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size ranging from 0.5 to 1 mm;
6. Coarse — medium to large inclusions (1 to 3 mm).
The combination of these characteristics is at the basis of the classification of the fabrics.
1.2. FABRICS
The fabric identifications utilized in this study are based on the Dakhleh Oasis Fabric System, originally developed by C. A. Hope during the survey phase of the DOP Project.14 Each fabric type has been provided with an identification code according to this system (Table 1 below). The benefit of using this system is that it enables material recorded prior to the current study to be more easily incorporated, while also allowing comparisons to be made with previously published studies. However, the description and understanding of relationships between the various fabric groups have been improved thanks to the recent publications on Ptolemaic ceramic in the Dakhla oasis and Western desert by James C. R. Gill,15 the petrographic analyses conducted by Mark A. J. Eccleston,16 and additional observation arising from conversations in the field between the author and Pascale Ballet.
Among the ceramic material found at Amheida, the most common fabrics in Area 2.1, and on the site in general, are A1 and A2, while variants of these fabrics are utilized in much smaller quantities (A5, A28). A smaller quantity of vessels is made in marl fabrics (B1/B10/B15).17 A11 is a fine kaolinitic, iron-rich, brittle fabric used for manufacturing thin-walled and ribbed cooking jars, casseroles, and bowls, and it is very common in Late Antique contexts. Known as “Christian Brittle Ware,” it is possibly made of a local kaolinitic clay,18 and is well attested in Area 2.1, in the DSUs above floor levels dated to the fourth century CE.19 A thicker variant of A11, known as B17, is possibly a precursor (mid-third century CE) to the thinner-walled fabric A11 of the fourth century.20 Few types of bowls and cooking pots made of B17 are attested in the DSUs below the floors (pre-fourth century). The vessels intended for domestic use, such as storage vessels/pithoi, basins, trays, and molds, as well as some specialized forms, are characterized by a medium coarse-textured fabric, rich in vegetal temper (A4). Fairly common in the Dakhla oasis, this fabric is attested since the Old Kingdom.21
Alongside the regional iron-rich and calcium-rich productions, other fabrics (B3b=B3 and A27) commonly attested in Dakhla and Kharga oases have been identified. Their places of manufacture are still uncertain or unknown, and for this reason they are generally defined as productions of the Great Oasis. They correspond to two regional productions that, during the fourth century CE, are usually attested in both oases and they are associated, respectively, with the group of the Yellow Slipped Ware and the group of fine Red Slip Ware.
The fabric B3b has recently been assimilated in Gill’s study on Ptolemaic productions in Dakhla oasis and Western Desert to fabric B3, because it has been shown that its composition is unrelated to B3a.22 At Amheida (Area 2.1), B3 (previous B3b) is associated with a specific production consisting of Double-handled bottles/flasks and small bowls with yellow slipped surfaces. Their manufacture is mainly attested in the Kharga Oasis (specially in the North) from the fourth to the early fifth century CE.23
The second fabric (A27) was used for vessels with shiny-red slipped surfaces that imitate the productions in North African Terra Sigillata (African Red Slip Ware).24 Generally, there are three main categories produced in this technique: ceramic tableware, terracotta figurines, and oil lamps. Examples belonging to this family of wares were found in large quantities at the fortified settlement of Douch/Kysis and ‘Ain Shams in the Kharga Oasis. For this reason, Rodziewicz has termed this fabric Kharga Red Slip Ware.25 The same fabric and shapes have been identified by Hope in the Dakhla oasis, especially at Amheida, Ismant el-Kharab/Kellis, and Mut el-Kharab, initially as “material of the Christian Period” and later named Oasis Red Slip Ware.26 So far, the production centers have not been identified in either Oasis.27 The A27 fabric ranges from red/brown to light red in color with a quite dense body, rich in silica and iron oxides.28 The surfaces have a thick shiny-red slip, frequently burnished; decoration is not common.29 The vessels produced in this fabric and belonging to the family of the Oasis Red Slip Ware are found in contexts dated from the fourth to fifth centuries CE.30
Imports from the Nile Valley found in Area 2.1 consist mainly of wine amphorae Late Roman Amphora 7 and a few fragments related to small containers for liquids, mostly table amphorae. A few fragments of Rhodian amphora and Amphore Égyptienne 4 have been found in some strata pre-dating B1 and Street 2.31
1.3. WARES
Wares can be divided into families on the basis of the presence or absence of a surface coating and its color (Table 1 below). Each type of surface treatment can support further decoration in the form of painted designs, polish or burnish. In this study, the term “slip” refers to a coating that has been applied prior to firing.32
Ceramic coating increases the degree of impermeability of the body and helps to smooth the roughness of surfaces. The most frequent type of coating used for the ceramic materials from Area 2.1 is the “clay or mud” slip, obtained by immersing the pot, before firing it, into a liquefied suspension of clay particles in water. The color of the slip varies depending on the firing method, the nature of the clays, and the pigments used, if any.33 Generally, the slip of the vessels produced in ferruginous clay (Group A) ranges in color from orange to dark red. Usually, the shiny red color is due to the addition of red ochre clay34 or the use of iron-rich clay combined with an oxidant firing environment.35 The light slip, from white to cream to pale yellow, may be associated with both ferruginous and calcareous clay (Group B) products. The slip on the surfaces of vessels produced in Nile clay is reminiscent of a fine white wrap (white wash) applied by spraying on the exterior surface of the containers.36
The term “pseudo-slip” is rarely used in this study. It typically refers to a surface coating obtained by using the same clay as that of the vessel. During the modeling of the clay on the wheel, the repeated passages of the potter’s hands on the artifact polish the surface, bringing to the surface the finer clay components present in the doughs.37 The distinction between slip and pseudo-slip is difficult to define when the color of the ceramic body is the same as the coating, as in the case of products in calcareous or marl clays.
The following coding is employed to indicate the type of ware:38
• P = plain or uncoated
• S = slipped or coated
• W = washed
• D = decorated
• b = black
• br = brown
• c = cream
• o = orange
• p = pinkish
• r = red
• w = white
• y = yellow
All the fabrics and wares are summarized in the following Table 1. The macro-Photo of the fracture of some of the fabrics is showed in Figure 5. A graph illustrating the incidence, in terms of kilograms, of the fabric from the contexts above floors B1, S2, and S3, is provided in Table 2.39
Table 1. Fabric and ware descriptions
| Coarse Ferruginous Fabrics | |
| Fabric: A1 Wares: P, Pb, Sc, Sr, Sr/o, Sw, Dc, Dr |
Medium to coarse textured fabric; medium-bodied. The inclusions characterizing this group vary in size and quantity, according to the fine quality of the fabric. Macroscopically, they include sand, limestone, and chaff, of varying size and quantities, as well as rare clay granules, platey shale,1 and grog.2 This fabric |