New Insights into Middle Nubian Ceramic Traditions at Elephantine: An Attempt for a Better Understanding of Cultural Complexities in Upper Egypt and Nubia

Abstract The Middle Nubian ‘C-Group’, ‘Kerma’, and ‘Pan-Grave’ cultures have commonly been believed to be contemporaneous for most of their occurrence, but recent research on Nubian-style ceramics from the settlement at Elephantine Island indicate that this contemporaneity must be reconsidered. This paper presents the results of the ceramic analysis of the Nubian-style corpus from recent excavations in the Northwestern town at Elephantine with a focus on intra- and intercultural ceramic finds. Although site-specific pottery formations at Elephantine allow for a more neutral way of addressing ceramic assemblages, comparisons with ceramics from sites in Lower and Upper Nubia enable us to differentiate between Nubian traditions. The domestic and funerary ceramic assemblages of the C-Group culture are significant for redefining the cultural complexities of the Middle Nubian traditions. This paper sheds light on the ceramic tradition of the C-Group in comparison to those of the Pan-Grave horizon, Kerma culture as well as pharaonic traditions.