw remains) and some larger flat fibres (straw and chaff remains). Based on the frequency and the size of the non-plastic inclusions, possible sub-groups can be recognized. The consistency of the paste can range from relatively compact and homogeneous to quite porous and friable. Nubian Fabric 2 was mainly used for open shapes with medium-fine to medium textures like black-topped and black-topped red slipped vessels, as well as bowls with burnished or wet-smoothed surfaces, showing incised or impressed decorations. It compares to Fabric sh2 at Sesebi (Rose 2012:14, figs. A–B).
Nubian Fabric 3 – Coarse Wares, Chaff Tempered
This fabric is characterized by a sandy-silt matrix, containing frequent very small (< 0.5 mm) angular plus rare medium (1–2 mm) rounded mineral grains, mica and a variable number of white particles (micritic calcite aggregates). Ceramics belonging to this fabric are tempered with abundant proportions of organic inclusions (mainly flat straw and chaff remains), easily recognizable to the naked eye. The consistency of the paste looks porous and friable. Both open and restricted shapes with medium-coarse to coarse textures and wet-smoothed or scraped surfaces are known in Nubian Fabric 3, especially bowls and globular vessels but also cooking pots, often showing basket or matting impressions.21 This is the most common fabric within the material from Sai city and it compares to Fabric sh1 at Sesebi (Rose 2012:14–18).
Nubian Fabric 4 – Very Coarse Wares, Heavily Chaff Tempered
This fabric is a coarse version of Fabric 3.22 Ceramics included in this group are tempered with high proportions of large to very large flat organic inclusions, mica plus a variable amount of small to medium angular/sub-rounded mineral grains and white calcareous particles up to 2 mm in size (micritic calcite aggregates?). Nubian Fabric 4 was used for large storage vessels with very thick walls and uncoated or poorly smoothed surfaces, often decorated with comb-impressions on the rim/lip (see below, sav1n n/c 650).
These four macroscopic Nubian fabric groups from Sai were consequently sorted into three main petrographic groups or micro fabrics (D’Ercole & Sterba 2018:176–177, figs. 6a–c; D’Ercole in prep.). The main means of differentiation between these was the appearance of organic temper. These organics are mainly of animal origin (herbivore dung) in the fine and medium wares, and of both animal and vegetal origin in the coarse wares (Nubian Fabric 4) and in the cooking pots/medium-coarse ware (Nubian Fabric 3) (D’Ercole & Sterba 2018:180; see also Carrano et al. 2009). In direct comparison to Egyptian style Nile clay wares, the Nubian vessels show a finer grain size and contain on average a larger amount of organic inclusions. In the Egyptian samples, the organics seem to be predominantly of vegetal origin (chaff and other plant remains) and not of animal origin (D’Ercole & Sterba 2018:180). One must stress that the clay raw material used for Nubian and Egyptian style wares is geochemically very similar and a separation of these Nile clay wares according to specific petrological and chemical features is complex (Carrano et al. 2009:787; D’Ercole & Sterba 2018; also Spartaro et al. 2015). This factor stresses once again the need to consider all technological factors and to focus not only on the recipe of these fabrics but also on the production and the complete châine opératoire (D’Ercole et al. 2017; D’Ercole 2024).
Nubian Wares of New Kingdom Sai
As was outlined in the description of the four main macro fabrics, the Nubian wares of New Kingdom Sai occur in several fine wares as well as medium, coarse and very coarse wares. These will be described in this section with a focus on the surface treatment.
Fine and Medium Black-Topped Wares
Of the Nubian Fabric 1 and in some cases also of Nubian Fabric 2, various types of black-topped, red-polished ware were found (Fig. 5).23 Besides almost hemispherical cups of Kerma black-topped ware, the Classic Kerma black-topped tulip beakers, well known from the local Kerma cemeteries (Gratien 1985:pl. v; Gratien 1986:431–432; Sackho-Autissier 2012:201–212), are also present in Sai city. These types are commonly found at other Egyptian sites in Nubia, e.g., at Aniba (Helmbold-Doyé & Seiler 2012; Helmbold-Doyé & Seiler 2019:401–411), Buhen (Millard 1979:pl. 78) or at Sesebi (Spence et al. 2011:37; Rose 2012:fig. 3). Black-topped ware from Sai city also includes a number of various dishes and bowls, finding parallels both at Kerma and other sites of the Kerma culture (Gratien 1978:36, fig. 7.1-b; Gratien 2002:224, fig. 3; Helmbold-Doyé & Seiler 2012:35 with references) and at Elephantine (Budka 2018; Raue 2018). There are several varieties concerning the quality of the manufacture, especially of the polished surfaces and this suggests both a local production and a possible import from Kerma city. As noted by Gratien and Miellé, there are also peculiar vessels which copy black-topped wares but differ in surface treatment.24 For example, sav1n n/c 101 from sector sav1 North is clearly not a proper Classic Kerma beaker but rather a local imitation (Fig. 6).
Various black-topped wares from Sai city, sector sav1 North
Citation: Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia 5, 1 (2025) ; 10.1163/26670755-04020011
drawings © acrossborders projectExample of probably locally made black-topped beaker from sav1 North, n/c 101
Citation: Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia 5, 1 (2025) ; 10.1163/26670755-04020011
photo: n. bozet © acrossborders projectSome of the fine burnished Kerma vessels from Sai city show the silvery band characteristic of Classic Kerma productions, type ciii after Gratien (see Fig. 24) (Gratien 1978:210; Gratien 1986:431–432), differing from the evidence from early Eighteenth Dynasty levels at Sesebi, where this band has not yet been reported (Rose 2017:466).
Medium black-topped, red-burnished ware comprises also hole-mouthed jars, of which sav1e 226/2013 (Fig. 7) is a good example as well as globular bowls like sav1n n/c 1135 (Fig. 32).
Hole-mouthed jar of black-topped red burnished ware, sav1e 226/2013
Citation: Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia 5, 1 (2025) ; 10.1163/26670755-04020011
drawing © acrossborders projectIncised Wares
Most often made in Nubian Fabric 2, incised wares are attested as bowls and as shapes presumably functioning as cooking pots (based on the burnt or smoked exterior and interior surfaces). Here, the style of hatched decoration of the Pan-Grave tradition can be found (de Souza 2019:46–48 and passim). Oblique, vertical and horizontal incised decoration is attested at Sai, using both a comb as well as a sharply pointed tool (Fig. 8). Cross-hatch and braid motif are rare; the latter is for example illustrated by a body sherd of a globular bowl, sav1n n/c 966.2 (Fig. 9) (cf. de Souza 2019:225, fig. 37 and 229, fig. 49). The inner surface of these vessels is burnished or smoothed and the exterior surface often uncoated, with the rim zone burnished or smoothed. In general, such incised wet-smoothed wares are quite common in late Second Intermediate Period and Eighteenth Dynasty Nubian assemblages (cf. Ayers & Moeller 2012:113, fig. 8). It is well established that these show both reflections of Middle Kerma style and similarities with Pan-Grave assemblages from Lower Nubian contexts (Giuliani 2006; Gatto et al. 2012; de Souza 2019:143–144), illustrating the multi-cultural background of the Classic Kerma time and its material culture. Incised horizontal lines on dark-brown ware like sav1n n/c 1141.2 (Budka 2016a:53, fig. 3 bottom) and sav1w 591/2014 (Fig. 43, bottom) are attested from Elephantine (Raue 2018:fig. 100) and Lower Nubia (Gratien 2000:123) to Upper Nubia like Sai and Sesebi (Rose 2017:fig. 1.7) until the Fourth Cataract (Włodarska 2014:324, pl. 9).
Examples of incised wares from Sai city
Citation: Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia 5, 1 (2025) ; 10.1163/26670755-04020011
drawings © acrossborders projectNubian body sherd sav1n n/c 966.2 from sav1 North with braid motif
Citation: Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia 5, 1 (2025) ; 10.1163/26670755-04020011
photo: g. d’ercole © acrossborders projectOne interesting and unique example was excavated in a test trench in the northeastern part of the town, above the destroyed town wall, sav1ne 2009/2016 (Fig. 10). It is a globular bowl with a direct, slightly inverted rim. The rim top is decorated with short incised lines and below the rim zone, a pattern of hanging triangles with horizontal incised lines is visible. This piece finds parallels in the Middle Kerma tradition (Gratien 1986:146–147, figs. 136–137).25 The context in Sai city makes it clear that this is not a residual piece, because it is associated with Eighteenth Dynasty pottery (particularly Thutmoside pottery). This bowl is thus rather an indicator for the continuous use of ‘older’ decoration styles of the Kerma tradition in the Sai region.
Example of incised bowl with pending triangles, sav1ne 2009/2016
Citation: Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia 5, 1 (2025) ; 10.1163/26670755-04020011
drawing © acrossborders projectImpressed Decoration
Impressed decoration has a very long tradition in Sudanese pottery manufacture (D’Ercole 2017; also Raue 2018), is particularly well-attested in the C-Group tradition and is also known in various forms from Sai city. These wares are most commonly made in Nubian Fabric 2 and used for smaller vessels of mostly closed types (Fig. 11). sav1n n/c 1282 exemplifies a necked jar with impressed decoration which is attested several times from the northern sector. Here, the rocker technique seems to have been used rather than a comb. The dish sav1e 1357a/2015 with an impressed surface is evidence for the use of this surface treatment also for open forms (Fig. 12). The shape with a slight shoulder and a vertical direct, rounded rim is unusual and has no parallel within Sai city. The diagonal lines and the simple herringbone pattern motif correspond to the Middle Kerma tradition (Gratien 1986:396–398, fig. 297).
Examples of closed forms with impressed decoration
Citation: Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia 5, 1 (2025) ; 10.1163/26670755-04020011
drawings © acrossborders projectExamples of open forms with impressed decoration
Citation: Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia 5, 1 (2025) ; 10.1163/26670755-04020011
drawings © acrossborders projectAnother group of impressed decoration, made in Nubian Fabric 2, is red ware with impressed decoration of which only some sherds of closed vessels have survived (Fig. 13). The impressions are made by a sharply pointed tool and not with a comb. Such decorated red ware is common in the Middle Kerma tradition and has recently been found in the Fourth Cataract area (see e.g. Bagińska 2010:412, fig. 3m; Emberling et al. 2014:334, pl. 8A). Closely related to this group is the rim sherd sav1w p125.2 of a deep almost hemispherical bowl in a fine-medium red ware (Nubian Fabric 2) with comb-impressed decoration (Fig. 14).
Example of red ware with impressed decoration, sav1n n/c 376
Citation: Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia 5, 1 (2025) ; 10.1163/26670755-04020011
photo: n. bozet © acrossborders projectGlobular bowl of red, impressed ware (sav1w p125.2)
Citation: Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia 5, 1 (2025) ; 10.1163/26670755-04020011
drawing © acrossborders projectImpressed ware is also attested in the very coarse Nubian Fabric 4. Large vessels, especially storage jars of this fabric, often show comb-impressed rim decoration. Most common is the Classic Kerma Type C ix (after Gratien) which appears in the local Kerma cemetery but also in the New Kingdom town (see sav1n n/c 650 from sav1 North, Fig. 15. Budka 2017d:130–131, fig. 57; Budka 2020a:225).
Storage vessel N/C 650 from sav1 North
Citation: Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia 5, 1 (2025) ; 10.1163/26670755-04020011
drawing © acrossborders projectMedium and Coarse Wares
The most common Nubian fabric in Sai city is Nubian Fabric 3 which is attested for several medium and coarse wares with various surface treatments. The typical shape is a cooking pot which may vary regarding its size, rim shape and general outline. Various types of basketry, including combinations on one vessel, are attested for these cooking pots on Sai (Figs. 16–21). The most common type is the plaited basketry, very often with large rectangular impressions (Figs. 16-17). A distinct rim or rim zone is typical. Medium sized rectangular patterns are also attested (Fig. 18). Well-attested are also the twined basketry impression and the so-called angareeb type (see Fig. 6, sav1e 1357b/2015).26 Circular rounded impressions from basketry are only rarely known from Sai city, supporting the interpretation of Brigitte Gratien of it being linked to Kerma decoration styles (as well as manufacturing technique) (Gratien 2000:122; see also Miellé 2014:390). Small impressions from basketry are often visible in the upper part of vessels, as was also observed in Sesebi (Figs. 19-21) (Rose 2012:19, fig. 4.16). One globular cooking pot from sav1 West attests in Nubian Fabric 2 a black-topped rim zone with small impressions (sav1w 0753.3/2015, Fig. 30).
Basketry-impressed (large rectangular patterns) cooking pots from sav1 North
Citation: Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia 5, 1 (2025) ; 10.1163/26670755-04020011
drawings © acrossborders projectBasketry-impressed (large rectangular patterns) cooking pots from sav1 North
Citation: Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia 5, 1 (2025) ; 10.1163/26670755-04020011
drawings © acrossborders projectBasketry-impressed (medium rectangular patterns and small circular rounded impressions) cooking pots from sav1 North
Citation: Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia 5, 1 (2025) ; 10.1163/26670755-04020011
drawings © acrossborders projectBasketry-impressed (mostly large rectangular patterns) cooking pots from sav1 North
Citation: Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia 5, 1 (2025) ; 10.1163/26670755-04020011
drawings © acrossborders projectBasketry-impressed (various patterns) cooking pots from sav1 North
Citation: Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia 5, 1 (2025) ; 10.1163/26670755-04020011
drawings © acrossborders projectBasketry-impressed cooking pots from sav1 West with combination of small and large basketry
Citation: Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia 5, 1 (2025) ; 10.1163/26670755-04020011
drawings © acrossborders projectCoarse variations of cooking ware in Nubian Fabric 3 also appears with large finger impressions and scraped surfaces (Fig. 22). Medium to coarse uncoated but smoothed surfaces are especially common at sav1 East but appear in all sectors of the town (Fig. 23).
Coarse ware cooking pots from sav1 West with finger impressions
Citation: Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia 5, 1 (2025) ; 10.1163/26670755-04020011
drawings © acrossborders projectGlobular bowls of uncoated medium coarse ware from sav1 North
Citation: Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia 5, 1 (2025) ; 10.1163/26670755-04020011
drawings © acrossborders projectVery Coarse Ware
A special subgroup of Nubian wares from Sai are made in Nubian Fabric 4 and represent large, thick-walled storage vessels. The rim area is commonly wet-smoothed and often the lip/rim bears impressed decoration created by a comb (see Fig. 15). Such storage vessels in a very coarse ware are rather rare within Sai city but attested in all sectors and associated with the earliest levels. Since no wasters or unfired sherd of this ware were found, it remains unclear whether these vessels were all produced in Classic Kerma times and survived because of a long use-life of the pots into the New Kingdom, or whether the production actually continued during the Eighteenth Dynasty.
Nubian Shapes of New Kingdom Sai
The most common types of Nubian pottery in Sai city are cooking pots (c. 90%), followed by cups, dishes and bowls (c. 7%). Beakers, jars, storage vessels and other shapes are rare (c. 3%). Since a beakers, dishes and jars with flaring rim share a common rim type, an attribution to a specific vessel was not always possible for small fragments of rim sherds, especially for black-topped wares.
Regarding the function of the vessels, fine wares for serving and drinking, cooking ware and storage vessels are attested (Smith 2003a:113–124). The following overview of the repertoire of Nubian shapes in Sai city includes examples from sav1 North, the northern sector (see also Miellé 2014). The focus here is on the Eighteenth Dynasty corpus of Nubian pottery with a special emphasis on material associated with the early to mid-Eighteenth Dynasty. This does not mean that Nubian hand-made wares completely disappear afterwards. There are some Nubian sherds associated with late Eighteenth Dynasty layers in Sai, but not from undisturbed contexts as for the earlier phases. Although Ramesside ceramic material is attested in Sai city, there were no possibilities to associate Nubian sherds with the Nineteenth Dynasty because of mixed contexts and the lack of undisturbed strata. In general, the peak of the presence of Nubian style ceramics in Sai city is the early to mid-Eighteenth Dynasty.27
Dishes and Bowls (Figs. 24–26)
Black-topped dishes and large cups or bowls with a rounded base of Classic Kerma ware like sav1n n/c 848.1a are most common within the fine wares (Fig. 24) (cf. Budka & Doyen 2013:193; also Miellé 2014:391, fig. 7). Variants of carinated dishes, reminiscent of Middle Kerma types are rarely attested. sav1n n/c 1190.7 is an example of presumably locally produced copies of black-topped wares which are medium-fine, markedly thick-walled and with different surface finishing (Fig. 25). This example is black polished on its interior and exterior up to the carination point but was left uncoated and just wet-smoothed below the carination on the exterior surface.
Black-topped dishes and bowls with silvery band from sav1 North
Citation: Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia 5, 1 (2025) ; 10.1163/26670755-04020011
drawings © acrossborders projectLocal imitation of Kerma black-topped ware, sav1n n/c 1190.7
Citation: Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia 5, 1 (2025) ; 10.1163/26670755-04020011
drawing © acrossborders projectThe deep dish sav1e 1357b/2015 (see above, Fig. 12) is unique with its basketry impressed surface of angareeb-style and irregular, angular rim. This piece with a direct rounded rim is partly reminiscent of the typical ‘horned bowls’ of the Pan-Grave tradition, showing an irregular rim and a pattern similar to the herringbone motif (de Souza 2019:236, fig. 65). Another example from sav1 North, sav1n n/c 1213.4 (Fig. 26), illustrates that basketry impression was also used for more typical open shapes.28 In general, as illustrated by the examples of Fig. 26, the shape, rim type, size and surface treatment of deep bowls varies within the Nubian style pottery from Sai.
Various dishes and deep bowls from Sai city with different surface treatments
Citation: Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia 5, 1 (2025) ; 10.1163/26670755-04020011
drawings © acrossborders projectCups (Fig. 27)
Various black-topped cups from Sai city
Citation: Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia 5, 1 (2025) ; 10.1163/26670755-04020011
drawings © acrossborders projectHemispherical cups of Kerma black-topped ware are well attested and differ regarding their size, outline and shape. They were found in all sectors of the town and were probably used as drinking cups.
Beakers (Fig. 28)
Bottom part of black-topped beaker from sav1 West, sav1w 431/2017
Citation: Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia 5, 1 (2025) ; 10.1163/26670755-04020011
drawing © acrossborders projectThe Classic Kerma black-topped tulip-shaped beakers are present at Sai city in several sizes. The smallest ones find close parallels at sites in Egypt, e.g. Elephantine and Ezbet Helmi (cf. Fig. 5).29 Only in rare cases, the quality of the surface finishing is comparable to beakers known from Kerma itself. In general, comparable types of black-topped beakers are well known from other colonial sites in Nubia, e.g. at Buhen (Emery et al. 1979:pl. 78) or at Sesebi (Spence et al. 2011:37; Rose 2012:fig. 3). The general distribution of this Leitform of Classic Kerma covers the entire Nile Valley from the Fourth Cataract up to the Nile delta (Helmbold-Doyé & Seiler 2019:404 with references).
Globular Bowls and Cooking Pots (Figs. 29–32)
Globular bowls and cooking pots represent a large group of various shapes and constitute the most common Nubian types in Sai city. All vessels have slightly inverted or vertical cut rims, which can be either rounded or angular (Fig. 29). Various surface treatments are attested among which the most common is basketry impressed surfaces (Fig. 30), followed by incised decoration (see Fig. 8).30 Sometimes only the upper parts of rims are decorated with simple incised lines as in the case of sav1n n/c 852.4 (Fig. 31). Basketry impressed cooking pots (identifiable by means of soot on the lower parts of the vessels and the outer surfaces) can also have pre-firing indents on the rim, as illustrated by sav1n n/c 873.2 (Fig. 18).31 Black-topped cooking pots are also attested. sav1n n/c 1135 (Fig. 32) was well burnished on its interior surface, has a black-topped rim on red burnished surface outside and can be safely interpreted as a cooking vessel owing to traces of smoke and soot on its outer surface.
Various globular bowls/cooking pots from sav1 West, uncoated surface
Citation: Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia 5, 1 (2025) ; 10.1163/26670755-04020011
drawings © acrossborders projectBasketry impressed globular bowls/cooking pots from sav1 West
Citation: Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia 5, 1 (2025) ; 10.1163/26670755-04020011
drawings © acrossborders projectVarious globular bowls/cooking pots from sav1 North
Citation: Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia 5, 1 (2025) ; 10.1163/26670755-04020011
drawings © acrossborders projectVarious globular bowls/cooking pots from Sai city
Citation: Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia 5, 1 (2025) ; 10.1163/26670755-04020011
drawings © acrossborders projectJars (Figs. 33–34)
Necked jars with rounded rims and basketry impressed bodies are commonly found in Eighteenth Dynasty contexts of Sai city (Fig. 33) (Miellé 2014:389–390). They differ regarding their rim shape and show variations in the neck (Miellé 2014:389, fig. 5). Comparable examples are known from other colonial sites like Sesebi as well as from Elephantine.32 All of the Nubian style jars are round based and most have globular to bag-like shapes. There are also variants with rim impressed decoration like sav1n n/c 1282 (Fig. 11).
Nubian style jar and storage vessel from sav1 West
Citation: Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia 5, 1 (2025) ; 10.1163/26670755-04020011
drawings © acrossborders projectApart from basketry impressed jars there are also wet-smoothed surfaces as well as black-topped variants. The latter usually has a slightly marked rim and rather short necks, e.g. like sav1w p136.1 (Fig. 33 bottom). There is no firm evidence for black-topped globular jars with flaring rim of type C iii of Gratien (Gratien 1986:fig. 321h). However, sav1w p170 (Fig. 34) is the rim of a rather fine black-topped red-polished ware and most probably a globular, short-necked jar as attested at Soleb (Gratien 1978:44, fig. 9).
Rim sherd of black-topped jar from sav1 West
Citation: Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia 5, 1 (2025) ; 10.1163/26670755-04020011
drawing © acrossborders projectStorage Vessels (see Fig. 15)
Nubian style storage vessels in Sai city seem to have in most cases a larger capacity than standard contemporaneous Egyptian style vessels and show often traces of repair in the form of repair holes.33 This is also the case for the black-topped rim fragment sav1w p136.1 of a jar (see Fig. 33) which shows one repair hole.
From all sectors in the New Kingdom town, Brigitte Gratien’s Type C ix is well attested, both as rim and body sherds. A complete globular storage jar of this type, sav1n n/c 650, was found together with Egyptian style pottery of the early Eighteenth Dynasty in sav1 North (Fig. 15) (Gratien 1985:pl. 5c; Gratien 1986:434–435, fig. 324c; cf. Budka 2011:27). Four post-fired repair holes are preserved on the upper part of N/C 650, indicating a long use-life for this large sized vessel before it was deposited together with the Eighteenth Dynasty types. Parallels are known from the Kerma cemeteries at Sai, Soleb and Kerma (Gratien 1978:36, fig. 7, 44, fig. 9, 59, fig. 14) as well as at Ginis (personal observation), but also at other colonial towns in Nubia (e.g. Askut, Dukki Gel, Sesebi; see Smith 2003b:fig. 3.11; Rose 2012:fig. 7.44) and rural sites like Attab West AtW 001 (personal observation) as well as at sites in Egypt, Elephantine (personal observation) and Edfu (de Souza 2020b:326, fig. 9d).
Examples from sav1 East
In the following sections, relevant examples for Nubian style ceramics from sav1 East and statistical numbers are presented. According to sherd count for the sav1 East sector (without the complete material from season 2017), the total number of Nubian sherds is 1301, which accounts for 3.0% of the total New Kingdom material and to 6.5% of the diagnostics (Fig. 35).34 The Nubian wares are predominantly cooking ware (89.5%), in particular of Nubian Fabric 3 with basketry impressions (Fig. 36).35 Only 1.9% are storage vessels, 5.5% fine wares including serving dishes and 3.1% are decorated wares, mostly with incised decoration (Fig. 37).
Statistics of sherd material from sav1 East
Citation: Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia 5, 1 (2025) ; 10.1163/26670755-04020011
Basketry-impressed cooking pots from sav1 East
Citation: Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia 5, 1 (2025) ; 10.1163/26670755-04020011
drawings © acrossborders projectProportions of Nubian wares from sav1 East
Citation: Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia 5, 1 (2025) ; 10.1163/26670755-04020011
Stratified contexts that produced ceramics including Nubian wares are rare at sav1 East. One early Eighteenth Dynasty and one Thutmoside context were documented as undisturbed. Finds attributable to the late Eighteenth Dynasty and Ramesside period at sav1 East come from mixed layers.
The Earliest Strata
The earliest building phase at sav1 East represents the northern extension of occupation remains with simple, workshop-like structures and storage facilities that had been excavated in the 1970s below and around Temple A (Azim & Carlotti 2012). Michel Azim was able to show that these occupation remains are pre-Thutmose iii in date and proposed that they represent a Kerma level (Azim & Carlotti 2012:34–36) based on some Nubian sherds found in these structures and parallels with the Kerma rural settlement of Gism el-Arba (Azim & Carlotti 2012:35, note 59).36 However, the new excavations at sav1 East proved that these remains are already New Kingdom in date. The state of preservation at sav1 East is limited, but a minimum of four building units in the southern part of this sector can be reconstructed. The east-west orientation of this early phase of domestic buildings around Temple A and at sav1 East is strikingly similar to the later phase representing Building A and is also comparable to the Thutmoside structures in sav1, the southern sector of the town (Budka 2020a:99).
One of these early buildings encompasses Feature 14. This is a complete small plaster-coated installation set directly against the gravel (1.82 m x 1.20 m).37 Feature 14 still held two complete Egyptian style pottery vessels in situ, dating to the early Eighteenth Dynasty rather than the Second Intermediate Period (Budka 2013:82; Budka 2017e:433, figs. 4–5). Within Feature 14 and its surroundings several fragments of Nubian style vessels were found, in particular Kerma black-topped wares (comparable to Figs. 5 and 24). The associated Egyptian style material allows a close dating of these sherds to the early Eighteenth Dynasty. Other than proposed by Azim, there is no Kerma level predating the Egyptian occupation in this area of Sai city. The Classic Kerma ware is rather associated with early Eighteenth Dynasty Egyptian style pottery.
Thutmoside Examples
In the northern area of sector sav1 East traces of a large structure labelled Building A of the mid-Eighteenth Dynasty were documented (Budka 2013; Budka 2015b:62–63). Within this building, a large cellar, Feature 15,38 yielded more than 100 complete pottery vessels and is therefore significant for the mid-Eighteenth Dynasty pottery corpus of sav1 East (Budka 2018:155–158). The Nubian wares from Feature 15 are limited to broken fragments and sherds. A total of 69 sherds represents 3.3% of the entire material found, but 44.5% of the diagnostics. The majority is basketry impressed and coarse cooking ware and only a few sherds of black-topped cups and beakers are notable (Fig. 38). Given the high proportion of Nubian wares when counted as diagnostic pottery from Feature 15, it is especially noteworthy that only one fragment of an Egyptian cooking pot was found in Feature 15, compared to more than 60 sherds of cooking ware in Nubian style.39 This considerable difference in proportions is unlikely to be a coincidence and is of particular interest since Building A seems to be associated with the administration of Sai city.
Proportions of Nubian wares from Feature 15
Citation: Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia 5, 1 (2025) ; 10.1163/26670755-04020011
Unusual Examples
One context in sector sav1 East yielded three unusual Nubian style vessels. The find context sav1e 1357/2015 is a debris layer in the area of Building A. It comprises mid-Eighteenth Dynasty material mixed with Late Christian material. 27 Nubian sherds were noted, of which 24 show basketry impression, two impressed decoration and one was wet-smoothed. Two hand-made dishes of Nubian style with impressed decoration are unusual. These vessels (sav1e 1357a and b/2015) were already described above and find no parallel within the New Kingdom assemblage from Sai (see Fig. 12).
The third unusual piece from this find context is sav1e 1357c/2015 (Fig. 39). This globular cooking pot shows two applied knobs below the rim. These are similar to ledge or horizontal handles of cooking ware well attested in Medieval contexts (see, e.g., Wodzińska 2010:Medieval 26, 62, 68). Although there are applied knobs attested for Nubian bowls in the Bronze Age (see, e.g., Aston & Bietak 2017:513, fig. 15m), because of the mixed context of the piece from Sai, a late date is preferable. This would also correspond to the fabric of sav1e 1357c/2015 which is sandier than the usual New Kingdom Nubian fabrics of Sai. The late date of this pot raises certain caveats regarding the dating of the dishes sav1e 1357a and b/2015 – these cannot be safely attributed to the Eighteenth Dynasty and might also belong to a Post-New Kingdom tradition.
Unusual Nubian globular jar of uncertain date from sav1 East. sav1e 1357c/2015
Citation: Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia 5, 1 (2025) ; 10.1163/26670755-04020011
drawing © acrossborders projectExamples from sav1 West
The architecture of sector sav1 West is dominated by the town enclosure and six domestic structures with several building phases during the Eighteenth Dynasty to the east of the town wall (Fig. 40). The majority of the ceramics from this part of Sai city derives from deposits covering mud brick remains and often representing mixed filling layers. In the following, selected contexts with a focus on stratified and undisturbed contexts will be discussed.
Map of sector sav1 West with location of six domestic structures
Citation: Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia 5, 1 (2025) ; 10.1163/26670755-04020011
In general, Nubian wares make up 1.9% of all New Kingdom sherds from sav1 West and 8.5% of the diagnostics (Fig. 41). Within the wares, basketry impressed (Fig. 42) and coarse cooking wares are dominant (91.7%), fine ware is less than 5% and decorated wares – i.e. incised and impressed pieces – are present but rare at only 2.1% (Fig. 43). Storage vessels make up 1.6% of the Nubian assemblage (Fig. 44). These proportions of the functional classes compare well to the data from sector sav1 East (see also below).
Statistics of sherd material from sav1 West
Citation: Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia 5, 1 (2025) ; 10.1163/26670755-04020011
Basketry-impressed (large rectangular patterns) cooking pots from sav1 West
Citation: Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia 5, 1 (2025) ; 10.1163/26670755-04020011
drawings © acrossborders projectIncised decorated globular bowls from sav1 West
Citation: Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia 5, 1 (2025) ; 10.1163/26670755-04020011
drawings © acrossborders projectProportions of Nubian wares from sav1 West
Citation: Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia 5, 1 (2025) ; 10.1163/26670755-04020011
One ceramic rich assemblage, stratigraphic unit (su) 507 in Square 1, can be taken as a specific case study of the general proportions of Nubian wares in sav1 West. This su yielded mixed material from the early, mid- and late Eighteenth Dynasty and included some Ramesside pieces. Within a total of 10579 counted sherds, 263 pieces are Nubian wares, thus 2.5% of the material. Most of the Nubian wares are basketry impressed cooking pots (82.9%). Some coarse cooking ware of Nubian 3 fabric (9.6%) and a few incised bowls (1.9%) are also present (Table 1). Serving vessels like dishes, cups and beakers in black-topped fine ware attest to 3.4% (9 pieces). Wet-smoothed ware of the Nubian 2 fabric was used for jars in su 507 and account to 2.2%.
The Earliest Contexts
The earliest building in sav1 West is Structure A (Fig. 40), located in Square 1S.40 Nubian wares from Structure A comprise mostly basketry impressed cooking ware and black-topped fine ware. They account to 17% of the diagnostics (Fig. 45). If one looks at one specific context, su 718, the association with Egyptian style ceramics is interesting (Fig. 46). Most of the ceramic material (a total of 44 sherds) can be related to drinking purposes, namely beer jars and beakers (incl. black-topped wares, 81.8%). There are also a considerable number of dishes (11.4%) and only 6.8% of cooking ware in total. The significant proportion of Nubian wares, especially of cooking wares, is therefore relevant; three pieces, 6.8% of the total and 37.5% of the diagnostics; one Nubian Fabric 1 black-topped beaker and two Nubian fabric 3 basketry impressed cooking pots.
Proportions of Nubian wares from Structure A
Citation: Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia 5, 1 (2025) ; 10.1163/26670755-04020011
Proportions of functional wares from su 718
Citation: Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia 5, 1 (2025) ; 10.1163/26670755-04020011
This context is also of interest in terms of architecture. su 718 was documented as the stratified deposit in the northwestern inner corner of Feature 121, where several bricks form a roughly triangular bin-like structure (Fig. 47).41 Such brick-built settings against inner corners of rooms are unusual in Egyptian domestic architecture but are found in the city of Kerma.42 Since Structure A represents the earliest New Kingdom structure at sav1 West, these parallels to indigenous Nubian mud brick architecture raise several questions.
Location of su 718 in Structure A, sav1 West
Citation: Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia 5, 1 (2025) ; 10.1163/26670755-04020011
- (a)there was a smooth transition from the rule of the Kerma princes of Sai and the Egyptian colonialists;
- (b)the Egyptian colonialists involved some of the local occupants with tasks within Sai city very early on;
- (c)the Egyptian colonialists arrived in Upper Nubia with some Nubians in their troops, maybe persons from Lower Nubia who already experienced a conversion of their own culture and were thus responsible for ‘cross-over’ details and practices in the newly established colonial site at Sai.
A mix of these scenarios is also possible and first of all this case study illustrates that the micro perspective within colonial state-built towns offers important insights into dynamics within a standardised framework which are most likely the results of individual choices and of social significance rather than reflecting cultural markers.43
Thutmoside Contexts
Structure C at sav1 West belongs to a later phase from the mid-Eighteenth Dynasty and comprises the cellar Feature 115 (Fig. 40).44 The finds from this cellar represent an undisturbed context of Thutmoside times, in particular the filling layers su s 731 and 732 (Fig. 48). The Nubian sherds from Feature 115 are more than 30% of the diagnostics and a total of 150 pieces. Cooking ware is dominant at 90.7%, but fine ware is also well attested (8%) and there are also some large storage vessels (1.3%) (Fig. 49).
Location of su 732, Feature 115 in sav1 West
Citation: Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia 5, 1 (2025) ; 10.1163/26670755-04020011
Proportions of Nubian wares from Feature 115
Citation: Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia 5, 1 (2025) ; 10.1163/26670755-04020011
Figure 50 illustrates some vessels from Feature 115. The decorated Egyptian marl clay vessel gives a good indication of the mid-Eighteenth Dynasty dating. The Nubian bowl sav1w 795/2014 is a medium coarse ware with incised rim. There are very rough scraping traces on the exterior surface of this vessel. sav1w 839/2015 is a body sherd of a decorated jar with an impressed comb-decoration using typical Kerma motifs like dotted lines and herringbone.
Some vessels from Feature 115
Citation: Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia 5, 1 (2025) ; 10.1163/26670755-04020011
drawings © acrossborders projectAnother important context in sav1 West is Feature 151 in Structure E (see Fig. 40).45 This feature is an oval-shaped storage pit set up in a courtyard of this building and clearly datable to Thutmoside times. A total of 34 Nubian sherds were documented, making up 4.9% of all the New Kingdom sherds and 15.2% of the diagnostics from Feature 151. Of that total, 28 pieces are made of Nubian Fabric 3 and are basketry impressed cooking ware (82.3%), two of which are also of Nubian Fabric 3 but uncoated coarse ware (5.9%). The four other pieces are sherds of black-topped fine ware in Nubian Fabric 1 (11.8%; Fig. 51). Thus, the percentage of Nubian fine ware in this cellar is much higher than on average in Sai city.
Proportions of Nubian wares from Feature 151
Citation: Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia 5, 1 (2025) ; 10.1163/26670755-04020011
The appearance of a combination of cooking ware and fine ware in cellars and silos filled predominately with Egyptian ceramics of the Thutmoside era also finds a close parallel at sav1 North (Budka 2017d:141–148). Thus, it seems safe to assume that this is a regular pattern in the two sectors which yielded small-scale domestic architecture from the mid-Eighteenth Dynasty. The specific quantities and proportions of wares in such contexts vary within Sai city.
Special Cases
Within the corpus of Nubian ceramics from sav1 West a single sherd allows comparisons with the large group of ‘hybrid cooking pots’ from Elephantine, which also finds parallels at Edfu. At Elephantine, these wheel-made imitations of Nubian cooking pots with red rims and incised decoration have been labelled as Medjay-imitations by Dietrich Raue (Raue 2017; see also Budka 2018:158; de Souza 2020b). These vessels combine a Nubian style surface treatment with the Egyptian forming technique (wheel-made) as well as the use of an Egyptian Nile clay rather than a Nubian fabric, including an oxidised firing procedure.46 The cooking pot sav1w 0286/2015 (Fig. 52) has an Egyptian-like red rim, but a Nubian incised decoration, comparable to the pieces from the sites in Egypt. It is wheel-made, attesting that this vessel is something new and neither ‘Nubian’ nor ‘Egyptian’.
Hybrid cooking pot from sav1 West, sav1w 0286/2015
Citation: Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia 5, 1 (2025) ; 10.1163/26670755-04020011
drawing © acrossborders projectRemarks on the Quantities and Proportions of Nubian Wares
The sectors sav1 East and sav1 West share some common features but also differ regarding their architecture (Budka 2020a:92–100 and 133–140). Their similar stratigraphy and the fact that they are contemporaneous is highly relevant when comparing the Nubian wares. The sherd count of the Nubian pottery according to wares and shapes offered information on the function and use of these vessels. The general proportions between functional classes like serving ware, cooking ware and storage vessels are very similar in both sectors, as well as in sav1 North. The main difference between the two sectors discussed here is that within the cooking ware, a higher proportion of pots without basketry is notable in the eastern sector. Within the complete set of ceramics, including the Egyptian material, the few undisturbed contexts at both sectors indicate that Nubian cooking ware outnumbered Egyptian cooking pots.
Most importantly, the quantities of Nubian wares do not seem to decrease considerably from the early Eighteenth Dynasty contexts to the mid-Eighteenth Dynasty contexts.47 In the early strata, the Nubian material of in situ-deposits accounts to c. 20–40% of the diagnostics in both sav1 East and sav1 West. The Thutmoside heyday of Sai city saw marked changes in the architecture including large cellars and administrative buildings, but undisturbed contexts still show between 15–35% of the diagnostics as Nubian style pottery. This is highly relevant for reconstructing social practices related to cooking, serving and storing in domestic contexts in Sai city. These practices are likely to have involved people local to Sai from the beginning, whose roles within the communities probably changed slightly over time.48
Apart from such undisturbed contexts, the general quantities of Nubian wares in the entire corpus of New Kingdom pottery from Sai city is rather low (3.0% at sav1 East and only 1.9% at sav1 West), in particular compared to other colonial sites in New Kingdom Nubia like Sesebi. In the early Eighteenth Dynasty levels of Sesebi, c. 7% were attributed to Nubian hand-made wares (Rose 2017:466, percentage according to sherd counts like in Sai). However, the site of Dukki Gel at Kerma with its ceremonial complexes which include a ‘Nubian complex’ is particularly interesting and more similar to Sai in this respect. The vessel corpus from the Nubian complex included only 2.6% of common Nubian ware (Ruffieux 2014:418, percentage according to sherd counts like in Sai). Thus, it becomes clear that a context-related and site-specific assessment of quantities of Nubian style wares in New Kingdom contexts is needed. What we consider as ‘traditionally Egyptian’ or ‘traditionally Nubian’ were probably fluid categories at different sites housing different populations.49
Dating and Development
The dating of the Nubian style pottery from Sai city strongly depends on the associated Egyptian ceramics. It is very likely that ‘old’ Classic Kerma shapes and wares (i.e. black-topped beakers and storage vessels with impressed rim) survived because of an appealing design in the case of the black-topped vessels (cf. Walsh 2018) and because of a practical use in the case of the storage vessels. These types of vessels, which are consistent with material from the Kerma cemetery on Sai, cannot be used as chronological markers. Their long use might also have been stimulated by the difficulty to replace these objects, with a break in the Classic Kerma ceramic production on the island and political tensions with the kingdom of Kerma (cf. Stevens & Garnett 2017:302). Such a break in the ceramic tradition during the so-called Recent Kerma period/early New Kingdom is supported by the appearance of ‘new’ shapes in the early strata of the town which are missing in the Classic Kerma cemetery on the island: jars with basketry impressions and cooking pots with large rectangular basketry impressions (replacing the smaller impressions of the earlier Kerma tradition, see Gratien 2000). The incised and comb-impressed wares are difficult to address as either ‘old’ pieces or just showing ‘long-lasting’ decorative motifs as many are affiliated to Middle Kerma traditions.
A certain reference to earlier periods is also evident in the Egyptian style material, thus within the complete pottery corpus. The earliest levels at sav1 East and sav1 West which are comparable to Level 5 at sav1 North can firmly be associated with the Eighteenth Dynasty. The ceramics still partly show features of the Second Intermediate Period tradition and are sometimes even reminiscent of the Middle Kingdom (this compares well to ‘Bauschicht 11’ on Elephantine; see Seiler 1999:205–223). Such an overlap in styles is typical for the early phase of the Eighteenth Dynasty, particularly for Ahmose ii and Amenhotep i (Budka 2006; Budka 2016a; Budka 2017d:128). A considerable presence of Nubian cooking pots can be observed in these layers. Most common are basketry impressions on a coarse, chaff tempered ware (Nubian Fabric 3), but incised decoration on medium fine, straw-dung tempered fabrics are also present (Nubian Fabric 2). The basketry impressed wares show mostly the new rectangular patterns and not the earlier small circular mat impressions. This is consistent with the dating of the entire assemblage to the early New Kingdom rather than the Second Intermediate Period.
At sav1 East, the storage bin Feature 14 and its pottery as well as other findings can be dated to the early Eighteenth Dynasty. No evidence for a pre-Eighteenth Dynasty occupation at sav1 East was unearthed and this also applies to the zone around Temple A where the structures seem to be contemporaneous with Level 5/4 at sav1 North (Budka 2015b:61–62; Budka 2017h:19–21). In the excavated sectors of Sai city, there clearly are no Kerma levels predating the Egyptian occupation (Budka 2017e:432). The earliest remains, comprising primarily workshop-like structures and storage facilities, date back to the time span of Ahmose Nebpehtyra up to Thutmose i (Budka 2015a:50; Budka 2016a; Budka 2020a:99). Since some of the ceramics already show characteristics of Thutmoside style, the slightly later date under Thutmose i might be the most likely (Aston 2013; see also Budka 2016a; Budka 2017d:128–130). Last but not least, the complete corpus of Nubian pottery within the ceramics from Sai support this dating. Despite certain affinities to the Seventeenth Dynasty, the material markedly differs from the Classic Kerma cemetery on the island (Gratien 1986; Sackho-Autissier 2012:201–202, 207–208).
The Nubian material associated with the earliest levels in Sai city only slightly varies from the corpus associated with the Thutmoside levels. The same shapes and wares are attested, but the quantities of very fine Kerma black-topped ware decreases (note the exception of Feature 151 in sector sav1 West) as do the cooking pots and bowls with small circular basketry impressions.
Local and Regional Aspects of Nubian Style Pottery of Sai City
The AcrossBorders project combined archaeological investigations on both the micro- and the macro-level and addressed the meso-level as well (Budka 2020a:395–427). For the Nubian style pottery, there are some local as well as regional aspects which are worth highlighting. Together with other evidence, they help to better understand the involvement of New Kingdom Sai occupants in regional cultural traditions of Upper Nubia that were shaped by various aspects of intermingling as well as local reactions to colonial experiences.50
The entire rich ceramic material from the New Kingdom town of Sai finds ready parallels not only in other Egyptian foundations in Nubia, but also at various New Kingdom sites in Egypt. However, a local component of site-specific features was also noted. These are especially ‘hybrid’ types of ceramics which illustrate two-way influences of the Nubian and Egyptian pottery traditions at the site (see Figs. 25 and 52). These Nubian and Egyptian style vessels which are most commonly attested as cooking vessels can be considered as a materialisation of ‘cultural entanglement’51 illustrating the multiple and mixed lifestyles during the New Kingdom on Sai. Furthermore, the colonial experiences on Sai also resulted in a new style of painting wheel-made ceramics. Here, a group of deep bowls which is present in all sectors of the town is of particular interest. Similar vessels have been found in Askut where Stuart Tyson Smith interpreted the preference of wavy lines and painted triangles on these bowls as local Nubian style (Smith 2003b:fig. 3.7; Smith 2024; Budka 2018:153; also Miellé 2014:389; Rose 2018:136). Laurianne Miellé concentrated on the pendant triangles painted in black on red and which seemingly refer to earlier Nubian decoration patterns known from C-Group vessels and Middle Kerma bowls (Miellé 2014:387–389, fig. 4; Miellé 2016:431). However, this is not simply an inspiration by means of motif and technique as it was already proposed by Teodozija Rzeuska for incised patterns on Egyptian Marl A3 jars in the Middle Kingdom (Rzeuska 2010; Rzeuska 2012).52 Rather, there was a transformation in the execution style – namely incised motifs executed as painted decoration. Here, the colour scheme seems to have been influenced by the new black-on-red style which became fashionable in the early Eighteenth Dynasty, both in Egypt and New Kingdom Nubia (Helmbold-Doyé & Seiler 2019:271 and 299, with references). The shapes are markedly different from any Nubian style vessels and typically Egyptian; the production technique is also Egyptian, but in local variants of Nile clays. All in all, this new style of painted vessels must be seen as the embodiment of colonial experiences, transforming different cultural traditions to something new with multiple affinities in both directions (Fig. 53).
Locally produced wheel-made carinated bowls with “Nubian” inspired painted decoration
Citation: Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia 5, 1 (2025) ; 10.1163/26670755-04020011
drawings © acrossborders projectBoth the appearance of ‘hybrid’ cooking vessels and a new style of painted decoration is not unique on Sai. Its specific data set is local and should be considered within the microhistory of the island, but the general comparisons highlight the large network of the people living on Sai within New Kingdom Nubia and beyond. Here, in particular the ‘new’ Nubian cooking pots with large rectangular basketry impressions seem to be regional rather than local markers because such vessels are attested across a large region. They are known from the Middle Nile to Elephantine and the Oases with some finds including in northern Egypt. It was already stressed by scholars that it is impossible to associate these cooking vessels with one of the ‘cultural’ groups like Kerma or C-Group/Pan-Grave – they seem to be a more general ‘Nubian production’ (Gratien 2014:98 quoting Dietrich Raue). I would like to stress this ‘global’ character of these vessels within New Kingdom Nubia and propose to understand this feature as another material manifestation of colonial experiences, strongly building on Kerman traditions but creating something new, which was produced locally but used regionally.
It needs to be emphasized that the Nubian assemblage from Sai city is comparable to findings at other Upper Nubian sites established in the early Eighteenth Dynasty, like Sesebi (Rose 2012), but not identical. Local features might refer to the clay material, the fabric including the specific tempering and also shapes and vessel types.53 What is well established for the Egyptian corpus of New Kingdom Nubia also holds true for the Nubian style component of the material culture: there are many common features, but no single set from one site is identical with the one from another. Since Nubian ceramics are hand-made, small differences between the sites are maybe even more straightforward to understand than in the case of the wheel-made Egyptian style wares.
Another site of New Kingdom Nubia which shows both local and regional features is Dukki Gel (Bonnet 2018; Bonnet & Valbelle 2018). Much Egyptian and Nubian style ceramics from contexts datable to the early Eighteenth Dynasty and the period of Hatshepsut and Thutmose iii were here unearthed by the Swiss Mission (Ruffieux 2005; Ruffieux 2009; Ruffieux 2011; Ruffieux 2014). This ceramic corpus shows close parallels to both Sai and Sesebi, but also a strong Nubian component and a local style (Ruffieux 2016).
To conclude, Sai is another case study for a distinctive “local variation within a generally shared repertoire of material culture” (Näser 2017:566) commonly found in New Kingdom Nubia and originating from specific social practices.54
Beyond Sai: Nubian Diversity in the Hinterland of a New Kingdom Urban Centre
The AcrossBorders project focused on the cultural identity and social practices of the occupants of Sai Island, introducing a ‘cultural entanglement’ approach as a starting point (Budka 2020a:411–414 with references, esp.: van Pelt 2013; Smith & Buzon 2014; Smith & Buzon 2017). In the framework of the erc DiverseNile project, the aim is to overcome the current bias of research in New Kingdom Nubia caused by a focus on the elite, funerary remains and centers, introducing a detailed study of the Attab to Ferka region (Budka 2024a).
The Attab to Ferka region can be considered as the hinterland of Sai and Amara West (Fig. 54). This is of particular interest because we currently do not know whether the Egyptian term 5Aa.t (Shaat) which is already known from execration texts of the Middle Kingdom, actually refers to Sai as the island or to Sai as a region, marking the ‘chiefdom’ of the Nubian princes of Sai (Geus 2006:350–351; most recently Ullmann 2020:55–58). A closer understanding of the material culture in the Attab to Ferka region, including Nubian style pottery, could help in re-assessing this question. Preliminary work, conducted in the 1970s by Vila and more recently by the Amara West project and the Munich University Attab to Ferka Survey (muafs) project, shows close comparisons but also differences between this region and Sai (Vila 1976a–b; 1977a–b; Stevens & Garnett 2017; Budka 2019b; Budka 2020b; Budka 2022). Early Eighteenth Dynasty sites recently re-located by Anna Stevens and Anna Garnett in the surrounding of Amara West (which in the Eighteenth Dynasty would have been the hinterland of Sai as the only administrative centre of the region) yielded Nubian style wares very similar to the corpus from Sai presented in this paper (Stevens & Garnett 2017:299–300, figs. 15–16). Close parallels to these sites were recently excavated by the DiverseNile project in the district of Attab West, showing a comparable mix of Nubian style and Egyptian style ceramics (Budka et al. 2023; Budka 2024a).
The location of the Attab to Ferka region (muafs concession) in northern Sudan
Citation: Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia 5, 1 (2025) ; 10.1163/26670755-04020011
We understand the Attab to Ferka region as a ‘contact space’ following the concept proposed by Philipp Stockhammer and Bogdan Athanassov (Stockhammer & Athanassov 2018). During the Classic Kerma period, the area was one of the northernmost regions of the Kerma Kingdom, the realm of the princes of Sai/Shaat (Geus 2006:350–351). Following the campaigns of the kings of the early Eighteenth Dynasty, this part of the Middle Nile became one of the southernmost areas of direct influence by the Egyptians (Morris 2018:119–120). Since the ancient Egyptians divided the area between the First and Forth Cataract into Wawat (Lower Nubia) and Kush (Upper Nubia), being shaped by different groups and varying cultures (especially C-Group and then Pan-Grave Nubians differentiated from Kerma Nubians), the Attab to Ferka region located south of the Dal cataract is of particular relevance. The border between Lower and Upper Nubia is not clearly defined but assumed as either north or south of the Batn el-Hagar (see Smith 2003a:3, fig. 1; cf. also Nordström 2016 and recently Raue 2018:18–19), and thus closely connected to the study area of the DiverseNile project. One of the working hypotheses is that the region Shaat was distinct from what the Egyptians labelled as Kush in the Middle Kingdom and maybe also in the Second Intermediate Period. It is therefore also possible that Shaat in the New Kingdom was a separate entity belonging to Kush, but with regional preferences.
The main objective of DiverseNile is to reconstruct ‘contact space biographies’ beyond established cultural categories, enabling new insights into ancient dynamics of social spaces (Budka 2020b). The aim is to investigate cultural relations and coalitions between people on a regional level with a multidisciplinary approach. The various complex societies inhabiting the Attab to Ferka region and which were communicating with each other, reconfiguring, changing and developing through time will be documented. We believe that cultural categorisations cannot be used as long as we do not understand the social complexity of possible groups;55 this is reflected in the current paper by the use of ‘Nubian style’ rather than Kerma pottery or Pan-Grave pottery.
The nature of the coexistence of ‘Egyptians’ and ‘Nubians’ and how the occupants of these peripheral regions were in contact with the major New Kingdom administrative sites are essential aspects for any theory about cultural encounters. Consequently, cultural encounters will be investigated with a bottom-up approach considering the distribution of Bronze Age sites and their duration, settlement infrastructures, building techniques, productive activities and technologies, trade, diet, material culture, burial customs and religious practices as well as social structures. Aspects of acceptance, appropriation and ignorance/rejection of cultural symbols need to be considered not only in respect of the Egyptian culture but also for phenomena relating to the most prominent indigenous groups of the region, the Kerma culture and the C-Group (see Edwards 2004:75–78; Näser 2013; Williams 2014; Raue 2019). Complex reconfigurations of Nubian cultures have been addressed by means of cemetery analyses (de Souza 2013; Weglarz 2017; Williams 2018) and ceramic studies (Raue 2018; de Souza 2019) and there is the urgent need for additional material from settlement sites.56 Our case studies from the muafs concession will allow a comparison of ‘provincial’ Kerma remains (cf. Gratien et al. 2003; Gratien et al. 2008; Gratien 2014; Ross 2014; Akmenkalns 2018; Kilroe 2019; Minor et al. 2020; Mills et al. 2023; Kilroe 2024) with the capital of the Kushite kingdom, Kerma itself. In order to address the actual cultural diversity of the Attab to Ferka region, the preliminary label ‘Bronze Age Nubian’ was introduced for sites that date to the early Eighteenth Dynasty and show both Kerma and Egyptian features. This new working label should illustrate that we can only currently identify the dating (Late Bronze Age)57 and the location (Nubia) of these sites, but have no means for a concise cultural classification (see Budka 2020b:63; cf. Liszka 2017; see also Nordström 2016:156 for ‘transitional’ sites from the first half of the Eighteenth Dynasty in the Second Cataract Area). In line with this, terms like ‘Nubian production’ could work for ceramics produced in New Kingdom Nubia. However, we would then need to subdivide between Egyptian style wheel-made products and Nubian style hand-made products as well as the so-called ‘hybrid’ variants which incorporate aspects of both traditions and are to be considered as something new. The obvious advantage of using ‘Nubian style’ within the contexts of New Kingdom Nubia is that this term has no specific cultural implications like Kerma or Pan-Grave wares.
Summary and Outlook
Sai as a case study of a colonial town in New Kingdom Nubia and the general results of the AcrossBorders project illustrate the dynamic and situational characters of past societies. Other than drawing artificial border lines between cultural groups, in this case Egyptians and Nubians, the aim of modern archaeology should be to reconstruct social, economic and cultural identities at the local level of sites. Such identities interact and merge with each other and produce material evidence that exemplifies something new, often with a markedly local character. On Sai, the ceramics indicate that there was a complex intermingling of the Egyptian and Kerma traditions, resulting in a great variability and in forms that display both Egyptian and Nubian features and must be classified as something new and significant. Furthermore, some of the Nubian style ceramics from the New Kingdom town on the island also show affinities with the C-Group and Pan-Grave tradition,58 stressing the cultural diversity of the Middle Nile (Raue 2019).
From the earliest strata onwards, Nubian ceramics appear together with imported Egyptian wares and locally made wheel-made products. Since the Nubian pots are the minority, it seems safe to assume that the Egyptian style town was first occupied by primarily Egyptian colonialists. However, a local substratum is also traceable and multiple lifestyles are attested.
Unsurprisingly, the Nubian wares from Sai city are mostly of Kerma tradition and find close parallels at other Egyptian temple towns like Sesebi. Here, it is crucial to consider the Nubian style pottery as an integral part of the material culture of Sai city, and to include the associated Egyptian style material as well as any ‘hybrid’ pots in the assessments that reflect results of complicated processes and of social practice. Regarding practices, it is particularly noteworthy that the Nubian wares are almost exclusively used for cooking and only in small numbers for serving and storage. Other scholars have associated Nubian cooking pots with Nubian women, assuming that cooking is a predominantly female activity (Smith 2003a:43–53, 190–193, 204; with some updates most recently Smith 2024). However, assuming a gender-specific factor for the composition of the pottery corpus of New Kingdom Sai raises certain difficulties (Budka 2020a:414–415; also Smith 2024). The evidence from New Kingdom Nubia does not allow a precise gender-attribution for cooking and in various cultural contexts, male cooking activities are attested (Budka 2020a:414 with references). Furthermore, drawing precise boundaries and classifying domestic activities like cooking as either Egyptian or Nubian is misleading and ignores the actual dynamics traceable at sites like Sai as the results of multiple individual choices. That most of the cooking vessels of Sai city were Nubian in style only allows us to reconstruct a preference for these vessels but not necessarily for a specific cuisine or food culture in a colonial milieu that transformed cultural identities and resulted in new social dynamics.59 Furthermore, as is illustrated in this paper, the Nubian style cooking pots show a great variability regarding their shape, size and surface treatments and these differences also must be taken into account.
In conclusion, the Nubian pots, representing the minority in the pottery corpus of Sai city, confirm the character of Sai as an Egyptian style town in New Kingdom Nubia. Similar to other groups of the material culture, the pottery corpus attests to people primarily identifying themselves as Egyptian officials but who may nonetheless have had Nubian family ties. As such, they were part of a local group with a specific cultural identity and corresponding social practices. Within these practices, the legacy of the Kerma empire was never completely abandoned but adapted to become up to date regarding the changed political, social and religious situation.
Acknowledgments
Funds for documentation work of the ceramics from Sai were granted to Julia Budka by the European Research Council (erc Starting Grant, grant agreement No. 313668). The present paper was written during the timespan of the erc Consolidator Grant DiverseNile project. This project has received funding from the European Research Council (erc) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No. 865463). Thanks for assistance in preparing some of the pottery figures of this paper go to Jessica Distefano (student assistant of the DiverseNile project in 2021) and in particular to Marion Devigne (The University of Aberdeen, volunteer of the DiverseNile project). I am particularly grateful to Rennan Lemos for comments on an early version of this paper and to the two anonymous reviewers for their helpful suggestions.
Bibliography
Akmenkalns, Jessica (2018). Cultural continuity and change in the wake of ancient Nubian-Egyptian interactions. PhD thesis, University of California Santa Barbara.
Arkell, Anthony J. (1950). Varia Sudanica. Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 36, pp. 24–40.
Arnold, Dorothea (1993). Fascicle 1. Techniques and traditions of manufacture in the pottery of Ancient Egypt. In: D. Arnold and J. Bourriau, eds, An Introduction to Ancient Egyptian Pottery, Sonderschriften des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo 17, Mainz am Rhein: P. von Zabern, pp. 7–141.
Aston, David A. (2013). tt 320 and the qAy of Queen Inhapi – A Reconsideration Based on Ceramic Evidence. Göttinger Miszellen 236, pp. 7–20.
Aston, David A., and Bietak, Manfred (2017). Nubians in the Nile Delta: À propos Avaris and Peru-nefer. In: N. Spencer, A. Stevens and M. Binder, eds, Nubia in the New Kingdom. Lived experience, pharaonic control and indigenous traditions, British Museum Publications on Egypt and Sudan 3, Leuven, Paris, Bristol, CT: Peeters, pp. 491–524.
Auenmüller, Johannes (2020). People on Sai: Prosopographical contributions to the ‘social fabric’ of Sai in the New Kingdom. In: J. Budka, AcrossBorders 2: Living in New Kingdom Sai, Archaeology of Egypt, Sudan and the Levant 1, Vienna: Austrian Academy of Sciences Press, pp. 365–394.
Ayers, Natasha, and Moeller, Nadine (2012). Nubian Pottery Traditions during the 2nd Millenium bc at Tell Edfu. In: I. Forstner-Müller and P. Rose, eds, Nubian Pottery from Egyptian Cultural Contexts of the Middle and Early New Kingdom. Proceedings of a workshop held at the Austrian Archaeological Institute at Cairo, 1–12 December 2010. Ergänzungshefte zu den Jahresheften des Österreichischen Archäologischen Institutes 13, Vienna: Austrian Archaeological Institute, pp. 103–115.
Azim, Michel, and Carlotti, Jean-François (2012). Le temple A de l’île de Saï et ses abords. In: F. Doyen and D. Devauchelle, eds, Fouilles sur l’île de Saï (Soudan) 2005–2010, Cahiers de Recherches de l’Institut de Papyrologie et d’Égyptologie de Lille 29 (2011–2012), pp. 11–65.
Bader, Bettina (2009). Tell el-Dab’axix: Auaris und Memphis im Mittleren Reich und in der Hyksoszeit. Vergleichsanalyse der materiellen Kultur, Untersuchungen der Zweigstelle Kairo des Österreichischen Archäologischen Institutes 31, Vienna: Austrian Academy of Sciences Press.
Bader, Bettina (2013). Cultural Mixing in Egyptian Archaeology: The ‘Hyksos’ as a Case Study. Archaeological Review from Cambridge Issue 28.1: Archaeology and Cultural Mixing, pp. 257–286.
Bader, Bettina (2020). Ancient Egyptian pottery. In: I. Shaw and E. Bloxam, eds, The Oxford handbook of Egyptology, New York, NY: Oxford University Press, pp. 312–332.
Bagińska, Dobiesława (2010). Kerma horizon pottery from the cemeteries in el-Gamamiya. Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean 19 (reports 2007), pp. 406–414.
Binder, Michaela (2014). Health and Diet in Upper Nubia through Climate and Political Change. A bioarchaeological investigation of health and living conditions at ancient Amara West between 1300 and 800bc. PhD thesis. Durham University, Durham. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/10831/.
Bonnet, Charles (2014). La ville de Kerma. Une capitale nubienne au sud de l’Égypte (avec la collaboration de Dominique Valbelle), Mission archéologique de l’Université de Genève au Soudan, Lausanne: Favre.
Bonnet, Charles (2018). Kerma and Dokki Gel: Evidences of impressive changes in the urban architecture at the beginning of the New Kingdom in Nubia. In: J. Budka and J. Auenmüller, eds, From Microcosm to Macrocosm. Individual households and cities in Ancient Egypt and Nubia, Leiden: Sidestone Press, pp. 67–78.
Bonnet, Charles, and Valbelle, Dominique (2018). Les temples égyptiens de Doukki Gel, Panébès, à Doukki Gel/Kerma, Paris: Kheops.
Budka, Julia (2006). The Oriental Institute Ahmose and Tetisheri Project at Abydos 2002–2004: The New Kingdom pottery. Egypt and the Levant 16, pp. 83–120.
Budka, Julia (2011). The early New Kingdom at Sai Island: Preliminary results based on the pottery analysis (4th Season 2010). Sudan & Nubia 15, pp. 23–33.
Budka, Julia (2013). Die 18. Dynastie auf Sai Island (Nordsudan) – neue Puzzlesteine als Ergebnisse der Feldkampagne 2013. Sokar 26, pp. 78–87.
Budka, Julia (2015a). The Pharaonic town on Sai Island and its role in the urban landscape of New Kingdom Kush. Sudan & Nubia 19, pp. 40–53.
Budka, Julia (2015b). The New Kingdom in Nubia: New results from current excavations on Sai Island. Egitto e Vicino Oriente 37 [2014], pp. 55–87.
Budka, Julia (2016a). The New Kingdom town on Sai Island – establishing the date of its foundations: potential and limits of ceramic studies. In: D. Devauchelle and G. Widmer, eds, De Méroé à Memphis. Cahiers de Recherches de l’Institut de Papyrologie et d’Égyptologie de Lille 30 (2013–2015), pp. 45–63.
Budka, Julia (2016b). Egyptian cooking pots from the Pharaonic town of Sai Island, Nubia, Bulletin de liaison de la céramique égyptienne 26, pp. 285–295.
Budka, Julia (2017a). The Egyptian town on Sai Island. In: E. Fantusati and M. Baldi, eds, Proceedings of the Fifth Day for Nubian Studies, Serie Orientale Roma n.s. 9, Rome: Scienze e lettere, pp. 45–60.
Budka, Julia (2017b). Constructing royal authority in New Kingdom towns in Nubia: some thoughts based on inscribed monuments from private residences. In: T. Bács and H. Beinlich, eds, Constructing Authority. Prestige, Reputation and the Perception of Power in Egyptian Kingship. 8. Symposium zur ägyptischen Königsideologie/8th Symposium on Egyptian Royal Ideology, Budapest, May 12–14, 2016, Königtum, Staat und Gesellschaft früher Hochkulturen 4/5, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, pp. 29–45.
Budka, Julia (2017c). The 18th Dynasty on Sai Island – new data from excavations in the town area and cemetery sac5. Sudan & Nubia 21, pp. 71–81.
Budka, Julia (2017d). iii. The pottery from sav1 North. In: J. Budka, ed, AcrossBorders I. The New Kingdom Town of Sai Island, Sectorsav1 North, Contributions to the Archaeology of Egypt, Nubia and the Levant 4, Vienna: Austrian Academy of Sciences Press, pp. 119–156.
Budka, Julia (2017e). Life in the New Kingdom town of Sai Island: Some new perspectives. In: N. Spencer, A. Stevens and M. Binder, eds, Nubia in the New Kingdom. Lived experience, pharaonic control and indigenous traditions, British Museum Publications on Egypt and Sudan 3, Leuven, Paris, Bristol, CT: Peeters, pp. 429–447.
Budka, Julia (2017h). Crossing Borders: Settlement Archaeology in Egypt and Sudan. Near Eastern Archaeology 80(1), pp. 14–21.
Budka, Julia (2018). Pots & People: Ceramics from Sai Island and Elephantine. In: J. Budka and J. Auenmüller, eds, From Microcosm to Macrocosm. Individual households and cities in Ancient Egypt and Nubia, Leiden: Sidestone Press, pp. 147–170.
Budka, Julia (2019a). Pottery of the Middle and the New Kingdom from Lower and Upper Nubia. In: D. Raue, ed, Handbook of Ancient Nubia 1, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, pp. 465–489.
Budka, Julia (2019b). Towards Middle Nile Biographies: The Munich University Attab to Ferka Survey Project 2018/2019 (with contributions by Giulia D’Ercole, Cajetan Geiger, Veronica Hinterhuber & Marion Scheiblecker). Sudan & Nubia 23, pp. 13–26.
Budka, Julia (2020a). AcrossBorders 2: Living in New Kingdom Sai (with contributions by Johannes Auenmüller, Annette M. Hansen, Frits Heinrich, Veronica Hinterhuber, Ptolemaios Paxinos, Nadja Pöllath, Helmut Sattmann, Sara Schnedl and Martina Ullmann), Archaeology of Egypt, Sudan and the Levant 1, Vienna: Austrian Academy of Sciences Press.
Budka, Julia (2020b). Kerma presence at Ginis East: the 2020 season of the Munich University Attab to Ferka Survey Project. Sudan & Nubia 24, pp. 57–71.
Budka, Julia (2021). Tomb 26 on Sai Island: A New Kingdom elite tomb and its relevance for Sai and beyond (with contributions by Johannes Auenmüller, Cajetan Geiger, Rennan Lemos, Andrea Stadlmayr and Marlies Wohlschlager), Leiden: Sidestone Press.
Budka, Julia (2022). Early New Kingdom settlement activities in the periphery of Sai Island: towards a contextualisation of fresh evidence from Attab West. MittSAG – Der Antike Sudan 33, pp. 45–61.
Budka, Julia (2024a). Introduction: Regionality of resource management in Bronze Age Sudan: An overview and case studies. In: J. Budka and R. Lemos, eds, Landscape and resource management in Bronze Age Nubia: Archaeological perspectives on the exploitation of natural resources and the circulation of commodities in the Middle Nile, Contributions to the Archaeology of Egypt, Nubia and the Levant 17, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, pp. 19–33.
Budka, Julia (2024b). Introduction: Foodways in ancient Sudan. In: J. Budka and R. Lemos, eds, Landscape and resource management in Bronze Age Nubia: Archaeological perspectives on the exploitation of natural resources and the circulation of commodities in the Middle Nile, Contributions to the Archaeology of Egypt, Nubia and the Levant 17, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, pp. 103–112.
Budka, Julia (In prep.). AcrossBorders 3: Vessels for the home away from Egypt. The pottery corpus from the New Kingdom town of Sai Island (with contributions by Giulia D’Ercole, Johannes Sterba and Philippe Ruffieux), Vienna.
Budka, Julia, and Doyen, Florence (2013). Life in New Kingdom towns in Upper Nubia – New evidence from recent excavations on Sai Island. Egypt and the Levant 22/23 (2012–2013), pp. 167–208.
Budka, Julia, Rose, Katherine, and Ward, Chloë (2023). Cultural diversity in the Bronze Age in the Attab to Ferka region: new results based on excavations in 2023. MittSAG – Der Antike Sudan 34, pp. 19–35.
Carrano, Julia L., Girty, Gary H., and Carrano, Carl J. (2009). Re-examining the Egyptian colonial encounter in Nubia through a compositional, mineralogical, and textural comparison of ceramics. Journal of Archaeological Science 36, pp. 785–797.
Cooper, Julien (2025). Naming and labelling Cultures of the Middle Nile in the Second Millennium bce – a discussion of cultural, linguistic, and geographic categories. Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia 5.
D’Ercole, Giulia (2014). Preliminary classification of the 18th Dynasty Nubian wares from the New Kingdom Town. In: J. Budka, G. d’Ercole and I. Adenstedt, AcrossBorders – Fieldwork 2013 on Sai Island, pp. 15–19, http://acrossborders.oeaw.ac.at/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/AcrossBorders-Fieldwork-2013.pdf.
D’Ercole, Giulia (2017). Ceramic manufacturing techniques and cultural traditions in Nubia from the 8th to the 3rd millenniumbc. Examples from Sai Island. Access archaeology, Cambridge monographs in African archaeology (Archaeopress) 96, Oxford: Archaeopress.
D’Ercole, Giulia (2024). Material meanings, technology and cultural choices: Pottery production in Late Bronze Age Nubia. In: J. Budka and R. Lemos, eds, Landscape and resource management in Bronze Age Nubia: Archaeological perspectives on the exploitation of natural resources and the circulation of commodities in the Middle Nile, Contributions to the Archaeology of Egypt, Nubia and the Levant 17, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, pp. 207–221.
D’Ercole, Giulia (in prep.). Petrography of the pottery from the New Kingdom town of Sai. In: J. Budka, AcrossBorders 3: Vessels for the home away from Egypt. The pottery corpus from the New Kingdom town of Sai Island, Vienna.
D’Ercole, Giulia, and Sterba, Johannes H. (2018). From Macro Wares to Micro Fabrics and inaa Compositional Groups: The pottery corpus of the New Kingdom town on Sai Island (Northern Sudan). In: J. Budka and J. Auenmüller, eds, From Microcosm to Macrocosm. Individual households and cities in Ancient Egypt and Nubia, Leiden: Sidestone Press, pp. 171–184.
D’Ercole, Giulia, and Sterba, Johannes H. (in prep.). Chemical analysis of the pottery from the New Kingdom town of Sai. In: J. Budka, AcrossBorders 3: Vessels for the home away from Egypt. The pottery corpus from the New Kingdom town of Sai Island, Vienna.
D’Ercole, Giulia, Budka, Julia, Sterba, Johannes H., Garcea, Elena A.A., and Mader, Dieter (2017). The successful ‘recipe’ for a long-lasting tradition: Nubian ceramic assemblages from Sai Island (northern Sudan) from prehistory to the New Kingdom. Antiquity 91, pp. 24–42.
Davies, W. Vivian (2005). Egypt and Nubia. Conflict with the Kingdom of Kush. In: C. H. Roehrig, ed, Hatshepsut: From Queen to Pharaoh, New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, pp. 49–56.
Davies, W. Vivian (2017). A statue-cache from Sai: Putting the pieces together. In: N. Spencer, A. Stevens and M. Binder, eds, Nubia in the New Kingdom. Lived experience, pharaonic control and indigenous traditions, British Museum Publications on Egypt and Sudan 3, Leuven, Paris, Bristol, CT: Peeters, pp. 133–148.
de Souza, Aaron M. (2013). The Egyptianisation of the Pan-Grave Culture: a new look at an old idea. The Bulletin of the Australian Centre for Egyptology 24, pp. 109–126.
de Souza, Aaron M. (2018). Paint it black: Pan-Grave black-topped and Egyptian black-rimmed pottery of the late Second Intermediate Period and early New Kingdom. In: R. David, ed, Céramiques égyptiennes au Soudan ancien: importations, imitations et influences, Cahiers de la céramique égyptienne 11, pp. 75–90.
de Souza, Aaron M. (2019). New Horizons. The Pan-Grave Ceramic Tradition in Context, Middle Kingdom Studies 9, London: Golden House Publications.
de Souza, Aaron M. (2020a). Melting Pots: Entanglement, Appropriation, Hybridity, and Assertive Objects between the Pan-Grave and Egyptian Ceramic Traditions. Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections 27, pp. 1–23.
de Souza, Aaron M. (2020b). Pots, gold, and viceroys: shifting dynamics of Egyptian-Nubian relations at the transition to the New Kingdom, from the viewpoint of Middle Nubian pottery at Tell Edfu. Ägypten und Levante 30, pp. 313–343.
de Souza, Aaron M. (2022). Not marginal, but marginalised: the “Pan-Grave” archaeological culture, pharaonic Egypt, and Egyptology. Journal of Ancient Near Eastern History 9 (2), pp. 173–194.
de Souza, Aaron M. (2023). The “Bronze Age” concept and Nubia during the second Millennium bce: does one size fit all? Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia 3.
de Souza, Aaron M., and Trognitz, Martina (2021). Analysis of Middle Nubian Vessel-forming Technology Using Reflectance Transformation Imaging (rti). Interdisciplinaria Archaeologica. Natural Sciences in Archaeology 12 (1), pp. 19–35.
Dellefant, Fabian, D’Ercole, Giulia, Kaliwoda, Melanie, and Budka, Julia (2023). Differentiation of Late Bronze Age Nubian- and Egyptian style ceramics from northern Sudan by manufacturing firing temperatures using Raman spectroscopy. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 52 (article no. 104233).
Devauchelle, Didier, and Doyen, Florence (2009). Retour à l’Île de Saï (Soudan, 2006–2009). Bulletin de la société française d’égyptologie 175, pp. 29–49.
Doyen, Florence (2009). The New Kingdom Town on Sai Island (Northern Sudan). Sudan & Nubia 13, pp. 17–20.
Doyen, Florence (2014). Sai Island New Kingdom Town (Northern Sudan): 3rd and 4th Seasons (2009–2010). In: J. R. Anderson and D. A. Welsby, eds, The Fourth Cataract and Beyond. Proceedings of the 12th International Conference for Nubian Studies, British Museum Publications on Egypt and Sudan 1, Leuven: Peeters, pp. 367–375.
Doyen, Florence (2017). ii. The architecture of sav1 North, in: J. Budka, ed, AcrossBorders I. The New Kingdom Town of Sai Island, Sectorsav1 North, Contributions to the Archaeology of Egypt, Nubia and the Levant 4, Vienna: Austrian Academy of Sciences Press, pp. 23–118.
Emberling, Geoff, Williams, Bruce B., Ingvoldstad, Megan, and James, Thomas R. (2014). Peripheral vision: identity at the margins of the early Kingdom of Kush. In: J. R. Anderson, and D. A. Welsby, eds, The Fourth Cataract and Beyond. Proceedings of the 12th International Conference for Nubian Studies, British Museum Publications on Egypt and Sudan 1, Leuven: Peeters, pp. 329–336.
Fahlander, Frederik (2008). Third Space Encounters: Hybridity, Mimicry and Interstitial Practice. In: P. Cornell and F. Fahlander, eds, Encounters| Materialities| Confrontations: Archaeologies of social space and interaction, Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Press, pp. 15–41.
Francigny, Vincent (2021). Saï: aux origines de l’archéologie franco-soudanaise. In: M. Maillot, ed, 50 ans d’archéologie française au Soudan, Paris, Khartoum: Africae, Soleb, Bleu autour Series, pp. 51–69.
Fulcher, Kate, Stacey, Rebecca, and Spencer, Neal (2020). Bitumen from the Dead Sea in early Iron Age Nubia. Scientific Reports 10 (article no. 8309) doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-64209-8.
Gabolde, Luc (2012). Réexamen des jalons de la présence de la XVIIIe dynastie naissante à Saï. In: F. Doyen and D. Devauchelle, eds, Fouilles sur l’île de Saï (Soudan) 2005–2010, Cahiers de Recherches de l’Institut de Papyrologie et d’Égyptologie de Lille 29 (2011–2012), pp. 115–137.
Garcea, Elena A. A. (2014). The evolution from large social units with loose networks into small social units with tight networks from the Khartoum variant to the Abkan and the Pre-Kerma at Sai Island. In: J. R. Anderson and D. A. Welsby, eds, The Fourth Cataract and beyond: proceedings of the 12th International Conference for Nubian Studies, Leuven: Peeters, pp. 235–242.
Garnett, Anna (2014). Making and using pottery. In: N. Spencer, A. Stevens and M. Binder (eds.), Amara West. Living in Egyptian Nubia, London: British Museum, pp. 62–63.
Gasperini, Valentina (2023). Amara West: The Pottery from Cemeteries C and D, Amara West Research Project Publications 2, British Museum Publications on Egypt and Sudan 17, Leuven: Peeters.
Gatto, Maria, Gallorini, Carla, and Roma, Sara (2012). Pan-Grave pottery from Nag el-Qarmila and Sheikh Mohamed Cemeteries in Gharb Aswan. In: I. Forstner-Müller and P. J. Rose, eds, Nubian Pottery from Egyptian Cultural Contexts of the Middle and Early New Kingdom. Proceedings of a Workshop held at the Austrian Archaeological Institute at Cairo, 1–12 December 2010, Ergänzungshefte zu den Jahresheften des Österreichischen Archäologischen Institutes 13, Vienna: Österreichisches Archäologisches Institut, pp. 83–102.
Geus, Francis (1994). L’île de Saï à travers l’histoire du Soudan, Les Dossiers d’Archéologie 196, La Nubie, pp. 22–27.
Geus, Francis (2004). Sai. In: D. A. Welsby and J. R. Anderson, eds, Sudan. Ancient Treasures. An Exhibition of recent discoveries from the Sudan National Museum, London: British Museum Press, pp. 114–116.
Geus, Francis (2006). Territorial behaviour and territorial areas in the Middle Nile Valley from later Prehistory to the end of the New Kingdom. In: I. Caneva and A. Roccati, eds, Acta Nubica: proceedings of thexInternational Conference of Nubian Studies, Rome 9–14 September 2002, Roma: Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato, Libreria della Stato, pp. 343–353.
Giuliani, Serena (2006). Defining Pan-Grave Pottery. In: K. Kroeper, M. Chlodnicki and M. Kobusiewicz, eds, Archaeology of Early Northeastern Africa. In Memory of Lench Krzyzaniak, Poznan Archaeological Museum, Poznań: Poznań Archaeological Museum, pp. 647–658.
Gratien, Brigitte (1978). Les cultures Kerma. Essai de classification. Lille: Université de Lille.
Gratien, Brigitte (1985). La nécropole sac 4 de l’ile de Saï. In: F. Geus and F. Thill, eds, Mélanges offerts à Jean Vercoutter, Paris: C.N.R.S., pp. 93–105.
Gratien, Brigitte (1986). Saï I. La nécropole Kerma. Paris: Ed. du CNRS.
Gratien, Brigitte (1999). Some rural settlements at Gism el-Arba in the Northern Dongola Reach. Sudan & Nubia 3, pp. 10–12.
Gratien, Brigitte (2000). Les pots de cuisson nubiens et les bols décorés de la première moitié du 2e millénaire avant J.-C.: problèmes d’identification. Cahiers de la céramique égyptienne 6, pp. 113–148.
Gratien, Brigitte (2002). La fin du royaume Kerma – la situation dans l’arriere-pays. In: Jennerstrasse 8, eds, Tides of the Desert – Gezeiten der Wüste. Contributions to the Archaeology and Environmental History of Africa in Honour of Rudolph Kuper, Africa Praehistorica 14, Köln: Heinrich-Barth-Institut, pp. 219–230.
Gratien, Brigitte (2014). Kerma north of the Third Cataract. In: J. R. Anderson and D. A. Welsby, eds, The Fourth Cataract and Beyond. Proceedings of the 12th International Conference for Nubian Studies, British Museum Publications on Egypt and Sudan 1, Leuven: Peeters, pp. 95–101.
Gratien, Brigitte, Marchi, Séverine, Thuriot, Olivier, and Willot, Jean-Michel (2003). Gism el-Arba, habitat 2 (Soudan). Rapport préliminaire sur un centre de stockage Kerma au bord du Nil, Cahiers de Recherches de l’Institut de Papyrologie et d’Égyptologie de Lille 23, pp. 29–43.
Gratien, Brigitte, Marchi, Séverine, Sys, David, and Dissaux, René-Pierre (2008). Gism el-Arba, Habitat 2, Campagne 2005–2006. Kush 19 (2003–2008), pp. 21–35.
Haaland, Randi (2009). Ancient Nubia: a culinary cross-road between Africa and the Near East. In: H. Hafsaas-Tsakos and A. Tsakos, eds, Connecting South and North: Sudan Studies from Bergen in Honour of Mahmoud Salih, Bergen: Centre for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, University of Bergen, pp. 41–58.
Helmbold-Doyé, Jana, and Anne Seiler (2012). Kerma-ware vessels found in an intact burial chamber at Aniba. In: I. Forstner-Müller and P. J. Rose, eds, Nubian Pottery from Egyptian Cultural Contexts of the Middle and Early New Kingdom. Proceedings of a Workshop held at the Austrian Archaeological Institute at Cairo, 1–12 December 2010, Ergänzungshefte zu den Jahresheften des Österreichischen Archäologischen Institutes 13, Vienna: Österreichisches Archäologisches Institut, pp. 31–48.
Helmbold-Doyé, Jana, and Anne Seiler (2019). Die Keramik aus dem Friedhofs/savon Aniba (Unternubien). Mit Beiträgen von Hans-Werner Fischer-Elfert, Irmgard Hein, Felix Höflmayer und Birgit Schiller, Zeitschrift für ägyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde – Beihefte 8, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter.
Hsieh, Julia (2016). The practice of repairing vessels in ancient Egypt: methods of repair and anthropological implications. Near Eastern Archaeology 79 (4), pp. 280–283.
Jesse, Friederike (2025). Bronze Age as a Term in Northeast African Archaeology? A Plea for Regional Chronologies. Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia 5.
Kemp, Barry J. (1972). Fortified towns in Nubia. In: P. J. Ucko, R. Tringham and G.W. Dimbledy, eds, Man, settlement and urbanism: proceedings of a meeting of the Research Seminar in Archaeology and Related Subjects held at the Institute of Archaeology, London University, London: Duckworth, pp. 651–656.
Kilroe, Loretta (2019). H25 2019 – the ceramics. Sudan & Nubia 23, pp. 81–84.
Kilroe, Loretta (2024). Local agency and foreign products. H25: A potential indigenous distribution site in the northern Dongola Reach. In: J. Budka and R. Lemos, eds, Landscape and resource management in Bronze Age Nubia: Archaeological perspectives on the exploitation of natural resources and the circulation of commodities in the Middle Nile, Contributions to the Archaeology of Egypt, Nubia and the Levant 17, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, pp. 231–243.
Klemm, Rosemarie, and Klemm, Dietrich (2013). Gold and Gold Mining in Ancient Egypt and Nubia. Geoarchaeology of the Ancient Gold Mining Sites in the Egyptian and Sudanese Eastern Deserts, Natural Science in Archaeology, Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer.
Knoblauch, Christian M. (2011). Not all that glitters: a case study of regional aspects of Egyptian Middle Kingdom pottery production in Lower Nubia and the second cataract. Cahiers de la céramique égyptienne 9, pp. 167–183.
Knoblauch, Christian M. (2020). Between Egypt and Kerma: a strange tulip-beaker from Mirgissa. In: A. R. Warfe, J. C. R. Gill, C. R. Hamilton, A. Jean Pettman, D. A. Stewart, eds, Dust, demons and pots: studies in honour of Colin A. Hope, Leuven: Peeters, pp. 415–424.
Knoblauch, Christian M., and Lacovara, Peter (2012). Nubian ceramics. In: M. M. Fisher, P. Lacovara, S. Ikram and S. D’Auria, eds, Ancient Nubia: African kingdoms on the Nile, Cairo, New York: American University in Cairo Press, pp. 200–209.
Lemos, Rennan (2020). Material Culture and Colonization in Ancient Nubia: Evidence from the New Kingdom Cemeteries. In: C. Smith, ed, Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology, Cham: Springer, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51726-1_3307-1.
Liszka, Kate (2017). Egyptian or Nubian? Dry-stone architecture at Wadi el-Hudi, Wadi es-Sebua, and the Eastern Desert. Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 103 (1), pp. 35–51.
Maran, Joseph, and Stockhammer, Philipp W., eds. (2012). Materiality and Social Practice. Transformative Capacities of Intercultural Encounters, Oxford, Oakville, Conn.: Oxbow Books.
Marchand, Sylvie (2014). Inventaire archéologique des sites de production céramique du Prédynastique à lʼépoque moderne: Égypte et Basse-Nubie. Bulletin de liaison de la céramique égyptienne 24, pp. 201–223.
Miellé, Laurianne (2012). La céramique pharaonique de la ville fortifiée (sav1 N) de l’île de Saï. In: F. Doyen and D. Devauchelle, eds, Fouilles sur l’île de Saï (Soudan) 2005–2010, Cahiers de Recherches de l’Institut de Papyrologie et d’Égyptologie de Lille 29 (2011–2012), pp. 173–187.
Miellé, Laurianne (2014). Nubian traditions on the ceramics found in the pharaonic town on Sai Island. In: J. R. Anderson and D. A. Welsby, eds, The Fourth Cataract and Beyond. Proceedings of the 12th International Conference for Nubian Studies, British Museum Publications on Egypt and Sudan 1, Leuven: Peeters, pp. 387–392.
Miellé, Laurianne (2016). Eighteenth Dynasty Pottery from Gism el-Arba (Sudanese Nubia). In: B. Bader, C. M. Knoblauch and E. C. Köhler, eds, Vienna 2 – Ancient Egyptian Ceramics in the 21st Century. Proceedings of the International Conference held at the University of Vienna 14th–18th of May, 2012, Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 245, Leuven: Peeters, pp. 423–433.
Millard, Anne (1979). Part iii. The Finds. In: W. B. Emery, H. S. Smith and A. Millard, eds, The fortress of Buhen: the archaeological report, Egypt Exploration Society, Excavation Memoir 49, London: Egypt Exploration Society, pp. 109–188.
Mills, Steve, Porter, Stephen, Nicholson, Paul T., Kilroe, Loretta, and Buchs, David (2023). Kerma settlement Site P5, Northern Dongola Reach: report on the 2023 season. Sudan & Nubia 27, pp. 107–130.
Minault-Gout, Anne (2007). Les installations du début du Nouvel Empire à Saï: un état de la question. In: B. Gratien, ed, Mélanges offerts à Francis Geus: Égypte – Soudan, Cahiers de Recherches de l’Institut de Papyrologie et d’Égyptologie de Lille 26 (2006–2007), Villeneuve d’Ascq: Université Charles de Gaulle-Lille, pp. 275–293.
Minault-Gout, Anne, and Thill, Florence (2012). Saïii: Le cimetière des tombes hypogées du Nouvel Empire, sac5, 2 vols. Fouilles de l’Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale 69. Le Caire: Institut français d’archéologie orientale.
Miniaci, Gianluca (2020). At the dawn of the Late Bronze Age “globalization”: the (re)-circulation of Egyptian artefacts in Nubia and the northern Levant in the mbii-mid mbiii (c. 1710–1550 bc), Claroscuro 19 (2).
Minor, Elizabeth, Schellinger, Sarah M., Severa, Christopher, el-Hassan, Ahmed el-Ameen Ahmed, and Ahmed, Sajda Adam Omer (2020). Laying the groundwork: the 2020 survey season and community outreach programme at the Kerma Period settlement site es-Selim R4 in the Northern Dongola Reach. Sudan & Nubia 24, pp. 100–111.
Morris, Ellen F. (2018). Ancient Egyptian Imperialism, Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Näser, Claudia (2013). Structures and realities of Egyptian-Nubian interactions from the Late Old Kingdom to the Early New Kingdom. In: D. Raue, S. J. Seidlmayer and P. Speiser, (eds, The First Cataract of the Nile. One Region – Diverse Perspectives, Sonderschriften des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo 36, Berlin, Boston: de Gruyter, pp. 135–148.
Näser, Claudia (2017). Structures and realities of the Egyptian presence in Lower Nubia from the Middle Kingdom to the New Kingdom: The Egyptian cemetery s/sa at Aniba. In: N. Spencer, A. Stevens and M. Binder, eds, Nubia in the New Kingdom. Lived experience, pharaonic control and indigenous traditions, British Museum Publications on Egypt and Sudan 3, Leuven, Paris, Bristol, CT: Peeters, pp. 557–574.
Näser, Claudia. (2025). Walking the Line: Bronze and Iron Age as Terms in Middle Nile Valley Archaeology? Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia 5.
Nordström, Hans-Åke (2016). The West Bank Survey from Faras to Gemai 1. Sites of Early Nubian, Middle Nubian and Pharaonic Age, bar International Series 2650, Oxford: Archaeopress.
Orton, Clive, Tylers, Paul, and Vince, Alan (1993). Pottery in archaeology, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Pappa, Eleftheria (2013). Postcolonial baggage at the end of the road: How to put the genie back into its bottle and where to go from there. In: W. Paul van Pelt, ed, Archaeology and Cultural Mixture, Archaeological Review from Cambridge 28(1), Cambridge: University of Cambridge, pp. 29–50.
Pierce, Krystal Victoria Lords (2013). Living and Dying Abroad: Aspects of Egyptian Cultural Identity in Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age Canaan, ucla Electronic Theses and Dissertations, Los Angeles.
Posener, Georges (1958). Pour une localisation du pays Koush au Moyen Empire. Kush 6, pp. 39–68.
Raue, Dietrich (2015). Elephantine und Nubien vom 4.–2. Jtd. v. Chr., Unpublished habilitation thesis, Universität Leipzig.
Raue, Dietrich (2017). Nubian pottery on Elephantine Island in the New Kingdom. In: N. Spencer, A. Stevens and M. Binder, eds, Nubia in the New Kingdom. Lived experience, pharaonic control and indigenous traditions, British Museum Publications on Egypt and Sudan 3, Leuven, Paris, Bristol, CT: Peeters, pp. 525–536.
Raue, Dietrich (2018). Elephantine und Nubien vom 4.–2. Jahrtausend v. Chr., 2 vols., Deutsches Archäologisches Institut Abteilung Kairo Sonderschrift 40, Berlin: de Gruyter.
Raue, Dietrich (2019). Cultural diversity of Nubia in the later 3rd – mid 2nd millennium bc. In: D. Raue, ed, Handbook of ancient Nubia 1. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, pp. 293–333.
Reshetnikova, Nadja, and Williams, Bruce (2016). Pottery Production during the Middle Kingdom at Serra East Fortress in Nubia. In: B. Bader, C. M. Knoblauch and E. C. Köhler, eds, Vienna 2 – Ancient Egyptian Ceramics in the 21st Century. Proceedings of the International Conference held at the University of Vienna 14th–18th of May, 2012, Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 245, Leuven: Peeters, pp. 487–505.
Retzmann, Anika, Budka, Julia, Sattmann, Helmut, Irrgeher, Johanna, and Prohaska, Thomas (2020). The New Kingdom Population on Sai Island: Application of Sr Isotopes to Investigate Cultural Entanglement in Ancient Nubia. Egypt and the Levant 29, pp. 354–379.
Rice, Prudence (1987). Pottery Analysis. A Sourcebook, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Rice, Prudence (2015). Pottery Analysis. A Sourcebook, Second Edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Rose, Pamela J. (2012). Early 18th Dynasty Nubian Pottery from the Site of Sesebi, Sudan. In: I. Forstner-Müller and P. J. Rose, eds, Nubian Pottery from Egyptian Cultural Contexts of the Middle and Early New Kingdom. Proceedings of a Workshop held at the Austrian Archaeological Institute at Cairo, 1–12 December 2010, Ergänzungshefte zu den Jahresheften des Österreichischen Archäologischen Institutes 13, Vienna: Österreichisches Archäologisches Institut, pp. 13–29.
Rose, Pamela J. (2017). Sesebi: Ceramics, chronology and society. In: N. Spencer, A. Stevens and M. Binder, eds, Nubia in the New Kingdom. Lived experience, pharaonic control and indigenous traditions, British Museum Publications on Egypt and Sudan 3, Leuven, Paris, Bristol, CT: Peeters, pp. 465–473.
Rose, Pamela J. (2018). Egyptian Pottery from the Site of Sesebi. In: R. David, ed, Egyptian pottery in ancient Sudan: imports, imitations and influences, Cahiers de la céramique égyptienne 11, pp. 135–149.
Ross, Thomas I. (2014). El-Eided Mohamadein (H25): A Kerma, New Kingdom and Napatan settlement on the Alfreda Nile. Sudan & Nubia 18, pp. 58–68.
Ruffieux, Philippe (2005). La céramique de Doukki Gel découverte au cours des campagnes 2003–2004 et 2004–2005. In: C. Bonnet, M. Honegger, D. Valbelle and P. Ruffieux, eds, Kerma, Soudan. 2003–2004, 2004–2005. Genava, n.s. 53, pp. 255–270.
Ruffieux, Philippe (2009). Poteries découvertes dans un temple égyptien de la XVIIIe dynastie à Doukki Gel (Kerma). In: C. Bonnet, D. Valbelle and P. Ruffieux, eds, Kerma, Soudan. 2007–2008, 2008–2009, Geneva, n.s. 57, pp. 121–134.
Ruffieux, Philippe (2014). Early 18th Dynasty pottery found in Kerma (Dokki Gel). In: J. R. Anderson and D. A. Welsby, eds, The Fourth Cataract and Beyond. Proceedings of the 12th International Conference for Nubian Studies, British Museum Publications on Egypt and Sudan 1, Leuven: Peeters, pp. 417–429.
Ruffieux, Philippe (2016). Pottery of the 18th Dynasty at Dukki Gel (Kerma): Classical Repertoire and Local Style. In: B. Bader, C. M. Knoblauch and E. C. Köhler, eds, Vienna 2 – Ancient Egyptian Ceramics in the 21st Century. Proceedings of the International Conference held at the University of Vienna 14th–18th of May, 2012, Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 245, Leuven: Peeters, pp. 507–525.
Rzeuska, Teodozja (2010). Zigzag, triangle and fish fin. On the relations of Egypt and C-Group during the Middle Kingdom. In: W. Godlewski and A. Łajtar, eds, Between the Cataracts. Proceedings of the 11th International Conference for Nubian Studies. Warsaw University, 27 August –2 September 2006, Part two: session papers, Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean Supplement Series 2.2, Warsaw: Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology Warsaw University Press, pp. 397–420.
Rzeuska, Teodozja (2012). Elephantine – a place of an end and a beginning. In: R. Schiestl and A. Seiler, eds, Handbook of pottery of the Egyptian Middle Kingdom. Volumeii: the regional volume, Contributions to the Chronology of the Eastern Mediterranean 31.2, Vienna: Austrian Academy of Sciences Press, pp. 329–359.
Sackho-Autissier, Aminata (2012). L’île de Saï dans les collections das antiquités égyptiennes de musée du Louvre. In: F. Doyen and D. Devauchelle, eds, Fouilles sur l’île de Saï (Soudan) 2005–2010, Cahiers de Recherches de l’Institut de Papyrologie et d’Égyptologie de Lille 29 (2011–2012), pp. 201–212.
Seiler, Anne (1999). Zur Formentwicklung der Keramik der Zweiten Zwischenzeit und der frühen 18. Dynastie. In: W. Kaiser, F. Arnold, M. Bommas, T. Hikade, F. Hoffmann, H. Jaritz, P. Kopp, W. Niederberger, J.-P. Paetznick, C. von Pilgrim, B. von Pilgrim, D. Raue, T. Rzeuska, S. Schaten, A. Seiler, L. Stalder and M. Ziermann, Stadt und Tempel von Elephantine, 25./26./27. Grabungsbericht, Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts Abteilung Kairo 55, pp. 204–224.
Smith, Stuart Tyson (2003a). Wretched Kush. Ethnic identities and boundaries in Egypt’s Nubian Empire, London: Routledge.
Smith, Stuart Tyson (2003b). Pots and politics: Ceramics from Askut and Egyptian colonialism during the Middle through New Kingdoms. In: C. A. Redmount and C. A. Keller, eds, Egyptian Pottery. Proceedings of the 1990 Pottery Symposium at the University of California, University of California Publications in Egyptian Archaeology 8, Berkeley, Calif.: Regents of the University of California, pp. 43–79.
Smith, Stuart Tyson (2014a). Editorial essay: Nubia, coming out of the shadow of Egypt. Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections 6(1), pp. 1–4.
Smith, Stuart Tyson (2014b). A potter’s wheelhead from Askut and the organization of the Egyptian ceramic industry in Nubia. Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 50, pp. 103–121.
Smith, Stuart Tyson (2021). The Nubian Experience of Egyptian Domination During the New Kingdom. In: G. Emberling and B. B. Williams, eds, The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Nubia. doi: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190496272.013.20.
Smith, Stuart Tyson (2024). Foodways and cultural entanglements in New Kingdom Nubia. In: J. Budka and R. Lemos, eds, Landscape and resource management in Bronze Age Nubia: Archaeological perspectives on the exploitation of natural resources and the circulation of commodities in the Middle Nile, Contributions to the Archaeology of Egypt, Nubia and the Levant 17, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, pp. 173–197.
Smith, Stuart Tyson, and Buzon, Michele (2014). Colonial Entanglements: “Egyptianization” in Egypt’s Nubian Empire and the Nubian Dynasty. In: J. R. Anderson and D. A. Welsby, eds, The Fourth Cataract and Beyond. Proceedings of the 12th International Conference for Nubian Studies, British Museum Publications on Egypt and Sudan 1, Leuven: Peeters, pp. 431–442.
Smith, Stuart Tyson, and Buzon, Michele (2017). Colonial encounters at New Kingdom Tombos: Cultural entanglements and hybrid identity. In: N. Spencer, A. Stevens and M. Binder, eds, Nubia in the New Kingdom. Lived experience, pharaonic control and indigenous traditions, British Museum Publications on Egypt and Sudan 3, Leuven, Paris, Bristol, CT: Peeters, pp. 615–630.
Spataro, Michela, Millet, Marie, and Spencer, Neal (2015). The New Kingdom settlement of Amara West (Nubia, Sudan): mineralogical and chemical investigation of the ceramics. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 7.4, pp. 399–421.
Spence, Kate, and Rose, Pamela (2014). Fieldwork at Sesebi 2010. In: J. R. Anderson and D. A. Welsby, eds, The Fourth Cataract and Beyond. Proceedings of the 12th International Conference for Nubian Studies, British Museum Publications on Egypt and Sudan 1, Leuven: Peeters, pp. 409–415.
Spence, Kate, Rose, Pamela, Bradshaw, Rebecca, Collet, Pieter, Hassan, Amal, MacGinnis, John, Masson, Aurélia, and van Pelt, Paul (2011). Sesebi 2011, Sudan & Nubia 15, pp. 34–39.
Spencer, Neal (2014). Amara West: house and neighbourhood in Egyptian Nubia. In: M. Müller, ed, Household studies in complex societies: (micro) archaeological and textual approaches, Oriental Institute Seminars 10, Chicago: Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, pp. 169–209.
Stockhammer, Philipp W. (2012). Conceptualizing cultural hybridization in archaeology. In: P. W. Stockhammer, ed, Conceptualizing Cultural Hybridization. A Transdisciplinary Approach, Transcultural Research – Heidelberg Studies on Asia and Europe in a Global Context, Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer, pp. 43–58.
Stockhammer, Philipp W. (2013). From Hybridity to Entanglement, from Essentialism to Practice, Archaeological Review from Cambridge Issue 28.1: Archaeology and Cultural Mixing, pp. 11–28.
Stockhammer, Philipp W., and Athanassov, Bogdan (2018). Conceptualising Contact Zones and Contact Spaces: An Archaeological Perspective. In: S. Gimatzidis, M. Pieniążek and S. Mangaloğlu-Votruba, eds, Archaeology across Frontiers and Borderlands. Fragmentation and Connectivity in the North Aegean and the Central Balkans from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age, orea 9, Vienna: Austrian Academy of Sciences Press, pp. 93–112.
Ullmann, Martina (2020). Textual sources for sandstone from Sai. In: J. Budka, AcrossBorders 2: Living in New Kingdom Sai, Archaeology of Egypt, Sudan and the Levant 1, Vienna: Austrian Academy of Sciences Press, pp. 52–58.
Van Pelt, W. Paul (2013). Revising Egypto-Nubian Relations in New Kingdom Lower Nubia: From Egyptianization to Cultural Entanglement. Cambridge Archaeological Journal 23(3), pp. 523–550.
Vercoutter, Jean (1956). New Egyptian texts from the Sudan. Kush 4, pp. 66–82.
Vercoutter, Jean (1958). Excavations at Sai 1955–7: a preliminary report. Kush 6, pp. 144–169.
Vercoutter, Jean (1973). La XVIIIe dynastie à Saï et en Haute-Nubie, Cahiers de Recherches de l’Institut de Papyrologie et d’Égyptologie de Lille 1, pp. 7–38.
Vercoutter, Jean (1986). Préface: l’archéologie de l’île de Saï. In: B. Gratien, ed, Saï I. La nécropole Kerma, Paris: Ed. du CNRS, pp. 7–17.
Vieth, Jördis (2018). Die ägyptischen Tempelstädte des Neuen Reiches in Nubien: Eine siedlungs- und landschaftsarchäologische Studie. PhD thesis, LMU München, Munich https://edoc.ub.uni-muenchen.de/24988/.
Vila, André (1976a). La prospection archéologique de la Vallée du Nil, au Sud de la Cataracte de Dal (Nubie Soudanaise). Fascicule 3: District de Ferka (Est et Ouest), Paris: CNRS.
Vila, André (1976b). La prospection archéologique de la Vallée du Nil, au Sud de la Cataracte de Dal (Nubie Soudanaise). Fascicule 4: District de Mograkka (Est et Ouest), District de Kosha (Est et Ouest), Paris: CNRS.
Vila, André (1977a). La prospection archéologique de la Vallée du Nil, au Sud de la Cataracte de Dal (Nubie Soudanaise). Fascicule 5: Le district de Ginis, Est et Ouest, Paris: CNRS.
Vila, André (1977b). La prospection archéologique de la Vallée du Nil, au Sud de la Cataracte de Dal (Nubie Soudanaise). Fascicule 6: Le district de Attab, Est et Ouest, Paris: CNRS.
Waagen, Jitte (2022). Breakage, bias and the archaeological surface record: Assessing the quantification problem in archaeological field survey. Archaeometry 64, pp. 529–544, https://doi.org/10.1111/arcm.12720.
Walsh, Carl (2018). Kerma ceramics, commensality practices, and sensory experiences in Egypt during the late Middle Bronze Age. Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections 20, pp. 31–51.
Walsh, Carl (2020). Techniques for Egyptian eyes: diplomacy and the transmission of cosmetic practices between Egypt and Kerma. Journal of Egyptian History 13 (1–2), pp. 295–332.
Weglarz, Lindsey R.-M. (2017). Continuity and change: a reevaluation of cultural identity and “Egyptianization” in Lower Nubia during the New Kingdom, PhD thesis, Chicago 2017.
Williams, Bruce Beyer (1993). Excavations at Serra East. A-Group, C-Group, Pan Grave, New Kingdom, and X-Group Remains from Cemeteries A-G and Rock Shelters, Oriental Institute Nubian Expedition X, Chicago: The Oriental Institute.
Williams, Bruce Beyer (2014). Some geographical and political aspects to relations between Egypt and Nubia in C-Group and Kerma times, ca. 2500-1500 bc. Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections 6 (1), pp. 62–75.
Williams, Bruce Beyer (2018). Egyptians and Nubians in the Early New Kingdom and the Kushite Background. In: J. Budka and J. Auenmüller, eds, From Microcosm to Macrocosm. Individual households and cities in Ancient Egypt and Nubia, Leiden: Sidestone Press, pp. 99–112.
Williams, Bruce Beyer (2021). Kush in the wider world during the Kerma period. In: G. Emberling and B. B. Williams, eds, The Oxford handbook of ancient Nubia, New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 179–200.
Włodarska, Magdalena (2014). Kerma burials in the Fourth Cataract region: three seasons of excavations at Shemkhiya. In: J. R. Anderson and D. A. Welsby, eds, The Fourth Cataract and Beyond. Proceedings of the 12th International Conference for Nubian Studies, British Museum Publications on Egypt and Sudan 1, Leuven: Peeters, pp. 321–328.
Wodzińska, Anna (2010). A manual of Egyptian pottery, vol. 4, aera field manual series 1, Boston: Ancient Egypt Research Associates.
Zibelius, Karola (1972). Afrikanische Orts- und Völkernamen in hieroglyphischen und hieratischen Texten, Beihefte zum Tübinger Atlas des Vorderen Orients, Reihe B (Geisteswissenschaften) Nr. 1, Wiesbaden: L. Reichert.
For earlier settlement patterns in the prehistory of Sai see Garcea 2014.
The term “Recent Kerma” is debated and an alternative terminology would be that this cemetery belongs to a later/the latest phase of the Classic Kerma period. Within the New Kingdom town, I refer only to a Classic Kerma horizon which is dating to the early Eighteenth Dynasty based on the associated Egyptian style material, see below.
Recent excavations by the French Mission led by Vincent Francigny revealed the northeastern corner of the Eighteenth Dynasty enclosure wall, and the measurements of the town/enclosed area would need to be slightly updated based on these still largely unpublished data (but see Francigny 2021:66–67, fig. 10).
For an overview of the history of research with references see Budka 2020a:17–23; Francigny 2021.
For Amara West see Spencer 2014; for so-called temple towns in general Vieth 2018; for variability at these sites cf. Budka 2020a:410–411.
For a general overview of production techniques of Egyptian pottery see Arnold 1993; for Sai see Budka 2017d:126–128; Budka 2020a:202–204. For general aspects of ancient Egyptian pottery, Bader 2020. For typical production techniques of Nubian style respectively hybrid ceramics using a turning device see de Souza 2020b:316. For general aspects of Nubian ceramic production see, e.g., Knoblauch & Lacovara 2012; D’Ercole 2017.
Näser 2017 proposed to adapt the “communities of practice” concept to address the funerary variability within New Kingdom Nubia rather than to simply ask about the cultural identity of the users of these cemeteries (see also Budka 2021). In the following, I argue that the same holds true for the living sphere, thus the urban contexts of these colonial sites. For general aspects of materiality and social practices see, e.g., Maran & Stockhammer 2012; Stockhammer 2013.
For these types of hybrid pots in Egypt and Nubia see Raue 2017; Budka 2018:163–164; Budka 2020a:225–226; de Souza 2020b:316–317; Gasperini 2023:119; Budka 2024a:26; Budka 2024b:104; D’Ercole 2024; Kilroe 2024; Smith 2024. For a recent discussion of hybridity taking so-called Pan-Grave ceramics as case studies and proposing ‘assertive objects’ as an alternative model see de Souza 2020a. For hybridity and its use in Egyptian archaeology see also Bader 2013:261.
For general aspects of the complex entanglement between human actors, the material world and their surroundings based on practice see, e.g., Fahlander 2008; Stockhammer 2012; Stockhammer 2013, each quoting the most essential key references of the topic.
No pottery workshops or kilns were found in the New Kingdom town, but wasters and unfired sherds prove that there was pottery production on site.
This is probably the reason why such a workshop was left unaddressed as ceramic production site for New Kingdom Nubia by Marchand 2014:213, fig. 2.
For the local manufacture and “evidence for a continuity of the Nubian workshop” in the New Kingdom colonial context see already Miellé 2014:390. For regional production of black-topped fines wares see Knoblauch 2020.
See the seminal study by Gratien on cooking pots: Gratien 2000. For basket-impressed wares starting with so-called Recent Kerma see: Gratien 1978; Gratien 1999:11–12; Gratien 2002:226. See also de Souza and Trognitz 2021:30–33.
Nubian style ceramics are in general fired with slightly lower temperatures than Egyptian style ones in Nile clay. For a recent comparison of the firing temperature traceable in Egyptian style and Nubian style samples from Sai and Dukki Gel by means of Raman spectroscopy see Dellefant et al. 2023.
All sherds were counted and the average size of the pieces noted; a general bias caused by the different breakage of pots is well attested and has been discussed by several scholars, see, e.g., Waagen 2022 with references.
In certain cases, body sherds may be attributed to a single vessel based on careful observation of features including shape, contour, wall thickness, fabric and ware. Sometimes body sherds could also be associated with rim sherds, bases or with handles (in the case of amphorae).
An eve approach (quantification by estimated vessel equivalents) seems less suitable for the Nubian ceramics from Sai. Cf. similar observations for the material from Edfu, de Souza 2020b.
Furthermore, the material from sav1 East only includes the seasons 2013–2016 without the total of the material from season 2017 (here, only selected contexts were considered).
This can be complemented by evidence from the New Kingdom cemeteries of the island. For example, the Strontium isotope analysis of Eighteenth Dynasty burials in Tomb 26 of Sai proved that an overseer of goldsmiths, Khnummose, and his family was local to Sai, see Retzmann et al. 2020; Budka 2021.
For more details based on petrography see D’Ercole in prep.; for chemical analysis of the fabrics see D’Ercole & Sterba 2018; D’Ercole & Sterba in prep.
Miellé 2014:390 subdivided basketry impressed wares from sav1 North into five fabric groups which all seem to be variants of what is here described as Nubian Fabric 3.
Comparisons: Type cix, 1 (Gratien 1985:pl. 5c; Gratien 1986:434–435, fig. 324c); Ayers & Moeller 2012:113, fig. 8: Ed 2547. N.3.
In cases of small rim sherds like sav1n n/c 949.3, it is sometimes unclear if the piece is black-topped or black-polished. Since black-polished ware is very rare in the Classic Kerma cemetery (Gratien 1986:433) an interpretation as black-topped is more likely.
These were labelled as “imitations” of Kerma black-topped wares; see Gratien 2014; Miellé 2014:391, fig. 8.
The quantity of Nubian wares also seems to decline in late Eighteenth Dynasty contexts at Sesebi, see Rose 2017:471. For a small number of Nubian sherds from late Eighteenth Dynasty and Ramesside levels at Elephantine see Raue 2017:531; Raue 2018:274.
See also Miellé 2014:390, fig. 6. Open Nubian shapes with basketry impressions are also attested at other colonial sites like Sesebi, Rose 2012:fig. 4, and in Egypt, see, e.g., a sherd from the Thutmoside palatial complex at Ezbet Helmi in the Delta, Aston & Bietak 2017:fig. 19f.
Elephantine: unpublished material from House 55, courtesy of the author; for some examples see Budka 2018:159, fig. 10, 45603 B/b-01; Ezbet Helmi: Aston & Bietak 2017:fig. 17.
These surface decoration patterns for Nubian cooking pots are also found at Askut, Tombos, Amara West and Gism el-Arba, see most recently Smith 2024:176–177, fig. 2.
Finding a close parallel at Sesebi, see Spence and Rose 2014:411, fig. 1.10 and within the periphery of Sai, namely in the hinterland of Amara West, Stevens & Garnett 2017:figs. 15e and 16 and in the district of Attab West, from site AtW 001 (personal observation).
See Budka 2011:27 (citing parallels from the local Kerma tombs, cf. Gratien 1986). In general, in various periods and diverse Nubian cultures, the repairing of pots is very common, see, e.g., Williams 1993:fig. 4 and passim. One cooking pot from Sai city, sav1w 661/2015 (Fig. 30), shows a secondary perforation on the broken edge of the sherd – whether this is a repair hole or associated with other re-use remains unclear. For the practice of repairing vessels in ancient Egypt (with a focus on Predynastic examples) see Hsieh 2016.
In Elephantine, the Nubian sherds were always counted as diagnostic material, irrespective to whether they are rim sherds, bases or body sherds. To facilitate the close comparison between the ceramic corpora of Sai and Elephantine which was one of the goals of the AcrossBorders project (see Budka 2018), the proportion of Nubian sherds from Sai when counted as diagnostics are therefore included here.
As a comparison, 61% of all Nubian sherds from early Eighteenth Dynasty strata at Sesebi (2010 season) are basketry impressed coarse ware, see Rose 2012:18.
See also Budka 2015b:61. Further parallels may also be found in Kerma city, see Bonnet 2014:20–214.
For a detailed description of Feature 14 see Budka 2020a:103–104.
For a short description of Feature 15 see Budka 2020a:104.
For Egyptian cooking pots on Sai see Budka 2016b. The example from Feature 15 was imported from Egypt based on the characteristics of its fabric.
For this structure and all its features see Budka 2020a:138.
For a detailed description of Feature 121 see Budka 2020a:138, 144–145.
Personal observation at the site; see also Bonnet 2014:60–61 (e.g. installation in M238).
That this is also traceable in the funerary practice, in spite of a seemingly uniform elite and sub-elite funerary culture in Egypt and New Kingdom Nubia, was illustrated by fresh research in the past years (see, e.g., Lemos 2020 with further references). For general aspects of the high potential of a micro-archaeological approach, starting with the assessment of small-scale events in the context of cultural/social encounters see Fahlander 2008:36.
For a description of Feature 115 see Budka 2020a:143.
For a description of Feature 151 see Budka 2020a:148–149.
One needs to stress that the Nile clay is somehow peculiar, contains abundant quartz and might have been tempered with herbivore dung. A detailed petrographic analysis of these hybrid wares is necessary but still pending. For some observations for the Edfu examples see de Souza 2020b:316.
For a different situation in both Askut and Tombos see most recently Smith 2024.
See the case studies from the elite cemetery of Sai where locally high ranked persons of indigenous origins were buried in Egyptian style; Minault-Gout & Thill 2012; Budka 2021; also Lemos 2020.
As a markedly different context than the temple towns see, e.g., H25 near Kawa as a rural settlement and a percentage of c. 50% indigenous wares, see Kilroe 2019; Kilroe 2024. This compares well to the rural site of AtW 001 at Attab West where 45.6% of the entire material was documented as Nubian style ceramics in the earliest levels, see Budka 2022; Budka et al. 2023; Budka 2024a:26.
I fully agree with Fahlander 2008:37 “that a local, small-scale, perspective is a necessary point of departure” in this respect.
Or as evidence of “material entanglement” after Stockhammer 2012:49–51; see Budka 2020a:411–414.
Cf. also the black-rim/black-topped tradition as proposed by de Souza 2018.
Cf. Budka 2019a. See also Knoblauch 2011 for regional aspects of Middle Kingdom pottery production in Nubia.
This is especially evident in the funerary record, see Lemos 2020. For Sai, see also Budka 2021.
Related to this, see also de Souza 2022 for stressing that Nubian cultures (and ‘Pan-Grave’ communities as a case study) should be considered as an integral part of the cultural fabric of pharaonic Egypt.
See the important comparison of a peripheral Kerma cemetery and settlement in the area of Tombos by Akmenkalns 2018.
‘Bronze Age’ is frequently used for Kerma and New Kingdom remains in Nubia in the anglophone world, see, e.g. recent studies by Akmenkalns 2018; Walsh 2018; Miniaci 2020; Walsh 2020 as well as in scientific analyses, e.g., Binder 2014; Fulcher et al. 2020. I also advocate for the use of Bronze Age Egypt and Sudan in order to raise awareness of Bronze Age African cultures despite of the fact that the copper and iron smelting traditions were different in sub-Saharan Africa than in Egypt. Nubia is a ‘crossroads’ in many respects (see, e.g., Haaland 2009) and bringing the Kerma empire closer to Egypt with introducing ‘Bronze Age’ for the region of the Middle Nile has, in my perspective, more advantages than disadvantages deriving from the long-established Eurocentric terminology of prehistoric periods including the term in question (see most recently de Souza 2023). The implications of ‘Bronze Age’ as a label are discussed in other contributions to this special issue of Old World Journal (Cooper 2025; Jesse 2025; Näser 2025).
Some Pan-Grave horizon aspects are especially noteworthy because both Sai and the Attab to Ferka region are located in between what de Souza 2019:152 labelled as “Nile Valley Pan-Grave tradition” north of the Second Cataract and “Upper Nubian Pan-Grave tradition” between the Third and Fourth Cataract. Most recently, a Kerma cemetery in the hinterland of Sai at Ginis also yielded Pan-Grave material culture, see Budka 2024a.
Here, more than the few samples from Askut (Smith 2003a:122–124, figs. 5.21–23; for new data see now Smith 2024) of organic residue analysis (ora) would be needed, including the analysis of the contents of the ‘hybrid’ pots. For preliminary ora results from the rural site AtW 001, including a ‘hybrid’ pot, see Budka 2024b.
