C-Ware – bottle with short narrow neck C-0016
By Droux, Xavier
, Tomb U-178.
De Morgan excavation (lower part). Deutsches Archäologisches Institut excavation (upper part).Cairo, National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation, CG 2078 (JE31065; Abydos 178/7).
Date : Naqada IA–IIB
General range of C-ware production
Material : Nile silt (Painted)
Preservation : Almost complete
Decoration preservation : Good
Preservation information :
Small fragments lost at the crack of the neck; missing chips at the rim.
Description
The lower part of the vessel was found during de Morgan's excavation , while the upper part was recovered during the DAI excavation.
Decoration
A crocodile, represented horizontally, occupies most of the lowest part of the vessel. It is seen in top view, faces right, and its body is crosshatched. Dots along its tail indicate the scales of the hide. Its straight legs end with toed claws. Two hippopotami are depicted above the reptile, the lower one above its tail, the other higher up on the neck of the vessel. Very few details of their bodies are represented, apart from short legs and tails. Their bodies are filled in with chevrons. Behind the animals, a vertical plant, probably the common reed, is surmounted by a chevron design, possibly indicative of the aquatic environment. A second similar plant is placed above the second hippopotamus.
Dimensions (cm)
30
8.1
6.1
Base diameter: 6
Additional information
Closed
Vi 27
Oi 75
flat base
Outside
Comments
The tomb is dated to Naqada IA-IB by Hartmann (2016). It is unclear if objects currently displayed at the National Museum of Egyptian Civlisation were given new inventory numbers.
References
1896
Recherches sur les origines de l'Egypte I: l'âge de la pierre et les métaux. Paris
, pl. III, 2-3.1898
Les origines de l'Egypte. L'Anthropologie IX: 241–258
, 247, pl. III, n. 1, 3.1913
Tongefässe: Erster Teil, bis zum Beginn des Alten Reiches. Catalogue Général des Antiquités Egyptiennes du Musée du Caire. Vienna
, 20, pl. VI.1989
Das Nilpferd in der Vorstellungswelt der alten Ägypter. Teil I, Katalog. Europäische Hochschulschriften VIII, 22. Frankfurt am Main
, doc. 22b.1998
Peaux d'animaux comme symboles prédynastiques: à propos de quelques représentations sur les vases White Cross-lined. Chronique d'Egypte 73
, 209, n. 12; 210, n. 14.2008
Zwei Fragmente der White Cross-Lined Ware aus dem Friedhof U in Abydos zu Gefässen aus dem Ägyptischen Museum Kairo, in: Engel, Eva-Maria; Müller, Vera; Hartung, Ulrich (eds), Zeichen aus dem Sand: Streiflichter aus Ägyptens Geschichte zu Ehren von Günter Dreyer. Menes, Studien zur Kultur und Sprache der ägyptischen Frühzeit und des Alten Reiches 5. Wiesbaden
, 163-7, figs. 1, 2.2009
Les peintures sur vases de Nagada I–Nagada II: nouvelle approche sémiologique de l'iconographie prédynastique. Egyptian Prehistory Monographs 6. Leuven
, cat. 164.2010
Hippopotamus hunters and bureaucrats: elite burials at cemetery U, in: Raffaele, Francesco; Nuzzolo, Massimiliano; Incordino, Ilaria (eds), Recent discoveries and latest researches in Egyptology. Proceedings of the First Neapolitan Congress of Egyptology, Naples, June 18th–20th 2008. Wiesbaden
, fig. 3a.2015
Riverine and desert animals in predynastic Upper Egypt: material culture and faunal remains. Dphil thesis, University of Oxford. Oxford
, cat. 1.58.2016
Umm el-Qaab IV: die Keramik der älteren und mittleren Naqadakultur aus dem prädynastischen Friedhof U in Abydos (Umm el-Qaab). Teil 1: Textband/Auswertung. Archäologische Veröffentlichungen 98. Wiesbaden
, 181, fig. 77, hippopotamus 2, crocodile; 182, fig. 78, plant 1; 240, fig. 114, i.