Roman Pottery
The excavations at the Kom el-Nana monastery complex produced large amounts of pottery, an important source of information on daily life at the monastery. This included Egyptian Amphorae (i.e. large storage vessels), which made up over 43% of the assemblage and originally contained wine, oil or vinegar. The wine was used for drinking in ritual and domestic use; the oil for cooking and lighting and the vinegar for pickling to preserve foodstuffs for the winter months. Water pots for attaching to water wheels (in a form in use until quite recently in Egypt) were found in large quantities as were the many table, kitchen and storage vessels in everyday use. These included bowls, basins, jars, dishes, lids, cooking pots, colanders, cups, goblets, flagons and jugs. Other pottery may well have had a specialised use such as braziers for burning incense, flasks for precious oil or unguent and a strange vessel for which no use has yet been suggested other than cheese making.
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The bulk of the pottery was made in Egypt except for small amounts of fine table wares from Tunisia (perhaps used at the Abbot's table), and a few amphorae from North Africa, the Eastern Mediterranean and Palestine.
The painted decoration on many vessels was intricate and varied and mirrored that found elsewhere in Egypt during the Late Roman Period such as at El Ashmumein, a town in Middle Egypt; Gurna and Elephantine, both towns in Upper Egypt; Esna, a monastery in Upper Egypt and Kellia, a monastery in Lower Egypt. However, Kom el-Nana has a unique jar which contains panels depicting many faces, fish and standing figures.