Ceramics (Pamela Rose)

This season saw study of the pottery from the courtyard of TT99, excavated in 1996 and 1997. The work was undertaken by Dr. Pamela Rose and Gillian Pyke from 26 November to 20 December.

The courtyard produced a massive quantity of ceramics (approximately 1400 kg), which was too great to be processed by the ceramic specialists during the time available. The material was, therefore, sampled. Pottery from fifteen of the forty grid squares into which the courtyard was divided during excavation was selected for detailed study. The squares were themselves chosen to include all areas of the courtyard. In most cases the entire ceramic assemblage from each square was examined, but in a few cases, where the quantity of material from a level was very large, that material was itself sub-sampled.

The pottery for study was separated into groups based on technology and fabric, and the sherds belonging to each were weighed as a means of characterising the deposit. In total, well over 800 kg of pottery were studied in this manner. The groupings could also usually be assigned to broad chronological periods, covering Pharaonic (New Kingdom and Late Period), Roman, Byzantine, Medieval, and later times, and thus it will be possible to look at the distribution of pottery by period across the courtyard and by stratigraphic level. Such analysis is only at a very preliminary stage but it is clear that the lowest levels in certain areas of the courtyard contain early (Pharaonic to Byzantine) material without significant later admixture. The area immediately adjacent to the tomb entrance was particularly rich in Pharaonic material of the Third Intermediate Period at the lowest levels, and from this same area came the only group of sherds which may belong to a vessel or vessels known from contexts within the tomb, fragments of Phoenician amphorae. It is likely, then, that the results will be of great interest for the interpretation of the courtyard remains.

As well as quantifying the courtyard pottery, significant pieces, mainly rims and bases, were selected for drawing. There was time after processing was completed to make a start on this, and Gillian Pyke drew some 80 Byzantine sherds. These were principally finewares manufactured in the vicinity of Aswan, the dating of which is well understood, and the examples from the tomb come from the sixth into seventh centuries ad. Non-Egyptian pottery of the Byzantine period was represented by a few sherds of amphorae originating in Cilicia and Gaza. However, the most common type of the period is the brown prominently-ribbed amphorae which are found throughout Egypt. Dynastic material included small quantities of well-known Late Period marl jars, and also of dynastic marl jars, including amphorae, but the most common vessels were unslipped bowls and jars, including `beer-jars'. Later material included a distinctive vessel, a small qullah (a water jar with a filter neck), which was reconstructed from sherds from square 28. This is probably of medieval date, and was manufactured in the area of Fustat in Cairo.

As well as the courtyard material, some time was spent repairing and drawing material from contexts inside the tomb which had been processed in earlier seasons. Some sixty drawings were made of material ranging in date from the Eighteenth Dynasty to `recent' times. They include two fine Third Intermediate Period jars dating from the mid-eighth to later seventh centuries bc (using Aston's chronology), one of which may be part of a mummification deposit from the thick coating of black material on the vessel.

There remains a small amount of unprocessed and unrecorded material from contexts inside the tomb excavated in 1997. This was examined briefly, and noted to be of considerable interest owing to the presence of many very large fragments, which may well be reconstructable into complete vessels. One group of sherds was extracted from the material from Room 1 in Shaft F for repair and recording this season, and proved to be of particular interest. The sherds came from a tall narrow-bodied amphora with a spike base and two handles on the neck (see picture at right). It was made from a silt-based clay and is certainly of Egyptian manufacture. The type is known from late first century bc into first century ad deposits in Egypt, but it is very rare to find one as well preserved as the piece from TT99. Its presence in the tomb is as yet unexplained, since there has been no other evidence from the material so far examined, inside or outside the tomb, to suggest use at this date.

One further short piece of work undertaken during the season was the examination of all the inscribed pottery so far recovered during excavations at the tomb. These were recorded by fabric and surface finish, and it was possible as a result to find joins between several fragments.