Source of Raw Materials and Its Processing for the Manufacturing of Ptolemaic Faience Bowls from Tell Atrib (Nile Delta, Egypt)

Abstract

The provenance of siliceous grain material, the basic source of manufacturing faience items, is still a matter of discussion. The study methods applied so far have not brought satisfactory outcomes, and the results are ambiguous and problematic. Archaeological evidence has also not supplied adequate proof for establishing the sites where the source material was obtained and the methods of its preparation. Therefore, we propose an interdisciplinary approach to solve these research problems. We explore selected material of 7 faience bowls precisely dated on the c. 100 years of the Ptolemaic Period in Egypt. The body and glaze of the faience bowls was qualitatively and quantitatively tested with regard to chemical and mineral composition, and selected material parameters. Based on structural-textural analysis, as well as chemical and mineral composition, the source area of the studied raw material and its potential excavation site was determined in the Eastern Desert. The obtained results were compared with locations of mines exploiting gold-bearing quartz veins, functioning in the Ptolemaic Period. Material parameters obtained from image analysis have been applied to reconstruct the processes of crushing and grinding of the quartz material and its further treatment for faience manufacturing. Quartz treatment was analysed with regard to tools and handling processes applied in Ptolemaic mines. We assume that such an approach has given accurate results in determining the provenance of siliceous material used in the Ptolemaic workshops of Athribis. Therefore, in material studies of artefacts produced in the antiquity, it is indispensable to use an interdisciplinary and complex approach, beginning from field studies and ending with detailed laboratory analyses.