Black-topped pottery

Black-topped pottery is a specialized type of Ancient Egyptian pottery that was found in Nubian archaeological sites, including Elephantine, an island on the Nile River, Nabta Playa in the Nubian Desert, and Kerma in present-day Sudan. This type of artifact dates predominantly to the Predynastic Period, but “a handful of examples made in the Early Dynastic Period are known to exist.”^[1] These vessels were used “exclusively for ritual and funerary purposes”^[1] and were discovered in ancient cemeteries and settlements. The majority of these pots are variations of the Egyptian hes-jar form and feature red bodies with black tops and interiors.^[1] The red color is derived from the natural iron that occurs within Nile silts which oxidizes upon firing, and the black top and interior is a product of reduction firing and carbon smudging.^[2]