Archaeology & Antiquities
Black-Topped Beaker
Vessel
Details
- Author / creator
- Egypt, Predynastic (5000–2950 BCE), Naqada I–IIb (3900–3300 BCE)
- Object type
- Archaeology
- Date or period
- c. 4000–3500 BCE
- Dimensions summary
- Diameter: 12.4 cm; Overall: 29.1 cm
- Site or findspot
- Saqqara, Egypt
- Cultural period
- Prehistoric
- Place of origin
- Egypt
- Acquisition method
- Purchase
- Credit line
- Purchased with the Founder's Endowment, 1920
About this object
Red polished vessels with black rims (known as black-topped red ware or B-ware) were the most common funerary pottery during the early Predynastic Period. The characteristic blackening of the rim was probably achieved by burying the mouth of the pot in the ashes of the kiln. The iron in the exposed part would then fire red while the covered area turned black.
Materials and technique
Nile silt pottery
