This Element demonstrates how ceramics, a dataset that is more typically identified with chronology than social analysis, can forward the study of Egyptian society writ large. This Element argues that the sheer mass of ceramic material indicates the importance of pottery to Egyptian life. Ceramics form a crucial dataset with which Egyptology must critically engage, and which necessitate working with the Egyptian past using a more fluid theoretical toolkit. This Element will demonstrate how ceramics may be employed in social analyses through a focus on four broad areas of inquiry: regionalism; ties between province and state, elite and non-elite; domestic life; and the relationship of political change to social change. While the case studies largely come from the Old through Middle Kingdoms, the methods and questions may be applied to any period of Egyptian history.

In Pottery and Economy in Old Kingdom Egypt, Leslie Anne Warden investigates the economic importance of utilitarian ceramics, particularly beer jars and bread moulds, in third millennium BC Egypt. The Egyptian economy at this period is frequently presented as state-centric or state-defined. This study forwards new methodology for a bottom-up approach to Egyptian economy, analyzing economic relationships through careful analysis of variation within the utilitarian wares which formed the basis of much economic exchange in the period. Beer jars and bread moulds, together with their archaeological, textual, and iconographic contexts, thus yield a framework for the economy which is fluid, agent-based, and defined by small scale, face-to-face relationships rather than the state.

The unique site of Mersa Gawasis was a base for seaborne trade along the Red Sea coast during the Middle Kingdom. This volume presents the site’s wide variety of ceramic material, offering also an interpretation of what pottery reveals about activities at the site.

The first economic history of ancient Egypt employing a New Institutional Economics approach and covering the entire pharaonic period, 3000-30 BCE.

This volume comprises thirty-three peer-reviewed papers presented at the international conference 'Vienna 2 - Ancient Egyptian Ceramics in the 21st Century' held at the University of Vienna in May 2012. The papers discuss pottery manufacture and use as well as its archaeological deposition and significance over the entire length of ancient Egyptian history from the prehistoric to early medieval periods. The spatial distribution of sites from which ceramic material is drawn and discussed covers the Nile Delta in the north, the Egyptian Nile valley down to the Sudan as well as adjacent regions. The papers not only provide detailed insights into the most recent analytical methods, results, theoretical approaches and relevant scholarly discussions in the field of ancient Egyptian ceramics, but also highlight ongoing research at archaeological excavations, in museums, storerooms and archives. The book therefore offers a comprehensive up-to-date reference collection of articles addressing the current state and future directions of ceramological studies in Egyptian archaeology.

This is the third volume in a four-book set covering all Egyptian pottery, ranging from the earliest (Fayum A) ceramics to pottery made in Egypt today, organized by historical periods. The manuals are quick identification guides as well as starting points for more extensive research. For each period, ceramic types are illustrated with a line drawing, accompanied by a description that includes information on the pot's material, manufacturing techniques, surface treatment, and shape. Color plates of representative ceramic types are included to give the clearest sense of the color, composition, and surface treatment. All four volumes provide an extensive list of suggested readings as well as a bibliography for each period. Introductory chapters in each book discuss the basics of pottery manufacture and analysis. The first comprehensive guide to Egyptian pottery, this set will prove valuable to students as well as experienced field archaeologists. The volumes come in paperback and spiral-bound versions. The spiral bound versions, with hard laminated covers and tabs, are designed especially for the field and lab.

This is the first volume in a four-book set covering all Egyptian pottery, ranging from the earliest (Fayum A) ceramics to pottery made in Egypt today, organised by historical periods. The manuals are quick identification guides as well as starting points for more extensive research. For each period, ceramic types are illustrated with a line drawing, accompanied by a description that includes information on the pot's material, manufacturing techniques, surface treatment and shape. Colour plates of representative ceramic types are included to give the clearest sense of the colour, composition and surface treatment. All four volumes provide an extensive list of suggested readings as well as a bibliography for each period. Introductory chapters in each book discuss the basics of pottery manufacture and analysis. This second edition boasts a new, expanded introduction. The first comprehensive guide to Egyptian pottery, this set will prove valuable to students as well as experienced field archaeologists. The volumes come in paperback and spiral-bound versions. The spiral bound versions, with hard laminated covers and tabs, are designed especially for the field and lab.