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Our Dark Materials: Rediscovering an Egyptian Collection

Ceramic

Museums traditionally exhibit finely crafted and costly objects, but ceramics are a material for all. We explore ceramic objects for commoners through the pieces’ material and technical production, as well as the ways these objects were cared for in the past and present. Attending to material qualities, we discover stories of care, craftsmanship, creativity, expediency, and mass-production in these humble fragmentary ceramics. The pieces highlight the importance of everyday objects as they related to the lives of ordinary Egyptians thousands of years ago.

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While the rich and powerful were buried in tombs of stone, ancient Egyptians with smaller budgets buried their loved ones underneath a soul house like this one. These models represented shelter and offerings to sustain the deceased. A complete example is shown in a nearby picture. The fragments displayed here represent the deceased individual with a table and bowls of food, alongside cuts of meat. The rough fabric and cursory shaping of the clay highlight the common status of the recipient. This item was destroyed in the earthquake of 1906, but its surviving fragments are whole enough for interpretation. While the craftsman paid little attention to detail, this soul house was sturdy enough to fulfill its purposes: to survive the tests of time and provide continual offerings to the buried in the afterlife.
This small vessel is a model of a larger one and was intended for a funerary setting, probably of a modest person who could not afford full-sized accompaniments. With a rim opening only large enough to barely fit one finger inside, it is evidently too small to contain any liquids or food. Its hand-built construction is evident by the unbalanced base and thickly textured walls. That this object was neither thrown nor coiled suggests its early creation by a potter in Pre-dynastic Egypt.
Although this vessel was rediscovered recently with no identification, its material qualities illuminate its life’s details. Most Egyptian ceramics have a round base, but this vessel has a footring. Since footrings start appearing in the Ptolemaic period, this detail suggests that this vessel came from this period or later. The remarkable thinness of its walls suggests that a professional threw this vessel for sale to a wealthy individual.
This object is remarkable not for its trivial purpose or simple construction but for the careful efforts put into its conservation. The hole on its upper body marks a loss. It was originally a “spouted vessel” used to hold and pour liquid. When whole, it resembled the complete Pre-dynastic vessel (ca. 3500 BCE) shown in the accompanying image. Despite missing parts, inexpert mends, scratches, and damage, considerable effort was put into this vessel’s restoration in the early twentieth century when conservation practices weren’t as advanced as they are now. This determination highlights the importance of the vessel to the collector. We find value in the effort that went into making this common, simple vessel whole again.
This figurine is the Egyptian crocodile god Suchus (a.k.a. Sobek) missing his snout. The picture of a complete version from the same site is shown nearby. As it is an object meant for worship, it may seem odd that the object is so roughly constructed. For instance, when looking at the top of the object, one can clearly see the join between the figurine’s two molded sides. This careless construction elucidates that this object was intended for commoners. Such figurines were mass-produced for worshipers of Suchus to put on their altars at home.
This jar’s wavy ornamentation evokes the undulating flow of water. Early ceramicists decorated similar vessels with figural representations of animals, people, and ships to highlight the importance of the Nile River to Neolithic Egyptians. Pressing damp clay between his/her hand and a large, flat wooden paddle, the potter shaped a thin-walled vessel for the easy carrying and storing of grains, cereals, and other starches, residues of which are preserved inside.
While the rich and powerful were buried in tombs of stone, ancient Egyptians with smaller budgets buried their loved ones underneath a soul house like this one. These models represented shelter and offerings to sustain the deceased. A complete example is shown in a nearby picture. The fragments displayed here represent the deceased individual with a table and bowls of food, alongside cuts of meat. The rough fabric and cursory shaping of the clay highlight the common status of the recipient. This item was destroyed in the earthquake of 1906, but its surviving fragments are whole enough for interpretation. While the craftsman paid little attention to detail, this soul house was sturdy enough to fulfill its purposes: to survive the tests of time and provide continual offerings to the buried in the afterlife.
While the rich and powerful were buried in tombs of stone, ancient Egyptians with smaller budgets buried their loved ones underneath a soul house like this one. These models represented shelter and offerings to sustain the deceased. A complete example is shown in a nearby picture. The fragments displayed here represent the deceased individual with a table and bowls of food, alongside cuts of meat. The rough fabric and cursory shaping of the clay highlight the common status of the recipient. This item was destroyed in the earthquake of 1906, but its surviving fragments are whole enough for interpretation. While the craftsman paid little attention to detail, this soul house was sturdy enough to fulfill its purposes: to survive the tests of time and provide continual offerings to the buried in the afterlife.
Although this vessel was rediscovered recently with no identification, its material qualities illuminate its life’s details. Most Egyptian ceramics have a round base, but this vessel has a footring. Since footrings start appearing in the Ptolemaic period, this detail suggests that this vessel came from this period or later. The remarkable thinness of its walls suggests that a professional threw this vessel for sale to a wealthy individual.