For the first time, residue‐analysis results of a red‐rim bowl discovered at Qubbet el‐Hawa in Aswan, Egypt, are discussed alongside the thermal characterization of unpublished pottery bowls of the Old and Middle Kingdoms from the same site. Scanning electron microscopy with energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectrometry (SEM‐EDX) and X‐ray diffraction (XRD) analysis were performed to provide fabric description of the bowls. The results show the presence of 4‐heptenoic and 4‐decenoic acids. The Old Kingdom bowl showed a firing temperature range of 800–850°C, while the Middle Kingdom example was fired to higher temperatures. This is a suggested explanation of the decrease in the use of red coating as a surface treatment after the Old Kingdom.

The aim of this study was to determine the level of empowerment of the rural women sampled at two governorates. The obstacles facing their empowerment, and the relationship between the studied independent variables and the social and economic empowerment were also investigated. One hundred and fifty women, of those engaged in small and micro-projects, were sampled in four villages at Behera and Benisweif governorates. The questionnaires were accomplished through direct contacting and the data were gathered and analyzed. The results were as follows:The highest percent of the samples owned at least a seven year-old agricultural or commercial project at the chosen governorates.About half (54.7%) of the samples at Benisweif gained high level of empowerment versus 13.4% at Behera.The level of social and economic empowerment was significantly higher in Beniswief than Behera, the calculated t values being 10.19 and 16.49.The major obstacles confronting their social and economic empowerment were found to be projects' marketing and administrative problems, illiteracy and limited education and skills, and traditions banning women independence. Social empowerment in Behera was affected by only one variable which is the age, whereas their economic empowerment was affected by the cultural and educational statuses and the low projects income.The social empowerment at Benisweif was found to be affected by the age of the woman, experience in the project's field, and the project's age. Economic empowerment was affected by number of weekly working days, type of family, and the age of the project.

Representing the choices of Egyptologists like Brugsch and Newberry in addition to Major Myers, the Eton-Myers collection is stunningly sophisticated for the time of its assembling. It includes 14 pots and sherds of black-topped ware, a hallmark of the early Predynastic Period in Egypt. Despite their attractive shapes and decorative effects, the pots of this type belonging to the collection remain unstudied. Like most black-topped pots in museum collections today, they lack provenience or any other information about their precise dating. Therefore, this paper studied five black-topped vessels from the Eton-Myers collection by analyzing their attributes. The paper identified their forms and dating based on Petrie and later revisions by Kaiser and Hendrickx. The vessels that have the numbers ECM 844, 1226, 1211, 1210, and 1225 were dated to Naqada Ib, NIb, NIc-IIa, NIIb-c, NIIb-d1 respectively. Since the main aim of attribute analysis is to reconstruct the cultural context in which pottery was made, this study described the conditions of the periods the pots were dated to. Additionally, this study was able to show the conditions of the periods that were reflected in the features of the black-topped pots part of the Eton-Myers collection. For instance, a general tendency towards replacing open forms with restricted shapes could be explained by the rise of trade. Hence, pottery attributes can be used to date and reconstruct the general context of unprovenienced black-topped pottery from the Eton-Myers collection. A pot’s function, on the other hand, may be confirmed by its form and residue-analysis. This paper calls for the application of the latter archaeometrical approach, which represents the most recent phase of the development of pottery studies, to further enhance our understanding of the contents traded in black-topped pottery between Egypt and its neighbors towards the end of its prehistory.

Pottery attributes have an intricate nature; any change in one attribute leads to changes in the others. Studies of technological change over time arrived late in the discipline. Hence, pottery studies call for sheding more light on composition, which includes temper that was only sporadically studied. The Neolithic of Egypt was described as not being well understood. Therefore, this paper dealt with temper in pottery vessels during the Neolithic of the Nile Valley in the cultures of Fayum, Merimde, el-Omari and Badari. However, Previous studies described temper from this period, without connecting it with use/function. This paper identified the relationship between temper and possible function as human behavior within society, as well as the relationship between temper and decoration.This study traced the development of temper using descriptive and analytical theoretical frameworks, namely design structure analysis. Results confirmed that temper changed and developed overtime. Fayum pottery was tempered with plant and mineral material. Even within the same culture, like in the case of Merimde, temper changed from untempered clay with polished surfaces, then later adding temper. The latter practice resulted in rougher pots with fewer decorations and more forms. The red color was sometimes added as temper to pottery from el-Omari. Badari pots showed the use of particular Nile fabrics: A, B, and C, reflecting the specific use of vessels, which coincided with an increase in social complexity and development of pottery production within the society. This study confirmed that pottery temper could be studied from an artistic perspective.

No abstract