Introduction

Ancient Egypt Research Associates (AERA), directed by Mark Lehner, has been excavating a settlement since 1988 located on the southern edge of the Giza Plateau. Due to very intensive clearance we have at our disposal a large Old Kingdom site very precisely dated to the reign of Menkaure.1

He site, called Heit el-Ghurab, can be clearly divided into smaller units, areas characterised by different plans and also diverse material cultures. he main components of the settlement are long rectangular galleries built in four regular rows, with adjacent industrial areas where bakeries were discovered. hese probably functioned as barracks. Directly to the east, south and west of the galleries are, respectively, the Eastern Town, the Royal Administrative Building (RAB) and the Western Town (Plate 14). he towns are comprised of more or less square houses. he house plans reflect characteristic Egyptian ‘snail-like’ dwellings. he galleries were clearly planned, while the towns appear to have been built without a clear arrangement.2

Late fourth dynasty pottery

In the course of excavations several tons of pottery have been uncovered. Over 200 Old Kingdom pottery types

1  M. Lehner, ‘he Pyramid Age Settlement of the Southern Mount at Giza’, JARCE 39 (2002), 34; M. Lehner, ‘Introduction’, in M. Lehner and W. Wetterstrom (eds), Project History, Survey, Ceramics, and the Main Street and Gallery UI.4 Operations, Giza Reports. he Giza Plateau Mapping Project I (Boston 2007), 46—47.

2  For more information on the Heit el-Ghurab settlement see Lehner, JARCE 39 (2002), 27—74; Lehner and Wetterstrom (eds), he Giza Plateau Mapping Project I. See also the contribution of Ana Tavares in this volume.

Were deined among them.1088 he igures at the end of this paper (Fig. 11 to Fig. 14) show the AERA ceramic typology that includes:

Jars:

AB1: white washed storage jars (Fig. 11.1)1089 AB2: red slipped, probably storage jars (Fig. 11.2);1090 AB4: ovoid handmade beer jars (Fig. 11.3);1091 AB7: large marl storage/transport jars (Fig. 11.4);1092

Bowls:

CD1, CD2, CD3: red slipped serving dishes (Fig. 12.1-3);1093

CD6: red slipped carinated ‘Meidum’ bowls (Fig. 12.4);1094

CD7: white washed carinated bowls (Fig. 12.5);1095

Fig. 1: Relative frequencies of main pottery classes from the Heit el-Ghurab settlement: AB: jars, CD: bowls, E: stands and F: bread moulds

CD20, CD21: hole-mouthed vessels—probably cooking pots (Fig. 12.6-7);1096

CD22: large basins known from tomb depictions as vessels used during bread making and beer brewing (Fig. 12.8);1097

CD25: large vats utilised during making dough for bread (Fig. 13.1);1098

CD32: bowls with internal ledges (Fig. 13.2);1099 Stands:

E1: tall and E2 low stands (Fig. 13.3—4).1100 Bread moulds:

Flat bread trays — F1A: round (Fig. 14.1) and F1C: oval (Fig. 14.2); 1101

Also conical moulds, F2, known in three sizes: F2A: 12—14 cm in diameter; F2B (Fig. 14.3): 18—20 cm in diameter; F2C (Fig. 14.4): the largest is approximately 35 cm in diameter and 35 cm in height.1102

Pottery distribution

I will focus on the distribution of pottery in ive areas of the site that characterise the main types of occupation.

1.  Gallery III.4

2.  he Eastern Town House (ETH)

3.  The Royal Administrative Building (RAB), an

Area located to the south of the galleries between Eastern and Western towns.

4 and 5. he Pottery Mound (PM), a discard area, and AA, a pedestal building within the Western Town.

Each of the selected areas show different patterns of ceramic distribution that reflect diverse activities such as bread making, perhaps beer brewing, cooking, storing/presenting of food, and inally consumption. I will attempt to answer the following questions. Why were white carinated bowls used by workmen? Where do red slipped vessels occur and for what were they used? Why are beer jars found in such large numbers in the Western Town? Is their presence connected to beer brewing or only beer consumption? Who might have drunk so much beer? And, who produced the massive amounts of bread, especially the very large loaves of bread?

In terms of relative frequencies the site can be characterised mostly by bread moulds (F), that form almost 50% of the entire ceramic material (see Fig. 1);1103 followed by bowls (CD — 24%, mainly white and red carinated bowls); jars (AB - 19%, commonly beer jars); and stands (E - 3%). Galleries and bakeries

Gallery III.4 is one of the long rectangular spaces with the entrance located at the main street to the north and small rooms to the south.19 he gallery can be generally described as place where many large conical bread moulds were found (see Fig. 2).20 hese bread moulds (see Fig. 14.4) are larger than the average moulds known from the late fourth Dynasty. he pots were used during baking of very large loaves of bread.

He presence of a large amount of bread moulds is also characteristic of bakeries discovered in 1991 (see Fig. 3).21 he bakeries are located in the vicinity of the galleries and were probably the place of bread baking for the galleries’ inhabitants.22

Both the bakeries and the galleries contained large vats (see Fig. 13.1), conical bread moulds (Fig. 14.3-4), flat bread trays (oval and rounded) (Fig. 14.1.-2), bowls with internal ledges (Fig. 13.2), and so on. Moreover white cari-nated bowls (CD7, Fig. 12.5) are found in large quantities in galleries and bakeries as well. heir shapes are very similar to red, so-called Maidum, carinated bowls (Fig. 12.4) but they seem to be unique to certain settlements connected ments, usually very small, which cannot be classiied as jars, bowls, stands or bread moulds.

19  A. Abd el-Aziz, ‘Gallery III.4 Excavations’, in Lehner and Wetterstrom (eds), he Giza Plateau Mapping Project I, 193-234; M. Lehner, ‘Introduction to Gallery III.4 Excavations’, in Lehner and Wetterstrom (eds), he Giza Plateau Mapping Project I, 185-192.

20  A. Wodzinska, ‘Ceramics from Gallery Set III.4’, in Lehner and Wetterstrom (eds), he Giza Plateau Mapping Project I, 229-237.

21  Lehner, in Lehner and Wetterstrom (eds), he Giza Plateau Mapping Project I, 24-27.

22  ibid, 43.

Fig. 2: Relative frequencies of main pottery classes from the Gallery III.4: AB: jars, CD: bowls, E: stands and F: bread moulds

Fig. 3: Relative frequencies of main pottery classes from the Bakeries excavated in 1991: AB: jars, CD: bowls, E: stands and F: bread moulds

Fig. 5: Relative frequencies of main pottery classes from the Royal Administrative Building: AB: jars, CD: bowls, E: stands and F: bread moulds

Fig. 4: Relative frequencies of main pottery classes from the Eastern Town House: AB: jars, CD: bowls, E: stands and F: bread moulds

Fig. 7: Relative frequencies of main pottery classes from the Pottery Mound: AB: jars, CD: bowls, E: stands and F: bread moulds

Fig. 6: Relative frequencies of main pottery classes from area AA: AB: jars, CD: bowls, E: stands and F: bread moulds

Fig. 8: Relative frequencies of AB4: beer jars, CD6: red carinated bowls, CD7: white carinated bowls, and F2: conical bread moulds in different areas of the Heit el-Ghurab settlement

Fig. 9: Relative frequencies of AB4: beer jars and F2: conical bread moulds in different areas of the Heit el-Ghurab settlement

-CD6

-CD7

Fig. 10: Relative frequencies of CD6: red carinated and CD7: white carinated bowls in different areas of the Heit el-Ghurab settlement

To communities of workmen, that is Giza or Sheikh Said in Middle Egypt.1104 he Eastern Town House

He Eastern Town, located to the east of the galleries, consisted of more or less uniform square houses. One of them, the so-called Eastern Town House (ETH), has been fully excavated.1105

Pottery from the ETH was generally characterised by a large number of bread moulds (see Fig. 4), especially medium size conical moulds (F2B), coming from the early phases.1106 hey indicate that bread production was performed in the industrial quarter of the house and outside in the open space of the courtyard and two rooms connected to it.

A significant number of bowls and jars suggest food preparation and storage. Food could have been prepared inside the house, especially in industrial rooms. he significant number of white carinated bowls (CD7) found in the courtyard perhaps indicates the consumption of food not inside the house but outside. Internal rooms could have been used as storage facilities as well. Furthermore, three large storage jars were placed in the ground of the house courtyard, which could have served as an additional storage facility.

It seems that the ETH was perhaps a self-sufficient unit where one family lived. he house is built in such a way that it appears to have contained industrial rooms associated with food preparation/storage, a domestic core where the family slept, and an open space where the food was partly produced and partly consumed by only one family. he Royal Administrative Building he so-called Royal Administrative Building (RAB), the largest excavated part of the site, is located to the south of the Eastern Town and south-east of the galleries. Extensive work in the area between 2002 and 2008 revealed twelve successive strata of construction, occupation, remodelling and abandonment within two main phases connected to two structures (Structural Complex 1 and 2) built one on top of another, in the western part of the area.1107 1108 he later building, Structural Complex 1 was connected to the place

Where large silos were constructed in the south-eastern corner of the entire complex. Between the so-called Western Rooms and silos a large courtyard was revealed.

Ceramics from the Royal Administrative Building are generally characterised by almost equal numbers of bread moulds, jars and bowls, with a slight predominance of bread moulds (see Fig. 5). he situation changes if we look at the pottery distribution in subsequent phases.

I will present only two phases here — 5 and 7Gi—showing occupation of Structural Complex 1 connected to the construction and functioning of silos.1108

The occupation layers of the Royal Administrative Building do not contain many ceramic pots/fragments. Even if the floor deposits were very poor when the original room contents were removed at some point, some patterns can be observed.

Phase 5 represents the irst occupation stage of Structural Complex 1. he most interesting structure within phase 5 was discovered in room 6 which seems to be an obvious kitchen installation. It took the form of a limestone bordered hearth with large spouted basin (CD22, see Fig. 12.8) placed near it, accompanied by two other pot emplacements, one of which contained a base of an AB1 storage jar, while the other was empty. One of the deposits appears to function as setting for a shallow bowl, perhaps used as a plate for preparation of food.

CD22 basins are known from numerous representations found in Old Kingdom tombs and they always appear in beer-brewing/bread-making contexts. In the context described here, the CD22 basin was not used as a a vessel for pouring since it was placed in the ground. It still could have been utilised as a mixing vat for any food cooked in the nearby hearth.

Hree pots, a medium sized bread mould (F2B) and two beer jars (AB4), were set in the ground in the southwestern corner of room 6 of phase 7Gi. A cut placed next to them may represent another pot emplacement, possibly containing a shallow serving plate (for example, CD1 or CD2: Fig. 12.1—2). he activity in room 6 of phase 7Gi appears to be diflerent than in the previous occupation phases. A relatively larger quantity of bread moulds and beer jars found in the area of a hearth might indicate small-scale bread baking and beer brewing.

He Royal Administrative Building is very difficult to categorise. According to the pottery, it seems that some activities can be recognised as small-scale bread baking and beer brewing. Cooking is conirmed in room 6. Most of the beer jars probably came from the Western Town. Some of the bread moulds can be perhaps connected to bread making in the gallery complex. Various plates and bowls

27 A more detailed report on ceramics from the Royal Administrative Building is currently under preparation by the author.

Probably reflect the consumption of food—food that was for the most part brought here from outside.

He area was clearly associated with silos, but the silos themselves did not contain any pottery fragments. he Western Town

He Western Town is located in the south-eastern part of the site and it is represented by area AA and SFW PM (Pottery Mound). Area AA, located in the Western Town, is a peculiar place consisting of a large space illed with rectangular pedestals. Directly to the north, two ovens were discovered associated with a small bakery.1109 SFW PM, the so-called Pottery Mound, was clearly a discard area, probably for the Western Town.1110

Area AA generally contained many bowls — 39.72%, mainly red slipped, used during the preparation and serving of food (see Fig. 6). he second most frequent pots of area AA are jars — especially beer jars — 26.39%. Bread moulds (totalling 21.49%), medium size moulds (F2B) in particular, were also used there, although bread baking was not the major activity performed in the area.

He Pottery Mound (PM) consisted mostly of jars, especially beer jars (60% of the PM ceramic material) (see Fig. 7). Bread moulds were also present here (25.82%) and, similarly to area AA, they indicate a small-scale bread making in the Western Town.

Comparison between the selected areas

He comparison between the selected areas is based on four of the most characteristic types: AB4—beer jar; CD6 — red carinated ‘Maidum’ bowl; CD7—white carinated bowl; and F2 — conical bread mould. Fig. 8, Fig. 9 and Fig. 10 show a general comparison between these over the areas of Gallery

III.4, ETH, RAB, AA and PM. Some interesting patterns can be observed.

Bread moulds are most common in the galleries and the Eastern Town House. heir number is gradually smaller towards the south. Beer jars are the most frequent in the Western Town, PM in particular. here are gradually fewer beer jars towards the north. White carinated bowls occur in great quantities in the galleries, and red carinated bowls are typical for area AA. hey do not occur in large numbers in PM.

He white carinated bowls are very rare vessels, known only in two places in Egypt, Giza and Sheikh Said in Middle Egypt. At Giza they are especially connected to the gallery complex. heir production was massive and probably standardised. It has been suggested that they were a special product manufactured upon request.1111 hey were neither cooking pots nor long-term storage containers. It seems that they were used on a daily basis as bowls for consumption of food by the galleries’ inhabitants, namely workmen involved in construction activities at the Giza plateau.

Large loaves of bread were produced especially in the gallery complex. A series of bakeries made bread for the workmen housed in the galleries. Loaves were very large in order to produce more bread. he high number of bread moulds found in the galleries and bakeries show how much bread was needed. Bread appears to have been the main component of the workmen’s diet.

Red slipped vessels, on the other hand, are more popular in towns outside the gallery complex. here are various bowls and plates, but especially significant appear to be red carinated bowls, the so-called Maidum bowls (CD6). hese ceramic containers occur in greater quantity in the Western Town in particular. It seems that they represent not only different activities (cooking, short and long term storage) but also the higher status of people who used them. hose bowls were used by individuals, probably high officials, living in large houses.

Large numbers of beer jars found in the Western town indicate a great need for beer. Empty jars do not necessarily represent beer brewing in the Western Town. It seems beer was consumed there on a large scale but the exact place of beer production is not known. Is it area AA?

Similarly to the red carinated bowls, beer jars are a sign of the high status of people living in the Western Town. Beer jars are also known in other Heit el-Ghurab areas, but the Western Town is the place were they are especially common.