C-Ware – slender beaker C-0053
By Droux, Xavier
, Archaeological context unknown. 1900–1901 : Egypt Exploration Fund excavation.London, British Museum, EA 35503.
Date : Naqada IA–IIB
General range of C-ware production
Material : Nile silt (Painted)
Preservation : Almost complete
Decoration preservation : Partially faded
Preservation information :
Chip missing at rim.
Decoration
The decoration of this beaker is divided into three scenes by the presence of tall plants with curved leaves. One hippopotamus, facing right, is depicted with four birds above it. Its ears, eyes and nostrils are indicated by tiny protuberances and a few lines decorate the body. In the scene behind a chevron motif, probably representing the Nile environment, is repeated three times, together with two birds and a different plant. The last scene has only the same chevron motif repeated three times. A single line delineates the vessel’s rim, while the base has a more complicated design of perpendicular lines and dots, possibly representing a fence or some kind of architectural construction.
Dimensions (cm)
12.7
7
7
Additional information
Open
Vi 55
Oi 100
flat base
Outside
Acknowledgements
We thank Dr Renée Friedman for facilitating the study of this artefact.
References
1902
El Amrah and Abydos, 1899–1901. Egypt Exploration Fund, special extra publication, 23. London
, pl. XV, 21b.1921
Corpus of prehistoric pottery and palettes. British School of Archaeology in Egypt & Egyptian Research Account 32, 23rd year, 1917. London
, pl. XXV, 93D.1952
Manuel d'archéologie égyptienne I: 1; les époques de formation, la préhistoire. Paris
, 267, fig. 171; 270–1, fig. 173.2009
Les peintures sur vases de Nagada I–Nagada II: nouvelle approche sémiologique de l'iconographie prédynastique. Egyptian Prehistory Monographs 6. Leuven
, cat. 134.2015
Riverine and desert animals in predynastic Upper Egypt: material culture and faunal remains. Dphil thesis, University of Oxford. Oxford
, cat. 1.44.2024
The ostrich in predynastic and early dynastic bird representations, in: Tristan, Yann; Villaeys, Julie; Ryan, Ellen M. (eds), Egypt at its Origins 7: proceedings of the seventh International Conference "Origin of the State. Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt", Paris, 19th–23rd September 2022. Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 323. Leuven
, 743.
